Going North

Waaaaaay North.

We've been to the bottom of the world, now we're going to the top.

You must think us crazy to want to go to such far outreaches of our planet. You'd be correct.

But a lot of the places we really want to visit, well, it's even crazier to go there. Take Egypt, for example. We've always wanted to see the pyramids. We've tried, but every time we make arrangements they have an uprising or something. Israel doesn't look too good these days, either. We were going to look danger squarely in the face and just do it, but....maybe not.

But we did book Myanmar and Cambodia in November. We're going!

There are so many wonderful places to see and discover on our home planet. You can look at Google Images all day long, but it is nothing like being there in 360°.

If you follow along with me, as I blog from the road (or sea as it were), together we can discover what is up there.

We'll visit Ireland, Northern Ireland, Shetland Islands, Scotland, a bunch of places in Norway, and a tiny outpost in way-north Russia. We'll be gone about 35 days. Meanwhile we are busy shopping, organizing, and packing. While golf season is just getting underway for most of the country, it is over for me...for a while. My clubs are clean and stored in the guest room. Temperatures are routinely getting to 100+ degrees. Nights are glorious for star-gazing, though.

I'll blog when I can. I hope you'll come along.

Statues

I am not in Copenhagen. I have been sorting through my photos because I am making a picture book of places I've photographed over the years. 

You probably know that the above statue is The Little Mermaid, one of the most recognizable statues in Copenhagen, if not the world. She's a tiny thing, less than 5 feet tall from crown to fishtail. 

Here's another one in Copenhagen. It's massive, and this is only the top. It's the Gefion Fountain. According to legend, Swedish king Gylfi promised the Norse Goddess Gefion that he would give her all the property that she could plow in one night. So she turned her four sons into oxen, and man did she plow! 

This is a human statue in Helsinki. If you put money in his box, he would bow, take your picture with his camera, open up the back and give you a tiny photograph on blue paper. In Europe, street performers are everywhere.

The King. Memphis. 

Okay, class dismissed. Things have been slow around my planet and there's little to blog about. The biggest news is that it was cool enough to sleep with the windows open last night and get in a walk this morning. Whoop! I have been playing mucho golf and we are getting our travel gear ready for the next trip in a few weeks. We'll visit Ireland, Scotland, Norway, and some other remote places in the far north. 

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! Summer is officially ON!

Happy Mother’s Day

 

This picture was [obviously] taken with my crapshoot camera on the golf course the other day. It was such a stunning flower and the cactus was a beautiful, pink color. Oh well. Even with a good camera it’s challenging to get a decent photo when it presents itself because you’re always hurrying—you must keep up the pace and be ready when it’s your turn. There is no time to fool around.

We desert dwellers are savoring the last of the spring weather—it will start heating up soon. Afternoons are getting toasty, but mornings are still cool enough for a walk if we can get our butts in gear early enough. I’ve been trying.

Forty five years ago, on Mother’s Day, I brought this guy home from the hospital. He was a big boy even then. As all new mothers know, it’s overwhelming, frightening and wonderful, all at the same time.

When I think back on how young I was then—I knew nothing about life, but I thought I did. I thought I was all grown up. Boy, did I have a lot to learn. I still do.

Andrew is a firefighter in Akron and is raising two lovely daughters. He coaches the girl's soccer team. When he retires he wants to buy a sailboat and sail around the world.

On the other side of my family tree, my mother left this earth 32 years ago, when she was the age I am now. That is way too young. She had recently retired and was actualizing her dream of an astrology center where people could take classes, buy books, and discuss charts. She was an accomplished astrologer. She opened the center on Halloween and died 19 days later. She passed to me her zest for life and a sunny outlook.

I miss you every day, Mom.  I hope you’re winning all the bridge hands and playing beautiful golf courses.

Miz Libby

I got a surprise phone call from the one and only Libby Fife Saturday. She was in town so I met up with her in Palm Springs. Sadly, in my haste, I forgot my camera. We had a lovely visit and I met her charming husband Rich. Libby, you must come back and let me cook for you! (And take your picture!) It is so fun to meet cyberfriends--you bond with them instantly.

In other news, we had a spot of weather roll through on Sunday, and it was cold and blustery. Well, cold being a relative term, I think it only got up to 85 (it was 98 the day before).

One of my golf pals invited me to play Escena in Palm Springs. She signed up for the summer hot deals membership, so we were able to play for $40. Forty-dollar golf is a HUGE deal in the Land of Spendy Golf! Especially a course as nice as this one. 

Here are a couple of photos of Escena that I took with my “crapshoot” camera today. You can’t see, so you point it in the general direction, shoot, and get crap. But it lives in my golf bag and don’t care if it gets roont.

It’s such a pretty course…so it’s a shame the pictures are so crappy. I even cropped and enhanced them, too.

You can see the weather. It was pretty darned windy. This is San Jacinto.

The red stakes indicate the kind of water hazard this is. Sometimes the hazard can be yellow. That’s all you need to know.

I posted a 101. I was pretty excited about my 47 on the front nine, but I blew chunks on the back nine. The club prez at Indian Springs talked me into playing with them on an occasional basis next year, which I feel good about because I do want to keep the friendships I have made there. So it was a great day all around.

Random Shots

From our trip through the South. I often wander around and just snap photos. I might get ten good ones out of a hundred. Here are some I like.

Below is Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House in tiny Lynchburg, Tennessee. We ate family style, with generations-old recipes like fried okra, collard greens with vinegar, and corn relish. Everything was delicious. And heavily spiked with Jack Daniel’s.

They feature a different menu for each day of the week. We were fortunate to have the amazing Chicken with Pastry. I photographed this recipe as it was framed on the wall. It is a magazine clipping and there are recipes to be found online, so I’m pretty confident it is okay to share it. Now you can have the recipe too.

By the way, Miss Mary ALWAYS used lard in her pastry and she lived to be somewhere around 100 years old.

Thanks for looking at my photos.

Jazz Fest

Hi from the crowd! Unbelievable.

Jazz Fest was great yesterday. I LOVE that zydeco music! Weehah!

Even the old Dixieland dudes can get down.

In addition to terrific music and amazing FOOD, there are parades.

This picture is funny because I was taking it of Jim, Cheryl, and Alan, when the chick on the right stepped into the photo. She apologized but I like it just like it is.

We met a gal who insisted I don her alligator hat and then she made me a cocktail and insisted I drink it. I did.

We love jazz fest but I think this might be our last one. Boogying for hours on your feet is hard work! Next year: Stagecoach! It’s only a mile from our house. And they have chairs. And I dig country.

Mobile Alabama and New Orleans Looziana

We originally intended to do nothing more than eat and sleep in Mobile, but we discovered that Mobile has a lot of charm and history…and some amazing houses. So we went on a little tour…..

The light wasn’t as good the next day, weather had rolled in, but here are a few of the houses I snapped:

Even this lil bitty shotgun house is sweet and lovely.

Next is New Orleans. We rolled into town in the afternoon and JJ went up to take a nap, but the sun was out and I went photographing. Here are some everyday street scenes:

I wonder what she was selling.

I was photographing the chopper when this old guy in a Harley-Davidson shirt stopped in his tracks to admire the bike.

These kids were sharing a bottle of hooch and just digging the sunshine.

Not pizza delivery. Look closer.