Pacific Specifics

Should I apologize? I can't get enough of the beauty and feeling meditative while riding the ferry. Getting lost in the view. Wondering what life is like on each island. Like they are whispering to me as we sail on by. Hints of people and critters and creatures. So inspirational for a writer like me. The Anacortes ferry in Washington to Sidney in Victoria, British Columbia in Canada is so fantastic. The internet is not working well today. I hope to add more pictures soon. Each day was it's own adventure. Each street was a journey in my mind down the years. It made me think of that movie Back to the Future. Silly me. The first day was taking Ron to see the parlament buildings, and going out to lunch with an old friend, she picked the Sticky Wicket in the middle of downtown. She looked splendid and the meal was lovely. I was there making new memories, yet at the same it was all about the old memories. Like the ghost of Christmas past, right? As a young adult I spent time a...

Today was a strange mini adventure. Ron saw a restaurant that served Somali food and we thought it would be cool to check it out. African food sounded interesting. We walked in and it was noisy with people talking and seemed busy enough. We sat down and then I looked around. I was the only female in the restaurant. For a minute there were 2 women at the counter ordering to go (I guess) and they had head coverings on. I heard a strange language being spoken all around me it sounded pretty cool. I started to wonder if I was a heathen to them. Then some women came in to eat as part of a group and they put up a partition around them, seating them in a corner. The internet says that most Somalis are Sunni Muslim. But trying to understand that will take a lot more reading. I wish I could just sit down and talk with one of these ladies. What's it like to be them? I read that they think the women should avert their eyes. Should I feel bad for looking at the waiter as I spoke to him? I f...

How do I write about my time in Canada? There are so many aspects to it. There is the timeline. There is the tie in to my childhood and family. There is the scenery just on the ferry alone. There is the exploring and showing things to Ron. Up early at 5am and the ferry takes over two hours. Let's start with that. I took ten pictures just on the way there. If you want to see the magic, I am going to show you. It was cold, and it was gorgeous. I can't imagine the colors that would show when the sun shines. The first set of pictures is before we left, waiting for the ferry to arrive. It was a long ride, over 2 hours. It was beautiful and peaceful. And cold. So many small islands full of trees. It was outstanding. I could have gone on the ferry there and back in one day, and it would have been a completely magical day! Every part of this 5 day journey was epic. These pictures are only going there. I need to decide if I want to add the pictures on the way back. Everything was ...

Ajo is the Spanish word for garlic. Pronounced ah-ho. I had a major ah-ho moment earlier this week. I just don't know how to explain myself. I knew better. Why? Why did I cut 5 pieces of garlic in half and fry them up? Well, because it makes the kitchen smell good, and it's good in a dish for dinner. Except I didn't put them in a dish. Right before bed I ate them all, like they were candy. I love to eat them like that on crackers with cream cheese. I just didn't have the other things in the cupboards. Instead of putting the garlic in a meal or in the fridge, I ate them. Regrettably tasty. I knew I would go to bed, sleep all night, and wake up smelling like garlic. I decided to forget how hideous that is. Then when I woke up I was not only oozing garlic from my skin, but I was emitting vapors from certain body parts too. I was so happy Ron wasn't here to share those noxious moments. Good grief. Learn from me, folks. Never do that. You have been warned. Unless you...

The first thing I think of when I see this picture? That it's certainly not the most flattering. The second thing I think of is how it was such an epic moment. I had just gone for a swim in the ocean with flying fish close by. My friend and I went for one last swim on the far end of the beach before flying out the next day. She went back to the States, Ron and I went to Denmark. I also want to tell my friends to not back down from your epic moments. Don't take a less than model perfect picture and hide it away. This was a tidal moment for me. Big knees, big arms, and all. I don't care what it looks like to others. This was a precious moment to me. I had also conquered a fear, because I'm paranoid about swimming in the ocean, and all the things I can't see. I can go in up to my shoulders, but past that, I'm all nerves. This picture reminds me of how my Mom loves me, she bought me that bathing suit that was too big, but that's the way I liked it. I'...

  It has been odd since last night. I wonder what is going on, anyway? My husband crashed at 8:30pm last night. That never happens. The man doesn't believe in going to bed early, naps, or sleeping in. I wish my body clock was like that. I finally went to bed around midnight, and I was in that half and half stage of sleep. Sleep in the time for the body to heal, and the subconscious to take the wheel of the mind. Or the brain, I guess. It's kind of odd really, losing consciousness, and your mind still going while your body shuts down.   I have been looking closely at that relationship between the awake and asleep parts of the journey. Today it seems like the motor is always running, when it comes to the mind. So I thought of how I could relate that my brain is always trying to get "home". " Home" is my Mom's current house that she built, in Samara in Costa Rica. It's on a dirt road in the jungle. So I'm thinking that during the day my synapses a...

  I was thinking about how we are all connected. I was contemplating how Life revolves around opposition. Love and hate. Well, they are related. Maybe love and the opposite is not caring at all. Life and death. Happiness and grief. Yesterday I wrote about the happier part of my life. I don't want anyone to think there is something wrong because their life isn't all peaches and cream. Life is about the sour milk too. It's about love. It's about loss. It's about validating where you are, while still reaching for something bigger, or "better". It's about living knowing that death is coming for us all. It's about loving, even though that's what leads to the greatest grief.   Two days ago my husband's mother died. I want to tell her family: I pray that your feelings of love will swallow up your feelings of sorrow. And yet the love is what causes the deep grief and sense of loss, right? I didn't spend a lot of time with Valrae, but that did...

  Good evening! It's been an exciting few days for me. Minus the two times I wandered Walmart with two different people. I'm not as lucky as some to see people so weird I wish I was brave enough to take a picture of them. It's actually difficult to go our local Walmart because there are many people who I can only guess are Muslim. The reason is that I am fascinated by different cultures, and different clothing traditions. It's hard to not stare at the ladies. Some have their hair covered, some have everything but their eyes covered. The culture here is amazing. I want to talk to them. I want to ask them what it's like to be them. I want to know if they have a blog, so I can see what it's like. I can't imagine moving to a country where I was the only one not covered up. Or how strange (but interesting) it would be to cover up all of me every time I went out. Easier in the winter, tougher in the summer, no?   It has been exciting because I have been writing ...