Category: Travel
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How to Be Stuck: A Lesson from 1866
“Wednesday, March 21, 1866 Last night we had thunder and lightning, and a shower of rain which continued through the night. I did not go out visiting this morning [or] in the afternoon. Lizzie and I went up to town and purchased some dry goods. Good calico is 23 & 30 cents per yard, lower…
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I’m a 7 seeking balance
Since the start of December, I’ve been at two extremes: flitting around like a nervous flea or making dents in the family room sofa cushions. It’s been a weird couple of months. During the typical prep weeks before Christmas, we unexpectedly raced to California and back. We pressed hard, making the 4,000-plus-mile trip in seven…
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Blue ripples
Fill the Aegean Blue ripples shimmering with silver ridges, rolling away toward the Sun that brightens the palest azure horizon mesmerize me. My exposed skin browns with freckles, moistened by the late summer rays that burn in the cerulean sky. Those Aegean sailors bound for Troy, fiercely loyal or stupidly tricked by a sailor much…
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The way will open
Ants have been harassing me. For a week or so before our big trip west, a couple of times when I sat on the couch in the evenings, I felt a little tickle on my arm or leg. When I glanced down, I saw a big, fat black carpenter ant moseying along my bare skin.…
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Oh, California!
Politics, health care, or sanctuary. Wide open deserts where no one will impede on personal choices, potential opportunities that hint at millions, or family reunions– even weddings! People have flocked to sunny California for countless reasons. One of the most compelling reasons to return to California is its gorgeous landscapes. So varied and so magnificent!…
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By plane or by car?
Have you seen X lately? Some people complain about riding in a car on vacation. They groan when they hear about the time it will take to get to where the vacation begins. They’d much rather hop a flight and be at their destination in what seems a trice. I suspect they may be suffering…
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Can it get any better?
A long weekend getaway! Traveling on the spur of the moment! Being invited to hang out at a friend’s Air BnB! It’s all so exciting! But the getting there can be the pits. My expectations were high starting out this afternoon. Traveling in and out of Dayton International Airport is so easy. It’s not much…
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An age-old journey
This week, I’ve been in Kentucky on a silent, unprogrammed retreat at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. Trappist monks have lived here in silence since 1848, their charge to worship God and welcome visitors in the Benedictine tradition. Gethsemani Abbey is well known as the former home of the contemplative monk and writer…
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Triggers can be touchy things
As the wife of a gun expert in a previous life, I know that some triggers are set off with barely a brush, while others practically require a fat-fingered tug. In recent years, though, a trigger has become more than a mechanical device that initiates an explosive action on a firearm, as they were in…
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"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
But did Christmas leave? I imagine God enjoys a good belly laugh. Over the past three weeks, I spent sixteen fabulous days on a cruise to Hawaii. Five days in port left eleven sea days to and from LA, more than we’ve ever had. That was a major attraction for my husband, but more of…
