A yarn about yarn...

 Most Mondays from 3 to 5pm a group of ladies gather in a large room on the third floor of our church's classroom wing to enjoy FFF (Faith, Fiber and Fellowship).  We each work on our own projects.  Mine is weaving or stitching, others do beautiful crochet and knitting projects.  Some items are for personal use, others are donated, usually to be given as prayer shawls for those who are sick or grieving.  Needless to say, where there is yarn work, excess yarn accumulates and accumulates and accumulates some more.  Today we were tasked with the job of cleaning out the years of accumulated yarn (not all ours) from a large storage room across the hall from our meeting room.  Our head custodian is feeling the need for more storage space.  I hate to tell him, but when the yarn is gone, it will just fill up with other stuff.  You know this happens at home, and just as surely at church.  So ten of us gathered, pulled out all of the yarn from the storage space, took what we wanted for ourselves, friends and family members and sorted through the rest of the stash to decide what to donate, what else we wanted, and, alas, what should be thrown away.  I came away with a fairly large bag of yarn for my next few projects, a few things for my granddaughter and granddaughter-in-law and two large containers of stuff to donate to the Dove's Nest, one of my favorite local charities.  If none of this gets put to good use, i really won't care.  I did my bit to get it out of the church.  

old new tech....

 My west coast brother surprised me with a visit this evening.  Not in person.  I think he would have let me know if he was coming to visit from Spokane, but it was a pleasant surprise.  He Zoomed in to see us, and he brought my favorite sister-in-law along.  He has acquired some new equipment that allows him to Zoom from home.  He knows that I attend some meetings by Zoom so he tried it out on me.  First on my phone, which didn't go to well, then computer to computer which went smoothly. I'm very pleased that he decided to use me as his first experiment.  I can't initiate a Zoom meeting but I can, evidently, respond to anyone who Zooms me first and provides me with the necessary access numbers.  I suggested that my brother try to include more of his family sometime so he may try it on his second son's birthday next week.  It is kind of funny though how I reacted when I realized I was being seen as well as heard.  My first thought was "I look so colorless without lipstick" even as my brother was saying that my sister-in-law would join us as soon as she brushed her hair.  While Zooming is fun sometimes, I realized that I am not ready to be seen any time I'm on the phone.  Definitely not early in the morning.  Maybe I'm not as ready for high tech as I think I am, but it really was more fun than just talking on the phone. 

The great art show...

 Today my spouse and I drove to Columbus, Ohio to visit one of my granddaughters.  She is a senior at the Columbus College of Art and Design and we went to see her senior thesis exhibition.  Her theme for her show was "Happy Objects"  The show was a lovely exhibit of hanging mobiles, chandeliers and other pieces, all with a very cheerful, even playful motif. 

Here is a paragraph from her written thesis:  "Hanging mobiles and chandeliers are the main source of inspiration for forms in this show. I like to include as much variety as I can both visually and through the textures of materials used.  I like the contrast between soft yarns and hard metal, fragile crystals and sturdy chains.  Materials are collected over time as well as found, bought, upcycled, and gifted to me.  The color pallets are reminiscent of my childhood toy play sets, past favorite colors and some monochromatic studies."

Here are a few of my favorite pieces.  I hope you'll agree that they are happy objects.

tasty treats...

 My west coast brother has come through again.  According to his sources today is "National Something on a Stick Day."  Naturally, my thoughts turned to edible treats on sticks.  There are the obvious ones like popsicles, ice cream bars and corn dogs but there are more exotic ones like kabobs of all sorts.  If you consider toothpicks sticks, and I do, then almost any appetizer, like cheese cubes, pickles, olives and cream cheese and beef roll ups are things on sticks. 

When my children were very young, the first neighborhood we lived in had an ice cream truck coming through every day, usually in the morning.  They did not get treats every day but we did indulge occasionally.  I personally really like lime popsicles.  My neighbor across the street had twin girls, about three years old, and for a long time she had them convinced that it was just a music truck.  Very clever, I thought.  When we moved to our next neighborhood, the ice cream truck came most afternoons and we lived next door to a very nice older couple who didn't have any of their own grandkids handy so they treated ours on a regular basis (with permission of course). 

My wonder spouse has informed me that Zesto's (THE place for summer ice cream) is now open for the season.  I wonder if they serve anything on a stick?

sing a song...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day."   He even provided me with an example 'You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd.'  Naturally, this made me curious so I looked up some more examples.  Here are a few I liked.

Grandma got Runover by a Reindeer (I've actually heard this one)

Wacky Tabaccy

Beer for My Horses

I Still Like Bologna 

One Bud Wiser

Fuzzy Wuzzy Ego

Where Have All the Average People Gone?

She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy

My Bucket's Got a Hole in It (I know this one also)

Flushed from the Bathroom of Your Heart

In case you're interested, you can Google any of these and listen to them all the way through.  

PS Today is also "International Whiskey Day."  A shot or three might help in your appreciation of  these gems.

Yikes!!

 This simply must end.  My spouse seems to be on a long winning streak, especially when it comes to Scrabble.  I don't want to say he's a wife beater but he has beaten me the last three Scrabble games in a row.  This wouldn't be so bad if they were our usual games.  We are very well matched and usually win or loose by less that ten points.  Not tonight however.  I think most of this evening's win was due to the fact that he drew all of the high point tiles.  Of course he is a very good player which probably helped.  But the fact that he won by over 90 points is really galling.  The fact that he did this while half blind because he had cataract surgery this morning is even more humiliating. But fear not, my turn will come.  It always does.  

Eat hearty...

 Yesterday I had a follow up appointment with my kidney doctor.  All is well, no dietary restrictions.  I may even have an occasional glass of wine, but everything in moderation she said.  I appreciate the concept of moderation, I really do, but it's not always that easy.  My west coast brother informed me that today is "International Waffle Day" which reminds me of all the waffles I ate on our cruise. It was one of my favorite cruise breakfasts.  Their waffles were not too thick, crispy around the edges, and served with real maple syrup and orange butter.  The combination of citrus and sweet was delicious.  In addition wine and beer were available at lunch and dinner each day.  Since my average wine consumption at home is one glass every other week, daily wine was well beyond moderation.  

But now we're home and I'm still trying to loose a few cruise pounds.  It probably didn't help that we had Coney Island hot dogs for supper tonight.  Yes, the real original down town Coney Island hotdogs in the restaurant that has been in business for over 100 years.  We had two each, in the soft steamed buns with chili sauce, chopped onions and cheese.  So good!  When we got home we decided that we really needed some of the excellent coffee cake that we buy at the Amish bakery for a late dessert.  

Now I'm ready to waddle (not waffle) off to bed.  Maybe I'll try some dieting tomorrow, in moderation of course.  

and speaking of friends....

 Friends can come in all sizes and ages.  One of my friends this year is the eight year old second grader who I am tutoring in reading.  We meet on Monday afternoons after school at his school.  My spouse is also tutoring there.  He is working with a third grader.  My little second grader struggles some with reading, loves maps, and is always willing to work hard.  Today was a great day.  He read four easy books to me, with very little help, did six workbook pages on the soft sounds of vowels and we played a dice game he enjoys.  He was happy that I won.  That's the kind of child he is.  On the first day that we met we discovered that his birthday is on December 14, while mine is on December 13.  This past December he turned 8 and I turned 80.  We both thought that was pretty neat.  He wants to be an architect or an engineer when he grows up.  I really hope I am helping him on his way.  When we make eye contact, which is often, we smile and smile at each other.  That's how I know we're friends.  

friends

 I am part of an adult class that meets every Sunday morning at our church at 10:00am.  We use a nationally available program called Wired Word which provides us with a choice of two topics to use each Sunday, all based on current events or interesting news stories.  Today was my turn to lead the discussion and I chose the topic of Friendship (how the numbers of close friends that people say they have are declining, what makes a friend, etc.)  Each class begins with a brief introduction to the topic which has also been emailed to each member.  After the intro a few questions are asked and we are off and running.  This morning was no exception.  Classmates talked about lifelong friends, making new friends and the various levels of friendship - work friends, church friends, lifelong friends and so on.  Everyone had something to say, which isn't always the case.  In among the more or less expected responses we heard a couple that I wasn't expecting.  One lady told about a work "friend" who turned out to be a back stabbing enemy.  Another spoke about a fellow teacher she thought was funny and really admired and thought of as a friend until she realized that this person liked to play nasty tricks on her students and fellow teachers and that this tendency seemed to be escalating.  Not the kind of person you want for a friend.  One gentleman made it pretty clear that he would never trust any woman to be his friend.  Yikes, not sure what happened there.  All in all it was a really good discussion that made me think about and appreciate the good friends I have, none of whom are back stabbing tricksters as far as I know.  One thing no one mentioned was thinking of your spouse as a friend.  In my case my wonder spouse was a friend long before he became my husband which may be an unusual circumstance but it works for us.  Let's hear it for friendship.

more theater...

 This evening we saw the play "26 Pebbles" by Eric Ulloa, performed by seven excellent actors, each of whom played multiple roles.  Presemted by First Presbyterian Theater, it was a narrative style play recounting the experiences of members of the Sandy Hook / Newtown community during and after the December 2012 killing of 20 first graders and six staff members.  It was much more than just a telling of the event.  The main focus of the play was the ripple of reactions, life changes and adjustments after the event.  There were even some surprisingly comic events, particularly the arrival in their sleepy little town of hoards of reporters and news vans and the necessity of dealing with the sixty thousand plus teddy bears that were sent to the town.  

It was a thought provoking play with a hopeful conclusion.  There is one more performance tomorrow, Sunday, afternoon at 2:00pm.  I do recommend it.

enjoying the bard....

 We went to Arena Dinner Theater this evening.  The dinner was tasty, especially the cheese cake dessert.  The play was hilarious, and I don't use that term lightly.  "I Hate Hamlet" written by Paul Rudnick and beautifully directed by Chris Murphy was so much fun.  Every actor in it did an amazing job.  I particularly enjoyed Kate Black as Lillian Troy and Todd Frymier as the ghost of John Barrymore.  Lead actor Sean Findley did an exceptional job of playing a young actor torn between playing Hamlet in the park and making millions in a sit-com in Hollywood.  Every silly thing you've ever thought about a Shakespeare play was probably touched on here.  From the opening lines to the staged bows for the curtain call it was great.  Lucky for you it's running for five more performances, March 22, 23, 28 & 29.  I highly recommend it.  

It's spring???

 Today, according to mu west coast brother, is "National Ravioli Day" and also "Crawfish Cravers Appreciation Day."  Personally I don't know anyone around here who was craving crawfish.  That's more of a summer delicacy.  However a nice warm dish of ravioli would have been perfect.  According to the calendar today is also the "First Day of Spring."  Fort Wayne evidently didn't get the memo.  

As I drove to a 9:45am dentist appointment, spitting snow and rain accompanied me.  The temperature was somewhere in the 30s with a wind chill in the 20s.  After a recent string of sunny days with highs in the sixties, this was a bit of a shock.  But it is March, a rollercoaster weather month if there ever was one, so I know that spring will actually be coming around again sometime in the not too far distant future.  

PS My spouse and I didn't have ravioli to warm us, but we did have some hearty cheese soup.  

the saga continued...

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "National Backyard Day" and "National Poultry Day" and suggested that I should let some chickens loose in our backyard to "eat the baby traffic cones and keep the infestation in check."  While I do appreciate his advice there is a flaw with this plan.  Our covenants and restrictions do not allow us to raise chickens in our backyard, or our front yard either.  Too bad, I know, but that's the rule.  

I wasn't able to get a picture today but I watched from a safe distance as they spread straw (with the help of their minions) in a neat round space, then planted little orange flags all around, leaving the cones snugly in the middle.  If that's not nesting, I don't know what is.  

My brother pointed out that, in the picture I posted yesterday, it appeared that the neighbors across the way were preparing to brick up their back door, so I am evidently not the only one feeling threatened.  

Happily, I was able to find a distraction inside the house where I feel safe (as long as I keep the doors locked).  In addition to the special days mentioned above, today is also "National Chocolate Caramel Day."  Now there's a day to celebrate.  My spouse and I celebrated this evening with vanilla ice cream covered with goo.  I chose caramel and chocolate while he went with honey and nuts.  All in all a very satisfying way to relieve the tensions of the day. 

they're everywhere...

 There's a wise old saying "Just because your paranoid doesn't mean you're not being followed."  I've been pretty sure for some time now that I am being pursued, but it's not a threat by humans.  Every where I go I am surrounded by orange and white striped traffic cones.  Today, coming home on Anthony from an eye appointment, we drove through a veritable slalom course of cones that stretched for several blocks.  In addition, Lake Avenue, my favorite route from home to downtown Fort Wayne, is completely blocked off at the intersection with Anthony.  I have never seen such a dense cluster of traffic cones as we passed today.  Everywhere I go, it seems that there are more and more of them.  This may be their breeding season.

Now you may say "But Luci, they are in everyone's way.  They aren't just after you."  I would tend to agree with you if it weren't for the fact that two of them showed up in our back yard a couple of days ago.  There is no road construction going on in our back yard, so why, I ask you are they there.  The obvious answer - they're after me.

These are the two in our back yard.  They evidently travel in pairs.  I really hope they're not building a nest.

follow up...

 Happy Saint Patrick's Day.  It's also "Corned Beef and Cabbage Day" which should come as no surprise.  I hope you found a satisfying way to celebrate.  I am not a beer drinker so the idea of green beer holds no appeal whatsoever.  Isn't that a great word 'whatsoever'?  It's not one I am able to use very often.  

I personally celebrated the day by going to the library.  This was a follow up to yesterday's blog.  I walked into the library and headed immediately for the fiction section, specifically the large print area of the fiction section.  To my delight, the first thing I saw on the shelf of new releases was a new book in one of my favorite series.  I have loves series of books about the same characters ever since I discovered the Little House books in sixth grade.  

After I grabbed that book I went hunting for books by Elin Hilderbrand.  I was delighted to discover that they have a big selection of her books in large print (my eyes aren't getting any younger).  As I searched through the choices I found a book I requested through Libby (the downloadable format) over a month ago.  While I'm still on the waiting list there, and told it will be two more weeks before it's available, I now have a print copy in my possession, ready to read.  Hooray!

Another plus, now that the weather is warming up, slowly but surely, I can walk to the library to return and check out next time.  It's about a 20 minute walk each way which means exercise for my body as well as my brain.  My wonder spouse will walk with me but he will probably head for the history section.  This plan, going to the physical library, to check out and read print books, is looking better and better to me, but it is good to know that, when the winter winds blow, Libby is always available.  Happy reading everyone.

Books, books, books...

 My west coast brother informed me, early today, that today is "Everything You Do is Right Day."  Church in the morning counted as right, at least in my mind, and after lunch I spent a good part of the afternoon reading.  It was a rainy, blustery, cold day, so sitting in a warm room reading seemed like a good idea.  It felt right.  I wish I could say that I read only intellectually stimulating non-fiction or great classical literature but the truth of the matter is I really like a good mystery or police procedural or well written novel about interesting people.  I do not like blood and gore.  Lately I've gotten hooked on the novels of Elin Hilderbrand.  She is, I think, an extremely good writer.  Coupled with this love of reading is the convenience I've found in downloading library books onto my tablet.  Check out, read, return, all with just the click of a few buttons.  Very nice, but I just finished reading two articles indicating that (at any age) it is much better for your brain if you read actual books, rather than books on a screen. So now, I guess, I need to go to the library (less than a mile away) and check out some real books.  I will do that someday soon.  Meanwhile, don't worry, reading something short, like for instance this blog, on your phone, won't hurt you.

Woops...

 Thanks to an eagle eyed reader (who else but my wonder spouse?)  I must spend this blog correcting some errors in yesterday's blog.  In my defense, it has been sixty years since I last studied math and that was my senior year in college.  Here are the corrections:

1.  Pi is 3.14159265.  I inadvertently hit the '2' key instead of the '9.'

2.  Pi does not equal mc squared.  E equals mc squared. Mrs. Davis         would be so embarrassed for me.

3.  Pi actually equals the circumference of a circle divided by the             diameter.

Now that I have set things straight, I can go to bed with a clear conscience.  I really do need to get to bed to sleep off an excellent dinner I had at Dickie's earlier this evening.  The cheese curds were delicious.  

pass the pie

 Today, March 14, is pi day, not pie, just pi, because March 14, written numerically is 3.14 and mathematical pi is 3.14152265 and on and on so it can be rounded to 3.14.  I'm sure you all remember this from your high school algebra classes.  No doubt the formula 'pi equals mc squared' springs instantly to mind.  

I had an excellent math teacher in high school.  Her name was Mrs. Davis and she lived on Euclid Avenue which I thought was really cool.  I was a good math student and thought, all through high school, that I would study in college to become either an English or math teacher, until my senior year when I took an art class, shadowed the art teacher for some time as he taught his elementary classes and decided that teaching art would be more fun.  Apart from an occasional lump of clay on the ceiling it really was.  

The most vivid memory that I have of Mrs. Davis was an incident that happened on the first day of my senior year.  My younger brother (not the west coast brother, the other one) was a freshman that year.  When I walked into Trigonometry class that afternoon Mrs. Davis said to me, a little shakily I thought, "That Cohrs boy, that Cohrs boy who is a freshman, he isn't related to you, is he?" with a rather hopeful tone in her voice.  Evidently he was in freshman algebra, and already not living up to her expectations.  Please understand, my brother John was smart, but he was also a world class goof off.  He and his best friend got called to the principal's office at least once a week all through that long, long year.  My graduation couldn't come fast enough.  

Smile!

I went to the dentist today.  I have been going to the same dentist for over 40 years.  Well, actually, in the 40+ years, I have been treated by a father, son and grandson.  All, happily, quite capable.  Today's visit was just for a teeth cleaning.  I got a clean bill of health except for a tiny (their words) rough patch on the edge of a crown that needs to be smoothed out.  I heard the dentist say to the nurse as he was leaving the room "There will be no shot necessary."  I think that sounded like good news.  I will be going back in two weeks for that treatment.

I want to say here that I do take good care of my teeth.  I brush, I floss, I use a water pic.  In fact the dentist said that I was "doing excellent home care."  That was nice to hear.  

But still, with all the praise, the hygienist spent almost an hour picking and scraping.  It felt like she was trying to hoe a garden.  It turned out, based on her conversation as she worked on me, that she actually is an avid gardener.  I think she's anxious to be gardening for real.  After all the picking, flossing, scraping and polishing, she did something new.  She used a computer system to measure how much my gums have receded.  She ran a little probe around the inside and outside of every tooth, rattled off into a small mic what seemed like a hundred three digit numbers, and, when she was finally finished, proudly showed me the wonderful chart she and the computer had created.  It was colorful and impressive looking and totally meaningless to me, but she seemed quite pleased.  I don't believe my teeth are going to fall out tomorrow, so I shall not worry about the high tech stuff.  I will just be thankful that the whole experience was totally painless. and I got a brand new pink tooth brush.

Ouch!!

 I just looked at the title of last night's blog and I had written 'have a apple.'  Mrs. Wetter, my favorite high school English teacher would not be pleased.  Obviously it should be 'an apple' and I apologize for the error.  I hope it didn't upset anyone too much.  Mrs. Wetter was also my favorite French teacher and my favorite Head Librarian.  It was a very small school.  

And speaking of small things, my west coast brother has just informed me that March is "Adopt a Rescued Guinea Pig Month" in case you're interested in adding a new pet to your household.  When my children were young we had, at one time or another, dogs, cats, mice and gerbils, but we never had Guinea pigs, so I'm no expert on the subject.  I have read the timeless classic "Pigs is Pigs" by American author Ellis Parker Butler.  If you haven't read it, you really should.  I think we read it in Mrs. Wetter's freshman English class.

I am intrigued by the whole idea of any kind of pigs as pets.  I've heard that they are very intelligent and I know they provide delicious meat.  But those are regular pigs.  When I was still selling real estate, I worked with a very nice family moving to Fort Wayne from California.  While they were still in California, they let me know what they needed in a home so I could have houses ready to show them when they arrived.  They, mom, dad, and two sons, were making the move a driving trip.  One thing high on their list was a neighborhood with covenants and restrictions that would allow Pot- bellied Pigs as pets.  This was not an easy chore.  While Pot-bellied pigs were, evidently, becoming very popular in California, they were not in fashion here in Fort Wayne, where most neighborhoods seemed to have the "pigs is pigs" mentality. Lucky for me, before they made the trip, they changed their minds and bought a dog. And a very sweet dog she was too.  They named her Lucy.

Have a apple...

 Today, according to my west coast brother, is Johnny Appleseed Day.  I told him that his source was wrong.  We in Fort Wayne know all about Johnny Appleseed, or, to give him his proper name, John Chapman. After all, he is buried here.  He evidently died on March 12 or 18 in 1845.  I don't understand why today, his questionable death date, is noted as Johnny Appleseed Day.  Usually important people are celebrated on the anniversary of their births.  Washington's birthday, Lincoln's birthday, etc.  I think we're doing the right thing here in Fort Wayne.  He was born on September 26, 1774 and we celebrate his memory with a festival every September. This year is the 50th year for our festival, which will be held on September 20 and 21.  It's a time for food, children's games, food, arts and crafts booths, food, entertainment and more food.  And yes, apple pie and apple cider are crowd favorites.  

In addition to our festival, our baseball team is named the Tin Caps because legend has it that Johnny Appleseed wore a tin pan on his head instead of a hat as he roamed the area planting apple trees.  I'm not sure about the pan on his head but he did plant a lot of apple trees.  So go ahead and eat an apple to celebrate his day today, or better yet, come to the festival in September.  It's held in Johnny Appleseed Park.  You can visit his grave while you're there.  

remembering Mom...

 Today, March 10, was my mother's birthday.  She always thought March was the most hopeful month.  She was born in 1910 and lived life to the fullest.  She went to the senior prom first when she was a freshman; wore the style of the 20s, above the knee skirts and high heels, to high school.  Longed to become a nurse but went to college and became a teacher because her parents (a pastor and pastor's wife) didn't think that nursing was a proper career for a young lady.  She taught for several years, with interesting summer jobs, dated a lot but never seriously.  Drove a spiffy little Aston Martin and took flying lessons.  One of her best summer jobs was chaffering a professor and his wife to the Chicago Worlds Fair and then farther west. When I was young she fired my longing to travel with tales of Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and especially Carlsbad Caverns.  In 1942 she was accepted to Nursing School at Johns Hopkins.  While there she met my father, a dashing Army Master Sargent, six years her junior, they fell in love and married, ending her nursing hopes because nurses weren't allowed to be married in that school, in that era.  They married and he was deployed to Brazil. While he was gone I was born and my mother moved me and all our worldly possessions (in ten footlockers) from Havre de Grace, Maryland to Fort Wayne, Indiana.  She told me that the train car was full of soldiers heading home, eager to see their families.  Those soldiers took turns holding me all night long.  The war ended, my father came home, my first brother was born and life rolled on.  Eventually we moved from Fort Wayne to an old farm house on five acres near Woodburn, my father's home town.  In 1955 my youngest brother (you know him as my west coast brother) was born.  My mother called him her serendipity baby.  She was 45 and he was definitely an unexpected pleasure.  When he was five years old she went back to teaching.  She was a wonderful teacher (as many of my younger friends have told me) and a fun ride to school.  She taught us songs like "How Much is that Doggy in the Window" and "Yes, We Have No Bananas" as we rode along.  Sadly, like both of my grandmothers, she died in her fifties.  Despite colon cancer, she was able to attend my college graduation in 1965 and see me begin my teaching career.  I recently came across a letter she wrote to me during that first year of teaching, possibly the last letter before she died.  It was full of chatty happy news about the good things going on in our little home town and with my little brother and our extended family.  There were no references to how she was feeling.  She focused on the good things in life until the very end.  My greatest regret is that she never knew her grandchildren.  She would have loved them so much.  One of my great selfish joys is that I have lived long enough to know and love my grandchildren.  I like to think, that however such things work, she is happily looking over all of us.  Happy Birthday, Mommy.  

spring forward

 Today was the day we all sprang forward, at least we did if we remembered to set our clocks ahead before we went to bed last night.  My west coast brother (who had to do the same thing) has informed me that it's also "Panic Day, co-sponsored by The Sky is Falling Committee and Get Over it Day."  That seems like an extreme reaction to setting a few clocks forward.  I know I'll be over it by tomorrow. There was a time (I remember it fondly) when the time didn't change in Indiana or Arizona, the only two unchanging states I believe.  Since my son and his family lived in Phoenix then it was easy for us to keep track of each other's time.  My spouse and I are actually not feeling the effects of this time change as much as some might.  On our recent three week trip to South America our time for the entire trip was two hours ahead of Indiana.  This surprised me.  I didn't realize that South America was so far east of Indiana.  Anyway, since we had only been home one day when the time changed, for us it felt more like going back one hour.  Weren't we lucky?

Here's a map to help you see what I mean.

from cruise to home

 Our wonderful voyage is over.  During our travels we saw and experienced quite a variety of creatures and events.  From penguins to sea lions to whales' tails to albatrosses; from 16 feet tall waves and swells, and the resultant rocking and rolling of our ship, to relatively calm waters, and one amazing glacier, and, of course, an abundance of good food.  But that's behind us now.  We arrived home just before midnight last night after flying from Santiago to Lima (Peru not Ohio) to Atlanta and finally to Fort Wayne where my son was waiting to drive us home.  The highlight of the flight was an amazing view of the Andes.

Today we got to discover the wonders of our beautifully remodeled kitchen and purchase a new kitchen table.  We found exactly the table we wanted at Klopfenstein's furniture store in Leo.  We also had the dubious delight of sorting through three weeks of accumulated mail. Two friendly pieces, six legitimate business pieces and 27,000 (that may be a slight exaggeration) pieces for instant recycling.

This evening we finished off this welcome home day by attending the Philharmonic where we were dazzled by piano soloist Orli Shaham and the music of Anna Clyne, Ravel and Copland.  

Quite a full day, I think you will agree. But wait, there's one more thing to do.  We must set our clocks forward one hour.  Starting now we should be finished by midnight.  We have lots of clocks.  Good night.

Trip blog 4

It has been an exciting few days since my last blog.  We have visited Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. While there we took a five hour catamaran ride and saw penguins (many, many penguins), whales, sea lions and all sorts of sea birds, including albatross. 

After sailing all night, through the Beagle channel, we arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, which they claim as the southernmost city. It seems to depend on your definition of city.  While we were here we had a tour of the city with a truly excellent guide. I think it's interesting that so many of these cities started as penal colonies. Now we are sailing through the Strait of Magellan heading towards the Pacific Ocean.

To add to our pleasure today was the first sunny day we have had for a while.

Penguins and sea lions...