Fun in the Sun

Last week we headed to cruise the Southern Caribbean with 24 of our friends. Need I say that we had a spectacularly fantastic time. The weather was amazing...78-84 degrees day or night and no rain. With the soft, white sand beaches and the warm salty water, playing in the surf and snorkeling was heavenly. After a day of sightseeing the islands of St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, and Tobago, we would return to the ship for gourmet meals and great shipboard entertainment. I have to say this was the best cruise we have ever taken. We took a catamaran day trip Monday and snorkeled in a calm cove for about an hour. With our waterproof camera we were able to snap some pics of the fish among the coral reefs. After snorkeling we sailed to the small island of Nevis and had a yummy bbq chicken lunch with fresh coconut slaw. We had time to play in the waves on the beach before heading back under full sail on the catamaran. The next day (Tuesday) we took a tour of Dominica. Gorgeous island, very tropical of course. We hiked through a very dense forest to some falls and thermal pools. Then drove to Titu Gorge where a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. The water was chilly and wading into the gorge was "envigorating". But, once inside it was surreal when you looked up volcanic walls to the fern-fringed edges of the gorge. On Wednesday we toured Grenada. What was supposed to be a "three hour tour"...like Gilligan...ended up being much longer but we weren't marooned on an island at the end. We visited a spice plantation and learned how nutmeg is harvested and processed as well as cocoa beans. It's quite a process. At the end of the tour of the island which consisted of driving on itty-bitty windy roads up and down mountains to the crater lake at the top, we finally cooled off and played at a gorgeous beach before heading back to the ship. Thursday we booked a glass bottomed boat trip to Buccoo Reef to snorkel and then to the Nylon Pool to play in the water. The reef is some distance off shore. It was a bit rough that day with some wind. I didn't last long snorkeling but enjoyed the boat. The Nylon pool is an area offshore that is a white sand pool 4 1/2 feet deep for about a mile. The water was incredible. I could have floated out there for hours. Friday was a sea day all day. It was relaxing to sit by one of the on board pools and read, doze, and then...oh how awful...dine on some of the many cuisines on board. Then, again, off to dinner for a gourmet meal and show at night. We headed back home on Saturday with a long flight home with great memories (and a few extra pounds.) It is amazing to see another part of the world that is so different from where we live. It was beautiful, but I missed being in touch with my family and of course, there's no place like home.

Winter Skies

The poet Carl Sandburg wrote:

The fog comes on little cat feet

It sits looking over harbor and city

On silent haunches

And then moves on.

For weeks now mists of silent gray have hung over our valley. It is winter here and that means fog. Each morning lately I have opened the front door to pick up the newspaper and looked out into a sea of gray. Fog not only IS gray, it makes everything else look like it's been photographed in grayscale or captured as an old black and white movie. Houses are gray, streets are gray, trees and bushes are gray. All as if the edges were photoshopped with blurred edges.

Remember at the beginning of "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy starts out at her Kansas home in black and white film? In 1939 you expected to see a movie in black and white and shades of gray. But due to "modern" technology that year, when Dorothy enters the land of Oz, shazam...full glorious color.

Yesterday, in a "Shazam" moment, after an afternoon rainstorm, the clouds parted and a huge rainbow arched across the horizon. I wasn't in Oz but Clovis looked beautiful in full technicolor. It was as if this gift of a rainbow was reminding me that even on foggy days there is beauty. You just have to see it in the right light.

When Noah was shown a rainbow after so many days of rain, he and his family must have had a "Shazam" moment, too, as the clouds parted and the full light returned to the earth with the promise of brighter days.

The fog will leave our valley as the days lengthen with the approach of Spring. It was a lovely moment to see that rainbow yesterday, though. A reminder of the promise of days ahead of warmth and light.

Celebrating 40 years together

On September 5, 1970 we started our life together as husband and wife. It was a spectacular day and our faces were sore from smiling so much. We were so in love and looked forward to the adventure of building our lives together. As we drove off in our MG Midget (after unstuffing the newspapers in it and lifting it off of the jack stands my brother in law had placed under the axel as a joke) we were blissfully unaware of what the future held for us. We just knew we wanted to take the journey together.

Now, forty years later we celebrate that journey. Along the way we attended college (and graduated), raised five amazing children, moved several times, enjoyed careers, served at church and in the community, watched children go off to school, got misty eyed when they got married, thrilled at becoming grandparents, took trips to a number of states, camped and fished over the western states, spent a few weeks in Europe, worked along side each other and played...a lot!

I still have my wedding dress, carefully hung in the closet. Reality set in when I realized there was no way I was going to fit into it this week. It was a wake up call to me verifying that time had passed and I was not the young bride I was 40 years ago.

But, then, that's not such a bad thing. I do wish I had the figure I had when I was 21 years old, but over the past 40 years I have had experiences that have helped me be the woman I am today. I have learned that goodness in people is to be treasured, whether it is in a spouse, a family member, a friend, or those you barely know. That no matter what the obstacle, there is a way around or over it. That saying what you are is good, but doing what you are is powerful. That I still have so much to learn and hope I'm always open to ideas and inspiration.

I am grateful to have shared the past 40 years with my amazing husband and look forward to the road ahead with my eternal travel companion. Happy Anniversary, my love.

Friendship

Twenty-six years ago a friendship was forged that has continued and grown over the years. Fifteen years ago, for our 25th anniversary we shared a week in Hawaii with our good friends, leaving our children at home to manage on their own (our 16 year old was put in charge of our younger two daughters and did a marvelous job. Although I'm almost sure the total account of the week's adventures has yet to be told.) Three years ago we planned to meet in Hawaii but plans had to be changed. This year, we once again have been able to renew our friendship in Hawaii, this time on Kauai. Isn't it amazing that with dear friends you can be apart for long periods of time, but when you meet again it's like there has never been a lapse. You pick up right where you left off, with hugs, and laughter, sharing moments from years past, and looking toward the future adventures that our friendship will find. Good friends, a blessing and a joy. A whole LOT of fun, too.

Ahhhhh....California

Just a week ago we traveled to the Sierra Nevada Mountains for the first time this year. What an incredible feast of natural beauty all in one day. Driving from the valley through the bright green foothills of Spring was as refreshing to the eye as it was to the soul. Most of the year the foothills are golden brown but for a brief time in Spring they are vibrant with new growth and new life. And the banquet of wildflowers along the roadways in brilliant hues of purple, yellow and blue are an amazing display of the beauty the Lord has placed here on the earth for us to enjoy. It's as if the multi-colored swaths of wildflowers that catch the eye also catch us before we hurry along missing the beauty that surrounds us. It is said "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" but I would venture that the eye needs to be open to the beauty first. Too often I find myself running fast through the day, so conscious of the hours that are slipping by and not paying enough attention to the beauty that is right in front of me. Wildflowers just seem to shout out to be noticed. And I have. At least on a beautiful day this Spring.

Wii've Come a Long Way

When I was about five years old, (at the dawn of time) my parents bought our first televison set. I sat transfixed in front of the black and white images that filled the screen. Often they would jiggle around due to some unknown intereference, then the screen would be filled with electronic "snow". I'd impatiently wait until the figures on the screen regained normal proportion and the snowstorm passed. I had my favorite shows. I barely remember "Winky Dink" but do remember you had to have a plastic sheet to place across the screen and a special marker to draw hidden pictures on the TV screen. I didn't have the special plastic screen, so tried to use plastic wrap and a crayon. It didn't work very well. I had to use my imagination to fill in the spaces on the screen to form a picture of a firetruck, a girl's smiling face, or a frog. It was a good exercise for imagination, I guess, but I longed for an official "Winkey Dink" set. One day, I'm not sure how it happened, but my sister showed up with one. In great anticipation we placed the plastic sheet on the TV screen and waited for the "Hidden Pictures" part of the show to begin. Poised with special marker in hand, we traced the design. It doesn't matter what it was...I don't remember. But I do remember that I felt as if I had entered a new age. I had interacted with a television program! See it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eclOpNdzMEE
Fast forward about 50 years (or so) to 2009. My darling husband gave me a Wii just before Christmas. Talk about interaction with television! I was blown away with the responsiveness of the (what's it called...the stick thing...oh the "controller"). We laughed so hard as we tried to paddle a canoe down a simple course, ramming into buoys and flags. There was more ping in my ping pong than his and I won most games. Golf, well, not so much. I still have yet to master the fencing game where you bash each other on the head and knock your opponent off a cliff. A little too violent for my genteel taste.
Then, even more amazing, my ever wonderful man gave me the Wii Fit board for Christmas. Now you're talking! What a way to exercise and have fun at the same time. Once I was through the "check in" and winced at my weigh in, I took on several of the balance games. How does this set of flat white boxes know where I am and what I'm doing? It is a puzzlement!
I don't expect to understand the intricacies of the computer language and electronics that make this thing work. I think its a marvel. And I don't think I ever even had a glimmer of a thought back in my black and white TV days that such a thing would ever be real.
Looking forward and using your imagination, what do you see as the real future? The mind reels when you think of how far we have come and the potential of the future. What would you like to see? After all, Wii've come a long way already.

Little Girl Grown Up

Twenty eight years ago a baby girl was born into our family in the wee hours of a cold December night. Since then our lives have been blessed as this beautiful little girl has grown into an amazing woman. She has a gift of seeing the world in a unique way that is often surprising and sometimes very funny. Her poetry and writing reflect her ability to make the mundane magical. Her "Robynisms" are legendary. She has the gift of music with a gorgeous voice that even as a child was sweet and clear. She has the ability to understand children and knows how to encourage them to have the courage to be their best. She's an awesome teacher, loyal friend, loving companion to a terrific husband, caring granddaughter, supportive sister, quirky, funny, fabulous and smart. Best of all, she's my daughter and I love her with all my heart. Happy Birthday!