Sometimes it’s skill, and sometimes it’s just being in the right place at the right time.

As we inch toward September, I’m getting some of this end-of summer stuff out of my system. I’m really, really looking forward to autumn, so expect more harvest-themed photos starting very, very soon.

Meanwhile, it’s still good swimming weather in the Med.

I don’t usually do a lot of food photography, but it was my half-birthday last week, and I couldn’t resist picking up a cake from The Cheesecake Lounge. It looked great, and it tasted okay, but honestly it didn’t hold a candle to the cheesecake at Vanilla Lounge, which is still the best in Antalya, by far.

The set is coming along nicely. It’s here.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been staying at a friend’s house in Fener, which is on the other side of Antalya from where I live. I decided I should probably go and see the fener that Fener was named for, and here it is. It’s kind of a January-looking photo considering I took it just a few days ago, and if you were hoping for something a little warmer, here’s another shot I got of it a year ago from a distance:

I don’t know, all lighthouses kind of look the same to me. It is very well maintained, though.

Sometimes even when you’re sitting on the balcony in the August sun, you can just feel autumn around the corner. For me it’s the most exciting time of the year, looking forward to not having summer anymore (as summer is a wretched season with no redeeming qualities whatsoever).

Dragonflies. Definitely an August/September thing.

It’s almost the time of year where the sunsets get galactically beautiful again. It’s wonderful to watch the seasonal transformation into autumn.

Quite a lot of you over the years have asked me about Vipassana and my daily meditation practice. I’ve never been good at explaining meditation in general, as for me it is an experience that transcends words, and Vipassana in particular is a tricky nut to crack. But most of the questions come not from people who are trying to understand Vipassana, but rather those who just want to begin a daily practice of some sort and are looking for a place to begin.

The Chopra Centre are currently offering a 21-day online meditation challenge, free of charge. It’s a series of downloadable audio files, all quite short, that lead you through the basics of different types of meditation, focusing on one aspect per day. I’ve listened to a couple of the audio files out of curiosity, and they’re certainly suitable for any beginner, even if you’ve never meditated before, and Davidji (the man who guides the meditations) has a pleasant voice and is even humourous at times.

I’ll admit I don’t know a lot about Deepak Chopra, though I’ve heard plenty of reports both positive and negative, so I can’t really vouch for the overall quality of the material his organisation puts out. I certainly don’t think you should go into this 21-day challenge expecting to come out enlightened, or even an expert meditator, but that’s hardly the point. The point is to create the habit of daily meditation while exposing yourself to the different techniques that are available to you. I suppose the hope is that after you’re finished with the course, you’ll want to pursue meditation further, either on your own, or by seeking more formal instruction. So if you’ve always wanted to meditate but never managed to get the momentum up, now’s your chance. Link

One of the best parts about travel is all the interesting people you meet along the way. I spoke with Mónica for more than an hour before she mentioned that she’s a television reporter in Spain. So if you ever watch Comando Actualidad on TV1, she’s already a familiar face to you. We had a great conversation, and I owe her a big thank-you for noticing when I’d dropped my phone on the ground!