News Trend A Cuban Sunset Story|Actual

My second Cuban sunset.

We drove out to the far corner of the Hemingway Marina and hopped over the sea wall to take in the sights from the edge of the Caribbean Sea.

Picnickers nearby filled the air with Cuban love songs, blasted from their car. The lyrics fromQuerida offered the same sweet sentiment as the setting sun.

Then, just as the sun was slipping away, a young couple joined our team of sun gazers. Nineteen or twenty years old, they caught my eye as they strolled from their car; a happy, effortlessly attractive pair. In the classic Cuban manner, he was carrying an open bottle of beer. But his girlfriend had poured her drink into a stemmed glass and the bubbles sparkled in the low light as she carefully walked toward the sea.

He jumped up on the sea wall first, and stretched out his hand to help her daintily make the climb, her sundress blowing in the breeze. Then she carefully balanced her delicate glass on the weathered concrete, gathered up a handful of loose rocks, and began throwing them one by one into the waves.

She took great delight in her game, pointing and laughing after each toss. Her boyfriend made a few throws himself, but mostly he admired her efforts.

After a few minutes, her arsenal clearly spent, I saw her point toward the land. Then her boyfriend jumped back off the wall into the grassy field, gathered up another big handful of rocks against his crisp white shirt, and brought them back to her.

And as we ambled back to our car, slapping mosquitoes away against the growing darkness, the couple remained, happily throwing rocks into the Caribbean Sea at twilight.

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Check out more stories about my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cuba and my wonderful friends who lived there:

I Will Bake You A Pie

Cuban Makan

Cuban Economics

El Malecon Cloudburst

A La Playa

Creepy Cuban Kudzu

Plaza De La Revolucion

Old Havana

Poolside in Havana

A Cuban Sunset Story

Sunset Chasers, Cuban Edition

The Puppy At The Castle

Old Havana On The Eve Of Fidel's Birthday

An ASEAN Celebration

Nayli's Bedroom

Varadero, Cuba

Winding Down

Dear Cuba

Aqil's Chicken

The Gentle Art Of Reframing

My Cuban Home

Tickled Pink

Full Circle

Chicken Drumsticks

News Trend Less Than Perfect|Actual

"Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees." -Paul Strand

"Instead of trying to make your life perfect, give yourself the freedom to make it an adventure, and go ever upward." -Drew Houston

Little dog, big world: v iews along the trail at Ebey's Landing.

When I hike, I take a lot of photos. And because my rusty old iPhone 6S is barely up to the task, I keep my Nikon at the ready in my holster, pulling it out and firing it off to take photos every few steps along the trail.

There's a special joy in capturing crisp, clear shots of the beautiful places I go, and compared to every other camera I've used in my life, this one takes fantastically perfect photos.

As I was trudging along, I accidentally creased the corner of the photo on the left,

and the instant-development chemicals created that weird little dark triangle. Another imperfection that only adds to the photo's scruffy charm.

So it's laughably ironic that on my left wrist usually dangles my Instax 8. Forget all the fancy dials, meters, and metrics on my DSLR; this little baby sports four light settings and an always-on flash. It spits out bitty little technically-compromised photos that do not even begin to compare to the realistic precision of my Nikon shots.

The images are blurry and the colors are a bit washed out. But when I look at these shots, I remember with perfect clarity the quality of brilliant sunlight on the sparkling water.

But why, then, do I love my Instax photos so much? Why do I treasure each one for the tiny, precious memory it holds? Why is it that I leave my perfect digital images resting tidily on their memory cards and in neatly organized files on my desktop, while propping up my Instax shots here and there around the house, admiring them and sharing them with anyone who walks by?

I'm not sure, but maybe I'm just a little more comfortable embracing something that is less than perfect. Because things that are less than perfect are a whole lot more like me.

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To look at technically superior photos of my delightful hike at Ebey's Landing, go here.

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More stories about my Instax photos:

Surprising Pjoe And Amy

Self-Development

Missing Mexican Memories

Keeping Score

Less Than Perfect

News Trend Sunset Chasers: Cuban Edition|Actual

Earlier this evening, we were heading into Old Havana on a different adventure. But when we wheeled round the corner and caught our first glimpse of the open air above the sea, all bets were off

"Amazing! Beautiful! Unbelievable!" I poured out every accolade I could conjur.

Now if I had been at home, behind the wheel of my own car, no doubt I would have dropped everything to get that shot. I've a long, well-documented history of sunset chasing. But as a backseat passenger in a foreign land, I didn't feel it was my place to demand a detour. So I sat back and prepared to drive through.

"You have your camera?" my host, Khairi, asked.

"Of course."  I don't leave home without it

Wordlessly, he spun us round, pulled onto a side street and drove us right straight to the edge of the land.

I jumped out of the car, finger on the shutter, and found this scene waiting for me.

I'm glad I got the shot, but I'm even happier to know that my Malaysian friend in Cuba chases sunsets too.

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Check out more stories about my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cuba and my wonderful friends who lived there:

I Will Bake You A Pie

Cuban Makan

Cuban Economics

El Malecon Cloudburst

A La Playa

Creepy Cuban Kudzu

Plaza De La Revolucion

Old Havana

Poolside in Havana

A Cuban Sunset Story

Sunset Chasers, Cuban Edition

The Puppy At The Castle

Old Havana On The Eve Of Fidel's Birthday

An ASEAN Celebration

Nayli's Bedroom

Varadero, Cuba

Winding Down

Dear Cuba

Aqil's Chicken

The Gentle Art Of Reframing

My Cuban Home

Tickled Pink

Full Circle

Chicken Drumsticks

News Trend The Puppy At The Castle|Actual

Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro - Morrow Castle -has guarded the entrance to Havana Harbor since 1589 and to this day dominates the cityscape.

Perched across the water from the main city, the castle provides the perfect place to see the city, stretch one's legs, and take in a sumptuous sunset.

After the sun had gloriously descended into the Caribbean waters, my friends and I strolled back up the royal hill. Majestic clouds piled up on the horizon; heat lightning flashed all around us.

In the gathering darkness, a princely puppy came over to play. Frisky and small, maybe two months old, he junmped up against my leg and investigated my hands. Finding no food there, he gently mouthed my wrists and clearly invited me to play. I talked to him cheerfully and he listened, sitting near my feet and cocking his head at the sound of my voice.

My little friend was clearly not a stray. He wore a makeshift collar around his neck, with a large card I could not read in the darkness. I assumed he belonged to someone at the nearby food stall.

But as our car appeared, and we all jumped in and moved off, I looked back to see my little friend, sitting exactly where I left  him, serenely watching as our car drove away.

And while I know it's just a fantasy, I like to think that this regal little fellow lives on at the castle, welcoming all who come to see the sunsets.

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Check out more stories about my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cuba and my wonderful friends who lived there:

I Will Bake You A Pie

Cuban Makan

Cuban Economics

El Malecon Cloudburst

A La Playa

Creepy Cuban Kudzu

Plaza De La Revolucion

Old Havana

Poolside in Havana

A Cuban Sunset Story

Sunset Chasers, Cuban Edition

The Puppy At The Castle

Old Havana On The Eve Of Fidel's Birthday

An ASEAN Celebration

Nayli's Bedroom

Varadero, Cuba

Winding Down

Dear Cuba

Aqil's Chicken

The Gentle Art Of Reframing

My Cuban Home

Tickled Pink

Full Circle

Chicken Drumsticks

News Trend A Pear-Colored Pitcher|Actual

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship." -Thomas Aquinas

Even if the flower is no more, still the fragrance can be." -Jaggi Vasudev

Another dear friend is moving away.

Sigh.

It's a part of life, isn't it, this ebb and flow of people into and out of our lives, going here and there as their lives call them on.

I truly believe that my role as a friend is to embrace these leavings, to celebrate whatever is calling my friend forward, to look with hope and anticipation on this new journey.

And I do. For this friend, as with all the others who have moved, I wish her blessings and happiness and all the very best.

And while it's not easy to be the one moving on, it's also difficult to be the one left behind. To feel this person's absence, the place where she used to be, most acutely.

Especially when this is a friend with whom you have shared some deep, dangerous waters; some difficult seasons of life. A friend to whom you have revealed your troubles and your vulnerabilities and your fears, a person who has revealed the same to you.

When that kind of a friend pulls up tent stakes and moves on, she leaves a big hole behind.

Oh, but of course, we can stay in touch. Digital options abound and we will stay in touch. Probably even visit one another from time to time.

Of course.

But it will never be the same, and that's just the truth.

I remind myself that some friendships improve over distance and time, and there is every reason to believe that my friend and I will grow closer as years pass.

There is every reason to anticipate joy.

As she has been sorting through her treasures and packing up boxes, my friend came across a ceramic pitcher and gave it to me yesterday as a remembrance. It's the perfect shade of a fresh green pear. I brought it home and filled it with fresh hydrangea blossoms from my backyard, and now it sits on my kitchen table.

This sweet gift from my friend will always remind me that even though life is ever changing, the fragrance of our friendship is ours to savor forever.

News Trend Old Havana On The Eve Of Fidel's Birthday|Actual

Friday night, on the eve of Fidel Castro's ninetieth birthday celebration.

Having just endured the chaos of pre-birthday celebrations for Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi last May, I steeled myself for massive traffic jams, police barricades, and endless throngs of citizens in full-blown party mode.

But this is Cuba. Everything is different here. See for yourself.

The narrow streets and airy plazas of Old Havana were mostly empty and entirely peaceful. We found one old man set up with a laptop projecting a slideshow of Fidel's glory days against an impromptu screen. A small crowd had gathered around to watch, whether in silent adoration or stifled outrage, I'm not sure.

My friends and I, fueled by a pure chocolate snack session at a popular confectionery cafe, wandered here and there, trying to capture photos of the heat lightning and watching the quiet passers by.

Our only brush with excitement came at the very end of the evening when an enterprising Cuban man tried to market to me with an invitation to a local social club and an offer to show me where to buy cigars.

"Alright, goodnight," he politely conceded as I successfully brushed him off. "Please enjoy my beautiful culture."

I smiled in return. But as I continued on my way to the car, I found myself wondering which culture he meant - Fidel's original dream of a Marxist paradise, or the fledgling capitalist economy that is slowly developing in the vacuum of his apparent failure.

* * * * *

Check out more stories about my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cuba and my wonderful friends who lived there:

I Will Bake You A Pie

Cuban Makan

Cuban Economics

El Malecon Cloudburst

A La Playa

Creepy Cuban Kudzu

Plaza De La Revolucion

Old Havana

Poolside in Havana

A Cuban Sunset Story

Sunset Chasers, Cuban Edition

The Puppy At The Castle

Old Havana On The Eve Of Fidel's Birthday

An ASEAN Celebration

Nayli's Bedroom

Varadero, Cuba

Winding Down

Dear Cuba

Aqil's Chicken

The Gentle Art Of Reframing

My Cuban Home

Tickled Pink

Full Circle

Chicken Drumsticks

News Trend Small White Vessels|Actual

Every morning, as I bounce out of my bunk to start my day, I like to get my mind right to work on a creative challenge.

Those of us who don't drink coffee must use other means to jump start our brains, and this is what works for me.

For today's puzzle, I saddled up my CRV and headed off on a three-part round-up of local thrift stores, in search of small white vessels.

Trays,

bowls,

cups, and

plates

that I will use to organize a little collection.

As luck would have it, I wrangled up a nice little herd.

For today, I'm enjoying the clean and fresh vibes of my new and surprisingly satisfying assortment of small white vessels, empty and eclectic though they may be.

And tomorrow, I can't wait to wake up  and face the new challenge of putting these little doggies to work.