BLOGGER VS FACEBOOK

Nowadays people have a variety of ways to keep in touch with each other and to share their daily experiences. Personally I don't use Twitter or TikTok at all, but I do look at Facebook almost every day. For me it is a way to keep in touch with friends, family, and a few groups I belong to. But, for me, it is not a satisfying way to record and share our travels or pictures we take.

Black Swallowtail at McConnell Arboretum and Garden

In my eye, this blog is more like a diary or a series of travel articles. It gives us a place to share our photography. A single picture on Facebook works, but adding several becomes a mismash. When I create a post on Blogger, I try to look at it as if I was creating a magazine page layout. 

A feature of the Blogger platform I really like is the ability to go back and see what I wrote in past years.  I don't know how many times I have used the SEARCH function on my blog to verify when we went to a particular location. 

Try that with Facebook!  

I do put links for my Blog posts on Facebook,  so my friends there know when I write a new one. 

 

For now, I want to say thank you, and welcome aboard, to my friends who commented on my first blog of the year and wrote they would be "traveling with me". It makes me feel like I am writing a letter to each of you when I do a post. 

 

 

The pictures in this post were all taken Monday at the McConnell Arboretum and Gardens. It is located in the same park area as the Sundial Bridge.  These orchid-like flowers grew on a tree!

We walked 2.4 miles,  just a little farther than on Sunday. Monday was quite warm, but some clouds kept it from getting as hot as the day before. 

 

 

 

 

 

Splish splash, I'm takin' a bath.

 

Not all interesting things in nature are "pretty". I find the vast range of textures in both living and dead plants to be like eye candy.

This fallen log definitely says: "don't sit on me!"

We will still be in Redding, CA on Tuesday, but do not plan on any outdoor activity. Predicted temperatures are over 100°. There is a bowling alley just around the corner from the RV park we are at. We haven't bowled for 40 years.  It might be fun if our old backs and knees feel up to it. 

Check back for the rest of the story.

 

#4 Sunset at Shwedagon Pagoda

Was this really just our first day of the trip? 

In spite of being very tired, the visit to Shewedagon Pagoda at sunset was a spectacular sight. It stands on a hill overlooking Yangon, and the late afternoon sun causes the many gold covered  and gold painted structures to glow. 

I'm really not sure about my use of the terms "Pagoda" and "Stupa" and "Shrine".  The best definition I can find is this: 
"The origin of the pagoda can be traced to the stupa (3rd century BCE). The stupa, a dome shaped monument, was used as a commemorative monument associated with storing sacred relics. ... These buildings (pagoda, stupa) became prominent as Buddhist monuments used for enshrining sacred relics." Wikipedia

Unfortunately the main stupa of the pagoda was under wraps, as it is being repaired and restored.

image from web

This image from the web shows how it looked before the restoration began.

The restoration of the gold on these two bells at its base reflected the sunshine. 

The top of the left most shrine is being restored

Ninety percent of the Burmese people are Buddhist, and many come from across the country and the world, to pray at this holy site. The gold used for the restorations is donated by the faithful.

Sheets of donated gold leaf are sent to the top in a ceremony that involves this "flying" cart. I would have loved to see it in action.

The red parts of this shrine roof  will be covered in gold in the future. 

This was taken as the light was starting to fade. The amount of detail on the roof edges was amazing. In the background is a white bell with gold trim. Many designs are repeated over and over, and some are unique.

Inside each shrine there are one or more Buddha statues. Hundreds of Buddhas in all sizes. These are just a few.

But the Buddha are not alone. Four of these fearsome creatures, each on its own tiled pillar, surrounded one Buddha statue in a mirror covered shrine.

The decorative detail of the ceiling was amazing.

As I looked at this last image of the Pagoda shrines, at first I though something was on my camera's lens filter. But then I realized it was just a couple of crows coming in for the night.

First arrivals

As we walked back to our car, we noticed more and more flocking in.

By the time we left, the scaffolds we could see were covered with perching black crows.

Perhaps Buddha gives them a safe haven for the night.


 


Shwedagon Pagoda was the first we visited. There are thousands of Pagodas in Southeast Asia. They are not "churches" but people do come to pray at them. Some are large complexes like this and others are a single stupa on a hill in the countryside.

They have fairly strict dress codes, no shoes or socks allowed, but anyone is welcome to go in.

By the time we visited, I was quite tired and don't think I could really appreciate what I was seeing, except that this spectacular place was alive and is a significant part of the culture of this part of the world. Most Westerners do not fully understand or appreciate the religions of so many others. 

As we traveled I did learn a few more things about Buddhist practices, but cannot seem to put them together enough to understand them.

But then, I wouldn't expect someone from Myanmar to understand Rome either. 

Next Post:
#5  Food and more things we saw in Yangon.