I’m terrible at buying gifts. How do you buy something for those that already have everything? At least the dinner was good. Marge made an amazing meal for the three of us. There was no way we could finish all of it. I haven’t eaten so well in a long time!

I attempted to convince my family to allow Marge and the other help to eat with us this year, but they wouldn’t hear of it.

I would have at least thought Mother would accept the idea.

How disappointing.

Mother has been telling me stories about many places in the past few days, but none of them really stuck out. In fact a lot of the little townships she has been particularly excited about all sort of blended together in my mind.

But tonight she talked about Cairo! Egypt! She has so many wonderful pictures from Cairo, I questioned her for hours! She was so proud of herself for riding camels everywhere. Poor camels!

She was allowed to enter King Tutankhamun’s tomb! She walked across the sands, above the sleeping kings of the great ages of Egypt! Visited the great pyramids!

What an experience. I know Mother enjoyed herself, but I’m convinced I would have appreciated it more.

[caption id="attachment_718" align="alignright" width="150" caption="A painted sky"][/caption]Mother has even visited the tiny islands that dot our planet. Apparently Bermuda is only 20 miles long! A small spit of land in the middle of the Atlantic, apparently the result of an underwater volcano millions of years ago!

Mother says that the country is 1st-World, with a bustling tourism and economic sector. She began to ramble on about the wonderfully charming British shops, but I forced myself to interrupt her and focus her attention on the island itself.

My mother has an amazing eye for sunset photographs. I took several of the best ones, as I have never been priviledge to witnessing such an amazing display. There are also several beaches with “natural arches” made of eroded limestone. I have never seen anything like them! Father chimed in to mention that sadly they were destroyed a few years ago by a particularly terrible hurricane.

Apparently Bermuda has a gorgeous cave system, but not surprisingly, I had little interest in hearing about them.

Tonight Mother brought out some photos of a small town in China called Suzhou. Mother always attempted to avoid the big cities and tourist areas like Hong Kong or Beijing and instead search for the hidden jewels in her travels.

Apparently most of the country’s world-famous silks come from this area. She reminisced fondly about visiting a silk factory, and how interesting it was to watch the workers carefully unravel the silkworm’s cocoon.

Then she showed me a photograph of a summer garden estate. She said that this estate belonged to a famous politician of ancient times. The architecture was stunning, but I was entranced by the water. The numerous water features were enclosed with walkways and covered sitting areas. Every outdoor portion of the estate was built to either cross over or loop around the water. Any trip outside would result in a soothing trip past a man-made lake.

Every decoration or sculpture has a mythological reason for existing. Nothing is built “just because”. Fascinating!

I’ve been talking with Mother about her travels. She was so excited to share her stories and photographs with me! It’s good to see her excited, and I’m happy I can share it with her in more detail. Even Father took some time out of his evening to sit and discuss the places with us both.

She first showed me pictures of her trip to Pompei. I’ve always been fascinated with that doomed city, ever since I read about it while learning Latin. All I remember from those lessons are simple phrases like “Caecilius est in horto.”

What a haunting place it is, only the skeletons of the city remains. Mother told us of how she was able to walk through ruined houses and see exactly where the citizens would live. Even with nothing standing but the walls, the city layout is still obvious. The remaining mosiacs and sculptures are beautiful. Even the destruction of an entire city could not erase these people from history. In fact it did the opposite, preserving it for ages.

As I prepare to leave the Cavern for a period of time, I realise the One Words have remained closed since I Wrote them. I still have no clue what I have created. I knew this journey would be filled with risks, but I told myself I would be strong enough to overcome them.

I’ve been ignoring it, but it is a problem I will have to deal with sooner or later. I cannot create blind

I haven’t felt inspired in a while. I feel my mind is closing, I’m beginning to “see” less and less upon visiting the Ages on my bookshelf. I’m starting to become numb to their surprises.

I’m not growing bored of them at all, but seeing them as less extraordinary. I feel a great sadness at that loss of awe, although I realise what it means. I need to search for inspiration outside the constraints of my bookcase.

I’ve been neglecting my own home. The surface holds so many amazing places, perhaps it is time to seek inspiration within the constraints of what is possible on this planet.

The difficulty lies in the fact that I cannot spare the time to visit all the amazing places the world has to offer. I desperately want to after being cooped up in these solitary places.

Oh! There is someone who has seen so much of what this world has to offer already! Mother has made a lifestyle out of finding the hidden places in the world. Perhaps her stories and pictures can give me a deeper understanding of these places, without the many months it would take to see them.

Of course, truly being there would be the best solution, but it will be good to see Mother again.

I have new eyes, perhaps I can see the world with them and learn anew.