Scenes on Sunday ~ Favourite Places
some places I’ve been seem to feed my soul
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
sunset is a wonderful time a day
Aztec Wisdom and Lost Luggage
Do the best to treat yourself with truth and loving care.
Red Rock Country, Arizona
On my very recent rip to Arizona I was fortunate enough to be taught some of the wisdom of the ancient Aztecs. These new-found insights into dealing with the more difficult parts of life came in useful ~ when I eventually got back to the North of England, after some 30 hours travelling from the Western USA.
After an interminable delay at Heathrow, I manged to arrive late at Newcastle upon Tyne Airport ~ I got home, but my luggage didn’t. I did not take my missing luggage personally, British Airways had loaded none of the passengers’ bags onto that flight. Something the pilot only told us just as we about to deplane at Newcastle. You can imagine the scene at the baggage agent’s desk in arrivals, with more than 100 people completing forms, crying, and complaining bitterly about their ‘lost’ luggage. It was chaos.
I remembered some of the teachings of the ancient Aztecs;
- Be open, honest, and honorable to yourself and others. In all honesty, it didn’t much matter to me that my luggage hadn’t arrived. That just meant that I wasn’t going to be starting my laundry as soon as I got back to the garret. I was also honest with myself, and accepted that all the crying, complaining, and shouting passengers at the baggage handling desk annoyed the hell out of me.
- Don’t ever take anything personally. I wasn’t singled out by fate or British Airways to suffer the inconvenience of missing bags. There were more than 100 people on that flight, and all anyone had was their carryon bag.
- Don’t make assumptions. I’m not assuming that my luggage will eventually arrive, or not. What will be will be, and there’s
fuckbugger all I can do about it. - Always do your very best. Yesterday, and the day before were not my best days, but somedays my best isn’t as good as 100%, and somedays my best is maybe just 50%. However, if I always do the very best I can in the circumstances, then that’s the best I can do.
These teachings applied to the trivial matter of a horrible 30 hour journey and missing luggage. However, these teachings of the Aztecs apply even more to matters of much more import in one’s life. For example; Love, Relationships, Illness, Poverty, and Abundance…..
Some say that Life is a version of Hell. And that if you think someone is out to get you then they probably are. All I know is that the Cosmos doesn’t really single me out for misery and misfortune ~ even in matters of missing luggage.
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ack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Road Trip Arizona
Arizona is arid and mostly empty.
I’ve only been in the Copper State for a few days, but it will leave some lasting impressions on my memory. And, not just the obvious ~ that it’s big, empty, and fucking very hot.
This is a place of contrasts; from the red desert to the high pines, and from downtown anywhere Phoenix to utterly crazy, totally living in the past, Flagstaff, Arizona continually surprised me.
Red Rock Country around Sedona reminded me of John Wayne western movies, and the high pines on the road to Flagstaff reminded me of innumerable Jimmy Stewart westerns. Funny how one’s impressions of a place can be coloured by the film’s one watched as a boy.
But, mostly what I’ll remember about this place is that, on average, it’s empty. There’s a lot of space with bugger all in it except rocks and heat.
I like Arizona, but the whole world is a big place, so I don’t think I’ll ever get back here.
Some say that Arizonians know what’s best for Arizona. And, that there’s more to the Grand Canyon State than heat. All I know is that this state is extreme.
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Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Meteor Crater has no visual references to tell your mind just how damn huge it is
Meteor Crater, Arizona
And God created the Heavens and the Earth.
Some say that God created the cosmos in six days, and that the Earth is 6,000 years old.
Science tells us that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old, and that the mile wide crater near Winslow Arizona was made by a meteor 50,000 years ago.
Standing on the edge of the crater there is no sense of scale, but it’s huge.
What nobody will tell you is that standing on the edge of the crater in June, you will get eaten alive by midge and mosquito alike. Go very early in the morning, in colder weather, but go. If just to know that all the religious fundamentalists are wrong.
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Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
If a meteor had to strike anywhere, AZ is as good a place as any, as AZ is mostly empty space.
Scenes on Sunday ~ Utah Skies
In the sky’s vast infinity one’s soul is manifest loneliness.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
pictures taken by
The Girl Riding Shotgun
Rain in England
Rain, rain go away, come again another day.
Right now, where I live, it’s raining cats and dogs. That’s a bit of a shame because it means I’m going to be stuck in the garret until it eases off a bit. Going out in the rain and cold is one reason lots of us English people seem to have coughs and colds a lot of the time.
It’s going to rain for most of the day here, and in fact it’s raining over most of the UK. Our Met. Office have flood warnings posted for several coastal towns ~ luckily not right here.
A lot of Americans think that it rains all the time here in England. As a matter of fact, in comparison with some places in the world, we don’t get that much rain. On average, where I live we get about a couple of feet of rain in a year. In comparison, supposedly sunny Hawaii has an average of 5 feet of rainfall in a year. Perhaps Hawaii is not ever going to be right at the top of my bucket list.
Some say that it rains every day in England. And that we English must love the rain. All I know is that we do get a little sunshine, usually in the middle of July.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
what a grey day
Scenes on Sunday ~ Memories
sometimes, the good memories are all we have left
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
don’t run away into the desert
but enjoy your desert adventures
Scenes on Sunday ~ 2019 Travels
These are the places I will be visiting this coming year.
California ~ perhaps take a road trip.
Lanzerote
Olu Deniz in Turkey
Crete
Malta
London ~ again
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
the issue is,
finding a travelling companion
Scenes on Sunday 2018
How many miles must a man travel, before he finds himself?
This year I’ve been to some interesting places, for example;
starting with California
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Oludeniz in Turkey
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Llandudno in Wales
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Crete
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York
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Albuquerque in New Mexico
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Lanzerote
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and more California
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
and was I happy with all that travelling?
you bet I was
Scenes on Sunday ~ Favourite Pictures 2018
These are among my pictures I like most of all.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
taken by the girl riding shotgun
