@techbelle
Go as far as you can see. When you get there, you'll be able to see farther.
Permalink
South Africa
We jostled down the runway into South Africa just as the sun was setting. I’d forgotten how huge the sun looks here - burning orange as a roadcone, no buildings to block the views of the sky. The plane ride was uneventful, mostly because I slept 12 out of the 15 1/2 hours. Thank you Xanax and Kaskade. I met the driver at the entrance to customs, and it was a quick ride to the guesthouse where I’m staying. Gates are everywhere here, so, you couldn’t see much of the house from the road. But it is BEAUTIFUL.
Gorgeous pool, waterfalls, very quiet, old English furnishings with strange african art mixed in. All I really wanted was to take a swim in the gigantic tub, then settle down for tea and biscuits. Or dive into the very comfy looking bed. But… I’m not here to sleep, so… I grab my backpack and head out to brave the neighborhood alone and see what turns up. First stop, Lillileaf, a museum dedicated to Nelson Mandela.
Permalink
Mount Fuji
A bamboo cutter one day is walking and sees a stalk illuminated from within. Inside it, he finds a baby girl. He and his wife adopt her. She grows into a beautiful woman; all the men want to marry her. Even the emperor is in awe of her beauty and vies for her affection. But she is remote - inaccessible. She proposes that she will choose a suitor who can meet her requests; but they are impossible. A branch from a tree in heaven, a dress that cannot burn.
Finally it is discovered that she is not of the earth, but has been exiled here for a wrong done in a past life. A moon goddess, her sweet quiet beauty is meant to be forever unmarred by humanity. The emperor, who loved her best, tries in vain to keep her on earth. To him she leaves a small glass bottle - the elixir of immortality.
He says, but what use is immortality if I do not have you, my love…
And he has the bottle taken to the top of the highest mountain in Japan, to show her that he cares not to live forever without her by his side.
At the summit, two guards fight over the vial. One to keep it there and do his duty to the emperor, the other to steal it for his own gain. The bottle falls and shatters, and the elixir is spilled along the rocks.
That is why they call it Fuji - the immortal.
