As I write this I hear my inner voice say “”You will never learn anything of yourself or about others if you do not go see do”” Chiang Mai~ Just one day of images

Chiang Mai~ Just one day of images  

Chiang Mai as I saw it ... Intoxicated by life, driven by the unknown it is impossible to absorb it all. When 5 images are not enough, when 10 images are not enough when 50 images are not enough to tell a story, what do we do? We share more images~ Inside the city and the surrounding towns and villages of Chiang Mai~ Part One! — in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

As I write this I hear my inner voice say “”You will never learn anything of yourself or about others if you do not go see do”” 

When the color blue is not the color blue and white is so bright it is not white it is pale yellow, where water dances as feet enter and exit puddles, where cows and monkeys cross your path as much as people on scooters or bicycles..  Where I get lost is in the purity of life, the energy of enlightened people and the body language of the learned. Somewhere from watching to absorbing as much as I can, or as much as they allow.  While others rested and slept I found myself wanting more. Wanting much more out of life. I have found my mind drifting to the opening scene in Lawrence of the Arabia, it started 6 months ago. I must have seen that movie over 30 times. It is one my all time favorites movies but I am not going to dwell on that now. Over several years I have had the pleasure to meet some special or “”touched”” people that have come into my life, that had this pure  energy the air of righteousness, the brilliance of conversation, the skills to understand everything around them.  

I find myself chasing those souls and finding the magic in life's daily rhythm.

Cambodia: Friends, New Acquaintances and now some I'm happy to say are now part of my extended family

Albert Pine said it best:  “What we do for ourselves dies with us.  What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.”

One of the things that propels me to savor “Life” or “Time “it is that the people that I constantly encounter are special that each has something that they have offered me without knowing it, without hesitation without any doubt I know that everyone has something to offer others! 

For weeks and months I was surrounded by a mix a great of souls which felt like  I was being schooled or re-schooled by life.  I close my eyes and hear many alien voices speaking to me. A moment later I feel like I was just pulled back in time…..

But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” Robert Frost

So true, sleep the restlessness I have to keeping editing from the slide show of perfect moments…

Marcel Proust wrote, “Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were!

As a photographer I beg to differ, because a photograph is a carbon copy of exactly as it was...... 

Thank you, Thank you for being you and thank you for letting me in!

Iphone style~ 30 days up and down the east coast, Florida to New York to Florida Via Virginia, Tennessee & The Carolina's~

Iphone style~  30 days up and down the east coast, Florida to New York to Florida Via Virginia, Tennessee & The Carolina's~  

 The return to Florida last month from Thailand & Cambodia came and went quickly less then 48 hours back I was on a plane heading back to NY. A funeral, an unveiling, a birthday celebration or 2 , a few doctor visit’s then I was off to the farm in upstate NY (https://www.facebook.com/northshirefarm).  

More planes, another train, a long drive and I was still jet lagged and still adjusting everything here, language, English only lol, store hours of operations, to the cold air up there (* compared to Thailand, Cambodia and Miami 98 degrees plus humidity) it was winter time for me up here at 55 degrees at night and 70 degrees during the day. Some say that is perfect, that everyday that every evening should like that.  I disagreed and found myself at a Walmart at 11 pm buying socks and a long sleeve sweatshirt... 

After two weeks helping out on the farm, I headed south riding with my uncle Jay through the country back roads in NY. Loops, wild turns, long flat stretches of road the only being interrupted by hills and valleys where black and white specs which always turned out to cows were in the distance.

After a few hours Jay headed east and I continued south to my next destination The Blue Ridge Mountains in Stuart's Draft Virginia to meet up with Rev Kris.  I was there 2 previous times once to shoot for a Magazine called Destination Travel Magazine on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is Named “America's Favorite Drive" I must agree... the second time I was there I almost drove off a local Virginia dirt road high in the blue ridge mountain’s at 3840 above sea level when a bat, flew into my truck and landed on my arm, we will get to that another time. During that visit I spent a day working from what is called the Top of the Hill, on that farm we were making apple butter with a church group of 150 people. (* Another story from a few years ago)

I found myself back there again this time on my bike, this time I was with a local on another bike, this time the roads are fresh, so, so, so fresh that there are no white lines or yellow lines painted on it, where the heat of the tar mixing with the morning cold created this amazing fog that only rose about 2 feet of the road. It was sporadic and was only seen in the shadows of the pine trees. Very strange, but so amazing to be moving through it at 100 MPH only to see in the distance the upper ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  

What I recalled or dreamed of was the journey in Thailand and Cambodia up in the mountains there on a 150 scooter going over battered roads and inconsistent streets, at 50 -60 MPH and feeling well comfortable, thinking this as I am ripping through these 2 lane roads at twice the speed or more, these are ideal conditions I was alone (* even with other riders I was alone) I was tuned in, the reggae vibe blasted in my ears and life was just a green blur of trees and dancing shadows on the road… 

Stopping only for gas and then for lunch this is part one of the journey south.

From NY to Florida life is simple, life is the Same, Same but different thank you for pointing that out to me again and again… *

With all the rain so many weird butterflies that were like me trying to finding shelter 

Ahhhh Home again... South Beach style.... 

Shout out to Rev Kris, Jay, Josh, Heather, Gertie, Michael, Pastor Pete and Doug in Ashville, Ryan and Kate from St Louis- the boys from Atlanta Cliff and Rob. Good times, good meals, great stories, Great rides!  Thank you…. Thank you.…

And then my oldest buddy has given me a new nickname … “”The Sheik”” Yes I have returned Guercia and I left my mark on your wall… 

Cambodia: Ankor Wat The ruins in rain~

The Clouds will Pass~ 

“From time to time, confusion will come. Clouds will come. When you are in confusion there won’t be light. When the cloud is there, there’s no sun; you don’t see the sun. You should at least know that beyond the clouds there is a sun. The cloud will pass. The sun will shine.

By Sri Swami Satchidananda

Siem Reap: the level of level of my comfort was unmatched by anything I have ever experienced prior to this pureness of energy that radiated from within, it rose from below, it welcomed me like no other.  On my scooter I felt that secure connection while traveling on streets with no names, on dirt roads that were littered with pot holes, where at any moment a person could pass you going the opposite way on a one way street in the wrong direction. I can accept that, I can respect that, I can and I did what I could do to avoid any broken bones or worse. I was in Cambodia what I learned in Thailand or one of the things I learned in Thailand was everything is “”Same Same but different.

"Ankor Wat" Cambodia  

"Ankor Wat" at sunrise and at first light right after the rain

Different it is different it was. Different I learned…….

Angkor Wat is just one small piece of the jig saw puzzle of what is Cambodia. Spending only three days in the bowels or chambers of this mythical city was clearly not enough time.  Angkor Wat is one giant piece of what once was life, and never will be again. Angkor Wat has left its massive foot print, filled with many questions for us kids to explore, it left us adults to walk about in wonder, it has silenced the scholars, it has pulled in masses of people from around globe and left others speechless and stationary in there tracks.  This is just one small piece of what I feel or what I felt while hiking, walking, riding, sitting and meditating.

Then there are the people (lots of them), the police ( helping you or trying to sell you there hats, badges and police issue belts), the monks (immersed in prayers always looking for a moment to sit with you), the artists of trade (hawking everything from coconut painted scenes to native attire) and the tourists ( OMG from 5am till 6 pm I did everything I could to avoid any white tourist, except the 3 I was with) ,the dogs and cats ( too many to rescue but I did my best to feed) the monkeys, the elephants, the giant red ants, flies and mosquitoes ( it is a jungle) being surrounded by being in the center, being connected here, walking barefoot It was just the most brilliant, amazing, fantastic eye opening experience I have ever walked into! 

So many more to follow..So many more stories to share.. So many more moments to come..

At the end of this road is there is only.......................