So Mr. Longfellow pretty much called it – we all get rained on now and then.  And when bad weather happens on a sightseeing trip, it can actually add to the atmosphere of a place.  It can heighten the romance.  Or deepen the drama.  Or – who am I kidding?  It can also be a total […]

Well, shoot.  After only a month, my post on the geese that took over Mum’s yard is already out of date – the birds moved on!  (Everyone’s a critic…)  It got me wondering what other of my posts could use refreshing.  And since it’s the time of year for reflection, here are a few new […]

So a flock of geese has migrated in to claim the pond right outside Mum’s home.  They make entertaining neighbors – but when they come honking by and wake me up too early, I get some really cranky and uncharitable thoughts.  On the upside, these avian invaders also bring to mind very happy memories of […]

“Is that it..?” Clearly disappointed, the woman fidgets in her bus seat as she squints down the road. “Well, if that’s it, we can check it out and still have time to do some shopping in town!” This was the reaction I couldn’t help overhearing when a fellow tourist got her first glimpse of Stonehenge – […]

Never thought I’d get to say something this obnoxious – but among a lifetime’s worth of travel gifts from Mum and Dad are not one but two Mediterranean cruises!  I knew these excursions couldn’t help but be full of priceless moments.  What I didn’t figure on was how many would simply come from drinking in the wide […]

Caught this from our “stateroom veranda” on a cruise a few years back.  One of those times where you figure life can’t get any more magical – and then it just up and does!  Like Bogart will always have Paris, I’ll get to hold onto amazing moments like these!

Alas, I didn’t find time for proper literary reflection this month…but here’s a pictorial reflection captured on a cruise from Vancouver to  Alaska.  Have a colorful and delightful rest of the summer!

So the NHL season ended with Mum’s beloved Blackhawks’ capturing the Stanley Cup for the third time in six years!  No more thrills now until the Fall – and yet I’ve still got hockey on the brain… I was just at this annual black tie event, having a fine time people-watching and swillin’ the bubbly when I noticed my […]

Whenever I’m lucky enough to find myself in London (my favorite city in the world!), I love to downshift at some point from hectic touring and catch a slow boat to Greenwich – it’s like cruising through time! I usually try to pack as much sightseeing as I can into a trip because I never know […]

With the approach of Memorial Day, I’m thinking of those who’ve bravely served in our armed forces – and that includes my dad who was a Marine during World War II.   His “hitch” in the Corps turned out to be brief, but every once in a while he’d reminisce about those days and how they helped shape the man he became. […]