Travel Tuesdays: Off to Sea

Happy Birthday to my sister Karen. 

These are from last springs cruise. 

Take her to sea Mr Murdoch? Do you know what movie that line is from?

 

Moody Monday: A Work in Progress

We have had a few warmer days, a few days when it was easy to get out for a walk.  I walk nearly every day, walking outside is different than walking on the treadmill.  On the treadmill I watch YouTube videos on my Ipad.  I need to do something to block out the background noise, often someone has cable news playing on one or more of the televisions, or someone will be sitting on one of the stationary bikes holding a loud conversation on their phone.  I just tune and tune out.  When I walk outside, I walk in silence.  No headphones, just the sound of the wind, water and birds.  A walk outside is great thinking, or non-thinking time. 

I love my daily blog reads.  I look forward to hearing what people are seeing, doing, thinking. Please keep sharing.  For my own health, I am avoiding commenting on political posts.  Post them as you need to, please don't take it personally if I skip commenting on them.  I just can't do it sometimes.  

Trigger Warning, the following paragraph is somewhat political 

These are strange times.  I am finding the Washington Post less emotionally disturbing than Facebook.  The Post reports the silliness of the day, and the reversals of last week's outrage. I remind myself that the clown is looking for reaction more than approval. When the joke fails, he moves rapidly onto the next outrage. Facebook is filled with anger - and there is plenty to be angry about - but marinating in it is not healthy for me.  Facebook and Instagram also insert political content that is opposite of my views.  The algorithm is being tweaked to force this crap into my feed. I am avoiding these platforms, seriously considering dropping them.  

I go political from time to time in my blog posts.  I will try to remember to post trigger warnings when I do.  

The Sunday Five: Keeping Track

1: How do you keep track of the passage of days? 

2: How do you keep track of staying active? 

3: How do you keep track of what you have read? 

4: How do you keep track of travel and other adventures? 

5: Is your blog keeping track of your life? 

My answers: 

1: How do you keep track of the passage of days? I am in the 15th month of the daily selfie blog. 

2: How do you keep track of staying active? I don't, for years I kept running and workout log books, when I stopped running I stopped keeping them.  Walking an hour a day is a habit, I know I did it without writing it down. 

3: How do you keep track of what you have read? One of the first blog posts I start each year, is my year end list of books I have read. 

4: How do you keep track of travel and other adventures? This year marks 20 years of keep a travel and hotel log, I have written down every hotel I have stayed in. I have spent two years out of the past 20 years, away from home. 

5: Is your blog keeping track of your life? In many ways, it is that and more. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: 50 states in 52 weeks: Hawaii

Located about 2,500 miles southwest of California in the vast Pacific Ocean,  Hawaii is the 50th State in the United States. It is a tropical paradise. 

I have been there once, for work.  I flew out on a Friday arriving late in the evening, because of a nasty headwind we were almost an hour behind schedule. I had a couple of meetings on Saturday, including an interview on National Public Radio. I had Sunday free in Honolulu. I rented a Mustang convertible, put the top down and drove around the island.  On the Monday we did a full day training on legal issues in dementia in Honolulu, on Tuesday we did a half day program for non-lawyer advocates, then flew onto Kuai. On Wednesday we repeated the full day program on legal issues in dementia, then flew to Mau, on Thursday we repeated the full day program and flew onto the Big Island of Hawaii, on Friday we repeated the full day program, and flew back to Honolulu. On Saturday I flew home to DC, with a change of planes at LAX. 

It was an exhausting schedule. And I was limited in my ability to move due to spinal cord compression. But it was in paradise.  I would like to go back, but it is a very long trip from here. 

Jody, my local arranger in Hawaii was working on me returning to present more training in 2022. Sadly the champion for the project at the Hawaii Bar Association died.  Patricia was a dear. And the idea died with her.  

Foodie Friday: Breakfast When Traveling

My favorite meal when I am traveling is breakfast.  I am always looking for a great eggs benedict. I am disappointed when this dish is not on the menu, though I can understand making it properly takes a bit of skill.  

The basic form is a toasted English Muffin*, a layer of ham, a poached egg and hollandaise sauce.  The primary variations are the underlying toasted bread, and the meat layer.  

I am not a big fan of american biscuits or corn meal based breads for this. House made English Muffins often lack the texture of commercially made ones. The bread is not a deal breaker for me. 

The meat layer is traditionally "canadian bacon" really ham.  I have had some wonderful variations with smoked salmon, crab cakes, pulled pork, and shredded beef. It should be something that is enhanced by egg yolk. The key here flavor balance and enhancement, not overly dominating. 

The one above I had at the Sheraton in downtown Phoenix.  It was not the best. If featured house made corned beef. The beef was tough, stringy and overly salted and there was a lot of it.  The eggs were over cooked, the yolks were firm not runny. It was disappointing. 

I seldom make this dish at home.  A perfectly poached egg takes practice and skill, I seldom am happy with mine.  Hollandaise is a bit of work for one breakfast, though I think all of us should learn how to make it. The French have that right, you have master sauce making to be a good cook.  

I will keep trying on the next trip. 

* English muffins are more American than English.  An English Crumpet would be close in structure and texture.  

  

The Thursday Ramble: A Horse of A Different Color

The main campus of the University of Louisville has long been home to a colony of albino squirrels, an inherited genetic anomaly. The squirrels are white, with red eyes. It is considered good luck for a student to see one or more of the albino squirrels on the way to an exam. Pure superstition, but I did well taking a long walk across campus on the way to exams. 

Most squirrels in North America are grey. Grey squirrels were imported into Great Britain, I have no idea why. Probably as retaliation for Britain sending starlings to North America. The Grey squirrels have proven to be aggressive, squeezing out the native Red Squirrels. Sorry! The Reds are prettier. 

I was on a walk in Old Town Alexandria on one of our warm early spring days, and saw the black squirrel above. A rare sight. And he let me take a couple of photos before scampering up the backside of a tree and out of sight. 

My grandfather was a hunter.  After World War II, my grandmother refused to cook squirrel.  She said it was too much work, for to little. I will eat almost anything.  I don't think I have ever tried squirrel.   

My World of Wonders aka The Wednesday Ws March 12th edition

What am I looking forward to? Bon Voyage this time next month. 

Where have I been? The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (we had tickets for three shows in two weeks.) The Library, the pharmacy, the grocery store, the gym, the pool, the Renwick Gallery, and Lunch at GCDC (Grilled Cheese District of Columbia.) Mt Vernon for a nice long - very long walk.  The UPS store, Trader Joes, Harris Teeter, a morning of running errands. 

Who have I seen this week? The water aerobics people, Ruth, Warren, Paul, Giuseppe,  and Mike. My sweet bear. Susan and Anna for our first friday LGBT community gathering.  I made pizza this month, it was a huge hit.  

What made me angry this week? We have a dear neighbor who recently retired with about 40 years of service in the Federal Government. She managed a major program, bringing honor to the country, doing really world-class work.  She is receiving a lifetime achievement award for her work.  Her father had received the same award about 20 years ago. It will be the first time the award has been given to father and daughter. The awards event was scheduled for early April, then delayed, then cancelled. They will mail her the award. Someone decided that honoring people in person who have spent a lifetime doing extraordinary work, is government waste.  She deserves better. Acknowledging achievement and accomplishment shows the person the world cares, and sets a standard for others.   

What saddened me this week? The actor Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead in their home a couple of weeks ago.  Law enforcement and the medical examiner released this week, that she died first of a respiratory virus. She was about 30 years younger than he was. He died several days later.  He had dementia, she was his caregiver, with no one else checking in on them.  It is sad, that he lingered, lost in the fog of Alzheimer's. The point, establish a habit of communicating with someone outside your home. If that is missed, reach out. The quarterly security report for the condo association where we live, shows that security did 18 wellness checks in the last reporting period, 12 of those resulted in needing medical attention, and a couple of deaths (there are over 1000 apartments in the community.) I trade daily text messages with three people, good morning - we are still alive. 

What am I watching?  A lot of YouTube, Glen and Friends cooking, Escape to Rural France, the Pethericks and others that interest me. Entertaining and no American politics. 

When will the weather start to get warmer?  This week. 

What do I want to say, but don't?  A friend of mine posts everytime HWSNBN goes golfing for the weekend, which so far has been every weekend. What do I want to say and don't? I wish he would stay on the golf course for the next 4 years.  I don't care what it costs to secure the golf course and haul his fat orange ass back and forth, he does less damage when he is cheating at golf. 

What am I reading? The last couple of books were not worth mentioning. I have finished 21 so far this year. 

What is on my calendar for this week? Whatever I want to do, no meetings or appointments. 

What do I tire of? People whining about the price of eggs. I just picked up a dozen pasture raised brown eggs at Trader Joe's for less than $5.  Ten years ago when I started frequenting the farmers market on King Street, I started buying eggs from a local farmer. The Chicken Man took very good care of his hens, and it showed in the quality of the product.  I was paying $5 a dozen for large, $6 a dozen for jumbo or duck eggs ten years ago.  Raising chickens is a lot of work, and fraught with many dangers that can wipe out the flock overnight. The birds require constant attention.  It is time we pay the famers what they are worth. The Chicken Man dropped the market during covid, I miss him, and his silly chicken jokes. You are highly unlikely to go bankrupt paying a couple of dollars more per dozen for eggs. And feeding this conversation, just helps those who voted for HWSNBN justify their vote in the face of overwhelming chaos.