Eye-Pleasing Ancient Architecture

I will be adding more entries about my actual travels, some from the past and some from the present. Meanwhile, if you are interested in architecture, or simply like to view aesthetcially pleasing and ornate artwork, this may be of interest: Alhambra.

I recently received a CD I ordered (Belly Dance for Fortune and Fame, by "Stella" of Belly Dance New York). One of the 17 tracks was titled Alhambra, which sounded familiar. I thought the name sounded Spanish or Arabic. My internet search revealed it as a 14th century palace-citadel of (Islamic) ruler Mohammed I.

Alhambra is located in the southern Spanish city of Granada. One could imagine its spaces filled with colorfully dressed people during a celebration:








Imagine the hours of labor spent crafting this beautiful relief:














Links: great architecture

Map of Granada, Spain

The Moors

Remember The Fallen

I remember.

Irish Romance

I found this lovely poem by John Boyle O'Reilly

The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
But I send you a cream-white- rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.

Source: Irish Culture, Traditions

Beautiful Dancing

Here is a video of an incredibly beautiful belly dance style/technique. This woman, Khalida, is using "Isis wings":

Khalida


A very talented male dancer who also is very masculine while belly dancing:

Jamil

And another short video of a (male)dancer using isis wings: Alexandros

Plan Z Anyone?

When I wrote for Where & When travel magazine, I didn't actually get to see the places I wrote about. They weren't hard to imagine as I have been to a lot of places in Pennsylvania. Extracting details over the phone from owners of the restaurants, shops, hotels or resorts wasn't too hard for my eager young self in my last semester at Penn State. I really enjoyed talking to people who loved what they did.

When one actually does travel, as I was reminded while planning a day trip with friends to the Philadelphia Flower Show, preparations cannot anticipate all circumstances.

Plan A: We signed up for the second bus to the show via King Coal Tours, a company my family had used for many trips to New York City, and one I'd recommend. Apparently we three were the only ones who signed up for bus two, and it was canceled.

Plan B: a local bus company. No, too expensive.

Plan C: I drive. Philadelphia is about three hours plus each way from the State College area. And my car, while in excellent condition, has over 120,000 miles on it. I need it to last.

Plan D: 'Isn't there a flower show in Harrisburg I've heard about?'

Another plan is hatched and I pray my friends like it. They actually were quite flexible.

My web search unearthed (sorry for the pun) the Pennsylvania Garden Expo the same weekend. And I knew how to drive there quite easily, despite my recall becoming rusty after 15 years. How giddy I was when I found out that Harrisburg would be hosting a St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday afternoon. Hm. Half the drive, less than half the price of the Philly Show tickets, an ethnic parade, and an ethnic shop (Oxford Hall). And a grand selection of Irish restaurants to choose from for dinner.

We headed west on 322 about 9:45 a.m. after a short side trip to replace my ripped jeans: one problem I had not prepared for. A quick trip to Wal-Mart netted a decent, flattering pair of jeans for $5.00.

Warm, sunny weather made driving pleasant. The Farm Show Complex was packed with people. Susan asked, "Why are there garden shows now? Isn't it too early to garden?"
Good question.

People like to plan, to get ideas and generally to look at what the pros do. I find that when I'm eager to get my hands into the garden but can't, dreaming is my alternative. Flower shows are good, too. This is my solution to the times when I live in a place that gets like this:




and I'd rather be seeing this:



The weather was beautiful until the evening drive back to State College. A little chill left in the air made me glad I had my coat.

Inside the Farm Show Complex, landscaping businesses displayed some of their designs. The theme this year: Garden Party

********Continued in Garden Party Show entry *********

In my travels, I like to get to the beach. It is never boring. I hike, too. I like nature. I remember what it sounds like when I stand in the sand where the waves flow around my feet and rush back out.

Looking at the openess off the shore is like breathing. The waves are individual breaths, their rhythm is the energy from the depths flowing to the shore and back. The energy rocks me pleasantly and I am sure I can hear sand granules shifting in the wave that drops thousands on the beach and carries the rest toward the water.

It's psychologically cleansing. It feels physically cleansing, too, if I don't think about what might be in the water rushing over my feet. I have a pair of water shoes, but it feels good to -- even when it's cold -- to let my bare feet be covered in the refreshing rush.

Ya' Related Ta' Joe Smith Over The Mountain?

Life as a "Smith" has been pretty easy as far as family names go. It's seldom mispronounced or misspelled. Occasionally I have someone ask, "Are you related to (insert a first name) Smith?" I often smile politely and say, "I don't think so," or "You never know."

I knew someone named "Bundy" once. I asked her if she was related to Ted. After that, I don't think she minded so much that most people ask if she's related to Al. She never liked me anyway.

Having a common first name as well makes ego-surfing pointless. However, there's a site that will tell you how many people share your name:

how many share my name?

There are: 1,397,854 with the name Jennifer in the U.S.

3,017,684 Smiths

14,062 Jennifer Smiths

I entered "Jen Smith" into the Yahoo search engine (using the "directory" option). At reunion.com, 1,055 profiles exist with that name, and I haven't registered there.

More interesting though is that many people assume that "Smith" indicates British origin. Actually, the father of my dad's father (my great-grandfather) was named Oliver "Schmitt". When he and his wife came to the U.S. from Germany, they changed it to "Smith" to fit in better. The fact that many people think "Smith" makes my background British tells me that my great-grandparents were successful. Even the exact spelling of Schmitt varies. I have seen it spelled "Schmidt" for example.

This anecdote is not that unusual. Many of America's immigrants voluntarily adapted their names to something close to English. Wikipedia has an interesting article on the name Smith:

Click Here

I intend to learn more of the story behind my Irish-German-Native American genes. Maybe there's a few genes in there with other national identities. Who knows? I hate it when they fight with each other; puts me in a bad mood.

**Note: the title of this entry is my so-so attempt to use the way of speaking of some people where I grew up -- a diluted coal-speak. What's coal-speak? A "dictionary" can be found at:

Coal Region

Click on the "CoalSpeak" link on the left-hand menu. Many of the words are beyond my knowledge; however, "I ain't Catlick. I never ate bleenies." I wear a housecoat and know the correct way to pronounce Wilkes-Barre.

I also know the difference between hard and soft coal. Hard (anthracite) is denser due to compression, produces more heat over a longer period without as much ash (debris) when burned than soft (bituminous) coal. I am a coal miner's great-granddaughter (on my mother's side, Irish-born immigrants.) Check this out: coal region

Also, the county I grew up in (Columbia County, Pa) is the site of the Centralia mine fire disaster with great environmental and life-changing damage. If you're interested in more history, check out: Centralia story

or the wikipedia entry at:

Centralia, PA

Thankfully, I grew up well north of Centralia, in the county seat.

more cracker pics

and more info:
mine country

Below: a couple of photos from Centralia. The first shows a cracked road with steam and smoke coming up from the fire. The second shows a polluted stream exiting the mine.

Crossing Bridges to the Past

Hello once more!

I thought I would add more links to photos. The first is a URL with photos of a bridge in the town where I grew up. I passed this covered bridge over Fishing Creek many times while riding my bike along River Road.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boyofdestiny/19417360/in/photostream/

The northeastern branch of the Susquehanna River flows along this road in Bloomsburg. It has frequently flooded, including this past June. The second URL is photos of this flooding. One of my sisters and her family had to evacuate their Forty Fort home and stay with my parents (in Bloomsburg).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mookiechan/176987330/

The ironic part was that my parents were OUT of water because the river flooded the treatment plant.