Mules Returning from Market

By a happy coincidence, for my 365th blip I can report on a marvelous excursion from Marrakech. I have traveled to Canada, Europe, and as far as the Galapagos into South America.

BUT I had never been to Africa until this trip to Morocco, and today we went some 100 km south to Berber country. We parked near the weekly market in Tirhadouine--a wonderfully chaotic assembly of merchants selling everything imaginable. And then we hiked some two hours into the hills to the tiny village of Talatast, where friends of our guide cooked us a superb tagine, with the spices and savour of the best Berber cuisine. Just as we walked out the door we saw this procession of mules returning from the weekly market in the valley--their saddlebags loaded with provisions from the week. Several dozen more mules passed us on our walk back to our van.

What a way to commemorate the year I've been with blipfoto--no blanks (thanks to backblips here and there). It's been terrific, and I have to say, it has changed my photographic life. I always thought I walked around seeing images everywhere, but now I really do. I see so much that I would have passed by, and I think about what I shoot in new ways.

A good deal of what I now perceive is due to what I see on blipfoto: An astounding variety of images and modes of seeing, often of extraordinarily high quality. I had thought to cite some of the journals I've followed and admired--but there are simply too many, and to choose would be invidious. I'm sure most of you know who you are!

The blipfoto site is amazingly well organized and easy to navigate; its personnel must be just great (which I say even while envying the Brits who seem clearly closer to them in a personal sense). For years I've had an inchoate desire to establish a blog, but I never happened on a site that made any sense. Then a note from Tim Grey (long one of my photographic gurus and a PhotoShop genius) brought me to blipfoto--and voila! I was in fact in France, and I signed on, and the rest is a year (so far) of history.

In the last few weeks I've archived over three dozen previous photos from France; if you're curious, they start in 2004.