Tuesday, March 31, 2015

MY CAMERA SHY SELF PORTRAIT


City Daily Photo Challenge: April 1, 2015





Typically, I take awful selfies. Either my mouth is agape or my double chins are far too obvious. And they always look staged and unnatural. In short, I avoid them. Until I discovered the reflective selfie. Store windows, puddles, car windshields all have produced suitable to even nice selfies that I don't mind sharing. But bubbles?

In fact, this is the ultimate selfie. However, I only learned it was a selfie AFTER I took the shot and viewed it later on the bigger screen of my iPad. My original intention was to capture the rainbow colors of all the bubbles that shined like jewels against the sand. Little did I realize that within each of those bubbles is a self portrait of MOI! Very cool!

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Reflections on My Journey with the Internet:

Can an Old Dog Learn New Tricks?




As I make my final preparations for my next trip to Europe at the end of April, ideas for my newest travel journal posted in real time flood my brain. WHEW! How far I've come in a few short months! And with that, what a good time it is to reflect on the evolution of my relationship with technology, social media, and the internet. 

This blog in addition to my As Seen By Susan Facebook page are both new adventures of mine that I launched during the first three months of 2015. It all began last fall when I took a trip to Istanbul, Turkey and Nice, France during which time I kept what I liked to call my "unofficial travel journal" on my personal FB page. Since I have been a picture-taker all my life, I figured it would be fun to post a few pictures now and then along with a bit of an explanation just to let people know where I was.

Little did I know when I posted my first few pictures how much my friends and family would enjoy them, nor how exciting it would be for me to see who "liked" each post and to read the comments. As a result, I began to post daily photos along with expanded commentary--be it a description of the location, the stories surrounding the photos, or my personal reactions or insights to traveling. Quickly I became hooked on the process, and as I took pictures each day, I found myself thinking how I could use them in my next Facebook post later that night back at my hotel.

After I returned home, I was surprised by another perk of posting my photo journal on Facebook--the Social Book. In a few short keystrokes, I was able to order a hard copy version of all my Facebook posts from the dates spanning my trip. So now I had a printed version of my photo journal, including all the "likes" and comments of my FB friends. How cool was that? (My answer: Very cool!)

Nevertheless, offhand comments by several people made me realize that I was not reaching all those friends and family who were not on Facebook. Thus, the seed for starting a blog was planted. But how? As an aside, I am a self-proclaimed technology-phobe and am not at all adventuresome on the internet. That I had figured out on my own how to post pictures and text on Facebook on my iPad for my unofficial travel journal was indeed my greatest accomplishment to date. But I was also aware that posting travel photos on my personal FB page had its limitations. (It had to do with mixing my public travel journal with my personal politics and other potentially controversial topics.) So that became the impetus I needed to learn how to create a second FB page that would be dedicated to my travel photos and commentary along with selected posts I chose to share from other sites.

Looking back three months out, it really was relatively easy, but at the time it was akin to taking "three giant steps for mankind." I studied pages of travel sites I followed on Facebook including The Good Life France  and Henri Loves Paris. I even messaged the authors who generously shared a few of their secrets of getting started. And so on January 1, 2015, I took the giant leap and launched my new Facebook site As Seen By Susan. However, I still was not reaching my friends who were Facebook averse, and that bothered me. I knew what it meant--writing a blog. But once again, how?

I read all the how-to posts online and tinkered with free sites such as Blogger, WordPress and Weebly. But at the first sign of confusion on my part, I baled. I asked online friends who blogged, and while all were very kind, their advice was basically to just jump in. So I examined the blogs of other sites I followed including two of my favorites-- Paris Adele and Paris Through My Lensand on March 15 I gathered up my courage and jumped in. This blog site is the result.

Now I have a two platforms that serve multiple purposes as I ease into my second six months of my first year of retirement. Posting my photos gives me a creative venue to share my view of what I see--when I travel, or in my garden, or in Walla Walla (my hometown), or in the surrounding Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon. Writing allows me to practice the very skill I taught for 24 years to 6th and 7th graders and is another creative outlet. And having an internet presence via Facebook and my blog keeps me in touch with old friends while also making many new friends. 

I'd say this old dog most definitely learned a host of new tricks and can still proudly wear the badge of "Lifelong Learner."


Thursday, March 26, 2015

ISLE SUR LA SORGUE



Sunday Open Air Market--Part One


I love flea markets and thrift store shopping. And even though I really don't "need" anything, I love browsing just to see what catches my fancy. Some of my favorite clothes, jewelry, and art de jardin (garden art) are flea market finds. And now with the arrival of spring, brightly colored garage and yard sale signs are popping up all over my town enticing me to come take a look. Is it any wonder then, that I was like a kid in a candy store when I visited the Sunday Open-air Market in l'Isle Sur la Sorgue last October?




First of all, a quick three words about the town itself: c'est bon, merveilleux, terrifique! In fact, it was everything this Walla Walla girl could imagine a small town in Provence could be. The town is situated along the meandering branches of the Sorgue River which explains the presence of so many antique water wheels once used in the prosperous silk and paper industry. This location combined with the narrow streets lined with small shops, restaurants and hotels, made l'Isle Sur la Sorgue a pleasant oasis after spending two previous weeks in the much larger cities of Nice and Istanbul.
We scheduled our visit to include the Sunday Market which is mentioned as a must-see in every travel guidebook in print. And I wasn't disappointed. To say it had everything from soup to nuts is not an exaggeration. But baggage and airline weight restrictions prevented me from making large-scale purchases, so instead I did a lot of virtual shopping with my camera. Allons-y!

Looking for a man's chapeau?
Or perhaps a woman's cloche or beret?
How about a pair of colorful canvas espadrilles?

Is that my stomach I hear growling? There's certainly plenty to eat.

Mmmmmm, this rotisserie poulet and
roasted pommes de terres smell good!

Cheese is always tasty especially French made frommage!
Cheese can be purchased by the full wheel or by the demi wedge.
Your choice.
Or how about a pizza, by the slice or by the pie?
No anchovies, s'il vous plait.

Don't forget dessert, to eat now or to take home for later.

These fruit crumbles look yummy!
Is the red one blackberry?

Or maybe nougat made with raspberries, violets, lemon or almonds.
I'll take a wedge of each.
               


 Oh yes, don't forget the nuts.

 There's still a lot more to see. I think I'll take a break for a moment.  À tout à l'heure !

Friday, March 20, 2015

MORE ART OF THE PEOPLE

Graffiti or Street Art: Is there a Difference?

One of the things I love to photograph when I travel is the 'art' I see on the public buildings and walls. Which always brings me to ask myself--what is graffiti and what is street art, and is there a difference? In my home town, anything tagged, written, or drawn on public spaces without the consent of the owner is considered graffiti. Most of this is tagging by rival gangs who want to claim their territory and is usually removed by the owner soon after it appears.

Whereas, on Isla Mujeres I saw many examples of what I would call street art. That is, art created by an artist or group for the benefit of the people who live/work in the area. While styles and techniques vary from simple black and white line drawings to full color murals, it all caught my attention and made me stop and take notice. Here are some of my faves. 

Considering there is a Swim-With-the-Dolphins tourist attraction at the south end
of the island, this drawing may be a quiet political protest against that practice.


I don't know the meaning, but I love
the turquoise cat face on the yellow wall.


These two murals (above and below) appear on the front of a public building located next to the town square and tell a pictorial story of the island's Mayan history.



This colorful building is the streetside view
of a three story vacation rental unit.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, these two murals below (along with several others that I did not photograph) are part of a ground-breaking street art project called Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans. Last summer (2014) internationally renowned artists were invited to Isla Mujeres to paint large-scale public murals designed to raise awareness for the need to protect threatened whale sharks and oceanic manta rays. Had I known, I would have made a point to photograph all of them. I guess I'll just have to go back for a second visit!

A mural by Aaron Glasson and Yoh Nagao.


Thursday, March 19, 2015

STREET ART

Feminine Rising

A mixed media collage of tile mosaic, paint and found objects caught my eye on this colorful wall along a side street in Isla Mujeres. With a closed door and no windows, it was hard to tell if this was a private residence or a members-only club. Definitely photo worthy.





Monday, March 16, 2015

A DAY AT THE CENOTES

Here we are, all ready for our first Riviera Maya excursion.

Up until now, I have avoided posting personal photos on As Seen By Susan. That's because I want my Facebook post and Blog to be about the photos themselves and the unique, artistic, and sometimes quirky way I see things as I travel. But for every rule, there is an exception, and this is one of those because this day was too much fun not to share.

Picture this: seven women gather in Cancun, Mexico to celebrate their 65/66 revolution around the sun. Two of us have been friends since second grade, and the rest since junior high school. Growing up in Birmingham, Michigan we are now from disparate corners of the country--the Bay area of California, upstate New York, the Jersey shore, the Mile High City of Colorado, the foothills of Virginia, and Walla Walla, Washington, the town so nice they named it twice. (That's where I live.)

While we look eager and excited, none of us really had any idea what we were in for. Yes, we all had donned swim suits under our clothes, and those who had them brought along masks, snorkels and fins as there purported to be snorkeling involved, along with zip-lining, rappelling and kayaking. Sounds like fun, right? But where? How? And just what is a cenote?

This is an example of an ancient cenote.
This is an example of a semi-open cenote.
Cenotes are fresh water sink holes or pits resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock. They create an underground river system that the Maya considered to be sacred and an entrance to the underworld. In addition they were an incredibly important source of fresh water. (https://www.locogringo.com/mexico/ways-to-play/riviera-maya/eco-adventure-parks/cenotes-caverns/) 





Strapped into life jackets, with sunglasses and shoes tightly secured, our first activity was the zip line. Now, I've zip-lined years ago on the ropes course at home, and more recently in Hawaii, where zipping from tree to tree made me feel like a monkey. But each of those times I was carefully and safely strapped in so that I could wave and cry out--Look Ma. No hands! Not here. Instead, we were instructed to hold on to the bar as long as we could and then drop into the green water of the cenote below us. The first photo is of one of Sue who had no problem (or fear). While I was not outright scared, I did worry about my grip strength to hang on long enough to be able drop into the "drop zone." An early drop would have been perfectly safe as the water is very deep; it's just my ego that would have been bruised. But as you can see, with grit and determination, I hung on and dropped flawlessly into the water. YES!



From the drop zone we swam along the river of cool water in this first cenote. Along the way we spotted a turtle and marveled at the limestone walls and jungle vegetation. We also re-enacted our water ballet skills first learned in the early 1960s from Miss Jeanne, our PE teacher at Derby Junior High. Decidedly, trying to do a proper ballet leg while wearing a flotation device was next to impossible. So we reverted to fewer underwater ballet moves and more synchronized swimming maneuvers on the surface of the water. It was also disclosed that Andi is part of a women's synchronized swimming group where she lives, so she became our new leader and mentor.

Lynn and Kathy jump from 12 feet into the water. Before we exited this cenote, we all made our first cliff jumps where life vests made for splashy and buoyant water landings.

The location of the second cenote required a 45-minute drive down dirt roads past small Mayan villages. Our guide Erik told us we were experiencing a 'Mayan Massage' as we bounced along the washboard and pothole-filled surface. All at no extra charge! This cenote is semi-open and connects to the aquifer through tunnels and caves.The flow of water is horizontal and the time the water stays put is usually short. Being semi-closed means it is considered a young cenote. As such, it also meant that we had to rappel into it, so we donned harnesses and helmets along with flotation vests.



Heretofore, my experience at rappelling was limited to a ropes course and a climbing wall, so this seemed less like a rappel and more like a controlled zip line. The operator at the top had full control of the brake as he slowly lowered each of us down into the cenote. While it was a safe and unexciting drop, inside the cenote was a magnificent wonder-world of blue water and hanging tree roots.



As an added bonus to the rappel, we had the chance to jump off two 16 foot ledges--one more like a stone diving board and the other a cliff. I did both. Yippee!

A group shot in the semi-open cenote.



The third and fourth cenotes, while pretty to look at, were rather tame as far as the adventure factor. We snorkeled in a cavern cenote where there was little to see underwater although the ceiling of the cavern itself was worth the swim. Then we kayaked in a open cenote which is described in the brochure as a wonder of "vertical walls and exceptional landscape."Yes! to the landscape. Meh! to the thrill. But wait, there's one more cenote.





The fifth and final cenote is an advanced age cenote, known as an ancient cenote. This type naturally presents a limited flow of water to the aquifer due to a collapsed roof or walls along with sediments, which make the exchange with underground currents restricted and the flow of water a lot slower. As such, it was the prefect setting for a double zip line from two sides--basically over and back. This time we also had a choice as to the method of zipping--hand-held bar or sling/swing. Kathy shows both strength and style points in her bar zip, while Donna and I make perfect water landings in the sling. 10 points for everyone!



The final thrill was a cliff jump of 20 feet into this last cenote. Here Marlis and I were caught in transit, but to be fair, Kathy jumped too!

The Birmingham Babes after a fun day in the cenotes.