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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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contemplations Germany inspiration LEBANON morning coffee talk Photography

Daily Coffee Talk~51/365

So I am changing this to from morning to daily since more and more coffee is making its way into my day. I hope that you day is going very well and is filled with your favourite beverage of choice.

a Lebanese bee~

Since I got back from the Emirates more than 10 days ago, I have seen nothing but grey skies and rain in Germany. I miss the sun, I miss its warming rays, I miss Lebanon, I miss summertime and I miss the feeling of being outdoors all the time.

With photography I can travel in my mind to the sun, I can be where I was when I took the photograph and I can almost feel the warmth. Our minds are amazing like that, we build all kinds of connections through our senses that allow us to travel mentally to certain moments that we mark on the calendar of our life history.

Doesn’t a smell sometimes bring back to a special moment in time that had its impact on your life? It happens to me all the time, or a piece of music, or the taste of something.

And the sun just came out as I write this… funny how things work.

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contemplations old age old people Paris Photography street Travel

A cold world is not for me

man at bus stop~ Paris
man at bus stop~ Paris

A warm world is where I want to be, where smiles animate the stiffest of faces, where hugs disarm the most guarded of people, where trust draws out trust, and where no one will find themselves with no one to turn to on a chilly day.

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inspiration life Photography story street Yunnan

Day 15~ October 15th~ Yunnan

out of the mist they came

Like old friends they walked down the mountain road, a man and his helper, friends after years of long lonely walks, man and bull finding a common language, because that is what happens when closeness heralds warmth between planetary beings.

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inspiration life parenting Photography street Yunnan

Day 7~ October 7th~ Yunnan

human proximity~ Yiche people~ Yunnan

When a child is sick or unwell, the only thing it craves is the warm touch of a parent or family member. We are creatures that thrive on warmth and human contact makes us tingle. This fact begs the question: what will be come of us when our lives become more and more digital and virtual and will Siri’s calm cold voice be enough to serenade a child to sleep?

In Yunnan I only saw children attached to family members while they walked, worked, cooked and these children were strong, confident and loved. I will take a hug over a text message any day.

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architecture art inspiration life Photography Tuscany

Day 22~ September 22nd~ Tuscany

yellow energy

The sun favors places like Tuscany. It floods it with its warmth and the locals just mirror that by coloring their homes in tribute to the sun.

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life Photography

Day Three Hundred Forty Two, December 30, 2011

difficult goodbyes

Love between little cousins is pure, intense, joyful, effervescent, and everlasting. Every year the separation gets more and more difficult. We all live oceans and continents apart and holidays are savored and valued as times of reunion, re-bonding and the creating of fond memories.

Photo taken: Lea saying goodbye to her little cousin Monya, a process that took about 15 minutes of warmly hugging and kissing before our long drive back to Germany.

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life Photography

Day Two Hundred Eighty Five, November 3, 2011

at the end of the day

At the end of the day, there is nothing more settling than nesting at home. It is a point of recharge, of going back to the familiar, to the routine, to the comfort, to the warmth, to fill up with energy in order to go out again into the big world. I love the sense of home almost as much as I love adventure and questing for the unknown. If there was no known, the unknown would not exist at all would it?

photo: Lea after her end of the day shower getting ready for a short movie on the sofa with Shanghai evening lights in the window