A New Curse Word

Posted on by

Laura Grace Weldon

 relax your words,

We hear it all the time. Chances are we say it all the time.

I swear (hah!) it’s the curse of our era.

What’s up with you?

Busy

How’s work?

Busy

How are the kids?

Busy

What was your vacation like?

Busy

What’s next week like for you?

Busy

Ack!

We are busy, pulled in so many directions that we don’t have words powerful enough to describe how time starved we feel. Swamped, hectic, rushed, hurried, slammed, or crazy busy can’t come close.

I suspect that we aren’t busier, in terms of obligations using up our time, than someone our age might have been 100 years ago. Chances are those folks kept the house warm with coal shoveled into a furnace; worked long hours for poor pay in factories, mines, slaughterhouses or worse; traveled at low speeds to get where they were going; struggled to stay healthy in a…

View original post 303 more words

The Angkor Album

Posted on by

thank you for sharing, missed those place. had a magical feeling when I was there on 12/12/12 🙂

A Long Way Back

THE ANGKOR TEMPLE COMPLEX sees around 1,000 visitors in a day, many of whom swarm the western gate at 5:30 a.m. to wait for the 6 o’clock sunrise. I did not know this before we joined them. We rented bikes the night before and left our homestay pedaling at 5 o’clock, following the line of tuk-tuks and stopping only for a breakfast baguette sandwich along the way. We were, on some level, trying to recapture the magic of witnessing the exclusive sunrise of Indonesia’s Borobudur. This is, of course, impossible. What made Borobudur lovely was its Buddhist tranquility; what defines Angkor Wat are the crowds.

We nonetheless had charming 10-hour, 35-kilometre bike ride through the park’s grand circuit, and now feel qualified to identify the distinct personalities of each ancient monument: the fine details of Angkor Wat, the mighty ruins of Angkor Thom, the impossible mingling of tree and…

View original post 69 more words