Memories of Istanbul

Until COVID struck, I was traveling once or twice per year to Istanbul, Turkey, to teach law school (week-long courses). I look forward to the day when I can again travel to Istanbul. I truly miss the visiting in person with students and friends. The Turks are awesome! I keep in touch with several of them. But I also miss the many astounding images one sees everywhere in Istanbul. I took the top photo in 2017. I reworked it tonight. This is an image of the Blue Mosque that I took from the Hagia Sofia (which was built in the year 532). The photo below is the interior of the Blue Mosque (built in 1609). Seeing these ancient buildings in person gives rise to deep emotions of admiration for the architects and builders. Seeing them with your own eyes caused me to think of the multitudes of people who have visited these structures at so many key points in their lives.

This final photo is one I took while riding one of the many ferries that plow the Bosphorus day and night.  The city of Istanbul is partly in Europe and partly in Asia, and the waters of the Bosphorus Strait mark the boundary.

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Cute Owlet Photos at an Owl Cafe in Tokyo Japan

I'm aggravated that so many people keep getting such cheap attention by posting photos of puppies. Therefore, I'm posting photos of five owlets that Jen McKnight and I visited at an "Owl Cafe" in Tokyo a few years ago.

Take THAT, puppy-image-posters!

There were dozens of grown-up owls too . . .

Look at those eyes!  No, I'm talking about the owl's eyes!

Tokyo is known for its many animal cafes, including cat cafes and other cafes offering a chance to mingle with capybaras (extremely large rodents), hedgehogs and rabbits.

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Hagia Sophia to be Reconverted to Serve as a Mosque

Tomorrow we are expected to hear from Istanbul that the Hagia Sophia, which Atatürk declared to be a museum in 1935, will be converted back into a mosque. Whatever one might think of this decision, this 1,500 year old building will continue standing in all its glory. I took these photos a couple years ago. Walking through the Hagia Sophia takes one's breath away.

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Magic Places: Cappadocia, Turkey

I'm starting to plan my next trip to Istanbul Turkey in the spring (I teach law school there periodically). I'm so looking forward to seeing friends who live there. That led me to look at some of my photos from my trip in 2017. One of the highlights was driving to Pigeon Valley in Cappadocia with good friends. What a magical place, and it actually has lots of pigeons! The top photo is the iconic photo of the valley that I took in 2017. The lower photos is also from Cappadocia, from the city of Goreme.

There are certain places in the world to which I have said "good-bye" out loud, hoping that someday, somehow, it would not be the last time I would visit. Cappadocia is one of those places.



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On Gibran, Silence and Friendship

I have been able to find increasing amounts of solitude lately. Part of this is that my daughters have been away at college, but there have been other reasons that I will merely characterize here as opportunities for growth.

Spending more time in solitude has enabled me to desynchronize from my surroundings, which has allowed me to reintroduce myself to myself (the Fundamental Attribution Error be damed!). The quiet is also fertilizer for groves of spouting thoughts that are much more colored and varied than those philistine thoughts that push their way out when we are trapped in environments of commotion.

Last year I had the opportunity to travel to Lebanon. While there, I toured the Kadisha Valley north of Beirut. It truly felt like a holy place based on its deep history. I knew I was following in the footsteps of the many others before me as I hiked through the valley. I took the following photos while there, including the bottom photo, a grove some of Lebanon's ancient cedar trees (they are so revered that they appear on Lebanon's flag).




I thought of these images as I read Maria Popova's article, "Kahlil Gibran on Silence, Solitude, and the Courage to Know Yourself."  Gibran was born along the Kadisha Valley in a town called Bsharri.  As I hiked, it seemed to me that the Kadisha Valley was exquisitely designed for evoking poetic thought.  That's how it was for Gibran.  Popova features an excerpt from Gibran's 1923 classic, The Profit, on the topic of solitude:

You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime. And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered. For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.


Gibran also explored silence in the context of friendship:

Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace. When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “ay.” And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.


I was touched by these inspirational verses.  I hope you have enjoyed these writings too, as well as these photos.

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