229) Lao/Thai B+W Film

These were taken in Laos and Thailand with Rollei Retro 400 film on my Contax G1.


Above and below: this is the man that let me sleep at his camp when I was lost in the jungle. In the top picture you can see him tapping out bee larva from a section of honey comb, that was the protein for both dinner and breakfast. Northern Thailand.




Above and below: around Laung Prabang, Laos.



The next four pictures below are from Maung Khoua, Laos. This was a very interesting town with very limited electricity. The first picture (directly below) is of a baby getting a bath. I watched as the father heated water in a stove and then poured it into the big tub where they washed the baby.






The three pictures below are from Nong Khieo, Laos. It is a small northern city, a few hours south of Maung Khoua, and almost as primitive in respect to things like electricity.





These last pictures are from Vang Vieng, Laos. Vang Vieng was a great place where Ed, Andrew and I spent most of our time exploring caves and walking around, enjoying the scenery.

228) The Desert Cries

Over the last two or three years the author Craig Childs has become a constant staple in my leisure reading. Anyone interested in the desert, nature or adventure might really consider picking up one of his books. The most recent book of his that I read is called The Desert Cries. In this book there is a chapter about a flash flood that killed 11 people in Antelope Canyon. The four photos here are from that canyon and the quotes are from the chapter about Antelope Canyon in Childs book The Desert Cries.

"In the desert, the two primary elements are stone and water. Stone comes in abundance, exposed by weathering and a lack of vegetation. It is a canvas. Water crosses this stone with such rarity and ferocity that it tells all of its secrets in the shapes left behind. Antelope Canyon's interior is the pure expression of both."

"Would this be the perfect place to die? It would be a swift and difficult death, I know that. Even ghosts are scoured clean from this place. I try to shake the thought from my head, because I remember that children were left behind, their parents killed here where I am standing."

"Even the ancient cross-bedding of the sandstone, the gentle lines left from the rock's origin, are swirled into the shapes. They look like the warp and weft of a loomed textile."

"Sweeping in and out of each other, the rock walls look more like fabric than stone. The canyon slides around itself, a hall of mirrors."

227) Nice Days

The weather has been very nice, today in particular was beautiful. Sun is shining, flowers are blooming, grass is green, all in all a pretty nice time to be stuck at home with no car.

226) Around the House

I've been home for a couple weeks now. I have been doing a lot of nothing, with a side of looking for jobs and some direction in my life. I am pretty limited by not being able to drive, and not having any friends in the immediate area. But it's not too bad, and I have been able to get to Chicago to visit people there.




In the mean time it is kinda nice living the lounge life. The weather is good, so that means campfires and sitting in the hot tub, and it is nice to be back home in spring. It has been about three years since I have been in WI in warm weather.