A day at the beach, with the meditative repetition of the surf, the white noise of lapping waves, birds calling, children’s laughter, and salty breezes, fosters calmness and, sometimes, creativity. With an abundance of natural materials to work with, some people feel compelled to express themselves, and their inner artist can emerge in beautiful ways,…
Continue reading →“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” ~Henry Miller
Continue reading →The Sanibel Causeway spans San Carlos Bay and connects the island to the Florida mainland in Punta Rassa, near Ft. Myers. The entire causeway is three miles long, consists of three two-lane bridge spans, with two man-made islands between, and charges a toll for island-bound vehicles only. So, once on the island, it’s easier to…
Continue reading →There is an actual bird, the Common Snow-Bird, or dark-eyed junco, that migrates south from the cold in groups. John James Audubon, the great naturalist and painter, once wrote of the snowbird, “The migration of these birds is performed by night, as they are seen in a district one day and have disappeared the next.”…
Continue reading →The first Peabody Hotel was built on Main Street and Monroe, in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1869, and named in honor of George Peabody, for his contributions to the south. It hosted many important dignitaries of the time, including Andrew Johnson, William McKinley, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis.The hotel closed in 1923 in preparation to…
Continue reading →“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ~Mary Anne Radmacher A lot has been written about the value of travel. That it is the great practical learning experience that will change your life. That you will discover yourself, expand your awareness, build self-confidence, see the…
Continue reading →The hardest part of travel may be getting there…and getting back from there. Airplanes, airports, security checks, queues, more queues, waiting, walking, more waiting, sitting, more walking, more sitting…and no sleeping. That’s where we are right now….sitting and waiting in London’s foggy Heathrow airport, en route so far for about 18 hours, with about three…
Continue reading →When we met with very rough seas leaving Columbia, the Captain announced that we would be forced to skip our last port of Key West and, to avoid the impending storm, take a longer route farther to the east around Cuba. So, the last days of our long voyage would be spent captive at sea,…
Continue reading →Traveling with friends can be the perfect storm either way, a disaster or a triumph. With Tom, Charmaine, Jack, Linda, Dean, and I, it has been the best of times. We’ve shared day trips ashore, had parties, dinners, celebrations, toasts, and even formed our own “Flatlanders” trivia team to test our collective knowledge of useless…
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