19th May
I have just taken a photo from my guest house room balcony. It shows a coconut palm tree, amongst a well kept garden complete with mango tree. In the background is Lake Toba, the waves are gently hitting the shore. Beyond the lake is a natural rain forest national park. Lake Toba is bordered with mountains. It is a glorious setting at dusk, watching the local ferry pass by.
The best part, is the guest house is empty. It is off season at this time of year through out Sumatra. I have the entire garden to myself.
I am pinching myself. This place hits the spot. The scenery is stunning. I am only here for less than a week, so I need to enjoy every moment. It does not get much better than this when travelling. I have just eaten, pineapple and olive pizza with a large Bittang. (Beer) The pizza was good. Life is good.
It is times like this, you wonder what life is all about. Who am I? At the moment, I have no idea. Maybe this is a good thing. It opens up your mind to other things.
20th May
I am currently reading a book set in early 18th century. It is about the life of an Irish convict in an Australian penal colony near Brisbane. The convict escapes from a hellish existence of back breaking manual labour and atrocious living conditions. The convict ends up marrying an aboriginal woman from one of the many aboriginal tribes living in area. This worked to his advantage. He needed to hide from the cruel British authorities - intent on his capture.
The convict lives with one of these Aboriginal tribes for 5 years before he was tracked, caught and summarily put in solidarity confinement. This severe punishment was to last for a period off 20 years.
The interesting part of the story. It turns out, Aboriginal tribes move around the place a lot, but often revisit good hunting places where water is available and there is a plentiful source of food. Once a year they all get together with other friendly tribes for a celebration and general catch up. There is much dancing, singing, playing of musical instruments, feasting and socialising.
The Aboriginal tribes sometimes have other tribes as enemies. If they cross paths, fighting and killing each other becomes inevitable. This is a life all about raw survival skills. You need to know how to hunt and be good at using spears and other tools to be able to kill you prey. You need to know how to kill your enemy.
This book has got me thinking about a lot of things. How much we are a product of our upbringing. And how quickly we adapt to other living conditions when survival is at stake. It is not like a person sometimes has a choice. It is either adapt or die. Hardship is a true test of a man. It tests a mans will power. How much hardship can a man tolerate before he succumbs and looses the will to live?
Fast forward to today, and the taking of ones life prematurely is endemic among the young of today. Why is this?
21st May
Night time. I am outside of my guesthouse room balcony. It is raining and there is flashes of light shining for brief moments, I can see the surrounding mountains on Toba Lake. It is an awesome sight. There are frequent cracks of loud thunder. I am barely able to hear. It is raining heavily now. I am now unable to hear Enigma on Spotify.
I am in a strange mood. Kind of melancholy but sombre. I am of an age where I am aware of my mortality and what I have remaining to look forward to. There is no point in pretending anymore. I am old. The downside is not worth thinking about. Any former vitality and excitement of youth is gone. It is becoming more difficult to get motivated by anything anymore. This can go on for long periods of time.
24th May
The upside is there are times when I clearly understand, the age of someone like me. This does not have anything to to with anything. In other words you are only as old as you think you are. At the moment, I am ageless.
I am lucky. At times I get to think I am ageless. Ageless at 58. And now I have all that additional experience that only comes with living. I am one lucky SOB to be able to appreciate this.
I have just taken a photo from my guest house room balcony. It shows a coconut palm tree, amongst a well kept garden complete with mango tree. In the background is Lake Toba, the waves are gently hitting the shore. Beyond the lake is a natural rain forest national park. Lake Toba is bordered with mountains. It is a glorious setting at dusk, watching the local ferry pass by.
The best part, is the guest house is empty. It is off season at this time of year through out Sumatra. I have the entire garden to myself.
I am pinching myself. This place hits the spot. The scenery is stunning. I am only here for less than a week, so I need to enjoy every moment. It does not get much better than this when travelling. I have just eaten, pineapple and olive pizza with a large Bittang. (Beer) The pizza was good. Life is good.
It is times like this, you wonder what life is all about. Who am I? At the moment, I have no idea. Maybe this is a good thing. It opens up your mind to other things.
20th May
I am currently reading a book set in early 18th century. It is about the life of an Irish convict in an Australian penal colony near Brisbane. The convict escapes from a hellish existence of back breaking manual labour and atrocious living conditions. The convict ends up marrying an aboriginal woman from one of the many aboriginal tribes living in area. This worked to his advantage. He needed to hide from the cruel British authorities - intent on his capture.
The convict lives with one of these Aboriginal tribes for 5 years before he was tracked, caught and summarily put in solidarity confinement. This severe punishment was to last for a period off 20 years.
The interesting part of the story. It turns out, Aboriginal tribes move around the place a lot, but often revisit good hunting places where water is available and there is a plentiful source of food. Once a year they all get together with other friendly tribes for a celebration and general catch up. There is much dancing, singing, playing of musical instruments, feasting and socialising.
The Aboriginal tribes sometimes have other tribes as enemies. If they cross paths, fighting and killing each other becomes inevitable. This is a life all about raw survival skills. You need to know how to hunt and be good at using spears and other tools to be able to kill you prey. You need to know how to kill your enemy.
This book has got me thinking about a lot of things. How much we are a product of our upbringing. And how quickly we adapt to other living conditions when survival is at stake. It is not like a person sometimes has a choice. It is either adapt or die. Hardship is a true test of a man. It tests a mans will power. How much hardship can a man tolerate before he succumbs and looses the will to live?
Fast forward to today, and the taking of ones life prematurely is endemic among the young of today. Why is this?
21st May
Night time. I am outside of my guesthouse room balcony. It is raining and there is flashes of light shining for brief moments, I can see the surrounding mountains on Toba Lake. It is an awesome sight. There are frequent cracks of loud thunder. I am barely able to hear. It is raining heavily now. I am now unable to hear Enigma on Spotify.
I am in a strange mood. Kind of melancholy but sombre. I am of an age where I am aware of my mortality and what I have remaining to look forward to. There is no point in pretending anymore. I am old. The downside is not worth thinking about. Any former vitality and excitement of youth is gone. It is becoming more difficult to get motivated by anything anymore. This can go on for long periods of time.
24th May
The upside is there are times when I clearly understand, the age of someone like me. This does not have anything to to with anything. In other words you are only as old as you think you are. At the moment, I am ageless.
I am lucky. At times I get to think I am ageless. Ageless at 58. And now I have all that additional experience that only comes with living. I am one lucky SOB to be able to appreciate this.
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