Weekly Challenge – Lines/Patterns – The Rice Fields Of Yunnan, China
““There are patterns which emerge in one’s life, circling and returning anew, an endless variation of a theme” ”
Jaqueline Carey
This week Cheri has challenged us to look through our lenses for the lines and patterns around us. How appropriate that our adventure in China took us to Yunnan, a beautiful province ripe with the patterns created by centuries of rice farming.
““What we call chaos is just patterns we haven’t recognized..”
Chuck Palahniuk
Here, we found some of the hardest working people we’ve ever seen. Tending the crops, carrying heavy loads of rice, barley, wheat and other produce in their baskets and their carts, toiling in what seemed to be a never-ending process simply to feed their families.
““Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” ”
Terry Tempest Williams
We’ve developed a deep respect for the people of China, who have an amazing capacity for tackling difficult chores with a smile, accepting their lot in life seemingly without question. We wonder if they ever look around at the amazing beauty of the fields that provide them with their livelihoods – or are they simply too weary to notice the depth of the colors, or the rich scent of the grasses that surround them.
“The way to break a pattern of negativity is to face anything negative with love.” ”
Molly Friedenfeld
For me, the lines and patterns of the grasses shimmering in the early evening light created a visual feast that simply insisted on being captured. I can only guess what they meant for those who toil in them day after day. A good harvest? Another meal for the family? A job well done?
“Shadows we loved and the patterns they covered the ground with
Tapestries, mystical, faint in the breathless air.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
We have seen many wondrous things in China, but have been most impressed by her incredibly hard-working people. They seem to toil from dawn to dark without a thought of a day off or a paid holiday or heaven forbid, an employer-funded vacation.
“Set patterns, incapable of adaptability, of pliability, only offer a better cage. Truth is outside of all patterns.”
The Tao of Jeet Kune Do
Our travels throughout the Yunnan province have given us a new respect for those who farm the land. They have also given us an appreciation for the incredible beauty of some of China’s most remote areas.
“Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?”
Marcus Aurelius
I’ll be sharing more of our experiences in the days/weeks to come. For example, this week I felt like I died and went to photographer’s heaven as we visited Dragon’s Backbone – the Longji Rice Terraces of Longsheng in Guilin, China. This was one of my most anticipated moments of the trip and I was not disappointed – I’m hoping you won’t be either! But more on that next time 🙂 In the meanwhile, to see more Lines and Patterms, click here.
Such refreshing colors and beautiful shots…
Thanks very much! >