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Showing posts with label Thor Heyerdahl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thor Heyerdahl. Show all posts

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 22

Okay, so what happened to day 21? Well, the truth is that I was rather otherwise occupied. A neighbour, who was kind and influential during my teenage years, died last week and I attended her funeral, some distance away, yesterday.

But you managed the 'Word tips' post! Yes, that was scheduled, you see?

Anyway, today's theme is 'Makes me want to travel'. Once again, I am persuaded to delve into the past. There is no doubt that reading The Kon-Tiki expedition as a young man fired up my desire to travel. That I was hampered by my first wife, who would neither fly nor travel by sea, somewhat restricted me to this island home. However, my lovely second wife, with whom I've shared 26 years of happiness, is a traveller and treated me to my first trip overseas on my 40th birthday. A fortnight in Rhodes was a real eye-opener and we've visited many more of the Greek islands subsequently.

But it was undoubtedly Thor Heyerdahl's account of his adventures on the oceans that inspired me to travel. It's decades since I read his first book, and I've read most of his others since. Great stuff. If you haven't sampled this author, I suggest you do. You'll learn a little history and geography along the way.

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Stuart's Word Spot: Ra

Portrait of Thor HeyerdahlImage via Wikipedia
Ra: noun – (originally Re, but as Ra in Roman & Greek mythology and as used by Thor Heyerdahl in his book, The Ra Expeditions). An Egyptian sun god and creator deity. Legend has him self-creating from a mound that emerged from the primeval ocean. Usually depicted as a falcon wearing the disc of the sun on his head.

'The early Egyptians believed Ra created the world, in much the same way as later groups credited other deities with this improbable feat, but they had ignorance of science and history as their excuse, of course.'

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