Woolgathering - And Other Worthwhile Pursuits

I've read that in days of old poor folks in sheep-raising areas would go through the brush and herding areas to gather the bits of wool pulled from the coats of the sheep as they went about their lives; waiting for the shearing, the mint jelly, or both. That occupational pastime was called woolgathering, oddly enough, and it was somewhat mindless work that anyone with or without any particular skill or intelligence could do.

Somewhere in the 1500s the word was also recorded as meaning a way of letting our mind wander or indulge in idle fantasies.  That's the usage I'm working with today, if you could call it work at all.  I've found myself lost in thought a lot over the last couple of weeks, some constructive and some merely daydreaming about walks in Thailand, places I've visited while there and the good folks who have accompanied me on my journeys.

There's a strong probability that I will not see the Kingdom I dream (and daydream) about any time in the immediate future, and that saddens me.  That may well be fueled by the overabundance of things on my plate at the present time, but it's also a nagging longing that I can neither minimize or ignore: I miss Thailand.

That said, I'm going to dock my boat canal-side and go delving back into photos today to assemble more for upcoming posts. Woolgathering at its finest!  Back tomorrow.