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Nine Yards … and counting.

Nine Yards … and counting.

Author Archives: dknolte

The Mavi Tour

22 Wednesday Oct 2014

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Bodrum, Turkey.

Few weeks ago, Terese joined up with a friend and flew down to Bodrum on the southwest coast of Turkey.  They spent four comfortable days at a very nice resort.

101_8039 101_8010 101_8008DSC_0531    Below are pictures taken from the resort with the full moon.101_8017 101_8013 101_8012 101_8011    Experimenting with my little camera.101_8033 101_8032 101_8016    One of the many fine meals the women ate at the resort.  Octopus.DSC_0502I flew down and joined them the last day, then we lounged on a sailboat for five days and four nights.  We boarded the boat about 10am and just gently motored along.  Even though it was a sail boat, the sails were unfolded only one time.  Terese and her friend Andrea, quickly changed into bathing suits, but I just wanted to sit, do nothing and decompress.  That day, while they sunned and swam at the coves we dropped anchor at, I just sat in my jeans and T-shirt doing nothing.  I needed it.

The boat was called, “Small World” and had three cabins.  The crew comprised of Captain Zafar who owns the boat and is a gourmet chef.  The 65 year old man does long distance swims as a hobby.  He is currently training for a 6 kilometer swim next year, I think in Istanbul.  So once a day, he would emerge from the cabin in swim gear, and jump off the boat and literally swim out of sight.  It was an amazing thing to see.  65 years old and he would jump into the water and swim until you could no longer determine it was a swimmer.  30 minutes later, he would return.

Along with Zafar, is his girlfriend, Bieron.  She is 51, cute with straggly hair.  I enjoyed watching her and Zafar interact.  While he steered the boat, she would come and stand next to him and talk.  He would look over at her and gently touch her cheek.  I think they kinda like each other.  Looking at the two below, I was most impressed by the faces that had seen a great many more sunrises and sunsets than I have.  Such rich faces that only the sun and sea could carve.

101_8121Then, last and certainly not least, was Gokhan.  I don’t know what you call the guy who helps the captain, but whatever it is, he is that.  He is suppose to also be a fisherman, but he did not seem to be too good at that.  He is the young man who is sitting with Terese and her friend Andrea.  These two pics were the last two I took on the boat at the end of the tour.101_8120DSC_0595DSC_0597A few pics of the boat itself.  The first one is from the tour company, and the second is the little dingy which always trailed behind, coming to get us from the dock.  These cruises are also known as the “Blue Cruises” because of the color of the water.  Most places, when the GPS/fish finder said 10 meters of water, you could still see the bottom and the fish swarming around.

Small World101_8043DSC_0555 101_8086101_8099To get an idea of what we ate; first lunch right after Zafar found a quiet place to drop anchor.  Incredibly tasty pasta!DSC_0576Here we had a strange meal of octopus and ink pasta.  Wasn’t too happy with the pasta.  The color just did not work for me, even though my mouth was happy.DSC_0591This was a typical breakfast.  At first they gave us a lot more, but we told them just a light breakfast only.DSC_0583Now a mess of pictures taken from the boat throughout the trip.DSC_0548 101_8073 101_8068 101_8067 101_8063 101_8062 101_8061 101_8059 101_8056 101_8051 101_8047 101_8049 20141011_184117 20141011_184112 20141010_142759The following are pictures I took one morning when only Zafar, Bieron and I were up.  There was a quiet mist floating above the water.20141011_073723 20141011_073703 20141011_073651 101_8088… and as the sun came up.101_8106101_8109101_8115Various pictures throughout.DSC_0582 101_8073 101_8076 101_8060 101_8051 101_8059 101_8049 101_8048 101_8093 101_8081 Gokhan’s method of fishing was something I had never seen before.  He took a sponge imbedded in a small loaf of bread, wrapped with a string with about a dozen hooks on it.  He threw it in the water and just waited.  The fish would swarm around it and somehow would end up on the hooks.  Or were suppose to.101_8082It was a good trip.DSC_0604 101_8052DSC_0570If there are any duplicates in the post, pretend you don’t notice.  Until next time, kick butt.       D.

 

I Walked Among Them

06 Monday Oct 2014

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Many years ago while working in Afghanistan, I sent writings home telling about the things I saw and the people I worked with.  One such document was titled, “I Walk Among Them”.  Many people thought it was compelling and even the small Texas town newspaper where I grew up, printed it in an edition.

The other day I happened across a version on my computer where I added other thoughts from that time period.  So I edited it to where it was readable and converted it to a PDF file and posted it.  This writing probably best describes what I saw and how I felt during my 26 months in that war zone.

To get to it, go here.

Two Weeks

04 Saturday Oct 2014

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Everyone has a favorite season.  I always liked the spring with its storms and promise of warm weather.

Here in Ankara, autumn came in a heart beat.  There was only a two week defining period of change from summer to autumn.  A few weeks ago, we were enjoying weather in the upper nineties and lightly touching a 100.  Within two weeks, the weather went from the heat to the 60-70’s, and stayed there.

Below are pictures I took from our apartment during that short period.IMG_2851IMG_2856 IMG_2855IMG_2853IMG_2854IMG_2852IMG_2857Last Friday was the start of a Turkish holiday.  The Embassy will not open back up until Wednesday.  Terese and I will not be there though, as we have a reservation for a boat ride down by Bodrum on the Mediterranean coast.  I will take my little camera with me and hopefully get some phenomenal images.

Until then, keep kicking.    D.

Oktoberfest 2014

28 Sunday Sep 2014

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Yesterday was my lovely wife’s birthday, and it just happen to coincide with the Oktoberfest celebration at the German Embassy.  So, it was an easy gift to her from me.

I’m not a social dancer, so I just enjoyed sitting and watching others and spending time outside under the smoker’s tent with the rain coming down.  I will always meet interesting people while there.  Below, the people are starting to fill in.

101_7991 101_7992 101_7995 101_7996101_8002101_8004Then comes the best part.  The food.101_7999 101_7998Below is a friend of ours enjoying the feast.101_8006And here is a couple of pictures of a beer fest lady.  One, with one of the beer girls who stood for several hours doing nothing but pour beer.101_7994 101_8007Below is a good friend of ours who works in the health unit at the Embassy.  I gave her one of mom’s books a few months ago.  101_8005As the night progressed, the music became louder, the beer kept flowing and people kept dancing.101_8003And below is a picture of a perfectly contented lady on her perfect birthday.101_8001Drink beer and eat well.   … and keep kicking butt.      D.

Last Two Weeks …

26 Friday Sep 2014

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… have been at full tilt.  Time to shut down and cut loose.  And just in time for Oktoberfest at the German Embassy tomorrow night.  I’ll sneak some pictures and post them in the next few days.  I hope they turn out okay, in spite of the beer.

A Hill called Podbrdo

15 Monday Sep 2014

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Continuing with the thoughts of Medjugorje, I have created another page with the thoughts I wrote about, back in 2001.  You can click here to view it.  I edited it a bit and added some images.

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