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This villa was built by a wealthy businessman, who came from a poor family but became wealthy with his hardware store. It was built in the early 1920's but the once so succesful businessman went bankrupt when he only lived there five years. The villa was sold and became a children's home where sick children were treated for 4 weeks using so called "Sun-Climate Treatment". It housed about 80 children. In the early 1930's there was a big fire and this was the end of the children's home.
But, the villa got rebuilt and was turned into a recovery home for mothers where the upper floor was used to nurse up to 120 newborn children. During World War II it was used to treat soldiers who came back from the front, and at the end of the war it again changed destination and became a school for young boys, who got lessons in agriculture and cultivation. Also this ended in the end of the 1950's and it became a resthome for the elderly. It housed between 50 and 85 people and had a very bad reputation. Story goes that people did not get meals every day. On average 8 to 10 people died every year, and not only because of old age. In 1970 the manager was convicted for tormenting and abuse of the inhabitants. Beacuse of this, the resthome could not find any new personnel or clients, and the place was closed. After a roaring history, the villa found it's rest and was left abandoned for life...
Please visit www.preciousdecay.com for more pictures
Our oldest cat Abby has gone to kitty heaven. She had been unwell for quite a long time so I had booked her into the vet for a consultation. The news was not good. She had thyroid problems, had difficulty walking and squatting down and old age had finally caught up with her. The vet advised that she could give her some pain relief but it would be only delaying the inevitable.
I made the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep and I was holding her in my arms as she peacefully passed away around 12:30pm on Monday the 22nd of February 2016. She was just under sixteen years of age. Abby had been a good cat. I brought her home and buried her in the back yard opposite one of our cat cages so our other cats can look down on her grave. The above picture was taken on Tuesday the 30th of July, 2013.
This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report:
www.gao.gov/products/GAO-16-354
RETIREMENT SECURITY: Shorter Life Expectancy Reduces Projected Lifetime Benefits for Lower Earners
Notes: Non-interest revenues are revenues from payroll taxes, taxation of benefits, and reimbursements from the general fund of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Total costs include benefit payments, administrative costs, and Railroad Retirement Board interchange costs. (Interest revenue is excluded.) Changes made by the Social Security Benefit Protection and Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2015 may affect these figures. For further information about operations of the combined trust fund, see The 2015 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds, 158-159, www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/TR/2015/.
La mà de mossèn Ramon Balagué Bajona fullejant el document "10 anys del Moviment de Joves Cristians d'Urgell", durant la trobada, "Marcant Camins, camins Marcats" celebrada el 10 de març de 2017, a Balaguer.
.... Etnea avenue, the 2018 evening of February 5, the day of the feast of the Patron Saint of Catania, St.Agatha, it happens that ....
.... via Etnea, la sera del 5 febbraio 2018, il giorno della festa della Santa Patrona di Catania, Sant'Agata, accade che ....
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Qi Bo's photos on Flickr Hive Mind
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Fear of the unknown, the fear of losing own physical or mental health, or worse, having already lost it, possible problems with work (if a work has it), old age advancing, awareness of the existence of a Higher Being, are just some of the reasons that push people to search for a contact with the Divine, with the supernatural, leading them to plead for help, but this is not enough to completely explain the close link fact of absolute devotion and enormous affection that the people of Catania (province) have towards their young martyr Agatha; an entire city partecipate in these days to ceremony and procession, one can not help but ask this question, what binds in such a profound and peculiar citizens to their Patron Saint Agata? Maybe I was lucky enough to capture photographically what is a partial response (see my photos of the 2016 feast): a child at a very early age is brought to the window from her mother while passing the float of St. Agatha, so it's easy to understand... the devotion and attachment to the Martyr starts very young , transmitted by their parents as a treasure to be preserved and grow throughout their lives, which leads you in the days of the feast to a great collective.
This is a short-long report I did this year 2018, in the city of Catania (Sicily) in occasion of the feast of her patron saint Agatha, which took place on the 3, 4 and 5 February (this dates commemorates the martyrdom of the young Saint), and on 17 August too (this date celebrates the return to Catania of her remains, after these had been transferred to Constantinople by the Byzantine general Maniaces as war booty, and there remained for 86 years), when the Sicilian city is dressed up to feast, with a scent of orange blossom and mandarins, and its citizens show that they possess an extraordinary love and bond with the young martyr saint Agatha.
The religious sicilian feast of Saint Agatha is the most important feast of Catania, its inhabitants from five centuries, during the three days of the feast in honor of her "Santuzza" (young Saint), create a unique setting, with celebrations and rituals impressive, which means that this event is regarded as the third religious festival in the world (some say the second ...) after the "Semana Santa" in Seville and the "Corpus Christi" in Cuzco, Peru. Unlike other religious holidays, more sober, to Sant'Agata highlights a vocation exuberant typical of the south Italy, who loves to combine the sacred with the profane.
The cult of the young Santa dates back to the third century, when the teenager Agatha was martyred for refusing the roman proconsul Quintiziano. One year after the death of the young Agatha, on 5 February of the year 252, his virginal veil was carried in procession, and it is said it was able to save Catania from destruction due to a devastating eruption of Mount Etna.
The festivities begin with the procession of Candlemas (this year were in greater number, perhaps 14 instead of the 11 years of the other years); the "Candlemas" are giant Baroque wooden "candlesticks" paintings in gold, each representing an ancient guild (butchers, fishmongers, grocers, greengrocers, etc.), which are brought by eight devotees; the "cannalore" (candlemas) anticipate the arrival of the "float" of Saint Agatha during the procession. Devotees, men and women, wearing a traditional garment similar to a white bag, cinched at the waist by a black rope, gloves and a white handkerchief, and a black velvet cap, and it seems that such clothing evoke nightgown with the qule the Catanese, awakened with a start by the touch of the bells of the Cathedral, welcomed the naval port, in 1126, the relics of the Holy which fell from Constantinople. On float, consisting of a silver chariot sixteenth of thirty tons, which is driven by a double and long line of devotees with the robust and long ropes, takes place the bust of Saint Agatha, completely covered with precious stones and jewels. On February 4, the parade celebrates the so-called "external path" that touches some places of martyrdom in the city of Catania; the next day, the 5 instead the procession along the "aristocrat path", which runs along the main street, Via Etnea, the parlor of Catania. On this day the devotees carry on their shoulders the long candles of varying thickness, there are some not very big, others are fairly heavy, but some skim exceptional weights.
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La paura dell’ignoto, il timore di perdere la salute fisica o psichica, o peggio, averla già persa, possibili problemi col lavoro (per chi un lavora l’ha) o peggio non averlo dovendo così “inventarsi” la giornata, la vecchiaia che avanza, la consapevolezza dell’esistenza di un Essere Superiore, sono solo alcuni dei motivi che spingono gli uomini a cercare un contatto col Divino, col Sovrannaturale, portandoli ad invocare il Suo aiuto, ma tutto ciò non basta assolutamente a spiegare lo stretto legame fatto di assoluta devozione ed enorme attaccamento che gli abitanti di Catania (e provincia) hanno nei confronti della loro “Santuzza” la giovanissima martire Agata; nel vedere partecipare quella che sembra essere una città intera a questi giorni di rito e processione, non ci si può non porre questa domanda, cosa lega in maniera così profonda e peculiare i cittadini Catanesi alla loro Santa Patrona Agata? Forse ho avuto la fortuna di cogliere fotograficamente (vedi le mie foto della festa del 2016) quella che è una risposta parziale e certamente non unica alla domanda: un bimbo in tenerissima età viene portato alla finestra dalla sua mamma mentre passa la vara di S.Agata, ecco… la devozione e l’attaccamento alla giovanissima Martire inizia da piccolissimi, trasmessa dai propri genitori (e non solo…) come un tesoro da custodire e coltivare per tutta la vita, che porta che nei giorni della festa ad un fantastico rito collettivo al quale nessun Catanese sembra non possa o non voglia rinunciare.
Questa è un breve e lungo report, da me realizzato nel febbraio di quest’anno 2018, nella città di Catania (Sicilia) in occasione della festa della sua giovane santa patrona Agata, che ha avuto luogo come ogni anno il 3, il 4 ed il 5 di febbraio (questa data commemora il martirio della Santa giovinetta), festa che viene ripetuta anche il 17 agosto (questa data rievoca il ritorno a Catania delle sue spoglie, dopo che queste erano state trasferite a Costantinopoli da parte del generale bizantino Maniace come bottino di guerra, spoglie che ivi rimasero per 86 anni); per questa occasione la città siciliana è vestita a festa con profumi di fiori d'arancio e mandarini, coi suoi cittadini che mostrano di possedere uno straordinario amore e legame con la giovane martire Agata.
Gli abitanti di Catania, oramai da cinque secoli, nei tre giorni della festa in onore della "Santuzza", danno vita ad una scenografia unica, con celebrazioni e riti imponenti, che fanno si che questo evento sia considerato come la terza festa religiosa al mondo (qualcuno dice la seconda ...) dopo la "Semana Santa" di Siviglia ed il "Corpus Domini" a Cuzco, in Perù. A differenza di altre feste religiose, più sobrie, quella di Sant'Agata mette in luce una vocazione esuberante tipica del meridione, che ama unire il sacro col profano.
Il culto della giovane Santa risale al terzo secolo, quando l'adolescente Agata fu martirizzata per aver rifiutato il proconsole romano Quintiziano. Un anno dopo la morte della giovane Agata, avvenuta il 5 febbraio dell'anno 252, il suo velo virginale venne portato in processione, e si narra esso riuscì a salvare Catania dalla sua distruzione a causa di una devastante eruzione del vulcano Etna.
I festeggiamenti iniziano con il corteo delle "candelore", queste sono dei giganteschi e pesanti "candelabri" in legno, in stile barocco, dipinti in oro, ognuna rappresentante una antica corporazione (macellai, pescivendoli, pizzicagnoli, fruttivendoli, ecc.), che vengono portati da otto devoti, le quali "cannalore" durante la processione anticipano l'arrivo della "vara" di Sant'Agata. I devoti, sia donne che uomini, indossano un tipico indumento simile ad un sacco bianco, stretto in vita da una cordicella nera, guanti ed un fazzoletto bianchi, ed infine una papalina di velluto nero, sembra che tale abbigliamento rievochi la camicia da notte con la quale i Catanesi, svegliatisi di soprassalto dal tocco improvviso delle campane del Duomo, accolsero al porto navale, nel 1126, le reliquie della Santa che rientravano da Costantinopoli. Sulla vara, costituita da un carro argentato cinquecentesco di trenta quintali, trainata da una doppia e lunghissima fila di devoti tramite delle robuste e lunghe funi, prende posto il busto di Sant'Agata, completamente ricoperto di pietre preziose e gioielli. Il 4 febbraio, il corteo compie il cosiddetto "giro esterno" che tocca alcuni luoghi del martirio nella città catanese; il giorno dopo, il 5, il corteo percorre il "giro aristocratico", che percorre la strada principale, la via Etnea, salotto buono di Catania. In questo giorno i devoti portano in spalla dei lunghi ceri di vario spessore, ce ne sono alcuni non molto grossi, altri sono discretamente pesanti, ma alcuni sfiorano pesi eccezionali.
"Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place. " - William Arthur Ward -
In preparation for my new calendar: "Images from Cyprus"
Grapes from my fathers yard... Zoopiyi Village, Cyprus.
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Thank you so much for visiting and your kind comments... ;-)
This room had no windows so it required a tripod as the only light was coming from the door in the picture and a door behind the camera.
Went out to try my luck at some more gritty interior shots. This peticular old farm house(owned by a friend of ours) required much higher iso as most of the windows have been boarded up with plywood. Im usually not comfortable at such higher isos but it somewhat gets lost in the grit.
Outside pic before some of the windows were boarded up.
www.flickr.com/photos/78994628@N02/13805419925/in/set-721...
I took this photo while covering a school programme. The old man, in haryana we call him Tau, was waching the cutural progremme very keenly. The mood express the whole story.
p.s."Copyright © – Ashok Gupta Monaliesa.The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained herein for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."
Pamiętaj jak byłam młodą i piękną kwiatką..... - Remember how young and beautiful a flower I was.....
Ballade de la belle Heaumière aux filles de joie
" Or y pensez, belle Gautière
Qui écolière souliez être,
Et vous, Blanche la Savetière,
Or est-il temps de vous connaître :
Prenez à dêtre ou à senêtre ;
N'épargnez homme, je vous prie ;
Car vieilles n'ont ne cours ne être,
Ne que monnoie qu'on décrie.
" Et vous, la gente Saucissière
Qui de danser êtes adêtre,
Guillemette la Tapissière,
Ne méprenez vers votre maître :
Tôt vous faudra clore fenêtre,
Quand deviendrez vieille, flétrie :
Plus ne servirez qu'un vieil prêtre,
Ne que monnoie qu'on décrie.
Jeanneton la Chaperonnière,
Gardez qu'ami ne vous empêtre ;
Et Catherine la Boursière,
N'envoyez pas les hommes paître ;
Car qui belle n'est, ne perpètre
Leur male grâce, mais leur rie,
Laide vieillesse amour n'empètre
Ne que monnoie qu'on décrie.
Filles, veuillez vous entremettre
D'écouter pourquoi pleure et crie :
Pour ce que je ne me puis mettre
Ne que monnoie qu'on décrie. "
(François Villon)
Agara, Bangalore, India
Winnowing either rice or wheat in the backyard.
There are 2 widows who live right behind my house. It is because of them that I can witness the remnants of a foregone culture and living space. It is surprising how much they work at such an old age.
shot by Luke Austin
i dont really take self portraits anymore, in my old age :), so i borrowed this portrait luke took of me last weekend. he is actually the only photographer I let shoot me without twisting a stupid face or pulling out a cheesy japanese peace sign.
thanks luke
2014-02-23
Leica IIIc
Canon Serenar 85mm f/2 ("Made in Occupied Japan")
Agfa Vista (aka Fuji Superia) 200
We lost our daddy Polar Bear yesterday. Aussie was 32 yrs old. Quite elderly for a polar bear, and his health was good for his age, but the dreaded arthritis and other old age issues took its toll, just like we humans.
Aussie was one of a kind, and I was lucky to have been able to observe him over the past twenty years at the zoo. He wasn't big on big crowds at the zoo, and would hide as best he could on crowded days. The love of his life was Arki, and together they had 5 offspring. The first was Marty, who was a young cub when I started docent training in 1997. Marty has sired 9 offspring, all born at the Toledo Zoo, and his twin girls, Aurora and Anana, have produced 4 cubs at the Columbus Zoo, making Aussie a great grandfather.
We all have our zoo favorites and Aussie was one of mine. All our losses hurt, but some more than others. I will miss this big boy so much. He and Arki were such a loving pair. So glad I have photos of them when they were housed together for breeding.
Born June 1985, at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia, Aussie came to Brookfield Zoo when he was 18 months old and was paired with Arki, who at the time was approximately the same age. They were together for many years until Arki was shipped out in 2011.
This is one of my favorite photos of Mr Dirty Bear (taken May 2014). When the new exhibit was built in 2010, with dirt and grass, something not in the old exhibit, Aussie took to rolling in the dirt like a fish to water. As you can see here, he was hovering by the keeper door, wanting to go inside to get away from the people.
I could go on and on, but just want to say how much I will miss this big guy.
Run free, Aussie!! You are together with your girl Arki again!!
You have left your legacy!!!
Condolences to his keepers and a thank you to them for taking such good care of him to live such a long life.
Old Age, I decided, is gift.
I am now, probably for the first time in my life,
person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my
body! I sometime
despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes,
and the sagging
butt. And often I am taken aback by that old
person that lives in my
mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't
agonize over those
things for long.
I would never trade my amazing friends, my
wonderful
life, my loving family for less gray hair or a
flatter belly. As I've
aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less
critical of myself.
I've become my own friend.
I don't chide myself for eating that extra
cookie, or
for not making my bed, or for buying that silly
cement gecko that I
didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio.
I am entitled to a
treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.
I have seen too many dear friends leave this
world
too soon; before they understood the great
freedom that comes with
aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play
on the
computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?
I will dance with myself to those wonderful
tunes of
the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to
weep over a lost love
... I will.
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is
stretched
over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves
with abandon if I
choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet
set .
They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there
again, some
of life is just as well forgotten. And I
eventually remember the
important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken.
How can your heart not break when you lose a loved
one, or when a child
suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets
hit by a car? But
broken hearts are what give us strength and
understanding and
compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and
sterile and will
never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have
my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs
be forever etched
into deep grooves on my face. So many have never
laughed, and so many
have died before their hair could turn silver.
As you get older, it is easier to be positive.
You care
less about what other people think. I don't
question myself
anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question, I like being old.
It has
set me free. I like the person I have become. I
am not going to live
forever, but while I am still here, I will not
waste time lamenting
what could have been, or worrying about what will
be. And I shall eat
dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)
MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY
WHEN
IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!
MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR
FACE
AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER!
After a traumatic early life and some health issues since being rescued, our beautiful standard poodle has reached the ripe old age of 14.