Standing out from the crowd.
Freak, odd, weird, strange, bizarre, alien, misfit, peculiar.
Unique, original, innovative, exceptional, trailblazing, creative.
Change perspective to fill the void.
I just realised as I wrote this. It takes more letters to write the words to describe being different in a positive way than in a negative way!
Does that tell something about us? Ha de Gött!
Perhaps not the most famous church in Barcelona, but one I really wanted to see. The Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar plays a central role in the novel La Catedral del Mar (Cathedral of the Sea) by Ildefonso Falcones. It’s been many years since I read it, but it left a lasting impression on me. A powerful story of good and evil, justice and injustice, and how the Church, meant to stand for good, often—almost always—ends up on the side of evil.
The church was built between 1329 and 1383 in the Catalan Gothic style. It was constructed largely by unpaid labor from the common people, and is therefore sometimes referred to as the ‘workers’ cathedral’—a detail well described in Falcones’ book. The main character, Arnau Estanyol, finds work as a porter, carrying goods from the dock on his back. These porters were called bastaixos, and in the little spare time they had after work, they carried stones to help build the church.
The play of light inside is impressive, likely designed to suggest the presence of God. Whether divine or coincidental, I happened to be in the right spot at the right time as sunlight struck the cross—a beacon of hope, so needed today when dark forces and false prophets seem to be gaining more and more power.
Let the ray of hope shine, ha de Gött!
We are just mirror images.
Soon blurred by the ripples of time.
We reach for the sky.
Just to fall, to the ground.
Like autumn leaves.
Then it starts again, ha de Gött!
Svensk version
Vi är bara spegelbilder.
Snart utsuddade av tidens krusning.
Vi sträcker oss mot himlen.
Bara för att falla, till marken.
Likt höstlöv.
Så startar det om igen, ha de Gött!
Anyone out there.
Anything, out there.
In cold, and damp aware.
We so easily scare.
Remember to look over your shoulder, ha de Gött!
Ha de Gött!
A sight rarely seen these days but common back in the day. The phone booth.
When I was in school back in the 80:ties when the cold war was at it’s coldest. We read a book about peace where the theme was that as the means of communication improved, peace and understanding would follow. Today it has never been easier to communicate all around the world. Yet we have never been so misinformed as today.
Picture is taken in Oslo. Just a few meters away from the Nobel Peace centre and the Oslo City hall where the award ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize are held December 10 every year.
I leave the red phone booth as a beacon of hope, ha de Gött!
Disunion waves.
Overwhelming.
Us and them.
Gasping not to drown.
In haze.
Lighthouse beacon.
Relentless Hope.
Standing firm.
Svensk version
Splittringens vågor.
Överväldigande.
Vi och dom.
Kippar efter andan.
I dimman.
Fyrens ljus.
Obevekligt hopp.
Står obeveklig.
Will we ever learn, ha de Gött!
Sun is giving the fjord.
A last goodnight kiss.
As the rain clouds gather.
And for a while.
My soul is at rest.
Sleep thigh, ha de Gött!
After rain the sun shines through.
If only for a short while.
It will always shine through.
Let the sun shine in, ha de Gött!
Mirror, mirror in the sea.
Can you tell, what will be.
The future upon us one, two, three.
Cherish the moment, it won’t come again. Ha de Gött!
UlleHaddock 