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I have laid my camera down to rest...

I have laid my camera down to rest these days - mostly to process the deeply moving and dynamic images of the Balkans that remain with me - but once in a while a surreal image imposes itself upon my usual perception...and the camera just finds itself in my hands...










While waiting for the ferry which would take me to Victoria to see my friend Alison in early March, I was enthralled by this typical westcoast mystical scene. This major shipping port is transformed into a fantasy scene ...







Island time changes everything ...











This area is well known for it's restful inspiration. and casual lifestyle. However, this part of the 2 hour trip is treacherous for ferries who squeeze by each other in this narrow passage called "active pass". For passengers it is titillating to be part of the drama as two ferries 'dance' their way through the narrowest neck of the passage. Often Orca whales can be seen along the way.















I could have sworn I was somewhere in the UK - but no, I pinched myself again. I am here in the smallish coastal campus of Royal Roads University on the west coast of Vancouver Island.























I thought you should see some of the forest the west (wet) coast is famous for... this is NOT a rain forest, but close enough. Rain forests have very high and impenetrable canopies that create creepy dark shadows and mossy green undergrowth - very difficult to take pictures if you are not sophisticated enough. So I had to lighten this on my computer after the fact.















The south arm of the Fraser River looking towards the bush plane charter section of the Vancouver international aiport, my son Jeremy and I enjoy an Easter Sunday walk along the Richmond Dike - me wishing I had my wellies to get through the tidal muck to take this shot. I am situated just off the 'dike' in Richmond - a municipality built on delta land surrounded by this singular walking and bike path that follows the marshlands where blackbirds and many other species of bird frolic about during the ebb tide - and which protects the burgeoning skyscrapers and apartment blocks from tide surges and storms. From here the river empties into the Juan de Fuca Strait. Most of the float planes service the gulf islands and the remote northern sections of the province.

















The building of a controversial (what isnt these days) ice arena for the 2010 olympics. (I live so close!) An overwhelming majority of citizens feel it was placed in the wrong area for future accessibility. However, it promises to be an interesting building with a pagoda style roof that fits with the City of Richmond which is where many Asian citizens live.




Where are the mountains you ask? The ones that British Columbia - is known for? ... I have none that do justice to these magnificent bumps. So I will save that for another time... ;-) Suffice it to say that from downtown Vancouver we can see the towering snow-capped peaks of the "Lions" in all their glory on beautiful sunny days - which are not too often in the winter. From then on - until one is past the famous Rockies in B.C. and Alberta - there is nothing but mountains, valleys, rivers, mountains and more mountains.

The Road Much Travelled... 2004-2007

The pictures on this post are a fusion of my love of the people in a very complex and beautiful BiH and a few of my adventures over four years of my stay in south eastern europe. Each year brought new faces, new experiences and new themes to the work and to the living of life in another culture.




It is a big deal - a road MUCH travelled - I have every right to feel very blessed.


















I learned much about many things - especially myself in a land where both light and dark exist side by side.








This amazing and resilient culture was a constant enigma - but the images of joy were always connected in some way to the making of music.


















Music and love of the Balkans. The most natural resource in the world is something to be shared. Nigel Osborne knows that more than anyone - bringing special needs children to a summer camp August 2005








Never did I imagine I would participate in such amazing projects or meet so many remarkable public figures like Nigel, Tina Lee Golden and the Opera Circus singers from London, Prince Charles or Venessa Redgrave and her sister Lynn.














Opera Circus - (UK) August 2005... no, I am not one of the amazing singers - who are here helping out with the children's music camp near Pula, Croatia.





I met and fell in love with the people, the complex blend of cultures, history and mysteries of the Balkans. Alma and Ermin - newly established tourist operators for Bosnia and Herzegovina (08) - more importantly, loyal, generous and steadfast friends throughout my stay and beyond.











Love the spontaneity of spirit - any chance to smile is taken...as these 3 pictures are a witness. Local staff, Mahira always ready to find a reason to laugh in the midst of stress and hardship of work.














Some go over the top a bit...














Parties with Balkaners always involve music! (but not usually with me making the music!)














Veronica i Ivo sa tetka Darija - an eye specialist in Mostar - near their summer home in Zoastrog. 2004







The rebuilding and opening of the famous Mostar Bridge in 2004 is an unforgettable event - connecting east to west was a spectacular backdrop for other amazing connections and people I will never forget!












Just love this image - sharing at the end of a day long hike near Mostar. March 2007.










Wow I am in Budapest!! .... June 2005.












Later in the summer, Leilani and Phil visit from Vancouver - here I am being a guide at Tekija near Blagaj in July 2005. I'm beginning to blend in...




















I loved the quick trips home to see friends with whom I can count more blessings. January 2005.












I loved this journey. Catch you in my next blog. ... Won't you come along? xo Alpha :-)

2007 - Moments in Retrospect...

Our trip up to Diva Grabvica in March was my first exercise of the year. Andrew was sadly resigned to leave Mostar - so I led the group on what was supposed to be an impressive memory of Hercegovina. Mathius, a music therapy student from Denmark and girlfriend Alea are keen to climb a real mountain.





















In the middle of nowhere on our way up the mountain, pipes emerge out of a hill and provide the sweetest purist natural water for travellers. The ancient kings of Bosnia used to hunt in this area - as did Tito. BiH is abundant in natural, pure springs that bubble up from inside the earth. The water carries heavy deposits of limestone which is what BiH is - a huge limestone quarry!!
















The end of March and the end of our two day workshop intensive to carers from all over BiH of special needs children. It went very well - and although this looks a bit excessive, we are celebrating its success!















I took this on new years day - 2007. The central park in Mostar is undergoing serious renovations, but what you cannot see are the two pitbulls that were running free from their muzzles and chains. If you visit Mostar today - the park is exceedingly beautiful and well used by families, children and youth.



















Part of our team photo taken on the day of Musers 9th anniversary. I liked the captured moment in the faces of these three - Mahira, Toni and Mathius.




















Danijel's reflective face uncovers something easily missed and not so easily interpreted. Everyday, we attend to the task at hand but in a small team in a remote and often forgotten part of the world, the staff put out what they can in the face of their own difficulties and past circumstances with the wars in BiH. I am mindful of just how difficult it is to care for others when one's own future and investment in life is unknown and at risk with changing laws and politics in this 'fatalistic' culture.





Nice - when you get one of the worlds most creative composers and gifted Bosnian actors performing just for the joy of it - the party after the party started here! And do they know how to party.... Our 9th anniversary on May 31 did not stop .... until June 1.



























I took the team to 'The Land of Friendship and Peace' for team building exercises. Here we get a chance to reveal how we truly feel.... well, perhaps acting is just in the blood...



















There was a little stress involved as you can see ...

















Andrew's camera catches another moment - here at my place on Christmas day (last hours of 2006). Vega (Spanish), Oliver (German) and Erin (American) share some insights.... in english I think.


More posts coming in the near future.... more faces and more places in 2007!

Grace ,India .. and another River.

Grace and India may not have been the first things I would have put together in my mind when thinking of this large country bursting with people, commotion and poverty. But grace is what I found.




























In September I travelled through Kerala in the southern tip of India where I found verdent greens ...
















large stretches of rice paddies,
















wide, expansive rivers..
















and plantation 'forests'.












The people - natural,


















proud























....industrious.























Wise...























and friendly.



















It was a wonder to visit Kerala where the literacy rate is higher than most western countries and where employment - also very high - is considered a privilege regardless of the occupation. The noise level was highest in the ayruvedic retreat where nightlife nature screamed during the night and murmured lazily during the day. Otherwise the India I visited was very quiet and contemplative.




















Yes there is noise and commotion on the highways and in the cities, but to counter that, there was an extraordinary insularness in the quiet confidence of the people -





















A bird sanctuary..and not another living soul throughout the park.

















The lotus flower rules along with the birds - when the water recedes.


















One wonders if the land dictates the nature of the people living in it. I cant help but appreciate the grace of the Keralan Indians amidst abundant, pulsing, noisy nature against the intensely disciplined wildness of Balkaners in the harsh uncompromising extremes of their climate and terraine.

Mystical landscapes inspire notions of unicorns and other mystical creatures....

There is a universal notion of mystical landscapes that appear in childhood stories everywhere in the world. I am certain that many of them must have been spawned here in the Balkans.


















Maybe Rory from Scotland is a young man who does not believe in unicorns....




















But enjoys exploring the possibilities....



But no camera can capture the spell Bosnia and Hercegovina casts - particularly the landscape in the north eastern region. It wraps around you like a magical cloak - verdent greens, fields of corn, rolling hills that intrude into the sky and cow bells ringing as the cows make their way home for milking - peaceful sheep munching away in the pastures that are carved from the deep green forests..... and it all feels so close and personal - like it touches you - and you touch it and it belongs to you. The irony of this amazing country is its perfect idyllic setting shaped by - and disrupted by - beautiful, stupid humanity. You must see it. I will never forget it - and I have been a lot of places.