Capitol

During April, I'll be posting on the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
My theme is the Hunzas.
Today is C ....... for Capitol

The Capitol of Hunza was Baltit (no jokes, please :) ). Now Hunza is a part of Pakistan. Long ago, the rugged Himalayas seemed to bring out the aggressive attacks on neighboring states. Hunza and Nager were 2 rival states who were constantly at war with one another. They built forts as strongholds that balanced on the edge of mountains.



The above fort at Baltit eventually became the Capitol of Hunza, making it the prime seat of power. It also became the palace that housed the Hunza ruler or the "Mir."

After years of alternating crumbling and renovations, a new palace was built in 1945 and the old fort was remodeled and turned into the "Baltit Serene Inn."

Burushas

During the month of April, I will be posting on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme is the Hunzas
Today is B for Burushas


The Burushas people are found in 3 daunting mountainous areas of Northern Pakistan..... the Hunza, Nagar and Yasin Valleys.

Most of the people live in the Hunza Valley and the language is known as Burushaski. Hunza shrouds a mystery of the Burusko people as their origin is completely unknown. They cling to a popular myth that 3 generals ran away from Alexander the Great's army, married Persian women and settled in the Hunza Valley.



The rugged elevation of the Himalayas, kept them in isolation for around 2000 years.

Since there has been no written language of the Burushaski, the true historical beginning of the Hunzas will remain forever a mystery.

The picture is of present day Hunza men on the way to work their vegetable gardens in the same manner as they've done for a thousand years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adventure

During the month of April I will be posting on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. My theme will be the Hunzas.
Today is A...... for Adventure.




Hunza people or Hunzakuts, live in an isolated valley, high in the Himalayas. A 60 mile treacherous road, accessible only by jeep, was their only avenue to the outside world. China, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India surround them by inaccessible mountains.

My dream of a Hunza adventure began in the '40's, after reading about their self-sustaining lifestyle. I wrote a paper on their country when I was in college and thus began my dream to live in mountainous isolation.

But, reality often takes us in a different direction and my dream of adventure took me to other mountains and I now live in the Rockey Mountains of Montana.

I never got to place my feet on the Hunza rocks but the Himalayas will always remain a spell-binding dream. This month, I'll take you on another one of my vicarious adventures to Hunza land.

Old Age Sucks

I'm not being ungrateful. We all age and life becomes a slow-motion movie. It's the memory that plays tricks when you can recall flying through the air in an aerial flip with a svelte body. Yes, I did. Once upon a time.

You notice little things ..... people open their mouths wider and enunciate each word. The first time that happened, it was with the girl at the fish market and I thought SHE was deficient.

Suddenly my kids become boy scouts at street crossings and grab my arm but then I remember how I used to make them take MY hand at crossings.

After a fresh snowfall, each kid calls .......
"Mom, don't drive today."
"But I have an appointment with....."
"I don't care. Cancel it."
That old memory kicks in again and I recall driving across Minneapolis and St. Paul to a remote ballroom for dancing, during some of the worst Minnesota blizzards. Dang.

Yesterday I visited a 90 year old lady who is absolutely one of most scintillating and interesting ladies I've ever met. She has one of the largest libraries, filled with books of varied subjects. Ina is a walking encyclopedia and although I had intended a brief visit, it lasted hours. We love discussing books and there is always an exciting exchange of ideas.

There was a heavy box of stuff she wanted to give me, so she dragged the box out of the garage while I backed the car into her driveway.

Maybe old age ain't so sucky after all.

I Remember Whitney Houston

I just heard that Whitney Houston has died. I remember the time I met her.

My husband owned a baseball team . We went to all the home games but didn't sit together. He loved the fans but wanted to concentrate on the game so he watched from an enclosed box. I chose to sit down with the fans in a box that was reserved for visiting celebs, etc.

Whitney Houston had just sung the National Anthem and was ushered to the seat beside me. The game had started but we chit-chatted a little and settled into watching the ball game.

I remember 2 things about her. One was her obvious beauty. Sitting that close to her, I could drink it all in and absorb her perfume.

Number two was the ring she wore on her right hand. It was the most unusual ring, a huge diamond that was shaped in an oblong to the left and also covered much of her middle finger. As her hands rested in her lap, I couldn't get interested in the game, as my attention kept drifting back to her ring.

She got up during the 7th inning stretch, said good bye, gave a radiant smile and left. I can't recall the exact year but I'm sure it was before she reached the pinnacle of her career. I hadn't thought about that ball game in years but this evening when I heard the news of her passing, it all came back. I could feel the warm Minnesota evening air, hear the crack of the bat and "whaamp" when the ball smacked the catcher's glove. I could hear the vendors, smell the hot dogs and pop corn and Whitney's perfume.

My sympathy to Whitney's daughter and her family.

Hummmm It makes one think

Would you call this the beginning or the end of civilization?

I've Been Absent

Dear Bloggy Friends,
Some of you are wondering if I'm sick because I haven't posted or commented recently. Yes, I'm sick at heart. My body aches for Americans because our Constitution has been violated. I could scream, "Why do people want to give up their freedom?" I've lived my life but so many of you haven't. Are you aware we will have no Constitution to fall back on? Do you even care? Why did our elected officials, yes, the very people we sent to Washington, choose to remove our civil liberties? I'm talking about the passing of the NDAA bill. (National Defense Authorization Act). The bill comes up every year to appropriate money for the military. That's OK but here are 2 new clauses that are terrifying.

I did read the bill but it's long and much that old ladies don't understand. The one clause, to arrest without a warrant and hold without a trial, violates our 4th, 5th and 6th amendments, as I see it. If that isn't scary enough, the other clause is aimed right at WW3. It imposes tough sanctions on Iran's state-owned Central Bank. The sanctions will freeze any institution doing business with Iran's monetary authority. Half of Iran's oil sales are processed through this bank. It would be like an oil embargo. A scrap metal and oil embargo is why Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Other things were involved but that was the catalyst. I do remember.

Every war I've lived through has been launched after a staged provocation. The elite must convince the people that a foreign enemy threatens their way of life. Where no genuine threat exists, they have no qualms in manufacturing one.

President Wilson and the sinking of the Lusitania..... staged. Think nothing of the lives that were lost for greed. The wars on terror and Vietnam.... all manufactured. We all know FDR had to pull a lot of strings to get the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor and for over a year, he stalked German U-Boats with old sub-chasers, inviting the Germans to fire on them. I guess I've been kind of a student of wars all my life and researched them.

When the powers that be, in the foreign banks, need money, they give the word to start the war. But it has to be manufactured provocation to produce the element of FEAR. Then there is an outcry of the people to start the war and people, you have been bam-boozeled all along.

If a 3rd world war occurs, not only will your sons be sent off to die, there will be a depression that will make the 30's look like you lost your lunch money. Already China and Russia said they would side with Iran. Think people. Raise your voice before it's too late.....and it almost is.

Americans, if you value your freedom or really aren't aware of what you are losing, please look at the video below. You'll be glad you did. He says it far better than I can.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~