Dubai doors (1)

The entrance to a home. It’s the barrier that shuts everything out or keeps everything in. The demarcation between the rest of the world and the place where, if we are lucky enough to live in peace or with enough food on the table, we can feel safe and secure.

Helping to deliver the Parish News in the village I grew up in I would enter front gardens through wrought iron gates set in brick walls, openings in picket fences, arches in hedges, or step over the edge of a lawn in an open plan garden. There were as many varied ways to cross the perimeter as there were houses. If you walked out at night you could see in through the front room windows if people had left the lights on and the curtains open.

Dubai favours privacy. High walls and gates are the norm. There are tempting glimpses into front yards when garage doors have been left ajar.

This is the first in a series of the many doors and gates I see on my daily dog walk.

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