Hypothetical Question

Take care!

5/23/2014

                 I always wanted to live in Vienna, Austria. I had a boss I worked for 
                 in NY who was from Austria, she was a Industrial Film Producer for
                Schering Plough, Volkswagon, she did training films, I ran the office.
                We're still friends today, she's now 88 and still lives in the same apt.
                on E. 55th St. near Sutton Place for 50 years. We would have lunch 
                together in her office and she would tell me stories about growing up
                in Vienna, I was enchanted by her accent. Her mother lived with her
                and I think she was the Dowger Queen, when I would go to their apt.
                for lunch we had to wait for her to make her grand entrance. For the
                past 30 years I have been watching on PBS The Strauss New Years 
                celebration from the Vienna Opera House, I sit and close my eyes and
                I could just picture the elegance during Strauss's life. To me Austria,
                England, Germany and Italy have such great history, art, music, that
                the USA doesn't have. I've seen many documentaries on smal towns 
                in these countries and the town squares, the many different stores
                butchers, grocers, fish mkts, etc., fascinates me, we don't have anymore
                in this country, it died a long time ago.

                                                         Cheers.. Joe... 

There are many countries that have beauty as well as history.  We also have history in America, however several hundred years can’t compare with several thousand years.
Those who have traveled come to realize that there is a world outside of the US.  We have all heard that “Home is where the heart is” and that rings true.  As we grow older, our sense of adventure dims and we prefer comfort.   Our life experience is something special.  We can try to share our experience with others, but it falls short.  We can describe a scene or situation and even try to describe the sounds and the smells, but it will never replace the experience. 
I think one has found their home when they stop yearning to be somewhere else.  I feel sad for those who must rely on stories about those far away places. 
There is much to be said for being young and reckless.  The young can afford to take risks.  As we age, either we can’t afford to take chances/risks or are just not willing to do it. 
I find it interesting how two people can observe the same scene and form different impressions.  No two experiences are alike.  I think that when people do travel they tend (as I formerly did) to make comparisons to home.  When one can enjoy the present, wherever that is, and be immersed in the culture of the place, it is then that we gain knowledge. 
A good writer has the capability to put the reader in the picture.  Don Stephens is one person that does that well and perhaps that’s one reason I am such a fan of his writings.  Writing in the first person can give the reader a sense of what the character is feeling or experiencing. 
There is still much to be discovered in our world.  Listening to the birds chirping in the evening, I imagine them talking to one another or singing their nightly lullaby.  The sounds of nature can provide enjoyment and calm.  I think that one must take the time to listen and be tuned-in to the universe.   Being too busy is no excuse.

5/24/2014

                      Abe..

                              I agree. In the Springtime till Fall the birds here in Santa Fe are
                      awesome, they migrate from other places, I always look forward to the
                      Hummingbirds, their so beautiful. Above where I live their is a portal
                      and the sparrows make their nests in between , many mornings it 
                      sounds like a hatchery, I have seen other beautiful birds that migrate
                      from Mexico beautiful, many times I walk around the compound which is
                      10 acres, or I'll go to a high area where there is a gazebo and sit quietly
                      just to listen to the birds ( always with my camera, you never know what
                      you'll see,) many times I'll come across a rabbit feeding and watch very
                      quietly. Last year It took me two weeks to photograph a roadrunner who
                       comes every year and lives here in the compound, I guess they like it
                       because it's a park like setting ( I call it Central Park,) there are so many
                       trees ( especially crabapples,) bushes, peace and quiet. It's such a great
                       beautiful way to tune out the world and listen and watch nature...

                                                        Cheers...Joe

Abe wrote:

I feel sad for those who must rely on stories about those far away places.

Different people have different ways of "travelling," I think. There have been periods in my own life when I went on lots of journeys to actual far-away places. At other times, I stayed at home, and my travels were not limited to real places or current times because I had books that could take me to other worlds and times.

I think of Emily Dickinson, and her imagination:

I started Early – Took my Dog –
BY EMILY DICKINSON

I started Early – Took my Dog –
And visited the Sea –
The Mermaids in the Basement
Came out to look at me –

And Frigates – in the Upper Floor
Extended Hempen Hands –
Presuming Me to be a Mouse –
Aground – opon the Sands –

But no Man moved Me – till the Tide
Went past my simple Shoe –
And past my Apron – and my Belt
And past my Boddice – too –

And made as He would eat me up –
As wholly as a Dew
Opon a Dandelion's Sleeve –
And then – I started – too –

And He – He followed – close behind –
I felt His Silver Heel
Opon my Ancle – Then My Shoes
Would overflow with Pearl –

Until We met the Solid Town –
No One He seemed to know –
And bowing – with a Mighty look –
At me – The Sea withdrew –


And there is this one, which can be interpreted to include going to more places than the nearby church, if you read it openly:

Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –
BY EMILY DICKINSON
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –
I keep it, staying at Home –
With a Bobolink for a Chorister –
And an Orchard, for a Dome –

Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –
I, just wear my Wings –
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton – sings.

God preaches, a noted Clergyman –
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –
I’m going, all along.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

Yes, some of my best travel experiences were through books.  In recent years, I haven't enjoyed reading as much as when I sailed or lived abroad.  Books don't pull me in like they once did.