irreplacable sparks

" Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplacable spark. In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach. The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

A time of reflection for me (turning the ripe old age of 51 when I still feel like a headstrong teenager) and HoiAn - it is the full moon which means it is the night where you show respect to your ancestors - fluorescent lights are banned in the old quarter, lanterns are lit and locals bring out the family shrines (which are normally inside the shop or living room) to the street
- this woman is burning ' money' in honor of her ancestors....

I skyped mine :)

Everything aches after my motorbike adventures yesterday yet stupidly I signed up for a 'cattle truck' tourist tour of the ancient Cham temples today - sunstroke combined with the grumpiest tour guide I've ever met made it a surreal morning - and again one of those times when I question my sanity.
However he pulled no punches about the US bombing the temples in the war to flush out the VC in the surrounding jungle.... he was scathing also about the French who raided the temples of most of the artwork before the war ..... lots of Frenchies there today who were very offended.........why is it so hard for a culture to say sorry for it's previous crimes? It took us white Australians a good 50 years of campaigning to have our goverment say sorry to the people our culture tried to extinguish.....i am not proud of white australian history or even present politics at all...
anyways I am rambling on......'

May the fourth be with you (no I'm not a starwars fan but something about that makes me laugh)
Rae