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contemplations Germany inspiration LEBANON morning coffee talk old age old people parenting Photography street photography

Daily Coffee Talk~ 79/365

Our fireplace today in Germany~

As long as I remember, when I still lived in Lebanon, my father would sit by the fireplace at our home at the foot of the mountain and on cold days continuously feed wood to the hungry fire and watch its raging flames and listen to its crackling sounds as it vanished into ashes.

It always made me think that there is a romantic in there hiding behind his seemingly hard exterior that he presented to the world.

The last 3 days, and in the middle of a storm here in Germany, our heating system broke down, so as we shuffle to get it fixed, I started using the fireplace as a means of generating warmth on these very cold days.

And guess what? I find myself as hypnotized by it as my father was and still is at over 85 years of age.

Life sometimes turns full circle on us…

Photo of my dad staring at his chimney 2 weeks ago in Lebanon taken by my sister.
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Germany Photography

The white breath of winter~

To make up for its bone chilling cold, winter sends its apologies with the magical white blanket of snow that makes it all better. I don’t know many who can resist the charm of freshly fallen snow and today I was one of those who ran out in the early morning to be with the symphony of falling snow flakes.

Day 35 of 365

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art CHINA Guilin inspiration Photography

Day 12~ December 12th~ Guilin

rafting the storm
rafting the storm

When a storm decides to come, it does not give us a warning, neither does it ask for our permission to turn our world upside down…

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architecture inspiration New York Photography

Day 4~ November 4th~ New York

like a phoenix

New York, it rises from its ashes each and every time to prove time and again that ‘when there is a will there is a way’. And New York’s will is not like any other, it the combined strength of warriors that gather from all over the world powered by their vision and their wish to stand out from the pack. I remember living through the attacks of September 11th and seeing such a gloom that I thought this powerful city would never recover from. But it did, and it always will because of the will of its people. Yes, it is a city built to withstand the storms of the world to evolve into something better and greater.

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art Boracay life Photography story

Day 26~ August 26th~ Boracay

lost inside his music

It was dusk, that magical time when day surrenders itself to the mysteries of the night in a golden embrace, a storm was approaching, the wind was starting to gain speed, people were shuffling about to get to the shelter, but the boy and his guitar were completely lost inside a piece music that had to happen. I walked past him but he did not see me, I photographed him and he was completely unaware. He was floating inside of his art.

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Boracay life Photography

Day 22~ August 22nd~ Boracay

a show of force

All we need is to stand on a seashore watching a storm brew over the ocean to realize that when it comes to the distribution of force, nature has the upper hand. We could be shaken, blown away, flooded, drowned, or dehydrated at any moment with minimal effort on the planet’s part. And I do wonder seeing how we abuse its resources without regard, when it might just be too much for our blue planet and it decides to flick us away or smash us as we would a blood sucking mosquito. Wouldn’t you if you were a planet?

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Boracay life parenting Photography street

Day 20~ August 20th~ Boracay

storm watchers

When our children are very young we try to shelter them from the world, we introduce them to it gradually and with so many filters to protect them from what we perceive as harmful. We guard their innocence with all our might even down to the language that we allow them to hear. Then comes the time when they need to be faced with the ‘real’ world, the world we are leaving them with. The hardest job becomes trying to prepare them for what we think they might not be able to handle knowing that there will be a time when they will no longer want or need our help. That for me, so far,  is the most difficult part of parenting.

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Photography street

Day Three Hundred Forty One, December 29, 2011

all is quiet

The morning after a snowstorm, when all is still…

Is it the color white? The purity of the snow? The softness of the crystal blanket?

What is it that forces us into a humble silence and a deep state of contemplation?

Is it the fact that a new canvas is set and all the past is erased?

Is it the chance at a new beginning? New footsteps in the fresh snow?

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Photography

Day One Hundred Eighty One, July 22, 2011

Stormy Europe

Rain, clouds, wind, cold, grey… the last few days of summer in Germany. Amazing what an influence a storm has on the moods of people and how clouds can reflect in the faces of humans. But for a photographer, clouds are a wonder, a moving painting of texture, a theater of light and shadow.

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Photography

Day One Hundred Fifty One, June 22, 2011

electric!

Shanghai summers are home for sudden and powerful electrical storms. Today we were at the pool for the first very hot day of the summer and at some point the storm arrived. I love how scientist try to explain this incredible phenomena without being able to agree on a single explanation. I spent the last hour surfing the science pages and reading about the subject only to be convinced that they cannot reasonably explain it and they do not really understand it. And here we were standing under an outstanding electrical storm and everything in me wanted to just be in awe of the wonder of it and to be impressed by its power with no need for “sensible” explanations. Lea and I just wow’ed at it repeatedly as I took some shots and I am sure that the next time another one comes around I will be just as impressed!