Come away with the raggle taggle gypsy-o
genetic footprints
lines of women walked before me
ever increasing one 2
four eight sixteen
don’t draw breath thirty 2
sixty four do the math
seven generations trace back
race back to century 18
spring seven lines ahead
bounce my genes to century 22
I only track back 2
and project two forward
will I hold three planet walkers?
or will that privilege be lost
as one back is lost to me?
….. the queue was so long …..
You have another 100 words to add, will you join in this week? Visit Julia at http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week86/ for more info.
Soup Kitchen
‘See that tall spire?’ said the woman, who wore layers of scruffy clothes, I nodded, thinking that could be me in a few years, if I’m spared. ‘They have food and beds most nights’ she said. Relieved, I went down the hill, but as the light faded so did my energy.
The path levelled out and the spire disappeared from view. My stomach howled, like the wind that blew rubbish around the cobbled maze of streets. I willed my frozen feet forward. A path opened up; there was the church, salvation at last. But the queue was so long, I waited all night for sustenance.
Travel on the chaotic streets of Jaipur in Rajasthan and you can’t fail to notice an abundance of contrasts. Wealth and poverty, youth and age, ancient and modern. Here is some of the traffic chaos, shiny gas guzzling monsters, alongside tuk-tuks and hand carts, all relentlessly squeezing themselves in and out of one of the old city gates.
Next, not the best photo I’m afraid, the Palace of the Winds, what a romantic name. Also known as the Hawa Mahal, this five storey masterpiece was built in 1799 by Maharajah Sawai Pratap Singh. It’s lattice windows were made so the the royal ladies had a window on the world without being seen as they were in purdah. Imagine the luxurious opulence inside compared to the lives of the ordinary people on the outside.
This post is for Ailsa’a Travel Theme, join in here, http://wheresmybackpack.com/2013/04/19/travel-theme-contrast/
As you know I was captivated by Buckland Abbey. It isn’t the most grand of National Trust houses but for me it is an interesting one, packed with history and little surprises. Here are a few of the things I enjoyed.
I know, it’s just a chair leg, but imagine all the ankles that have brushed against it.
Time flies indeed.
I loved the little incense boat.
A 17th century sea chest.
Elegant porcelain.
A model of the Golden Hind.
This chess set has Lord Burghley as King, Queen Elizabeth as Queen and Sir Francis Drake as the Knight. Each of the Pawns is a miniature Golden Hind.
Sara Rosso has chosen Up this week. I knew this was familiar and sure enough some of us have been UP before. Here is mine from 2011 https://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/weekly-photo-challenge-up/ I still love my laughing Arabian!
To join in this time go to http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/weekly-photo-challenge-up-2/ and add your entry.
This time I’ll show you one just snapped at the park.
Further from home, the tower in Kuala Lumpur
and one to make you rush! If they rang you had to get up really quickly!
Hand crafted gentleman’s attire
A lovely gown made by the Costume Group
Sir Francis and his good wife
The collar detail
And lastly, the lady from my poem last week. She was very knowledgeable and when I admired her hat, she told me that Elizabeth 1st ruled that all ladies should wear woollen hats. This apparently was to help promote the growth of the woollen trade.
I have just been inspired by a TV program to show you three books that I tried to photograph at Buckland Abbey last week. The program, The Century that Wrote Itself, sets out to trace ‘our modern sense of self back to when ordinary people first took up the quill’. These books were not written by ordinary people, but one at least would have been written with a quill.
This one is my favourite and its the oldest, a medieval Antiphonal from Italy in the late 14th century. An Antiphonal is a winter choir book giving the sung parts of the service for each day from the first Sunday of Advent to the feast of Pentecost.
Lucid Gypsy 