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| A quarter way up Ben Nevis in August 2009. |
After 1500 posts, if it's possible (it isn't) to distil the essence of this self and this blog, this is it . . .
What ends happily is never the end / the secret is / there's another secret always. DANNIE ABSE
All the way to Heaven is Heaven. ST CATHERINE OF SIENA
Click the links . . .
Enna
Devon
Etna
Paris
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| Love locks on the Pont des Arts, Paris. |
Lyrical Paris
We may never get to Paris
And find the café of our dreams
So I’m leaving for Paris
Don’t try to find out where I am
April in Paris
Chestnuts in blossom
Holiday tables under the trees
Sous le ciel de Paris
Marchent des amoureux
Sous le ciel de Paris
Coule un fleuve joyeux
Paris c’est une blonde
Qui plaît à tout le monde
I’ve got nothing to lose
But the hole in my shoes
And small change
The pavement cafés
On the Champs-Élysées
Are deserted
And the trees are so bare
On the Boulevard de la Madeleine
I walk the boulevards
And I ask the moon and the stars to find you
But we don’t exist
We are nothing but shadow and mist
Nothing but shadow and mist
I’m throwing my arms around Paris
Because only stone and steel
Accept my love
Because nobody
Wants my love
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| Walking along the Via Francigena in France. |
Resemblance reproduces the formal aspects of objects but neglects their spirit. CHING HAO
We are acting parts in a play that we have never read and never seen, whose plot we don't know, whose existence we can glimpse, but whose beginning and end are beyond our present imagination and conception. RD LAING
There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires. NELSON MANDELA
24 comments:
Congratulations Robert on your consistently rich and interesting blog. I look forward to the next 1500 posts.
Cheers, Gail (a fairly regular reader and occasional commenter!)
1500 - that's quite something. And always something interesting to read and/or learn. Here's to the next 1500.
Congratulations again, Robert. Fifteen hundred posts is astounding! Onward, I say, with more great stories, more provocative thoughts, more fine poems, more of whatever explodes from your very creative mind. Reading this blog on a regular basis remains a great pleasure for many of us.
Wow! Thanks so much for your generosity. For that is what it is to share your writing so consistently over these 1500 posts. Should have been studying an hour ago, but I couldn't stop reading your links above. Somehow I had missed "A Grey Day in Paris" back on Friday, June 22, 2012, and almost missed the Paris link because I didn't realize immediately that it linked to all of your posts about Paris.
I like the poem and the quotes and the self-portrait. Or did Carmen take that photo of you? It's a good one.
I'll say it again. Your blog is like a good book that I can re-read and appreciate even more on a second or third reading, not to mention your splendid photos.
I hope you will forgive me for my fearless enthusiasm. I sound like a Bob Dylan fan here (-:
Thanks Gail for your kind comment.
Hi Nick, and thanks for reading.
George, you are too kind - I'm glad you continue to gain pleasure and interest from my blog, and I appreciate your enthusiastic comments very much.
Forgive your enthusiasm, Amanda? I LOVE it!
I'm so fortunate to have a small but loyal band of readers who have stayed the course all this time (after many have fallen by the wayside — well, that's to be expected; it's the promiscuous nature of blogging and the internet). It's very good to share with a like-minded community who, like me, like enthusiastic, intelligent, meaningful communication. If that's not too many 'likes' :)
As you know, your own blog gives me much pleasure too, with its clarity, depth, spirituality, humour and intimacy.
Carmen took that photo when we were in Somerset last year.
Congratulations and thank you for the links. I just read about Mount Etna and it brought back wonderful memories. We tried to reach it on foot from the north with a local guide but had to turn back due to heavy snow - it was late October 2007, yet still warm ernough to go for a swim every morning.
Looking forward to more journeys.
Congratulations, my friend! Your creativity, energy, intellect, poetry, photography are gifts to me. Keep them coming our way!
Thank you Robert for your commitment to the blog. It is one that I look forward to and which feeds me,
Ultreya!
Andy
I remember when you celebrated 500 posts and thought that prolific. I can't believe you've produced 1000 since then.....each one beautifully and lovingly curated. Congratulations.
Let me say it in my language, it’s easier (for me) - Toutes mes félicitations pour 1500 posts! Vous avez un blog brillant – des images qui séduisent, des mots qui font rêver, des idées attachantes et des sentiments les plus nobles – le tout donne un blog magique. Bonne continuation !
Thanks, Sabine. I wish I had done more walking while in Sicily — we travelled mostly by bus and train.
Ruth — thanks for being, as always, one of my most consistently appreciative and enthusiastic readers and blog friends!
Thanks, Andy — and Ultreya! I enjoyed your recent Camino account.
Amanda — I can hardly believe it either! Thanks for your sweet comment.
Vagabonde — merci de tout mon coeur pour tout ça! Quel plaisir de te (on peut se tutoyer?) lire et de t'écrire en français, une langue que j'adore. Ton blog — je l'aime aussi beaucoup. Encore une fois — merci, mon amie française-américaine.
Walker, you remind me of the man who inspired me half a world away, the late Colin Fletcher.
I'm here to invite you to join us as an author in Alexandria, either as an occasional guest author or as a fully privileged Resident Author.
www aleksandreia com
Alexandria might also be the perfect place in which to write about issues and interests which may not yet be an ideal fit for your current blog.
If you think you might be interested in becoming a Resident Author, let me know and I'll forward our formal invitations for you to look over and return, if you decide to proceed.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Congratulations Robert! I was an early fan and still visit even though I've stopped blogging myself and visiting other blogs, apart from a couple of other oldies but goodies. Am said it best, your blog is definitely like a favorite book that you can re-visit and never be disappointed. So although I don't comment anymore (feel a little guilty about this) I am still a big fan! Bella (Gleaner).
Thanks for the invitation, HM Stuart, but I don't think your blog is quite suited to me. But thanks for getting in contact.
Hey, Bella! I remember you, of course, and all your comments are still in the archives. I wondered what happened to you, and didn't realise you were still reading my blog from time to time. Thanks for your lovely comment — and please don't feel guilty about not commenting lately. It's not compulsory :)
1,500 - and that's not including the spin-off blogs, I take it!
I like the RD Laing quote (even if he is ripping off Shakespeare).
Oooh, no, I forgot the other ones! Sometimes i feel I'm disappearing into a blog vortex.
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