Therapeutic Smile

Cottage by the Sea

 Just spent a few days at a cottage by the sea.  A reef right offshore with great bodysufing waves, tidal pools big enough to snorkle in, lion fish in caves, fisherman brining the catch of the day to your front porch, and an ultimate frisbee tournament to move.  (Tiwi Beach, Kenya)

Visitors from the North

 Sometimes you see people that seem just a tad bit out of place.  Pink and yellow trousers in the all-too-often drab/dark city palette are a dead give-away.  When I saw this mother and son leaving the Underground, I couldn't help but think they had just arrived from some magical nordic land... perhaps Iceland or Norway--or Miles Island of course.  Arriving to the big city for the first time, they bring with them fresh air, poetry and a sense of wonderdiscovery. 

Gallery Peoples

Pollock People.  One: Number 31, 1950.

 Clip-ons and Monet Waterlilies

Bleekmen (by Huma Bhaba) and girl

untitled (to the "innovator" of Wheeling Peachblow) and father and children

For more gallery people, check out this post.

A Pile of Tools

That'll be 1 quid, the guy told me when I took this shot.  (Brick Lane Market)

In the Village...Ankle Patch, Miles Island

Noticed this guy's sweet ankle patch while in the field the other day.  Love the stitching.  Is it a coincidence that it's roughly in the shape of Africa?  Which came first, the hole or the patch?  We may never know...

The Rains

 The rains have finally come!  Here's what the sky looks like just before it opens up.  Kind of reminds me what a breaking wave looks like when viewed underwater.

The Lookout

Keeping an eye out for coral... and a good anchorage.   (off the south coast of Kenya)

The Lamb

Still thinking about Easter...

 (photos top to bottom from Corsica, Lake Bunyonyi Uganda, and Bungoma Kenya)

A Perfect Thatched-Roof Home

 A perfect cozy home.  One of the nicest I've seen in all my travels.  Sleeping under a roof like this in the rain must be kind of like sleeping in a tent--much better than the metal roofs that seem to be so in vogue these days.  Need to learn the alphabet or numbers 1-20?  Just write it on the window cover, of course.

 The insides of these homes are serious works of art. 

A different home, to be fair, but definitely fits the theme.  True wallflowers. 

Kangaroo Boy and Cellist

Sometimes you're in the right place at the right time.  I was on the High Line the other afternoon and came upon this cellist (Erik Jacobson) just as he began to play some Bach suites.  Then I saw the coolest little kid dancing off to the side as people started to gather around.  After a little while, the child's dad gave him some money which he blissfully kangaroo hopped over to the cellist's case.  Now there's an islander.

  

The Shack and The Lobsterboat

 Went with my family to one of my favorite places on Miles Island a couple weeks ago:  Islesford.  I was thinking of submiting the above photo to a favorite website of late, Cabin Porn.  No, it's not what you might think, but rather cabins, cottages, huts, shacks, and other small liveable nooks from around the world--many from Scandinavia.  "Inspiration for your quiet place somewhere."  I'm just not sure if this qualifies as a cabin since no one (human, at least) lives in it--maybe the treehouse in the background counts?  I'll submit and see what they say.  More pics to come from our ramble around this magical place...many thanks to our gracious hosts.