Things I've Seen

1. Three car crashes, each of which happened in front of me.

2. Stonehenge.

3. A box of photographs taken by the grandfather of a friend of mine who happened to be drafted as a soldier, in the Nazi army, during WWII. He was captured in Russia, held in gulag, allowed to keep his photos and camera, and marched back home to Germany after the war with them. Looking at them left me awestruck - I was looking at a piece of his country's, and Russia's, history that (probably) nobody outside his family had ever seen.

4. Four live rattlesnakes in the wild. Two were under rocks and two were coiled at the base of some sagebrush, back in NM.

5. The loveliest Christmas tree in the middle of an outdoor ice rink in Bruges, Belgium. The light was fading, we had stumbled onto a Christmas market with gorgeous handmade toys and crafts. Stalls were selling Gluwein and hot pastries around the square and this tree must have been about 12 meters tall! Gorgeous rosy-cheeked children were skating around the base and afterward we went and sat for hours in a stone, cavernous pub in the basement of a tavern and ordered drinks. It was picturebook perfect!

6. The Voladores, whose performance was breathtaking. They were the last act of the evening at the Gallup Intertribal Indian Ceremonial - and still are, I think. They went on after dark and a huge fire was lit in the middle of the arena. The sandstone cliffs acted as a backdrop and the firelight danced off the rocks. I could see why people believe they were messengers for the gods when they leaped off their platform, flying in lazy circles, like eagles, with their ankles tethered by ropes wound round the pole. The only noise in the arena was the tinny sound of the flutist, perched at the top of the platform, high above the ground.

What are some amazing things you've seen? Have they changed who you are or how you look at life?