Gratitude

Glorious Grecian Gluten

 in Gratitude / Greece / travel / Travel tips  tagged Athens / baklava / European gluten / European river cruise / gluten free / Greece / Italy / rash / Santorini / tour guide / travel by

I wanted to scratch my skin off to make the itching stop. Even prescription meds couldn’t calm my rash. When I finally got in to see the dermatologist, she could offer only a list of possible allergens. Eliminating the allergens did nothing to help. After years of suffering, a friend suggested that I go gluten free. I bit the bullet and found blessed relief. Before I learned how to avoid the pitfalls, I learned that taking chances wasn’t worth the indulgence. The rash from even a small serving of glutenous food can bring a month of misery. So, when a […]

Athenian Subway Tour

 in Gratitude / Greece / travel  tagged Athena / Athens / avoiding pickpockets / GoAhead Tours / pickpockets / subway / travel by

Tour director Rachel recruited my husband Steve to help haul excess luggage across Athens, then treated him to a Metro ride back. She knew that taking the Metro was dicey. During the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, Greece had no resources to prevent illegal immigrants from flooding in, so Athens was overrun with desperate people, some of whom still struggle to survive. Many have turned to picking pockets, and the subway is an ideal locale for getting hands-on. After having Rachel point out a few likely candidates, Steve noticed that though pickpockets dress like tourists, they reek of body […]

A Memorial for Lily Marie Payton Womack

 in ancestors / Colorado / Gratitude  tagged Colorado General Hospital / Delta Colorado / Fruitvale Highline Canal / Grand Junction Colorado / Great Depression / Lily Payton Womack / memorial / Mont Ida Kansas / National Youth Administration / No Market for 'Em / obituary / Redlands Colorado / Rifle Colorado / San Jose California / Wendy the Welder / World War II tinner by

      My Aunt Lily was wonderfully friendly and fun. She lived in San Jose, California, so even though we Coloradans didn’t see much of her, I felt like I knew her well. When our daughters attended West Coast colleges, I sent them to meet Aunt Lily, and they agreed that Lily was a “cool aunt.” I will always appreciate Lily’s kindness to me and my girls, as well as her help with the book No Market for ‘Em which is excerpted below. Lily’s wholehearted enthusiasm over my first book also encouraged me to follow through on the next. […]

Best Thanksgiving Ever

 in Gratitude / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged beach house / Dolphins / Emerald Isle / family / North Carolina / Thanksgiving by

A few years ago I managed to gather our family in a beach house on North Carolina’s Emerald Isle for Thanksgiving week.  I’m still overjoyed when I think of it.  We walked the beach, played in the waves, collected lost treasures, watched dolphins, danced, cooked, explored the island, and bonded.  Some met our baby granddaughter or new son-in-law for the first time.  Our three-year-old grandson met the ocean.  He ran 50 yards to escape an incoming wave.  How was he to know how far that wave would chase him?  My mother, who was still adjusting to life without her husband […]

Knots…Who’d Have Thought?

 in Gratitude / Travel media  tagged Celebrity Infinity / Culture of the Sea / Jan Hanley / nautical knot work / Today We Bought a Cow / transatlantic cruise / travel by

I pounced on an early arrival to my Culture of the Sea presentation, hoping to recruit people to join me in crafting souvenir knots later that day. Jan Hanley, it turned out, was once a knot-tist extraordinaire. As a full-time mom, she’d supplemented her family’s income by sculpting massive knot artworks for display in shows and as book illustrations. Huh? How many strapped mothers even consider knot tying as a possible money-maker? Jan seems to specialize in inspired paths less trodden, and I cannot wait to read her latest travel book: “Today We Bought a Cow.” Such a privilege to […]

What’s to be Grateful For?

 in Gratitude / Our Quest / Spain  tagged Celebrity cruise line / challenges / cruise / Infinity cruise ship / support / Thanksgiving / travel by

For over 10 years I’ve been pushing, pulling, pleading, and praying to get a gig lecturing on cruise ships. With a whole lot of help from some priceless folks, THE day finally arrived. Except, thanks to an ice storm/flight delay, I missed the boat. I stood at the Denver airport customer service desk and watched my dream go Titanic. I couldn’t rebook a ticket to the next port without approval from the cruise line. I couldn’t hold up the crazy-long line while I tried to contact my agent, and she tried to contact her contact. I couldn’t even get my […]

Thanks Mom, but…

 in Gratitude / Wildlife/animals  tagged hiking / nature / travel by

Mother Nature outdoes herself on so many of the trails we walk: trees, flowers, rock formations, waterfalls, stunning skies, sometimes even snacks. Her gifts warm my heart, but much as they tempt, I generally pass them by. I hope she and her other guests aren’t offended that I’m more comfortable sharing from a distance.

Knitting Connections

 in China / Gratitude  tagged connecting / conversation starter / expats / family / great grandmother / hand crafts / Knitting / Mona Gardner / Shawna Williams / travel by

This post is borrowed from my daughter Shawna Williams who lived in China for three years.  To read more of her exploits click on this link:  https://americaninchengdu.wordpress.com/ August 20, 2010 I’ve discovered that a good way to strike up conversations with Chinese strangers is to knit in public. I think this is because Chinese people assume that knitting is a Chinese thing, so they figure that a knitting foreigner must be picking up local habits. On a recent four-day trip from Chengdu to Beijing via Shanxi Province, a man in a bus station mimed knitting and gave me a thumbs-up, and a few […]

R.E.M. Wisdom

 in Gratitude / Our Quest  tagged dream writing / Maggie Honton / motivation / Oracle / poetry / resolutions / wisdom by

In a dream, an oracle counsels: When you believe in your beliefs and doubt your doubts, you will forge forgiveness and find relief. But be wary… If you doubt your beliefs and believe your doubts, That is the path of grief. This jewel is by Maggie Honton who has been hosting our writing group for over ten years.  If only I could write like this in my sleep!

Bowhead Blessing 1

 in Alaska / Gratitude / Our Quest / Wildlife/animals  tagged Alaska / Anchorage / baleen / Education / Native Alaskan tribes / NOAA / protected species / travel / whales by

I wanted baleen bad, but I didn’t want to go to jail over it — especially in the middle of giving a whale lecture. So when Steve and I set out for Anchorage, I called NOAA and asked how I could carry a piece of a protected species around the world without risking handcuffs. No problem, actually. If a member of a Native Alaskan tribe inscribes the baleen with artwork, it is no longer taboo. Better yet, the agent I talked to, had a few illegal pieces that were cluttering up the NOAA office, and he was happy to gift […]