Thursday, September 07, 2006

Sameness is the mother of disgust, variety the cure. - Francesco Petrarch
It is easy to misunderstand those who are different than ourselves, but contrast and variety do make life interesting. Our region has a large Old Order Mennonite population. These modest, peace loving and hardworking people travel by horse and buggy and live in homes without modern conveniences such as electricity and telephone. My father took this great photo when he was visiting our area. It was a moment of contrast caught through the windshield of our moving car. The drivers of both vehicles in the picture were involved in their business of the day, a culture apart.

Each summer, our city hosts a weekend multicultural festival. It is a great opportunity to taste food from around the world and to enjoy music and dance from other countries. This photo was taken at the fresh lemonade stand, the modestly dressed young woman serving the woman in more standard North American summer attire. Despite the differences among the people in the park that afternoon, there was a sense of community and sharing that would be wonderful to see around the world.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:38 am GMT-4

    A picture's worth a thousand words. Maybe we have something to learn from other cultures.

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  2. We all have so much to learn from each other if only we could put aside personal taboos and keep open minds.

    I would love to go like a festival like that, it is nice to know people from all folds can be together like that and keep the peace.

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  3. I agree and that was well said.

    I also love that pic of the truck and horse and buggy.

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  4. People are not all that different really, inspite of what they look like. We all strive to be accepted and loved. Unfortunately, some with extreme views can make things bad for an entire group.

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  5. Love the contrasts in these pics.

    Sorry, but I don't consider that last one to be *typical* summer attire - for the beach, but not otherwise!

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  6. Hi Laurahinnj,
    Unfortunately, too many people wear "beach attire" in the city in the summer. I caught this contrast entirely by accident. I was just trying to get a shot of the lemonade!

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