Puzzle Solved.......

I figured it out. The answer to "how can this be?"

Tomorrow I am going to wake up and there will be headlines everywhere. A big picture of The Donald with his trade mark smirk, his thumb in the air in victory and the quote: "April Fools!!!"

One can only hope.

Missing Mistletoe.......

The sun is shining in Port Washington and the wind is down and the temperature is up a little bit. Birds are singing and the grass is getting greener. Most of our trees are still pretty bare.....buds just starting.

Living in a condo we no longer have any kind of flower garden....and the paths I walk with Fenway don't boast much color. I've been searching the trees along the bike path looking for any kind of bloom to signify spring.....no luck so far.

I know some of our home-owning neighbors are seeing color peek up through the dirt and I did see some daffodil leaves as I walked home from the library today. Soon.....soon....soon.

Maybe it's because we had a few weeks away and we did get to see flowers and trees in bloom. And balls of mistletoe hanging high in lots of trees.......indicators of slightly warmer climates.

I'll go look at our photo album.....that will keep me going for a few days. I'll keep my eyes open outside....but right now, I am missing mistletoe.

And Yet More Bathroom Art......

One of the interesting things we've begun to notice while traveling are rest rooms....not the ones at the gas stations when you quickly stop to fill up one tank and empty another, but the ones we find at restaurants and museums. Who knew that there could be so many creative and inventive ways to treat the men's and ladie's facilities?

Join Marilyn Monroe or James Dean??

 


Enter an alternate universe at the Ashville Art Museum?

Or appreciate the really inventive signage at a restaurant somewhere up in either Nova Scotia or Maine! It makes me really glad I have my cell phone and it takes quick pictures. Another aspect of exploring.....maybe a little unusual, but still.....fun!

Zoning.......

I grew up in a very nice suburb outside Chicago. Good schools. Nice downtown. Tree-lined streets. Certainly some neighborhoods featured bigger and grander homes than others, but most of my Leave-It-To-Beaver hometown was full of nice single family homes. Well kept and populated by proud, hardworking homeowners.

As we've been lucky enough to travel around the United States we've noticed that sometimes zoning restrictions seem to be a little more "flexible" than the ones that were in place where I grew up. We first noticed this many years ago on a business trip to Arizona.....huge homes situated next to small, run down "shacks".

This trip we noticed more of the same. Especially while driving those red routes and exploring off-the-interstate communities. There semed to be huge differences between the "haves".....

....and the "have somes"....

... and the "used-to-haves"....

....and the "have some stuff and keep it all on the front porch" houses.....

....and the owners of The Biltmore who "had so much stuff they needed 250 rooms to store it all".......

Driving by all kinds of homes, big and small, well groomed or sadly kept. Wondering about the stories they hold. The families who lived there. Who were they, what did they do and if the house is now empty, where did they go?

I know I really should not judge a book by its cover....but I do wonder....how is it that some seem to have so much....and others so little.....at least judging by the houses they own? Zoning or rather no-zoning made the drive pretty interesting....and had my imagination imagining!

"We're off to see the Wizard........the wonderful Wizard of OZ...."

Everytime we take off in the RV with no specific location or deadline in mind, the lyrics Dorothy, the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow sing as they skip down the yellow brick road play in my mind at some point.

Here we are, wandering down roads, finding a few unexpected surprises along the way and enjoying lovely spring weather as we wander through Kentucky, Georgia and the Carolinas. We try to follow the red roads.....get off the super highways to avoid most of the semi-trucks, slow down a bit and enjoy the view. Red roads can take you to some nice places......and, as you go, they make you think about the towns you pass through and roads you pass by.

There are stories I'm sure behind roads with names like Sorrow Hill Road, Ed Atkins Drive (Ed probably lives down there), Tumblebrook and Katy's Place. What's the story behind a road named Skate-r-Bowl? Do you think it leads from a skating rink to a bowling alley?

Why not take the road less traveled and drive through Frozen Head State Park or think about having your mail delivered to an address in Soddy Daisy, KY?

Get off the interstate for awhile. Open your map and turn off the GPS and try one of those red roads for a change. Yes, you may have to slow down for a farmer driving a tractor down the road, but when he can he'll pull over and wave you by.

Besides, if you hadn't slowed down for the tractor you would have missed that flock of colorful hens and fabulous strutting roosters scratching away at the dirt next to a tumbling down once-upon-a-time barn.

Red roads feed the imagination......food for the senses.

A Drip of Hope......

Earlier this week I spent a wonderful day with one of the people I love most in this world. The day started with a nice girls-only walk as we took the dogs out early in the morning. Signs of spring were just beginning in the woods and fields along the side of the road......bushes beginning to leaf, grass beginning to green, birds singing and daffodils!

Back to the house to clean up and we jumped ino her car for a drive to the east side of Louisville. We drive up into the parking garage of a large hospital complex to the fourth floor. Through the doors into the reception area for the cancer treatment center.

Down a hallway and into a small room with two chairs, a computer, a sink and some medical equipment.....Treatment Room #9....where the "magic" happens.  First a blood test to be sure her numbers were "good" so we wait. And then the first infusion. A slow drip of chemicals into her port, directly into her bloodstream.

We talked, she worked on a bright water color painting - happy, bright orange day lilies, I stitched the border onto a quilt. We laughed, shared some silly stuff on the Internet and then I ran out to pick up lunch for both of us. The first solution bag emptied and the process repeated two more times. Two other medication cocktails.

I watched, and I saw how my dearest friend interacted with the staff.....she loves them and they love her. Support all around! And we laughed at how slowly these chemical concoctions enter her body.....one drop at a time. Carefully calubrated. But at one point she laughed and said "Just give me a straw!"

I watched.....and I thought to myself......this is the person who has known me longer than anyone else left on the planet......we've been connected the longest. And this is not a chemical cocktail. This is love.....this is optimism....this is determination......this is hope.

This is SO much hope.

Close My Eyes......Ignore the Exit.....

When we travel around Chicago we usually take 294 to avoid the downtown. The highway led us south to Indiana yesterday for a quick visit to my cousin's farm and from there on to our next RV adventure. We've traveled that stretch of highway countless times. 

During the years we lived in Wisconsin when the kids were young.....we'd jump in the car and hit the road to my mom's house for a Christmas, Easter or birthday visit. Or just a plain visit. For the years between 2002-2010, the kids now grown and gone,  Dave and I would travel the route to go down and see mom and help with some house chores or whatever. 

We'd often exit at Golf Road......go south on Potter past my old high school.....wind down a few more suburban streets and pull into mom's driveway on Home Avenue.

But now.....whenever we drive down that highway and I notice the Golf Road exit ramp I am immediately pulled back into unhappier memories. Looking east of the highway I can see the large buildings that make up Lutheran General Hospital. And my memory drags me back to our last visit with my mom......the early morning phone call from my sister.....the race to pack a few things in a tote bag.....a quick phone call to ask a friend to come and get our dog.....and the break the speed limit drive to Park Ridge......the ride up a hospital elevator and the walk down a hospital corridor to turn the corner into my mom's hospital room.

Our last hours together.....my last hours with a mom. It was good to be there and so good to be with her, holding her hand, as she breathed her last......dying with my kiss on her forehead.

But now.....my god how I hate to see the sign for the Golf Road exit. Sometimes I'm lucky.....Dave is at the wheel and I'm distracted by a book so we pass it before I realize it's coming up. Yesterday I was looking out the window and it smacked me in the face......and I swiveled my head to the left and saw the hospital and my memories flooded my heart.

Damn I hate that exit.

Death of a Book Club......

15 years. We lasted for 15 years. We met once a month and missed very few. Sometimes one of our members would be out-of-town, or not feeling well. But basically we always had a nucleus of six to eight of the ten who would drive cross town, grab a glass of wine and a comfy seat and talk.

I look at the list of books and am amazed at the variety. Our first book was One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, and we discussed The Life of Pi, and The Kite Runner and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and The Tortilla Curtain. We analyzed Breakfast at Tiffany's, Crossing to Safety, People of the Book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

A few times we chose to go to a movie instead. Sometimes it was the movie adapted from a book we'd discussed, sometimes it was just a movie everyone wanted to see.  We discussed The Faith Club in 2011 and learned about the similarities that link three faith based philosophies: Muslim, Episcopalian and Judaism. The Hunger Games, Renoir, My Father, Lessons Before Dying, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & The Prison of Belief and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

The list goes on and as I read through it memories flood back. How specific books made me think and may have even changed me a little. Citizens of London, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Faith.

But this past week I attended my last meeting of this long standing, thoughtful and interesting group of women......and I sent them this email:

To All My Dear Book Club Friends…..

We had a very interesting and “spirited” discussion about the book last night….only three of us, but still our talk was full of insights and thoughtful comments and “revelations”. The book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus gave us all much food for thought. 

I wanted to say that I thank you all for the YEARS of togetherness, sharing, discussion, friendship, conversation, support and laughter that you’ve all shared with me.

Moving back to Milwaukee in after floating around on a sailboat for two years and jumping right into the full-time work mode was a real challenge for me. It took months for my BRAIN to catch up with the responsibility. And reading helped with the transition!

I couldn’t find a book club….so reached out to some of my co-workers at work and we just started one. I can’t believe that there are still a few original members left and that, even though members came and went, the group went on. Members invited a friend to join, new contacts joined the discussion……all good. I look back at the LONG list of books we discussed and am amazed. We hardly ever missed a month! Because of you guys I read things and thought about things that I never would have done on my own….and for me that’s one of the best parts of any book club. 

But times and lives change. People move away….distance becomes a challenge….older eyes driving at night become a challenge. So, for a variety of reasons in the past few months, several members of the group decided they just had to leave. I will miss you all and I know, that even if it’s not once a month, our paths WILL cross…..let’s meet for a movie!

I found a daytime book club near Port Washington and so will be joining that one. And there is a local one at our library that gives me a chance to meet some of the people living nearby. It won’t be the same…..i don’t expect it to be. But it will be good.

Hugs to everyone……you all enriched my life…..and I thank you.

There are people who make an impact on your life. Others pass through with barely a ripple. "My" book club friends made an impact. Books make an impact.  Discussion and sharing opinions makes an impact.

Go.....read a book, have a discussion.....the experience can and will enrich your life, broaden your horizons and alter your world view. I know....it happened to me.

It's Just An Alternate Universe.....

America's political "season" is always interesting.....and it seems to last forever. Most years I don't listen to the noise (or try not to) and begin to concentrate once the parties select their candidates and we can begin to compare the policies and record of each candidate in order to try to make an informed decision.

Pretty hard to ignore the noise this year....and impossible for me not to comment. Presidential politics seems to have found a new reality and we're all being sucked into the "discussion". Or rather the finger-pointing and the name-calling and the third grade playground bully behavior that highlights much of the process. So many times, as I watch a candidate on TV making some ridiculous comment and then see the competition's angry response my jaw drops. These are the men who want to lead America?

Early on as one candidate (who shall remain nameless here or I might get a notice from his lawer that he's suing me) began to speak out I thought to myself "This is a joke." "He can't be serious." "No one can seriously support him."

I'm not laughing anymore.....he's got me convinced that the Party of Lincoln is about to nominate an unqualified blowhard to lead their race for the Oval Office. He's responding to the masses and the fact that they are fed up with politics as usual (as am I) but he's also fanning the anger and the fear and the prejudices that divide us. He's using our "worst" sides to grease his slide right into the White House.

So now I'm worried and frankly frightened for America's future. I simply cannot imagine this man as President. As leader of the free world......as a serious, knowledgeable, experienced voice in our more and more complex and worrisome world. A candidate with no specific policy discussions. How does he really think the leader of another country will respond when he says, "Do it my way or else!" A candidate who just says, "I can do it just because I can" isn't saying much.........but sadly, maybe he's saying enough. He's saying what his supporters want to hear....even if it doesn't make much sense.

I will walk into the voting booth in April for Wisconsin's primary election and again in November for the general election. I will make my selection and hope that my vote counts. Please let my vote count.

Please.