The Thursday Ramble: Thankfulness

 

For my readers in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving. For all of my readers, take a moment today to reflect on all of the things we have to be thankful for. 

We wake up each morning to a fresh day, a new start. 

If you are reading this, you can read, you have internet access, and some kind of an electronic device that science fiction 50 years ago. 

We miss those who are not here with us today, because they were an important part of our lives. Celebrate that they were a part of your life. 

The United States holiday of Thanksgiving has it roots in harvest festivals of the past. Marking the end of the season of hard work, giving thanks for the bounty of the earth, and wishes that the harvest will sustain us until the next season. My ancestors were at the first Thanksgiving festival that English refugees celebrated all those years ago. 

I am thankful for:

Reasonably good health, 

A comfortable home, 

Good food, 

Fresh Water, 

Friends, family, 

For being able to read and learn, 

For an education that changed me as a person, 

For having been able to help others live a better life, 

For my daily walks, 

For all of my blog friends, 

For enough.  I have something Elon Musk has never had, and that is enough. When you find enough, you find inner peace. 

Have a Wonderful and Thankful day! 

My World of Wonders - aka The Wednesday Ws The last one for November in 2025

 

Where have I been this week?  The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to hear the National Symphony Orchestra. The MGM Casino at National Harbor (before you worry, I lost $2 playing video poker and I had a nice walk inside on a cold blustery day.) King Street.  The treadmill in the gym, the pool, an long drive out to Fairfax Virginia in search of art supply stores. Mt Vernon for a long walk in the cold. Fresh Market and Trader Joe's for a little shopping. 

Who have a talked to this week? My sweet bear. The Arts gang. Paul, Giuseppe, Larry, Ruth. 

Who have a traded messages with this week? Spo, Sassy, my sister. Kell who is planning a long delayed trip to Florence. The Arts gang. 

What have I been up to in the Kitchen?  Chilli, Steaks, roast beef, baked bread to make dressing for Thanksgiving.

What is happening in the photo above? The crew is putting a bow on the green package, lifting it in place with electric chain falls from overhead, in the Atrium at the MGM Grand Hotel at National Harbor. There was a crew of 15 people changing out the Atrium display for the winter holidays when I was there the other day. 

What made me go Huh this week?  While out and about, we decided to have lunch at McDonalds, something we rarely do, and I almost always think this is the last time ever.  We waited 25 minutes for our order to be filled.  Will I ever again? 

What is happening? Our old friend Kent is going to be in town for the holiday, and we are meeting for lunch on Saturday. Next Monday is a big arts party, then on Friday we are installing an art show. The party and the show opening being on the same week is driving me nuts. 

 

Travel Tuesday: Into the City

One morning recently I was in a mood for a train ride. I left early, taking the condo shuttle bus to the subway station. 

Two stops on the subway, I got off at King Street Station and walked across to the Alexandria Railway Station.  I bought a ticket on the Virginia Railway Express train into Union Station in Washington DC. This is a commuter train, running on the mainline tracks. A full fare one way ticket was $5. It is only about a ten mile ride. 

I found a seat on the upper level facing the direction of travel. Great views. 

The exit out the front of Union Station, across to the Capitol Building. 

The Folger Shakespeare Library, is behind the main building of the library of congress, I was an hour too early to see the inside (I will go back.) 

A nice new passenger waiting area at Union Station in DC. 

One of my favorite views, crossing the River on Long Bridge from Virginia into DC. The alignment of the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument was accidental. 

Monday Mood: Get Away From It All

The quote below was the subject line of a marketing email from the cruise line for next springs grand adventure: 

"Save on Wi-Fi so fast, you’ll forget you’re at sea"

Oh hell NO. The photo above is what you want to be mesmerized by on a cruise. If you are going to spend your days staring at a screen, on your phone, on a tablet, or on a laptop, stay home.  On our Atlantic crossing last April, we did have Wi-Fi, it was included as part of a discount package, and honestly it was terrible.  It was spotty, working one minute and not the next, it was SLOW, and it had built in preferences, Facebook always loaded, blogger often took five minutes to load. I won't do that again.  There will be about ten days next spring when I won't be able to reply to comments. A digital detox - many of us need to do that from time to time (fret not, I will schedule posts so you have something to read each day.) I will get away, by getting away and not dragging my wonderful electronic world along with me every minute. 

Last Thursday evening we attended a National Symphony Orchestra performance.  There was a couple, about ten rows back from the stage, who spent most of the evening staring at their phones. I guess the Orchestra was just background music for whatever was engaging their minds.  Sad really that they found it impossible to escape into the glorious noise for two hours. 

I often miss calls to my smartphone. I leave it on the desk or the bedside table when I am in the other room, or I have the ringer turned off. If it is important, leave a message, and I will call you back. Even better send me an email, I will read and respond when I can. 

My mood this Monday. Ready for a digital detox.  

The Sunday Five: Thankfulness

Thursday of this week is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. A pause, after the harvest season, to give thanks. 

1: Who are you thankful for having in your life this year? 

2: Who have you met this year, that you are thankful for? 

3: What have you left behind this year that makes your life better?

4: What have you learned this year, that makes your life better? 

5: What adventure from this year, will be thankful memories for years to come? 

My Answers: 

1: Who are you thankful for having in your life this year?  My Sweet Bear, my blog friends and readers, the water aerobics gang, the arts committee, and my sister. 

2: Who have you met this year, that you are thankful for? Amy and Linda of the arts committee, they are dears and so helpful. 

3: What have you left behind this year that makes your life better? I drastically cut back on Facebook and reading the news, my life is better for this. 

4: What have you learned this year, that makes your life better? That most artists worry that their work is not good enough, create anyway. We are our harshest critics. 

5: What adventure from this year, will be thankful memories for years to come? Visiting St Andrews in Scotland. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post - 50 States in 52 Weeks - Washington

I have been to Seattle several times for meetings or conferences, the cruise we did to Alaska back in 2008 was from Seattle.  Washington State is the farthest northwest state in the continental United States. 

Back in the summer of 2019 I had a board meeting in Seattle, and then rented a car for a week to drive around the the State of Washington.  We went north from Seattle, and toured the Boeing Factory, the last 747 freighters were working their way down the line.  We went north from there, with a couple of ferry crossings to the waterway that separates the United States from Canada. We took a whale watching boat tour and had incredible pie on a native American reservation. Over a couple of days we worked out way west to the farthest northwest point in the continental United States. Then turned south along the Pacific Coast.  Shortly after crossing into Oregon, we turned Northeast, and visited Mt St. Helens. Drove west from there deeper into the mountains and then back to Seattle to return the rental car, spend a night in a Hilton across the street from the airport and fly home. 

It was an amazing trip. I would do it again anytime.  

Western Washington is rocky, forested, wet and beautiful.  The mountains are amazing, and the plains east of there are fertile. Seattle is home to tech giants, and Boeing. 

When you have a chance, go and explore this beautiful corner of the country. 

Funky Friday: Parking Stories

It must have been a wild night, some Wizzard left their broom behind. 

Back in the 1980's I worked for a home builder that had a landscape maintenance crew, a couple of guys and a truck and trailer full of mowers, leaf blowers and rakes. The lawn guys were often young and colorful. One of them was late one Monday morning, he explained, that he had gone to Nickel beer night at Rosie O'Gradys Church Street Station on Saturday night, woke up on Sunday afternoon in bed with three strangers of various genders. He couldn't remember where he parked his car. Finally about 8:00 AM on Monday morning, the police informed him that his car had been towed from the front lawn of the Federal building downtown Orlando. He had no idea how the car ended up there. Fortunately the police just wanted him to pay the towing charges.  

One of the project managers at AARP, had a son with schizophrenia. He borrowed her car one weekend, had an onset of being unwell and left the car idling at a traffic light in DC, and took the subway home. The police found the car a couple of weeks later, parked under a bridge with a young lady running a "small business" out of the backseat. Practicing the oldest profession as they would say. Her insurance company insisted that if they had the seat cleaned there was nothing wrong with the car. She was creeped out by the car and sent it to auction the next week. 

My exes, first ex, was known to over indulge in alcohol. He once walked away from her car, left it idling with the keys in it, at a traffic light, and went drinking in a nearby bar. He was very angry when he came back a couple of hours later and the car was not there. That was better than the time he hit a boat on the expressway - after one to many beers. 

Sweet Bear and I moved in with one another a year or so before I finished my BA.  He registered my car with campus security so he could drive it to work if needed, or I could drop by to pick him up.  As a result, I had a faculty parking sticker the last year I was a college student. The faculty parking was much closer, but the student lot had nicer cars in it.  

I have led such a quiet life, but I have known a few colorful people. 

Thursday Ramble: My Golden Years?

A comment from a neighbor and post by Doc Spo, have me thinking about the best years of my life.  I am nearing two years since I retired. And I have been thinking about what that means. 

In my mind it is hard to fathom that I am old enough to be retired. I remember my paternal grandfather retiring, he seemed so old (and would die in less than 5 years.) In reality he was about the age I am now. My parents retired early, in their late 50's, then went back to work for a few years and retired a second time in their 60's. They didn't really seem old to me, until their health started to seriously fail in their 80's. But here I am past my middle 60's and no longer working for a living. 

At the pool recently a friend was commenting on his retirement. He worked for a major auto manufacturer for 30+ years, and retired. Was bored and went back to work a few months later. Then they told him he had to work weekends, and he said, "No I don't - I quit", and that was the end of work for him. 

He said that for most Americans our identity is so closely tied to our work, that retirement is a struggle of self identity. How to self identify in retirement is an adjustment that all of us must make.  Almost two years in, and I still struggle with this. I am retired, but then I tend to add what I am retired from, tagging my current identity to my past identity.  I knew this would be a challenge for me, and I will keep working on it. 

We are taught to not talk about money. We are warned as older adults to not tell anyone about money, scammers are always looking for a pot of gold, and family will suck you dry just as fast. 

I have read that the greatest risk of poverty among middle class retirees is an unwillingness to spend the retirement savings that we have spent a lifetime saving. From childhood we are told, taught, to save for the future, no one really talks about what you do with it in the future.  Stock brokers are eager to offer advice that generates commissions for them, and continues to build the size of the portfolio, after all the more you have - the more they can potentially make. 

We have reached the point in life when we are no longer saving for retirement, and yet we find ourselves reluctant to spend against what we have saved. I watched my parents do the same, Dad's investment account was more than twice as much when he died as it was when he retired 30 years earlier. Yes they drew income from it. They lived well, but they should have lived even more comfortably. 

I am struggling with this. Worried that spending $234 on a replacement lens a couple of weeks ago was not absolutely necessary. And our obsession with not talking about money makes this harder. This is still a work in progress. 

What am I most enjoying? Being in charge of my time. I can take a walk, or head to the pool whenever I wish. I can book travel that takes us away from home for a month at a time. Things I couldn't do when I was working. It has taken a couple of years, but I have replaced the social network of work colleagues, with friends and neighbors. I have time to explore my creative interests. I have time to stroll through museums - one of the great joys of living in the DC area is access to world class museums. I can check out a bag of books from my local library, and read all I want (74 books so far this year.) I have time to play in the kitchen, allowing yeast to rise, pickles to ferment, roasts and stews to slow cook for hours. I enjoy it. Cooking is not something I need to do efficiently at the end of a long day of devotion to duty. 

At best, I have maybe 20 more years to do this, if I hit the national average life my life expectancy is closer to 10 years. I will focus not on the years in my life, but the life in my years.  

My World of Wonders - the Wednesday Ws November 19 2025

Where have I been this week? Into DC for a long walk, Mt. Vernon, the Troll Park (it has reopened) down along King Street, the Farmers Market, the Pool, into DC for lunch with Erica, the library for a restock, the Mt Vernon Recreation Center for a tour, the Community Center for an Arts committee meeting, Oxon Hill Farm across the River in Maryland - before becoming a park it was the farm for St. Elizabeths Hospital - the largest mental hospital in the area. The treadmill in the gym, the MGM Casino at National Harbor. 

Who have I talked with this week? Sweetie Bear, Amy, Linda, Warren, Marcell, Erica, Tom, Yadi, and Deirdre. 

Who have I traded messages with this week?  Spo, Sassy, my Sister, Louraine (who is in Paris for the month), Erica, and Omar. 

When is the next adventure? We booked travel for a board meeting in San Antonio in early February. Sweet Bear is going with me.  

What have I been up to in the kitchen?  Beef veggie noodle soup, pork roast, a baked pasta with Italian sausage and lots of cheese, and round steak with roast potatoes, broccoli.   

What am I reading? Page after Page - a book about writing. 

What is on the easel? An abstract nighttime city landscape. 

What am I grateful for this week? That I am not traveling over next week's Thanksgiving holiday.  It is so much more relaxing to just stay home. 

What am I planning for Thanksgiving?  Turkey, stuffing, and a veggie. The fruit cakes are ready, I re-boozed them last week.  

What made me sad this week? News of the passing of Harper hound at Doc Spo's.  She had a good long life and was very loved even by those who never met her. 

Travel Tuesday: A Sunday Afternoon Walk in Old Town Alexandria

The Raven Knows 

My unkind thought was that it was a couple of weeks to late for Halloween 

 

Monday Mood: Still Learning

 Dora over at Having Coffee With Peppy, wrote about reading and writing, and learning the fundamentals of the three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic - apparently spelling was not in the basic skills list.) And that got me to thinking about how learning those basic skills, 60+ years ago, has shaped my life. 

I had difficulty learning to read, my brain is one of those that recognizes a word if the first and last letters are in the right place and more or less the correct letters are in between in any random order. Once my I made the leap to reading without being worried about spelling (yes my brain works that way) reading was easy. 

The first winter my family spent in Florida, the Spring Hill community center offered a class in speed reading. My father wanted to take it, and talked me into going along. He struggled with it, I took to it like a duckling to water.  It was short adult education class (I was just a teenager) that changed my life. I still read 30 to 60 pages an hour. 

Spell check was life changing for me. First it highlighted my spelling mistakes. Second by working through the corrections, my spelling has vastly improved over the past 30 years.  Third I write faster than I did when I was checking the spelling in every sentence against a copy of 30,000 words. 

Dr. Dee McGraw (she was amazing) at Rollins taught a seminar in advanced writing. The format of the class was to read a set of source materials, write an essay on based on those materials. Then reread the source materials, and add some new source materials, and rewrite the essay, we did this four of five times over the course of the semester.  That class taught me to research and write. Not by burying myself in endless research before putting pen to paper, but by starting, reading, and editing as an ongoing process.  

Serving on the Journal of Family Law in law school taught me the value of good editors. Good editors make writing clearer, without changing the meaning.  There is only one editor change that to this day I regret not fighting against. 

I still read lots and lots, I still write, I still explore the world, I still practice. There is an old saying that as long as you are green you are growing, as soon as you are ripe you start to rot.  I am still green, still growing, still leaning. 

The Sunday Five: Creative Writing Prompts 2.0

1: Who blocked the doors?

2: Why did they block the doors? 

3: Is this for your safety or the safety of those inside? 

4: What will happen to the building? 

5: When will the doors reopen? 

My answers: 

1: Who blocked the doors? The office manager at Dewey, Cheatem and Howe blocked the doors, 

2: Why did they block the doors? the party was getting out of hand, and word had gotten out on the streets that they were celebrating a major victory that would impose a 50% wealth tax on the 1%, and the place was being mobbed, 

3: Is this for your safety or the safety of those inside? she had to block the doors, the place was dangerously overcrowded, and more people wanted to join the party, endangering those in the space and those who wanted to crowd in, 

4: What will happen to the building? in a day or two the plasters, painters and flooring people will come in and redo the interior, new furniture will be ordered, there is already talk of turning the place into a grotto, a pilgrimage site for the average person, 

5: When will the doors reopen? work will recommence in a few days, when the party dies down, and everyone recognises that there is still work to be done. Much work, many more changes that must be made. 

Please share your answer or answers in the comments, it can be five answers, or a single narrative, be creative, and have fun. 

Oh, the real answer is this office building is being converted to apartments, with million dollar views of the Potomac River. 

The Saturday Morning Post - 50 States and 52 Weeks - Virginia

Virginia is near and dear to my heart, I have lived in the state of Virginia since late 2008. I am not from here, but I have chosen to live here. 

Virginia was critical in the American Revolution, several of the founding fathers of the country lived in Virginia. George Washington, the first President lived about 8 miles south of where I do, he had dinner the Fairfax family a week before he died, in the Fairfax family home, located just in front of the building I live in. 

Virginia stretches from the Atlantic coast to the appalachian mountains in the west.  It boarders Washington DC, and Maryland on the north, at one point it is less than 2 miles from Pennsylvania. To the south is North Carolina. The western border is West Virginia and Kentucky, parts of the original British colony of Virginia.

Virginia has a deep, and at times troubled history. In the todays world, government and defense are major employers. 

There are still parts of the south east and west of the state that I have not explored. Something for us to do. 

I like it here, I chose to live here.  
 

Funky Friday: Running in the Past

It would be hard to tell by looking at me today, but I was a crazed runner from mid 1987, until late 1997. A decade of running, and also cycling, and a bit of swimming, and an hour of weight lifting five mornings a week.  Looking back at it, it was healthy in a very unhealthy way.  

My first race was in 1988, a sprint series triathlon, 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run, my finish time was 1:09. I really learned to swim properly, so I could do that race.  And I bought a decent bike, soon to be replaced by an outstanding bike - that is still hanging around my life.  

I ran mostly 5k races, almost every Saturday morning from October through about April, in Florida, the road race season is winter when the weather is cooler.  I did two seasons of sprint series triathlons, then work and school got in the way. There were a couple of 10k (6.2 mile) races in the season, I had to arrange the day off from work to do those and be on time. There was an annual half marathon in Orlando, in early December.  I ran and finished that twice. The first time was miserable, and I wished I was dead the next day. The second time was just unpleasant, and made me question why? 

Training carried on year around.  I ran every-other day. A typical work day, would have me up at 5:30, running on Park Avenue in Winter Park by 6:00, to the gym before 7:00 an hour in the weight room, shower dress and check in at the office by 9:00.  Work until 6:00 and two evenings a week, go to class from 6:45 to 9:30.  I would ride my bike, 30 to 50 miles each day on my days off, usually in the middle of the week.  

Looking back, it was a strange and funky time.  I was running from myself, changing myself, afraid of who I was, who I am, and at the same time trying to be the person I wanted. 

There were some wonderful runs, early mornings in Savannah, London, Amsterdam and Paris, gliding by seeing my reflection in the windows in the early morning light. There is a magic in running, floating along, to an internal rhythm. It always took me the first quarter to maybe first half mile to settle in, for my breathing to become comfortable, for my heart and breathing to sync up, then time both stood still and moved in a flash. Fatigue and pain came later, usually after the run (except for those cursed half-marathons.) 

I am glad I had those experiences. But I also realize that I pushed too much, I obsessed.  I didn't eat well, I didn't get enough rest. I was being superman and trying to do it all.  

Why did I quit? That is an even longer story. 

Why don't I go back to running?  Age, weight, titanium in my spine, it just isn't good for me. 

What is my current hopefully healthier obsession? Walking an hour a day, and 45 minutes of active movement in the pool.  Not the same, but it does feel good. 

 

Thursday Ramble: It is that time of the year

It is the time of the year when the weather turns cooler, even cold at times, and the leaves mature to yellow, gold, and red and drop by the billions. It is a very pretty time of the year. We have reached, or may be just past the peak of the fall color season.  A couple of wet and windy days and the trees will be bare until spring.  That could happen any day, I have seen many years where the last of the leaf cover hung on until the end of November. 

Two of my favorite vendors at the farmers market were telling everyone that last Saturday was the end of their season, see you next year.  One is a small organic farm that has amazing vegetables, the other a heritage orchard that had the most wonderful pears this fall. Understanding gardens and farms, I understand why it is the end of their season, they will be missed.  The vendors that are there all winter, especially those that are selling tomatoes in December, most likely are buying produce that is shipped in. One vendor specializes in restaurant produce - and often has veggies you can't buy elsewhere (Irish carrots for example.) Lettuces are grown all winter in polytunnels and greenhouses, one of my favorite vendors will sell greenhouse produce and things they grew and that store well (root veggies) all winter. There are a couple of local mushroom farms that will have fresh and local all winter.  I am going to try to go every Saturday all winter this year, and not wimp out when the weather gets colder. 

It is a wonderful time of the year for a long walk, a slow ramble, or a drive with the top down on the little car.  Like all of life, enjoy it while it is here.  

My World of Wonders aka The Wednesday Ws for November 12, 2025

Was it a shipwreck, or was it grounded and left to rot? No one really seems to know, this is the remains of a small cargo barge grounded on the end of one of the small islands at Dyke Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. It has been there for decades and decades. 

Where have I been this week?  Dyke Marsh on the Potomac, Mt. Vernon, Old Town Alexandria a couple of times, the farmers market, and a couple of days of not leaving home. Into Washington DC, a walk around the White House trying to see what is being torn down and built, I don't know what they are trying to hide, but they have built huge plywood walls making it impossible to see what they are hiding.  I have never seen the White House so isolated.  On Tuesday, out for a short drive with several stops to wander in stores, it was too cold and windy to walk outside.  

Who have a talked to this week? My Sweet Bear, Amy, Ruth, Giuseppe, Larry, Susan, Ana, Rafael, Matt, Warren, Karen, Erica, Charlie, and Marcell. 

What did I buy this week? A replacement lens for my cameras. My daily carry is a Nikon D5500 DSLR, I have two of them. My go to lens is Nikkor 18-200 DX series. The motor that moves lens elements back and forth for the auto focus function is in the lens and it is failing.  I switched lenses around and isolated the problem.  I can turn off autofocus. The focus ring on the lens is awkwardly placed, and my eyesight for focus is not what it was 50 years ago. Nikon has discontinued this series of cameras and lenses. I order a replacement from KEH in Atlanta, I have bought from them in the past and found them to be very reliable. In about 52 years of carrying cameras, this is only the second time I have replaced a lens, the other time I dropped a camera on a stone floor, in the Louvre in Paris, it landed lens down and parts fell out when I took the lens off. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Stuffed cabbage, Pizza, Nicoise Salad, roast beef and veggies, beef stew.  

What have I been writing? I am working on two articles for the ABA Senior Lawyers Division, one on the value of visiting people who are seriously ill, and one on planning independent travel.  

What is happening with the arts group? We had a meeting last week asking association leadership if we could plug artwork into the power supply, and the answer was a very engaged yes. This opens the door for backlit displays such as stained glass or transparent materials, and also to a multi-media display for electronic arts.  I hope we can encourage our neighbors to explore new media. 

What did I overhear this week?  I took the subway in and out of DC on Sunday. On the way out there was a couple sitting across from me, on their way to the airport to fly out to a conference. She was scrolling on her phone, she said, "it was three years ago today that we sold our car, I was worried that I would miss it, I really don't, it is nice to free of that burden." Living in a city with a good transit system, makes it possible for people to live well without the responsibility and expense of a car.  

What was the dumbest idea someone came up with this week?  HWSNBN and the trust fund billionaire grandson who is responsible for housing policy, floated the idea of offering 50 year home mortgages. On a $400,000 home, it would lower the monthly payment $200-$300 a month. It also nearly doubles the interest that would be paid on the mortgage over the term of the loan.  We need to address other factors that are driving housing prices, not create perpetual payment plans that have the "buyer" never really owning the home.  I urge people with a 30 year mortgage to make extra principal payments to get the mortgage paid off.  

Travel Tuesday: Mt Vernon walk

The Mansion is in the final stages of a massive restoration. 

Setting up on the green for the premier of the Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolution 

Open from the butlers Pantry to the basement of the mansion. 

George Washington's desk and chair.