Catoctin Mountain

 This morning Offspring #1's family and I took off for Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. The drive was just over a half mile south, past Gettysburg. We hiked to a local overlook where we could see the town of Thurmont, Maryland. The hike was one of those where most of the time you have your eyes on the ground in front of you because of the numerous tripping hazards. There were more rocks to watch out for than roots. We had a good hike. The temperature was about 50 degrees but the wind was gusty and cold. Later we went to a playground in Thurmont so the kids could get rid of excess energy. I had to excess energy after hiking 3 difficult miles. I did try the see saw and found that was more fun than I expected.

Local Hike

 Yesterday, while the kids were in school, my daughter-in-law and I went for a hike up a local mountain. The drive was only about 15 minutes. We parked, took out the hiking sticks, and started walking. We have walked this trail before. Spring has not yet arrived to this part of Pennsylvania. Forsythia is in bloom. Tulips and daffodils are up but not yet blooming. We didn't see any wild flowers and we got mud all over our shoes and jeans. We had a good hike though. Often we could see no signs of human activity so that is always a plus.

An Honest Mistake

 Today I went to the West Shores YMCA where I have been a member since last winter. After exercising on the second floor I came back down to the locker room. Normally I would take a shower after a workout but this Y has had an issue with the hot water ever since I got here nearly a month ago. It takes a month to replace a water heater? This is seriously disappointing. Anyway, instead of finding my lock on my locker I find a different lock and a note that asks me to go to the front desk. At the front desk I learn that another woman came to the front desk claiming her key didn't work in her locker. So they cut my lock. She opened the door to find my stuff instead of her stuff. She immediately shut the locker and found her key two rows down. She was very apologetic. The Y staff were very apologetic. I didn't care. I was not emotionally invested in that lock that I bought in Duluth four years ago. The Y gave me a new lock. None of my stuff was stolen. She made an honest mistake. No biggie.

Black Butterflies

Priscilla Morris is the author of the historical fiction book called Black Butterflies. The black butterflies are what she sees when her art classroom in Sarajevo is bombed and burned to the ground. Priceless books and documents and paintings are burned and the remains flutter to the earth in black, butterfly shaped forms. The story is about Zora, an art professor in 1992. With her mother ill, she sends her husband and her mother to England to stay with her daughter. Zora stays behind to protect their apartment and her mother's apartment. Day by day the conditions in Sarajevo worsen. Snipers are on rooftops. Bombs drop on the city. The electricity is turned off. When it comes back on, about once a week, everyone gets busy baking or vacuuming no matter what time of day or night. Food become expensive and non-existent. People make soup from nettles and dandelions. Zora looses weight. She sells her precious belongings. She tries to continue doing art. She helps a young neighbor girl with an art project. When the paints run out she incorporates feathers and broken glass and other objects. Zora sees dead bodies in the streets. No one comes to take the body of an old woman away so the neighbors pile wildflowers on the deceased. This was a gripping tale. The author is British and she lives in Ireland. Her mother was from Bosnia. The author spent summers in Sarajevo.

 

 

The Truth According To Ember

 Danica Nava is the author of the fiction novel called The Truth According To Ember. This is a contemporary novel set in Oklahoma in current time. Ember is a high school graduate with a few years of community college under her belt. Her education is cut short by her younger brother's need for bail money. Ember and her younger brother were raised by her aunt, her mother's sister, after being abandoned as children. Their father is in jail and has no relationship with either of his children. Ember moved to town because of the many job opportunities available. Ember wants to be an accountant but is currently working at a bowling alley cleaning shoes, cleaning toilets, and delivering food and drinks. She has a party girl as a roommate. Ember finally earns a corporate job by bending the truth. She claims to be white instead of native and she is half white. She claims to have accounting experience and she has some working at the bowling alley but that is not her main job. She claims to have an accounting certificate when all she really has is a course credit in accounting. Ember is a hard-working creative problem solver which quickly makes her rise to the top in the corporate world. Her success angers others. Ember finally has to decide whether to keep bending the truth (a path which leads to larger and larger bends) or come clean which could undo all her success. I enjoyed reading about Ember. I could totally relate to her decisions. On another note, have you noticed the book covers on recent books? All seem to be saturated with color and feature faces on the cover.

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

 This afternoon we attended the matinee performance of "The Wizard Of Oz" at the Mechanicsburg High School theater. Wow, theater performances in high schools have really improved or else this high school has an outstanding theater department. This theater has an orchestra pit in front of the stage but they also had a sturdy walkway around the orchestra pit for extra effect. Grand girl #2 went dressed as Dorothy and brought along a stuffed dog to stand in for Toto. The play had an actual dog on stage today. This was a very placid dog. When the Wizard of Oz was speaking they had what appeared to be XL Roman candles standing beside his image. They used strobe lights  during the Wicked Witch scenes. Throughout the entire performance I never noticed a flat note nor a misstep. The kids did an incredible job.

On Call: A Doctor's Journey In Public Service

I really enjoyed reading Anthony Fauci's autobiography called On Call: A Doctor's Journey In Public Service. He starts out in childhood in New York City growing up with parents of Italian heritage. His father was a pharmacist who never made a lot of money because he was too forgiving of poor folk who couldn't pay their bills. His mother was a house wife until her early death from liver cancer. Anthony attended Catholic school and excelled in school and in sports. As he got to high school he realized he would never make it as a basketball star. In his words, you can't fix short. He went on to medical school. His first project as a public health administrator was the AIDS epidemic that was largely ignored by the Reagan administration. Dr. Fauci had kind words to say about the efforts to relieve illness by both Bush presidents. He had a way of getting along with people like activists. He realizes that activists are at the edge of their patience and cut them some slack. He dealt with the Ebola crisis as well. His thoughts about working with Trump were as I expected. This was an excellent read.

The Anthropologists

 The Anthropologists is on the list of favorite books of 2024. Written by Ayesegal Savas, this book is on Barack Obama's favorite books of 2024. I read it and I just don't see the appeal. The book is a series of discussions or outings by an immigrant couple living in New York City. The couple tries to see their neighborhood and local park as if they were anthropologists. They have one friend in city but few others. They keep in close contact with their parents, siblings, and grandparents back home. They spend years looking for a larger apartment. What frustrated me is that nothing really happened in the story. The married couple spend more time making fun of their friends and acquaintances than anything else. This book was more like a short story instead of a novel in my opinion.

 

Every Day Is A Gift

 Yesterday I walked by one of those free little libraries in Mechanicsburg and opened the door. Inside I found an autobiography of Tammy Duckworth called Every Day Is A Gift. Born in Thailand, she grew up with her American father and her Chinese/Thailand mother plus a younger brother. For a long time her father supported the family well. After the Vietnam war ended, jobs for her father were few and hard to get. Tammy, her father, and her younger brother moved to Hawaii where they were almost homeless. Her father was a veteran and sought help from the American Legion. They applied for food stamps, reduced lunches at school, and got housing. To make ends meet Tammy and her brother would bring food home from school. Her father wouldn't settle for a menial job. One day, in tenth grade, Tammy got frustrated. She told her father off and the next day she got a job hawking cruise flyers in Honolulu. She also sold roses to people in cars on the street. She graduated from the top of her class in Honolulu. Her family moved to Virginia to be near her father's family while she went to school in Washington, D.C. Eventually she joined the ROTC. She wanted to be a helicopter pilot. Not unusually smart, she had to work hard for her grades. While in Iraq flying Black Hawk helicopters through combat zones, her helicopter was struck by an RPG. She nearly died and became a double amputee. While recovering at Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, she became an advocate for other veterans. To this day she is a dedicated public servant. I enjoyed reading her story and I finished the entire book in one afternoon.

 

 

Colored Television

 I quickly read Colored Television written by Danzy Senna. Set in Los Angeles, this is a current novel about a family trying to get by. Jane is an author who had great success with her first book and little success since. She is married to Lenny who makes no money as an artist of abstract paintings. They are the parents of an 8 year old daughter and a 6 year old son who is on his way to being diagnosed as on the spectrum. Lacking money for rent, they house sit for richer couples that they know. The kids are used to moving. Jane has been working on her second novel for 10 years and getting no where. She decides television is where it's at and pitches a television series about mulattoes making life work in the city. This is a dark comedy. I enjoyed reading about this pair of inept parents.

The Winter People

 I am not sure why I read a horror/mystery book set in Vermont. Desperate for literature I guess. I didn't really enjoy The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon. She probably wrote a perfectly good horror/mystery book but this is not my genre.

Living On The Creek

 I am staying in Pennsylvania with Offspring #1 and his family. They live in a brick house bordering a creek. Every morning I look out at the creek through the kitchen window. The creek flows from left to right. Lately there have been pentagrams of ice flowing to the right. Some of the ice shapes are a yard across. Others are smaller. By noon the ice has melted. Yesterday a group of a dozen buffle head ducks were splashing and throwing up water in the back yard. As they gradually moved to the right they were followed by a crowd of thirty Canadian geese. This morning an angler was out there fishing. Sometimes the angler was in the blue boat and sometimes the angler was wearing waders next to the blue boat. All evidence points to fish being in the creek in the back yard. Sometimes the flock of geese will leave the creek and park themselves in the large sloping lawn to rest and eat grass. Living on a creek is a real treat to those who like nature.

Susquehamma Art Museum

 

Last week I visited the Susquehanna Art Museum in downtown Harrisburg. I was the only customer that morning. The museum has free parking in the back (a rarity in Harrisburg). The first floor has an admission desk, a small museum store, and a few exhibits several of which are displayed in the vault. The museum used to be a bank and they still use the vault. Upstairs was a display to textile art. Jordan Nassar is one of the exhibitors. He does textile art which looks to me like complicated tiny cross stitching. Most of the works are by him along but one giant piece is a combination of his art with textile art that he designed and commissioned from other women artists in Palestine. Beside that is a collection of quilts from the American Folk Art Museum. Some of the quilts are from Pennsylvania. Some name the artist. Some are from the early 1800's and the artist is unknown. Here is a picture of one of my favorite quilts labeled "The Rose."

Book Of The Little Axe

 Lauren Frances-Sharma is the author of Book Of The Little Axe: A Novel. I just finished reading it today. The story starts out in the late 1700's in Trinidad as the English are taking over for the Spanish in colonizing the island of Trinidad. A father of a boy and two girls is trying to make a living as a farmer and a blacksmith. He makes quality axes. He makes things for the Spanish such as handcuffs but he doesn't realize, or he doesn't want to realize, that the people wearing those handcuffs he made are from Africa. The father is from Africa too. His younger daughter, Rosa, is rebellious. She is not satisfied working in the kitchen or making healing salves. She prefers to work with the horses and run the farm. At first her father encourages her to be a rebel. Later, as it becomes unclear if black farm owners can keep their property, he changes his mind about Rosa. Later, in the 1830's, Rosa is living in the Crow Nation in Montana. Rosa is still tall, still a rebel, and still trying to survive in a changing landscape. The book was long with lots of tragic consequences. 

More Or Less Maddy

 I am a big fan of the writing of Dr. Lisa Genova. She takes case histories from her patients and crafts them into a fictional story much like Maddy in the book about bipolar disorder called More Or Less Maddy. Maddy is a college student living on her on for the first in New York City. She grew up in Connecticut with her older sister, brother, mother and step-father. She has trouble keeping up in college and goes to the student health center to get a pass for taking exams later. The physician writes her a script for an anti-depressant. Taking the medicine culminates in a period of manic behavior where she believes she will help Taylor Swift write her autobiography. Although her mother never said, her father had bi-polar disorder too and that is why her mother left him. Over the next few years Maddy struggles to accept her diagnosis. Her mother tries too hard to control the disease which only makes things worse. I enjoyed reading about Maddy. Her older sister's character feels undeveloped and  trite. I suppose a doctor would focus on the illness rather than the people without illness.

 

An Adventure

 

Last weekend I was going to go for a walk. My plan was to walk the sidewalks in this suburban neighborhood. Grandgirl #1 had a better idea. She knew a path that goes behind the town houses, along the creek, under a bridge to an ice cream store. Isn't taking grandchildren out for ice cream on my job description?  I think it is. So we took off. She wasn't entirely sure of the path and it took us 50 minutes to get to the ice cream shop. Once there she had to sample 3 flavors before making her decision. I had a child's scoop of Dutch chocolate. As we walked along the river I saw patches of water cress. I suggested we bring a rake and bucket next time and make something out of our foraged watercress. Then I looked it up on my phone. Watercress can contain liver flukes and other bugs. I am not sure how many industrial areas this creek goes through but I do know the Purina Dog Chow factory isn't too far away. We decided to leave the water cress for other people to forage. We did have a nice adventure though.

Mini-golf

 Today there was a birthday in my family so the five of us went out to lunch for sushi. After lunch we headed to Trindle Bowl in Mechanicsburg to play mini-golf. I was not expecting glow mini-golf. The course was very dark. Black light illuminated our clubs and balls. Considering how dark it was and how my cataracts need taking care of, I did okay.

Bye, Baby

 I read Carola Lovering's novel, Bye, Baby, via audio book as I traveled east from Minnesota to Pennsylvania. This is a story about the friendship between two women. Both Cassie and Billie narrate the story. They met as young teens in the summer and became friends. The story ends when they are in their mid 30's.  Billie had issues at home. Her mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer disease. Her mother also had a skeezy boyfriend who looked at both Billie and Cassie with lecherous eyes. Cassie had a loving mother and father and an older sister. Cassie was heavily influenced by her manipulative, rich, snobby grandmother. Billie helped Cassie and Cassie helped Billie but at the same time they were helping themselves. Billie is a serious student. Cassie is on her way to being a gold digger. Will their friendship survive? This was an interesting book. Cassie, as a gold digger and annoying influencer on Instagram, was one sided. Billie's character was better defined and more relatable. 

The Bus Driver

 Yesterday was the last day of school for the week. My grandgirls had Valentine's parties with juice and cookies and Valentine's Day cards. Both had decorated containers full of Valentine's Day cards and treats and presents. As the school bus rounded the corner near their home their bus driver asked, "Hey, is your Grandma in town? Is that her yellow car?" This is the same bus driver that toots her horn at us when we walk to school. It's nice to be known.

Three States Per Day

Saw this neon sign at a Mexican restaurant in Youngstown, Ohio.

 Yesterday I drove from Minnesota, through Wisconsin, and into the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Today I left Illinois, drove through Indiana, and into the suburbs of Youngstown, Ohio. I left early because Chicago was expecting a 3 inch snow storm. I didn't see any snow but for the last hour of my drive I experienced a light rain. In my hurry to get through the 460 mile trip I took the turnpike which cost me nearly thirty dollars in tolls. Tomorrow I am only going in two states and the mileage should be only 270 miles.

The Half Moon

 Mary Beth Keane is the author of The Half Moon; a contemporary novel about married life in a small town. The married couple are Malcolm and Jess. Malcolm's dream was to own a bar called The Half Moon. His dream comes true. Jess' dream is to graduate law school and become a mother. She is a successful lawyer but she and Malcolm have fertility issues. They live is a small town within driving distance of New York City. One winter weekend a snow storm shuts down the city and they are left to figure out what are the important things they want together. I enjoyed reading this story about a nice guy like Malcolm and a strong female character like Jess.

Before And Again

 Barbara Delinsky wrote the novel Before and Again. Published in 2918, this book tells the story of MacKenzie Cooper. After a tragic accident in Connecticut, MacKenzie leaves town and heads to a small Vermont town where she works as a make-up artists and makes clay kitchenware in her spare time. She changes her ;name to Maggie Reid to avoid the notoriety she thinks she has. A friend's 16 year old son gets into trouble for hacking computers. The publicity from that puts her anonymity at risk. Maggie is lacking in a lot of things but she is loyal to her friends. I enjoyed reading this large print edition (oh, the joys of getting older).

 

 

Tits, Boobies, and Loons: Are Ornithologists Okay?

I picked up this book, Tits, Boobies, and Loons: Are Ornithologists Okay? at my local library. This is more of a picture book than a book book. Each page has a drawing of a bird with it's common and scientific name and then a comment about how inappropriate the name is. This took me 5 minutes to read and I have to say it was funny. The author is Stu Royall.

The Path Between The Seas

 I finally finished the 590 page book about the Panama Canal that I borrowed from the free library on the Norwegian Joy. The Path Between the Seas by David McCullouogh is a history book about the Panama Canal that included arguments about where to place it. Some people wanted Panama. Others wanted Nicaragua. Nicaragua has a natural lake that would make construction of the canal easier in some respects. Many people (most had never visited Panama nor Nicaragua) were very influential in the decision where to place the canal. Finally, the frequency of volcanoes and earthquakes in Nicaragua was crucial to using Panama. At the time Panama was part of Colombia. The United States supported an uprising to create a new country of Panama. The book starts out with the French attempt to build the canal. When their efforts failed, reputations were tarnished including Gustav Eiffel (Eiffel tower) even though his involvement was secondary. France left their trains and digging machinery which the Americans used when they took over the effort. History books can be dry and this one is dry in spots. I found it fascinating how the Panama Canal led to medical breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of yellow fever and malaria. I felt bad to learn of the unfair work practices for the workers of color.

 

Come And Get It

 Kiley Reid is the author of Come And Get It. This is a novel about a resident assistant living in a dormitory at the University of Arkansas. Three female students are featured in this tale about shaky boundaries between a resident assistant and her students. Through a thin wall the students and the resident assistant spy on each other by listening to each other's conversations. A visiting professor asks the resident assistant for help in interviewing students. Without the students nor the resident assistant's knowledge or consent, the professor uses the details of their lives in writing an article in a fashion journal. When all this comes out lives are ruins and reputations are shattered. I enjoyed reading about the characters in this novel.

 

The Woman In Me

 I listened to Britney Spear's autobiography called The Woman In Me. Britney herself reads the prologue but the rest is read by a very slow reading woman. The voice sounds childish and innocent. Britney, like many other people, was born into a poor, dysfunctional family. Her family had very little money until she started winning contests and appeared, with Justin Timberlake, on the Mickey Mouse Club. From then on Britney was a meal ticket for her parents and her younger sister. Britney loved to perform and she loved to please people. These two personality traits led to her being taken advantage of by her parents. They took advantage of her financially and emotionally, going so far as to lock her up in a mental institution and forcing her to go to AA when she didn't even drink. Her father was an alcoholic. He is the one who should have gone to AA. Luckily Britney got out of the situation. The credit for this success goes to her fans who started wearing shirts that read, "Free Britney." This was a very sad tale. In some ways she is still an innocent child.

Hang The Moon

 Years ago (maybe a decade?) I read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I loved the book and I loved the movie too. I also liked this book called Hang The Moon. Again it is the story about a dysfunctional family with a strong female lead. Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of Duke Kincaid, the man who runs the local town. The whole area in Virginia gets by making and selling moon shine during Prohibition. When Sallie is 3 her mother is killed during a terrible argument between her mother and the Duke. Now that she is eight, her father has remarried and has a son. Sallie tried to help Eddie. Eddie is timid and smart. He is not at all like Duke and Sallie who are brave and boisterous and athletic. Sallie tried to help Eddie but this results in an accident. Eddie is barely scratched but Sallie is banished from the house until she is 16 and her step-mother dies from the flu. The story of how Sallie manages her life is interesting. The plot is very convoluted and I didn't think all those secrets were necessary to the plot. If the book is ever made into a movie I'd watch it.

Spare

I read two autobiographies lately. One was Spare by Prince Harry. Harry was born into wealth and privilege yet he complains about his lot in life. The death of his mother, Princess Diana was devastating for him. Instead of the family pulling together to support each other, his family positioned themselves for favorable outcomes in the future. Although he is called "my darling boy" by his father, his father and Camilla willingly throw him under the bus as an irresponsible and politically incorrect buffoon in order to increase their own ratings. Reading this book made me glad to be born into a non famous family. I agree with Harry about the morally corrupt Rupert Murdock and his newspaper practices that are illegal. Rupert's newspapers have talented lawyers that allow them to get away with crimes by only paying out money and never admitting to fault. Harry refers to himself as a spare as he will not be heir to the throne. Maybe he should count himself luck on that point.

 

Leave The Driving To Us

During my cruise vacation I used a variety of modes of transportation]. I got a ride to the airport in a Subaru. I took a plane, a bus, a cruise ship, a bus, another bus, a van, a glass bottomed kayak, another bus, several tourist boats with fabric covers, a ferry, a rented SUV, and more buses. When the vacation was over I was not interested in flying from Miami to Minneapolis. So I took the Greyhound back. Greyhounds are not like as depicted in old films. They do not pull up to small town diners where you can get coffee, a cheese burger and a slice of cherry pie. The Greyhound stations have vending machines that often don't work. Some won't take cash. Some won't take cards. Some won't take bills; only coins. Healthy choices are not available in vending machines. Some Greyhound stations have bathrooms. The station in Miami had an operable men's room but the women's restroom was locked most of the time. The bathrooms vary in cleanliness. Some of the buses had WiFi and electrical plug-ins and some did not. I arrived at the Miami airport Greyhound station a little after midnight. My bus left at 9 a.m. I was planning to sleep in a metal chair. At 3 a.m. it was announced the station was closing until 4 a.m. I was advised to wait in the airport rental car lobby. I tried that. Between the noise of other customers, the floor cleaning machine and the floor waxing machine (which was as loud as a Harley with loud pipes), I barely got any sleep. I went back to the Greyhound station. Nine a.m. came and went with no Greyhound. I double checked my ticket. My ticket was for the next day. I could not do this another 24 hours so I changed my ticket to this day. The Greyhound desk staff was friendly and helpful. Now my bus left at 3 p.m. I had lunch (a salad) from a food truck parked down the block. Chickens were everywhere in Key West. Chickens were also in Miami. This handsome rooster was expecting a hand out but got nothing from me. 

 My bus left at 3 p.m. We stopped at Orlando and some other towns in Florida. All was going well until midnight. We were outside Gainesville, Florida when someone in the back yelled at the driver that a man was having a seizure. The driver, unwilling to stop, asked if he had seizures before. The two women asking her for help got frustrated. One woman said, "You don't understand. This is a 911/emergency type of situation here." The driver sent her assistant back. The assistant was an older man. He returned to the front and told her, "He seems okay, I don't know." The ladies in the back protested. The driver pulled over and dialed 911. She spoke to the 911 operator.

Using her microphone she asked the sick man, "Have you ever had seizures before?" 

He said, "No."

Next the driver asked him, using the microphone, "Have you ever had a heart attack, stroke, or transischematic attack?"

In my head I am thinking this is a major HIPPA violation. The man, wisely, did not answer. The Greyhound driver announced that she was calling 911. I can see why she made that decision. We waited ten minutes. Another passenger said she had first aid experience and would check on him. She checked on him. She said he seemed okay but he was warm. Someone else in the bus said, "We are all warm. Please turn the AC back on." An ambulance arrived. Two paramedics came on board and went to the back of the bus. Two more paramedics arrived and walked to the back of the bus. A total of seven paramedics arrived and walked to the back of the bus. Five of them left. Two of them stayed. They asked reality orientation questions. He answered them. Who is the vice-president of the United States? He refused to ride in the ambulance. The paramedics left and we proceeded. This took about 45 minutes.

Twenty miles down the Florida highway we come upon flashing lights. The time is after 1 a.m. and I am still awake. We see smoke. We smell smoke. The young couple across from the aisle across from me quit making out. The young man says, "This smells like a wood fire. This does not smell like an electrical fire. This does not smell like a machinery fire. This smells like a wood fire. Someone is having a wood fire along the highway."

 I look at him and ask, "Are you a fire fighter?"

He answers, "Yes, I am a fire fighter."

 Makes sense to me. We continue our Greyhound journey.

We arrived in Atlanta at 10 a.m. My connection to Chicago left at 10 a.m. I missed my bus. I got another ticket that left at 3 p.m. Another guy on my bus named Mike also got another ticket but his wasn't until 10:30 p.m. We spoke about our troubles. Mike is thin. He smokes KOOL cigarettes. He has a smoker's cough. His hands tremble. All his luggage fits in one shopping bag. I watch his bag while he goes outside to use the internet WiFi from the Greyhound bus and smoke a cigarette. He watches my stuff while I walk around the block at the Atlanta Greyhound station. I come back. He asks, "Did any of those guys hassle you?"

I answer, "No, they left me alone but this is a sketchy area." I wish him well on his journey.

When it is time for me to go I show my ticket to the Greyhound employee. We are actually boarding a Flex bus, not a Greyhound bus. I ask the employee if my luggage should go under the bus. He indicates it can go under the bus or above the bus, it does not matter. My luggage goes under the bus. This Flex bus has no Internet. I try to conserve the battery on my phone but the link between Atlanta and Chicago is a long one. I was smart to bring my crochet hook and some yarn. We stop at a gas station for 15 minutes. I am back on time. We are all back on time except for one chubby black guy. He is hanging with the staff from another Greyhound bus. Our driver honks. Our driver starts driving away without him. Finally he quits talking and runs to the bus. Our driver scolds him saying he made us all wait. The guy says, "My apologies!"

 Later the chubby black guy orders chicken at a gas station. He is not quick enough. The driver makes him leave without his chicken dinner. The chubby black guy is not happy. Magically, at the next stop, a chicken dinner is delivered to the bus stop for him. How did he do that? I don't know.

We drive through Georgia. We pick up people in Indiana. Chicago has two Greyhound stations. I get off but it is the wrong one. I'm glad I asked. I would hate to be stranded in the south side of Chicago.Inactivity can lead to swelling of the feet and legs. My feet and legs started swelling yesterday. Now my legs are really swollen. I could not find the jeans in my suitcase so I am still wearing shorts with yoga pants underneath. My swollen legs are stretching my socks and yoga pants. My driver says, "You need more clothes. It's cold in Chicago."

 We arrive. I thank the driver for getting us here on time. My next bus is already boarding. I don't even have time to urinate much less charge my phone. My next driver is tall and handsome. He is scolding a man for not having patience. I show my ticket. He says I am in seat 8B. The people he is scolding tell me, "You have a seat! Get on the bus!" 

I say, "Okay, I will get on the bus. I am new at this so I need assistance." I find my seat. I am seated next to a man spreader. His foot is on my side. From Chicago to Saint Paul I am in contact with his foot, his thigh, and his elbows. I find him to be very irritating. Also I am grumpy so maybe it's me not him.

I ask, "Is there electricity?" The electricity is on his side. He plugs in my phone. I am so tired I try to sleep. After an hour I hear a thud and I hear the man spreader say, "Shit." That was the sound of my phone falling to the floor. I know that but I don't care. I stay semi-asleep. When I wake up my phone is missing. My white charging cord is there but no phone.

I wake him up. "Where is my phone?"

He reaches under the seat. "Here is your phone." He hands me my charging cord too. By this time the sleep and food deprivation has moved my personality to the grumpy side. I am a grump. At 7 a.m. we come to the Wisconsin Dells MacDonald's. I have been without my morning coffee for days. I am going to have a coffee. 

 Our grumpy driver says we will be here for 20 minutes. He says we should not wait 15 minutes and then try to make an order. We should make an order immediately.

I attempt the McDonald's computerized ordering system but there is no way to ask for an egg McMuffin without meat so I wait at the counter for a staff. My man spreader seat/mate says, "Miss, I don't think anyone is going to take your order. Do you want my help in ordering at this station?" He is being nice but after he's been man spreading all night I am not taking in any niceness from him.

I respond grumpily, "No I will wait here." We all wait a long time.

With great pride I pick up my order before he picks up his. I swallow my egg mcmuffin. My throat seems to have trouble coordinating a swallow. Whatever, this is a meal. Almonds and cheese sticks are not enough After living on snacks I needed a meal. I carry my coffee to the bus.

Do I need coffee? No, I can live without coffee. I don't get a caffeine withdrawal headache. Am I happier with coffee? Yes, yes I am happier with coffee. We cross the Saint Croix river into Minnesota. All the passengers are looking at their phones or sleeping. I grumpily think to myself that this is scenic. Open your eyes and look out the freaking window. This is amazing scenery. I keep those thoughts to myself and look forward to getting off of this bus.

We arrive at Union Station in Saint Paul. Offspring #2 is already here waiting for me. I find my way to the parking area. Offspring #2 has a coffee waiting for me.

I am done with Greyhound. Thank heaven!

Lessons learned 1. Greyhound is affordable transportation but maybe not the best way to travel the country south to north. A shorter route is preferred. 2. I don't need coffee but I am a happier person with some form of caffeine. 3. I need to sleep in a bed at night. Chairs don't cut the mustard.

 

My Day In The Gulf Of Mexico

When I booked this ferry ride I thought it included lunch and snorkeling. I didn't realize I would be gone from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Plus we got breakfast.

I got to walk to the right of this part of the fort along Bush Key. Normally this part of the national park is closed to tourists because it is a breeding ground for sooty terns. No sooty terns are breeding yet so I had a nice walk along the key look at the sea.

I found a pretty purple sea fan.

As I walked along the beach I watched a dozen brown pelicans fly and dive into the sea with great vigor and no success. I took 16 pictures of the pelicans and when I looked, I captured zero pelicans. Photographing on my phone in bright sun light is difficult.

Hello ruddy turn stone.

Somebody made a collection of conch shells.

We left at 2:45 in order to arrive at the Key West port by 5:30. I stood out on the deck in the sun and the wind listening to 70's music over the speakers. I especially liked Come Sail Away by Styx.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dry Tortugas National Park

I drove to Kay West and took a ferry for 70 miles to the Dry Tortugas National Park. This mason fort was built during the Civil War. The most famous prisoner was Dr. Samuel Mudd. Dr. Mudd was planning to kidnap Abraham Lincoln when John Wilkes Booth impulsively decided to shoot him instead. His cell was on the second floor right above the entrance you see behind the fort sign. He helped treat patients during his stay. Prisoners were allowed free range of the island except when ferry ships came in. Then they were supposed to stay in their cells. Dr. Mudd managed to escape on a ferry but they found him again.

We were told that this fort needs work. Bricks fall to the ground on a daily basis. Some part are so dangerous guests can't enter. People can go to the second floor at their own risk.

 

Key West Lighthouse

Here is the Key West lighthouse as viewed from the grounds of the Hemingway residence.

 

Hemingway House

This morning I left Homestead and drove south on Highway 1 to Key West, Florida. The drive was pleasant. Tomorrow morning I take a ferry to I wanted to figure that out early. Here is the Ernest Hemingway house. Admission for me was $18. I took a guided tour. Key West has numerous chickens running around town.

Important people visited him like Herbert Hoover, Mark Twain, Marilyn Monroe and Truman Capote.

The grounds outside reek of cat urine.

In this portrait Hemingway (left) is portrayed older than he looks. The man on the right was the fishing captain depicted in his book The Old Man And The Sea.  I think it's a great adventure story.

When Hemingway was in Europe messing around with another woman, his wife got angry. She demolished his boxing ring and put in a swimming pool.

The wall of wives. He had four wives.

In the 1930's he acquired a white cat and named her Snowball. She had six toes. Snowball had many friends in the neighborhood. Outside are many cateries, cat nurseries, cat feeding and watering stations, and cat foot prints in cement. The outdoor grounds reeks of cat urine. Some cats are in the house but it doesn't smell as bad as the outdoors.

Hemingway had a problem with alcohol. For a year he and a buddy rented a local bar for three dollars a week. When the owner raised the rent to 4 dollars a week he got angry. He and his buddy rented another bar a half block away. If his friends brought furnishings from the old bar to the new bar they got free alcohol. When they brought the urinal from the old bar Hemingway insisted he should keep it because of all the money he pissed away in that urinal. He brought it home and put it in the yard. The wife got upset and tried to improve the appearance by putting an olive barrel on top and fancy tile across the front. Now it serves at a fountain for the cats to drink. Outside you can barely see the Key West lighthouse above the trees. Before it was easier to spot and a beacon from an inebriated Hemingway to find his way home.

He put in a walkway from his bedroom to his writing room. He suffered from insomnia and depression so he would often start typing early in the morning. He wrote 70% of his writings from this house in Key West, Florida. He caught many tarpon too. At one point his house was next to the ocean. The US Navy dredged the harbor and added a mile north and south and another mile east and west to the island that was Key West. I imagine it was charming in the 1930's. Now it is very crowded, limited parking, and very touristy. I wouldn't call Key West charming.

 

Chasing Shadows

Chasing Shadows is a historical fiction story set in the Netherlands in World War Two. The author is Lynn Austin and her story revolves around 3 women. Leda is a wife and a mother living on a farm in the countryside. Her eldest daughter, Ans, has moved to the town of Leiden after finishing school. She gets a job as an assistant to a wealthy woman and becomes good friends with a member of the police force in Leiden. Miriam is a young Jewish mother and classical violist who moves to Leiden to escape the horrors of the Nazi government in Germany. Ans gets involved in helping Jewish people hide in the Netherlands. When Miriam and her young 3 year old daughter are discovered, Ams helps them by moving the daughter to her parent's farm in the country side. The daughter grows up knowing about her mother but not remembering her at all. When at age 6 Miriam is finally able to meet her daughter again, the daughter doesn't remember her at all until she picks up the violin and plays a Brahms lullaby. Music helps the daughter and Miriam reunite. Eventually Miriam's husband joins the family on the farm as well. This was a terrific story about family, faith, and sacrifice for the sake of others.

 

Coral Castle

I visited the Coral Castle here in Homestead. If I knew admission was $28 I don't think I would have gone.

This place was build by a Latvian immigrant who was five feet four inches tall and he weighed 100 pounds. This was his bedroom up the stairs. All of his furniture (bed, chairs, dressers) was bolted to pulleys in the ceiling to make more room for him to work when he wasn't sleeping. He used only rudimentary tools such as pulleys and tripods. How did he manage to move 20 tons of coral rock with a pulley and chain designed to hold only 10 tons? No one knows. His name was Edward Leedskainin. They said he was a mathematical genius and probably on the Autism spectrum.

His tool shed was below his bedroom.

That hunk of metal in the middle there is a rear end differential for a car and served as his pressure cooker.

Edward's obelisk.

His depiction of the planets.

The entrance to his well for fresh water.

Edward craved having a wife and children but it never happened for him.