Category Archives: Nonfiction

Our Book (Part 2 of 3)

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“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” St. Augustine

 

Monday in Corinto, Nicaragua, we took the Colonial Leon: History & Arts excursion. We saw a beautiful cathedral and the city of Leon’s international cultural center. Our tour guide described the history of each major building in the city, the cultural impact of Nicaraguan poet, Rubén Darío (1867 – 1916), the political history of the city, and about the lives of the general population. She was one of the most informative tour guides we’ve had on any of our trips.

 

In the evening, we enjoyed listening to Derek Floyd, a Grammy nominated singer, sing hits from Lionel Richie.

 

The Tuesday excursion in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala was called Panoramic Antigua.

The long bus ride took us to the outskirts of the city. Tourists transferred from the large bus to a couple of smaller buses that could easily navigate over the narrow cobblestone streets. On the ride, we saw the results of volcanic eruptions. Many workers were busy trying to restore the devastated parts of the area.

 

Our tour guide told us that when he and his family were eating at a beautiful golf course restaurant a few years ago, he saw a problem. He told his family that the restaurant was in a direct line of a possible volcano lava flow. He was right. When the volcano erupted, the restaurant and golf course were totally destroyed by the lava flow. I wondered why the owners of the golf resort didn’t consider that possibility before building it there. The most important consideration in starting a business is location, location, location. There are about thirty-seven volcanoes in Guatemala. Some are dormant, but three are active.

 

In 1773, an earthquake caused a water-filled cavern to erupt. The city of Antigua suffered a horrendous tsunami killing 500 to 600 people. About another 600 died of starvation and disease in the aftermath. I’m so grateful that we live in a place that doesn’t experience such harsh natural disasters.

 

On our return trip, we stopped at the town square where vendors hawked their cultural handicrafts to us. We also visited the jade factory where we could see craftsmen and craftswomen working on beautiful jade jewelry, pictures, art work, as well as jade golf tees. Roger is a golfer, but we opted not to purchase the $60 jade golf tee. It was great to get back to the ship where our group of six won the afternoon Team Trivia Challenge. One member of our group was an 87-year-old gentleman who got married this past spring. His adorable wife looked at him with love in her eyes.

 

In Huatulco, Oaxaca on Wednesday, our fun-filled excursion was on a 35-foot sail boat.

Going out into the ocean, the crew operated the boat’s motor so we could travel along the shore of a secluded cove where we saw a fascinating blowhole. The trip was a bit rocky, but fun. When we stopped, some of the passengers, including my husband, Roger, went swimming. I chose to stay on board to socialize with the other passengers. When they returned from swimming, the crew treated us to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and tasty meat and cheese snacks. The crew raised the main sail for smooth sailing back to shore.

Our Book (Part 1 of 3)

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“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” St. Augustine

 

My husband, Roger, and I embarked on Holland America’s Panama Cruise after a short Sunday flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Our first day was spent relaxing, eating, and playing Scrabble. On Monday, we docked at the cruise line’s private island, Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, where we were treated to a delicious buffet lunch. They served ribs, grilled chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, a variety of salads, fruit, lemonade, and cookies. We could also purchase soft drinks and liquor.

 

While at sea on Tuesday and Wednesday, we socialized with many fellow travelers playing trivia in groups of six people, listening to music, and line dancing. Playing games with the passengers was a fun way to meet new people. At dinner, we met a delightful couple with whom we spent time telling stories about our various travel experiences, our children, and our grandchildren. They enjoy long biking trips as well as cruises. Roger also started teaching me how to play cribbage.

 

Thursday, we took our first excursion to the National Aviary on Isla Baru about 45 minutes from Cartagena, Colombia. We saw some of the most beautiful birds I’ve ever seen. More than 138 species represented the thousands of birds including the Harpy Eagle, the toucan Caribbean, the Pink Flamingos, and the Crane Corona. The Aviary supports three systemic eco environments – rainforest, coast, and desert – to accommodate the wide variety of permanent exhibits.

 

The next morning, we arose early to see an awesome man-made wonder of the world. We transited the Panama Canal, sometimes referred to as “The Ditch.” The engineering marvel of this canal can’t be overstated. As we went through the canal heading west on the right, we passed a huge cargo ship crossing the canal going east on the left. We marveled at the coordination of the raising and lowering of the water, the movement of the ships, and the “mules” which guide ships through the lock chambers. Mules are locomotives so named because they replaced the many mules which originally helped guide the ships. While many marveled at the engineering, I marveled at who first thought of this process.

 

After dinner, I attended an intriguing 2001 Irish-American spy thriller. The movie, The Tailor of Panama, starred Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

 

Saturday was spent at sea. Roger played pickleball. I participated in a line dance class. We both played games, socialized, and enjoyed the delicious cuisine.

 

Our Sunday excursion at Puntarenas, Costa Rica was a Tropical Mangrove River Cruise where we saw crocodiles, macaws, herons, and egrets. Sadly, we also saw numerous tires, debris, and building materials that covered part of the landscape due to severe flooding a few years ago. It was interesting to learn that Costa Rica’s major export is technology. In the evening, we participated in Barry from Boston’s sing along.

My 2019 To Do List

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“When at first you don’t succeed, try try again.” — Frederick Maryat

 

In 2018, I resolved to read one book each month, but I came up short reading only nine. I accomplished my second resolution of entering a writing contest. I didn’t win, but it was worth the effort to prove I could complete a story by the deadline.

 

My most ambitious resolution of writing a minimum of 5,000 words each week for three months to complete my 65,000-word manuscript also came up short. I wasn’t even close. I realized my problem is that I tend to edit as I go. This prevents me from getting my rough draft completed.

 

This year I’m writing a To Do List instead of a List of Resolutions.

1) Read a minimum of one book a month.

2) Write 600 words a day without editing.

3) Organize my clothes closet by the second week of January.

4) Organize my linen closet by the end of January.

5) Organize the pictures on my computer and delete the unwanted ones.

 

What is your New Year’s list of things you wish to accomplish?

Just Google It, Grammie

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I miss the days of finding information in my family’s World Book Encyclopedia. Using these reference books to complete a homework assignment took much longer than it should have. Why? Because I’d continue reading about whatever subject I’d accidently run across while looking for the information I needed to complete my report.

 

As an adult, I wanted a more up-to-date set of encyclopedias and purchased the Encyclopedia Americana © 1986. For years I’d make time to grab one of the books at random, open any page, and read. I learned about a variety of plants, researched foreign leaders, and studied the solar system.

 

To research a topic now, I simply google it as my granddaughter suggested. There’s no longer the strong possibility of inadvertently discovering something quite different from my original topic of interest. Now my concern is what to do with my old set of encyclopedias. The libraries don’t need them. Used bookstores won’t take them. Modern families have the internet at their fingertips, and I hate to send them to the landfill.

 

What do you suggest I do with my encyclopedias?

This Is Us Has Returned

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The television show, The Paley Center Salutes This Is Us, debuted with much fanfare one week prior to the return of my favorite TV show, This Is Us. The Paley show discussed the many layers of the characters’ lives including the birth of triplets, one of whom was stillborn. The Caucasian parents’ adoption of an abandoned African American baby who was born the same day makes for many awkward moments in their upbringing.

The time-tripping story takes you throughout their lives, often in the same episode. Viewers must watch carefully for clues to which era is being portrayed. The Paley Center program introduced the creators, writers, directors, and actors of this popular dramatic, multigenerational series. The program revealed insight into how they were able to portray the intertwining of the characters’ complicated lives from childhood to adulthood.

The writers worked diligently to create a believable family drama and allowed the actors to have some input into how their characters evolved. One heart wrenching example involved one actor’s disclosure that his father died when he was ten years old. This allowed the actor to use the impact of his loss in a compelling reaction to the death of his actor father during a significant scene.

The popularity of this series prompted People Magazine to publish an entire issue devoted to the complete guide to the show. Each character is described and featured with beautiful color pictures. Snippets of storylines are explained and hints of scenes to come are revealed. For devoted fans of This Is Us, this magazine is a keeper.

​Some fans of the show go online after each episode to discuss the numerous story lines and how they are affected by them. Many people have said they relate to the characters’ problems and are touched by the way characters handle each situation.  

To understand this compelling, multigenerational, multiracial story, watch the series from the beginning. Get a copy of the magazine. Have your tissue handy. If you are already a fan, please tell me how this show affects you.