Music … An Explosive Expression of Humanity

Posted on September 14, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.
Billy Joel

~*~

Music.

The universal language.

” … an explosive expression of humanity.”

Where there is music, people gather.

A note, a pulse, a rhythm touches the air and we are moved, respond … differently.

Sing along; tap a toe; meditate; all out dance.

It’s our differences that make us human, and humans, with our differences, make up humanity.

On our recent trip to Italy we met with two musical surprises.

The first was in Florence. During our last evening in Florence we stopped by the Ponte Vecchio where two talented guitarists had set up and attracted a large crowd of tired tourists winding down their day.

With a view of the beautiful River Arno as their backdrop and surrounded by the ancient air of the old bridge, the duo’s energy and whimsy added a twist of musical ambiance to an already magical setting.

As I gazed around the haphazard audience I was moved by how so many diverse cultures could gather together in one place and happily listen in on the musical conversation being struck on these two guitars.

Music speaks to the soul of what’s important. It is healing when we allow it this capacity. And at the end of a long day tramping through the streets of an ancient city, it is restoring too.

~*~

Two weeks later in Venice we experienced much the same thing in the Piazza San Marco.

In the evenings, parlour orchestras (I guess you’d call them) set up on a rotating basis to play the classics (Vivaldi, Handel, Rogers and Hammerstein, Lloyd Webber, etc.) to draw traffic into the cafes.

Tourists of every persuasion gather in the square to eat gelato and move about between the bands.

For a hefty sum, if you so wish (and we did one night) you can park your tired derriere at a table and enjoy some refreshment ~ a glass of wine, or cappaccino and biscotti, perhaps ~ while listening to tuneful melodies resonating into the square.

A different expression of music in another city but no less magical than
that we’d experienced in Florence.

And so it goes anywhere in the world where the universal language of music
speaks to the hearts of all.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy

~*~

©Dorothy Chiotti … Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

Italian Silhouettes

Posted on August 16, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

In a world that seems to want an explanation for everything we can give thanks to the simple silhouette for leaving something to our imaginations.

~*~

Romance in Venizia …

~*~

Youthful gathering at Monterosso al Mare …

~*~

Admiring the Tuscan view, near Iano …

~*~

Dog walking, Venizia …

~*~

Along the passage in San Gimigiano …

~*~

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy

~*~

Shout Outs

Country Archi-Texture

Posted on August 9, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Texture

~*~

As someone who spends a lot of time on the farm with my horse my eye is often caught by the textures of the country.

(My title’s a bit off-the-wall but playing with words is my thing.)

Herewith a few interpretations for your viewing pleasure …

Wave-Form Sky

~*~

Ancient Barn Board

~*~

Hay There

~*~

The Equine Wet-Look

~*~

Stone-Walled

~*~

Duality of the Grasses

~*~

Mane-tained

~*~

Muzzle Soft

~*~

I love the many textures of the countryside. I expect that’s why I spend so much time there.

Thanks for spending some of your valuable time here with me …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

©Dorothy Chiotti … Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

Shout Outs

The Quiet Image

DS Photography

The Land Slide Photography

Let the Images Speak

This, that and the other thing

The Art of Zigzag

Posted on August 2, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Zigzag

~*~

For this week’s challenge three completely different travel destinations come to mind.

Each an artistic representation of the beauty of the Zigzag.

Enjoy!

~*~

Vienna, Austria … where the impressive multi-colour zigzag of the tile roof at St. Stephen’s Cathedral dominates the Stephansplatz …

~*~

Monterosso al Mare, Italy … where colourful shade umbrellas zigzag across the popular Italian riviera beach …

~*~

Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia … where the ceramic tile roof zigzags with the glow of the mid-day sun.

~*~

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy

©Dorothy Chiotti … Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

~*~

Shout Outs

The Landslide Photography

A Bowl of Cherries

That Montreal Girl

The Numpty With A Camera

My Photos, My Words, My Life

Tuscan Tranquility

Posted on July 26, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer Lovin’

~*~

For one week last month my husband and I, and five other couples from our neighbourhood, took a trip of a life time/checked a box on our bucket list …

we rented a villa in Tuscany.

From the moment everyone was on board it took about a year of planning, including locating a suitable villa that met ALL of our specifications.

None of us had done anything like this before so there was a bit of flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-type planning, but in the end we got exactly what we wanted …

Tuscan tranquility.

The beautiful infinity pool played a major part in the vacation equation.

When the early June temps rose to 35C we enjoyed nothing more than a dip in the pool after a long day of sightseeing.

It was pure heaven … in pure heaven.

~*~

Oh … the view!!!

We bought a ball at the local market and played with it in the water, and then left it there for the next group coming in.

~*~

Cooling off after a long day sightseeing. Bellissimo!

~*~

Our room on the second floor overlooked the pool.

~*~

Oh, glorious sunset!

~*~

Now, after looking at these images, I just want to go back.

This was probably one of the loveliest experiences of my life so far.

~*~

More on our Tuscan adventure in later posts …

Arrivederci!

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

©Dorothy Chiotti … Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

Shout Outs

Travels and Trifles

Santiago the Shepherd

Out of Office Reply On

Container of Containers

Posted on July 19, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Containers

~*~

A colourful candy boutique in beautiful Barcelona ~ an enticing container of containers.

~*~

Sweet treats in pretty packages stacked in pleasant displays lure us in to sample the decadent delights.

~*~

Something special for your funny Valentine?

~*~

Even simple plastic wrap gives an impression of towering gold.

~*~

Needless to say, we did not leave empty handed. 😉

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy

©Dorothy Chiotti … Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014

~*~

Shout Outs

The Greener Bench

Spice.Light | photography

Maverick Mist

Serendipity

Across the Bored

Prairie Relics

Posted on July 12, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Relic

~*~

For this challenge we’re visiting two locations in the Canadian prairies ~ the ghost town of Rowley and Heritage Park in Calgary, both in Alberta.

Since my family has roots in the prairies and I remember some of these things from when “I was a girl,” (I’ll differentiate ~ I’m not that old 😉 …), it’s fun for me to be able to share this with you.

These I do remember. There was a time when grain elevators could be seen all across the prairies ~ markers of the next town so you were never lost. As a child I found them very romantic and loved scanning the horizon for them whenever we were going for a drive. Their actual business was to collect and store grain until the next train rolled into town to pick it up.

Sadly you seldom see these wooden sentinels anymore. Most have deteriorated over the years and been demolished. In Rowley, however, these grain elevators have been restored and are a tourist attraction. Similar elevators exist in Heritage Park as well.

This CP Rail caboose is also a relic of the past. Up until the 1980s these manned rail transport vehicles were coupled to the end of freight trains as shelter for the train crew and as lookouts for safety issues.
I can remember what a thrill it was, as a child, to wave to the engineers stationed in the caboose as the end of the train went by. They always waved back.

~*~

No, I’m not old enough to have used one of these!

Captured at Heritage Park

~*~

While this typewriter on display at Heritage Park does somewhat pre-date me, I am old enough to have started learning to type on a manual.
Carbon paper to type things in triplicate and no “auto-delete” button.
Those were the days. 😉

~*~

Stuff in the kitchen of the old rail station at Rowley.
This kind of shelf liner I recall from time spent at my grandmother’s.
Look at that wallpaper!!

~*~

When I look at one of these old tractors (this one in Rowley) I always wonder how they got any traction.
Hmmm … guess this predates me too. 😉

~*~

Lots of relics here, but I’d like to draw your attention to this relic of a staircase nailed into a tree! You’ll find this in the middle of the old bank in Rowley, if memory serves.

~*~

Living relics of the past. You rarely see wagon teams anymore.
These beauties captured at Heritage Park.

~*~

Thanks for visiting these old relics with me …

Dorothy

~*~

Shout Outs

six degrees photography

The In-Between … Florence, Italy

Posted on June 21, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

~*~

We were in Italy the past couple of weeks. Started in Florence for a few days, rented a spectacular villa in Tuscany for a week with five couples from our neighbourhood, and then spent the last four days in Venice.

This trip proved an epiphany for me ~ a sign that the worst of my journey with adrenal fatigue is likely behind me, and that I can now look forward to being more fully engaged with life.

I can hardly express my relief.

For the past few years I’ve inhabited the in-between ~ crossing the bridge from a life time of PTSD, and all the dysfunction that implies, to a healthier and more functional way of being. I’ve been healing and this trip to a land steeped in culture and history and landscape and pizza has proven just how far I’ve come.

Italy, my panacea ~ the flavourful food, the delicious wines, the interesting character(s), the incredible vistas, the intense colours, the ornate murano glass, the exquisite leathers and fabrics, the refreshing gelato … an exquisite jumping off point to another amazing chapter in my life.

I feel so fortunate.

Of course, the healing journey continues, but I can move forward now knowing that the progress has been worth the pain and that I am on the right track.

So, with beautiful Italy still very much forefront in my mind it seems appropriate to share this image taken from the Ponte San Trinita in Florence, looking down the River Arno toward the Ponte alla Carraia. Beyond this second bridge and waving between the arches is a sculpted stickman planted on some kind of jetty in the middle of the river ~ no doubt there to add a little whimsy and amuse those, like myself, addicted to standing on a bridge capturing countless images of the setting sun in Italy.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

Shout Outs

Weekly Photo Challenge: Between

Flying Change

Posted on May 31, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Split-Second Story

~*~

As we all know the trajectory of a life can change in a split second. You might call it a flying change.

Yesterday I was watching my new friend Dallard and his horse, Hershey, have a lesson with our coach, Stefan.

In this precise moment they’d just executed a lovely flying lead change (when a horse switches canter leads in mid air, thus a “flying” change), while Stefan pointed them in the new direction.

The remarkable thing about this image is the backstory.

Dallard purchased Hershey, a half-Thoroughbred/half-Hanoverian gelding, in June 2005 for his wife, Karen, six months after her diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer. She was not a smoker.

In his own words: “She competed him once at an RCRA (Royal Canadian Riding Academy) Ice Breaker to complete a bucket list item. She was absolutely thrilled. I was Hershey’s groom for those three and a half years and I fell in love with him.”

When Karen died on July 18, 2008, Dallard couldn’t bear to part with Hershey and so started to ride, even though he’d had no previous riding experience.

Dallard is 70 years young.

Hershey is an angel.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy 🙂

~*~

Shout Outs

Sydney, Australia ~ With a Twist

Posted on May 24, 2014 by ShakespearesGal

Weekly Photo Challenge: Twist

Royal Botanical Gardens

In the Royal Botanical Garden

In the Business District

Queen Victoria Building

At Sydney Harbour

Near The Rocks

I’m not sure why, but when I saw that this week’s challenge I immediately thought of our vacation in Sydney, Australia, and recalled the many shapes and textures that garnish this beautiful city.

A beautiful city with a twist.

Thanks for visiting …

Dorothy

~*~

Shout Outs

cameranomad

Off The Lava

Travel Moments

Photographs by Timothy S. Allen

Pairings:: Art + What Goes With It

Eyes to Heart

What I've seen … How it makes me feel …

Category Archives: Shout Outs

Music … An Explosive Expression of Humanity

Italian Silhouettes

Shout Outs

Country Archi-Texture

Shout Outs

The Art of Zigzag

Shout Outs

Tuscan Tranquility

Shout Outs

Container of Containers

Shout Outs

Prairie Relics

Shout Outs

The In-Between … Florence, Italy

Shout Outs

Weekly Photo Challenge: Between

Flying Change

Shout Outs

Sydney, Australia ~ With a Twist

Shout Outs