Rumi - ruminations

I have quoted Rumi in this blog earlier and was surprised when on the recent trip - neither Mohamed nor the Imam we visited with knew of him.  to the western world he is perhaps the most well known of the Islamic Sufis.  He died in 1273 but as late as 2007 was considered among the most loved philosopher poets in today's world.

here is a bit of info on him from wikipedia:

Jalal al-Din who is also known as Rumi, was a philosopher and mystic of Islam. His doctrine advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. To him and to his disciples all religions are more or less truth. Looking with the same eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike, his peaceful and tolerant teaching has appealed to people of all sects and creeds.

I was struck by two of his quotes that I came across recently as they seemed to fit my current circumstances.  One is his epitaph and the other a quote - and here they are:

When we are dead, seek not our tomb in the earth, but find it in the hearts of men

Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form

As you may know my mother's wish was for her ashes to be scattered each time I went to a country she had not visited.  Tunisia was such a place.  So I carried a small part of her along and parted with her in several places on the trip.  Each time I did I was struck by a sense that I was abandoning her - even though I was following her wishes.  I came across the two Rumi quotes (above) that helped me put this in the perspective of leaving her earthly remains behind with her passage into spirit. 


here are some of the places my mother now has visited with a little assistance from me:

In the Capitoline Temple at Dougga 

In the Tophet - the Phoenician Sanctuary in Carthage 

In the cemetery at Monastir overlooking the sea

 Under the stars in the Sahara

Love always, TOR

people pics

still catching up and working on culling my 2500 photos to a manageable number but meanwhile here are a few of our travelers in some photos I have come across in the seemingly unending task -

I have actually gotten down to 1600 so I am making SOME progress... but it is a task that takes focus and some days after my working day is done, it is all I can do to keep my head off the desk- LOL

From the Top- Max at the Museum in Tozuer; Max with La Bib, the environmental symbols of Tunisia; Max and Jennifer at the Star Wars bar in Matata.

From the Top: Jennifer at the giant carpet of Kairouan; Jennifer with freshly butchered camel's head; Jennifer and Dick at the Soiree.

From the Top: Howard walks the course in Tozuer; Howard dances at the Soiree; the Soiree evening - Dick- Jennifer- Carol- Howard- Sally; Dick and Sally dancing at the Soiree.

Caleche ride - from left - Sally, Dick, Mohamed, Jim and Max

More to come- just be patient!

home again again

arrived late on Thursday night. flights from Tunis to Paris to JFK went fine - JFK to ORD seemed interminable. now have started the picture editing process.  I got a coupon for 25% off photo books but only until 4/13 so I hope to get the culling process complete later today and the book put together by tomorrow night.  that way I can review and order on 4/13!

lots of laundry - all done now... and tons of email- still working on that...also we booked our flights for the Pinot Noir Celebration this summer and got our seats for our return flights in June from Cape Town.  We are home until early May and then a quick business trip before the safari trip/ S Africa trip...

anyway- got to get back to work and photos- so here are a few I liked that I have found along the way:

all from the Roman ruins at Dougga.  More later and later a link to the photo book when I complete that.