In Salt Lake City...AGAIN!!! TRAVEL FROM PDX TO TUCSON!

Waiting in the airport....one of those love hate relationship you know! True they have wireless in Salt Lake City but the passageways from one terminal to another care is colder than a landlord's heart! When I am flying from Tucson to Portland, I freeze to death. Going the other way it is not so bad because I am still dressed like Nanook of the North. I have a good book...that is perfect but they also have a book store in this terminal E and I am so tempted to add one more to my bag. I saw Stones into Schools setting out to suck me in.

Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan was released on December 1, 2009. Over the past sixteen years, Greg Mortenson, through his nonprofit Central Asia Institute (CAI), has worked to promote peace through education by establishing more than 130 schools, most of them for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

My family has a vested interest in education and my son works as an administrator in Shanghai American Schools. He has also worked in Saudi Arabia. He can attest to the fact that stone throwing is a middle eastern cultural way of expression. You remember the stories of stoneings in the Bible resulting in people being killed. Well it turns out they are not just stories. The people in that region evidently are very skillful with stones. I will be reading Stones into Schools soon.

Oh I suppose I should confess that we were late leaving PDX by 45 minutes. That turns out to be plenty of time to browse and buy at the Powell's there. I bought The Know It All for my husband (and myself of course). This guy decided to read the encyclopedia and then write his own brief version of entries he found ...his website said "Part memoir, part Cliff's Notes to every topic under the sun, The Know-It-All is about the year I spent reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica from A to Z (or, more precisely, from a-ak to zywiec). All forty-four million words of it. The book is many things...." As you can well imagine he might not be really popular with his co-workers. If you remember Cliff Clavin in the Cheers TV series...will no one wants to be him! In fact the magazine MORE listed this trait as a sign of being old. We tend to come off as KNOW IT ALLS. Sigh!

Late planes are a problem these days but our check in at PDX was just so simple. We carry everything on and still scooted through. We always have our driver's license ready along with our ticket. We check in on the computer the night before we leave. The as we approach the belt we take shoes off, remove the computer from the bag and put it all in plastic tubs along with our coat, cell phone and even big belts. You just assume that they want to be able to get as close to your body as they can without you going naked! It works just fine for us.

Living the senior life style is so much fun. We arrived home here in Tucson, the sun was shining and we had drinks outside with friends. After a lovely visit and great food we slept in our Tucson bed. Friends have arrived while we were gone over the holidays so there is lots of catching up to do. Life is good!

Have a wonderful day!

b

Five Little Ducks...stories played out!

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites. Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come. I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life. One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot. Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle in...

If You Build It, They Will Come...Maybe!

It all began with a antique window in front of a local shop. It had been painted yellow, the glass was loose and all of the hinges and latches were gone. My old friend Betty would have approved...she would tell me it was just broken enough and damaged enough for me to drag it home. When my dear husband saw it, he wondered what he was meant to do with it. Imagine his surprise when he was presented with the plan to build a small neighborhood library exchange. It wasn't the first time he had heard me ask "How hard could it be?" Now it is six weeks later and we mounted the darling little library exchange on two posts in our front yard. I love it. Now the question is, will they come or has the time passed when people actually read something made of paper? Our association president stopped by and admired the box but left after telling me that he only read books on his Kindle. We will see. Would you bring a book and take a book? b+

Retire In Style Blog Too

Search This Blog