Idyllic Wednesday

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

As I look over the images from today I think, "What an idyllic life!" To be honest, it's all in how you look at, and crop, the image. My idyllic Wednesday began with breakfast on the balcony overlooking a donkey munching on his breakfast. I have cropped out the illegal house constructions that are sprouting up because building inspectors seemingly cannot do their job without a President at the helm.

As we walked to catch a service taxi to the vegetable market, a camel grazed in the next field. I have cropped out the modern houses that make me ponder how long it will be before these fields will be covered with brick and concrete too.

Golden wheat harvested by hand is an idyllic sight -- yet I know that it is back-breaking work.

We had a bit of a laugh on the idyllic path home. I worried about the donkey but he did not complain about his load.

Along the route, an egret posed regally on an abandoned banana plant that had fallen into the canal. A little surprisingly, I did not have to crop out any rubbish that is often present.

Finally, as we headed towards the shadow of the mountain for a quiet dinner at Nur el Gurna, the Sun set behind a thick bank of clouds but light beautifully illuminated the sky's upper reaches.

I may need to do a little 'cropping' to find the idyll, but I'm thankful to have the small bits that I have.