Where is this?

Do you know what city this is? I came upon this photo of a city with amazing architecture and had no idea where it was. I think I'm well traveled, I've been to many of the world's great cities but this is stunning!  It is Doha, Qatar which on the Arabian Peninsula. A part of the world I haven't visited. The closest I've been is Cairo. In fact, I admit, shamefacedly, that I only recently discovered there's an African country called Djibouti. We Americans think we are sophisticated about the world. I mean to say, I am proud of all the places I've been.

Well of course I know many Americans know very little about geography -- my daughters both admit to having very little knowledge ... apparently they didn't even learn USA geography in school although I remember homework over a Christmas break in the fourth grade when I was to use my school book, a pencil and box of crayons and draw a map of the United States on a large sheet of paper, put in all the states and their capitals. From the exercise (I was a very conscientious student) I can still close my eyes and see a map of the US. (I admit to having forgotten a few state capitals).

I belong to a weekly current events discussion group made up of contemporaries many of whom have far better educations than I. I'm relatively sure none of them would recognize this picture of Doha and I suspect many don't know where it is ... and maybe have also not heard of Djibouti. We are well read, most listen to a great many TV news programs, we discuss American current affairs with relatively little reference to other countries. We have all chosen to know about what piques  our interest at any particular time. We bemoan the ideas and politics of that vast Middle America that some of us grew up in or lived in for a period of time.  The truth is we all know so little about our own country and a minuscule amount about the rest of the world.

Of course, we have private lives to live and finally that is what brings us happiness or unhappiness ... our hubris -- my own first of all -- is a concern to me. I am very aware of my ignorance.

Summer Time

No, this is not me today although I'm sure the beaches are crowded. It's the middle of the afternoon and 85 degrees out there and, although it IS Sunday and I have been working on the Times Crossword puzzle, I am too fond of my skin to subject it to the hottest part of the day.  Often I walk on the beach early -- 7:30 or so when very few others are out. Today I think I will wait until about 7:30 in the evening and take a walk on the beach.

We wait a long time for summer to really get here and only the past two weeks have really been summer. Yoga on the beach Wednesday night -- timed to end just as the sun is setting -- is a treat, albeit one that my body protests against. I have to admit that having pass the "Big 8-0" I cannot do the things I could do twenty years -- or even ten years -- ago. 

I am very happy to live near a wonderful beach (actually near several but there are only two I frequent). And even at 85 degrees and somewhat too humid, I still love summer best -- the freedom of going barefoot, the pleasure of sleeping with windows open and waking about 5:00 to listen to the birds beginning their days -- especially the imperious crows that announce their locations with a triple "caw". Then I drift back to sleep until the clock radio plays some classical (usually baroque) music with which to start the day. Who knew? I often think that -- who knew, who could have guessed that, at this age, I would find so much simple pleasure on a summer Sunday ...   except the puzzles get harder and harder because they have so many clues about TV series and various stars that I know nothing about. I've let that part of the world spin on it's crazed way without paying attention to it. And that's  just totally okay!