People

Today, being the 75th anniversary of VP Day and the end of WW2, I hope I'll be excused for dipping into the archives. Only a few months later, my father finally came home from the Philippines where he was part of the RAAF No 6 Wireless Unit. Prior to the invasion of the Philippines (in this photo copied from a tiny original print from 1943) he was in a Wireless Unit in Port Moresby, New Guinea.

Amazingly, not only were we invited to visit the school (see earlier images), we were allowed to take photos in the classrooms. This young girl looked somewhat inattentive in class - probably distracted by the "farangs" (Lao term for westerners) with cameras. In the PiP an image of the early primary classroom.

If the girl with the pink pen (previous image) was distracted, this young lady in the upper primary was totally focussed on me wandering around, so through sign language we agreed I could take her portrait. She burst out laughing when I showed her the photo on the screen. :-) Another classroom photo in the PiP.

Down the road from the school, these village men were busily repairing a net. Nets such as this are used to capture birds for eating and, in that regard, it must be recognised that these areas largely operate on a subsistence economy.

On the Bolaven Plateau, in southern Laos, we found two ladies busily weaving with what I can best describe as portable looms. The tension of the loom being adjusted by the toes! They were happy to be photographed and were producing some lovely fabric. See also PiPs.

Maybe you enjoy the spice known as Cardamom? It is grown in various tropical parts of Asia, including Laos. Once harvested, in the form of pods, it needs to be dried. There are various means of doing that, but in this Lao village it was done the traditional way. This lady is working on a shelf above a smouldering fire, drying out the seeds taken from those pods hanging on the sides of this special purpose hut. It was fiendishly hot (she was bathed in perspiration) and very smoky inside: how she could look so cheerful for the camera was beyond me! I really had to feel for the people of rural Laos, living such hard lives compared to our western world, while in one of the world's lowest income countries. View this large on black and spare a moment's thought when next buying spices! I'm very flattered that this image has been selected for inclusion on the Ipernity Homepage.

I had intended to post this image earlier, as it was taken in the village we visited on the Bolaven Plateau in southern Laos. This lady was happy to have her portrait taken, even if the baby was not. What I did not know was that when I showed her the photo on the camera, which she found really funny, one of my companions took a photo of both of us (see PiP).

Back in May I posted a portrait of my lovely wife Pauline. She has serious medical problems which, unfortunately, have not improved since then. Despite that, she has always wanted to do a parachute jump in memory of her father, who was a Red Beret. Today was a huge day, as she was able to do a tandem jump with a local skydiving company, Skydive Oz. In the PiPs are a photo of Pauline with her skydive "pilot" and another I took of them landing on the local beach. I've done some silly things over the years, but leaping from an aeroplane has never been one of my ambitions: I take off my hat to her for her bravery and I'm glad to report that she's feeling good tonight.

I am writing with a heavy heart to advise you that, after a long fight with a particularly nasty cancer, my lovely wife Pauline is no longer with us. She slipped away quietly this morning (13 March). I know that many of you will be greatly saddened by this news. If it is any consolation, I can tell you that she went peacefully and that she was comfortable with her departure. Also a PiP from long ago. I shall continue to be largely absent from ipernity for a while longer. GO SOFTLY Go softly now, On wings of wind, With steps that leave No trail in the morning dew. Drift quietly away, And join the light That burns my heart And sears my soul. Lift up and fly! And tarry now, But leave the pain And vanish from this heavy place. Go softly now On wings of wind, Reach out and touch Eternal Light awaiting your sweet soul. Author: Unknown