Books , Traditions and a Silent Conversation......

(All Photos by Tavarua)

Books the past and present of life.

Books - Ex Libris (Bookplates) - In many ancestral libraries and private collections you find the owners Ex Libris displaying the owners coat-of arms, crest, badge or simply anything which relates to the owners life, interests, profession or family.

For me the world of books are treasures and I always bring a travel library from "home". 

From destination to destination at the "Travellers Nest and Rest" is a travel library consisting of 600 to 800 books covering different subjects from adventure, travel, art, biographies etc. to bring on the voyages around the world.

(Books some written by family members some about the family - you can never escape your blood and bones) 

Sometimes we are Rebels and none conformists but our traditions are often indeed very deep rooted.  Changes to our outlook on life are minimal.

 "We are a reflection of our Past." 

 Outwardly my character has altered during the years - but never my outlook on life itself. 

Stay open and curious.

The Youth is for the Young, but the Spirit of Youth should stay with You Forever.

Do not allow yourself to be bored.

Silent Conversation - Relax - Bring a book....

“To forget one's ancestor's is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root”

My father was a true Eccentric... (Part II)

(Photo - family archives)

Well, you asked and it is true.

 My parents were different - they came from two "worlds" of eccentric behavior.  Their understanding of society their own.

To be their only son I had the inheritance and privileges to observe at close these characters of an older era and the originality of their characters. I do think born to these conditions and to have the good fortune to understand what I saw made my life more interesting.

It is not my intention to portray my father whom I have inherited certain ranges of interest and veins of thought. Only a section of his character.

The behavior of our ancestors reincarnated once more in my dear father. The family shows a string of several successful literary members and artists - Could this be the answer? Very likely not. My father never wrote any books or any great poems of note although he was a gifted writer and could write at large. He did always find something to do and did this meticulously whatever it would be at the time. His eccentricity was clearly a family trait and he definitely displayed many unusual behaviors and habits in his daily life.

In his health and food habits - in his obsessive collections as well as in his artistic creations and inventions.

He had a vivid visual imagination and could explain in detail the most interesting stories. His rules - nobody else's.

Was it a limited choice that life presented for him?

He found a refuge in himself - Perhaps work, simplicity, collecting, and the sporting life narrowed down to his own perceptions. His unusual eating habits when convinced that he would live on a certain fish sort for years (which he did) or his focus on the onion family Alliaceae...(well then..garlic)for its culinary and medicinal purpose (but raw?)and was it just European garlic from specific regions in Italy and France - I never asked.

His habit of filling rooms to the "ceilings" with collections of whatever amused and interested him at that time for some years to come...He did not posses a great understanding...for life outside his own - his opinions could never be bent or molded...

His standards were high and he had many rules. We had numerous discussions and he spoke to me about family, honor, tradition and responsibility.  I thank him, indeed because he taught me and I got to understand at an early age that life is far more interesting than we can ever imagined. 


Our winds of thoughts are our blossoms to free ourselves and open our minds to make use of our desires, dreams, aspirations, and ideals.

My father did... so do I - Just slightly different...

The Art of Life - From the family archives...

(Photo - family archives)

My mother stated : I can close my eyes and still have a perfect score...

She has her own world, style and her own rules...

She is always cheerful and still laughs at the world...

From the days of my childhood - She told me it is nothing in life to worry about and it is nothing you cannot achive...

(Photo - family archives)

She said: It is another world out there called life and freedom - Discover the beautiful side of life...in anything...

The world spinns around you...travel, explore,

observe, achieve and maintain your experiences...

 My destiny was determined...

- Joie de vivre -

Here I am holding on to a ball or is it the world of discovery?.....soon I was bitten by the travel bug - it now runs in my  veins....forever......

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.”

- Pat Conroy

My Father was a true Eccentric...(Part I)

 (All photos of eccentrics except the one of my father in this post by Tim Walker)

His... himself - (My Father), here in his late Seventies.

Here is a photo of Alexander Thynne, Marquis of Bath, with crocodile, at his estate, in Longleat, Wiltshire.

Charlie the Penguin stands among portraits of Marquis of Bath at Longleat, his Wiltshire estate.

Sitting here this evening in Arabia - reflecting over my father and his life, I come to think about and search for the characteristics of an eccentric.

That my father was an eccentric - was no doubt about it, a man from the old school, a man with a definitely nonconforming attitude. 

My father brilliant, handsome and charming belonged to a different world - an eccentric world of thoughts and behavior. He did not ever conform to society.

You will ask - How do I really know he was an eccentric?

Very simple answer indeed - he had no idea that his behavior was anything but absolutely normal...

Others were different.

So, I read as follow; "according to studies, there are fifteen distinctive characteristics that differentiate a healthy eccentric person from a regular person (although some may not always apply). The first five are in most people regarded as eccentric:" The outcome? 


My father had thirteen of the fifteen characteristics.  The two characteristics he did not have - he was not a bad speller or single. 

Nomadic Jaguars in the Cheviot Walk, Northumberland.

Lady Isabella Cawdor with three of her four children, Eleanor, Jean, and James, at Carnoch, Invernesshire, in the Scottish Highlands.

The Characteristics are:

1 - Nonconforming attitude

2 - Creative

3 - Strongly motivated by curiosity

4 - Idealistic

5 - Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies

Snowfall in the summer at Eglingham Hall, in Northumberland, owned by the Bewicke family.

6 - Known very early in his or her childhood they were different from others

7 - Highly Intelligent

8 - Opinionated and outspoken

9 -Noncompetitive

10 - Not in need of reassurance or reinforcement from society

Dame Vivienne Westwood, unconventional fashion designer, in the old Camden Palace, in London.

 11 - Unusual living or eating habits

12 - Not interested in the opinions or company of others

Three Guinness heirs.

13 - Mischievous sense of humor
14 - Usually the eldest or an only child
15 - Bad spellers

Guinness heir Garech Browne at Luggala, the family estate in County Wicklow, Ireland, where he has put white sand around his black lake so that it resembles a glass of Guinness.


To be continued 
click here for Part II