Archive for the ‘Washington DC’ Category

Full Circle

Friday, November 23rd, 2012

We started this year of travel in April after all the cancer stuff was over; it was like a New Year’s celebration to head to Phoenix on our way to Colorado. One of the first photos I included in my blog was a saguaro cactus (they look like people to me), and here I am back in Arizona finishing up 2012’s travels.

It’s been totally awesome to think back at our time with Focus on Family, a European riverboat cruise, England friends and memories, family reunion on the Jersey shore. Disneyworld and Daytona, a retirement celebration, forever friends, DC Marathon, Hurricane Sandy, voting absentee on the road, a noreaster, humidity, wind, rain, snow, icicle-cold, and desert hot!

While at the family reunion at the shore, we fondly remembered cousin Sandy, who lost her cancer battle.I am so glad we had gotten closer over the last couple years. It seems like she might have had her hand in protecting her family’s beach house when her namesake hurricane came through and didn’t do any harm.

And while visiting Barnoldswick, England, we joined friends still mourning the death of my special friend Gail Usher. Some of her ashes are hidden in a crevice on the south side of the Grand Canyon because this was a special spot for her! We end our travels by way of this majestic natural wonder to be near and reflect on the gift of her friendship.

This journey, all of 2012, has shown us the glory of God in the sights, sounds, and tastes we have experienced, but most of all the people. It’s always good to come home, but if your heart is with God then it ALL feels like home.

Blessings

Angel Quest

Saturday, November 10th, 2012

Newburyport, MA is the most picturesque and typical New England town! We got to catch up with brother-in-law Art and wife Phyllis Levine here and were totally charmed by this place and our walks to the Merrimac River and brick-sidewalked streets.

I found out they are famous for a particular angel. There is a weather vane in town that was originally created for the First Universalist Church of Newburyport. It later became immortalized in a painting illustrating folkart, and then became a postage stamp! The painting is in the National Gallery in Washington D.C. and the original angel is in the Smithsonian. A replica has been moved to the Peoples’ Methodist Church just outside of downtown.

After some sleuthing, we found the Angel Gabriel!

Waiting for Sandy

Monday, October 29th, 2012

Waiting for a hurricane is like watching paint dry: it will happen but not soon enough. But in the mean time we wait and watch the news and learn more about tidal surges and barometric isobars. Yes it is raining and it is windy but it is the tides that are doing the damage.

I am with my cousins in DC, whose New Jersey coastal town home is under water. It has been in the family for several generations and was the site of this past summer’s Family Reunion. It holds many of my mothers’ paintings and other family records. BUT, if you live at 6 inches above sea level and the sea is now 9 feet above normal, then something is gonna wash away.  All of those outer banks and barrier islands are mainly sandbars protecting the mainland and could just crumble and wash away. This is the storm that happens every 75 years and reconfigures the terrain.

So we wait, and watch as long as we have power, and pray.

Marathon Man

Monday, October 29th, 2012

Two years in the planning, a long way from home, and a lot of pressure to finish, and HE DID IT!  Steve Morales completed the 37th Annual Marine Corp Marathon (biggest in history) in near record time of 6 hours 8 minutes! YOU try running for that long (at 64 yrs of age to boot)!

The weather was perfect: gloomy and low 60’s. With a looming hurricane, it was miraculous that there was no rain. Praise God! And Captain Morales got choked up when the marine put the medal around his neck. “Well done, sir!”

You can imagine it’s quite a race with all the monuments of DC. There were bands and drumlines and lots of cheering spectators (and cute soldiers).

And speaking of spectators, let’s hear it for the dedication they exhibit in standing there for hours cheering others all in anticipation of ‘their’ runner coming by. Then running to the next viewing opportunity. This is not a job for the weak-willed. Way to go, Debbie, Carolyn, Jeff and super-Julie who ran some of the race at critical times. Well done, indeed!

Silver and Gold

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.”

That was going back to my early Girl Scout days and is certainly true on this East Coast 2012 trip.

Patty and Doug Halvorsen, our very first neighbors as newly weds, taught me bridge, killed my spiders, and were with me when the nurse called to say I was pregnant with Robbie. They held my hand while Steve was in Vietnam for 7 months, and all those other times he was at sea, ate my cooking, played ultimate Frisbee, and built me a patio cover.  Good times.

Nelda and Ed Cockman were church friends in Huntington Beach and had boys that could play with Robbie and Andy. We were in a small group that would do ANYthing for each other and we still all stay in touch. Forever friends that bounced around a lot but find that Pinehurst, North Carolina fits just right!

Elaine and Cliff Faille who are Pfizer folk, and became friends in retirement as we travel to medical conventions. Crazy Elaine inspires me to come out of my shell, and Cliff and Steve have ‘history” together. They are the ultimate grandparents, and she’s a “Mimi” too! And I couldn’t keep her still enough to get a photo this time!

Headed to DC now to be with cousins who are more like good friends! Precious times with everyone.

Scarves Of Love

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

So thrilled to take lovingly knit scarves from the ladies of N. Street Village and blessed at Luther Place in Washington D.C. to Moscow.  I was able to give these to the teen and adult members of the Student Venture Russia Project who wore the warm neck wear with the goal of being moved by the Holy Spirit to give their scarf away!

Stories are filtering in as folk were inspired to gift their scarf; one went to a Russian teacher who was the head of a christian teacher association in the town of Volgograd. She sat in on my class and was stern and taking lots of notes. Later we went to tea and she tearfully told me of her desire to have a camp like ours in her home town and of her own faith. I gave her mine!

One went to an interpreter who made the huge difference  in a beginners class. One went to an orphanage, and several went to Russian students who prayed to live Christ-like lives.  Mind you, we had been spoiled in the warmth of the scarves. It was a sacrifice AND a gift to give them away!

Williamsburg

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

armoniaWe had a great time at the Lodge at Williamsburg (and because of slow season, we were able to book at 1/2 price plus a $100 gift card that paid for two dinners!) Great weather, awesome folliage, and educational too! We heard the Declaration of Independence read aloud like I never heard it before. Fifes, drums, and a Glass Concert where all the instruments were made from crystal. The most amazing was the   Armonia, invented by Benjamin Franklin, and very popular in it’s day. It was the same principle as a wet finger around the glass only with glasses tuned and separated by corks and turned via a spinning wheel. (yes we bought a christmas CD of it)

The BIG 60

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

60I have been known to tease my “older” friends about me being younger….the south side of 60. So, when it came my turn to hit that landmark number, I thought I would sneak out of town, and no one be the wiser.  Could I get away with it? Nooooooooooooooo. A heavy package was delivered bright and early on the big day FULL of cards, gifts, and jabs at making the big turn into this new decade. To Betty, Andy, and Nikki…and all their other partners in crime, thank you, thank you! It’s great to feel loved. ..so many nice things said and special thoughts shared. The birthday I sought to avoid became the blessing I will never forget!!!!!!!!

Monumental Night!

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

DSC04100

We spent the evening of Nov. 2, touring the capitol with Joan and her friend Doris at night. It was a gorgeous evening and a whole different take on all the monuments. The moon was awesome, and the line up of monuments (Capitol,Washington,Lincoln, Iwo Jima, WWII) was pretty amazing. What a great end to a wonderful day and time in D.C.

DSC04080

Raking It All In

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

DSC04052When our friends, Joan and Ralph,left for a wedding out of state, we were left to our own devices at their home overnight. We spied the carpet of leaves on their lawn and thought “What Fun!”. Four hours later,we were cured. But it was pretty awesome.  They promised if we return this winter, to save us some snow!!