Thank you!

(If this seems strange to you, don't worry. Hint: Read Tom Peters' manifesto on changethis.com, tip 3)

Mindboggling

Hubble - the telescope - was featured in our Sunday newspaper together with a series of images from deep and ultra-deep space. As this one:


(source: hubblesite.org; stated as public domain)

The small "fingers" at the top are rather big. The tip of one of them is the size of the gas cloud that created our solar system.

The tip of one of them... I just can't get a handle on that size.

Man's best friend

Yes, I do have other best friends :) But points are given to this one here as he has followed me faithfully around for the last 11 years and a bit. And he still does, even if he's now one toe short after a nasty infection. But now the paw has mended, he still jumps as excitedly up and down as ever.

And now he kindly reminds me that the evening walk is looong overdue...

[Listening to: Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head (3:49)]

Me and my shadow...

We're closer than pages that stick in a book
We're closer than ripples that play in a brook
Strolling down the avenue
Wherever you find him, you'll find me, just look:



(lyrics from "Me and my shadow", written by Dave Dreyer - Al Jolson - Billy Rose)

[Listening to: Cæcilie Norby - Summertime (4:56)]

Bedroom in morning light

That's what it was :) This was taken about 7:30 on Saturday morning, approximately one good stretch and a yawn after we got out of the sleeping bags.

Down to about 5°C during the last part of the night (or so they said). I must admit I pulled the strings rather tight, closing the sleeping bag well both at the shoulders and at the opening. But down inside it was all warm and cosy. Fab - first sleeping outdoors trip of the year!

[Listening to: cranberries - zombie (5:06)]

A warm feeling

I don't know how much time I've spent around one of these over the years. And never mind, sitting by a campfire as this one never fails to mesmerize me, my eyes drawn to the play of deep yellow fire dancing over orange and red embers.



And neither do I know how many times I've stood with fellow scouts around that fire just before turning in, singing the traditional song we use at that time. "Nu flyver mørkets fugle ud" - scouting lyrics to the beautiful melody of 'Auld Lang Syne'.

Yet, there's one thing I do know and realised again on Saturday evening. In the last verse, when the ring of people around the fire joins hands, their arms crossed in front of them, it always touches me. Even though I might not know all of them very well, in that moment there is such a strong feeling of shared values that I can physically feel it.

It's a privilege. And a joy.

Nut!

No, it's not a comment about any person, living or dead.

Merely, this is a coconut shell I came across on the beach just besides Cape Coast castle:



Just a mere inkling of the fact that I still have photographic ambitions... somewhere.

Tell me why...

You remember the song, I'm sure.

Today I had an inkling of understanding about what can make a Monday so bad. Only, I don't think computer problems were as pervasive then as now ;)

Anyway - this very Monday

• My dear daughter's stomach trouble from our trips to Africa turned out not to be over. Scratch most plans and arrange a trip to the Doc


• Hotsync for my Palm was for some reason set to "Desktop overwrites handheld". Only for memos - but that's where I had my travel diary from Ghana, action minutes from a meeting on Friday and a wonderful (at least, I think so) poem I'd written at Anomabu beach


• My Thunderbird E-mails program - that I like a lot better than my Outlook - has just gone belly-up- Apparently, the prefs.js file has been corrupted, and it doesn't know a thing about my mail accounts or the E-mails in them. The mails are all there - it's just that connecting them to the program is a wee bit of an issue just now


• And my wife's away teaching until Wednesday

Sigh.

[Listening to: Suzi Quatro - Cat Size (4:39)]