Rabat, Morocco: Riad

Riad

I have always had a place in my heart for Morocco. This is my seventh trip, but the first to Rabat. It is quite a livable city and a target-rich environment for a photographer.

I am staying with a traditional Muslim family in a lovely riad. They are such loving and kind people. I am very lucky. The family has offered me a place in their home for me to live if I decide to come back. “Better to be with others than alone,” they said.

Hafsa helped me get a sim card for my phone today. We strolled arm in arm through the Souks. I had forgotten how much I enjoy walking together like that with another woman. Their house is in the old part of town. Hafsa and all her sisters are excellent cooks, and the house is located in the middle of the fresh food area. I am in heaven!

When we got back home, her husband was kneeling on his prayer rug. I offered to do dishes so that Hafsa could get to her prayers, too.

Working Together: Gears

Gears

This is the third Gallery submission.

Gears

By itself, a gear is useless.  To be powerful, a gear must be paired with another gear.  Kipling said “The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”  It is the same with a gear.  Some people think a gear is a “cog” that is relatively useless, but every mechanic knows better – Throw a gear and the whole thing comes to a halt.

Bob Dylan wrote a song that tells us everybody has to serve somebody and reminds us that whom we serve is important, too.  We all are parts of a larger whole that is more powerful than the sum of its parts.  Each of us has purpose and value.  Together, gears symbolize cooperation and progress.  The people I love best dive into work.  They are not divas nor parlor generals nor Monday-morning quarterbacks. They suit up and show up.  They are in the arena with their sleeves rolled up, straining and pulling like oxen to move things along.  They don’t complain or boast.  They are reliable.  You can count on them.

 

Engranajes

Por sí mismo un engranaje es inútil. Para ser poderoso, un engranaje debe emparejarse con otro

engranaje. Kipling dijo: "La fuerza de la manada es el lobo, y la fuerza del lobo es la manada". Es lo mismo con un engranaje. Algunas personas piensan que un engranaje es una cosa relativamente inútil, pero todos los mecánicos saben que cualquier máquina es solamente tan buena como sus partes…

 

Bob Dylan escribió una canción que dice que todos tenemos que servir a alguien y nos recuerda que a quién servimos también es importante. Cada uno de nosotros tiene un propósito y un valor. Juntos, los engranajes simbolizan la cooperación y el progreso. Las personas que más me gustan se sumergen en el trabajo. No son divas ni generales de salón. Están en el ruedo arremangados y tirando como burros para mover las cosas. No se quejan ni se jactan. Son confiables. Puedes contar con ellos.