What are your thoughts about the meaning of the Presidential Inauguration event this year?
“Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter.” (Dr. Martin Luther King)
On March 31,1968, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his famous speech, “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” at the National Cathedral In Washington D.C. He made prophetic references then to the legend of Rip Van Winkle, who went into a long sleep of twenty years to grow old and thus missed out on so much of what might have made his life meaningful.
Such thoughts inspired me to write an original poem which explores the perplexing contradiction of celebrating D. Trump’s Presidential inauguration and “MLK” holiday on the same day this year.
How do you typically act in encounters with wild animals that appear outside your home?
“I wanted to talk to the animals like Dr. Doolittle.” (Jane Goodall)
On our third day in St. Petersburg last week, we visited Seaside Seabird Sanctuary, filled with injury protected birds like pelicans, egrets, owls, and herons. Many of them were confined humanely in cages but a few others surprisingly roamed freely in open spaces around the facility. Know that in spite of their weakened conditions, these unconfined few lacked fear in facing human interaction. I thus found some rare opportunities to study them more closely than expected.
Thus picking up on some expressive non verbal behaviors of these lucky outsiders posing between the cages, here’s what I have imagined a few of them had to say to me in the photo set below.
“ I dare you to stand on one foot like me.”
“Can you pass me a brush? I’ve got an itch on my back I can’t reach.”
“Ok, follow me. Here’s where you need to go first.”
“Please to meet you madam. Could you pass me a fish?”
“Hey Myrtle, wake up! Take a look at that guy’s beautiful shoes!”
Let your attention be guided by the natural colors of the sunset? What do you feel most?
“A sunset will color your dreams.” (Anthony Hincks)
Last week, I absorbed a heavy dose of authentic Spanish culture on our excursion to historic Ybor City near downtown Tampa, Florida.With flashy feathered roosters crowing proudly to greet my presence, my tour first followed a cobblestone pathway to a semicircular floral courtyard. Along the way, I’d noticed interesting combinations of red, orange, yellow, and brown painted on columns, doors, walls.
I next made a brief visit to the Ybor City Museum State Park, filled with flashy hue displays of posters, flags, and other rare cultural artifacts. I took a particular interest then in Cuba’s cigar influence from Tampa’s industrial past. Such sensory overload continued for me at lunchtime as I indulged in a crispy Cuban sandwich and table prepared mixed salad in decorative elegance at the historic Columbia Restaurant. Gazing around indoors and outdoors during this unique dining experience, I pictured a glowing radiance of gold, silver, and other riches as manifested in the Spanish conquistador tradition. With good luck on a future visit to Columbia, I look forward to experiencing the multicolored passion of Flamenco dance performances in the dining area at my leisure.
So I’d found plenty to like about the Ybor City on our latest travel jaunt. For in absorbing its full spectrum of sunset colors around town, the exotic blend of Latin American aromas, sights, and sounds came alive for me on this day.
Write about something you did opposite than expected today.
“Every next level of your life will demand a different you.” (Leonardo DiCaprio)
I don’t typically like to do much on beaches except plant myself on a shady spot and “chill”. I might even say that because I usually find the heat and humidity uncomfortable most days in South Florida, I’m overall blasé at home about swimming, fishing, and other shoreline leisure activities. So during this week of our mini vacation to the Gulf coast region near St. Petersburg, I anticipated finding time to just sit on the beach and read. However, I reason the “chilly” weather I experienced this week likely convinced me to change my beach routine.
I’d thus surprised myself on this morning by taking a brisk walk at Coquina Beach near Bradenton. How different it felt to bend down at various points along the sandy shoreline to pick up interesting seashells! Two days later driving northward to Redington Shores Beach, my turn toward opposite behavior along cool salty waters continued as I allotted over an hour roaming around a private avian sanctuary to interact with colonies of wild birds. Both of these activities in retrospect seemed to loosen up my knee issues at the time. They’d also taught me a life lesson then that by “shaking up” my daily routine with such “Another You” moments of contrast, I could relax more outside in my spare time back home.
What relationships have had a positive impact on you? (Jet Pack Prompt -12/30/24)
“I want the people to understand my character, my weaknesses, the kind of person I am.” (Jimmy Carter)
I read with sadness that ex. President Jimmy Carter passed away at age one hundred yesterday. During my college years, his plain speaking, friendly manner as Chief Executive seemed to resonate with me as a believable role model to follow for how I should act with my students as a teacher. I respect him as well for being one of our few Presidents in my memory who volunteered vigorously for spread of truthful engagement of peace and human rights causes around the world after his term ended. To honor his legacy, I’ve also taken time on our road trips to visit the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta and his home town of Plains. Thus I express my hope in the following photos that we again find leaders who portrays those positive qualities Jimmy Carter meant to me.
How do the ordinary doings of life most impact your travels?
“Day to day things, the mundane, are what keeps the motor running. How extraordinary the ordinary really is – a tool we all use to keep going, a template for sanity.” (Cecelia Ahern)
After living over forty years of my life in the same home, we finally decided to move. In the process of doing so, I suddenly noticed my attention being redirected to the immense power of the mundane. Such a stunning thought, uncharacteristic for me as a person, began when most of our material possessions lie boxed in various rooms, ready for conveyance to our new condo a few days later. It’s important to reveal as well that we’d moved our heavy furniture around some, creating spacious open space in this unit.
So with our condo now relatively empty, I noticed unusual hypersensitivity to commonplace sounds and sights that I’d rarely paid much attention to before. In this regard, a twisted array of electrical cords, clicking ceiling fan, unbalanced sway of our vintage rocking chair and an annoying drip of a multifunctional shower head come vividly to mind.
What I’m trying to suggest today, might we learn to better manage those ordinary tasks in life that practically matter if we limit our materialistic wants that’s seemingly over complicated our lives at times over the years? For I’ve been given a fresh chance to re-examine how much stuff we really need in our new home.
Upon further reflection, I might elaborate some practical benefits of a relatively simple lifestyle we’ve strived for in our 2024 travels. So take a look at the following photo collection which reveals some of those mundane moments we’ve appreciated on the road.
A hungry farm horse enticed me to pleasurably pet him (her) in exchange for a tasty pellet. (Colorado Springs, Colorado).
I watched with interest some young kids engaging in innocent water play at a harbor side fountain. (Norfolk, Virginia)
Entering a local diner, I noticed regular customers feeling “right at home” as they grabbed their personal coffee cup on a side wall. (Las Vegas)
A simple text during morning brunch downtown became a favorite way for me to connect with my cousin. (Durham, North Carolina)
Ruth noticed a rainstorm storm approaching by staring beyond this vast field of corn. (Hamden, New York)
Round and round on the carousel we played like children again. (Burlington,Vermont)
A “hunk of car junk” on the prairie made a nice place to savor artistic beauty. (Amarillo, Texas)
Cook’ em, smell’ em with smoke’ em and we’d eat ‘em at a local grill. (Sedona , Arizona)
Some doors at a peaceful Asian park made it easy to enter for all. (Norfolk, Virginia)
We never sat on a dirty bench where a seagull landed at the Pacific Ocean. (Morro Bay, California)
I picked out a pumpkin at Walmart envisioning a way to carve out my favorite Halloween smile. (Avon, Colorado)
An unobstructed viewpoint of a westward sunset provided current traffic information to and from the Rocky Mountains. (Denver, Colorado)
How might you make the study of Geography more useful for your travels?
“Geography is the art of the mappable.” Peter Haggett)
If you have ever studied Basic Geography as a student in school or in college, you’ve probably encountered plenty of practice with map reading skills. Most likely as well, you’ve needed to rely on such spatial information you’ve learned in more practical ways to navigate between places locally and on vacation. Thankfully, your “GPS” device can usually manage such map reading tasks normally while driving with minimal effort on your part.
Yet when such devices respond incorrectly in mapping your route, you might end up in the wrong place, face adverse driving conditions or simply miscalculate the required distance and time to and from destinations. Thus, any obsessive dependence on such electronic tracking might not necessarily be the right choice for you. Alternatively, you should realize that a trusted map can be your geography friend if you study it precisely as you once did to pass that subject’s class requirements..
So take out those dusty old “AAA” road maps and figure out where you might drive in recognition of the kinds of landform barriers like mountains and water bodies you might encounter along the way. Tune into “The Weather Channel” and examine any storm projections with greater attention. Dig out your compass from your glove compartment. Then turn it around to face the direction your city map tells you should be currently going. Getting creative, might even playfully spin an earth globe around a few times and see where your poked fingers randomly lands to gain a geographic” feel” for new destinations in your future travels.
As an added challenge in this entry, give your map reading skills a powerful boost as you examine some puzzling travel situations I’ve previously faced, each with photo accompaniments below.
Ex. 1 – I’m traveling cross country America by car from South Florida. What’s my safest route to combat adverse weather conditions?
Ex. 2 – I need to follow the Mississippi River road corridor going north when winter transitions to spring. But emergency flood warnings are happening along this overflowing watershed and I need to find the safest area to stay for the night. What towns should I avoid because of these rising waters?
Ex. 3 – I’m stuck in the Northern tundra interior of Canada with no road signs to direct me to the nearest town or city. In what directions should I head to find gas and shelter?
Ex. 4 – I’m going to Rhode Island today from Massachusetts on my New England road trip tour. At what point of entry to the state would be the most direct way to travel?
Ex. 5 – I’m moving by car northward in Michigan to the Canadian border. What lake (s) do I cross by to make sure I get there?
Ex. 6 – Wait a second! I thought I knew where familiar towns and cities on this American road journey were located. Show me why I should have known otherwise.
Ex. 7 – That stranger at the gas station told me told me that some illogical state name adjustment involving direction must be made to reach West Virginia. What did he mean?
Ex. 8 – How can it be possible that I’m told to drive north and then west from my Los Angeles home to vacation at a Reno, Nevada casino? Wouldn’t that route put me in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?
Ex.9 – My Panama Canal cruise route from Florida seems to be going the wrong way. Why are we heading east to the Pacific Ocean?
Ex. 10 – Relax! I’ve flown long distances across the United States many times. How much harder can doing the same in Africa cross country be?
What object(s) in your home most provide memories you cherish at the end of this year?
“Memories and thoughts age, just as people do. But certain thoughts can never age, and certain memories can never fade.” (Haruki Murakami)
Ruth and I adapt well to traveling independently in various places around the world and in this country. So I figured that quality would help us immensely if we ever decided to move from our present condo in Fort Lauderdale. Well the time has come to put that conclusion to a reality test as we have decided to buy a bigger and newer condo unit in a quieter community a few miles north of where we live now. With the assistance of a reputable real estate company, we’ve thankfully expedited the closing date to move in before the end of December. But that means most of the moving task per se must be accomplished relatively quickly on our own. Consider as well whether we are psychologically prepared for this transition now?
In this regard, it seems natural to imagine that the current clutter of boxes, file cabinets, and furniture lying around everywhere resembles a gigantic road trip preparation. But unlike such travel occasions, it’s very difficult for me, in particular, to grasp the permanency that we will not be coming back after forty some years living in the same place. Thus I seem overly sensitive now to relive those fond memories that happened during that large chunk of our life span in this home.
Feeling definite heartaches then, I await the inevitability of those final days as our personal possessions slowly disappear. For I will soon be staring at nothing but empty rooms. But wait! Thankfully there will be a last object standing by my choice alone in the living room on moving day. It’s our decorated holiday tree filled with colorful hanging ornaments intended as a last chance to reminisce about those good times we experienced living in this home. So I’d like to share several of these tree decorations with you in the photo set below with brief captions describing their personal meanings. Happy Holidays.
Our alumni membership brought beautiful souvenirs and other memorabilia for us to display throughout our home.Two hard working teachers cherished those quiet times to read and relax after work amid the privacy this home. We watched Miami Dolphin football on Sunday with gut wrenching interest in the living room for over forty years. So many off school and retirement vacations like this Yellowstone Park trip began with extensive planning at our kitchen table. We often packed in ample sized closets the most practical items we needed for our next vacation. Family heirlooms displayed in our living room raised interesting conversation during holiday family gatherings. Ruth and her mother knitted personalized clothes for Jim. Ruth and her mother knitted personalized clothes for Ruth.Several pets like cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs found decent shelter and warm treatment in this home. A Cleveland Browns win around playoff time usually brought goodies to my holiday stocking. When it got too hot or cold outside, our air conditioning and heating cycles usually functioned well at comfortable temperatures.
Many soothing naps were taken while listening to quiet music in our spacious bathtub and comfy easy chair.
Why would you most and least desire to attend a school reunion?
“Enjoy good memories. But don’t spend your remaining days here looking back, wishing for the good old days.” (Randy Alcorn)
I’ve attended a class reunion before and it felt distant and awkward to me in the presence of my former classmate peers. I mean, did I really need to be reminded how old everyone looked as we chatted fondly about “The Good Old Days” of high school? But as a graduate of the 1974 class at the University of South Florida (USF), this “Golden Guard” Appreciation Day at the Alumni Center on main campus in Tampa, for me, felt completely different. For while I had returned to my academic past once again, the intelligent “buzz” circulating around the conference venue before and during this ceremony felt for me truly liberating.
To clarify further, I knew immediately at the time of my arrival that the stage was set to conduct an honorable purpose for this planned gathering. For all attendees had been asked beforehand by email to prepare a brief ‘bio” that focused on their defining qualities as a person along with their overall career accomplishments. Each inductee would thus be publicly recognized today in their own words individually for keeping the USF model of academic excellence in mind as a major springboard for obtaining such past success. In essence, we were being treated as esteemed dignitaries with welcoming handshakes, enlightening speech praises and even “Rocky, the college mascot there, to add a youthful campus spirit of “now” energy to the crowd.
Definitely the highlight of this showcase happened as Ruth and I came to the podium to receive our respective gold gilded medals with a handshake and photo taken with the current Dean of Academic Affairs. Upon further reflection of that moment, I realized that I’d obtained an important practical meaning for this 50th year token of graduate appreciation. For I would hang this insignia in the most conspicuous place I could find to remind myself daily of the importance of spreading truth and wisdom to combat these seriously turbulent times in my country. Enjoy the photos of this event.
Snippets of a Traveling Mind 
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