Reflecting

At the risk of posting a repeat, a shot of one of my favourite morning bike rides along the river near Yangshuo, China, December 2004. 

Bounty

Luang Prabang, Laos, July 2004.

In the Footsteps of Giants

Dinosaur footprints fossilized along the coast near Goseong, Korea, May 2013.

Bug Off

 

A summer-special people mover in Gyeongju, Korea, May 2013.

Royal Tombs

Shilla Dynasty royal tombs (57 BC - 935 AD) appear from the outside as grassy hills in an idyllic park framing local buildings.

Gyeongju, Korea, May 2013.

Cheeky Bird!

A wild kakariki in a plum tree outside my friend's house in Melbourne, Australia, January 2013.  Did I mention that the bird and its many bird friends were happily devouring every piece of fruit on the tree?!

Seoul Street Food

A dumpling vendor in Insadong, Seoul, February 2014.

From the Garden

 

I am a firm believer that life is better when things (other than myself) are growing in my home.  Moving into an apartment building with no outside space last October has required a bit of creativity in my gardening habits, but I have managed to get a good crop of a variety of lettuces going in pots hanging out the windows this summer.  Here are Soot (with the excellent silver mane) and Gom, our 7-and-a-half year old lion-head rabbits, enjoying some of the bounty. 

Busan, Korea, July 22, 2014. 

What a Lazy Summer Day Feels Like

A kangaroo at the Healsville Sanctuary, Australia, January 2013.

Max

We just said goodbye to our little Jiji, who went to her permanent home this evening.  Good for her, but sad for us.  Lucky Max is here to roll around looking for constant belly rubs to help take our minds off the little kitten-sized hole in our apartment life.

Busan, Korea, October 2013.

Grazing

The Otago Peninsula, Dunedin, New Zealand, December 25, 2012

Fun with Paper

 

 

Paper lanterns floating on Yongji Lake, Changwon, Korea, July 2013.



Beach Weather!

 

 

Haeundae Beach, Busan, Korea, August 2013.

Sunset in Mecca

A friend of mine from Canada told me about a group of Muslim new-arrivals who were taken to a festival in Edmonton in the middle of the day earlier this week.  The city was having a heat wave, so it was very hot out on the street, the women were wearing long veils and multiple layers of fabric while the men were also conservatively dressed, and everyone was melting under the sun.  They were hungry, thirsty, and all exhausted from staying up all night eating and praying at the mosque, since the morning meal needs to be finished around 4:20 in Edmonton this time of year and the evening fast-breaking doesn't come around until nearly 10 pm.  Now that's dedication.

I stopped fasting late last week, 12 days into this year's Ramadan.  Once that typhoon I wrote about in my last post hit us, the humidity went through the roof and never went back down.  It's the kind of weather where immediately after towelling off from a shower you feel like you need to hop right back in and have another one because the sweat is already rolling off you.  I wasn't taking more time for the kind of spiritual practices that I liked from my other experiences of the fast (taking more time to pray, meditate, be aware of other people in the world, be thankful).  I was too busy being sweaty, thirsty, headachey, sleepy, and obsessed with the time for way too much of every day.  I never did figure out exactly what I should be eating, so although I did okay for those 12 days, I wasn't feeling great for most of them (hunger, thirst and fatigue aside).  And because I also didn't have anyone else around who was fasting, it was disruptive to my nearby friends and family (who were entirely supportive in any case!) and isolating for me.  Not ideal conditions for me to foster mindfulness in.  I decided I would be better off working to incorporate those practices into my normal life than just hanging in there for the remaining days.  I feel good that I lasted 12 days in what were for me extremely difficult conditions.  And I feel good that I stopped when I did.

It occurs to me that at the time the directives for fasting during Ramadan were given, the Islamic world was not so broad a place (geographically speaking) as it is now.  I see that sunset in Mecca right now is shortly after 7pm, and sunrise at 5:46 (meaning the morning meal would need to be done by 4:46).  And this is the hardest Ramadan gets in Mecca - as close as possible to the longest part of the year.  Within a few decades of the Prophet Muhammad's death, Islam had spread through the Arabian peninsula, the Persian Empire, to Byzantium, across North Africa and to some of the Aegean islands.  Of all those places, Istanbul has the latest sunset right now - around 8:30pm - but a similar sunrise time to Mecca (about 20 minutes earlier).  Those extra hours those new-arrivals in Edmonton are dealing with are A LOT when you haven't had anything to eat or drink all day.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not minimizing the experience of people fasting ANYWHERE in the world - even in the "easiest" of circumstances (hello winter in New Zealand!) it takes a tremendous amount of determination, faith and perseverance.  I just wonder if the "rules" of Ramadan might have been a little bit different if Muhammad had started out in my hometown in Alberta (current sunset: 10:28pm) instead of in Saudi Arabia.  Something I will never know.

For everyone still fasting during this holy month, respect, peace and blessings to you.  For everyone else, exactly the same - respect, peace and blessings.       

The Tiniest Houseguest

Meet Jiji, one of the luckiest kittens ever born on a Korean street.  She was found under a car outside our friend's business when she was only about 2 weeks old - with a completely smashed eye.  He took her in, got her vet care, and hand fed her kitten formula from a syringe several times a day for 2 weeks, intending to keep her.  When his dogs started harassing her, he called us.  She's actually going to live with another friend soon, but in the meantime she is hanging out at our place.  The difference in just the 5 days we've had her is enormous - her fur is getting fluffy and shiny, you can't feel every rib anymore, and the swelling in her bad eye has disappeared so she can open and close it like normal now, even though it's still blind.  She loves to play and to cuddle, is a huge ham, and is very smart - I suppose you'd have to be to survive the rough start she had before getting taken off the street!  It's going to be hard to give her up, but we're thrilled she is going to another great home.

Busan, Korea, July 9-13, 2014 

Takahae

 

 

 

These are sometimes called 'dinosaur birds' in New Zealand, which is pretty appropriate when you see one up close.  Check out that incredible beak!  This one is a resident of the Zealandia wildlife sanctuary in Wellington and was very good natured about me taking pictures during its foraging.  LOVE the feathers!

Wellington, New Zealand, February 2013.    

Ramadan, Week 2

The edge of a typhoon is hitting Busan today, making the air so thick that you can almost drink it...when it's not bucketing down rain.  The cool dampness makes the thirst of fasting a lot easier to take.  I haven't caught myself staring vacantly at our water dispenser even once today.  On the other hand, I'm a lot more aware of the hunger than I have been on less tempestuous days.  This is the kind of weather that encourages me to stay hunkered down at home, curled up with a warm cat and a good book, snacks at hand.  Considering I haven't seen the sun today, and the darkness of the sky, the fact that there are almost 6 hours left to go before sunset just seems cruel.  My internal clock is gauging the light and telling me 'you're almost done!' but the numbers on the clock are creeping along even more slowly than usual, taunting me.

This weekend I was up in Seoul for a special church service.  I warned my friends there that although I would be arriving late-afternoon on Saturday I wouldn't be able to eat until close to 8pm but that they should go ahead and eat as usual.  Eating is a big part of fellowship in this particular church, so I didn't want people to be offended by my (temporary) abstinence.  Much to my surprise though, everyone waited to eat alongside me, even though no one else was fasting.  'We want you to break your fast with great joy!' one of them said.  Another had fasted for Ramadan himself, many years before, in solidarity with his Egyptian college roommate and was interested in comparing our experiences.  No one asked me why I was doing it, or expressed any kind of surprise or concern, unlike my oldest Korean friend down here who made a very suspicious face when I told her what I am doing and grumbled 'You know you're CHRISTIAN right?'  On the contrary, everyone seemed either pleasantly supportive or thoroughly indifferent, either of which is excellent as far as I'm concerned.  It was heart-warming to be part of such an accepting community.

Wow, the thunder and lightening are really getting impressive now.  I think I'd better turn off my computer for a while and get back to this later...after I've found the flashlights and candles! 

      

The Guardian

 

A traditional Korean tree sculpture, often found at the edges of old properties

 or at the entrances to important public spaces. 

Changwon House, Changwon, South Korea, November 2012.  

Prayer, Study, Devotion

 

 

 

Haedong Yonggung Temple, Busan, South Korea, April 2013

 

Cormorant

 

Aromoana, New Zealand, January 26, 2013

Lunch!

 

A tern at the Aromoana mole, Dunedin, New Zealand, January 26, 2013.

Happy Canada Day!

 

Vancouver Island, Canada, April 2013.



On the Art and Science of Not Eating

Last night I read an article in the news about World Cup soccer players fasting for Ramadan during the tournament.  The fact that anyone would be doing both at the same time blew my mind.  How do you run around for 90 solid minutes without any water??  Now that's dedication.

It's the first time that Ramadan and World Cup have coincided since 1986.  This doesn't seem like that long ago but is probably the entire lifetime of most of the players there.  Apparently quite a few players are both playing and observing the fast and a lot of people are wondering what effect (if any) this will have on their game.  According to past studies (there are studies on this?!), as long as their overall calorie count is maintained at normal levels throughout the month, then not very much.  The results are a bit mixed, but in general it seems like bodies adapt pretty quickly to the altered schedule.  Good to know. 

It's only day 3 of Ramadan, but at 8:30 this morning I was already hungry.  Apparently I have not gone through that period of adaptation the studies talk about yet.  Sunrise in Korea is at 5:11am these days, which means the morning meal needs to be finished just after 4.  Which means that for the last 3 days I have been awake at 3:30 in the morning, padding around the kitchen trying to get down enough to see me through the next 16 or so hours while not even a little bit hungry.  After all, at that hour it hasn't been that long since I ate my fast-breaking meal the evening before (around 8pm), not to mention it being a time when I am normally sound asleep in bed and definitely not thinking about food. 

This is the first time I've observed Ramadan in the northern hemisphere's summer, and it is entirely different from doing it during southern winter.  The days are much longer.  The interruption to sleep is much more acute.  The heat and humidity mean I feel the lack of water much more than the lack of food.  And the food, well, I have no idea what to eat.  In summer I usually veg out - lots of salads and fruit and small, light meals scattered throughout the day.  Exactly the kind of food that doesn't fuel a 16 hour fast.  On the other hand, the kinds of hearty stews that got me through my last two Ramadans are completely unappealing in hot weather.  I've experimented with a couple different options now but haven't struck on a combination that works yet.  As is clearly evident from the early rumblings of my stomach today, with almost 10 hours left to go before the fast breaks.

This morning's stomach pangs aside, if I don't get a better handle on how to manage my food intake during the next month then not only will I be hungrier than necessary for the next 27 days, but none of my clothes are going to fit either.  And not because I've suddenly dropped a bunch of pounds.  Ironically, the last time I fasted for Ramadan I put on weight despite not eating for a large portion of every day, and I am looking set to repeat that trend this time if I'm not more careful.   The issue that those soccer players at World Cup struggle with - keeping their calorie counts up throughout the month - is definitely not an issue for me.  I eat way more in the morning than I ever would normally, in an effort to make sure I have enough fuel to get me through the day, and then am so starving in the evening (and so aware that I haven't eaten anything all day long) that I eat more than usual then too.  Add that to not exercising as much as usual and it's a recipe for diet disaster.  How do people who do this year after year after year manage this?  Probably they have a lot more direction to follow than I do.  At least I hope they do.

Which brings me to the point of this post that I am supposed to neatly tie up all the loose threads and say something witty and moving in conclusion to make the reading seem worthwhile.  But I am feeling neither witty not moved this morning, just hungry.  Sorry.  There will be no tidy ending, no poetry to take into your day.  Just this - I hope that wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you know that you are blessed.  Whether your stomach is rumbling or not.  Happy Ramadan.