TRAVEL TUESDAY #7

“You can’t go home again. Your childhood is lost. The friends of your youth are gone. Your present is slipping away from you. Nothing is ever the same.” ― Heraclitus of Ephesus

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel!

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest us! Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Please link your entry using the Linky tool below:

Ephesus (Greek: Ἔφεσος Ephesos; Turkish: Efes; ultimately from Hittite Apasa) was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists.

During the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC. According to estimates, Ephesus had a population of 33,600 to 56,000 people in the Roman period, making it the third largest city of Roman Asia Minor after Sardis and Alexandria Troas.

The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In 268 AD, the Temple was destroyed or damaged in a raid by the Goths. It may have been rebuilt or repaired but this is uncertain, as its later history is not clear. Emperor Constantine the Great rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. Following the Edict of Thessalonica from Emperor Theodosius I, what remained of the temple was destroyed in 401 AD by a mob led by St. John Chrysostom.

I was always taught at school that Herostratus (Greek: Ἡρόστρατος), who was a 4th-century BC Greek arsonist, was the one who burned the temple. Herostratus sought notoriety by destroying one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. His name has become a metonym for someone who commits a criminal act in order to become famous. As far as his punishment is concerned, the Ephesian authorities not only executed him, but attempted to condemn him to a legacy of obscurity by forbidding mention of his name under penalty of death. However, this did not stop Herostratus from achieving his goal, because the ancient historian Theopompus recorded the event and its perpetrator in his Hellenics.

The town was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD. The city’s importance as a commercial centre declined as the harbour was slowly silted up by the Küçükmenderes River. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here. The city was the site of several 5th century Christian Councils (see Council of Ephesus). It is also the site of a large gladiators’ graveyard. The ruins of Ephesus are a favourite international and local tourist attraction, partly owing to their easy access from Adnan Menderes Airport.

More of my photos of Ephesus can be seen here. The whole archaeological site is quite magnificent and one needs at least a week to visit it and explore it fully!

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

POETS UNITED - FIRE

“The fire which enlightens is the same fire which consumes.” - Henri Frédéric Amiel

This week, Poets United has as its theme, “Fire”. Whether seen as friend or foe, fire always has to be respected as it can burn more easily than it can warm.

Bushfires in Australia are frequent events during the hot months of the year, due to Australia’s mostly hot, dry climate. Each year, such fires impact extensive areas. While they can cause property damage and loss of human life, certain native flora in Australia have evolved to rely on bushfires as a means of reproduction, and fire events are an interwoven and an essential part of the ecology of the continent. For thousands of years, Indigenous Australians have used fire to foster grasslands for hunting and to clear tracks through dense bush (see here for more details).

Major firestorms that result in severe loss of life are often named based on the day on which they occur, such as Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday. Some of the most intense, extensive and deadly bushfires commonly occur during droughts and heat waves, such as the 2009 Southern Australia heat wave, which precipitated the conditions during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in which 173 people lost their lives. Other major conflagrations include the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires and the 2006 December Bushfires.

Victoria has seen the majority of the deadliest and largest bushfires in Australia, most notably the 2009 Black Saturday fires, where 173 people were killed, around 2,000 homes and structures were destroyed, towns were gutted, and some, such as Marysville, were destroyed. Global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of bushfires and will lead to increased days of extreme fire danger.

Perhaps the most distressing thing about bushfires is that some of them are deliberately lit by arsonists, firebugs, demented individuals who get a thrill out of seeing the flames leap up and destroy all in their path. In Australia, we fear and respect fire as it can cause destruction and death and endless misery. Firebugs have no place amongst us…


Drought and Fire

The demon lit the match and hell began

As soon as fire started in the tinder-dry bushland.

Parched earth and dead grass stretch listlessly

As heat waves shimmer in the distance

And oppressive heat mingles with the pungency of smoke.

The crackle of the flames consumes all other sounds

Leaves sublimate as the wave of towering fire touches them.

The wind roars, and the conflagration burns, destroys all,

While in its wake, nothing but ashes, blackened earth

And shells of gutted homes and stumps of trees.

The sun is red, the sky is gray in a vision of apocalypse

And as evening falls the dull infernal glow of bushfire

Colours even one’s thoughts incarnadine.

The embers fly and showers of sparks light up the sky

As fire spreads consuming all in its path.

A lack of water in the rivers of the heart,

A fire raging in the fevered brain,

Black charred remains and ashes in the soul:

The demon lights the match, the flames of hell burn on.

IN PRAISE OF BUSHFIRES

“Australians have stewardship of a beautiful, diverse and unique environment. Positioning Australia to respond to a changing climate, securing supplies of water to meet our domestic, agricultural and industrial needs, protecting our globally unique biodiversity and providing positive futures for Australian communities are the critical issues facing the nation.” - CSIRO
 
Bushfires once again are rampant throughout much of Southeastern Australia this Summer. The relatively wet climactic conditions over the last few years have created lush vegetation, which in the dry heat that we have been experiencing now, is perfect fuel for the wild fires that sweep through the wooded areas. Bushfire has been part of the Australian landscape for millions of years, but while we consider it a major threat, some of our flora and fauna depend upon it for their survival. Australia’s native vegetation encourages the spread of fire and as a consequence of evolution, bushfires create a number of surprising benefits for the Australian environment that cannot be created any other way.
 
Eucalyptus forest litter is coarse and decays slowly, ensuring that after several years there will still be an abundant build-up on the forest floor to carry the next fire. The bark of many native species is highly flammable and loosely attached to the trees, making ideal firebrands to carry fire across natural barriers. The green leaves contain highly flammable oils and resins that act as a catalyst to promote combustion before the leaves are fully dry. These factors predispose greatly to fires and sooner or later, in some part of Australia, weather patterns will occur so that strong, hot, dry winds will blow from the centre of the continent, so all that is needed is a spark to produce a conflagration. If these conditions of hot dry weather are associated with a drought of any length, the massive bushfire that develops will not be stopped until the weather moderates.
 
The Australian Aborigines lived in harmony with the environment before European settlement and they had learnt that they had to break up the forest fuel in order to survive within the landscape filled with many hazards. They burnt off vegetation extensively and often, so as to reduce forest litter. They learnt by observation the responses of the plants and animals to burning and took advantage of these responses to exist harmoniously and sustainably within the natural environment.
 
Since European settlement, the total amount of fire in the Australian landscape has declined. The bushland areas and particularly those around Sydney and Melbourne have thickened and accumulated more fuel. As a result, the infrequent fires that now occur under extreme weather burn much more intensely and have a significant impact on the built environment. Fragmentation of the bush by different land use practices, such as spreading urbanisation and agriculture, means that the Aboriginal fire regime is no longer possible or desirable in these areas.
 
Australian native flora and fauna have evolved to survive in a fire-prone environment. In order to maintain the biodiversity of the native areas of vegetation and its resident fauna, we have to accept that fire is a process that must be used to manage our bushland. Nothing else except bushfire does the following:

• Fire produces the chemicals in the ash to stimulate new growth of vegetation;
• Smoke stimulates the flowering and regeneration of particular species;
• The heat pulse of a passing bushfire removes growth-inhibiting toxins in the litter;
• Opens tightly-closed fruits to release new seed;
• Penetrates deep into the soil to stimulate the germination of long-buried seed.

Nothing else except bushfire produces the succession of plant development to which our native fauna have adapted to meet their requirements for food, shelter and reproduction.
 
Australian bushfires fires threaten lives and property and cause millions of dollars of damage each year. To a large extent, this is because since European settlement we have modified the Australian native environment and have made it adapt to a land use and settlement pattern that is more suited to a northern European, cooler and wetter climate, which has a completely different flora and fauna. The introduction of many exotic tree species such as European and American deciduous trees and also the evergreen pines has meant that the response of the landscape to bushfires has become less characteristic and unpredictable. The construction of residences within or adjacent to wooded areas has increased the risk of property destruction and loss of life. People’s ideas regarding the aesthetics of the landscape – i.e. that it should be green and lush and unravaged by the effects of fire is contrary to the Australian environment and the wise management of the land that the Aborigines were in charge of so successfully for millennia.
 
We must learn to accept that in Australia, bushfire is an ecological process that is as natural as the sun and the rain. We must learn to accept that bushfire determines the composition of our flora and fauna and contributes to its success within Australia’s unique landscape. If we want to reduce the devastating and tragic effects of uncontrolled bushfires, we must make fire suppression a strategic and regular occurrence in our lives, in locations that are appropriate. We need to learn that it is the dry undergrowth and dead leaf, bark and twig litter that provides the fuel for bushfires, and use prescribed, planned burn-offs at appropriate times of the year in order to reduce fuel loads. This implies that people need to individually take responsibility for managing the fuels in their properties, and maintain their gardens and adjacent land so that they do not burn uncontrolled in summer.
 
Fire services and land management agencies need the support of individuals and community groups even when there is no fire emergency and accept the minor inconvenience of smoke in the air when fire is prescribed for hazard reduction, forest regeneration or biodiversity management. People living in areas adjacent to high fire hazards must plant wisely, manage the flora and potential bushfire fuel in their gardens and construct properties that are bushfire resistant and well-prepared for a wave of fire that may sweep through their property. As part of any bushfire survival plan, farmers and homeowners should assess how they can make their property defendable, consider what fire protection systems need to be in place and ensure they know the location of their nearest shelter in the event that they need to evacuate quickly. As fires can occur at unexpected times, it’s also important to plan for different scenarios, such as on a workday, during school holidays or at a social function. Above all, if people choose to evacuate, they must leave their property early.
 
We live in a vast, beautiful land. It is often that we find ourselves in a harsh and punishing environment. If we respect the land and work with it, we make our own survival more probable, while nurturing and sustaining the native flora and fauna that we are the custodians of.

FAHRENHEIT 451

“A book that is shut is but a block.” - Thomas Fuller


I have blogged before about book burning and it is the topic of today’s blog once again. The burning of books is one form of biblioclasm (book destruction) and which for me represents one of the worst crimes against civilisation and against freedom. Wikipedia has a good article on this, which is worth reading.

What prompted me to write about this topic today was an old (2007) news item about Tom Wayne the owner of a bookshop, “Prospero’s Bookstore” that I discovered while doing an unrelated internet search. The bookshop is located in Kansas City Missouri (91800 West 39th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111). It is a vast shop where I would gladly spend several months browsing and reading and buying merchandise. However, I am a bibliophile and not a bibliopyroclast (book burner!), hence my obsession.

Tom Wayne has observed that modern society is becoming divorced from the act of reading. His diminishing sales and increasing stock attest to this, as well as figures from the bureau of statistics, and this is not a phenomenon confined to the USA; I was horrified to learn that in Greece approximately 8-9% of the population reads for pleasure. Astounding for the country that prides itself as the cradle of Western civilisation and with an uninterrupted history of literature for thousands of years! In the USA, less than 50% reads for pleasure (in 1982, the percentage was 57%). I must say that I feel very proud to live in Australia where our percentage of readers for pleasure (over 18 adults who read for pleasure every day, most days of the week) is 78%!

Now back to Mr Wayne: On Sunday May 27th 2007, he decided to hold a protest and goad the non-reading public into action. He had discovered that not only could he not sell his surplus books, he could not even give them away to libraries and thrift shops as “they had no room”. He decided to publicly burn books outside his store as a protest.
His justification for this and I quote, from his website:

“Q1: Why burn books?
A:   As a cultural wake-up call.
Burning books is an inflammatory act.  Books can contain our most sacred and valuable thoughts. The Nazis burned books to keep people from reading them.  Prospero's burned books to incite you to read - by not reading, the culture is empowering forces like the Nazis. It's giving them exactly what they want without a fight.”

The burning persisted for 50 minutes until the fire brigade arrived to douse the flames with the excuse that Mr Wayne did not have the requisite permit. Extreme? Yes, and I suspect that Mr Wayne’s motives were more geared towards publicity rather than protest. I quote from the article I found (see above):

“After slogging through the tens of thousands of books we've slogged through and to accumulate that many and to have people turn you away when you take them somewhere, it's just kind of a knee-jerk reaction,” Mr Wayne said. “And it's a good excuse for fun.”

I am very uneasy about Mr Wayne’s actions. Whether done in “fun” or as a “protest” or in fact as a publicity stunt (or all of these), the whole affair makes me shudder with revulsion. Investigating the matter a little further, I discovered that Mr Wayne is not the first bookseller to have performed this public book incineration. An excellent Times article highlights the case of Mr Shaun Bythell of Wigtown, Scotland performed the same stunt in 2005. And this in Wigtown, which in 1997 was proclaimed Scotland’s “National Book Town”, having 25 book-selling businesses.

The idea of book burning repels me. Even in the case of damaged books that can’t be salvaged, I would opt for recycling. Take that paper that as trapped winged thoughts and pulp it, give it a new lease of life, let new words be printed on it and let a new generation of readers delight in the printed word. In terms of increasing the percentage of the reading public, we must be doing something very right here in Australia, compared to what is being done in Greece, say. What is to blame for people abandoning reading? Our society and its values. The ease with which one may be entertained and diverted, the cheap and easy non-cerebral pleasures offered by TV, movies, music, drugs, alcohol, dancing, sport. The low value our society places on intellectual pursuits compared to the high value it places on superficial fame afforded to rock stars, sporting personalities, filmstars, etc. The financial rewards it offers to people involved in intellectual pursuits versus what a “star” can make is sobering and disturbing.

Ray Bradbury’s novel “Fahrenheit 451” is a paean to books and reading. It looks at biblioclasm and ts effects on a society. Read it, it's fantastic!

GREEK FIRES - DÉJA VU

“A spark neglected makes a mighty fire.” - Robert Herrick

The devastating fires in Attica, Greece, just to the north of Athens have been burning since Friday evening and have reduced to ash forests and gutted properties. The fire broke out late on Friday in a village about 40 km (25 miles) northeast of the Greek capital and, fanned by strong winds, spread to neighbouring villages and northern suburbs of Athens. Greek authorities declared a state of emergency in eastern Attica on Saturday where the flames seared about 12,140 hectares of forest, farming fields and olive groves.

The fire brought back memories of 2007, when Greece's deadliest wildfires in living memory raged for more than 10 days on the Peloponnese peninsula and Evoia island, killing 65 people. Fortunately, until now, there have been no deaths with these fires, but authorities fear for the worst as residents are frantically trying to stop the flames from reaching their houses with garden hoses and tree branches.

A detail from Bosch’s central part of the “Triptych of The Temptation of St Anthony” (painted 1505-06), Oil on panel (Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon) is apt for this fiery Sunday. A burning village illuminates the dusky background, probably a reference to the disease of ergotism or "St Anthony's Fire", whose victims invoked the name of St Anthony for relief.

Hieronymus Bosch (ca 1450-1516) was Netherlandish painter, named after the town of 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) in northern Brabant, where he seems to have lived throughout his life. His real name was Jerome van Aken (perhaps indicating family origins in Aachen, Germany). Bosch married well and was successful in his career (although his town was fairly isolated, it was prosperous and culturally stimulating). He was an orthodox Catholic and a prominent member of a local religious brotherhood, but his most characteristic paintings are so bizarre that in the 17th century he was reputed to have been a heretic. About forty genuine examples of Bosch's work survive, but none is dated and no accurate chronology can be made.

COURAGE, ALTRUISM, HOPE

“Optimism is the foundation of courage.” - Nicholas Murray Butler

We are thankful today as the weather has been kind the last few days and this has greatly helped firefighters in the fire-affected areas. Some rain has made the job of fighting the still burning fires a little easier. However, the weekend and next week promises a return to the hot, dry conditions and this has everyone of us worried. The raw wounds in everyone’s psyche cannot take another tragedy of the sort we are dealing with at the moment. And there are warnings aplenty that we have not seen the end of the fire season.

While the news has been horrific, some remarkable stories of courage, determination, selflessness, heroism and compassion are now emerging. While I have been focusing on the negative aspects of these bushfires for the past few days, today I would like to pay tribute to those individuals, many of them volunteers, many of them simple everyday people who have responded in the face of a great crisis with a magnitude of spirit and true selflessness to help fellow human beings.

The first of course are the volunteer firefighters of the Country Fire Authority (CFA). They have been right at the forefront of the bushfires from the very first moments the flames started licking the tinder-dry bush. Since then they have worked tirelessly with almost no breaks, risking life and limb to save their fellow human beings, homes, the bushland, the hapless native animals and the farm animals that were also threatened. These are remarkable people that deserve a medal for their altruism and heroism.

So many stories are coming in now of ordinary people that were forced by circumstance to do extraordinary things. People sacrificing everything to save not only their home and family, but also to aid complete strangers in need. Human beings can be remarkable in this respect and there are countless examples of such actions in history where one person risks their own life to save that of their fellows. Australians are a rare breed and when the going gets tough, a fighting spirit stirs and together with a tough attitude achieves great things.

Now, in the wake of the horror, those countless volunteers, give freely of their time to help the victims rebuild their lives. So many people that have gathered around the survivors to help them with donations of food, tents, blankets, clothes, furniture, money are there where they are needed to do the right thing. Great disasters show us also this face of humanity, that part of the human psyche that can truly be considered to be divine. This is the face of the altruist.

altruism |ˈaltroōˌizəm|noun
The belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others: Some may choose to work with vulnerable elderly people out of altruism.
• Zoology behaviour of an animal that benefits another at its own expense.
DERIVATIVES
altruist |ˈøltrəwəst| |ˈølˈtruəst| noun
altruistic |ˌaltroōˈistik| |ˈøltrəˈwɪstɪk| |ˈølˈtruˈɪstɪk| |altrʊˈɪstɪk| adjective
altruistically |ˈøltrəˈwɪst1k(ə)li| |ˈølˈtruˈɪst1k(ə)li| |altrʊˈɪstɪk(ə)li| adverb
ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from French altruisme, from Italian altrui ‘somebody else,’ from Latin alteri huic ‘to this other.’

THE BURNING FIRE

“We circle in the night and we are devoured by fire.” - Heraclitus of Ephesus

The bushfires continue to burn and threaten more townships, destroy more bushland and are poised to involve Melbourne’s water catchment areas. If this happens, our dwindling water supplies and the drought will no doubt cause greater hardship and even more propensity to fire. Things are terrible now, but unfortunately they will get even worse…

More property, wildlife and human lives are still threatened by over 20 fires that still burn. We are living through hellish, nightmarish times made all the more horrific from the knowledge that some fiends out there are lighting more fires. There has been an outcry to repeal our arson laws and sentence these murderers as severely as they deserve. How can any human being be failed to be moved by the senseless destruction unleashed by the sickening perversity of the firebug?

The Burning Fire
The fire, it burns
The smoke, it chokes.
Trees become torches,
Houses vapourise.

In walls of hellish heat
There is no time to scream,
The flames, they run
The fire, it scorches.

A tremulous hand
Strikes yet another match
Excitement barely contained;
A laugh as the crackle
Announces the demon’s arrival.

A crying child,
A mother, helpless;
A father watching
Unable to stop death,
Powerless to fight.

The fire, it kills
The smoke, it strangles.
Animals carbonise,
Vegetation, now ash.

A glint of crazed eyes
A slavering mouth
Delights in the destruction,
Oblivious to the hell
He has unleashed.

Cars overcome by flames,
Families incinerated.
Homes, now smouldering ruins,
Gardens, now scorched earth
Lives extinguished as fires still burn.

The wind, it fans the flames
The drought, it makes tinder of our homes.
Lives lost, lives destroyed, lives unlived
As the arsonist strikes yet another match.

BUSHFIRES UPDATE

“Death is for many of us the gate of hell; but we are inside on the way out, not outside on the way in.” - George Bernard Shaw

The immensity of the disaster that our bushfires have wrought is interfering with carrying on as normal, although we are all desperately trying to keep on going. Most people are doing something in order to help the victims of the blazes, be it a donation of money or blood ($13 million has been donated already), doing volunteer work, organising help in terms of donations of tents, clothing, food or doing what they can at work or community in order to raise money or help.

The death toll has risen to 173 people this morning, but unfortunately, this is expected to climb even higher as police and fire crews move through the devastated landscape and sift through rubble and ash. The pictures coming back form towns like Marysville and Strathewen are heart-wrenching, these two places already having yielded the remains of 45 people and having been literally obliterated from the map as over 95% of all buildings have been razed to the ground.

Disasters such as these reveal the very worst and they very best in people. The police are investigating arson in many of the destroyed areas and our Prime Minister has characterised these sub-humans as “mass murderers”. Our neighbouring state, New South Wales is currently reviewing arson laws and I think that the time is ripe for a nation-wide revision of these laws and the introduction of more severe sentences to deal with offenders. The Police Commissioner has initiated a massive operation to apprehend the arsonists and our Premier has announced that a Royal Commission will investigate the circumstances surrounding the bushfires and possibly look at redrafting official government and CFA policies regarding the “ stay and defend or evacuate” directives.

Most of the towns affected by the fires were idyllic spots amongst the bushland, with towering, magnificent eucalypts around the town and beautiful native flora undergrowth. These forests provided many an opportunity for bushwalks, encounters with the plentiful wildlife and a respite from the urban hustle and bustle. There, where the creeks trickled in amongst the fern gullies and the cries of the birds provided a constant natural symphony, now only ash and burnt-out stumps of trees. There, where thriving communities were welcoming visitors with their country hospitality and smiling faces, now only rubble and utter devastation. There, where the city folk could go and visit their relatives and friends now only a tragic notice that their loved ones either perished in the flames in a horrible death or that they are still missing…

The present threat to Healesville about 50 km to Melbourne’s Northeast is especially worrying for us, as we have friends living there. They are doing their utmost to protect their property, but have already packed bags, just in case they need to evacuate. This is a terrible feeling, firstly what to pack in a couple of bags, knowing that all that you leave behind may be destroyed by the flames? Then, waiting, listening to the latest bulletins phoning neighbours, relative, friends to tell them that you are ready to leave your home. Healesville is another beautiful town on the outskirts of Melbourne and home to the famous Sanctuary of native wildlife. The toll on the animals, both wild fauna and farm animals in these bushfires must not be forgotten either…

Even as I write this, more than twenty fires keep on burning around Melbourne. Exhausted fire crews are continuing their fight against the bushfires and are relieved by crews that have flown in form neighbouring states, ACT, NSW, Tasmania. New Zealand fire crews have made themselves available and volunteers are also helping as much as possible. Cooler temperatures around the low 20˚C mark are helping also. However, by the end of the week the hot weather will return and firebugs may become active once again, despite the horror of the pictures that their actions reveal. Within each human being there is devil and an angel. Each one of us hovers on the razor thin edge that separates these conflicting identities, and any one of us totter and fall in the abyss of evil or climb tenuously and laboriously to reach the side of the good.