Author Archives: Ron

The Awesome Gamelan Music of Bali

By Ron | Published May 16, 2012

The making of the gamelan is typically a family affair, the skills having been handed down from generation to generation. The bronze castings are done only on auspicious days as determined by the temple priest, thus insuring the richest, purest tones. Wood craftsmen make the elaborately carved frames usually of jackfruit wood.The set of instruments [...]

Posted in Bali, Music, Religion, Rice, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Mother’s Day Tribute

By Ron | Published May 10, 2012

My favorite writer – and oh yes, my childhood sweetheart, and wife of 48 years, and mother of our two children – has just published “To the Mothers of the World ~ I Pay You Tribute” on her web site. She honors the mothers of the world. Regardless of differences in language or culture, a mother’s [...]

Posted in Lynne Mayhew, Moms, Nostalgia, Travel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Bali ~ Land of Spirits, Music and Rice: Part 1

By Ron | Published April 29, 2012

Get away from the glitz and glitter of the beach resorts and the crush of shoppers in Ubud and you will discover a place like no other. There, Balinese Hinduism along with the ancient Gamelan music and the cultivation of rice are all intertwined to create a land of culture and tradition. Let me try and [...]

Posted in Bali, Religion, Rice, Tropical | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Free Background Wallpaper ~ Serengeti Acacia

By Ron | Published April 12, 2012

  This month’s free wallpaper is one of my favorite images – a beautiful acacia tree on a knoll overlooking the Serengeti Plain. Enjoy   Just click on the one that best represents the size of your monitor. If in doubt, click on the largest size. For Tablets (1280×800) Older Monitors (1600×900) Widescreen Monitors (1920×1080) [...]

Posted in Africa, Tanzania, Trees, Wallpaper | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Free Background Wallpaper from Halong Bay, Vietnam

By Ron | Published March 16, 2012

I have made a desktop background (wallpaper) of one of my recent photographs of Halong Bay, Vietnam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. Halong Bay, situated in the Gulf of Tonkin, includes some 1600 islands and islets forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. Because of their precipitous nature, most [...]

Posted in Halong Bay, Travel, Vietnam, Wallpaper | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Kushti Wrestlers of Calcutta, India

By Ron | Published March 9, 2012

Calcutta never ceases to amaze. Five loincloth clad men are gathered under a neem tree tucked away in a corner of the Malik Ghat on the banks of the River Hooghly near the Howarh Bridge. They are Kushti devotees. Kushti, or Pehlwani, is an ancient form of wrestling begun in the Mughal era, dating back [...]

Posted in Calcutta, India, Kolkata, Travel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Calcutta’s South Park Street Cemetery

By Ron | Published March 3, 2012

It’s monsoon season again, in Calcutta, the latter part of the eighteenth century. Life is anything but easy. The River Hooghly is past flood stage and water is standing everywhere, a repository for human waste, animal carcases, and anything else that is not securely anchored. Malaria, chorea, and dysentery are rampant. Life expectancy is barely [...]

Posted in Calcutta, Cemeteries, Kolkata, Travel | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

POD ~ Outdoor Kitchen at a Laotian Buddhist Monestary

By Ron | Published February 16, 2012

While wandering along a path that followed the Mekong River on the bank opposite Luang Prabang in Laos, we came upon a small Buddhist Monestary.  Being mid-afternoon, the only sounds were the birds and insects. The Monks were resting. Their day begins early, around 4am, as they meditate in preparation for their alms walk. While quietly meandering [...]

Posted in Asia, Laos, Luang Prabang, Travel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Free Background Wallpaper from Cat Island, Bahamas

By Ron | Published February 10, 2012

    I have made some desktop backgrounds (wallpaper) of one of my recent photographs of some of the most beautiful beaches in the world – Cat Island, Bahamas. Thought you might enjoy this lush tropical image to help counter the dreary, sunless winter days many of us in the Northern Hemisphere are experiencing.  Just click on [...]

Posted in Bahamas, Beach, Wallpaper | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Flying Fish

By Ron | Published February 6, 2012

jQuery.noConflict(); jQuery(“#gal_images_3871_2″).hide(); function iframe_3871_2_loaded() { var iframe = jQuery(“#g3871_2″); var height = iframe.contents().find(‘#content’).height(); iframe.height(height); } For over twenty years now, sometime during the month of February, a very strange phenom occurs in the skies over Matlacha, a “funky little drinking village with a fishing problem,” located between Pine Island and the mainland along the coast [...]

Related Posts with Thumbnails
Posted in Fish, Matlacha Mariners, Pine Island | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment