More photos from wanderings with Suzanne. The peeling graffiti posters are mesmerizing. Somehow shabby and lush all at the same time.
Here I am. Hypnotize me!
Some parts of the city are dusty and full of melancholy. Everything is tired and worn. The houses and buildings lean towards the streets. Occasionally a bright unruly bougainvilla rambles up a roof, over a fence, into a tree. A rose bush blooms on a weed-choked median.
Something green and frilly is growing high up on a window ledge. An owl roosts on a sidewalk. Keeping watch. If I close my eyes I can imagine wings beating up off the pavement at night and rising into a cloudless sky.
From Istanbul:
To see the city in black and white is to see it through the tarnish of history: the patina of what is old and faded and no longer matters to the rest of the world. Even the greatest Ottoman architecture has a humble simplicity that suggests an end-of-empire gloom.
loved this post mary ann – very poignant – but then, many of your posts are. coupla things:
1) hope you don’t mind but i posted your colored door picture on my blog: “things that amaze me daily – corner views” and provided a link. let me know if you’re not happy with that and i’ll take it down.
2) your terrace and hibiscus look great!
3) some, maybe MANY of those kids will remember those books and even regret not valuing them more I PROMISE. they are like everyone else: “you don’t know what you got till it’s gone”.
4) you will have a lovely time in turkey. my family and i have had alot of experience with turkey/turkish people – they are charming, gracious, sensitive people. enjoy!
Enjoy every moment of your adventure. Happy exploring…
oh the black and white wall!!
and
I adore your monkey’s journals…shep’s and all
x..x
HEART the owl!!! 🙂