A study of steps…

It’s the small things. Today when I went to the Forbidden City I received half-off my ticket price.

Senior discount.

I don’t know how I feel about that. I always love a deal, so…good?

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My daughter says the Forbidden City feels holy to her, and I think there’s something to that. Every time I go there’s a hush – a prevailing heaviness that isn’t dispelled by the huge crowds. You don’t notice the crowds, after a while, because the Forbidden City swallows people up until all you see is stone and sky and red walls.

And the details are incredible. Every little piece of the Forbidden City is a work of art…including the stairs. That always amazes me. Look at this – winged cats, flying horses in the clouds – that sense of flight in the stone. Are you supposed to feel as though you’re flying when you’re climbing those stairs?

And yes, I did include one wall section – and the theme of being in the clouds, among the fantastic and mythic continues.

Well, the Emperor was the ‘Son of Heaven’, after all…so I suppose it fits.