Category / Creation

by canddaway

Musei

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Across the room he looked very much like the current 007. Close up it was definitely a statue of Emporer Claudius.

There was so much to take in as we trouped with hundreds of others around the many Vatican museums. The Pinacoteca or papal picture gallery drew us to a work by Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494) ‘Musician Angels’, part of a huge fresco taken from the church of SS.Apostoli.

In the Sistine Chapel we stood then sat for a long time. Michaelangelo’s vault was extraordinarily beautiful. The Sibyl of Delphi and the prophet Isaiah were particularly breathtaking.

I wonder how many people have pondered the gap between the loosened fingers of the Creator and Adam?

 

(image of Sibyl of Delphi from a photo of a picture)

by canddaway

Moor and sea

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On Friday we walked in Fryupdale to Danby Castle which sits in a strategic position overlooking the River Esk valley in North Yorkshire. In the 16th century it was the home of Catherine Parr who, after the death of her husband  John Neville, became Henry VIII’s last wife.

Today we walked the beach from Marske to Redcar. The tide was well out and, searching for evidence of a petrified forest, we instead came across a large ammonite fossil in Salt Scar Rocks.

by canddaway

Paths of joy

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Met up with a wonderful woman who has fundraised to have a labyrinth put into Centennial Park, Sydney. It is one of the most beautiful labyrinths we have walked. A lovely way to bring into the conscious mind all that we have experienced on our journey thus far.

Good to see and hear cockatoos again and to encounter huge ginger fruit bats in the stand of Paper Bark trees close by the labyrinth.

We spent the afternoon walking from bay to bay along the coast. Impressive surf at Bondi beach.

by canddaway

Labyrinth & Penguin

 

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Our last few days in New Zealand have included a search for a labyrinth beneath the low cloud hanging in the mountains north east of Akaroa, and a second encounter with Little Blue Penguins.

We found the Southern Lights Centre labyrinth and walked as the rain grew in strength. A simple path of white pebbles with random, beautiful, inlaid coloured stones.

Today we discovered the penguins’ ‘rest home’ near Christchurch Airport. These lovely creatures are beyond rehabilitation but receive compassionate care at the International Antarctic Centre. We had encountered Little Blues at night in the wild so this chance to see them close up in daylight was a bonus and enabled us to learn more about their lives and behaviour.

New Zealand keeps giving.

by canddaway

Welcome of small things

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Held safely within this tiny silo, with time and space to rest and reflect, it is no surprise that night dreams and day thoughts reveal to the conscious mind the significance and richness of hospitality – offered in sometimes the smallest and simplest of ways by this land and it’s people.

Another visit to the Cardboard Transitional Cathedral in Christchurch two days ago revealed the icon of welcome and generosity we have already met several times on this journey.

The questions this archetypal image poses for us may be something like:

  • in our very transitional pattern of existence just now, how can we live generously and with an open heart of hospitality towards others?
  • how attentive are we to receiving the profoundly simple generosity of life afresh each new day?
by canddaway

Through the mountains

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We left Abel Tasman two days ago and drove south west around several mountain ranges and over the Lewis Pass until we reached the alpine village of Hanmer Springs.

After a comfortable night in a B&B where we cried our way through the film ‘Billy Elliot’, we continued south east towards the Pacific Coast and our destination of Akaroa on Banks Peninsula.

It is good to have landed for a couple of days in this lovely place with its subtle French influence.