Flight confirmed

Enough reflection on roads not taken, it is time to pack my bags and take flight.

Hope to return in a few weeks…

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear:
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence:
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, 1916

And why not?!

Walled communities

“…And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go…”

Good walls are said to make for good neighbours.

But a little paint can draw attention from their function.

They may be neglected

Or apparently abandoned.

Seasonal

Or overhung.

Shadowed

Immaculate

Down on their luck

Or possibly a crime scene?

Broken

Or under construction.

Vibrant with colour

Or protected by Saints

“…Before I built a wall I’d ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offense…”

“Good fences make good neighbours.”

All quotations from: Mending Wall, Robert Frost, 1914

Living with Piles

This morning’s walk was an opportunity to focus on the problem of piles.

Alongside the road were piles of gravel.

As well as piles of rubbish,

There was an abandoned pile of terracotta roof tiles

And piles of bags –  stuffed full of something.

Piles of pallets were waiting to be used.

So too, were precarious piles of concrete blocks.

Even my barber appeared to suffer from small piles outside his house.

But fortunately, as yet, there is no need to refresh myself with this particular brew.

Crossed Lines

On a trip to collect tickets there are lines to be crossed.

Railway Lines

Lines of Ambassadors

And Lines of Autos.

Untidy Lines

Gas Lines

And Lines of Music

Outside observer

As an outsider

 

You observe from a different perspective.

 

The differences in ages.

The difference in size, and in gender.

Differences in posture:

 

As some sit

 

Some stand

 

And some stand whilst others sit.

 

Some Nike. Some kneel.

 

Some dress traditionally, some prefer modern wear.

 

I observe what insiders have left behind them.

 

And wonder about the words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bearing Fruit

The front yard of my house is quite small.

But it includes a very young mango tree.

This year for the first time it has borne fruit: my first mango.

My pomegranate tree is also in fruit.

And the gardener has just put in a banana plant.

I think I feel a fruit salad coming on…

A Vestition Party

I must arrange a small party.

My friend’s nephew is a seminarian. Next week is his vestition: he starts to wear the traditional long white cassock of the local priests.

The ceremony will take place in the Bishop’s House Chapel, just a very short walk from my home. After the service his family, who live several miles away, are coming to my house for refreshments.

The day staff have kindly agreed to stay late and prepare food for the guests. My house-boy will serve snacks and drinks. I am told to expect a group of ten to fifteen family members.

This morning I was informed that we have insufficient crockery.    I promptly took the house-boy, and an auto rickshaw

on a shopping expedition.

We buy tea glasses:

Twelve of them;

Tea plates:

Another dozen;

And of course, more cups and saucers.

I also spot handy containers my coffee,

which comes freshly ground from the Munnar hills.

Now all that’s left to do is wonder what I’ve let myself in for...