Grateful to have a voice

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, 

in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend. 

-=Thomas Jefferson=-

As the presidential elections loom closer each day, and as Thanksgiving approaches and I see people posting about what they are grateful for in their lives, I want to take the opportunity to express my gratitude for freedom. Freedom to believe those things that I hold dear. Freedom to stand up for my values and thoughts about religion, ethics and in general, the world around me.

We should all be deeply grateful for and very aware of this incredible gift. Isn't it a beautiful thing that we can express ourselves and have a voice in this world? That we can stand for what we believe and change the very fabric of society?

And yet...as I scroll through Facebook posts lately, I am saddened to see so many people showing their disdain for this priceless give of freedom. Go ahead, campaign!! Share your views! Beat your chest if it makes you feel better! That is the point of America. It is the point of freedom. You get to be what you want to be and you can tell people what you believe, but for heaven's sake (and all our sake)...show some respect. I am shocked by the venom and anger I have seen in so many posts, particularly if someone makes a comment that contradicts whatever meme or thought has been posted. I made the mistake of making a comment on a post today that didn't fall in line with the person posting it's views. I was simply trying to point out that there are two sides to every story and I got blasted for it and told I could leave the conversation.

It might help us to remember that the very essence of freedom is that we all have it. We may not like other peoples point of view but we MUST respect it, or freedom is lost. 

In a world that beats the drum for tolerance, I find that people have becoming increasingly INtolerant. I have such a deep love and affection for my Facebook family. Over and over, I see friends state an opinion that others might disagree with and yet, I see people behaving respectfully and with kindness, at times maybe simply agreeing to disagree. However, I have seen many other posts that disintegrate into a vicious attack complete with name calling and foul language.

I have some bad news. What we all have, are opinions. Just that. None of us have 100% of the hard cold facts. We have opinions and it is a beautiful thing that we can share them and learn from one another, but the point is not to crucify anyone for their beliefs. That's already been done.

Can we maybe just try to reach the finish line of these elections with a little dignity and human kindness still intact? None of us like the word hatred, but honestly, I'm seeing a lot of it in peoples attitudes towards those who would question their ideas or beliefs. It's sad and it's ugly and we should be ashamed. 

Our goal for 2017 should be a global community of respect and reverence for freedom and the glorious kaleidoscope of opinions and personalities and thoughts that it provokes. You don't have to agree with everyone, you just have to believe that those who oppose you have the same right to their opinion and be as staunch in defending their rights as your are in defending your own.

The Things I didn't see...

I read an article once that said the more pictures people take, the less they remember about a given place or event. As a photographer, this seemed ludicrous to me. Surely, photographs help us to create memories! I know how valuable they are to people. I know how valuable they are to me!

But a few days ago, in Nepal, I think I finally understood. Derek and I were wandering through a huge market area in Kathmandu. The streets were lined with brass and incense, yak wool blankets,pottery and Gurkha knives. The small shops lining the street were crammed to colorful and chaotic capacity and above them, the upper floors of the building were adorned with interesting windows, doors and shutters. There was wood and brick and stone and plaster. I felt overloaded by the visual experience of it and framed and shot pictures almost frantically, trying to capture every inch of this exotic and fascinating place.

After several minutes of concentrating on my pictures, the thought occurred to me that I was here in Kathmandu, Nepal with Derek and I was barely paying attention to him as I concentrated on shooting. I stopped and lowered my camera and looked at the brass shop I had been photographing, then I looked at Derek. I mentioned the article to him and how maybe I really was missing a big part of the experience.

Derek looked at me and smiled an enigmatic little smile. I looked longer and realized It's one I've seen many times over the years and I knew exactly what it meant. It meant, "Oh good. You've finally realized (fill in the blank)". He's awfully good at letting me come to realizations on my own.

He looked back at the shop I had been photographing as I suggested that maybe I was missing something by focusing so much on taking pictures of our experience. He smiled bigger and said, "You mean like the smell of Jasmine in the air? Or the sound of the bells in front of the brass shop ringing in the wind? Maybe the glint of the sun on the brass platters?"

I just stared at him in awe of his perception. He understood. Even better than I had. So with my camera dangling from my fingers, we stood there and just looked at the shop and took in everything about it and I suddenly saw so much that I had missed initially. I...experienced the shop. We moved on and this time, walked quietly...slowly down the street. Absorbing.

I won't lie, I still took a few pictures...but less. Instead I took his hand and we wandered and we listened to the sounds and we smelled the Jasmine and we took in the total experience both of the city and of being together in such an amazing place.

A little further down the street we saw a Hindu temple. As we passed through the threshold into the small square we heard the overwhelming thrum of hundreds of pigeons. A woman was flinging out seed to them with a wide arc of her arm. The birds would cluster to eat and then some little thing would startle them and they would burst into the air all around us. Again I grabbed my camera excitedly and began shooting but then I looked at Derek and put it down again and just stood and absorbed the moment.

I experienced the collective cooing, the breeze created by so many wings flapping all at once and again...Derek. It was magical. Transcendent, and I think I wouldn't have realized that if I had just kept focusing on the ISO, f-stop, and shutter speed. 

I love photography. It is an amazing way for us to preserve memories, but they are one dimensional. The next time we travel or visit family or do whatever we are doing, I will remember to put the camera down more often and live right there in that moment and be with the people I am with, instead of trying to capture the surface experience quite so thoroughly.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I won't still post waaay too many of the pictures I did take;-)

I was mugged by a monkey...

In today's headlines! Monkey mugging thwarted by mild mannered maiden!

Well, there is so very much to say about today's activities, but I'm going to keep it short because I'm exhausted! It was an amazing day and we got to see lots of great sights!

We had a great breakfast in the hotel and even tried some of the local dishes.
Then we were off to explore more of Kathmandu.

First we hit a local market area. Every inch was a picture! The top floors of the building were rich with texture and color and style while the shops below were filled with beautiful brass and spices and clothes and...well...just about anything you could imagine!

We hired a car and driver for the day (Alhamdullilah)! Unfortunately, he was new to Kathmandu so really struggled to find his way around. In his defense, we didn't hire him as a tour guide, just a driver.

Our first stop was Swayambhunith, or The Monkey Temple, an ancient monument so called because of the sacred monkeys that roam freely there.

The Swayambhunath complex consists of a stupa, a variety of shrines and temples, some dating back to the Licchavi period. The stupa has Buddha's eyes and eyebrows painted on and is impressively large and golden.

We were surprised to find monkeys munching on wrapped candies that are left for them.

As long as you are cool about it, they will leave you alone. You must simply stand there and pretend not to notice them and they will come quite close, but make eye contact and you are on the naughty list!

On the temple grounds you will find huge Hindu Prayer wheels. Devotees spin them as part of their prayers. There was even one Giant one inside a building!

If you feel brave and decide to climb the 365 steps (one for each day of the year) you will find an incredible view of Kathmandu, but you will also find some truly incredible architecture. There are pillars and dozens of Hindu and Buddhist statues as well as a huge white dome with a large golden spire. And monkeys. Always the monkeys!

They are everywhere and they have the run of the place, though some of the locals are less enamoured of them than we were. One woman selling beautiful strawberries was clearly fed up with monkeys stealing her fruit. As I watched her, a large monkey edged closer and closer to her wares until she suddenly snatched a sturdy looking sling shot out of the folds of her skirt and let loose with a barrage of something that had the monkeys scattering.

I found a beautiful singing bowl that I had decided to buy and as I wandered amongst the Stupa, I dangled the blue plastic bag that held my bowl from my fingers. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a monkey hiding behind one of the statues. And YES! He was definitely hiding! As I passed, he reached out and grabbed my bag! Luckily, I had a firm grasp on the bag and his mugging attempt turned into a tug of war. I practically had to wrestle the little devil to the ground! Sacred monkey my...anyway. I won. I gave him a good scolding and told him stealing was bad. He looked quite indignant and with what was undoubtedly a slur against Americans squawked his discontent and ran off.

I thought we were done but I eventually caught on to the fact that he was following me! I would turn quickly around and there he would be, hand reaching for my bag. Of course as soon as I turned he would look away, all innocent like, but I was on to his game. Derek suggested that scolding a monkey that could potentially rip my throat out along with 60 or 70 of his pals was probably not a good idea, but I felt it was the principal of the thing really.

I saw another visitor get ambushed too. A monkey jumped him from above, swiped his bottle of water and bolted. The really impressive thing was that the monkey knew how to unscrew the cap.

There at the top of the hill it was beautiful. We were at about 5,000 ft and the view was incredible. Cool mountain breezes kept us cool and comfortable as we wandered. As always, there were vendors by the dozens selling everything you could imagine.

We spent quite a bit of time there and then found a great loval restaurant with amazing food and bottle soda pop.

After a very late lunch (can you even count it as lunch at 4:00?), we made our way through wicked traffic to Durbur Square, a part of town with a large temple where there was a considerable amount of damage from the earthquake. I was in a significant amount of discomfort because of bursitis but we had forgotten to bring Motrin.

As we sat in heavy traffic, Derek noticed a small pharmacy across from us and impulsively risked his life by leaping out of the car into traffic and darting between cars to the pharmacy, much to the confusion of our driver. We watched in awe as he purchased Motrin, otherwise know in 50+ circles as The Elixer of Life.

Standing at the outdoor counter of the tiny shop, he had to hunk to avoid hitting his head. I'm sure the staff were thinking "Even Yeti get aches and pains once in a while! I beamed at my Knight in Shining Armor and popped some Motrin. 

We finally arrived at our destination and jumped out for a look around.  It was clear that there had been terrible damage done by the earthquake. Even hear there were vendors selling their wares. Keya is the queen of the bargain and got us pretty amazing prices on some great souvenirs and then it was time to head home. We're calling it an early night as we are completely worn out from high altitude, lots of walking and having way too much fun!