Le printemps est arrivé!

Jefferson Memorial just after dawn

Spring is definitely my favorite time of year.  In particular, the month of April.  Now maybe that's because my birthday is in April...maybe because it's finally starting to warm up...but most probably it's because I love flowers.  And they are coming up everywhere...even out of the trees!
This is my first time to really experience the Cherry Blossom Festival which happens annually here in Washington DC.  This year the festival took on a more poignant note with the earthquake disaster in Japan still looming on the headlines.  The cherry blossom is the national flower of Japan, and 99 years ago the Japanese government gifted a couple thousand cherry trees as a show of friendship to the American government.  Interestingly, the original shipment had to be destroyed after being inspected by the department of agriculture who deemed it to be bug infested.  However, the Japanese government was determined, and the following year a new crop was sent with all the precautions taken to ensure a clean bill of health upon arrival.

 The trees were planted along the Potomac and the Tidal Basin, with the first two trees being set in the ground by Mrs. Taft herself.  (Those trees are still alive and thriving, by the way.)

The Cherry Blossom festival attracts millions of visitors every year, and, for 10 days, the city is full of tourist...each of them with a camera trying to capture the essence of this magnificent display of Spring's magic.

An artist on the tidal basin

Along the Mt. Vernon bike trail

Some people take a more traditional approach to preserving the grand display of color.  My preferred method is on the seat of a bicycle, ... either early in the morning, before everyone is awake... or from the other side of the Potomac, along the Mount Vernon bike trail. Exposed to the elements, I can smell the compost in the air, and chase butterflies down the path.   There are plenty of flowers -- only some of which are cherry blossoms -- and not quite so many people.    Yeah... I love spring!

Key West

To see Key West fade from view from the airplane window was a sad sight indeed.   We'd just spent a week on Sugarloaf Key, one of the 1700 islands that make up the archipelago collectively known as the Florida Keys.  Not only were we leaving with some fabulous memories of great times with new friends, but we'd discovered another corner of this amazing planet we call home.

The airport at Key West is small, and like some of the outer islands of Hawaii, still a ramp operation. So deplaning is a delightful walk down a flight of stairs, with that intoxicating tropical air greeting you as you negotiate your way around other parked aircraft.  Certainly not hard to imagine the original flying clippers of Pan American Airlines as they launched the first scheduled air service out of this airport in 1928.

The first thing I noticed was a sign welcoming us to "The Conch Republic."  A reference to the time (1982!) when the mayor of Key West  tried to secede from the Union.  Apparently the border patrol set up a road block for all northbound traffic as a deterrent to drug smuggling.  Too much cannabis was getting through the loosely patrolled borderline.  This was quite a nuissance, not to mention a real downer for the tourist industry, so the mayor  declared independence and named the new territory "The Conch Republic."  His first act -- as prime minister of the Conch Republic --  was to surrender to the appropriate authorities and request one billion dollars in foreign aid...don't you love it...?  His stunt had the desired effect and the roadblocks were removed... but the moniker remains even though Key West is still very much America.

BTW:
That's Conch pronounced "konk," which literally is a sea snail with a beautiful soft pink, spiral shell.  You know, the kind you hold up to your ear and hear the ocean.

Our new friends, Doug and Nancy, picked us up at the airport.  The plan hatched by Doug and Charlie in the septic pit they were digging for Habitat in Cameroon in November was now to become a reality.
Doug is a sort of "Jack of all Trades," and, unlike the adage, a master of many, one of which is accomplished chef.  To our immense enjoyment, we had fabulous seafood dinners -- a la Doug -- every night.  Nancy is a very successful artist -- you can see her work at www.nancyaprilstudios.com -- and general life  (and wildlife) enthusiast.  Both of them oozing with a joie de vivre that is infectious.  The four of us had a fabulous time and were indeed sad when Charlie and I had to leave after our all-too-brief week with them.

Nancy and Doug were -- needless to say -- the ones with the inside track to Sugarloaf Key (and Florida for that matter), and this is their second year to rent this fabulous house, complete with a grand piano, right on the water.  They live in upstate New York and drove down with all the comforts of home, most notably their bikes and kayaks.

Our first day there, we rented some beach cruiser bikes and rode every morning.

We had fun racing out to the eastern tip of the island on those bikes for the sunrises, and often we were still on the kayak -- a 2-person kayak came with the house -- for the spectacular sunsets.

So...we spent a large part of each day on the water exploring the waterways through the mangrove-lined canals.  Nancy has a sixth sense when it comes to spotting creatures both in and out of the water.  She was our tour guide extraordinaire, showing us how to get up close and personal with the local wildlife, pointing out lots of birds, iguanas, turtles, and sea life including nurse sharks and Portuguese Man O'War jelly fish.

On the last night we were there, we went for a midnight kayak ride through the inky black waters where the unseen becomes the adversary.  Since I was the lone objector in the group, I had to face my fears... and peer pressure... and buck up.  It was one of the highlights of the trip!  What was I thinking...?

But the best part ...truly... was spending time with new friends.  What a delight.  We can't wait for the next adventure with them!

For more pictures click here.

The new "Regime"

Well the new year has officially started...and I have to say 2010 ended quite nicely for me.  I flirted shamelessly with the travel-delay gods, and in spite of three trips across winter ravaged Europe, and two trips across the continental United states, I never got caught in the many horrible delays that plagued this holiday season.  I thank my lucky stars for that, even though at some point, I know I'll have to pay it forward.  Charlie and I had a nice visit with my family in California over Christmas and all is well with my people there.

The company my son works for, "Pirates Press"  just moved  to a new location which is much bigger, and well ... a really cool spot...if I do say so myself.  They have a huge space which affords them not only room for the vast amount of inventory they store, but also a nice studio space for Matt to practice, and perfect his music.  For those of you who don't know, he is in the vinyl pressing business (and yes those are all demos on the wall behind him) and he's doing quite well.  I always say that if success is measured by happiness, then my son has made it... big time!  He loves what he's doing and seems to eat, live and breathe all things music related.

Like most artists, he is driven by a passion from within, which I admire, in more ways than one.  Needless to say, I am very proud of him.

So it's...2011... the resolutions are still young and  hopeful.  A new routine initiated with the hope of starting off the new year with a more healthy, low-fat lifestyle.

  The French word for diet is "regime".  I love that... !  It sort of conjures up an entire regiment of rules and restrictions.  Not that I'm a great one for dieting - but I do like the idea of getting healthy in a regimented way.
So for the next couple of weeks, in between trips, it's off to the gym we go... in our case, the YMCA.  Which by any body's standards is a very nice facility.  Set in downtown D.C. the gym itself takes up 7 floors of a large brownstone building on the corner of Rhode Island Avenue and 17th Street.  Along with lots of state of the art cardio equipment, an olympic size swimming pool, raquetball and squash courts, a climbing wall, indoor track and basketball court, a sauna and a steam room, they have a purple spinning room!

A nice dark color to compliment the imaginings of a bike ride in the real world, on a real mountain. The sweat is real enough, and it's a good work out.... you only have to look out onto the snow covered sidewalks outside to appreciate the fantasy.

So that's it for now- if you're looking for me, I'll be in a purple haze, fantasizing about bike rides in exotic places with long gradual hills to climb.


P.S.  While writing this blog last Saturday, I took a break from it and for some reason, got up and turned on the news.  The shootings in Tuscon had just happened, and I watched the horror unfold.  I was unable to return to what seemed trivial in comparison to what the victims of that massacre endured. The blog was left half finished.   Tonight I listened to our president lead the nation in a eulogy that I found insightful and inspiring.
It was a challenge to us all to be a better person, and treat each other with civility.  That we can disagree without being disagreeable. He emphasized living up to our children's expectations of a democratic America, and all that that entails.
 Now that's a resolution I can get behind!

Happy 2011 everyone!

Fatal Freeze Numbs Europe

After reading the headlines in the complimentary issue of USA Today; I realize I'm lucky to be here.  Sitting in the lobby of the Comfort Inn Suites at JFK, waiting for the shuttle to take me back to the airport, I'm on the tail end of my commute back to Washington D.C.  My quick visit to Kate before the holidays coinciding nicely with a large winter storm that has taken northern Europe by surprise.
Yesterday's nightmare at Dublin airport some how substantiated by the printed word before me... my own 12 hour wait at  Dublin's airport,  a paltry comparison to some of the other scenarios captured in today's news.  Traveling stand-by is nerve racking even in the best of circumstances... throw mother nature's climate disrupted fury in the mix and you've got a recipe for an anxious, yet inactive day.  It does however, give me time to reflect on the wonderful time shared with Kate.


 Kate met me at a hotel near the train station where we had a nice lunch and ditched the bags, to head down town for a beauty treatment...the perfect mother- daughter activity.

She and Eion (pronounced Owen) have just moved to a new flat that's absolutely adorable.  It's a bit further out than the old apt. (a fact very much noticed on the day we had to walk home from down-town due to the weather related shut down of public transit).  Kate took a couple of days off from her job at a major department store to spend some quality time with her mother....YAHOO...!

Preparing to head out into the cold.

   We didn't arrive at the new flat until dusk... my initial viewing of the neighborhood a picturesque one because of the snow.  We spent the next couple of days shopping, laughing, eating, and catching up on each other's lives.  We tried to do some sight seeing, but the public transit was basically paralyzed by the weather and before too long, we were forced into a local pub for some famous Irish hospitality.

 While shopping we found some killer snow boots for Kate, even though it never snows in Dublin.  They add a fearlessness to her step that is worth every centime. We spent some quality time in the new apartment.  There's a warm comfortable feel to the place and it was easy to settle in with a nice cup of tea and solve all the world's problems.

Liffey River

Ireland looked different under this layer of whiteness. It's as though some one's gone in and erased all the color.  I'm glad to have had the chance to witness the change from the usual multiple shades of green.  And  more thankful to have been able to leave while the snow was still unique and pristine.  Because I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon and become a nuisance.  But for now... just in time for Christmas...and from a distance... I think it's kind of cool.

Baile Atha Cliath means Dublin in modern Irish

For more photos go to Picasa album by clicking on small photo below:

Visit to Ireland Winter 2010

Back from Cameroon

We're back from our Habitat build in Cameroon.  After having been inspired by one of the other team members there, I decided this would be the best time to start the blog I've been wanting to write.  I know everyone's doing it, and it's taken me a while to join the techno masses... but  I feel like it's the right forum for the things I want to say and share...so Voila!  Think of it as a better presentation than those silly masse emails I'm always sending.  My goal is to continually update it, so you can tune in as frequently (or infrequently as the case may be) as you would like -- it's up to you.  My hope is once you read it, you'll be hooked.  It's a way for friends and family to stay current with my whereabouts...hence the title.




This year's trip to Africa brought all the familiar longings and appreciations for running water and electricity, a kinship with my fellow team members that became my family for  two weeks, an understanding of cultures vastly different from my own, and lots of lots of aching muscles and bug bites!

Situated in the bustling town of Buea, the Harlglena hotel (a name derived from the names of the owner's three children:  Harley, Glen, and Lena) was our home for the duration of the build.  We grew to love the staff and endure the shortages of running water that came with predictable frequency.

The actual build was hard work, with lots of digging, moving of concrete blocks, mixing concrete and mortar for the walls, cutting and assembling rebar, landscaping in it's most primitive sense, crushing of rocks, and general overall site cleanup -- all in very hot and humid conditions. (We were, after all, less than an hour from the Equator.)  But soon the walls started going up and we could see real progress.  Not to mention, yours truly got really good at mortaring those concrete bricks into walls.

At the end of each day, we were all sufficiently tired and dirty -- a fact noticed no doubt by the locals as we headed back to the hotel each evening.

We did have some down time...on the Sunday between the two weeks of work...and we went to the coastal town of Limbe (about a forty-five minute drive south). We explored the Botanical gardens and the black sand beaches, and lunched at a restaurant on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  A nice breeze offered a cool respite from the heat.

During the work week, some of the team took the opportunity to visit a couple of the local schools.  The kids were absolutely adorable, and some of them had never seen a white person before so they had lots of questions!

The dedication ceremony at the end of the build was both thought-provoking and emotional, with the most inspirational words coming from our team leader.  We felt lucky to be a part of it all, and, as always, each of us gained so much more than just a few calluses.  


After the build, some of the team stayed on for an R&R that included camping in Korup National forest.  Let's just say I'm glad we've ticked "camping trip to equatorial rain forest" off our list.  

The best part was the suspension bridge going into (and out of) the park.  And I think that with the right equipment, it might have been a different experience... and it was beautiful...in that lush, verdant kind of jungle way.  But the reality for me was, the hot sticky heat, the attacking ants that actually bit you and had to be physically removed from your skin, the leaky tent, the unending heat and humidity, the endless rain (it is a rain forest after all) and not just a little rain shower, we're talking deluge type rain...and did I mention how hot it was...?  Note to self:  menopausal women should not visit equatorial rain forests and expect to be comfortable.


It's all a memory now, and you know if you asked me would I do it again...I'd probably think for a minute and say...ABSOLUTELY!  I'd pack a little differently, but I'd do it again.

For more pictures of our trip to Cameroon click on small photo below:

Cameroon 2010

I hope you enjoy reading this half as much as I did creating it for you.  Until next time -- in a new location...


Lots of love to each of you...I miss you...Betsy (aka Elizabeth)