Sokcho/Mt. Seorak

View entire set on flickr

January Afternoon

I STEP OUT INTO the January afternoon to hear the unexpected, flitting chirp of birds – the sound is a breath of spring, and it fills me up. Whispers of sunlight burble in the cracks of clouds; the wide sky is smeared with blue. Muffled footsteps hurry towards their destination.

photo: Spring Feeling in January, by tillwe. Freiburg, Germany.

The Miles on my Traveling Shoes

WHENEVER I THINK about all the miles my shoes have seen, and about all the places to which they have carried me, I am reminded of a book that I keep meaning to read – Maya Angelou’s All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes. The opening paragraph alone is enough to stir a person’s soul out the door and to some far-off place:

The breezes of the West African night were intimate and shy, licking the hair, sweeping through cotton dresses with unseemly intimacy, then disappearing into the utter blackness. Daylight was equally insistent, but much more bold and thoughtless. It dazzled, muddling the sight. It forced through my closed eyelids, bringing me up and out of a borrowed bed and into brand new streets.

I hope that these new pair will carry me even farther.

AIDS Awareness Around the World

THERE ARE SOME EMOTIONS that need no translation – the pain of losing a loved one to AIDS is unfortunately one of them. Though it is estimated that the epidemic has lost considerable speed in recent years, the disease still claims the lives of millions around the world; World Vision estimates that up to 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS every day.

Tomorrow is World AIDS Day, and the Guardian has a really fantastic photo series of preparations for the event from around the world – from China, to Indonesia, to Greece – showing the breadth of the disease’s impact, and the accordingly global response. View it here.

Korea in Photos: Back in 2004 (Set 2)

SIFTING THROUGH OLD PHOTOS, it’s hard not to get reminiscent – this has been especially true as I go through the piles of shots I took during my time in Korea back in ’04 and ’05. Getting caught up in the crush of memories and emotions is difficult, and perhaps this is one reason (along with being generally busy) why getting these sets up has taken me so much time.

Anyway, here’s a sample from my second flickr set – I promise to have the entire volume uploaded and offered here before I take off to Seoul again.

view entire set on flickr.