Shere Delighttag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-12342222009-09-28T15:27:24+01:00My life away from home: a village in Surrey, a village in France. TypePadSeptembertag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8345301ff69e20120a5fb15a2970c2009-09-28T15:27:24+01:002009-09-30T15:57:58+01:00Our gift this month has been soft, sunshiny days and warm nights. Autumn is my favorite time of year, the time when I feel nature take a deep breath before plunging into winter's profound sleep, after the explosive growth of spring and summer. The trees still have their leaves, although you can feel the trees sighing, ready to let them...Kathleen HallSyria and Jordan Part Onetag:typepad.com,2003:post-666021692009-09-15T10:43:00+01:002009-09-20T08:36:32+01:00Syria and Jordan Category [Choose a category or type a new one] We’ve been back from Syria and Jordan for nearly two weeks and already it seems like a dream. In fact, it seemed like a dream the day after we returned, but I know it wasn’t. I have Jordanian sand in my sandals to prove it. I haven’t cleaned...Kathleen HallSyria and Jordan, Part 2tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8345301ff69e20120a50f6837970b2009-09-07T10:25:00+01:002009-09-20T08:44:49+01:00Syria and Jordan, part 2 At last, the promised continuation of our Syria/Jordan trip. This will only be highlights; my highlights, not those of an anthropologist, geologist, ancient historian, student of Biblical history, or anything academic in the slightest. Our guides were a bit of all these, especially the tour organizer, David Price-Williams, who has a Ph.D in just about...Kathleen HallSyria and Jordan, Part 3tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8345301ff69e20120a54ecb9e970b2009-09-01T14:41:00+01:002009-09-20T13:50:11+01:00Haitham, our Syrian guide, led us up to a small chapel capping the castle. Rather, it used to be a chapel and became a small mosque or prayer room after the crusaders were thrown out. Stairs led up to a platform where the Imam would have spoken, and a niche in one of the walls next to it contained, on...Kathleen HallSyria and Jordan, the endtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8345301ff69e20120a57a2511970b2009-08-24T17:41:00+01:002009-09-30T16:06:29+01:00Before I move on to Petra and Wadi Rum, I want to tell you about some Jordanian children. I think we were inJerash, but I'm not sure. We climbed to a hilltop overlooking the ruins, when Walid called us together. A boy of about 10 stood with his armload of postcards. At a signal from Walid, he began to ask...Kathleen HallOrdovician observationisttag:typepad.com,2003:post-656091992009-04-17T15:07:26+01:002009-04-17T16:26:47+01:00My son, Nathan, wrote this to his son, Nico, my first grandchild. . It tells you a lot about both of them. (Photo: Jurrasic Coas, Dorset, UK) Last Sunday, at a neighbor's easter egg hunt, I noticed my son Nico squatting in the planted bit of dirt between their house and a walkway to their front door. This, while the...Kathleen Hall