"The sharp knife of a short life

I've had just enough time..."


- "If I Die Young" The Band Perry


I see Beauty in many things. And like the ghosts that only speak to you if you notice them, they tell me wondrous tales. With my camera and my thoughts, I captured these as faithfully as I can to share with you. And by doing so, they gave me the reasons. And though the thousand reasons may not all be sweet and some indeed bitter; they are still reasons to live. Come to think about it, that is Life, isn't it?

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Eden Is Between Ithaka and Home




I've had just enough time to...   look for Eden somewhere between Ithaka and home



Taken of a Himalayan valley from the edge of a mountain



Eden is between Ithaka and home
But they are in different directions!

Can you take your heart to Ithaka
And not think of home?
Can you stay in the comfort of your home
And not yearn for Ithaka?

I packed my bags and sleep under the stars
Heading for Ithaka
When the journey gets too arduous
And my steps too weary
And home came in my sleep
I know it is time to return

Eden is not a place in some mystical land
Eden is between home and Ithaka

_______

Ithaca 

When you set out for Ithaka
ask that your way be long,
full of adventure, full of instruction.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - do not fear them:
such as these you will never find
as long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rare
emotion touch your spirit and your body.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - you will not meet them
unless you carry them in your soul,
unless your soul raise them up before you.

Ask that your way be long.
At many a Summer dawn to enter
with what gratitude, what joy -
ports seen for the first time;
to stop at Phoenician trading centres,
and to buy good merchandise,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensuous perfumes of every kind,
sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can;
to visit many Egyptian cities,
to gather stores of knowledge from the learned.

Have Ithaka always in your mind.
Your arrival there is what you are destined for.
But don't in the least hurry the journey.
Better it last for years,
so that when you reach the island you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.
Ithaka gave you a splendid journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She hasn't anything else to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka hasn't deceived you.
So wise you have become, of such experience,
that already you'll have understood what these Ithakas mean. 

Constantine P. Cavafy





7 comments:


  1. A 1000 Reasons
    My friend Oola asked a rhetorical question – “Where is Eden?” the night before. As I drove to the hospital for them to draw a tube of my blood, this line popped up “Eden is between Ithaka and home”. After the nurses stressed my heart to see if it is beating correctly, I sat alone in the hospital canteen pondering over the thought on the way here. I wrote the rest of the lines in the only paper I could find, in the back pages of the book I brought along to read. I am not that much of an adventurer that I never thought of the warm bed at home in my travel. And I am not that much of homebody that I do not yearn for the quest to seek my Ithaka. Between the two is my Eden. Neither alone is.

    A 1000 Reasons
    I did not notice the bird(s) when I took this photo. When I viewed it after I came home, I thought that is a very strangely shaped bird. I even wonder if it could be a kite, para-glider or a light plane. But when I enlarged the next photo, I discovered that…

    A 1000 Reasons
    I wanted to show 3 different views of the Himalayan valley which I shot - one before the sun comes up, another just at the breaking of the dawn and a third under full daylight. I thought it is interesting to see the valley under different lights and hope that you thought so too. :)

    ★ineedathis added this photo to his favorites.
    The famous Ithaka, we have one in New York but the most beautiful is in my Mother land Greece:-) Eden my friend is where you make it,
    I like your magnificent shot Thou!

    A 1000 Reasons
    Precisely!

    ★Prometheus_BD added this photo to his favorites. (
    Marvelous shot!!

    ★ΞSSΞ®®Ξ added this photo to his favorites.

    ho.ge
    May you can find Eden always in your heart!
    a fantastic landscape - great shot!

    Amg80
    Stunning image

    ★october blue ( away ) added this photo to their favorites.
    Great image and very wise words, Jimmy ! I hope you are enjoying a Happy New Year . I wish you many happy travels in 2013 ...but I am sure you will be wise enough not to fly to close to the sun....and you will also know that the flight back Home is the best destination of all . I'm still busy...but hope to return to Flickr as soon as possible . Wishing all the best for you and your family in the year ahead :-)

    ReplyDelete

  2. A 1000 Reasons
    Maybe some day I will find a place that I will never want to leave even for a little while. If I do, then I will know that is my Eden. But I doubt I will ever find one in this world. So I look no further than my Ithaka and home.

    A 1000 Reasons
    I discovered that I’ve captured two birds instead of one in my shot! In the far left, you can see that there were two birds flying very close together. In the first photo, their form merged but in the second photo, they separated but still tailing each other. I’m sure they are a couple. I thought that was very romantic and brought me a smile…

    ★ΞSSΞ®®Ξ added this photo to his favorites.
    Freedom!

    Rajagiri
    This is nice...

    Prozak2012
    Looking for lost paradise!!
    This Photo is invited to the ~ Beautiful Capture Group ~

    sethph88
    splendid...

    ★Onasill added this photo to his favorites.
    Wonderfullly captured.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. henrhyde (gill)
      Beautiful image and moving words.

      娜 娜☂Nana
      Wonderful find and I love the sea of ​​clouds...
      Beautiful scenery !

      娜 娜☂Nana
      Eden是我嚮往的地方...天堂...
      那裡是天使住的國度。
      ★娜 娜☂Nana added this photo to her favorites.

      Delete

  3. ★Geo_grafics added this photo to his favorites.
    Beautifully done :)
    And it is where ya find it ;)

    sethph88
    great shot...

    ★MOSTAFA HAMAD I PHOTOGRAPHY and Onasill added this photo to their favorites.

    Onasill
    Splendid sequencies of views Thou-San. Kudos

    Onasill
    Have a wonderful day

    ★Yasmin de light - added this photo to her favorites.
    Thank you for sharing this different versions of the Himalayan valleys. It certainly is like a vision of Eden. Love how you have captured the birds in flight too. Apart from that I hope all is well with you - in relation to hospital visit. Wishing you a happy week my friend : ))

    ★shantyrof added this photo to her favorites.
    And now I am happy I am not alone, when i see and visit your the last photo. Happiness becomes tired and bored if no one has the latest from your pictures. I really appreciate all your hard work so far and produce a spectacular picture. Have a wonderful day my friend.

    ★Felix Schmidt Photography (Fiduz) added this photo to his favorites.
    Beautiful tones and atmosphere!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Andrew 62
      here and there and back again .... always
      wonderful mood in your image

      henrhyde (gill)
      Very beautiful --- your words , so thought provoking and dreamlike.

      Mami_H
      Very nice shot!

      ★娜 娜☂Nana added this photo to her favorites.
      Very beautiful --- your words...I agree !
      Good morning, my dear friend...A Happy Day! : )

      kelly dilello
      simply beautiful
      I love the cloud mountain on the left. As always your words are so well matched to your beautiful photo

      BerColly
      Excellent!
      Merci pour votre visite et commentaires!
      Thanks for your visit and comments!
      Bonne et heureuse année 2013 !
      Happy new Year!

      Delete

  4. 娜 娜☂Nana
    Have A Sweet Dream
    Love and blessings !!My Dear friend San:)

    Steve Taylor (Photography)
    Is it a bird, is it a plane? Might be a kite

    Robbie Phelan
    Lovely scene and matching words

    old tea
    Awesome capture !!!

    oola *
    the bird... perfectly placed...
    is his journey horizontal or vertical?
    perfect

    oola *
    REQUIEM

    by: Robert Louis Stevenson

    Under the wide and starry sky,
    Dig the grave and let me lie.
    Glad did I live and gladly die,
    And I laid me down with a will.
    This be the verse you grave for me:
    Here he lies where he longed to be;
    Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
    And the hunter home from the hill.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Home Is the Sailor ---A.E. Housman
    Home is the sailor, home from sea:
    Her far-borne canvas furled
    The ship pours shining on the quay
    The plunder of the world.
    Home is the hunter from the hill:
    Fast in the boundless snare
    All flesh lies taken at his will
    And every fowl of air.
    'Tis evening on the moorland free,
    The starlit wave is still:
    Home is the sailor from the sea,
    The hunter from the hill.

    oola *
    this might seem off base..but i think that if you get into the mind of the song writier...tom lewis... you might hear echos from eden... or maybe ithika?
    Recall
    The War To End Wars ended and I told my friends at school:
    "Someday I'll sail around the world!"; they laughed and called me: "Fool",
    But even as a youngster I was stubborn as a mule,
    I set out to be a sailorman.
    I signed aboard my first ship with a bright and cheerful song,
    They said I was a nightingale who eased the work along,
    I learned the old mens' stories and the work-chants loud and strong,
    That's how I became a shantyman..
    I screamed just like a banshee to be heard above the gales,
    To keep the watch in unison and help them reef the sails,
    The crew were tough as whipcord, the Skipper hard as nails
    Still they needed this young shantyman.
    But days of sail were ending and steamships coming fast,
    I watched them sail into the wind, no sail set at the mast,
    Black coal to drive them onward and no more the cool, clear blast,
    A cold wind blowing for the shantyman.
    Sitting on the capstan as my mates walked round,
    I fiddled to the rhythm of the pawl and ratchet sound,
    But hissing steam and clanking piston need no music now,
    Say goodbye to one old shantyman.
    Long decades past without the worksongs roaring to the sky,
    And sailormen upon the beach could only wonder why,
    Those graceful ships of yesteryear no more would greet their eye,
    Washed up like flotsam was the shantyman.
    But now once more the great square-riggers sail the oceans wide,
    Those tall ships filled with green, young sailors working side by side,
    The old songs ringing-out again, the shanties never died,
    Hoist Blue Peter for the shantyman,
    Blue Peter's hoisted for the shantyman.
    Words & Music by Tom Lewis
    (Recorded by Tom Lewis on Surfacing!)
    youtu.be/lEdBWw6VOPU you can hear him sing it here..it is wonderful...

    ishratzakiasultana (on and off)
    Eden is not a place in a mystical land.... indeed a very thoughtful note! That's a magnificent shot! I was also thinking that it might be a light plane that you caught coincidentally. Thanks for clarifying the puzzle :)
    Stay blessed!

    Nikita_70
    Magical! Must agree with the 4th comment!

    Onasill~Re-organizing
    Had to follow the link...from 4 months ago.

    dodagp
    Hi my dearest friend Thou or Jimmy !!! You almost reached your destination,you softly touched it.
    Himalaya or Eden or Ithaka,they have made you rich,you fly high,you have understood what these Ithakas mean ... All the Best,Doda
    Sorry for MIA ...
    Warm Greetings -«Ευχήν Οδυσσεί»
    iTHACA

    ReplyDelete

  5. zneppi, the photo freak
    This really looks like Garden Eden... a fantastic view!!
    You are not a plane spotter, but a "bird spotter" as it seems... :D

    Steve Taylor (Photography) 9 months ago | reply | delete
    So very beautiful

    oola *
    your poetry is.. as usual... so deep... important... insightful...
    like a meditation...
    not the one that is so "silent"
    but the one that enlightens...
    cudos, Thou San
    ... oohh yes... those birds do introduce the aspect of not being alone... in eden

    Nikita_70
    magical once again! superb!

    ReplyDelete

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