a-z archive: z! challenge (zinnias)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, June 26: This week’s topic for our A-Z ARCHIVE Tuesday’s photo challenge: the letter “Z”: introduce one photo of your own archive with a “Z” keyword for example Zoo or ZigZag – Zeppelin – Zen – Zombie – Zeus – Zip up, Zip-fastener, zipper – Zebra – Zorro – Zoom – Zakynthos – Zemanta etc.Here are some zinnias for this week’s challenge.  These are in front of the Sultan’s palace, Al Alam Palace, in Muscat.

Zinnias in front of Al Alam Palace in Muscat, Oman

zinnias!!!

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a-z archive: y! challenge (yacht)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, June 19: This week’s topic for our A-Z ARCHIVE Tuesday’s photo challenge: the letter “Y”: introduce one photo of your own archive with an “Y” keyword for example YELLOW or YEMEN, YOGA or YAK, YARRA River or Yunnan village, YAWN or YACHTING, Yogjakarta or YING YANG, Yosemite or YOUTH, Yucatan or YAMAHA etc.

Sadly, I’m feeling a little uninspired this week.  I just can’t get excited about any of my photos matching this letter!  Anyway, here is a photo of a yacht in Mutrah.  Juxtaposed against the modern yacht is a traditional Omani dhow.

a yacht with a traditional Omani dhow in the forefront

a-z archive: x! challenge (X & xerophyte)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, June 12: This week’s topic for FrizzText’s A-Z ARCHIVE Tuesday photo challenge: the letter “X”: introduce one photo of your own archive with an “X” keyword for example Xmas or Xe Kongh River – Xholsa Ceremony – Xmas Tree – Xóchitl – Xrated – Xray etc.

My first photo is a big “X” I found on a rock at Wadi Damm.  Oman’s rocky landscape is considered a geologist’s heaven because all the rock formations and various striations are open for study; there is no greenery to cover up the abundant “evidence.”

X marks the spot

Because Oman is a desert country, there are endless varieties of xerophytes.  A xerophyte is a plant that is adapted to an arid environment. Many xerophytes have specialized tissues for storing water, as in the stems of cacti and the leaves of succulents. Others have thin, narrow leaves, or even spines, for minimizing water loss. Xerophyte leaves often have abundant stomata to maximize gas exchange during periods in which water is available, and the stomata are recessed in depressions, which are covered with fine hairs to help trap moisture in the air. (The Free Dictionary: xerophyte)

xerophyte on Jebel Akhdar

another xerophyte along my walking trail in Nizwa

a-z archive: w! challenge (window)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, June 5: This week’s topic for our A-Z ARCHIVE = Tuesday’s photo challenge: the letter “W”: introduce one photo of your own archive with a “W” keyword for example WRITTEN (like FrizzText) or Winter, Wireless Lan or Woodstock, walking or weeping, wonder or woe, work or wine, whiskey or woman, wreck or wind etc.

Here’s a picture of a window at the village of Al Aqr on Jebel Akhdar.  This picture was actually taken outdoors, with the window reflecting the sky and mountains.

window on Jebel Akhdar

a-z archive: v! challenge (vineyard)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, May 29: This week’s topic for our A-Z ARCHIVE Tuesday’s photo challenge: the letter “V”: introduce one photo of your own archive with a “V” keyword for example VENICE (like FrizzText) or Vietnam, Vampire or Volkswagen, Virgins or Valencia, Vancouver or Videos, about veil duty or V-décolletages, Violence or Valparaiso, Vibraphones or Visitors, a pop song title with the first letter “V” (Valery, Amy Winehouse!) etc.

These are the closest things to vineyards I’ve seen in Oman.  They’re not like the typical vineyards we see in France or California; they’re basically just trellises full of grapes.  I also don’t think they make wine with these, as Muslims “don’t drink.”

vineyards Oman-style in the village of Wekan

vines of grapes on an arbor

a-z archive: u! challenge (umbrella)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, May 22: This week’s topic for our A-Z ARCHIVE Tuesday’s photo challenge: the letter “U”: introduce one photo of your own archive with an “U” keyword for example UMBRELLA (like FrizzText) or things which were “unusual” or “unfocused”, something about the U.K. Underground or “UP!”, experiences about “unjust” or “unchain”, about a pop song title with the first letter “U” etc.

Here are some umbrellas at a sidewalk cafe in front of Muttrah souq.

umbrellas

a-z archive: t! challenge (tiwi)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, May 15:  This week’s topic for our A-Z ARCHIVE Tuesday’s photo challenge: the letter “T”: introduce one photo of your own archive with a “T” keyword for example TRAFFIC (like FrizzText) or TRAINS, TOMATOES and TEAPOTS, TOKYO and THAILAND, the TITANIC or TANKS, TIBET and TRUST, TALKMASTERS or TRACTORS, TRACKS or TEARS, TANGO or TYPEWRITERS etc.

Here is my entry for T: the beautiful Wadi Tiwi in Oman….

Wadi Tiwi, a beautiful wadi on the east coast of Oman, about 30 km north of Sur

a machete-wielding Bangladeshi at Wadi Tiwi

a-z archive: s! challenge (shoes at the souq)

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a-z photo challenge

Tuesday, May 8: This week’s topic for Frizztext’s A-Z Archive Tuesday’s photo challenge is the letter “S”: introduce one photo of your own archive with a “S” keyword for example SAILSHIP or swords, shades or sunflowers, stealth bombers or saxophones, seagulls or skateboards, spare-ribs or stairways, storks or seals, siesta or sadness, silence or snow patrols etc.

My entry for this week is: shoes at the souq.  Last weekend I visited Mutrah souq in Muscat and found the most adorable shoes.

“Age shouldn’t affect you. It’s just like the size of your shoes – they don’t determine how you live your life! You’re either marvellous or you’re boring, regardless of your age.” ~ Steven Morrissey

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a-z photo challenge

Well, I guess I’m off on another tangent! I’m introducing a new blog just for photography….I invite you to join me!! I am enjoying so much trying to improve my photography and participating in the myriad photo challenges created by my fellow bloggers. I want to keep the focus of this blog (nomad in nizwa) on my life in Oman. From now on my goal is to post photo challenges that relate to Oman here. Any photos I take, or any photo challenges I participate in, that don’t relate to Oman, I’ll post on my new blog. I feel my Oman blog is losing its focus, plus I’m taking up too much space with all my uploaded pictures! I hope you’ll follow my new blog for my photography experiments & challenges… 🙂

whatever a moon has always meant

Wednesday, May 2:  This week’s A-Z challenge by Frizztext is the letter R: “introduce one photo of your own archive with a “R” keyword for example RAINY DAY or RIOTS, REVERENDS or RESTAURANTS, ROYAL WEDDINGS or ROUGH, RUSSIAN dolls, RAINBOWS or REVOLVERS etc.”

My entry for this week’s challenge is RED; at Hoan Kiem Lake, or Restored Sword Lake, in Hanoi, Vietnam, this is the Ngoc Son Temple.  Once again the Buddhist temples are rich in color and offerings and energy.  Red is a big color in many Asian countries and usually means longevity.

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a-z archive: r! challenge (ruins)

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a-z photo challenge

Friday, April 27: This week’s A-Z challenge by Frizztext is the letter R: “introduce one photo of your own archive with a “R” keyword for example RAINY DAY or RIOTS, REVERENDS or RESTAURANTS, ROYAL WEDDINGS or ROUGH, RUSSIAN dolls, RAINBOWS or REVOLVERS etc.”

I’m featuring the RUINS I visited this weekend in Al Ayn, Oman.  These 21 tombs are an amazing collection of Bronze Age necropolises, spectacularly set on a narrow ridge top with the dramatic Jebel Misht, “Comb Mountain,” in the background.

the 21 Bronze Age tombs of Al Ayn with the jagged, comb-shaped Jebel Misht behind

This is the third time I have visited these tombs; the most recent time was just last week after Oman had a week of heavy rains.  That time I was unable to walk up the ridge because of a flooded wadi between me and the ridge.  This time the wadi was dry, so we were able to climb up the ridge to observe the ruined tombs up close.

the beehive tombs up close & personal

Ancient ruins.....

"It makes the heart to tremble when you open an undiscovered tomb." ~ Zahi Hawass