anniversary of an ending

It’s been five years since I sat next to my dad’s hospital bed, the one that was in a weird dark corner in the ICU, and held his hand as he told me and my mom about the decision he’d made. I remember his skin – papery, delicate. He bruised easily, like a peach. He…

~ 51 ~ and more

Let’s rewind to Thursday. I took the day off so Mom & I could have a SoCal adventure day. We headed out around 10 am and drove down to San Juan Capistrano and went to the restaurant where we had reservations for 11:30 am, L’Hirondelle, which is right across the street from the mission. The…

Wakanda Forever & car maintenance

My local theater is offering $5 Tuesdays for a limited time so I took advantage and went to see the latest Marvel movie, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” I saw the first Black Panther movie, but I am by no means a Marvel fan. I’ve seen the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but that’s about it…

Productive day & A Few Good Men

So my sister, Sandy, tends to adopt things to bring home after vacations. Not a pet or anything like that, but a habit or a new thing to her that she enjoyed from her trip. From Costa Rica, she developed her coffee drinking. And in talking with her about what she might bring back from…

Germany to US (Munich > LAX) – day 12 (traveling home)

A day after the fact, but I was TIRED when I got home yesterday! We got up early to get our bags all packed and get ourselves ready to go. We left the hotel a little after 7 am and wheeled our luggage back through the streets of Munich to the bus stop. It was…

Germany (Munich) – day 11 (Old Town walking tours)

We slept in since our first tour wasn’t until 10:15 am. We left the hotel around 9 am to get coffee and get to where the tour met. There’s a coffee place directly across the street where we got cappuccinos and croissants that were both good. We had some time before we had to go…

Greece to Germany (Chania > Athens > Munich) – day 10 (travel day)

We are now in Munich! It was a long travel day. As I mentioned, our transfer to the Chania airport left at 7 am. Once we arrived, we had about an hour or so before boarding. Sandy & I enjoyed croissants & cappuccinos and chatted with a couple of the ladies from the retreat before…

Greece (Chania, Crete) – day 9 (ruins, clouds, Old Town Chania)

A little late writing because last night we had to pack and I needed to get to bed because of our early morning today. Yesterday was Ohi Day in Greece, which commemorates the day Greece said ‘no’ (ohi) to Mussolini before WWII. They have a marching military style parade through the town. We had learned…

Greece (Chania, Crete) – day 8 (Koum Kapi Beach, writing & sketching, Anoskeli, and dinner at the harbor)

We put in another full day! We started early, leaving the hotel around 8 am to walk to Koum Kapi Beach which is on the other side of Chania from Neo Chora where we went yesterday. It was really lovely with cafes lining the seaside. Here are some photos: Then it was time for class…

Greece (Chania, Crete) – day 7 (beach, writing, Adespoto Music Tavern)

We got up and at ‘em this morning around 8:30 am. Our plan was laundry, breakfast, beach, class with Jill. And that’s exactly what happened. We headed to do laundry which also happens to be across the street from this, the minaret in the Turkish quarter of Old Town Chania. Where you see those two…