Valley of the Kings

This morning, I visited the Valley of the Kings, on the West Bank of the Nile in ancient Thebes. There are 67 known royal tombs here but only a few are open at a time. I visited 3 of them today - Ramses IV, Ramses IX and Meremptah. I also visited two beautiful nearby temples, the temples of Hatshepsut and Hapu. 

It is an awesome experience to walk down, always down, into the tombs. The passage can be more than 100 metres, and the walls and ceilings are intricately decorated all the way down. After the torrid heat outside, one instantly feels cooler. The carving, the colours and artistry are all of very high quality. Pictures of scenes from life and the afterlife and in between, dominate, with large areas of hieroglyphs in places telling the story. In many ways, they give the impression of beautiful illustrated books. 

Egyptologists, for four hundred years now, have been piecing together the relics of antiquity and retelling the story of the world's oldest civilization with written records. Just recently, another tomb of a noble person was found close by filled with statuary, jewellery and other treasures. The interpretation and discoveries will never end. Of course, we all know that most of the tombs were looted very early on. That is just how it is. 

As with all civilizations, destruction of beauty by those who come after is evident everywhere. Sometimes, the destruction was very quick. Hatshepsut' stepson, Thutmose III caused much of her statuary to be defaced on her death, perhaps out of jealousy and revenge, perhaps to reflect his version of history or maybe just to be different! 

It has been an extraordinary day of learning and experience for me! Al-hamdu lillahi

Postscript.  Try as I might, I cannot from here download pictures to illustrate my blogs and so I must wait! Sorry. 

The pyramids of Giza

A visit to the pyramids

This morning, another one of my dreams came true. I went to Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, to visit the pyramids. Against my wiser judgement, at the very last moment, I allowed myself to be persuaded to ride a lovely horse, Ramses, for several hours, to view the pyramids, the Sphinx, some workers' housing and workers' tombs. 

At first, as I took my first halting steps on an unfamiliar mode of transportation, there was fog in the air, giving a mysterious distance to the pyramids. It seemed like they could never be reached. The area all around the pyramids remains just desert, despite Cairo reaching right up to the precinct on one side. One has the convincing impression of being all alone in an empty place.

I went down, mostly squatting, inside the pyramid of Menkaure and was awed by the stillness, the sense of history and the beautiful simplicity of ancient stone masonry. While I can't imagine being buried in a tomb of that size, it is interesting to try and summon up a different age where Pharaohs ruled the world and were essentially worshipped as gods, and indeed were sometimes promoted to gods on their death. The pyramids, such a marvel of architecture, are conjectured to imitate the rays of the sun and therefore provide easy transit to the afterlife.

The solidity of their basic materials, the difficulty of moving such large stones and the desert climate have obviously combined to keep them in reasonable condition for 4000 years. A serious attempt was made to dismantle them stone by stone at the time of the Muslim conquest but the task turned out to be too great! 

The Sphinx is a whole other story. It is carved out of the local sandstone and time has been hard on it. There is a lot of restoration work going on around the base at the moment in harder stone. The head has endured better than the rest. However, the inscrutable nature of its gaze has diminished and it wears a neutral physiognomy now.

At this time, tourists have deserted Egypt in their millions and the industry is on its knees. There has been an accumulation of unfortunate incidents in which tourists have been hurt or worse. One feels empathy for the thousands of Egyptians who are, as a result, out of work and out of a source of income. May the tourists regain their courage soon and return in droves to this very welcoming country. 

Everyone is so easygoing and willing to assist. I have not found any hassling or unpleasantness of any kind. I feel free to wander the streets at will at any time of day. I sense that they are a people who really feel a strong urge and need to be loved. In the meantime, I wander the streets of Cairo at will, unaccompanied, free of worry and feeling very lucky!

Reboot!

Reboot!

This is my new life. I am reinventing myself, block by block. Life is good. Breathing is exciting. The adventure begins!

I find myself in the Egyptian Museum. It was a struggle to figure out exactly how to get in, but I did it, all on my own! Everywhere I look are artefacts from the Old, Middle and New kingdoms of Egypt, the civilization that has centred on the Nile, Africa's greatest river, as it reaches the Mediterranean Sea. There are many people about even though it is very early but they breeze by, mostly interested in taking photos they will never look at again - an excellent reminder of how not to live in the present.

The artefacts are generally stunning, especially the New Kingdom ones, when funerary decoration becomes a pressing imperative. The treasure trove from the tomb of Tutankhamun is the high point. Everything glitters and shimmers three thousand years later. Any woman would be delighted to wear the jewellery! And of course, when you look at his death mask, you see the boy king still.

As I walked by the Nile in the afternoon heat, seeking a breeze, a car screeches to a halt close to me and a motorbike behind it. The passenger emerges and confronts the biker, both young males, testosterone coursing, and a violent struggle ensues, accompanied by much shouting. As the two literally try to tear each other apart, others intervene from all over trying to calm the violence but it takes the arrival of two police officers to quiet the antagonists.

Dark suited men suddenly appear from everywhere and usher all pedestrians back from the road. The road empties, a military helicopter circles continuously, hundreds of soldiers stand guard. There is a heightened sense of expectancy. The Pope passes, in a huge, protective cavalcade, on his way home. He did not stay long. 

Christmas, and survival

Christmas 2016

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."  So says Dickens at the opening of A Tale of Two Cities. So appears 2016 in retrospect.

Incredible things have happened for me. In March I completed the Two Oceans Ultramarathon in Cape Town from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean and back again, with my son and two great friends. It was very exciting witnessing my son turn into an endurance athlete! How strong he has become! In May, I attended the 50th anniversary of my high school graduation in Ireland. It was such a strange but wonderful feeling meeting so many people after 50 years. Time changes us. I would have walked past all of them on the street without recognizing them! I also had exciting travels in South Africa, Mozambique, Ireland, France and Spain. 

Unhappily, dreadful things have happened for me too. Cancer reared its ugly head again and I have had to struggle once more to stay ahead of it. Much more painful, if you can imagine, was my wife's decision to leave our 44 year relationship. I had sensed for some time a growing disrespect and it turned into something that looked and felt like scorn and derision in the fall. We have now been separated for a few months. 

While this separation made me very ill at first, in many dangerous ways, I am recovering quickly and now I believe I will be a much happier person than before. I believe in myself. I have so many fabulous and loyal friends. Life is filled with potential. By this time next year my metamorphosis will have taken shape.

Here's wishing all those who visit this blog a very happy Christmas and may 2017 be full of love and peace for you. 

 

Closure

Two stories intertwine and end here. Neither is happy but we must carry on.

I have a new tumour which has grown quickly. Today I will have it radiated and that should be the end of it. Since it is right beside the tumour that caused me so much pain a year ago, that tumour will be radiated also. I hope for no serious collateral damage. One of them touches the bowel, which does not like radiation, and both touch the right kidney, which also does poorly with radiation. I must place my trust in the expertise of others. 

In the other tragic story, my married life is quite suddenly over, after 44 years of bliss. I live alone, with a broken heart for company. I cannot remember not being married so this journey will be difficult. I discovered over the past two months how very "married" my mind and soul were to my life partner so coming to terms with the devastating loss has been the hardest thing I have ever done, much more challenging and dangerous than living with cancer. 

 Now I need time on my own, in peace and quiet, to figure out what shape the future might take. So, I am leaving tomorrow. Please do not watch this space as it will take a long while I think. Thank you for all of your loving kindness and compassion over the years. This blog has provided me a comfortable, safe place to keep my friends informed of my peculiar story. I am blessed with deep friendships and they have sustained me. Email me at deaconnigel@gmail.com if you would like to be in contact in the meantime. Forever peace and endless love. 

Thanksgiving 2016

This is Thanksgiving Day 2016. Exactly 41 years ago today, I arrived in Canada with my life partner, (we met and married in Zambia), to be met by all immediate members of her family at Vancouver Airport. What a happy day! 

This Thanksgiving is very different. My life partner of 43 years has decided to end our marriage and move away. On November 1 we will no longer be together. I have no words to describe the complete dissolution of my life so will not struggle to find them. It is what it is.

I have cancer scans on October 16 and 18 and promise to let my friends know here how that story goes. I believe that will be the end of my blog until I reestablish some new kind of existence which I cannot even imagine now.

I am grateful for so many years of joy. I feel my life with my partner by my side has been beautiful.  Peace and love, Nigel

Singing bowls in the sky

Today is an especially portentous day. I dropped Louise off at the hospital for her second hip replacement earlier and then stopped by Health Records at the Cancer Agency to see if my MRI report had perchance arrived. And indeed it had. I simply could not believe my eyes when I learned that all of my tumours had shrunk by 10%+. In addition, no new tumours have appeared. I still need to get the images to Philadelphia for a second opinion as sometimes they can see new tumours when others cannot, and they have always proved right too.

Nevertheless, I am in cautiously celebratory mood as I look ahead and see only sunny days. This is a magical moment on my most peculiar journey. My gratitude extends infinitely to all those who support me, medically, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I am indeed bowed in reverence. This earth is perfect in every way. Thank you for this perfect moment when everything and nothing is possible. For some inexplicable reason I can hear intermittent sonorous reverberations, as if from a giant Tibetan singing bowl in the sky. Peace and love.