[MyWorld] Instant Pose

I was paying them no mind, keeping my lens focused on the pretty scenery for which we had paused our road trip, but I sensed them hovering around me, curious what I was doing. When I was finished, I turned around and really saw the village kids for the first time. In the moments it took me to raise my camera, turn it in their direction and click, they had grouped themselves into this amazing pose. It all took mere seconds. Then I smiled at them and returned to our car to continue down the road. 

When I downloaded my new photos into my PC today, I was so delighted with what I got. What a group of sweeties!

Quezon, 2010

My world really was full of smiles this week, so I link with My World Tuesday and Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Red Flowers

Quezon, 2010

I saw this cluster of unusual (to me) deep red flowers on the roadside in Quezon province, Philippines, this weekend. Can you tell me what it is?

PS. Thanks to EG Wow and Andrea: cockscomb or celosia cristata.

Linking with Today's Flower, where many more gorgeous blossoms can be found.

Platform for Art

When in London in 2003 I saw these wonderful bird sculptures from Zimbabwe displayed in various underground stops. 

 London, 2003

For many more interesting and creative shadow shots, go visit Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

Bananas and a Scowl Reflected

Manila, 2010

Linking with the community over at James' Weekend Reflections.

[SkyWatch] Buttermilk in the Sky

When I was a child growing up in Finland I used to love buttermilk. When my family moved to Canada, I was given a glass, and for reasons beyond me then, I was instantly turned off; it just didn't taste the same! I had similar reactions to other dairy product like milk and especially butter, yet over the years I grew accustomed to them. But I never went back to drinking buttermilk.

I think of that wistfully every now and then when I see buttermilk in the sky.

 Manila, 2010

Do you drink buttermilk?

I'm linking with SkyWatch Friday where you'll find hundreds much more brilliant skies.

K is for Kobe Luminarie

Almost exactly one year ago, on December 10, 2009, we were walking on the streets of Kobe after dinner, looking for what I thought was just a well-lit cathedral I had seen on a poster in the train coming over from Osaka earlier, when all of a sudden we found ourselves joining first dozens, then hundreds, then certainly many tens of thousands of people, all silently walking in the same direction on streets emptied of vehicles. We didn't know what was going on, but we sensed we were in for something special. 

After several blocks, crowd movers asked us to stop; we waited a few minutes, then we were motioned to walk on. As we turned the corner, this is what we saw. I was moved.

Kobe, 2009

After slowly, almost solemnly,  walking several blocks under the illuminated arches, listening to beautiful piped classical Baroque music, we all ended here, at the Kobe Cathedral. [Images look better enlarged.]

And this is looking back at the street we had walked up, many thousands still following us. I'm normally not very fond of being in a large crowd, but this was one of a handful of crowd experiences I treasure.

We learned that we had serendipitously dropped in on Kobe Luminarie, in memory of the Great Hanshin Earthquake on January 17, 1995. The 200,000 lights were donated by the Italian government and the design/installation was by Valerio Festi and Hirokazu Imaoka.

I am linking with Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday, where the letter of the week is K.

U is for Unicorn

The time came to find a word starting with U for ABC Wednesday, and unicorn immediately came to mind... and so I share with you these magical little metal unicorns used as decoratives at a cabin I stayed in with a close friend one beautiful summer's week on the popular Salt Spring Island in BC.

Salt Spring Island, 2010

PS. Of course, Pat! The Unicorn Song!