James Shackleton's Blog

Leaves on Branch

2007

Most of the mountains and quite a few of the lakes in El Salvador are actually volcanoes. I remember sitting on a warm rock at the bottom of one such lake (Illyapango – if memory srves me) when I was learning to dive.

I took this picture halfway down another Salvadorian volcano – I’ve forgotten which.

Daisy the Springer Spaniel

Spring 2008

For about an hour last Spring, it snowed. Daisy sprinted for the kitchen door to chase the falling snowflakes, which she clearly felt were in need of some instruction. In midleap out the door, she realised what a dreadful mistake she had made (not being the outdoor type which you might imagine – being a Springer), her heels dug into the ice, leaving little furrows as she skidded to a halt, turned and in two beats was back in the kitchen again. Her look is to say, “Well I can see that some would like it, but it’s not for me”.

Dragonfly

I took this few weeks ago on my way for coffee and cake on a Sunday morning. There must have been hundreds gliding around, but I could only manage to steer a few into the frame.

People here tend to associate dragonfly with changes in the weather. “There’s going to be a storm”, old salts confidently tell you, glancing about a vivid blue sky. And sometimes there is – and sometimes there isn’t.

In Vietnam, people celebrate Independence Day at the begining of the month. People go on holiday. Families get together and in my case last year, I got on a bus and headed to Mui Ne.

My memory of the weekend was that it was HOT. In the same way that my memory of the holidays this year, is that it was WET, in a wash-you-into-the-gullies sort of a way.

If you want to travel outside the cities in Vietnam, you have to accept that you will be spending time on buses.  Mui Ne is between 4 and 5 hours drive from Ho Chi Minh City, which gives you plenty of time to kick back with old friends and maybe make some new ones. Or alternatively, be jammed into a seat that is far too small, so that everything that passes you, gives you a whack, like an errant cupboard door. Which can grate after a while.

I enjoyed my stay. The seaside breeze is a relief after the sweaty heat of Ho Chi Minh City.

After Snow in Emory (GA)

I always seem to be attracted to snow and ice. I found this photo in a little drainage ditch in Emory – I have the feeling I was quite near the university. I only seem to be able to find a small jpeg of it. My memory is of being freezing cold, but very happy trudging through the snow. The roads were quiet, ‘cos the Georgians didn’t seeem so keen to drive in the snow and so I was pretty much alone (which can be nice).

Wall from a Demolished Building

One of my favourite things to do in Ho CHi Minh City, is to just go for a walk and see what is to be seen.

There is always some building work going on in the city. I’m always fascinated by the traces of old buildings left before new construction begins.

Flying into Changi Airport

October 2008

The plane was coming in to land at Changi. I loved how part of the sea was a vivid blue/green, which faded away as the light was blocked by an apporaching storm.