Month: July 2015

We are out on the porch at Hilton Head drinking wine and suddenly we hear, "slurp, slurp, slurp…" and I’m remembering the commercial with the dog who gets the master’s beer…. The barbeque is heating up and we are doing burgers tonight. We are so lazy! Karla and I went to church this morning and then Karla and Mark went to the eye doctor and Chuck and I read books and took Jessie the dog outside to sit in the sun. We are planning still to go to Virginia Beach to visit Francis Skinner next week.. Until then, lots of play and wine. Love. And God bless you.

We arrived at Karla and Mark’s beautiful house on Hilton head island at about 3pm on Friday. Got through the guard gate (who hadn’t been updated that an itinerant, homeless couple were coming to visit), but a call to Boone got us permission from Karla and Mark. We went on to find Mimi (Mark’s sister) out walking her dog with her arm all wrapped up. She broke wrist in a gardening fall. She gave us the house key, and we got in just fine, and proceeded to spread our stuff all over the house! Swept the driveway and back porch, shopped at Harris Teeter, and tried to go to outdoor market for fresh vegs, but market closes July 4. A kind farmer gave us 2 eggplants that I have earmarked for a pasta dish , if Karla approves… We cooked several meals, I went to Mass, we ate and cleaned up. Today Chuck and I are cleaning up our messes and preparing a big supper to greet Mark and Karla when they arrive from Boone late this afternoon. Mimi will join us too. We hope during this visit to see Karla’s son Brad, wife Becca and baby Saylor who live nearby in Charleston. Other than giant mosquito or other insect bites that we periodically go nuts over and apply more cream to, all is beautiful. There is a small pond out back and we got a magnificent photo of a great blue heron proudly standing and posing. Decks are ready for evenings of wine drinking, singing, and laughing. We called Frances Skinner who used to visit Miami with sweet husband Ray. He passed away and Frances misses him mightily. We will visit her and take her out for some Chesapeake Bay seafood when we leave here. God bless you.

I woke up this morning in Clinton, South Carolina, headed for Hilton Head Island to visit Karla. Actually we will open up Karla’s house and cook a meal for her and Mark who arrive on Sunday.  I came down to breakfast to find Chuck eating and reading peacefully, but on the wall the TV news had Bobby Jindal talking about yet another shooting this time in a quiet beautiful town where evil came from outside… Lafayette, Louisiana… I don’t think it is laws on gun control that we need. We live in a culture of violence. We accept the games and TV and movies with great noise and violence. We don’t recognize the face of evil. Who was that guy? In western movies he used to wear a black hat; he sneered from behind a big drooping mustache; he had big guns strapped to his hip.   We have met people whose very mien frightened us… the look, the words, the attitudes frighten us. But this man who shot up a movie theater in Layfayette is ordinary looking. He isn’t from "our town". He drove into a responsible town and he wrecked havoc. The pieces will be put together; we’ll state over and over that "there’s bad stuff in the world." I’m quoting a local congressman. So can we keep guns out of the wrong hands? No. We can only pray for our own peace.  Pray we could help others. Pray we could lower our head over a friend and protect the weaker one. Pray to see God’s face. God bless you.

The wedding of Lisa and Allen Paparelli was breathtaking in simplicity and full of laughter and love. The minister called on the two young people to call on the strength of Jesus and on family when in trouble and actually in good times too!  We stayed in a beautiful hotel and just walked downstairs to the celebration which means a lot as driving in downtown Atlanta isn’t fun! We hugged everybody good bye and headed out on my birthday morning for Cookeville Tennessee where many Miami folks retire. We’re visiting friends from Miami (Al and Shannon) and Dave and Debby are here too. So… small pleasures taken far from home. I’m about to go outside and paint Shannon’s daiseys in amazing hot weather. Apparently they have had extremely cold winters and hot dry summers when the corn don’t grow. So… all is well. We head east slowly on Thursday to spend a few days on South Carolina lakes or rivers (I’ll reveal which lakes or rivers when I find out…) and end up in Hilton Head on Sunday for a nice long visit with friend from college Karla and Mark. God bless you.

Written after the fact from an Atlanta hotel room! I walked up the stairs from the 6th to the 7th floor to get coffee on our last day on the QM2, and as per usual procedure, I checked the weather by poking my  head outside.  WOW! Imagine how the immigrants felt, all my 4 grand parents, as they saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time.  She stands proudly in New York harbor today, green from weathering, holding her book and light, inspiring gulps of joy in my throat. I took some photos of the Statue and then I turned to my right and caught a first glimpse of the new World TradeCenter. Clouds were rolling in, and those are the best shots I got all day! We stood in a line of hundreds to get a taxi, so Chuck bought off a guy who hailed us a private cab (seems you can get anything with an extra $20). He took us through the tunnel from QM2’s perch in Brooklyn and pointed out the World Trade Center and memorial garden. We checked in at the hotel and immediately set out for a circle line cruise that goes all around Manhattan Island: 20 bridges, 19 tall and 1 rail road bridge that has to open for each boat. We could not see up the Hudson waterway for clouds and the tops of the tall buildings were shrouded in cloud as rain poured down. We went under the George Washington bridge that Sully Sullenberg "glided over" after he lost engine power and saw the spot on the Hudson where he "landed" near the aircraft carrier Intrepid. Rain continued to pour down scrapping any thoughts of going out to the World Trade Center site or the Battery Park to see the QM2 light show as she sailed away.  Instead we relaxed and then, noticing it had stopped raining, walked up to Broadway and Times Square and had an early dinner at an Irish pub. Morning came and we got the first taxi we hailed who dropped us at Penn Station. With all our 13 bags… I stood on the side walk as Chuck disappeared down into Penn Station to look for Amtrack and a porter. I waited bravely on the sidewalk and then they came! Chuck and a "red cap." The train ride was fun except that Amtrack has cut back with no dining car for sleeper cars… so we were reduced to hotdogs and beer. As we rolled and rocked along listening to the train blow her horn at every crossing I thought of all the country western songs I’ve heard about the lonesome whistle of the train, and I thought of all those little nameless towns we blew through. The train was a little late due to heavy freight traffic on the lines, but our dear loyal cousin Dennis picked us up and took us out for lunch (waterside in Tampa).  Greet the dogs waiting for us, throw the ball a million times, hug Laura and Dennis good bye and head for Atlanta on Friday morning. Arrived Atlanta at about 4pm on a Braves game afternoon and oh do not forget rush hour on I75/I85 in Atlanta. I was frazzled, but our little GPS girl got us to the front door of the beautiful Georgian Terrace hotel where we have a small suite with washer and dryer. I filled the suite with open suitcases, put up a clothes line and went to work on laundry! We went out for a walk with Charlie Paparelli to the restaurant for rehearsal dinner and tonight is Lisa’s wedding. So, just as I asked for prayer for my niece Jennie, so tonight I ask for prayer for Lisa. Two beautiful young ladies setting out to continue a happy and beautiful life. Heard last evening at the rehearsal dinner: "You can’t explain marriage to someone who hasn’t been married. Marriage is a challenge and only Love carries us through." And we aren’t strong enough to love on our own with poor puny human love… Ask God and his angels to come and be with.  God bless you!

We have had a smashing time. The sailaways have been grand with fireworks and all kinds of sailing vessels escorting us out of Halifax and Boston. Last evening we sipped champagne, leaned on the 12th deck railing, and watched planes take off and land from the Boston airport as our Queen Mary 2 backed out of her slip and backed into Boston Harbor. We sat there for over an hour as we watched the lights on shore and finally fireworks! A grand show. Today is swimming, classical music, an art lecture. The luggage is packed and ready to go outside the cabin door. After the art lecture, I’ll pick up Chuck for our final evening with friends Margaret and Bill in the champagne lounge. We’re a bit sad to leave, and moving from ship to New York hotel to Amtrak will be a challenge. Then we will have our own car (kept for us by cousins Laura and Dennis…) and all will be relatively normal again!!! I might not write again until we get to Laura and Dennis’ house on Thursday. Have a wonderful week! Think of us and say a little prayer for our safety as we bravely go out to find food in a world not personed by white gloved waiters who wait on our every need. God bless you!

Yesterday I had a little afternoon tea. Chuck went early to shave, shower, brush his teeth and lay out his formal wear for the last formal night, and I went for a cuppa tea… I couldn’t resist the scones and the cream was lovely! Jam is just an additional treat. Today we are in Boston and we just cleared immigration with a very cute immigration agent! I swear he had an Irish accent but it was just Boston! We will hop on hop off the red bus here in Boston with our Scottish friends Margaret and Bill. We will visit the Copley Square Marathon finish line memorial, do a little Freedom trail like I did with cousin Laura here in Boston a few years ago, and talk about Revolution with the Brits! Eat some lobster and clam chowder at Durgen’s market/seafood and (burp) back to the boat for champagne and maybe a romp in the pool as it will be 91 degrees today in Boston. The ship promises fireworks as we leave the harbor for our last and home port of New York. We arrive Tuesday morning and catch the Amtrak to Tampa on Wed. Arrive Tampa on Thursday I think… Paperwork is buried in a suitcase under the bed. I’m just going where I’m told to go at this point! No send off could equal the amazing send off at Halifax… I have about a million photos if anyone wants to watch. I need to download to a pc and just sit and watch it all float by! Happy Sunday. Jennie should be married by this time in Jacksonville. Say a little prayer of happiness for my lovely niece and her new husband! – God bless you!

Today Chuck and I split up a little bit… I went to a lecture on New York skyscrapers (the high end residences) and Chuck went to meet with Military service men and women. Then we met at the pool where I bounced with my friend Margaret for an hour, ate lunch (burp…), and then the fun part: we went to Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice acted out in unquestionably great accents! It was fun and very well done! Where else but on Cunard will you find such amazing English talent! I then went for tea… oh my gosh this includes a scone, cream and jam… and tea. burp. Followed by getting all prettied up for another formal night (4 nights in 12 days) champagne with friends, another amazing dinner, and here I am with a minute to spare before Apassionata (an extravaganza of exciting dance styles). I let Chuck go free tonight to go to a movie called Kingsman the Secret Service with Colin Firth and Samuel L Jackson. I wanted to go to the movie but I felt I need to watch the dancers… It all fits in with the cruise thing. Tomorrow is Terra Firma USA. Boston here we come, but we are still tourists! To disembark in America and walk all around and do stuff but then to go get back on the ship is really neat. We have to go through immigration tomorrow and then again in New York. When we get kicked off in New York and have to deal with the luggage – now that will be The End. Ick. but not yet! God bless you. Happy Sunday.

Barely buttoned, my favorite white pants fit… I’ve resisted the elegant desserts and only snagged a profiterole or petit four (sp?) occasionally. Last night I resisted hot chocolate and cookies at story reading time (a beautiful Welsh girl read from Dylan Thomas… I found myself lulled almost to sleep as I listened to Thomas read with the lilting Welsh voice!). Despite eating few cookies.. the pants are tightening. Pool today. I must do lots of kicking and moving. But I get ahead of myself. Must not neglect Halifax! We left the ship dutifully at 9am and met Brian our taxi driver. Hiring a private car for the first time was something Chuck and I don’t do… what if they have a flat tire? what if they leave us half way across the island, what’s the guarantee we’ll get back to the ship??? But our Scottish friend Margaret assured us Brian was polite in his correspondence with her, and she hired him and she felt confident. Indeed Brian was an ex police man so he and Chuck hit it off in the front seat while Margaret, Bill and I sat back and looked out at Nova Scotia. We drove out of the city and to Peggy’s Cove which is a lovely fishing – art community with rocks and a light house. There was a charity event this weekend so there is a big tent (a yert) full of art to look at and buy, and artists were perched all over painting the rocks and light house. I took photos of the artists and their paintings and then looked over their shoulders and photographed what they were painting! Lovely! We had cappucinos and moved on towards Lunenburg, but first stopped at a painted house! took a lot of photos with the artist book writer Ivan Fraser who has written the legend of Peggy who washed ashore and did not know her name… She was named Margaret and called Peggy hence the place names Margaret’s Cove and Peggy’s Cove. We walked through the artist’s antique strewn home, looked at his amazing paintings, and generally had a grand time! He even had the shed painted with his heroine Peggy! I left there very inspired to update my own house and shed paintings! As we drove, we passed the site of the Swiss Air flight that disappeared 5 miles off the coast. Fishing boats went out to save people, but there was nothing. Debris did wash up on the coast. We have made a new friend Tania who worked for Swiss Air and came to Halifax to work the arrivals of flights of families… but there were no bodies and no survivors. We passed the site of the convention center where people were housed and cared for when about 65 airplanes had to land on Halifax on September 11. Onward to Mahone and Lunenburg beautiful little villages the second is a port for a sailing vessel called the Blue Nose. We ate lobster sandwiches and drank Canadian beer. On again to the cemetery where some of the recovered Titanic bodies are buried. Just as Chuck and I visited the cemetery for the Pan Am flight that crashed into Lockerbie Scotland, we visited here and said a little prayer for those identified and those not identified. Margaret and I talked about the events recently passed when the British had to wait for days to identify their dead. It’s a hard world and we must carry on and have faith that God sorts it all out in the end. I remain steadfast wanting to see God’s face. From the morning announcements: Use each day’s time and live in the present only! Today is a gift and that is why it is called the present! God bless you!

How the Pilgrims and early immigrants must have felt as they trundled up against land here in Halifax or in other North eastern cities! Or I guess there weren’t cities yet were there? Anyhow. It was about 7:30 am when I went up for coffee and I saw "bright!" and then I stepped outside and saw "Green!!!!! grass and a light house!" The past few days on the north sea have been mother nature at her gloomy worst. Well I guess Mother Nature can be worse. She did not pour a storm on us. Yesterday at noon, I insisted on going swimming and kept looking up and begging for just a hint of sunshine to warm the conservatory or solarium whatever you would call it. Nope. She was just grumpy. So it has been cool and quite cloudy. One day and it is sunny. We will eat a little snack of breakfast and go ashore with friends from Scotland who go around sleeveless! Margaret swims with me! We will tour Halifax and beaches, islands and lighthouses together. Then another day at sea and back into the USA! Yesterday we listened to a talk on the building of the World Trade Center… a story of bravado, gumption, vision and grief. When the Empire State Building was erected midtown Manhattan was the center of commerce and the south seaport was almost a slum of little electronics shops… The rich men of vision planned to build A World Trade Center!!! and they planned on taking a large piece of land and exercising emminant domaine (sp) (they enlisted the NY and NJ Port Authority).. and the argument went all the way to the State supreme court who said, "OK build the building" and then the store keepers took it to the US Supreme Court who said it was not a Federal matter. So the shop owners were thrown off. Their property was purchased for about $3000 each.. yikes. That was mean. What was important for the builders was to build over a dirty grubby commuter rail terminal and they were right at the sea port. Actually when the towers went down there were many telephone and communications connections and several rail lines lost. To get Mayor John Lindsay’s approval to reroute streets the planners determined to use the refuse from destruction to build Battery Park City. And so the world Trade Center two towers went up in 1973. 50,000 people worked there and 200,000 people visited there every day. We looked longingly at pictures of Windows on the World where many of us dined at some time (the engagement scent from Sleepless in Seattle looked out on the Empire State Building from there) and Cellars in the Sky and the Greatest Bar on Earth… all gone now. The speaker showed the picture of the 2 lights shining up into the sky and then we moved on. The new one building opened November 2014 and that too will become an icon. I have to go, but first we saw the funniest interview with our on board commedian and a magic show… we are busy busy!!!!! I hope we get to swim this afternoon after Halifax. It might help me to continue to get into my pants! Have a wonderful day! God bless you.