are the flocks of storks, egrets and other migratory birds coming from the north were the Autumn has begun. They are on their way to Africa and warmer environs and are flying along the coast here in increasing numbers every day. The birds are leaving their nesting places in the northern country but there plenty people here who are willing to risk everything to move north into much colder climates to escape the Health of conflicts that are raging in this region. The conflicts are not only war, but also the daily struggle to make a living, and of plain simple survival. It is the daily struggle with a political crisis an economic crisis an electricity crisis and whatever other crisis one can think. Crisis are produced every day on a small or a bigger scale. There is nothing much the common people can actually do in their everyday life to escape this, especially all the refugees from the neighbouring country that are currently seeking shelter here. Their struggle to survive every is tremendous to unimaginable for most of us. They can go home, they are mostly not welcome here and neither do they have the freedom to travel south or north or west, definitely not east, that is where they came from and can’t go back to now.

They can just look at the flocks of birds flying south in autumn and north in spring and wish to join them on their journeys. every day now one can see these flocks of birds flying south along the shores, some of them taking a rest along the shores. The storks are flying quite high, circling and looking for some updraft winds, whereas the egrets and Cormorants are flying close to the water's surface, often only a few meters in height. sometimes it is just a handful, sometimes a dozen or more birds. Here on the coast the autumn is arriving slowly, only a few trees have changed their leave colour so far and temperatures are still on the higher side. What has gone is the humidity during the day and especially at night which makes it quite pleasant. The sun is setting early and by five it is nearly dark, whereas by six in the morning the sun has still not risen over the eastern hills yet. There has been some  rain and some thunderstorms that have cleared the air from the heat and dust of the summer. Surely winter is approaching but the refugees in the country who often have to live in flimsy dwellings are for sure not looking forward to the cooler nights and refreshing days.

Since July the country is now trying to deal with a trash crisis since July. Since four months! and nothing has been achieved, nothing! The first heavy rains have washed some of the months old garbage into the soil and with it all the bacteria and filth with yet unknown results. For sure we are to find out soon. While seeing a doctor this week in Beirut one of the first things he asked if I eat in local restaurants. What an odd question I thought and when I confirmed that I do his response was that it would be better not to do so or at most be very selective and careful at the least. Like a confirmation of his warning, one of my friends who went for a dinner at Beirut’s expensive restaurants got sick after eating there and at this time is still not feeling much better. This must not necessarily be connected directly to the trash as even before such things happened, but for sure it makes one more aware of things.

This weekend the Beirut marathon will be held on Sunday as it has been the case in November since more than a decade. With all the happenings around I be keeping a low profile and ain’t visiting this time, just to be on the safe side if that is anyway possible at all. Looking up from the iPad I am writing this on from my balcony onto the sea, clouds have move in, getting bigger as I write. Maybe indeed some rain is moving up the coast from the south. In the background I am listing to one of my all time favourite music playing, “The Rising” from ‘the boss’. One of the most memorable events this week was when I looked out my office window during lunch break munching on a sandwich, noticing some tussle in the grass. Soon enough it became clear that it was a small brown snake trying to overcome and eat a small Gecko who put up a strong resistance of becoming a lunch meal for the snake. The gecko was the size not much bigger than my thumb and the snake maybe thirty centimeters (one foot) long and the size of my small finger. Looking or rather staring at them it became clear that the gecko or let it be a lizard was to big for that little snake. I can not remember for how many minutes at this epic struggle and the fight that little lizard put up for his life but eventually the snake let go and the lizard disappeared into the grass, happy hopefully to have escaped the little serpent and being her lunch. The snake slithered off into some undergrowth and stones nearby, hungry I believe. Interesting to know that there are some real snakes living in the camp and not only the two legged type.

Photography is slow as always, working little by little on my ‘rue Hamra’ project, one weekend at the time. I have been editing photos taken previously that I can possibly use in the project. Watching a program today in Al-Jazeera about ‘Habaneros’ (Banana Plantation workers) in Central America made me think about the ‘Saccardas’ (Sugarcane cutters) in South-East Asia, both the plight and hardship and abuse they share. I have some photos for a project about them and might pursue to document them more once I find the time. I be going to Dubai in the middle of the months for four days, work and pleasure. See if I can find something inspiring to photograph. It is also high time to go up into the Chouf Mountains again to soak in the green of it's nature and the scenery in general, highly recommended. In this sense until the next time, bye.