Water is life. It supports life generously in the part of
Kenya that we visited.
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Bamboo along river
bank, Kakamega |
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Waterside chores,
Lake Victoria |
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Fishermen approaching
shore |
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A Yellow-billed stork
and a Sacred ibis |
Istanbul derives commercial and strategic power from its
position on the narrow waterway between the Black Sea (Russia) and the
Mediterranean Sea. It bridges Europe and Asia.
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Istanbul shoreline |
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Imperial caiques preserved
in the Naval Museum |
Sultans of the Ottoman Empire made royal appearances in
these nineteenth-century boats.
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The garden of the
Topkapi Palace, Istanbul |
Precious water had a sacred place in paradise gardens of the
arid Middle East.
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Sultan Ahmet Square fountain |
In modern Istanbul water is available more luxuriously.
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Coastal walk Le Sentier Littoral, Antibes |
Natural
splendor along the Mediterranean, French Riviera.
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The Riviera, Nice |
Recreational splendor.
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Fountain, Nice |
Playful splendor.
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Holy water, Chartres |
Sacred splendor.
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Cathedral of Notre
Dame, Chartres |
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Water lilies, Giverny |
The water garden of Claude Monet.
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The center of
monarchy, Île de la Cité,
Paris |
The Seine River, lifeline of the French capital.
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Fontaine des Mers,
Place de la Concorde |
Tribute to the Oceans, Paris.
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Luxembourg Gardens |
The rise, fall, and reservoir of water as enjoyed by light.
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The Fountain of Saint-Sulpice |
Icons of Church and State, Nature and Man, harmonized with
water.
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Water garden of The
Rodin Museum |
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present imbibing the past in a Parisian pool |
Water defines life on Earth, and any other place we can
imagine. When we speculate about the possibility of life on other planets we
look for water.
Water is the essence of organisms and the physic of health. It
may variously be an agent of creation and destruction, giving birth,
dissolving, fracturing, eroding, transporting.
Water absorbs and releases energy. Its changes of state from
solid to liquid to gas condition our relationship to the physical world. It
anchors our scientific standards of measurement and behavior.
Water flows through and around us as drink, as irrigation, as
conveyor, as perspiration, as tears, as anointment. It underlies
photosynthesis, metabolism, and respiration. It means existence.
Martin, Such amazing poetry and perception in the spiderweb post. Your posts open my eyes to the extraordinary in the ordinary. I am reminded of Walt Whitman's line: to me a single blade of grass is no less the journeywork of the stars. The photography is breathtaking and the insights heartfelt and glorious. Thank you so much for these treasures, i also appreicate the blurb about the film and peace activism. Thank you, once again.
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