Southeast Asia

In the near future, I am going to begin posting a (long) series of blog entries about Dan’s and my recent trip to Singapore, Myanmar, and Cambodia. I’ve been through a first-pass edit of literally thousands of photographs, and I’m culling the best few that will give you a flavor of what the places, the people, and the activities were like, without putting you into visual overload.

So that you can get a sense of the big picture, here’s a table of contents, of sorts. I’ll start with Myanmar (Burma), move on to Cambodia, and then show Singapore. This is not the order in which we traveled. We traveled to Singapore first, then Myanmar, Cambodia, and (briefly, no pictures) Thailand. However, the order I’m using makes sense as we will move from the most removed from what we consider the “modern” world to the most modern.

Inside Myanmar, I’ll show some highlights of Yangon (Rangoon, until recently the capital) first, then Bagan (a UNESCO World Heritage site), bustling Mandalay, and the enchanting and surreal Inle Lake. Each of these may require more than one entry, so it’s going to be a longer Web journey than the actual trip. But I hope you’ll stay with me on this visual adventure!

 

Views near Golden Grove

Warm late-spring days are truly magical on the island. The air is sweet with roses and Russian olive blossoms. The sun is strong and hot during the day and the stars are bright at night, but at sunrise and sunset a cool fog rises from the sea. And the elements dance: fire and air, sea and land.

Bureaucratic irony

I can’t deal with bureaucracy. Having a delicious sense of irony only makes this problem worse. Take, for example, this actual sign on the US I-91 highway in Connecticut, regarding the exit onto Connecticut Rt. 3 North:

NO PERMITTED LOADS ALLOWED

I am not making this up.

If the load were not permitted, would they allow it? Does anyone besides me see a problem here?

Amber gets a new lion cut

Amber the Maine coon cat got a new lion cut for the summer yesterday. He looks so serious and regal, all 23 pounds of him.

Gwenny the 8-pound Russian Blue, who has lived with Amber for fourteen years, no longer recognizes him. She hisses when he comes into the same room with her. And if he’s in a room first, she won’t go in.

Views near Golden Grove

Why would the house still be unrented for the week of July 3-10th? This, when the week includes the July 4th holiday, with the island’s wonderful hometown parade, and with fireworks, both manmade and natural. Fireworks a lot like this:

and this:

We’ve reduced the price for the week to encourage some lucky person or group or family to come out and share the beauty of our lovely island. If anyone is interested, call Ballard Hall Real Estate at 401-466-8883.

Views near Golden Grove

I am especially partial to those sunset moments when the sun approaches the horizon so that the thickness of the air makes it go all gibbous and misshapen. Especially if there are a few clouds about to enhance the effect.