star light star bright...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "National Milky Way Day."  While I'm guessing that they (the mysterious they who make up these days) are referring to the candy bar, which is admittedly delicious and worth celebrating, it reminds me of how much I long to see a starry night.  

My spouse and I live in a very comfortable older subdivision which has been surrounded by more and more housing as the city expands around us.  Consequently, there is lots of ambient light even in the middle of the night.  Street lights, porch lights and security lights bathe our nights in soft light.  Which is all good and well unless you want to see stars.  On a really clear summer night I'm able to see two, sometimes three, stars.  Technically one of those is a planet.

When my first husband and I lived in what was then "country" we were able to stand with our children in the front yard and see the Big and Little Dippers, Orion's Belt and sometimes the Milky Way.  Then a traffic light was installed on our corner and it was never quite the same.

Before you feel too sad for me, let me assure you that I have seen stars in recent years.  A few years ago a friend and I were traveling in Finland.  One night our group was taken by bus way out into the country in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights.  They did not appear but the stars were spectacular.  On a cruise that my wonder spouse and I took last year, everyone was invited up on deck one clear night for some star gazing.  We did see stars but, for safety, some lights on the ship had to be left on so it wasn't as spectacular as it might have been. 

However, I see two good star gazing opportunities coming up.  When my spouse and I go on our cruise in May we will be at sea for several nights so I have hope of seeing stars then.  Even better, on the way home from that trip we will be visiting my west coast family for a few days and, if I know my brother, he will indulge me by turning off all the lights if there is a clear night, and we might actually see the Milky Way.  Fingers crossed.

Eastward ho...

 In 10 weeks and two days my spouse and I will be departing on a cruise which starts with four days in Tokyo, Japan.  I have begun to daydream about this trip already.  Part of the reason is to avoid thinking about the crazy weather going on here at home. Today, for instance, began at 60 degrees with warm rain, thunder and lightning, and finished, as of 6:00 this evening at 37 degrees with a cold wind blowing. 

I have no idea what the weather will actually be like in May in Japan but to really enjoy my daydreams I decided I should check it out.  68 to 70 degrees is the average high in May in Tokyo with temperatures gradually warming through the month.  According to one source, May is considered the best month to visit Tokyo, when it's warming up but not yet humid.  Sadly we will be too late for the cherry blossoms but you can't have eveything.  

Based on previous excellent experiences with Viking, there will be a guide to greet us at the airport (we are flying first from Chicago to Tokyo).  And, if things work out as they did in Cairo. that same guide will spend the first couple of days of our visit showing us aound Tokyo, then make sure we get on the ship for the rest of our trip/cruise which will include several stops in Alaska.  

I know this might not sound as adventurous as some people's travels.  It doesn't compare to scaling the Himalays or finding the remains of a lost civilization in a jungle but it works for us.  We enjoy our creature comforts like good food and a comfy bed.

'Arigato gozaimasu' is a very polite way of saying thank you in Japanese.  I am by no means a linguist but I think that would be a good phrase to learn.   I should be able to learn that in 10 weeks, don't you think?

the end....

 It's finished!! Finally this silly puzzle is complete.  If you would like to assemble it next, just let us know.  

According to my west coast brother today is the "International Day of Awesomeness." I think that all of the people in my family are pretty awesome but tonight I must celebrate my wonder spouse who, once again, won a hard fought and long drawn out Scrabble game, even though I led for more than half the game. Ah well, my turn will come.

even more puzzling...

 

This is a picture of the jugsaw puzzle my wonder spouse and I are currently working on.  It is being a beastly puzzle, but we're making progress.  While the puzzle is being very difficult, I do love the picture.  It reminds me of the International Balloon Fiesta that a friend and I attended in Albuquerque, New Mexico several years ago.  We did not go on any balloon rides at that event (too expensive) although I have been on two rides since then.  They are amazing.  

We were at the site early on the day of the festival and were able to walk among the balloons and talk to the participants as they were inflating their beautiful balloons.  When it was still pretty dark, about a half hour before dawn, they had the GLOW!  While they were all still on the ground, every balloon flared it's fire, so every balloon glowed from within.  An amazing sight.  There were at least a hundred balloons there.

What we learned in conversation (my girlfriend will talk to anyone) and I found very interesting was the reason for the festival being in this location.  In this particular spot the wind blows two ways.  You really can't steer a balloon but buy rising to a certain level the balloonist could catch the wind going one way, then after traveling for some distance, he could let the balloon go higher and catch the wind blowing in the opposite direction, allowing the pilot to land on the same field where he took off,  According to the people we talked to, this is one of the very rare places in the world where this phenomenon occurs.  Maybe the only place. I really don't remember. 

I do know that when my spouse and I took our balloon ride in Egypt, we were picked up after the 45 minute flight at a spot quite a distance from our take-off site.

I have experienced two hot air balloon flights, one in Australia and one in Egypt, so I've flown over pyramids and kangaroos.  It is an excellent experience, lots of fun and not at all scary.  I highly recommend it.  Now back to that puzzle.

forward March...

 Today was 'spring forward' day when we set our clocks ahead one hour, supposedly at 2:00am, but really, who waits til 2:00am.  We're already losing sleep. even though we try going to bed an hour early so we still get enough sleep.  That's a nice idea but if you're accustomed to falling asleep at 11:00pm, even if your wonder spouse has set all the clocks ahead, your body knows that it's not really bedtime.

As a result of this 'spring forward' business, It was dark when I got up this morning and I've been sleepy all day.  

Attendance at Sunday school and church seemed a little sparse but that could have been because it has been a lovely sunny day and I'm not the only one suffering from EOSF.  It's a highly contageous condition.  

I did see one lady walking into church while we were singing the last hymn.  She doesn't have a wonder spouse to take care of things like setting clocks ahead for her.  

My west coast brother has an interesting theory about the twice a year time changes.  He says that the time changes induce something similar to jet lag and keep us from focusing on election day in the fall and taxes due in the spring.  He doesn't think that the timing is a coincidence and he may be right.

But enough speculation about why it happens.  Tomorow morning I will face my biggest challenge - setting my car clock ahead.  I know I can do it, and I know it's a simple process.  It's just remembering the process that's the challenge.

Brunch anyone??

My wonder spouse, who, everyone knows, is the cook in our family, surprised me this morning by asking if I wanted pecan pancakes for breakfast.  Usually our breakfasts are a do-it-yourself event.  I like cinnamon toast while he favors graham crackers.  

Since this was a no rush Saturday morning, I said YES, and quickly started the coffee and put the butter and syrup on the table.  I like to do my part.  We each had two plate size pancakes - light fluffy and delicious (one at a time while they were hot) - with butter and real maple syrup.  We are admittedly syrup snobs, nothing but pure maple syrup will do.  

It was a delicious breakfast, turned into brunch, finished while it was still morning, but only by a little bit. 

Then I received my west coast brother's daily text informing me that today is "National Flapjack Day."  Well, everyone knows that flapjack is just another name for pancake so we were pleased to learn that this time we had correctly celebrated the day.  

I should mention that today is also "Descendants Day" so, not too surprisingly my mind has been on my youngest little descendent (two days old today).  See yesterday's blog for details.  

While working at my desk I spotted this four generation picture, taken 25 years ago.  The baby in this picture is the proud and shaggy daddy in yesterday's picture.  I hope to get a brand new 4-generation picture when we all get together sometime soon.

New Life!!!

 Today was the day we have all been waiting for.  Today I became a great grandma and my spouse became a wonder great grandpa.

Here's the proud papa with his 6 lb 15 oz 19.5" long bundle of joy.

Here's little M. J. His first solo shot.

And here's the proud and understandably exhausted mommy.

They have requested some alone time as they adjust to their new life style so there will be no picture of me holding the baby for a couple of weeks.  It's ok, I can wait.  Not patiently, but I can wait. And I do understand.

When each of my two children was born I had what the hospital called "rooming in" meaning that the baby was with me the whole time, not in the nusery, and only my husband could visit. Back then the hospital stay was five days.  It was so good to have that private bonding time first.