Driving from the mountains, to where it is very flat

those rocks, that were holding in the water, from behind

the water that was held in by rocks. maybe I am the only one astounded by this.


down through rolling grassy hills, where you can see the the road unwinding down in front of you. sailing through a prarie, it felt like a dream really, passing in and out of the shadows of clouds, wind, and sun. i felt slower than i was actually moving. the crickets were louder than my music, so they were a constant sound behind everything. and i rounded a bend and all of a sudden there were wild horses.

before the prarie, were the black hills, with their glittering tunnels, and lakes held in by giant, upright boulders. and mount rushmore. a very odd thing indeed.

and at the end of a day, I got to the Badlands, that look like the moon or mars, the earth looks like clay that simply dried there and could at any time be dissolved by rain. it used the be a rainforest, and is littered with the fossils of creatures that no longer exist. I camped there and woke up to the blinding, rising sun and lots of birds, and a rabbit that hopped past and away into the loud grass.

some more from that big trip I took.

Blue.
Yellow and orange.

The wall in Xi'an. it looked to expansive, we rode around it at high noon, it was hot and dusty there.
Swirling ribbon fans to keep the flies away.
Muslim quarter is Xi'an. It was also very bright. It rained that night, and we ran around in it. It was very warm. Julianne haggled for some sunglasses, we rode bikes all around, and I destroyed my blue sneakers.
All kinds of things ride on the road, or are pulled, carts and little three-wheeled trucks. donkeys.

More out the bus window.
A house on the way to Tunxi, we passed so many villages that were just falling in.
Riding the cable car the rest of the way after a long hike. We rose to the very top of the mountains, in disbelief.
This street was very lit up, and I remember it had something to do with ghosts.
The Mountains.
Driving to the mountains. these houses look like toys to me.


OH MAN ONE OF THE BEST MEALS OF MY LIFE. At a place called the Grandma's in Shanghai, in a shopping mall. This was a carp's head in spicy broth with noodles and a sort of spicy salsa like thing on top.
The water-town. It was really really old and crumbling, as I said before.

Fruit stand. Very, very bright and shiny.
I don't really know.
Beautiful neon signage.
I just really like giant loads being carried on small vehicles.
Inside. (they were delicious and filled with sesame)
Oustside.
Inside a noodle shop. Oh, they were so good.
We got intense foot massages. one hour for about 7 dollars US. Apparently, one of the only jobs the government will let you have if you are blind, is to be a masseuse.

These fans were everywhere overhead.
Shanghai, and Julianne's hair bow.
The train to Osaka, that we really almost missed. These are some of my last looks at Japan. I guess it is very appropriate that they were rice paddies.
After lots of yakitori. I ate heart, and tongue and fried quail's eggs that night. We had some neighbors wearing orange jump suits that were friendly and entertaining.
delicious, and beautiful! Grilled onigiri. (sp?)
the weird clock in a flower bed in the park near to Julianne's apartment.

Art Farm. (a long, happy sigh)

Last night we watched For All Mankind, and at the very beginning, a small butterfly, or a moth flew in front of the projector and fluttered about in an RGB strobe of sorts.

and today, I cleaned my studio, and kicked up the dust on the floor, at high noon, and it was beautiful. and so thankfully for a dirty floor, I had a good day of work.


I was sitting in the hovering barn, and thought of a catching fence. I fence that is built to catch things.

And then, I was reminded of the keyhole.

And I get to cook my own meals, and listen to the crickets, and walk past weeds and grass taller than myself.

the things I like and will miss

because time is going so fast.

watching the poppies outside of the small window in the laundry room.
the tall grass by the clothesline, watching things from faraway.

and some smart, young people.

i thought about the day I walked from one town to another, in Japan, and how I found the huge fields of waving poppies by the sea.the shuddered in one big group.

Yes, I was actually there, and the beginning is at the bottom

Sake going in the mail. It looks nice bundled up.

This is Busan, I watched him filming the water for a long timeLine of smog or just weather, I don't know. Leaving Beijing in any case.
Our hutong.
Another blue day.
Lights and light.
Local market near the Hutong.
Yellow roof with animals.



This tree was formed into the character for man.

Preparing the red star for flight.

The park outside the Temple of Heaven, there were no children but every person there was dancing or kite flying or yo-yoing or something.
Tai Chi on the sidewalk, to music of course, early morning.
Peking duck! And cooked cucumbers, and braised mushrooms my oh my...

The highway from the Great wall, I like the way in winds.

It goes on and on.
The Great Wall, a very very blue sky that day. We couldn't stop talking about it.
The drive to Jinshanling.
Philly needs this pop-up bike shop.
Water and clouds and stairs.
A bunch of people looking at I don't know what. That happens a lot.
Red and yellow and a little green
Peony
A painted ceiling in the Forbidden City. I believe these colors have meaning.
Sleeping cat back in the Hutong where we stayed. Hutong are crazy networks of alleyways. They are all being demolished for new high rises, a lot of them don't even have modern plumbing. The government spray paints a mark that means pack up and move out.
For the third time, this time with a matching shirt.
Cloud
Tiananmen Square, big and bright and almost unbearably sunny that day. Huge national pride video playing on a loop.


Museum by day, archeological site by night.



Terracotta warrior pits, which themselves, were more interesting than the constructed statues.

Muslim quarter, bread and lamb soup, one of the best things I have ever eaten. People sat for a long time breaking their bread into tiny pieces before the meaty broth was poured over.

Julianne walking after Chickens.


Bird market.

A mop drying in the tree.

Xi'an was dry, dusty and hot

I thought this was very nice, just sitting there.


Chinese tourists.
We rode around the entire wall on bicycles, this is for you, Julianne.

The wall in Xi'an
Trees by the river, with some very beautiful lights strung in them.

We watched an old man closing the wide door to his shop, one panel at a time. We had wonderful milk tea and fried bread dipped in sweetened condensed milk.

A bakery of the Ancient Street in Tunxi. We bought little wooden frog shaped and sounding instruments.
This man asked to take a picture with me.
Couples lock locks to chains at the top of the mountain. They do it so their love will last forever. Men and women also climb to the top on high heels and business suits.
Mountain.
Pink Flowers!
People standing at the edge in the morning.
Julianne watching the cloud sea at sunrise.
This is how everything gets up down and around the mountain. Even people, who can be carried on chairs.
A bamboo forest. The wind blows, and the trunks knock against one another, and all the dry yellow leaves were rustling, it was tall and moving and making sound.


Dragon Heart Pool. We climbed a lot of stairs to get here.
Climbing Huang Shan.
The water town, I have to find the name, old old old and crumbling and increasingly more interesting as we walked. we got hoodwinked at a temple here, and I bought some red shoes.
Moganshan 50, Justin, this wall made me think of you.



We didn't actually eat any strawberries, but they were beautiful and everywhere.
A man pushing a cart of orchids.
Huge loads on small bikes.
The streets.
Docking in Shanghai, a little set of stairs being lowered to the ground. And I just remembered the strange memory, of being videotaped as we disembarked, and then again when we got off the bus at the terminal.
Our second day at sea, the horizon is just a blurry line, I spent much of the day on my tatami mat, being rocked. next to the sleeping woman of course.
The bar on the boat, karaoke, we were begged to sing Country Roads.

the boat deck, going past many tiny islands in the sea of Japan