The Thursday Ramble: Sheep

We have a sizable fock of house sheep, sweet natured, fluffy, the inanimate kind of sheep. When watching video, I am often heard to say BaBas when I see sheep. I remember crossing Ireland on a train, and saying BaaBaas every time we passed a field of sheep, the elderly woman sitting across from must have thought I was daft or drunk. 

How did the sheep thing get started? 

About 20 years ago we spent a week one summer in Yorkshire. We rented a row-house in Pateley Bridge. The bedrooms were upstairs, we were in the one on the back, looking out over a meadow - with a flock of sheep in it. We could hear them in the morning, making their gentle sounds. We visited the cheese factory at Wensleydale. The parking area was a short walk from the tour, and the walk was through a meadow with the sweetest flock of sheep. These sheep had spent their entire lives with people going back and forth and stopping to sink their fingers deep into their fleece for a scratch.  Watch your step, it was a wonderful walk coming and going. Now I had never seen Wallace and Gromit so I had no idea what the connection was there. The cheese was decent - I prefer something with more age and less fruit - but the  sheep left a long lasting impression. 

If you ever come to visit, you may have to shoo a sheep off the chair. I have said it before, you don't have to be crazy to be us, but it would be easier.  

My World of Wonders: September 16, 2026

Where have I been this week? Trader Joe's, the National Portrait Gallery (see above), the community center, the pool, the treadmill, the farmers market. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen?  A chicken- veggie- pasta, pizza, pork chops and french fries, 

Who have a communicated with this week? My brother, I sent him an email, and several days later had a reply. He is unwell. My sister a couple of times. Amy, Eric, Anna, Giuseppe, Raf, Marcel, David, Warren, lots of neighbors. 

What social events have we been up to? We organize a nearly monthly LGBTQ neighborhood gathering. It was scheduled for the first friday, then the power went out, we postponed for a week. We gathered on the pool deck, I made a pizza. We had missed last month, it was good to see everyone.  

What is coming up this week? An art gallery show change, the current show comes down today, the new show goes up Friday, with an opening reception Saturday afternoon. I have one more to do this year - the December show is a solo show by someone who can handle everything.  

What am I writing? I sent an article on communication to the editor, an interview went back to the interviewee for his edits. I have two policy papers I am editing. Then I should be caught up for a while.  

Who deserves a slap this week? People who volunteer to serve on a committee, show up for the meeting, criticize the work that has been done and say "more research and editing is needed" and then don't have time to contribute when asked to help.  5 out of 5 slaps, this why it is so hard to find good committee leadership. 

What surprises me when I think about it? How much the rantings of the lunatic president, impact other countries.  Politely tell him to shut up and go away, and live your life while we wait for his term to end. 

Travel Tuesday: The Mansion at Mt Vernon

Above and Below are photos of the bedroom of George and Martha Washington. The desk was Martha's bought in Philadelphia. There are two closets, one was for clothing and the other was used by Martha to store valuables. Most precious were spices and bed linens. Bed Sheets were labor and materials intensive to make before the industrial revolution. They were numbered and she kept meticulous records of who handled each one and where they were used. 

Some years the Washington's hosted over 600 overnight guests, the house was large, but at times full. This space had originally been a storage room between bedrooms on the second floor, it was converted to be used as an overflow bedroom. It was the only guest room without a fireplace. 

 

Monday Mood: Life Is Good

I assure you, I can find things to complain about, my back hurts, it is too hot, or cold, prices are too high, but all in all, life is good. 

Some of it is happenstance, being born where I was, when I was. But much of it is choices that I have made over the years. Taking a leap out of my comfort zone to take a job with a home building company in Orlando back in 1980. A year or two later driving by a Community College and thinking if I want to do better than I am today, I need to learn more, and turning in and asking how to get started. A few years after that making the move to Rollins to finish what I had started, and convincing myself that I could do it, if I really worked at it. And I did. 

Joining a gym, running the first race, deciding that happiness mattered more than conforming to others expectations. Selling in Orlando and moving back north, going to law school. I remember when I started lamenting that I would be 40 when I finished law school, and my sweet bear simply saying, "do you want to be 40 with the degree, or without the degree?" And continuing to learn, reading a lot (I have finished 51 books already this year.) 

Putting money away for retirement, steadily over 45 years. Buying a home, working to get it paid off. Avoiding consumer debt. Really learning to cook, not just the basics, but pretty much whatever I want. I can make.  

The big bold move to come to DC.  Living in a place that I wanted to live in, doing a job that I loved, even if I did work too much. 

Finding ways to travel and experience north America and Europe over the years. Travel was not always easy, but in the end always worth it. 

In the end, we are in a place we enjoy, living a life that is engaged and enjoyable.  With luck we have a few good years left to go. 

The Sunday Five: Wants and Needs

1: What should you do, that you have not done? 

2: When was the last time you had a good hug? 

3: If there was a private jet waiting at the airport, to whisk you away to have lunch with a family member, who would you ask them to take you see? 

4: Is there a family member, you find it hard to love? (this can be a yes, no answer.) 

5: How many times in your life have you truly fallen in love? 

My answers:

1: What should you do, that you have not done? The airbag light is on in my car, I really should get that fixed. 

2: When was the last time you had a good hug? Today. Bear hugs are wonderful. 

3: If there was a private jet waiting at the airport, to whisk you away to have lunch with a family member, who would you ask them to take you see? My sister in Indiana, she is fun and I see far to little of her. 

4: Is there a family member, you find it hard to love? (this can be a yes, no answer.) Yes, he probably knows who he is. 

5: How many times in your life have you truly fallen in love? Once. 

Please share your answers in the comments.

The Saturday Morning Post: Linking Creativity

Everytime we are creative, we build a base, to link to the next creative project. Everything that works, I learn from. Even when I am unhappy with the work, I learn something, a color or technique that didn't work the way I had hoped, I learn from. On the August trip to Chicago I took a smaller camera, it was easier to pack and carry, but it didn't capture good images in overcast, rainy weather, not the right tool for that day. But I learned, it is fine in bright sunshine, not so great on a dull day. The right tool, at the right time, adds a link to my chain of knowledge. 

Everytime we spend time exploring other's creative work, we add another link to the creative chain.  I am often inspired by something I eat in a restaurant, to try something new in my kitchen. I love shopping in unusual markets, I see things, smell things, that inspire my creativity in the kitchen.  Seeing art in a gallery or museum, or on the street, gives me ideas of things I could do. Adding new links to my chain of creativity. 

Sometimes I will paint a series of paintings in a similar style or format. Repeating the same theme multiple times. Each time I learn what works, what does not, adding links to my chain of creativity. 

Through all of this, I have learned that I need to keep working, to keep trying, to add new links of knowledge with every step. 

Friday Reflections: September 11th

I never saw the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, I didn't visit New York until the fall of 2009. 

I have vivid memories of the events of September 11, 2001 and the days and decades that followed.  

I was producing a regional conference on grandparents and other relatives raising children. It was our third year organizing the conference and our first year at a hotel, the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza on the northside of Lexington Kentucky.  We were just finishing the opening plenary and getting ready to move into breakouts, when Dick Cullison the executive director of Legal Aid of the Bluegrass came up to the podium to announce that planes had hit the towers and little else was known. Some moved onto the scheduled sessions, some went off in search of televisions to try to see the news. I was teaching a session on elder abuse that morning, to be repeated in the afternoon. It was a strange session, with people either withdrawing or really needing to talk, to talk about anything. By lunch it was clear that it had been a four part attack, that thousands of people were dead and injured. The afternoon was surreal,  we closed out the program a couple of hours early so people could go home. 

My office was closed for two or three days. People were shell shocked. Some went to church, some drank, others took long walks. 

It was complicated.  We wanted to define an enemy that carried out the attack, but the attack had not been from a country, organized military, a definable or really identifiable force. And yet the government went in search of an enemy, and attacked two countries over a period of time, overthrowing the governments without a clear plan to replace them. The lack of a plan, often makes things worse than before. Ultimately the leader of the rebel group was found and killed, living quietly in another country, a country we never held responsible for harboring the man who ordered the attacks.  

Twenty-five years of effort, twenty-five years of grief. 

I am going to get political. 

Look Away if you are easily triggered. 

If the bastards that flew planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a farm field in Pennsylvania wanted to destroy the United States, it has taken years, but we are letting them do so.  As a country we are more divided than we have been in 50 or maybe 150 years.  The deep distrust of one another, has allowed incredible abuse by government. The fear of others has made it easy for the racists to push an agenda of racial cleansing that makes us weaker, and turns us again one another. A rising tide of isolationism, and protectionism has empowered a trade war, with global impact. Fears have destroyed religious freedoms, and caused the death of many more people. Our local police have gone from community policing initiative that were very successful, to being militarized. In many ways, all of this relates back to the shock of that attack 25 years ago. Instead of making us stronger, and uniting us, it has deepened the divides. If we are not careful, the bastards will win. 

Pearl Harbor was the defining event of my parent's generation, sadly this is ours. 

The Thursday Ramble: Offices

 The photo above is George Washington's office at Mt. Vernon, his home office. This gets me to thinking about some of the offices or work spaces I have had over the years. 

My first office I shared with a retired CIA agent, in Titusville, Florida overlooking the Kennedy Space Center, you could see the Vertical Assembly building. John was great fun and had a lifetime of great stories to tell. After a year or so, I moved up the street to another firm and didn't have an office for a year or so, then to a new office where we were all assigned cubicles. 

Then I moved to Orlando, and went to work for a home building company. My work was in the field offices of new communities under construction.  The offices were generally in a garage finished to serve as an office.  In the seven years I was with that firm I probably worked in a dozen offices. When that firm was sold, and I was not included in the sale, I moved onto another builder. The offices there were nicer, again usually garage spaces finished to serve as an office. I bounced around for a couple of years after that job ended, doing the same work for a couple of different companies - ending up being hired by the company that bought the first builder that I worked for.  Then moved back north. 

The house in Lexington had an open loft overlooking the living room, we shared that as office space.  The first job I had in Lexington was in retail, long hours on my feet and no office. Then I was hired as a credit analyst but the work was done in a massive room filled with desks, computers and phones. I left there to start law school. I spent thousands of hours studying in that home office during law school and preparing to pass the bar exam (on the first try, once and only once in a lifetime.) 

I received a job offer in about March of my last year of law school, the job started the Monday after my last law school exam. They allowed liberal time for me to study for the bar exam. My first office there was a converted hallway, they had closed over all but one door, put in a large desk and that was where I worked for a couple of years. We moved from there to larger and nicer office space. My next office was 14 feet by 14 feet with 10 foot ceilings and a large window that opened. It was by a far margin the nicest office I ever worked in. Large, bright, private, comfortable. I worked at that first job after law school for 9 1/2 years. 

Then I moved to DC.  My first office there was in a 100 year old bank building just around the corner from the White House. I was at the end of the hall, on I think the 6th floor, with a nice window. The office was long and narrow.  The furniture was terrible, most of my work was done on a small modern table in front of the window. There were five or six file cabinets filled with all of my predecessors old projects clustering the space. I loved the location and being at the end of the hallway made it quiet and private. 

A few years later, the organization sold the building, and we moved to leased space about 4  blocks northwest of there. The space was freshly remodeled with new or newer furniture. My office was tiny, 10 by 10 feet. And no window. The decision to not have windows in any of the offices was unpopular. I once offered to trade my office for a cubical backed up to a bay window, and she said, thanks but no thanks.  I retired from that office. 

Now my office, is a desk in the corner at the end of my bedroom. I have done a lot of work here, and continue to do so.  

What is your workspace like.  

My World of Wonders: September 9, 2026

What have I been up to in the kitchen this week? Quiche, round-steak with mashed potatoes and cauliflower, meat loaf, ham and baked beans, steak and Guinness pie. 

Where have I been this week? Mt Vernon - I needed to get out for a long walk - but it was miserably hot and humid. Aldi and Target for a little shopping. The community center for the first Saturday morning community coffee. The treadmill, the pool, 

What did I come to understand this week? A great idea, poorly explained does not come through to the reader as a good idea, and a flawed idea, well written, is still a flawed idea. 

What always surprises me? Tuesday feeling like a Monday, after a three day holiday weekend. 

Who deserves a slap this week? The idiot drivers who drive recklessly to get to the next traffic light before anyone else. Five out of Five. 

What have I been reading? Jose Andres book on the food and drink of Spain. 

How are we coming along on the next gallery show? The deadline is Saturday and I need about 10 more items. 

Travel Tuesday: Milan Galleria

 

Monday Moods: My Life Has Been A Tapestry

Show me the things you have kept, and I will know more about you, than you have ever told anyone. After my father died, I was sorting through his bedroom, in the drawer of the table next to his bed was a small wood box, probably a box a watch came in 75 years earlier.  I had never seen it. In it was a silver ID bracelet, a gift he had received  from his sister, and I never saw him wear. He was not one for wearing jewelry, a watch was about it. Also in there were the insignias from his army uniform. He was drafted near the end of World War II. He seldom talked about it. He went to basic training in Louisiana, then was stationed in New York and New Jersey for a year or so, then discharged and sent home. His seldom talking about it, leading me to think that it was a time that didn't really matter to him, then decades later I find those brass uniform icons. He had kept them. He was not a man to keep a lot, those meant something to him. Show me what you keep, and I will know more about you than you will ever tell me. 

The photo above is a tiny corner of my cabinet of curiosities. The Leprechaun is a pencil sharpener, a gift from Uncle Dick's mother, I have had it since I was a child. She did a tour of Ireland and brought that back for me. She was very kind, and had the sweetest dachshund. Next to it is a bronze I bought in Iceland. The books behind that include my High School diploma, the only volume of my grandmother's diaries that I was able to save, and my father's pilot's log books. The flat red item, was the fob for my Capital Bikeshare membership, an important part of my commuting history in DC, and how I made it home the day of the earthquake. The blue glass vase behind the Leprechaun I bought from the glassblower in Ireland, as they were closing the shop for COVID, while were there they received a phone call telling them to close to the public. I have two shelves of little things that mean something to me, the tapestry of my life. 

What is yours? 

 

The Sunday Five: Blogging

1: How long have you been blogging? (If you don't blog, why not?) 

2: How did you learn about blogging? 

3: Does your family read your blog? 

4: How much time do you spend each week, reading and or writing blogs? 

5: What is the best thing about blogs? 

My answers:

1: How long have you been blogging? (If you don't blog, why not?) 21 years, this blog is old enough to drink in the US. 

2: How did you learn about blogging? Stephen, a friend who lives in London, was blogging and urged me to read his. His original blog is long gone, he now podcasts, and I seldom listen - I don't have the patience to listen that long. 

3: Does your family read your blog? They know about it, and will look at a single post, but I don't think they visit regularly. 

4: How much time do you spend each week, reading and or writing blogs? Easily 10 hours, an hour or so each day reading posts, plus time to write. 

5: What is the best thing about blogs? I get to choose what I want to see, unlike other social media that fills my screen with what they want me to see. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: The Mirror Project

Before Blogging, I started posting on Virtual Tourist, and the Mirror Project. 

I discovered VT when I was searching for tips on visiting Paris for Christmas, and I ended up building several pages on VT with photos and travel information. Efforts to monetize that site failed and it disappeared. 

The Mirror Project posted photos containing the reflection of the photographer. The submissions were screened before posting. I had a couple rejected, and appealed with an explanation of the reflection. The Mirror Project inspired me to look for reflective surfaces and set up photos I could submit. Working towards that theme, gave direction to my work. 

Reflecting on these experiences, having a plan, a theme, gives direction to creativity.  Sometimes creativity is random, but not always. Having a theme, mission, or goal, can focus our creativity. 

What is the current theme of your creativity?  

Freestyle Friday: A slightly disjointed ramble

My roots are European, English, Welsh, French, German, maybe a little Irish or Scottish. My family presence in north America has been traced back to about 1612, with the latest immigrants arriving here about 300 years later. In the overall timeline of the world, just the blink of an eye. Mankind was here on this land for hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of years before us, and will be here for hundreds of thousands of years beyond us. 

Yet some think that because their family has been here for a generation or three, that they should control what happens, who is allowed in, who can stay here, who can be forced to leave. I am relatively confident that some of the inhabitants of this land were welcoming of my ancestors, and some where not. But we stayed.  

History tells us it was not always easy. In fact some pretty horrible things have happened, and continue to happen - the US Government continues to treat native Americans as incompetents in their own lands in many ways.

I am also a believer in the rule of law.  A key to a safe and secure community, is an unspoken agreement to act in ways that protect all from harm. Among those laws, is a control on how people enter the country. There is a legal process. Ours is outdated, and has been for decades, but it is still the law. Congress should update it, maybe when the orange plague has passed they will. In the meantime, like it or not, it is the law.  If you want to live here, comply with the law, failing to do so, is failing to be a participating member of society. A breach of the compact that holds a civilized society together. 

I fully understand why people might want to live here. Though the current administration makes it less attractive in many ways. North America is still a land of great beauty, natural resources, and opportunity. 

When I visit places like France, Italy, and Spain I often think, I would love to live here. But I know if I want to do so, I need to follow the process to do so legally. And that process can be archaine and challenging. Entering as a tourist, and staying beyond the time allowed for tourists, a breach of the trust that is granted to tourists, a breach of the unspoken agreement of the land to live together for the mutual benefit of all. A breach of the law.  Not a good way to try to become a member of the society. 

Not the way I would want to become a member of new community. If I treat the community like that, how can I expect the community to treat me? 

Added note, it appears that bloggers comment system is not working today. I am reading, and thinking about your blogs.  

Thursday Ramble: Blogiversary

 

THANK YOU ALL! 

I hope you enjoy this blog, I truly enjoy writing it, reading your comments and responding. You bring so much to my life. 

Twenty-one years ago today, I published the first post on the Adventures of Travel Penguin. For a couple of weeks I had been guest blogger for Stephen, a friend who lives in London, while he was away on holiday. I enjoyed writing and posting, and decided I would give it a try. At first I didn't tell anyone. The first decade or so was slow, then I started posting more often. I have not missed a day since 2015.

I often ask myself, why do I blog? I do this to share my photographs, and my thoughts. The commitment to posting daily was personal, I wanted to improve my writing. By making a commitment to post everyday, I was committing myself to writing a few pages every week. Writing has become easier; I hope my writing has become better. 

I try to stay positive and upbeat in my postings. There is plenty of anger on blogs, very valid anger. I try to avoid that here. I have strong political views, I am proudly WOKE, but I generally avoid politics here. I hope this is an oasis, a safe space. 

My sincere hope is to continue writing The Adventures of Travel Penguin as long as I have photos to share and something to say. I have well over 120,000 photos in the archive, there is little risk of my running out of photos, and I am still learning to be quiet. 

My World of Wonders: September 2, 2026

What have I been doing this week? Doing too much. I was asked to score grant applications on a tight deadline, written materials for a conference I am speaking at in early October were due, and I am drafting a couple of policy papers. All of these ended up needing to be done at the same time. A bit much. Oh, and I have an article to write by the end of the month. 

Where have I been this week? The treadmill, the pool, the community center, the farmers market. Target and Aldi, I simply needed to get out of the house. The library, and Mt Vernon. 

What is on the easel? Nothing. A lack of balance in my life. 

What am I reading? A book on community living for persons with disabilities, a model for de-institutionalizing older adults. 

Where should you visit this week? Your local public library. Libraries are one of the greatest resources in your community. They have something for everyone, children, young adults, middle aged adults, older adults.  They provide access to books, music, video, millions of dollars in resources available for our use. Libraries are places to learn, to be entertained, to make social connections.  We need to use libraries, or we risk losing them. 

Where have I been in this lifetime? I put together a list of airports I have flown in and out of, 86 of them. HNL, KGG, KOA, LIH, ANC, SEA, PDX, SFO, SMF, LAX,SNA,SAN,PHX,ABQ,RNO,LAS,SLC,FCA,BIS,RAP,DEN,MSP,STL,MCI,LIT,BHM,MEM,BNA,ORD,MDW,ATL,SAV,MCO,JAX,FTL,MIA,PBI, RDU, FAY, CLT, CAE, BHM, MSY, IND, CVG, CNH, CLE, DTW, FNT, TVC, PSM, BUF, JFK, LGA, EWR, PHL, BWI, DCA, IAD, RIC, RDV, HTS, LEX, SDF, BOS, PVD, SJU, KEF, DUB, GLA, LRW, LHR,AMS, CDG, MAD, FCO, FRA, MUC, FDH, VIE, LIN, ATH, YYZ, YUL,TPA, DAB. 

Where to next? 

 

Travel Tuesday: Exploring the Art on a Ship