Maybe because after eight years of trucking and never having a home, and then moving every couple of years while Jack consulted all over the country, I’m pretty much a homebody now. So, while even I have my limits as to how much I can stand being a hermit, chained to the house, I often vote for staycation over vacation. That’s not to say that we haven’t been out a bit in the past several years of living in the great American Northwest. We’ve been to Yellowstone and Seattle, and along the Columbia Gorge. I plan to see Glacier National Park this spring…maybe on our way to Alaska!!! But for the most part, I’m happy puttering in my own kitchen, sitting on my own couch, and sleeping in my own bed.
We have had some great vacations, though. Here are some highlights:
- The two Yellowstone trips. The park is very different in late September
than it is in January! Beautiful either way, but more bison that are also closer in winter, bubbling mud and fumaroles surrounded by snow, and frozen waterfalls. In September the trees had turned and blazing aspens stood out sharply on the mountainsides. We combined the September trip with family, by exiting the park at the east gate and driving across Wyoming and South Dakota to see my mom in Iowa. - San Francisco. Years ago—before San Fran lost its way—we spent a glorious week at a hotel at the Wharf. The location was perfect! The weather was perfect! The trip was… Yes, you guessed it, PERFECT! It was on that trip that I saw a man walk up to a corner café. They had pushed back the walls to allow the sidewalk tables access to the inside. He sat at a table and had breakfast and coffee while he read his paper. His sockless feet were in loafers, his shirt hung out, his hair was slightly mussed by the breeze. I wanted to be that cosmopolitan in the worst way, and sit at that café for coffee. Years later, when we lived in San Francisco, I did!
- London. We spent an unforgettable week in London many years ago, doing a lot of the touristy things. But we also found the Old Bailey and made a virtual toast to Rumpole, stumbled around town until we happened on the Globe recreation, and visited the War Rooms before they were so popular. Such a great time!
- Williamsburg, When you live in Virginia, you’re bound to have gone to Williamsburg. We have, many times. But seeing the historic, restored village is different when you’re staying in a
timeshare. You can go to the restored area when the spirit moves you, and you can relax and nap the rest of the time. 😉 There are some great restaurants in Williamsburg (and lots of good pancake houses!), so it’s a wonderful place to experience history, to golf, to explore the coast, and to recharge.
Of course, while we were on the road, driving, it was almost like having vacation times. Once, in a 10-day period we saw the San Diego zoo and Disney World in Orlando because we could take a few days on each end of our trucking trip. The best part of all of it? We were together!
Which do you prefer: staying home or going away?
Wishing you a blessed 2020. May we all find health, wealth, and happiness, one way or another!
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
One Woman Only: The Good Man Series, Book 2 Jonah’s story! Can a simple mechanic rekindle with his high school love? She says no, but Jonah loves a challenge!
I don’t know if I’ve ever revealed this or not, but I am not the most disciplined person in the world. I used to be better. If I started reading a book, I finished reading the book. If I began a needle work project, I finished the needlework project. If I set a resolution at New Years, I followed through with said resolution.
things differently than when we were younger. When you feel like the whole of life is stretched out in front of you, pushing through that 1,000-page book about earthworms in the Antarctic doesn’t seem quite so bad (I said quite so bad!). You might even make your own annotations. But now? Give me a good 300-page romance and forget earthworms. I leave the 15×15 inch counted cross stitch to someone else to do now, and I usually avoid making resolutions.
Resolutions seem to be fly-by-night. If something is important enough to do, you don’t wait until New Year’s Eve and decide to do it. You weigh the pros and cons and make a logical decision. You make a plan, set a path, and follow it because you know it’s right, not because you suddenly feel overweight after weeks of holiday food. You do it because you need to and when you need to.
Wouldn’t you know it? I messed up on week 15 of the 52 week blog challenge, and have been off count since March or so! I think I’ve been on topic, but really, at this point who knows? 😉
Sometimes it happens slowly. You get up to sunshine. Dress in your favorite blouse and skirt and slip on brand new $200-shoes. You get to work with no problems and prepare for a client meeting. Then find that your favorite blouse has a stain that you hadn’t noticed. Glancing out the window, you see what looks like clouds in the distance. Walking into the conference room your heel on your right foot catches on the carpet and twists your ankle. Out the window, was that lightning? You hobble well enough to get through your meeting. At lunch with the client, you step outside the building into a downpour, and a cab driving by splashes muddy water all over you…and your shoes, which are now soaked and covered with a light layer of street crud.
arrive at the office for your meeting, you decide to stop at your favorite coffee shop for pastries and coffee to go for everyone. Oops! The person ahead of you turns too quickly and crashes into you, losing the cover on her Strawberry & Toasted Almonds Overnight Grains and dumping her Caramel Cloud Macchiato with two shots of espresso all over your skirt and…your shoes. (With apologies to Starbucks!) So now, strawberries are smeared across your boobs and “overnight grains” dangle from your belt buckle. Coffee stains everyplace the strawberries don’t. The double shot of espresso has found a place on the toes of your shoes. And there it is: the beautiful sun slipping behind fast-moving storm clouds.
I knew a 40+-years-old woman once who had stage 4 uterine cancer. Her life had gone from sunshine with a fine husband who loved her senselessly, a beautiful home, lots of friends, lots of joys. to storm clouds with one visit to the doctor’s office. But did she give in to despair? Not in public, she didn’t, though I’m sure she felt it inside sometimes. Instead, she always had a smile. She was actually fun to visit because she made her guests feel at ease. She accepted good wishes with grace and help when she needed it with gratitude. She is one of the most selfless women I’ve ever known, and I’ve always admired her. I don’t know if I could be as giving if I were in her place. She made her last days in her corner of the world a good place to be and she died with peace. I know it wasn’t easy for her, but her attitude was an expression of how she faced all aspects of her life.
I remember my Catechism classes often mentioned temptation. We had the picture of the snake wrapped around the Tree of Life on the wall, tempting Eve who then turned around with an apple pie and tempted Adam. Of course, like many men he couldn’t resist a piece of pie and the rest is history. Temptation, we were taught is the thing of the devil and must be avoided at all costs—or we would be sorry. But is that true? In my life, I’ve given in to temptation lots and been happy about it. I believe that temptation isn’t always a bad thing. Am I wrong? Do the women on the Titanic regret not giving in to the temptation of that French pastry after dinner? I’ll bet they do, and really where was the harm, in the overall scheme of things?
you’re rational about it, it’s a relative thing. Accepted after weighing the negative and positive sides, temptation is not always a bad thing. And it can be fun!
Here’s a very small reason to be thankful: if you are reading this, you either own or you have access to a computer and the Internet, one of the most powerful forces on earth. With the Internet, you can change your life—find a job, find a wife (or husband), shop for a new dress or a new car, check the news, check the stock market—virtually (literally) anything you want.
we like, live where we like (for the most part). In the States (unless you’re on a college campus), you can speak your mind, vote for the candidate of your choice, attend church where you want. Here we live in a vertical society, where—again, with hard work—we can rise in the world “above our station.” We aren’t restricted to a class. If we aspire to become billionaires, we have the opportunity—and lots of us have succeeded.
Each and every day brings new reasons to give thanks. I don’t have a hard time finding them, whether it’s the beauty of a field of golden wheat or a star shooting across the heavens or rolling over in bed to snuggle up to my special person. I hope you find thousands of reasons to be thankful, too, not only in this season but all year long.
As water witch Roane Donnelly faces the biggest challenge of her life, she is unprepared for a man who brings the promise of heartache. Conal Ferguson follows the seven tears to find the sad, lonely woman that will be his. As the ocean water freezes, Conal’s secret brings them together, but will it ultimately tear them apart?
ever wanted. Jesse Thorn has left all he knows behind, disappearing from his world to spare his people all-out war. Yet, when he finds Hailey and they collaborate during a crisis, their true natures are revealed. But is there more here than meets the eye?
Flannery Bishop’s fire ability can certainly warm things up for the Forget-Me-Not community, but she could use a little help. Drayce Olden is a dragon shifter that has undergone the mate quest, a strenuous test of courage and endurance to assure only the strongest survive. Together, fire witch and dragon forge an unbreakable bond of love until a secret from Flannery’s childhood threatens to tear her newfound happiness apart.