Sultanhani Caravanserai, 1229 AD. Along the Konya-Aksaray highway in Turkey

The song reached out to her, and she risked the disapproval of her fellow travelers by delaying long enough to learn its name from the shopkeeper.  And so she carried the music home, where she could replay it at any time.

From thousands of miles away, she closes her eyes and returns to the caravanserai along the Silk Road.  And feels the presence of long-ago travelers lingering in its golden afternoon shadows.

– with love for the journey.

Photograph by Lou Ann Granger, September 2009

Musings on the song Gülümcan, from the album Köprüler.  And the power of music to capture a precious moment from the journey.

He called out to me from a shop in the souk in Casablanca.  This small brass horse, a descendant of Bucephalus,  the legendary war horse of Alexander the Great.

He had been all over the known world with his master, carried him safely through many battles and conquests.  The little brass horse had inherited a fierce desire to explore and wanted to see the New World.  So he called to me when I passed the stall.  He had a nice heft and fit nicely into my hand and I longed for him to come home with me.  And so began yet another journey.

He seems happy here.  But, I sometimes wonder, does he miss the deserts of his native land?

– with love for the journey.