My interests are broad - you will see that. Everywhere I have lived in the world I have found a project - or perhaps, it has found me. I have rarely taken the most obvious path, but usually find myself blazing a trail.
I have a friend, Kay, and we worked together for a long time. She is so smart and so personable that I use to tell her "quit this job and do something you love ... blaze a trail." Well, finally she listened (not to me necessarily, but to her heart) and she applied for a job she believed she would never get, but something she loved. Since then she has grown exponentially and has taken better and better jobs - jobs where she could use her natural born talents, be the leader, forge a path.
Today she is a hospital administrator for one of the two best health care systems in the world. I will leave you guess which one.
Get out there and go.... don't look back... give it your all. Life is too short for anything else.
There are many roads. It doesn't matter which one you take as long as you are genuine about it.
Alma-Alta, Kazakhstan (Almaty) ................March 14, 2014
I don't know about you, but I hate the cold and it is mighty cold here on any given day right now. They say spring is coming and I want to believe it, but can I really in that tomorrow I am going skating in the mountains! Skating, like on ice! In the evening, we will attend the Opera! From the Russian period, Kazakhstan has maintained its love of the arts. One can attend ballet or opera almost ever night of the week. I do find that amazing! And it costs very little to go so that almost anyone can find their way there - at least once in a while.
You can see the mountains from the veranda window. They are beautiful and so very close. I took this photo last Sunday and right after that it began to snow and it snowed all day long. Going out for a walk there was so much ice under the snow that I fell 3 or 4 times.... slippery! The buildings you see remain from the Soviet Era. They are made of concrete. The government has also continued the practice of heating everyone's home - just as was done during Soviet times. I can't imagine the bill! They do this all winter and when the Spring comes I'm told they turn it off!
March 15, 2014:
At about 4,000 feet in the mountains there is a skating rink in a valley. We skated there for about three or four hours. The snow was falling and that high up the mist was ethereal. I had used a "penguin" to skate because I had not been ice-skating since childhood. Then as we decided to take a rest, I thought to myself: "I think I may really be able to skate now," as I pushed the penguin away, I fell and heard the bones in my left ankle break, as well as those in my left wrist. This was only the beginning of the nightmare that will claim weeks and months of my life. Taken to Hospital 12 in Almaty (a place I will not even take up discussion on here) I was later medevac'd to Munich, Germany for two surgeries. After 14 days in the hospital, I was released to be medevac'd to the next destination.....
For more on Munich, see "Getting a Grip in Munich".
"Her" shape is so very fine
This One Tree Somewhere
I don't know where the photo above was taken, but it reminds me of places in Africa. I like the concept of this lone tree, surviving somewhere. It is such a beautifully formed tree just growing there in the dry earth. Let's all try to guess where this was taken.... Believe me, I don't know, but I would love to..... If you have any idea, please write to me.
