Changing clothes

I decided to change the look of the blog and came up with this new one. It's simpler than the old skin and I like it better. Hopefully sometime I can figure out how to put pictures with it. Tough being technologically challenged.

One of the reasons that I'd like to be able to post photos occurred the other night. I was standing on the roof of my house enjoying the evening while one of the many passenger planes that land at Cairo International circled overhead on its pass over the Pyramids as it was descending to bring yet another load of visitors. The dust and smog over the valley (I hate to admit it, but we have a real problem there) made a peach background to the silhouettes of the palms and mango trees, and the apartment buildings of Maadi across the river. Below, in the fields my neighbours were leaving their work with their donkeys, cows and water buffalo. Dogs trailed groups of children along paths back to the homes that line the path behind me. The greens of the corn, zucchini, the summer hay, with the warm glow of the sky where a silver jet curved in the air....I don't know how to express it but I wanted to share that image with everyone.

The sheer beauty of Egypt is breathtaking. It was the therapeurtic night rides the summer that my husband died that truly opened my eyes to the loveliness of my chosen home. I would amble along the paths in the farming areas, usually alone with my favourite mare, listening to far off village weddings and engagement celebrations. With all of the lights in Cairo, it's never really dark out and the palms are always black against a slightly lit sky, but the stars can be seen clearly in Sakkara. Every so often I would ride past some of the farmers' houses where the family would be gathered on a mat in front of their house often watching some old Egyptian movie on a black and white tv. Gentle "good evenings" and "Peace be with you" would float out into the air in welcome. I knew that summer that I would never want to leave this place.