Hazel Ceej

There are seven xanthocarpous (yellow) fruits in the collage. Which ones do you like most? How many do you have in your part of the world? Mrs Nesbitt and the ABC Team

"Year after year beheld the silent toil "That spread his lustrous coil; "Still, as the spiral grew, "He left the past year's dwelling for the new, "Stole with soft step its shining archway through, "Built up its idle door, "Stretched in his last found home, and knew the old no more."  ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Chambered Nautilus Hello my bloggity friends. I celebrate the week remembering a few favorites: At the Temple of Literature , National University Hanoi... in that American Literature class our teacher made us 'chant' The Chambered Nautilus . She spent a few minutes on the beauty of the words and 'preached' the message into our heads. It was either the heat outside or the memories that made me linger in the souvenir shop. Both maybe. I quietly enjoyed the moment: viewing the beautiful shell as fond memories of college buddies and a teacher that I liked so much came spirali...

For some reason whenever I dig into my archives and see this photo, I always associate it with a scene from The Hobbit or the filming location, Hobbiton in New Zealand.  This is a spot on King Rama IX Park , and on the opposite side is one of the ponds. Thanks to our host: Water World * Our World Tuesday

Inside the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, built in 1070, pavilions have a screaming, fighting red ceiling. Or at least that's what came to my mind as I looked up with my ear to the guide emphasizing Vietnam's independence from Imperial China. So I was in Vietnam last week. With friends who took charge of everything (as I had been busy at work and had no time to search), i.e. hotel and airline bookings, deciding where to go, what to see, where and what to eat... and that is why I thought I had a grand time. Thanks to friends who gave me the luxury of not having to think of such holiday details.  Here's Chris, our guide. We're at National University, Hanoi. He also guided us around Hoan Kiem Lake, Tran Quoc Pagoda, and Hoa Lo Prison Museum. The stop at an ice cream shop was just as interesting. They say you have never really been to Vietnam if you didn't go on a cruise in Ha long Bay, so we made it the highlight of our trip. I took this shot from H...