Uzbekistan | Seven Saints of Bukhara

See Seven Saints of Bukhara

According to the thirteen-century Persian historian Ata-Malik Juvaini, Bukhara, the city in what is now the country of Uzbekistan, “is the cupola of Islam and is in those regions like unto the City of Peace [Baghdad] . . . Since ancient times it has in every age been the place of assembly of the great savants of every religion.”

In the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries seven remarkable men lived in Bukhara and the surrounding Bukhara Oasis. These men were known as the Khwajagan, or Masters of Wisdom. The Seven Khwajagan are: Abd al-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (1103–1179); Arif ar-Riwakri (1136-1239); Mahmud al-Injir al-Faghnawi (d.1317);Ali ar-Ramitani (d.1315/1321); Muhammad Baba as-Sammasi (d.1354); Sayyid Amir Kulal (1287?–d.1370); Bahauddin Shah Naqshband (1318–1388?)

The Khwajagan remain to this day revered as the Seven Saints of Bukhara, and their mausoleum complexes continue to be visited by pilgrims and travelers from all over the world.

USA | Allegheny Mountains | Spring Ephemerals

Foraging season for Spring Ephemerals in the Allegheny Mountains is reaching its peak. Ramps are looking great. Traditionally they are said to peak on Mother’s Day, which this year is on May 10,  but in recent years plants have been up to two weeks ahead of schedule due to our changing climate.

Ramps

A nice Spring dish of Garlic Mustard, Dandelion, Ground Ivy, and Ramps

The corm of Spring Beauties. Resembling a tiny potatoes, they are known in some circles as Fairy Spuds. A tasty little treat.

USA | Allegheny Mountains | Spring Flora

See Spring Flora over at Don Croner’s Wanders on the Great Allegheny Passage Bike Trail (GAP).

Mongolia | Zanabazar | First Bogd Gegeen of Mongolia

Zanabazar (1635–1723) was, according to most reckonings, the sixteenth incarnation of Javsandamba. The first incarnation is believed to have appeared around the time of the Buddha. As a small boy he was recognized as the spiritual leader of Mongolia and awarded the title of Bogd Gegeen. He would go on to play a role in the religious and political life of Mongolia analogous to that of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet. Zanabazar built temples and established monasteries, including one at what is now the site of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, and was a polymath who invented new scripts for writing the Mongolian language, designed new clothes for monks, studied the medical properties of hot springs, and much else. He is most famous for his bronze statues which are now the centerpieces of three museums in Ulaanbaatar. “During his lifetime, he was the greatest Buddhist sculptor in Asia,” opines art historian K. Youso about Zanabazar.” Indeed, he is often called the Michelangelo of Mongolia. Zanabazar was the first of Mongolia’s nine Bogd Gegeens. The Ninth Bogd Gegeen transmigrated on March 1, 2012.  During a visit to Mongolia on November 23, 2016, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama announced that the Tenth Bogd Gegeen had been born and that attempts were being made to identify him. Update: The Tenth has now been named. See Tenth Incarnation.

See The Life of Zanabazar

United States | Maryland | Great Allegheny Passage | Cumberland | Mount Savage | Frostburg

In Cumberland, Maryland, the Spring, or Vernal, Equinox occurred at 11:06 p.m. on March 19, according to the Gregorian calendar imposed on the Occidental world by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The Equinox marks the astrological astronomical beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s often said that the Spring Equinox is when day and night are of equal length. Actually, due to an astronomical quirk, the date when day and night are equal, known as the Equilux, is usually a few days before the Equinox. This year March 15 has eleven hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-five seconds of daylight. The next day has twelve hours, two minutes, and thirty-one seconds of daylight, so the pendulum has already swung toward longer days. The day of the Equinox has twelve hours, ten minutes, and twenty-four seconds of daylight. The next day has twelve hours, thirteen minutes, and zero seconds, making it two minutes and thirty-six seconds longer than the day before. The procession is on to the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, on June 20. I have decided that between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice I will wander on the Great Allegheny Passage, a bike and hiking trail built on the roadbeds of now-abandoned railroads that extends 150 miles from Cumberland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Another trail, the C&O Canal Towpath, runs 184.5 from Cumberland to Washington, D.C, making it possible, in season, to ride a bike—or hike, if you are so inclined—334.5 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington. No motorized vehicles (except for electric bikes) are allowed on the entire path. Before proceeding on the GAP I will first explore the city of Cumberland . . . Continued.

USA | Allegheny Mountains | Trout Season | Ramps

Trout Season opened last Saturday. A local Waltonian stopped by my Retreat and dropped off two rainbow trout he had caught. True, they were hatchery-raised and stocked in a stream for sports fishermen, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Rainbow trout and ramp leaves (click on photos for enlargements)

I also pickled the bulbs and the lower stems of some ramps in a brine of one-half water and one-half vinegar with one teaspoon of turbinado sugar, one teaspoon of Mongolian lake salt, and two sassafras leaves (used as a substitute for bay leaves; both sassafras and bay belong to the same botanical family). 

Pickled ramps

As a side dish to the trout I made some lentils and Basmati rice with steamed (not boiled) ramp leaves and pickled ramp stems and bulbs as a garnish. 

USA | Allegheny Mountains | Ramps

Ramps Season has begun! For many foragers ramps (Allium tricoccum) are the Holy Grail of edible plants. I located a dozen or more small colonies of ramps along a small tributary of the Casselman River.

Tributary of the Casselman River (click on photos for enlargements)

A nice colony of ramps next to a convenient brooklet for washing them.

A small colony of ramps

Another colony of ramps

Ramps

Ramps

Most ramp plants have two leaves. One leaf can be harvested from a plant without killing it.

The whole ramp plant. Authorities recommend harvesting no more than 10% of a colony to ensure its long-term health. I never harvest more than 5%. The leaves and bulbs can be used in any way you would use onions.

Iran | Yazd

Wandered by Yazd, a city of about one million people located near the middle of Iran. It is known as one of the hottest cities in the country. As with many cities in the desert water is held in high regard. 

 Main square of Yazd (click on photos for enlargements)

 Main square of Yazd

 Main square of Yazd

Kids playing in the main square of Yazd. The city’s famous wind-catchers, which catch cool breezes and funnel them down into the buildings below, can be seen in the background. The wind-catchers were an early form of air-conditioning. 

 Skyline of Yazd with more wind-catchers

Wind-Catchers

Streets of Yazd

 Mosque in Yazd

 Detail of mosque in Yazd

  Detail of mosque in Yazd

 Hotel where I stayed in Yazd

 Courtyard of hotel where I stayed in Yazd

  Courtyard of hotel where I stayed in Yazd

Courtyard of hotel where I stayed in Yazd. The perfect place for sipping a saffron tisane as the air cools off at twilight.