under the big top in glen arbor, michigan
there’s always lots of action in all 3 rings
and then,
we relax and look ahead to another adventure tomorrow
Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going,
don’t take anything too seriously,
it’ll all work out in the end.
David Niven
—
animated image credit: bil keane
the aussies have finally landed on the continent
and the little joeys have been like this since their arrival in nyc.
can’t wait until they hit ann arbor on sunday night.
—
jet lag is your soul trying to catch up after flying.
ryan ross
and i couldn’t be happier.
part of my family lives down under.
and soon
they will be up top with us for a while.
and i will have my dream
of all of the daughters
and all of the sons in law
and all of the grand babies
in one place at one time.
and it is sure to be an adventure.
—
Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.
Gail Lumet Buckley
during my foray into the world of being a travel agent, (one of my early careers), my boss decided that i was ready to take a group out on an adventure, (herself included, and along for the ride,) so if found myself as ‘leader’, taking a group of 250 women on a long weekend cruise to the bahamas.
my job was to oversee the group, see that everyone had everything they needed, handle any ‘crisis’ on board, get them where they were going, and to make sure they all made it back. i figured this was easy duty, as my boss was a ‘church-going’ woman and these were women she knew through her church, and i imagined them to be quite tame, as groups go.
well, imagine my surprise when it ended up being one long, crazy weekend, far beyond what i had envisioned.
the waters near the bahamas had been hit by a hurricane not long before we arrived on the scene, so the sea was very rough on the first night. and i should have taken this as a sign.
we had all dressed up for a formal dinner and one by one, we dropped out, and passed each other on the way back to our rooms, nodding to each other, and looking like a bunch of very drunk sailors. i threw up in a giant planter along the way, just to set give you a feel for how rough it was. and it was everyone for themselves that night. it was all i could do to crawl into my bed and stay there, in the fetal position until morning.
when i awoke in the morning it was a beautiful day, calm waters, blue sky, and new beginning.
and from that moment on, no one slept for 3 days.
this was one of the most ‘free-spritied’ groups of women i’d even encountered. everyone was pretty drunk the entire time, there were ‘interactions’ with the crew, people were all over the place, and i decided the only way to keep track of everyone was to ‘enter the belly of the beast’, make sure no one got arrested, hang out with them, and let the sleep fall by the wayside. we quickly bonded, they were friendly and fun and welcoming, and we went on adventures on the islands together during the days, and when we came back to the ship at night, we always participated in whatever activity was planned.
on this particular evening, it was ‘talent show night,’ and i figured it was a way to try to keep everyone in one place for a while if some of us performed. a little group, my boss included, decided to perform as the ‘dancing california raisins.’ i was the only one who was not african-american in a group of 250 women, so i stood out a bit and they billed me as ‘the golden raisin’. and then it was our moment.
our elaborate costumes were made of stuffed trash bags and tights. and we gave it our all.
and won first place.
they must have quickly seen how talented were were.
here we are receiving our trophy.
and through a lot of good luck , and some sort of intervention from the universe,
and a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell policy,’ we all made home.
including the trophy.
and it still has a place of prominence on my desk at home.
—–
Tranquil as a forest, but a fire within. Once you find your center, you are sure to win.
Mulan
i traveled back from visiting my family in australia with this little gem in my bag. it was a super cool dino, who screamed like a banshee for 20 seconds when you squeezed its belly, and it was going to be a amazing and easy gift for baby j back in the states, when his birthday rolled around in 6 months.
once on the trip, a unexpected logistical issue arose. periodically, and without any pattern or warning, i would hear it shriek in my carry- on bag. and, periodically, i would explain to those around me, and in customs and security, that it was simply a harmless toy, gone a bit bad. it was important that it made it home, as it was a gift for my grand baby j, one he simply could not live without.
through some miracle of human kindness, it was allowed to travel all the way with me, and once home, i happily put it into my ‘box of upcoming and unusual gifts that people in my life cannot live without.’ every so often, i would hear it’s happy shriek, a bit muffled and coming from the box. i could not wait for the big day!
finally, j’s birthday was on the horizon and i took it out to wrap. i thought again about how he would be so happy to get this gift and annoy the whole family with it for hours on end. that is when i squeezed it myself,and noticed that things had clearly changed. now when i squeezed it, it would not make any noise at all and then when it finally did, it simply would not stop the shrieking for a long, long time!
i called my family in australia, and my daughter suggested that it may have a battery inside that needed changing. who knew? she actually was right, and i wrestled a battery out of it, unwinding the screw that was the size of a fairy hat, and found a replacement after a visit to numerous stores. at last, it had stopped screaming.
i took it to school to have my teaching partner do the required surgery to replace its life force, as she is much more tech-savvy than i, and thought the problem would soon be solved. the good news, is that it now had a fresh source of power, the bad – it refused to stop shrieking again, as soon as she put the battery in. she quickly removed it once more, and i decided to present it with its guts torn out, thinking i would replace its insides on-site, for dramatic effect. and i couldn’t leave the battery around, as he was little and might swallow it, so it had to be an all or nothing choice. this was turning out to be quite an amazing and easy gift!
i arrived at his house, and told the family the backstory and proceeded to insert the battery once more. of course, it began shrieking again immediately and baby j loved it! and the rest of the family hated it and asked me/begged me to remove the battery immediately! i took it back out and we found the above unusual note on the neck tag of the dino/banshee. and it kind of made sense.
we also discovered the reason that it may not have worked exactly right.
apparently the toymakers had imprinted it, but forgotten to actually add this button to the toy.
so, we decided to ignore the warning note and took things into our own hands. the outdoor fire pit was too snowy to work.
we took it back indoors, but we decided we would probably be killed by the fumes, if we followed through with its execution by fire.
so we threw the battery away, deep in the trash.
and dino joined the others who found themselves in the pile of extinct toys.
it was a long journey, but somehow we managed to all have a lot of fun with it.
and that was the gift.
—
The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth
François De La Rochefoucauld
even the flamingos came out at night to play – dominican republic
“We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds. We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious. If we smile at someone, he or she will smile back. And a smile costs nothing. We should plague everyone with joy. If we are to die in a minute, why not die happily, laughing?”
Swami Satchidananda
very recently – warm and easy near the equator, nice way to wake up,
with a call from the sea, bringing news of a day,
where the biggest question is which size coconut to choose.
—–
and even more recently – warm and tucked in, home again in the great white north, nice way to wake up,
with a call from the weather robot, bringing news of a snow day off of school
where the biggest question is which size down comforter to choose.
——
Traveling is seeing; it is the implicit that we travel by. Cynthia Ozick
here.
where i’ll be in less than 24 hours.
see you all when i get back.
A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in. – Robert Orben
—
image credit: dominican republic ministry of tourism
got a message from my good friend’s husband.
seems he’s taking 12 of us on a mystery trip to celebrate her milestone birthday.
he said, ‘pack your bags, and we’ll all meet at the airport.’
he said, ‘you won’t have to worry about a thing, it’s all taken care of.
your part is just to get some days off of work.’
Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour. Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up (and that’s an invitation), roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up (to make a reservation), roll up for the mystery tour.
The magical mystery tour is waiting to take you away,
Waiting to take you away.
Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.
Roll up (we’ve got everything you need), roll up for the mystery tour.
where are we going?, i wondered.
i imagined we might be going to chicago, where i was born, and just a few hours away.
it’s a bit chilly there in the winter, but always so much fun.
“The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon, center, exits the water during the Chicago Polar Plunge, Sunday, March 2, 2014.
A few weeks ago, newly-minted Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon invited Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to be a guest on the show. The politician responded on Twitter, agreeing to stop by the Tonight Show if Fallon in turn agreed to participate in Chicago’s Polar Plunge — an annual dip into freezing Lake Michigan to benefit the city’s Special Olympics.
Fallon agreed, and this morning, he made good on his promise. Both Fallon and Emanuel plunged into the slushy 32-degree water — the comedian wearing a suit and tie and the politician sporting some kind of wetsuit. Fallon had asked his fans to wear neckties in solidarity.
he said, ‘and bring your passport.’
imagine my shock and awe when i found out we are going to the dominican republic instead.
it’s a bit warmer there in the winter, and sure to be a lot of fun too.
local dominican celebrity host, exits the water of the caribbean,
no neckties needed.
i see my path, but I don’t know where it leads.
Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it. – Rosalia de Castro
—-
image credits:
conversationpieces.co.uk,ephemrasociety.org,runawayguide.com,grammarly.com,
washingtonpost.com,andrewnelles/ap,etraveltrips.com,fanshare.com,
songwriters: LENNON, MCCARTNEY, Magical Mystery Tour lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
just as they had many times before, p and her husband s, hit the road and made the journey from detroit to chicago to visit their grown children. they decided to take their time and spend the night along the way, as they were taking their older beloved dog with them, and wanted to make it an easy trip for him.
it was the long easter weekend, and they booked the only ‘dog-friendly lodging’ available, a chain motel, at their target stopping point – michigan city, indiana. this town, once known as ‘the coho capital of the world,‘ is now best known for its outlet malls, casino, and state prison. nyc it is not, but it happened to be located in just the right spot, the halfway point of the trip. they were fine with all this as it was just for a night, and in the morning they’d be off and on the road once again, headed for the windy city.
upon arriving at the motel, they checked in at the little front office, and made their way around the back to find their room and settle for the night. once in back, the first thing they noticed was the location of their room, and the second thing they noticed were the police officers, guns drawn, in defensive stance, aiming their weapons towards the room right next to theirs, involved in a standoff with the current resident. as p’s blood pressure quickly began to rise, s calmly put down his window to ask one of the officers if there was a problem, and if could they come through to get into their room. the dog now had his head out the window too, checking out the action and trying to figure out what was going on. while the officer was dumbfounded, by this request, p’s reaction was swift and strong -‘are you &^%$#@ kidding me?!?! put those windows up and let’s get the %$*& out of here and back to that office!’
s and the dog knew better than to mess with p when she started using symbols in her sentences, and they quickly backed out and returned to the office. when they asked the desk clerk what was going on, he looked at them calmly, saying,’i can’t tell you that.’ knowing there was nothing else available, they had no choice but to take a room, ‘as far away from the guns as possible.’ they didn’t sleep real well that night, but they never heard shots, and there is always something to be said for that. the next morning, they awoke early and headed out towards chicago, happy to be away from whatever had been going on.
chicago was great, the family visit was a good one, and all worries were behind them, as they headed for home. it was late afternoon when a light on their dash suddenly lit up, signaling a problem with the tire pressure. they pulled into the closest gas station and as they checked the tire that looked a bit low, it quickly went completely flat. a guy at the station replaced it with the donut tire and advised them not to drive more than 20 miles on it. it was easter sunday and nothing was open, so once again they ended up at their favorite motel, and requested their ‘usual room’ from the other night. the clerk seemed as surprised to see them as they were to see him.
they got the key and drove to their room, happy no standoffs were in play, and no swat vehicles were parked in the lot next to them. once inside, p went to take a shower, and noticed the shower curtain was missing. now, they’d been in this same room just 2 nights before, and the curtain had been in its place on the rod, so they wondered what possibly could have happened to it, as it was not the usual thing that someone would steal from a hotel room to take home with them.
s and the dog returned to the office, explained the situation to the clerk, who responded in his usual stoic manner, ‘hmm, i can’t say where it might be, but just take the one from the room next to you, the door’s unlocked.’ he truly is a corporate policy man and problem solver who can think on his toes. they trudged back to the room next to theirs, took down the curtain and installed it in their room’s shower. p was at her limit at this point, took her shower and they didn’t discuss it after that. later that night, when all were about to drift off into another restless sleep, they had to wonder if the missing shower curtain was somehow connected to the standoff, and perhaps even wondered what could have been wrapped in it? as for me, i wonder if they’ll return for their anniversary each year, though i think not.
————————————————
This is an elegant hotel! Room service has an unlisted number.
I didn't have my glasses on.... 