from one end of the horizon to the other. Summer is in full swing, with hot and humid days. After a break of a few months, the political situation in the country has also heated up again. In the last week alone three suicide bombings, on the highway from Beirut to Damascus, just before descending into the Bekaa Valley at a checkpoint, outside a restaurant and checkpoint in southern Beirut and the last one in a hotel room in a posh part of the city during a security raid. Whatever or who ever it was, it was just again another useless endeavor to ignite the country, fan the flames and start a firestorm like in the neighboring countries to the east.

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One is watching with great concern the developments in the eastern deserts, far away but yet so close as it's perpetrators are already amongst the population here. The political pundits are in full gear, predicting this and that, blaming right, left, up and down for what is happening, but who knows it might be all in vain. The blame is to be on each individual, because we do not think for ourselves and willingly are influenced by all the demagogues around who are looking only after themselves. The blame is on each individual as we as humans participate ans subscribe to whatever stupid ideas, instead of using the brain we have been given to analyze and then reject these ideas, being able to steep back from the abyss.

The so much hoped for tourists from the Gulf for this summer, have they been replaced by terrorists from the Gulf, as the last bombing in the hotel involved two Saudis. The tourists, if they had planned to come this summer anyway, now again have been told to avoid the country or if already here, to get out as fast as they can. Certainly the hotel incident accelerated this. It is like a plague, returning and returning again, and one is asking where and what is the cure. Otherwise, crisis after crisis, political, electrical, water, refugees, economical, a constant cycle turning ever faster. Which one will spin our of control first is to be seen. The only constant is the endless blue sky, only occasionally broken by some puffy white clouds.

The Fuji x100s has proven to be a good and reliable camera to work with on the street. Images are sharp and crispy, I love the colours it renders. It does give me the feeling of my good old Leica M's of yesteryear. Often I think to reactivate them again, go back to also 'do film', scan and use the digital darkroom. What is missing is the time to do all of this besides my day job. Motives would be endless in the country, especially for the kind of documentary photography I like. I'll get there eventually :-)

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Not yet decided when to finally go on summer vacation. Also it is nice to be out of the office, it is a punishment to come back and look at all the 'stuff' from the weeks on vacation. Thinking of visiting Cyprus again, but it will have to wait until summer ends. Now the high tourist season is ringing in hordes of Europeans descending on the island, nothing what I desire to be part of. I shall wait until all those have departed (“The Departed”) and quieter and also cooler days have taken hold again. In September or october it will be nice to visit the mountains of Trodos and hopefully be able to recharge the batteries in the wonderful “Bellpais' gardens near Kyrenia. Until then there is still time, lot's of more blue sky and potentially dark clouds developing. A hot wind is coming out of the eastern deserts, but hopefully it won't be a storm and early rain will stop the heat and dust. Bye for now.

PS: World cup fever has taken hold of the country, with Brazil being the favorite, closely followed by Germany, Spain and Italy, with the last two, having dropped out, flags disappearing. Never have seen so many German flags in Germany!