Topics

Mar

The Art of Cloud Watching

by Meredith Mullins on March 4, 2019

Altocumulus clouds at sunset near Yosemite National Park in California, traveling the world while cloud watching. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Keep looking up
© Meredith Mullins

Looking Up . . . While Traveling the World

It all started with a mackerel sky—a real-life Magritte painting that rose up in splendor near the foothills of the California Sierra.

I had never seen anything like it before. A sky filled with cotton balls. Dancing sheep. Wayward popcorn.

A mackerel sky (altocumulus clouds) near Yosemite National Park in California, traveling the world while cloud watching. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

My first mackerel sky
© Meredith Mullins

I posted the photo on Facebook, feeling like a humble human proud to share the poetic beauty of nature with the world. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Nature Discovery/Worldwide Sites

Feb

Amazing Places in the World: The Kumbh Mela

by Meredith Mullins on February 25, 2019

Pilgrims on the main street of the 2019 Ardh Kumbh Mela in Praygraj, India, one of the amazing places in the world. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The 2019 Ardh Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj (Allahabad), India
© Meredith Mullins

Where Faith and Family Merge in Festival

Some travel opportunities are so rare and so provocative that their seductive siren’s song goes straight to the soul.

A total eclipse of the sun in Patagonia. A full moon at the Taj Mahal. Summiting Mount Everest (well, maybe, Base Camp). Running with the bulls in Pamplona. Finding the spiritual rhythm of the Camino de Santiago. The unending magnetism of amazing places in the world.

The only way to silence this call of adventure is to “just do it.”

Such was the song of the Ardh Kumbh Mela for me in India this month—the largest peaceful religious gathering of humans on Earth. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 6 Comments

Adventure Travel/India

Jan

What’s in the Art of New Year’s Resolutions?

by Meredith Mullins on January 2, 2019

Happy new year hat on weathered boards, showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi and lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © Kameleon007/iStock.)

Cultural Tradition with a Dash of Wabi Sabi

Eat healthier.
Get more exercise.
Lose weight.
Learn a language.
Save more money.
(Make more money!)
Master a new skill.
Read more.
Spend quality time with friends and family.

Sound familiar?

Yes, it’s that time of year again. A transition to a new annual chapter. A time to turn the page. Start fresh. And make a New Year’s resolution or two . . . or three—rising to the challenge of self-improvement and accomplishing new goals.

These days, the percentage of people making New Year’s resolutions seems to be steadily declining. And the percentage of those keeping their resolutions dives even lower.

I admit to being in this latter category. Resolutions made. Resolutions broken (usually by sometime in January).

So why not take a different tack? Why not embrace wabi sabi? Read more...

Meredith Mullins 5 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Japan

World Views: