Half-Extinguished Thoughts

   And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought,
 With many recognitions dim and faint,
 And somewhat of a sad perplexity,                          
 The picture of the mind revives again:
 While here I stand, not only with the sense
 Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts
 That in this moment there is life and food
 For future years.

             --William Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey

FYI, these photos were taken at Darul Aman Palace on the southern outskirts of Kabul, which is near where this suicide attack took place. The convoy apparently was on the road leading to the palace and the attack occurred at approximately the same time of morning we were there more than than two months before.

It just makes you think.

Outward Eye

"Your outward eye is like the palm of a hand: the palm cannot grasp the whole of the object."

- Rumi

Broom Seller

One afternoon we were driving through Kabul in our little mini bus as always, and we got stuck in traffic in the center of this busy intersection next to a bazaar. As we always did when stuck in traffic, we opened the windows and were all leaning out taking pictures. This old man wheeled his little cart full of brooms/brushes up to us, set it down, picked up these two examples of his wares and held them up for a minute while we snapped away, then set them back down, picked up the handles of his cart and trundled off again.

It was classic Kabul.

Generations

Spinning a Web

Somehow Afghanistan has done this--spun a web and ensnared me. I've thought of nothing else since I got back a little more than a month ago. I love everything about it: the country, the mountains, the people, the culture, the languages, the chai, even the dust and chaos of Kabul. I hope to go back there someday, and to be able to do something to give back what I can in exchange for everything it has given me. Afghanistan is a remarkable country made up of remarkable people, and I just wish there was a way to share this insight with the people of this country who only have negative images of such a fantastic place.

Red Cross Orthopaedic Centre