Maybe I'm Amazed...

I had the opportunity to spend some time with my son and family relaxing on the shore of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Blue skies, sunshine, and a calm rhythmic ocean symphony from the  waves all certainly contributed to a relaxing vacation...the first one for me in years.
All arrangements had been taken care of beginninng with a Jet Blue flight to JFK. I had never experienced a flight where I had my very own personal TV right in front of me.  There were about 40 channels to choose from and I went in search of Good Morning America. There was NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, HGTV,  etc.  Evidently there was no ABC in the mix. Oh well.
 Following an interesting hour of 'people watching' at JFK, the connecting  flight to Raleigh was announced and we boarded the plane.  After doing seat belts and preparatory stuff, I began channel surfing to watch The View.  Realizing that it was another ABC show, I quipped to my son,
"I am amazed that with 40 channels there is no ABC...it's one of the three major networks!!"
To which he smiled and said,
"We are about to be propelled into the air aboard an 825,000 pound aircraft...and you are amazed that there is no ABC on your TV?"
"Not exactly what I meant!!  I am truly amazed that planes fly. But seriously...no ABC!!!  Not a problem, just surprised...that's all!!"
The week went by quickly.  Sand castles were built, books were read out on the deck, pelicans did  a 'fly over' in formation, and the sandpipers entertained me as only they can do. [my favorites]
And then there were the games played by everyone on the long dining room table.
Competitive Scrabble [among the adults] was a hoot. And when I had the chance [for the third
time] to cash in on the 'triple word' advantage, I played 'haiku' vertically with the 'h' being the last letter of a horizontal word....
'FEH'
My son immediately challenged my word!
"Feh?  Feh!!  That's not a word!  You don't know that is a word, do you?"
"Oh yes I do!!!  You don't believe me?? I'm crushed!!!   I have one word for you then..."

So there!  [I 'm sure I heard it on some ABC show].
Amazing Feh!

Meet you at the New England Aquarium!

With the weekend's focus on Boston, it reminded me of the trip that my son and I made to that historic city about twenty years ago in the good 'ol summertime. Jer and I were traveling from central NY, Janet was driving from NJ [+1 kid] and Patt was vacationing from Arizona [+3 kids]in the city of Boston. Three women[teachers and college sorority sisters] and 5 kids on a 4 day vacation set to begin by meeting in Boston. [And this was before the days when everyone had a cell phone in their possession!] Having a severe case of 'map avoidance' and compounded by my advanced degree in 'Phobically Directionally Challenged', I asked a local friend who had already been to Boston many times to suggest a place that the three traveling friends could meet relatively easily.

"Meet at the New England Aquarium. It's a great way to start the fun, there are billboards everywhere on the highways with directions, and there's no way that you won't be able to find it."

Alrighty then! That became the plan!

The car had a full tank of gas, mother and son had a cooler with our favorite snacks, and the radio was providing the music/entertainment. Yahoo!! Ahhh...all was well! The thruway part of the trip was a piece of cake, but once that ended..the ride became more of a ...'Better hang on...I think it's going to be a bumpy ride!' Needless to say, it was a totally different experience.

I hate maps.

Let me say that again...I hate maps. They are lines and numbers and words that require logic...which is not my strong suit. Give me directions verbally...one step at a time...possibly with visuals helps like...'Turn right at Krispy Kreme Donut Store' ...and I will write them down and follow them with no problem. And I will remember the familiarity for future trips once I've been there.

So when the sign said...'Here's Boston', you would think that the sigh of relief said it all.

However, it is when the aggravation really began.
I saw NO signs advertising 'The New England Aquarium..Take exit 7' or something like that.

I had to ask directions seven times...that was 7 times!

I asked at the toll booth. And remembered the first 2 steps.

I got off of the highway and went into a Ramada Inn to ask the local folks for assistance. They told me to go 'through the tunnel'...through the same tunnel that I just came through?? Yes.

Back through the tunnel...in the traffic...and I mean traffic.

"Do you know the way to.... to the New England Aquarium?"

The last person I asked was a taxicab driver, and I was very close to just getting out of the car and handing over the keys!! I was late arriving at the 'easy to find New England Aquarium'. I finally connected with my friends, neither of whom could begin to understand how it was difficult for me. That would be because maps are no problem-o [!!] for them.

'It's easy! What was the problem??'

I was thinking, "Step back...and no one will get hurt!!"

Well, the party of eight actually had a good time. We explored the Boston Common, Paul Revere's church, and took a boat ride out of the harbor. The best part, in my opinion, was a trolley ride that made about nine stops at historic places. The driver was a history teacher , on summer break, who gave spirited and mesmerizing accounts of all that we saw. It was obvious that he loved what he was doing! And the learning was fun!!

The next trip that we took together was to the Grand Canyon, and, thankfully, the pilot had his own navigator and so getting there was stress free for me!!

Hallelujah!!

A monarch and a matriarch tie for 'natural beauty.'

My brother, Paul, is visiting for a couple of days, and often times when the three remaining members of our original family unit get together, there's some reminiscing about times and places and people. Our pilgrimage to Ireland in 2001 was one of my recent posts. And our last trip to 'Niagara Falls' is also a classic tale.

My youngest niece had never seen Niagara Falls. Paul booked a room at a hotel in Canada that advertised it was 'overlooking the falls with direct access to the casino'. Perfect for Mom who would happy about a shorter walk to the falls, and she has always had an affinity for casinos and a wee bit of believing she might be 'winning enough money' to share with friends and family. My son joined us for the festivities, as well as my niece's best friend who took the virtual tour by phone. As a typical teenager, her cell phone was permanently attached to her ear, and we often asked how her friend was enjoying the trip!

We visited the falls, and the casino, and had a nice dinner at a festive restaurant. We decided to go to the 'Butterfly Conservatory' the next day before leaving for home. And so back to the room we went where others had a view of the falls. We had a view of the back of a wing in the building! Oh well, it was a one night thing, and we settled in for some sleep. Sleep?? At about 3 AM there was a repetitive series of alarms that sounded to me like the fire drill alarm from school. Flo heard it too, and we woke Paul up, who proceeded to call the front desk.

Paul: "There's an alarm going off...what is that?"

Desk: "That's the fire alarm."

Paul: "Is it for real?

Desk: " Well, yes. Fire trucks are here."

Paul: "What should we do?"

Desk: "RUN!!!

To which Paul says,

and ..."What is your name?"

"Robert."

So, Paul left the room to look out a hallway window with a view to the front, and he returned and verified that fire trucks were indeed there. Now we [4] are quickly getting dressed not really knowing what to do. I stepped into the hall, and there were people's heads popping out all of the doors, but it was apparent that English wasn't necessarily a common thread among us. So I retreat back into the room while trying to remember what floor we were on, and where the stairs were, when I see Flo...

She looked exactly like Estelle Getty with her jeans on under her mid -knee nightgown, and her pocketbook hanging off of her folded arms. And I knew she was thinking, "I'm too old for this s***!" If the building wasn't possibly on fire, I would have probably taken a picture for posterity! Priceless!

At the same moment, an announcement repeatedly came over loud speakers in the hallway saying that everything was under control and to:

"Stay in the room."

It didn't really inspire confidence, but maybe was the lesser of two evils. [???]

The next day, the front desk shared that they had been having a problem with false alarms being pulled, and they apologized. We really did want to meet Robert. There was no excuse for his stupidity!! And in the future, our hotel room won't be above the second floor, for sure!!

The butterfly conservatory was the only place that I really wanted to see. After Jer returned from the Buffalo region, we had all breakfast together and proceeded on our way to find those 'fluttering beauties' down the road.It was certainly worth the trip [especially considering the escapades of the night before at the ******hotel!].

It was a 4-5 story building where we entered the butterfiies' habitat. There was lush vegetation, and feeding stations with a variety of fruit for Mother Nature's whispers of color! There were instructions to 'Please do not touch the butterflies.' Many people were trying [unsuccessfully ] to get them to land on them, and settled for pictures instead. My brother's sense of humor may have lead to a heart palpitation or two from the people around us when he stamped his foot on the ground and yelled, "Got him!!" Can you believe that there were many who were not amused?!!

My mom decided to take a little rest, and told us as she sat on a bench , "Just come and get me when you want to leave. Don't shorten the visit because I am sitting down. I'll be watching all of the beautiful butterflies from here."

And then, very slowly and serenely, a Monarch rested upon the Matriarch! My niece was close by with her digital camera taking pictures, and she was able to record this for posterity. I sent the photo into the Post Office, and got stamps made out of this pair of beauties, and sent them to all family and friends of Flo...who then sent them to her on their Christmas cards! She was so surprised !! What fun!!

So glad that the short little trip ended on a positive note. A very natural Kodak moment. God bless ya! and...

A wee bit of this...and a wee bit of that!

In August of 2001, my mom, brother, son, 2 nieces[one with her husband and mother-in-law] , nephew and wife, and I jetted off to Ireland for a week to visit the Homestead and meet with our Irish relatives. Jer and I met the rest of the group at the airport where my brother handed out green caps with a shamrock and our names embroidered on it. We checked in ,proceeded to the gate, and sat down awaiting the boarding call. And here it was:

"Flight # **** to Ireland is delayed due to a mechanical problem, and an announcement will alert you to its new departure time."

Oh great! They encouraged us to go and get something to eat while listening for the announcement. And the next message was:

"Flight 3 **** to Ireland's mechanical problem has been resolved, and we're going to take it out for a test fly. Boarding for departure will follow."

Taking it out for a safety test fly?? Who wants to hear that? Did they think that we would feel better about the plane with mechanical difficulties doing a test run?? And then boarding for a seven hour flight! OOPH!

Well, the plane returned, they deemed it safe, and we had to believe that the pilot wouldn't fly if he thought it would be his last flight. So, we boarded, and off to Ireland we went.

I never slept, but I can't sleep in cars, buses, planes, etc. anyway.
We rented a tank...I mean a car...to drive to our different locations. It was a red standard-shift boxy kind of vehicle and we had to remember to drive on the other side of the road. The roads were very, very narrow and when a bus or truck was coming at you, it seemed huge in its skinny lane. We began counting the number of cones that my brother came into contact with in an effort to avoid a close encounter!!

We checked into the first hotel, and Jer fell onto his bed with a clearer understanding of 'jet lag' and so he did a rendition of Rip Van Winkle for a bit. He was in for a bigger shock as we met for breakfast the next morning.

There wasn't very much that appealed to him, since he doesn't eat eggs, and other choices [black pudding sausage] were really offensive to him. On about Day 5, we stopped to get gas and Jer went inside to find something to eat. He came out with a package of donuts and apple cider and started singing, "My Country 'tis of Thee" in celebration of a real breakfast!!
The other snapshot in my mind in relation to breakfast was about Flo. She was 90 at the time and determined to keep up with everyone. She never did like to be rushed, and even though there was a deadline for breakfast, it was the last straw for her. The elevator door opened, and out she came kind of disgruntled. She spoke into my ear, "I don't even have a bra on!!" Well, I started laughing and said the, "I'm not laughing at you... I'm laughing with you. You just haven't started yet." It was quite the moment in time!!

To highlight a couple of events:

The Cliffs of Mohr were my favorite place to stand and admire Mother Nature's finest. Quiet and serene. The bluest of blue skies and the greenest of green patchwork quilt land areas. I turned around to say something to my son, and he wasn't there. As I scanned the area, there he was lying on his stomach on the edge of the cliff taking a picture looking down the cliff! Holy Mother of God! Even as an adult[22], kids still have the potential to scare the BeJesus out of you.

I was impressed with the overflowing window boxes of flowers, and the intensity of color that many houses were painted. Vibrant colors. And not just a few. And I remember thinking... what a big contrast to the colors of our American houses.

We visited the home of Waterford Crystal, and naturally the Blarney Stone was on the list of 'must go there' .The able bodied among us climbed all of those steps and were hung upside down from the fourth floor to kiss that famous piece of marble. Quite a feat!

Jeremy got to go to a 'hurling' semi-final, and he and Paul couldn't say enough about what a good time it was being among that crowd of animated fans cheering their team on with so much spirit!
I didn't even know that the sport existed!

We found the family homestead, broke bread at the homes of our Irish relatives, and managed to find the home of the cousin where 'the book' of years ago was kept. It had signatures of my grandmother and father when they visited in the late 30's. And signatures of my mother and brother when they visited in the '80's. It was kind of surreal, and 'movie-like' with the drama of finding that piece of our family history. Memorable, for sure.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

Spread some merriment along the path today.

Patience is a virtue...

'The View' has been broadcast from Disneyland this past week. Each day, the View ladies were escorted to their table by a Disney character. Friday's choice immediately brought back a memory that most likely puts me in a category all by myself. It was Donald Duck.

It was 1989 when this little scenario occurred.
My son, Jer, was about 10 and my friend Janet had 9 year old Jennifer jumping up and down with excitement ready to get to it.

"Let's go! Come on...Let's go!"

We were vacationing for 5 days and staying somewhere quite nice within the Disney complex, and the kids were ready to explore The Magic Kingdom. Through the gates we went, and young Jennifer had her autograph book and pen in hand to get the signatures of as many Disney characters as possible. We were through the gates and within 11 seconds, who do we see larger than life?
Well, it was Donald Duck with about 20 kids surrounding him awaiting his signature. Okay, perspective is everything. Jennifer ran right up to the gathering and she was ready to get her autograph book started with Donald as # 1! The other 3 in our 'party' were ready to keep going and catch up with 'The Donald' later on in the day. After all, we had only been in The Magic Kingdom for 11 seconds! So, I politely explained to Jennifer that we could get Donald's signature later as we were going to be there all day...and two more days, too!

Well, Mr. Duck calmly broke away from his little crowd and waddled right over to me, and shook his finger at me. It was like, "Eh-eh-eh!!!" Perhaps he thought that I lacked patience. Not so...but he thought so! It really was quite funny. And I'm sure he thought that I should slow down and chill out since I was obviously on vacation.

The irony is that I am a patient person. One of a very few east of The Mississippi!

Well, I'm out of therapy now. But I think that it was Donald who should have been in therapy. Just because he dressed up as a great big duck didn't give him the right to chew me out...anonymously and in public, no less! It just ain't right!! Stupid duck. Just kidding, of course!!

I'm ok now...really I am. But if you ever find yourself within 3 feet of Mr. Donald Duck, consider yourself forewarned! [hehe]