Category: Deserts
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The Journey’s End 3: Inside Wimborne Minster-The Man In The Wall & The Chained Library
[Wimborne Minster. The Church of St Cuthburga. Wimborne, Dorset. Photo is mine.] The day we find the perfect church, it becomes imperfect the moment we join it. ~~Anon Where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. ~~Thomas Gray Elegy…
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The Terminus
[A card, purchased at a small souk in the Marrakech Market. It is my name, Patrick, written in Arabic by a calligrapher. The cost was about $4.00. A small amount for a priceless piece of art. Important to me. Photo is mine.] The end of journey is not a period, but a comma. ~~ Anon…
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At The Monkey Finger Mountains: The Palm Frond Boys And The Sad Girl
[The Monkey Finger Mountains in the Sahara. Photo is mine.] Nearly every bone and muscle in my body was saying to me: Did you just ride into the desert on a large animal with a large hump? I ignored the voices coming from the dark regions of my body and sat back in the seat…
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A Tale of Very Old Water Tunnels, Dying Palms & A Police Citation
[One of the many towns we encountered on our way west…toward Marrakesh. Photo is mine.] Traveling-it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. ~~ Ibn Battuta The Great Dunes are behind us. My dream of riding into the largest desert in the world has been fulfilled. I have no regrets, except for the…
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I Ride A Camel Through The Dunes And Ponder The Shape Of Things
Midnight at the oasis Sing your camel to bed… ~~ Maria Muldaur Midnight at the Oasis I did it. We did it. We were shown our camels, and without any instruction at all, we road off into the dunes. Our destination was our Dune Camp. I volunteered to be first to mount the dromedary assigned…
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At The Edge Of The Dunes: Changes Within And Without
[A moment of rest and a photo op on the way to the Sahara. The river Ziz. Photo is mine.] Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes Turn and face the strange Ch-ch-changes Don’t want to be a richer man… ~~ David Bowie Said our guide and driver, Kamal… We’re coming to a tunnel. When we come out on the other…
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Paris Inhabits Me, But Must Free Me To Wander The Dunes
[A Gargoyle contemplates Paris from Notre Dame Cathedral. Charles Laughton, in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1939, says to the figure: “Why am I not made of stone like this statue?” Source: Google Search] “Paris…is loath to surrender itself to people who are in a hurry; it belongs to the dreamers…” ~~Julian Green “We’ll always…
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I Will Learn to Speak Camel
[Source: Google search.] The desert is a natural extension of the inner silence of the body. ~~Anon On September 23, 2024, give or take a day or three, I will say “Bayokav” to a camel. The odd-shaped creature will stand from a kneeling position. I will be sitting, hopefully in comfort, on the gentle beast.…
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My 600th Blog: Lat. 24 N./Long. 81 W.
[Ernest Hemingway’s typewriter. Located at the Hemingway House Museum, Key West, Florida. Photo is mine.] Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. ~~Ernest Hemingway I am sitting in the air-conditioned Monroe Country Public Library (Key West Branch). It’s quiet, cool and has a WiFi that takes no prisoners. I…
patrickjegan 