A walk in the park

A few weeks ago my wife and I decided take a Sunday afternoon walk in the park which is situated next to a river so I normally take my camera with me never knowing what I might see of interest. On this day the sun was blazing down without a cloud in the sky yet there was a nice breeze making it comfortable to walk, with the sun so bright and it being midday I almost didn’t take my camera. After parking we both remarked on how bright it was and that summer was on the way and all smart animals would be hiding in the shade. We were about a mile into the walk when my wife noticed a few geese on shore of a small pond I had already seen the geese and noticed a crain off to the side of the geese standing next to a small clump of bull rushes. I quickly turned my camera on and made a beeline towards them, I was in a wide open area and there would be no sneaking up on him I would have to approach him at an angle trying to gauge when he was getting uncomfortable knowing that he would immediately take off, hopefully would have time to compose a shot and get him in focus to my surprise when he took off he headed across the pond giving me a chance to snap a few shots as he flew by. After he passed me he veered to my left and landed on shore hiding behind a large clump of bull rushes. I stop moving for a half a minute or so recomposed myself, changed the settings on my camera since the sun would be at a different angle and switched to continuous shooting mode. I than walked very slowly around the edge of the pond where he sat watching me very intently, I continued to snap individual pictures with each step thinking he would take off any second finally he spread his wings I depressed and held the shutter button letting the camera take as many pictures as it could while I tracked him across the pond. I got several very nice pictures of a very common crain.     

Oconaluftee Village

Two Gentlemen demonstration traditional carving

Lady demonstrating the art of basket making

A lady demonstrating the art of weaving

Two ladies demonstrating the art of stringing beads
notice the fireplace behind them it was a cool morning

A lady demonstrating how the Cherokee Indians
made pottery for everyday usage

This spring I took a vacation to the Smoky Mountains and stayed in Bryson City, NC in a very nice cabin out in the mountains it was very restful and quiet with no Internet. The week was mostly overcast with light rain and a spot of sunshine on occasion permitting me to catch up on my much needed sleep. There was a nice hot tube on the front porch over looking a quiet valley permitting a nice hot soak then to bed.

One day I decided to drive back over the Smoky's to Cades Cove, it was mostly high clouds when I left the cabin, once I crossed over Newfound Gap it turned into heavy mist and light rain with heavy clouds I wasn't really surprised as the weather was coming from the North West and the mountains were blocking most of the bad weather leaving the southern side of the mountains much nicer.

After a couple of days of rest I decided to check out the little town of Cherokee. If you've never been there it is basically a town for tourist to purchase vacation items, they do have a very nice shop for items made by the Cherokee and other tribes, I must say I thought the prices were very good encouraging me to warm up the plastic. While I was wondering around I saw an advertisement for an Indian Village and decided to take a look and was glad that I did. They provided a tour guide that led small groups around stopping at the various stations to explain how the Cherokee lived prior to being deported to the west in the 1800's, I've posted a few of the many pictures I took while on the tour, I would encourage anyone who is in the area to take a couple of hours and enjoy the Oconaluftee Village.

Sea Gull at the park

I recently had to send my camera in for repair and needed to take it out for a checkout, I had been having problems with the Auto Focus, needless to say I wanted to try it out on some action shots. The weather was still cool and the wind was blowing when I remembered that the geese and ducks were always at Shoaff Lake in Franke Park, I quickly put my camera bag in to my van and we were off to Franke Park. Just I had anticipated the ducks and geese were in abundance with several sea gulls flying round.  I pulled on my hat and got out of the van with my camera and found a nice seat at a picnic table not far from the water. I quickly realized the wind chill was more than I had expected forcing me to pull out my glove and proceeded to take +250 pictures of ducks paddling by geese coming up trying to beg a piece of bread or other donation that is normally handed out by humans when they visit.  I found the common sea gull to be very interesting as they flew around taking advantage of the wind and occasionally dropping down to scoop up a missed morsel.  On one occasion I was focused on a specific sea gull circling around it then dropped down on a run to scoop a morsel and I started taking a series of picture, I notice a disturbance just in front of the sea gull with the sea gull appearing to jump as it  veered off course, later when I was looking that the photographs it became obvious why the sea gull change direction a fish beat it to the morsel or minnow that it was heading for.

Petra Tomb

This picture is an example of the skill and tremendous amount of work that went into carvin these tombs I don't know if this tomb has a name however the workmanship is exquisite. I walked from tomb to tomb and was always amazed each time I stepped into one.

Petra Treasury

The experience of stepping out of the narrow Sqi into a brightly lit canyon gazing at a huge carving jutting from a massive wall of rock, the combination of light and massiveness of the carving was almost overwhelming, the feeling is indescribable, it's so massive and bright reflecting the morning sun, making taking a picture difficult. I've read where they believe it was constructed around the 1st century BCE and no one knows for sure why it was made. There are many tails of pirates hiding treasure there (hence it's name treasury) it's pretty well accepted that it was either a temple or a tomb. One of the tails says that there are treasures hidden in the top of the carving, in the second photo bullet holes can be observed. Getting up close to it gives you a sense to it's grandeur and size also it is amazingly we preserved compared to the other carvings further down the canyon.

Sqi to Petra

Once I got my legs back under me I made my way to the real entrance, a crevice (Sqi) in a reddish/ orange mountain about a mile in length to the old city deep inside. Even though it is early in the morning the heat is becoming apparent as I attempt to walk in the shade as much as possible fortunately there is plenty of shade to share with others as we make our way through the narrow crevice sometimes only 10 feet wide. Just walking through the Sqi is an experience in its self the rose colored cliffs weathered by wind and water over the centuries provided protection for the inhabitants for many years. Just a few men placed in just the right position could barricade the Sqi and hold off an army which happened on several occasions. There are carvings in the walls depicting some of the caravans that made their way through these narrow passages. I can't help but wonder what it would have been like leading a camel loaded with spices and goods through this winding corridor and looking forward to a cool drink of water, fresh food and possibly some fresh vegetables and dates after crossing the unforgiving desert.  

Ride to Petra

After spending a pleasant evening in the Shara Mountains just outside of Petra and the Kingdom of the Nabateans I made my way thru narrow streets of the village of Petra to the entrance of the Nabatean Kingdom. After purchasing my ticket I followed the crowd to a staging area where one could climb on a horse and ride down to the actual entrance of the old Nabatean Kingdom, it was an interesting experience and the cost was included in the entrance fee. The horse handlers brought the horses up to the staging area where the rider stepped over the horse and easily took a seat on his stead and is lead off to the real entrance. Just a few yards from the physical entrance the horse is stopped and the handler helps the rider off and expects to receive a handsome tip, fortunately I had some small change which is often not the norm for an uninformed tourist.

Petra, Jordan

After a couple of days in Cairo I flew to Queen Alia International Airport at Amman, Jordan a small airport by international standards with lots of new construction. Everyone was very courteous and helpful. I rented a car and a GPS as I didn't want to head out into the desert without some assurance that I'd be able to find my way to Petra. Petra is a small town out in the middle of no where. I entered Petra and wound around up and down through the narrow streets, following the GPS I found my hotel high up on the mountains with a grand view of Petra and the mountains beyond. This was June and I had to wear a light jacket that evening as I took my evening walk not realizing how much walking I would be doing the next day during my tour of the valley of Petra.

Al-aqsa Mosque

The Al-aqsa Mosque is the most important Mosque in Jerusalem and is the third

holiest site in Islam it is located south of the Dome of the Rock with the Jewish Western Wall located to its west. In 1951 King Abullah of Jordan was assassinated there and the future King Hussein almost died there during this attack.

Touring this Mosque was very impressive, with all of the stained glass, chandeliers, stacks of Qurans at various locations, every sound seemed to echo and be amplified with all of the hard surfaces and columns, only the bright rug mitigated the echoes. The length of the building was astonishing with all of the columns making the building seem even larger.