Thailand is a country so full of culture it makes your head spin.  Before arriving in Thailand, I thought little of Southeast Asia.  I never expected to find much of interest.  But as soon as I arrived, I found, to my enjoyment, that I had been quite wrong.  The first day I arrived in Thailand I got to pet an elephant that roamed Bangkok and ate a bag of fried crickets and locusts.  I toured a Buddhist monastery in Thailand, which began a period in my life when found truth where I least expected to find it.  Sometimes the most beautiful truth is found in the last place we would ever expect it.

South Africa is a wonderful country.  I am blessed to have this country in my repertoire.   There are epically beautiful deserts.  The Drakensburg mountains in the center of the country are supposedly where J.R.R. Tolkien was inspired to create the Lord of the Rings.  Lions, elephants, hippos, rhinos, hyenas, the wildlife is world renowned.

This photo was taken on a road trip around South Africa in the port town of East London.  A few of us drove in at ten at night with no place to stay.  We stumbled into a random church, asked them about lodging, and were given a house to stay in all to ourselves within minutes!  This photo was taken the following morning when we could actually see how lovely a town it was.

Some photos are easier to look at than others.  This is one of my favorite photographs, but not for the aesthetics.  There is something in the face of each child here that grips me.  It reminds me that I cannot forget what is happening around the world every day.  Every day a child is on the brink of starvation.  Every day a young girl is held against her will to do unspeakable things.  Every day, all over the world, there is an injustice.  I believe that as a Christian I am charged to not forget, and to fight for those whose voice often goes unheard.

This photograph is a reminder to me that there is more to life than what I so easily get caught up in.  It is easy to worry about bills, saving for a vacation, and any number of things.  And its not that those things are not legitimate, its just that sometimes it feels like that is all that matters in a day.  But today I am thinking of these children I saw in a refugee camp in Mozambique.

In this photo: Cordillera Blancas, Ancash, Peru

* only mountain ranges which I have seen, (which excludes  the Himalayas)

“Estan bien?” Our guide asked.  We nodded and kept trudging.  We were still several hundred feet below the upper cone of the volcano and already we could feel the hot wind coming down the ridge.

“Quieres un caballo?”  One of the boys asked, offering an easier trip to the top.  The older man, who I suspect was the boy’s father, was inspecting the horse’s saddle, as the boy tightened the straps.  The young horsemasters had been following us in case one of us grew too weary to continue.

“No gracias.”  I said.  “Estamos fuerte.”

The sun was lowering into the clouds and cast a golden glow upon the strange scene.  Below us, the earth was rich and green, alive with vegetation.  Above us, the earth had vomited its bile and had yet to recover.  Sharp, violent rocks were strewn about as if an explosion was still fresh in the mountain’s mind.  We continued upwards, into the hot, sulfury wind.

(The scene of the photograph, Pacaya, Guatemala, 2007)

Summer has felt like it has just about dragged on forever here in Florida.  Yesterday, October 30th, it was over 90 degrees and stupidly humid.  It is pretty aggravating for it to be this late in the year and for it to still seem like winter, or even fall, may never come.  Seasons in life can feel the same at times.  Sometimes they flash by, sometimes they drag on.  Some seasons are full of joy, while others feel like your trudging in sand (nice way to tie in the photo eh?).  But for whatever reason, we are supposed to be exactly where we are.

This is not mind blowing wisdom here.  But I just feel like sometimes it is easy to get anxious about the next thing that I forget to fully live in the now (A little Alan Watts wisdom for ya).  God is good in all times of life.  I am learning to hear Him, to be content while striving towards God and the best possible life He has to offer.

Much love to my one reader out there.  You know who you are!

What you can’t see out there is an orphanage set right at the base of the volcano.  This place was was an unbelievable setting to have a debrief.  And by that I mean, a place to think about the crazy experiences many of us had in Costa Rica.  I had no idea there was an enormous lake in Nicaragua, let alone TWO volcanoes popping up right out of the middle of the lake.

mayan figures at the temples of Palenque

I lived near the ancient city of Palenque for five weeks.  And several times I had the chance to explore the ruins that are still being uncovered from the jungles that have long kept the city hidden.  On one occasion a few of us snuck past the barriers by fording up a narrow creek.  When we climbed out of the cool waters and up a steep embankment, we discovered a temple that had not been opened to the public.  It was still very much in the middle of a reclamation project to chop away at the overgrowth.

That is when I was stunned to find such perfect reliefs carved into the old limestone blocks.  These three figures here were perfectly hewn and preserved as if no time had passed at all.  I felt like I was transported back over 1000 years to when the Mayans thrived here.

Check out my old blog here, (it’s from 2 1/2 years ago)

the clouds roll in over the 16,000 ft. Cordillera Negras

Every day the clouds would hand upon the Cordillera Negras.  When you live at over 10,000 feet, the vantage point is stunning.  This was the most beautiful place I have ever been.  What you do not see is the mountain I am standing on, 22,000 foot Huascaran, the largest mountain in Peru.