Bhutan Journal There, Bhutan, it's all ways that there is something out there, in the distance, nestled in the hills, contained on some distant ridge, crag balanced, escarpment carved, some powerful -- magnet -- that draws me (up) there. And the answer is always yes ("you can climb up there, but not many do...here's how you must go...") -- and, here's what it is, here's the history and story behind it -- now, how to get up there? But there was plenty of exploring that was unguided -- and...

Bhutan Journal Ravencall (10.29) Bunthang Why do I love ravens, crows, jays and magpies so much? I don't know. But I do. Just days before my departure, I'd learned that the national bird of Bhutan is, in fact, the Raven. How could I have missed that? How could I have not known it? And how could I not believe what it would be like to be connected to so many? And the idea of experiencing, for the first time, the concept of the flock? And what techniques might there be get even closer? What I...

Still wondering... and wandering... Heading out again... Photos by Tim Girvin

Dzong | The Fearful Symmetry of Bhutanese Architecture | 10.27 In a way, for me, there's something long-reaching, far-running, back into my mind and memory for the spirit and personal connectedness that I've got with the nature and spirit of Bhutanese, and Himalayan, architecture; there's something that's right about it. And I'm not sure why. It's like ravens -- why, do they attract me? Why do these buildings fascinate me? It's like the lightning bolt discovery, the first time seen -- Potala,...

Transparencies (10.27) Mist, layered -- messages diaphanous. I think about things in layers. And I keep referring to that. I think about something on one layer, and then another on another, and another -- beneath that. I think that I like to design in that manner, as well. I design in layers -- one layer on another. Something seen on one level, another seen, on a different layer. Level on level ---- And I'm thinking about layers in the context of the word, and the word beneath. If we see, if...

Bhutan Journal THE WORD | 35 YEARS AGO...   I supported myself teaching drawing, bookbinding and calligraphy -- it was a way to add something to the cost of the college tuition and living expenses. But what I explored, as usual, was the idea of writing -- the translation of the mind -- as being something magical, not merely the scribblings, but markings -- descriptions -- that take one form of content and move it to another. The concept of that demarcation having power is at the very...

The concept of the turning prayer I'd known about for nearly four decades. I'd seen it in a book, then being in Tibet, I'd seen the pilgrims wandering, spinning the prayer wheel in one hand, the turning mala beads being counted out in another. What I did learn, to the measure of the counting beads, this time, is the Bhutanese concept of multiple counters. That is, having as many as 10 counters for beads of 10, attached to the mala of 108 beads. So the counting rounds out to many levels of...

Bhutan Journal Tandin Ney | Hermitage Every moment, in doing, in exploring, is alive. It does come down to what our attention is -- what are we held by, what are we holding. What are we compelled by, and what draws us to that place of connection. For me, it is mystery, all ways, pure and powerful. And I've been drawn to anything -- and everything, which is out of the grasp of the known and the easily seen, for as long as I can remember. When I first considered the idea of coming to Bhutan,...

I'm wrapping it here in Thimphu and heading out to the hills -- and will likely be off line for a couple of days. Photo by Tim Girvin Near the bigger towns, the mobile works, text comes in -- and my last spot I snagged a WIFI connection. It will be tough for me for a bit. I'll try to post some updates to Grant, to link at tim.girvin.com | diaries, as I'd noted before. Wishing well, all... Incredible, here... ----

Hi. Well I did get there, Bhutan...and it's been a long running in exploration. It didn't just happen, there were synchronies involved. And it seems like the best travel takes you about two days to get out there. There's the first jump, then the second -- and finally when you get there, there's a third and fourth jump, that takes you further. Further, farther out. And I do like to live there, in that place that's further out. Being there, brings you closer to the connections of -- and with --...