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In his
final letter to the Scouts, Baden-Powell wrote:
... I have had a most happy life and I want each
one of you to have a happy life too. I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be
happy and enjoy life. Happiness does not come from being rich, nor merely being successful in
your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make
yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy, so that you can be
useful and so you can enjoy life when you
are a man. Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and
wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you
have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the
gloomy one. But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people.
Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your
turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have
not wasted your time but have done your best. 'Be Prepared' in this way, to
live happy and to die happy — stick to your Scout Promise
always — even after you
have ceased to be a boy — and God help
you to do it.
Wailers:
Caution (Link)
Peter Blegvad: How
Beautiful You Are (Link)
Gonbad-e Qabud, Maragha, NW Iran
(Robert Byron photograph)
Maragha (4,900 ft.),
October 16th. – We drove here this morning in four hours, through country that reminded me of Donegal. Lake Urmiya appeared in the distance, a streak of blue and silver, with mountains beyond. Square
pigeon towers, perforated at the top, gave
the villages a fortified appearance. Round about were vineyards, and
groves of sanjuk [1] trees, which have narrow grey leaves and clusters of small yellow fruit.
Gonbad-e Qabud, Maragha, NW Iran
(Robert Byron photograph)
Maragha itself is not
attractive. Broad straight streets have been cut through the old bazaars,
and take away its character. A Persian-speaking infant adorned with eyelashes as long as ospreys conducted us to the necessary
officials, and these in turn showed us a fine grave of the Mother of Hulagu and
is built of plum-red brick arranged in patterns and inscriptions. The effect of this cosy old material, transferred as it were from an English
kitchen-garden to the service of Koranic texts, and inlaid with glistening blue, is surprisingly beautiful. There is a Kufic frieze inside, below which the walls have been lined with nesting-holes for pigeons.
[1] So called by the local Turks;
Persian: sinjid; a relation of the English service tree.
From: Robert
Byron, The Road To Oxiana, London, Jonathan Cape, 1937.
Robert Byron (seated left) and
(human and boar) dining companions.
Take
Me Away -- Roger McGuinn (Link)
On
The Map -- Ray Davies (Link)
Absolutely
Sweet Marie -- Jason and the Scorchers
(Link)
“After his lengthy
analysis of the pattern on the Gonbad-e Qabud, Makovicky concludes that it is
“[b]ased on tiles that can readily be obtained by transformation of the Penrose
pattern of pentagons, stars, and lozenges. It deviates from a true cartwheel
Penrose tiling only in several geometric and artistic adaptations.”
NOTE:
Back-To-School (today!) takes
you so many places, I
think.
Safe travels, everyone.
Write, please, if possible, soon, on
that great, onion-skin airmail
paper!
