Holiday Travels

I'm in Orlando, Florida for a stretch of time with the grands alone- yes! Then my daughter and her husband join us in Jacksonville at my sis-in-law's for Christmas and New Years- double yes! I'll write when I can but major family fun is job one.

Happy Holidays to you all, hope your family time is fun too!

A Country You Carry in Your Pocket

A country you carry in your pocket,

stays there as forgotten as pocket lint

but filters your perceptions, marks you plain when 

you walk through the world, it's not only you,

your country is in your pocket, carried lightly

or heavy in its heft, gravid as you meet others

with other countries in their pockets.

Posted too late for Mama Zen's Flash Fiction 55 over in the Garden so here it is for Kerry's Open Link instead. Inspired by Brian at the dVerse Poets Pub who shared the first line in one of his posts. It got me thinking of my experiences living in Italy and traveling around Europe.

To Travel Well

If you want to travel well

you must be prepared to lose things

to lose the certitude of best ways to do things

or right ways or that anyone can know such treachery

to lose the sense of one place as the center 

holding answers for all the world

or that one language can best capture thought

so all others should wrap their tongues around right words

to lose the belief that one religion outranks others

that other beliefs are strange, misguided, unenlightened

or that one culture reigns supreme, the final answer

with keys to unlock all mysteries

if you want to travel well 

you must be prepared to gain things

to gain certitude of best as cumulative

that right energy can be forged collaboratively

to gain ardor that our world is vast and central

and needs protection so answers can be discovered in alliance

that each language builds in a unique world view

not to be neglected even if we choose a common language

to gain the belief that religion's role is to point toward the holy

and that we're all holy within a holy world superceding dogma

that each culture takes its place in the scheme of things as one piece

of the whole which together can shed light on all mysteries

to travel well one must be prepared to be ambushed

by the beauty that awaits day after day

to grow tender toward the children of each place

as they play and meet strangers and live in sometimes unimaginable 

circumstances and call it home yet stay open to travelers

ready to lose separateness and gain oneness and be our teachers in this 

it takes a fearlessness, this traveling, an open heartedness

that stands ready to call sister, to call brother, to say yes.


In response to Poetics: Travel Poetry prompt by Gabriella at dVerse Poets Pub although I missed the deadline and for Grapeling's Get Listed- September with words from "The Art of War" over at Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads. I used capture, neglected, ardor, energy, alliance, treachery and scheme.

Home from Paris

The delights of Paris this trip:

Time with long- term friends, including time to talk about our contribution as elders. We're chatting and laughing at the amusing directions being given by the friend of the woman talking the photo for us.

Roses in bloom everywhere to make Paris even more gorgeous.

Special treats that we savored to mark the sweetness of the occasion.

A Vivaldi concert in a beautiful church with amazing acoustics. It brought my friend to tears.

Two art exhibits (Chagal and Boudin) in separate and lovely venues.

This is the reason I wanted to live in Italy- the opportunity to go to places where I and my friends want to visit. The combination of beauty, history, music and art fills me up and grows me as an elder by expanding my world view and awareness. To share all this with friends since the 80's who can check in at deeper levels, is rare and altogether satisfying.

Travel to Paris

I head to Paris today to spend five days with my friend, Annee, and a friend we worked with in California who's also visiting. It will be a time to catch up with friends, share stories of our past, see more of Paris and even have a romantic rendezvous with my Honey, who's there teaching a program this week. Getting to do this is another one of the perks of living in Italy for these four years and adds to a long list of things for which I'm grateful. Travel to the rest of Europe is easy and since I didn't travel in Europe as a young woman, I enjoy doing it now. A lot. And Paris? How can I not love Paris?

(taken in Notre Dame Cathedral on my last trip to Paris)

Holiday Travel

Tomorrow I leave with my Honey for Trinidad's Rain Forest where my daughter, her husband and our two grands live. I'll be there for Christmas, New Years and the worst part of the winter. I know, I'm spoiled.  I'm yearning to be with family, have time to play and hike to beautiful places, celebrate my birthday, go to the grands' gymnastic classes, see movies in English, play scrabble with my daughter, maybe even do some art with my friend, Bunty, and enjoy life. Oh, and train for a relay race (my section is 6 1/2 miles) with other family members as part of the National Marathon to End Breast Cancer in Jacksonville, FL in February. I've run the marathon, two half- marathons and now the relay  to celebrate my niece's wedding that weekend. It's "our" event as a family since losing my Honey's sister, Peg, to breast cancer in 2007. Her loss and my desire to do something about it sparked my running.

A downside is having only dial up access to the internet which makes blogging difficult (at best). Remember the days of dial up? UGH! There will be occasional visits to high speed land, so I'll keep in touch and share what I can as I'm able.

In the meanwhile, Happy Holidays to all. Enjoy your family, your spouse, and your life to the fullest. Let each person you love know it. Grandmothers, keep your eyes open for the depressed, angry young adolescents and see that they get help. They have a hard time asking for it or admitting to depression and if they don't get it they can distort reality to be something worth destroying. In these days of mental health cutbacks we must acknowledge that people who need help and don't get it can take it out on themselves or others. Both are too costly. Treatment saves lives. Let's do this.

Back Home

I arrived home with my Honey after a long diversion from Ohio to Boston through Toronto to Rome. It was difficult to sleep with images of superstorm Sandy vivid in my mind but, other than that, all is well. We arrived to temps in the low 70's and bright sun turning to a sky full of clouds catching sunset colors this evening. It feels so good to be home, in my own comfortable apartment, greeted warmly by my neighbors, checked up on by friends on the phone. Clothes are unpacked, the first load of wash is in, my Honey made a simple but delicious dinner, the photos are downloaded awaiting editing and we took time out to sip a drink together on the balcony watching the sunset. Ahh, life is good, I'm grateful. I pray for those without simple creature comforts tonight that they may know them again soon for they sustain us.

While I was gone, the bougainvillea flowered:

The coleus filled out:

This sky greeted us:

And turned into a Monet painting as the sun set:

The inconvenience of two days delay in our return home seems slight indeed.

County Clare, Ireland Photos

Found while hill walking:

At a garden center, these made me laugh:

Irish sunset over the sea bid us a fond farewell:

London With a Friend

I've been caught up in the whirlwind of traveling and visiting in London (and Windsor) for the first time. And all of that with a long-time friend.  What a grand time we've had. Even though I've lived in Italy for 2 1/2 years and traveled a good deal around Europe, somehow I've not been to London up to now. That's changed as of this last week. The chance to travel here with my husband and meet up with my dear friend, Mary, was too good to pass up.

It started in Windsor in a hotel directly across the street from Windsor Castle. We looked at it from our room. So day one I toured this magnificent place.

The weather was clear and fine and gave me the opportunity to get some great photos of Windsor Castle, which serves as the weekend home to the Queen or her family members, and houses priceless treasures.

The grounds are lush and beautifully kept but my favorite display (no photos allowed inside) was Queen Mary's Doll House. To see all the castle rooms reproduced in such miniature but accurate detail was delightful. I enjoy doll houses anyway so I spent a long time there just amazed at the workmanship.

London was next on my itinerary and we stayed in a hotel by Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace, past home of Princess Margaret and Princess Diana and future home of her son, Prince William and his new bride, Kate Middleton.

The huge park and gardens were lovely and contained this magnificent tree that I named the tree of life.

Kensington Palace is in the process of a transformation but had an exibit in the meanwhile entitled "Enchanted Palace" consisting of a clever hunt through the shadowy world of the enchanted palace for the names of the seven princesses who have lived at the palace. It included an interactive visitor experience, fanciful pieces of information and displays for each of the princesses, a booklet to write their names, guides galore to give more details about their lives and a prize at the end if you got them all right. Made for a fun afternoon followed by an elegant high tea at the Orangery.

The excitement of a great city of London at night with Christmas coming was everywhere evident. I got some Christmas shopping for the grands done and loved every minute. I can't wait to see their faces when they open their special treats.

Of course, I did some old fashioned sight seeing. How could I not after hearing about and seeing in pictures these iconographic images. I'll just include a couple of night images that I thought came out well.

London theaters had so many choices for shows but not all were both available and affordable. One that was both, was the award winning "Jersey Boys". You have to see this show if you were an adolescent in the 60's. You'll sing along to every song- I sure did. Fabulous songs and a great true-life story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons makes for a incredible musical.

The National Gallery had a photography exhibit on modern actresses and influential women that was stunning but certainly one of the most endearing aspects of this trip was the time with my friend since 1989, Mary. We had time to talk and be together, time to catch up and tell our current stories, time to share and just enjoy each other again. She's a gem and reminded me of the song we sang in Girl Scouts: "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold". You're pure gold, Mary. I'm so fortunate to call you friend.

Develop Curiosity

There’s a common misunderstanding among all the human beings who have ever been born that the best way to live is to try to avoid pain and just try to get comfortable.

A much more interesting, kind, adventurous, and joyful approach to life is to begin to develop our curiosity, not caring whether the object of our inquisitiveness is bitter or sweet.

Pema Chodron
Tibetan Buddhist nun and teacher


A new friend, Christine, visited yesterday and shared a bit about her life journey. She came the day after I received this quote of Pema Chodron. And in a synchronicity, she seemed to me to be a good example of Chodron's ideal of one who has developed her curiosity, not knowing if the results will be bitter or sweet. Christine's been an artist, entrepreneur, furniture maker and wine sales person. She's lived in many places in the US, lost spouses, been seriously ill herself, worries about her sons in the states, relocated alone to the remote village of her ancestors in our region of Abruzzo and experiences all the culture shock that you can imagine that entails. But her attitude is upbeat, positive, and filled with the energy that comes from genuine curiosity. She travels all over Italy drinking it all in. She's fun and interesting to be with.

Chodron praises curiosity, exhorts us to develop it. Then sets up a stark juxtaposition- avoid pain and get comfortable vs taking an interesting, adventurous and joyful approach to life whether it brings us the bitter or the sweet. We just went through the laborious process of renewing our permesso di soggiorno (permission to stay) for another two years and smacked up against the bureaucracy that characterizes Italy. A taste of the bitter. But after five months and two attempts following submission of all documents needed to actually get them, we got them. By ourselves. In Italian. Without the letter we were supposed to have received in the mail setting up our appointment. A sweet outcome.

Our move here 2 1/2 years ago came from a desire to explore Italy and Europe. To experience a different culture, language, environment and history. It has brought in its wake the self-doubt, the uncomfortable, even painful experiences Chodron describes but also the joy that comes from doing something interesting and adventurous that expands curiosity in the process. Chodron uses a strange word in her juxtaposition- kind. Maybe that's her true wisdom, it's kind to ourselves and to others to develop our curiosity. It grows us and enables us to taste the world of another. Sweet.

Travels

I leave tomorrow on my travels and I'm feeling kind of nostalgic, or I'm not sure exactly what. Like serious, pensive, thoughtful. I'm leaving for 3 months and it's the longest my Honey and I have ever been apart. Still, it's  all good. 6 weeks at Crossroads in Antigua where I worked for 2 1/2 years (before moving to Italy) to help out while one of their administrators is on leave. I love it there, the work and the staff and reconnecting with old friends.

Then, for 2 months around Christmas, to Trinidad where my daughter, her husband and two children live. My Honey joins me there to give us a month together. Hooray! A nice long stretch of family time is balm to my spirit, for sure. Interacting with my grandchildren in their environment gives me a whole new appreciation for them. It cements our relationship as well since I get to know them in their own home and appreciate how it shapes them.

Then the final stretch in FL for a half marathon. Unique this time is that my daughter is running in the same half-marathon as me. This is a first for us and we'll be joined by a couple of my nieces for yet another first. Last year I ran the full marathon by myself. It's the National Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville, Florida on February 13 and the last 10 days of my journey. Other nieces, their children and my sister-in-law will be there to cheer us on so it will be great family fun.

So, I'm excited about each phase of my journey and looking forward to each for different reasons. The work, because I love and believe in it and know that treatment changes lives. Family time because this is where my heart is happiest and my roots are deepest and the sprouts are growing and I get to tend/love them to fuller life. And the running because I can when others can't, and I feel good doing it and it makes my body healthier so I can live longer and it shows another choice for how to age to my daughter and granddaughter and nieces.

But still, there's this other indefinable feeling going on. I guess sometimes we're mysteries even to ourselves until clarity happens. Maybe it's the thought, not yet reality, of missing John. I don't know. I'll keep in touch.

Time Out for Family

After 5 days in Ireland, my return to Italy to take (and pass) the driving exam and road test (no reciprocity with USA licenses), I'm now in the USA for a family gathering. It starts in FL with a week with my daughter and 2 grandchildren as well as my grandniece. It's fabulous, of course, but less reliable online services and the reality of 3 children 7 and under makes blogging a challenge. We'll see what I can manage. I'm not feeling too bad about missing some postings because I'm enjoying the moment. The day to day happenings of wee ones can be so fun!  When's the last time you played "I Spy with my little eye something that begins with the letter..." with a 4 year old who can't spell? Hilarious, even to the 7 year old!

Traditional Irish Music Festival

The Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy is Ireland's largest traditional music summer school, held annually since 1973 in memory of the piper Willie Clancy. During the week, nearly a thousand students from every part of the world attend daily classes taught by experts in Irish music and dance. In addition, a full program of lectures, recitals, dances (céilithe) and exhibitions are run by the summer school. All events are held in and near Miltown Malbay in County Clare starting on the first Saturday in July. Lectures, recitals, concert and céilithe are open to the public (that would be me!).

Afternoons and evenings are spontaneous gatherings of the musicians young and old to jam together. Visitors go from pub to pub (or hotel or hall) in search of the music they like best and then stay to enjoy the sessions. The respect of young people for the elders and of the elders for the new ones coming up is evident and infectious. They all play together which seems such a rare but altogether wonderful treat. Anyone and everyone is expected to lead a tune in his or her turn and the others follow their lead.

I went to the couple's Set Dancing one day. That's couples dancing typical dances to the music of ceili bands. The bands delight setting the pace for these complex but fun dances and dancers feed off their energy and incite a good band to be even better. It can get pretty wild with the floor packed with sets of 4 couples in each group and dozens of groups.

You can get an idea of the energy! I found out that there are classes to learn the dozens of dances or at least get started learning, so next year, I have a goal! I had a lesson (thanks, Aidan) to learn one of the basic steps that I need to know to learn a dance. That video is below and a photo. I had a great time, though, so I'm definitely in for classes. I think it'll be a long process!

Fanny O'Dea's Pub

Here I am, your roving reporter in Lissycasey, County Clare in the west of Ireland. I'm visiting my husband's cousins and attending a traditional Irish music festival for the next 3 days but more about that in later posts. Today I wanted to introduce the local pub located just down the street: Fanny O'Dea's.  Pubs in these country areas are not just for drinking but are the gathering spots for local families to socialize, eat, drink, listen to music and dance. They're great, important, fun neighborhood places.

Fanny O'Dea's is an old Irish traditional pub. Not as in the various themed pubs that have sprung up everywhere but as in it's been serving food and drink since 1695 making it Ireland's oldest family run pub! It's located on a main road between the towns of Ennis and Kilrush and offers locals, strangers and passers-by alike a pub to flock to. The house special is the Egg Flip (like an eggnog) and laced with a generous drop of Jamison whiskey.

Daniel O'Connell, in 1828, was but one of the famous customers to sample the pub's hospitality. Much has remained unchanged since the early days  and Fanny's has retained it's old characteristics. The snug, a small separate area where years ago women were required to sit rather than mingle with the men at the bar, is still there as a cozy corner to enjoy with friends.  The fire never goes out in the huge fireplace and is kept going all day everyday of the year. These, together with the Egg Flip represent the customs that have been passed down from generation to generation.

There's also a wealth of local musical talent with every Saturday devoted to traditional music sessions since this western part of Ireland maintains traditional music and dance. The curent owners are direct decendants of the original Denis and Fanny O'Dea as the family is now in its 8th generation of ownership. It exudes the unique warmth and coziness you might associate with an old Irish country pub. A couple of years ago I was in Ireland for Christmas Eve. Can you guess where most of the parish gathered after midnight Mass? Fanny O'Dea's it was! Ahhhh, Ireland.

Travel

Well, here I am in Germany. I'm visiting friends from Maine who used to live in Dusseldorf and are hired back each year to sing with the opera here. Since I live in Italy now, I flew over to see them, the city and attend the opera as well. The weather, which is dicey usually according to the locals, has been spectacular. I've walked all over, had time with old friends and met new friends and just in general had a great time. My morning walks or runs are by the Rhine River. The Old City is closed to traffic, pedestrian friendly and lovely. I've met ex-pats from the states or the UK who have lived here for years. I'm reminded of my experience in Italy with the unique combination of locals, ex-pats from all over and all manner of combinations of couples, countries and languages. It's stimulating, expanding and so interesting. The advantage of international living. This is my first time online since last Tuesday, though. So, I'm just touching base and will be back home on Monday to get back into the swing of blogs and contact with other internetties! See you then.

Back Again

Never again will I be without a computer! My home computer is a 21" desk top I-Mac so not exactly portable! 2 1/2 mos in the Caribbean with spotty access to computers and all dial up- oh my! I soooooo missed contact with my blog and blog friends, to say nothing about their blogs. I went through withdrawal and now I'm looking into an I-Pad! I'm home in Italy right now but tomorrow I head for California in a last minute, unexpected opportunity that I couldn't say "no" to. Just for 10 days though and then back to sink roots deeper here. Spring has sprung in our little corner of the world and was sunny, upper 60's and clear the day I returned. Sat on the balcony and sipped wine while gazing at the mountains and sea. Yes, the Caribbean is great in the winter, but this is so nice to come home to. I'm going to get caught up on the blogs I follow and get back into the swing of blogging again. I found my self missing the contact and the stimulation. Made me determined to keep this important new part of my life, well, part of my life!
All that said, I did have a fabulous time in Trinidad with my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. The world through the eyes of a 7 and 4 year old is ever new and exciting. They see it all as a great adventure and it's contagious. But more about that later. Antigua, good friends and important work was lovely as well. So many stories...

Traditional Irish Blessing - E-Water

Traditional Irish Blessing - E-Water
I received this in an email from a friend and it made me savor the memories of Ireland. I've traveled to some of the places pictured and I have the music on my ipod. It's a lovely blessing and a counter point to yesterdays post. Beauty surrounds us whether it's goddess made or person made. Either is capable of moving us to tears if we let it into our heart. Both make us glad we showed up and paid attention. Both inspire us to do that more.
I send this in the gratitude of the Thanksgiving season.

(click on the title within this box to view)

Paris

Really- where do I start? It's Paris and this was my first visit. LouCeel has a wordless Wednesday and maybe the photos alone will do it, but just a few words, please! 1. The Musée du Louvre, 2. Musée d'Orsay, 3. Aphrodite, 4. The Winged Victory of Samothrace, 5. The Mona Lisa. All in one beautiful place? Paris, sigh...

Ireland

Ireland- land of my ancestors, land of the people I look like, land of my husband's ancestors, land where my daughter spent a semester abroad, land of my deep, deep roots and where I feel at home on a cellular level. Even the weather cooperated with all 12 days sunny or fair except 1/2 day.
Some highlights: County Clare: a visit to John's great aunt Eileen who is a treasure trove of information about the family. She's in her 80's, sharp as a tack and full of stories with all the particulars about John's genealogy on the Kelly half of the Warren/Kelly grandparents. Next time- bring the recorder!

A visit to a pub in Doolan where we heard traditional Irish music played by locals and drop in visitors to this famous site of great trad music. And an opportunity to see up close and personal our favorite fiddler, Martin Hayes, who takes traditional tunes and fiddling to a whole new level. We love this music and live is even better!

Watched Zoe, John's cousin, Aiden's, daughter, launch her singing- at- weddings career with her friend accompanying on the violin. Her voice is a tiny taste of heaven.
Saw Aiden's other daughter, Dawn, who's almost finished her studies and is in love with her new profession of midwife. It's such a joy to hear the stories of someone who loves what they're doing, whatever the profession. Met her son, Noah, for the first time and got reminded of how much sheer fun a 3 year old can be!

Drove around with Aiden and his newly retired wife, Geraldine, (we swapped beginning impressions of this life phase) and took in again the unspoiled beauty of this county Clare. Photo is Lissycasey, County Clare.

County Cork: Good friends, Tom and Ann, are just fun to be with. We laugh a lot. Ann is also newly retired and we started our conversations about what this phase is all about for us and how we'll discover more of what it can be. How rich to have friends with whom to talk about this, friends on this journey. Did our mothers ever ask these questions?

Traveled to Kilarney and Kinsale, 2 jewels of West Cork. Kilarney is altogether lovely! We took time to walk a park and castle grounds, take a boat trip on the largest of its lakes, visit the renovated central church, eat, see an ancient waterfalls, and stand at the point overlooking the lakes named for the Queen's ladies who also liked this spot. A delicious day that by no means took in all there was to see and, so, set the agenda for our next visit. And Kinsale is a picturesque historical village that is charming in itself and set in this gorgeous coastal spot that kept us oohing and aahing the whole day. And to find a sunny place to sit outside a pub overlooking the town at the end of a beautiful walk was perfect!

Because I'm learning another language, I was very aware of how rich English, as spoken by the Irish, is. And is it just me or are Irish drivers relaxed and polite? They also queue up in lines in such order. I knew I was home when I went to my flight to Rome and the Italians rushed en mass for the front of the line. Boundary tapes were removed and everyone jostled forward. Okay, that's the spirit!

Made me shake my head and smile but I did have to wonder (again) about this whole St Francis calling us here rather than to Ireland. Do saints make mistakes? I've had glimmers of a call to craft a new role for grandmothers as respected elders in our culture so we can bring our wisdom to the issues of the day. Now wouldn't that just be easier in a country whose language I speak? I'm just asking. Hmmmm.

Travels

I'm in Ireland seeing family and friends and more of this lovely country. But I don't have consistent access to high speed internet. I'll post when I return. Travels put things into a whole different and wider context. It's good!