And there went April ....

Here we are, well into May and it has been almost a month since my last post.  Bad me.  Each day I had good intentions of posting, god knows I have enough photos!  But actually ...  it was kind of nice taking the break.  I think the thing I have come to like most about blogging is that it's like having a journal of thoughts tracked and stored among the daily ordinariness of life.  As well as hearing from all of you and your adventures.

But let's move on, and let me catch you up on April's events.

You'll recall, we trekked out to Napa Valley in early April.  Here's a couple of images of the Golden Gate Bridge as we headed back to the airport.

When we returned to Philly, Spring had finally begun to make an appearance, 

along with some stormy days.

We journeyed down to Fredericksburg for a weekend to visit our brother-in-law for a few days and his sweet pack of dogs.  We always have a good time hitting the flea markets and sharing lots of wine and laughter in the evenings.  He has carved out a walking path around his pond which is where I captured the below image.  And it must have been there that I inherited the tick I discovered on my waist the following day.  Ewww!  Fortunately, he had not fully attached himself.

Back to Philly, and spring continued to blossom 

with more and more of my birdie friends returning, 

and I caught up with an old friend who visited for a couple of days.

I continued to monitor a major bath renovation in our Rockport home that was started in February.

I had great hopes of its completion by the end of April.  

But as with all renovations, things never seem to run on schedule.  

Ugh.

April was also a time to catch up on some medical appointments.  A Synvisc injection for my cranky arthritic left knee in attempts to hold off replacement.  

And of course, the boob squishing mammogram 

with the continuous good news all is a.o.k.

Another friend from Seattle joined us for a few days to attend The Professor's 

Corporate Governance conference in Philly.

Our friend's daughter had heard of the Mutter Museum and wanted him to check it out.  

So one afternoon, we spent viewing medical oddities and body parts.

Definitely disturbing.

I made a trip down to Anna Maria to check up on our vacation properties 

and deal with some maintenance issues.  

Not much time for any R & R like these folks below, 

but I did get a few bike rides in and a couple of sunsets.

It's a pretty time of the year down there with the terns, skimmers and plovers 

mating and nesting ...  

along with the turtles beginning to return to lay their eggs.

And there you have it.

A full month of family, friends, travels, renovations and a 

'few'

Vesper martinis in the mix

to ease my achy ole soul.

Looking forward to things slowing down a bit this month.

Taking more photos and getting back into the groove of blogging

and catching up with all of you.

A Thailand beach surprise

As I promised in my previous post, we had a big surprise while visiting the Thai Islands.  Our son from Utah, Alex, and his girlfriend, Sam, planned to meet up with us for several days while we were staying in Ao Nang, Krabi.  But that wasn't the surprise.  Alex had been to Krabi before and thought what better time than to come over again while we were there.

Alex and Sam stayed over in Railay, only accessible by boat, which was a short ride for us from Ao Nang.  Railay is surrounded by a warm sea, lush jungle and limestone cliffs.  Perfect for the adventurous, like Alex and Sam.

Of course, there are others who would prefer just to chill out 

and have a wonderful Thai massage.....

.... or hang around reading ....

.... or sleeping .....

or like this kitty ....

watch what others come here to do, 

from all around the world

... rock climb ...

But rock climbing wasn't what Alex came to do.  Alex had other plans.  

As an experienced BASE jumper, he planned to do several jumps on this visit, as he had on other visits.  If you are not familiar with BASE jumping, it is an extreme sport of jumping from fixed objects with a parachute. The name BASE is derived from the fixed objects that are jumped from:  buildings, antennas, spans (like a bridge) and earth (like cliffs). 

One has be in great shape to endure the climbs 

up the backside of these cliffs.  

It took Alex about 3 hours to climb through jungle and sharp, knife-life rock 

to reach his jumping off point.

And he lands ....

The jump was awesome to watch,

but even more awesome was what happened

after he landed!

He got down on one knee in front of Sam and said:

"I thought I'd take the plunge and ask you to marry me."

Well .....  you can see what her response was!

It was wonderful to share such a memorable moment

with family.

Congratulations Alex & Sam.

Looking forward to your Utah wedding in March 2015!

A side note:  One must be alert when packing one's parachute.  You never know when some Thailand kitty may try to rearrange your lines!  Might not make for a pleasant landing!

The down under wonder

It was wonderful seeing all the Thanksgiving posts and families coming together for the Holiday. Thanksgiving has become one of our favorite family get-togethers, so we were a bit melancholy not to share the holiday this year.  Being in Amsterdam now, there was no turkey and stuffing for us. We did have some Irish stew!  But still not turkey and mashed potatoes and oyster stuffing and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pies .... oh my, I have to stop!

With all our wonderful travels, I know I have nothing to complain about.  We are very fortunate and thankful to have the opportunity to travel around the world and experience other people and cultures.  But in all these adventures The Professor and I have had over the last three months, none of it equates to being surrounded by loved ones during the chaotic, noisy, football tossing, puzzle solving, belly-filling time of Thanksgiving.

But here I am, in Amsterdam, still with many photos to share of our last several months of travel. I'm only up to the end of September when we were in Port Douglas (Australia).

The Professor made arrangements for us to spend a day out on the Great Barrier Reef, the 'down under wonder'.  A 'must do' when in Australia!  It was about an hour ride out to the reefs and we were scheduled to visit three sites.

We are pretty comfortable snorkeling, diving not so much.  There were some divers on the boat but actually with the reef within arms' length, snorkeling was just as awesome.  Can you find The Professor in the above image?  I'm already in the water .... waiting.  (That's how it usually is with us ... warm activities, I'm always waiting on him.  Winter activities ... he's always waiting on me!)

The water is remarkably clean and blue 

and the reef so vibrant and alive.  

I didn't capture a lot of incredible fish images.  I wish I could claim the one below, but it was from a disk of underwater life provided to us from the boat company.  

My images were more like of this guy below.  

Do you know how hard it is to hold a camera steady underwater!!!

Needless to say, many of my images were less than sharp.

One thing I was determined to capture, though, was the image of releasing some of my mother's ashes in the Great Barrier Reef.  I had chosen this location with the thought that what better place for her to travel the world than on the ocean's great highways.  So with her ashes secretly tucked in my swimsuit, The Professor and I swam a distance from the boat and others, I opened the plastic container and spread the contents in the water.  The effect was the image below.

It was magical.

Even more magical was to be in the midst of her.

Both of us floating.

To destinations yet held in mystery.

Love you mom.

~ ~ ~

Quietly reflecting

quietly reflecting
i listen to the rhythmic crash of waves
on the rocks below my
bungalow

here
on the other side
of the world

a day beginning
a day ending

a child's voice echoes off
the lush forested hillsides
as i watch a songbird
alight upon
the red tiled rooftop
below

her song
loud and urgent
a melody of purpose

yet

her presence
is fleeting.

as evening shadows
embrace me
i pause
inhaling memories
of transitory moments that
ride upon the wing
of the songbird
as she takes flight

into the night

no longer earthly bound
she soars

here
on the other side
of the world

a day beginning
a day ending

       ~ ~ ~

For Eve, my beautiful and loving sister-in-law, who lost her battle with cancer last week.  Although her presence is no longer earthly, her spirit still sings in the minds and hearts of all humans and creatures that had the privilege of her love.

I will be a bit quiet for a while.

Family

Family.

Some of you are fortunate to all live in the same city.  Generation after generation.  Coming together for weddings, funerals, births, baptisms, graduations, holidays, weekends at the shore.
Unfortunately, our family is scattered about.  Alaska, Utah, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia, Florida.  So family get-togethers rarely happen.  But when they do, it is great!

We had a grandson graduating in Iowa this past weekend and took that opportunity to fly to Cincinnati to visit grandchildren before heading on to Des Moines for the graduation.  We packed a lot of activity into those 4 days.  Grandsons' baseball games, museums, movies, board games, ice cream, pizza, pizza and more pizza!

Our daughter-in-law asked if I would take their family photos at a park before the graduation ceremonies.  "Of course", I said, only to stress myself out over it.  I can shoot birds, landscapes, beaches, skies, buildings  But people??  I'm so awful at it!  I definitely need more practice.  Thank goodness I have a arsenal of editing programs to clean up my poor images.

With that said, I'll share some with you.  All grandkids --8 boys, 1 girl -- except for one, made the cut.  He was busy working ... saving up for that car.

Family.

Part of something bigger than ourselves.

Where we will love and be loved.

No matter what.