This is like so many roads off in what is known as the Gold Coast hinterland, that tract of land between the ocean and the mountain range that runs along the eastern side of the country, known as the Great Dividing Range.
This is the road that runs behind where friends of ours live, and runs on down into a valley where a river runs, and when the rains come down, floods.
It’s hard to imagine that a few hundred years ago all of this would have been tropical jungle, and intrepid explorers would be making their way north or west, just to see what was there.
I imagine in another 100 years, all of this will be gone, given over to housing, shopping malls, and factories, and anything that resembles country living will have been moved out to far beyond the mountain range and towards the what is called the ‘red’ centre.
Or there is a reckoning with mother nature, and if there is, I know who I’d put my money on.
Washington is a city with bright shiny buildings and endless monuments, each separated by a long walk or a taxi ride if you can find one.
We might have picked the wrong day, shortly after New Year’s Day when the crowds were missing along with everything else. Or, conversely, it was probably the right time to go, when we didn’t have to battle the crowds.
Sunny but very cold, the walking warmed us up.
First stop was the Lincoln Memorial
It was built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.
It is located on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument.
The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln.
The next stop was the Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington. Construction of the monument began in 1848 and not completed until 1888. It was officially opened October 9, 1888.
We then took a taxi ride to the Jefferson Memorial
This monument is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), one of the most important of the American Founding Fathers as the main drafter and writer of the Declaration of Independence.
Construction of the building began in 1939 and was completed in 1943.
My phone, being smart and all, has been creating a notification that tells me I have some memories stored on it for this day a year ago, or two years, or many years.
The pictures it is showing are of our trip to China last year.
Not much chance of going back, and, back then, neither of us could imagine that everything that has happened in the last six months could happen.
But, it did.
And one of the effects of those events is no more overseas travel
No more travel of any sort at the moment with the travel restrictions in place. We can’t even fly to another state. Come to that, we might not have an airline to fly on.
Travel, of course, is the main escape, where we can get away from our daily lives, and go somewhere quite different from where we live and experience a different world. The people, the food, the sights.
What is probably more significant is that we might not be able to go away again, if there is no cure for the virus. No one will want to risk catching it in another country, simply because of the medical expenses, the chances are that travel insurance will not cover you for the Coronavirus.
And no cover, no travel, even if you are able to.
So, it means that any travel we will be doing, when we can, will be in our own country. We can do this without a vaccine because we have so few active cases, and the measures we have is stopping it in its tracks.
So too for New Zealand, and we may be able to travel there.
One day.
Until then, my smartphone is going to keep sending me gentle reminders of what it was like in another lifetime.
Well, we were off to an illustrious start until the dulcet tomes of the Chief Engineer rang through the bridge, uttering those fateful words, “the warp coil has had a catastrophic failure”.
This was et with alternately, the Chief Engineer is prone to hyperbole, to ‘they just don’t make warp coils like they used to’.
Looking at the screen, we can see the planets taunting us :
I was curious about M75, but the helmsman, a rather taciturn chap who seemed to resent the fact he was assigned to this ship, just shrugged and said, “it’s something, somewhere, but not of much interest,” then went back to his console, probably in the middle of a solitaire game.
If this was Star Trek we’d be ejecting the warp coil by now, but in the space dock, that didn’t seem to me to be a viable option.
“How long before we can get this bucket of bolts moving,” I ask the Chief.
“I’m going as fast as I can.”
Yes, words ripped right out of the script of a Star Trek episode, I thought. A sad case of life imitating art.
A strange whistling sound emanated from the speakers, then the whoosh of the elevator just before the doors opened. OK, new ship, squeaky doors, an item to be put on the ‘look at’ list after the shakedown cruise.
It’s the Captain.
“Why are we still in dock, Number One.” For a moment there, I thought I was talking to John Luc Picard.
“Faulty warp coil. You know how it goes, save a billion by sub contracting to the Chinese.”
The Captain doesn’t appreciate my sardonic humour, or my apparent disparagement of the Chinese manufacturing sector. Maybe that’s because he is of Chinese descent. “I’ll be in my quarters. Let me know when we’re about to leave.”
He doesn’t wait for acknowledgement, and disappears through another squeaky door. More repairs.
The Chief’s voice comes over the speakers. “I can give you impulse speed, warp speed will take a little longer.”
“Doesn’t that refer to miracles over the impossible,” I ask.
“Perhaps. I need a specific spanner, and the replicators are down. So, now we have to fix them, before moving on. Might take a while.”
I look around the crew, seeing their expectant faces drop with disappointment.
Outer space was going to have to wait a little longer.
For all of those who have seen Star Trek over the years, they will know the command issued to get under way is ‘make it so’.
Right after we have a look ‘on screen’ where we’re headed:
I’m not sure where SP is, so that’s not the destination. On being asked the question by the helmsman (I think they’re the one who steers the ship) where are we going?, I think we’ll just head ‘somewhere out there’, accompanied by a grand gesture that covers the viewer.
Of course, as you can imagine, the helmsman might not have an imagination, so we’re going to have to narrow it down a little:
So, we say we’re off to the moon. In this class of ship, though, that will probably take about an hour, but it does give us time to think further on where we’d like to go.
Then, like all trips into outer space, time seems to fly, and we’re being requested a new destination.
OK, let’s go and check out some of the planets.
Saturn, and try to keep away from the space junk, and then, I think, Pluto, and yes, I hear you, Pluto isn’t a planet.
I thought since it is Spring here, we could do with a breath of fresh air and colour that comes with the change if season
Living in Queensland, Winter never quite seems to be as cold as it is in the southern states, which are closer to Antarctica.
We have had a relatively mild winter this year and I didn’t have to light the fire once, though we did use the reverse cycle sir conditioning.
But, from now the temperature will be rising as well as the humidity and will hang around until April next year.
Normally this would mean that a large proportion of the population would be planning their summer holidays, but with Covid restrictions, we may not be allowed to leave our state, or only visit states that have no or few cases like us, and definitely no overseas travel.
For people who like to travel, this is a bitter pill to swallow, and especially so for all those retirees who have worked all their lives, and decided to wait until retirement to see their own country and the world at large.
To me, the adage ‘don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today’ seemed appropriate and we decided once the kids were old enough, we would travel far and wide while we could. It was a wise decision because neither of us are as agile as we used to be.
Seems we were the lucky ones.
Now we are content to see our own country which no doubt will be able to manage Covid to the extent that life might return to a form if normal sooner rather that later.
And if it doesn’t, then I have enough to amuse myself at home. I’m sure we are all familiar with the expression ‘spring cleaning’. We have decided to clean house, and do some renovating.
And it’s a surprise when cleaning out those cupboards, drawers, and boxes, the stuff you’ve accumulated over many, many years. Last I heard, we were taking about getting a large skip, so I suspect this culling is going to be savage.
But, just to be clear, no books will be thrown out!
I wonder what secret agents do when the the jobs done and they go home,
No doubt they are aching from head to foot, and every step it takes from the car dropping them off to the front door is like a mile and a half.
And, inside the door, do they drop the bag/case/duffel on the floor and just lean against it, and look at what is their ‘other’ world’, that one that doesn’t include luxuripous hotel rooms, the finest dining, and fastest cars, and weaponry.
You feel the inside of your jacket, and, yes, the gun’s not there because it had to be handed back, and for a moment you feel just a little unsafe.
You think, what if an enemy agent had been waiting for me, how would I defend myself. But there isn’t and you don’t have to.
The place has that slight musty smell about it, like you have been there for a month or so, because you haven’t, and your first inclination is to open the blinds and let the light in.
And then you think, no. I just need a rest,
Perhaps a drink first, check the pile of mail that had accumulated inside the door, perhaps a postcard from an acquaintance made.
There isn’t. And then you remember you were going to restock the bar, but that call came and you didn’t have time.
You stretch, and, yes, there it is, a strained muscle from that fall off the roof, that tug of a tendon that you pulled chasing a villain down the road, and then beiong chased by a car, didn’t thin you could outrun an Audi did you?
No, nothing to do but rest.
A slow shuffle to the lounge, use the remote to switch on the TV, change the channel to the news, what’s going on in the world.
It’s a place to go and spot the movie stars, or perhaps their dogs.
It’s a place to go for long walks on idyllic spring or autumn days
It’s a place to go to look at a zoo, though I didn’t realize there was one until I made a wrong turn.
It’s a place to go for a horse and carriage ride, although it does not last that long
It’s a place to go to look at statues, fountains, architecture, and in winter, an ice skating rink
I’m sure there’s a whole lot more there that I don’t know about.
I have to say I’ve only visited in winter, and the first time there was snow, the second, none.
Both times it was cold, but this didn’t seem to deter people.
But…
We decided to go visit another part of the park, this time walking to West 67th Street before crossing Central Park West and into the park where Sheep Meadow is.
Once upon a time sheep did graze on the meadow, but these days it is designated a quiet area inspiring calm and refreshing thoughts, except for a period in the 1960s where there was more than one counter-culture protest, or love in, going on.
And, there’s the sign to say it was Sheep Meadow,
and that’s the meadow behind the sign,
Well, I don’t see any sheep, but of course, that’s not why the meadow is named or should there be any sheep on it. That greenery that can be seen, restoring for the spring, was a very expensive addition to the park.
As a matter of fact, there is nothing was on it, because signs were up to say the meadow was closed for the winter, a new and interesting variation on the ‘Don’t Walk On The Grass’ signs.
I’m sure I could climb the fence, or, maybe not. I’m a bit old to be climbing fences.
So, unable to walk on the grass, we tossed an imaginary coin, should we go towards West 110th Street, or back to West 59th Street.
West 59th Street won.
and, just in case we had any strange ideas about walking on the grass, the fence was there to deter us. Perhaps if we had more determination…
One positive aspect of the park is that you could never get lost, and the tall buildings surrounding the park are nearly always visible through the trees, more so in winter because there is no foliage, maybe less so later in the year.
There is also a lot of very large rocky type hills, or outcrops where people seem to stand on, king of the mountain style, or sit to have a picnic lunch, quickly before it freezes.
Yes, it is cold outside and seems more so in the park.
I wondered briefly if it ever got foggy, then this place would be very spooky, particularly after the sun goes down.
I was poking around on the gallery on my phone and found this
It was the rear of the club house for a golf course that was adjacent to the resort we were staying at before COVID shut down the country and all travel.
It was a bleak day with rain falling from drizzle to a heavy shower, and I had to wonder what it would be like on a fine summer’s day.
The club house also had space for conventions and weddings, and I could imaging having the wedding in the rotunda as the the sun departed leaving behind shades of yellow, orange and red.
Having a fountain in the wedding photo would be so hard to take either.
Perhaps we could renew our vows one day in just such a location.
It is located in Dengfeng Ave, Dengfeng, Zhengzhou, Henan, China, at the southern foot of Mount Song, 13 km northwest of Dengfeng City, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province.
A map of the Temple grounds, which would come in handy before you enter the grounds, so that you have some idea of what there is to see:
A bit of history:
The Shaolin Temple was originally built in 495 during the Northern Wei Dynasty (368-534). For over 1500 years, Shaolin Temple has developed through good and bad times. The temple was firstly destroyed in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581), then rebuilt much later as the Zhihu Temple. In the Sui Dynasty (581-618) the temple was renamed Shaolin and became one of the largest Buddhism monasteries in North China.
Good fortune in the early Tang Dynasty (618-907) was followed by bad fortune in the later of Tang Dynasty, it improved during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) until 1312 in Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) where it returned to its former glory. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) also made contributions to the development of Shaolin Temple.
Due to the wars of the modern era much of the Temple was destroyed.
The Shaolin Temple, nestled in the forested mountains of Henan, its the birthplace of Kung Fu and Zen Buddhism. The Shaolin Temple embraces many exciting attractions, such as the Hall of Heavenly Kings (Tianwangdian), and the Mahavira Hall (Daxiongbaodian)
This is not a single building, that’s not how the Chinese work. It’s a whole host of buildings, the first of which is up some steps, through a gate, then along a tree-lined avenue with monument stones to some more steps, past a cauldron burning incense, and then to the temple. There are several monks inside.
The front entrance:
Inside the entrance building, there are some large statues that I’m guessing are there to scare away the wrong sort of people
Once past these characters, you are on a walkway between pagodas where there are trees, and sculptures
and through the next pagoda brings you to the first of the temples. There are three doors and three buddas. This is through the middle door
And no you can’t go inside, you just stand on the outside looking in.
In one part of the temple there were three monks, and, believe it or not, they were all on their mobile phones.
This is certainly not ancient times, so what did the monks do before mobile communications?
Up some more stairs to the next building,
And so on till we reach the one at the top. Outside each is a cauldron burning incense, and that aroma hangs on the air everywhere you go in the compound.
Then it’s a case of what goes up must come down, and strangely enough, it doesn’t take as long to go back down, and in doing so we got to see and hear a bit of singing by the monks.
There was a story to go with the various buildings and other aspects but I didn’t hear half of it, and couldn’t understand our guide for the rest.
All in all, it was an interesting place, but still not worth the money we paid.
