New Hope

We took a ride to New Hope, PA on Tuesday. It was a beautiful day, and we were able to dine alfresco by the Delaware River for lunch.

New Hope is a historic town on the Delaware, just a short walk across a narrow bridge from Lambertville, NJ. The town is sometimes described as "artsy" or "new agey," and there are lots of shops and restaurants. Some of the shops carry unique, handcrafted items, and some carry the usual touristy stuff. Most of the shops are located in partially restored historic buildings of the father-son-holy spirit variety (three story early American firetraps) often found in East Coast revolutionary era towns (Philly, Trenton, etc.).

The ride up through New Jersey was nice, traveling through the pinelands, then through Trenton and the outskirts of Princeton, and winding along the Delaware past Washington's Crossing State Park. It's nice to remember some of the good things about New Jersey. There is quite a lot of bitterness here these days, centered on politics and state and local budgets. It can sometimes be hard to see this as a nice place to live. It was nice to forget all of that for one lovely spring day.

Tee Hee

Found this at cnn.com.

The Piper

This is the pyramid of Kukulcan at Chichen Itza in Mexico. I was in Mexico from December 12th-19th, and visited the pyramid on December 15th. I really enjoyed the visit to Chichen Itza, though it was quite hot there. I would change only one part of the experience. We were approached by a nonstop stream of hawkers and vendors trying to sell Mayan goods, "One dollar, almost free, cheaper than Walmart." It's OK to have vendors at the gates to the grounds and even at tables on the walkways leading to the ruins. It would be nice, however, to be able to wander the ruins without this constant interruption.

Oddly enough, I kind of miss the ubiquitous hordes of vendors found all over the Mayan Riviera. Yes, they could be annoying, but they certainly were accomodating. If you were looking for something that a vendor didn't have, they'd find a vendor who had it, if they could. And the prices WERE low. I was looking at silver jewelry in Target today, and the prices seemed so very high after the prices in the markets in Playa del Carmen and Cancun.

Shopping in Pesos is a little bit overwhelming, since the US dollar is worth so much more than the Peso. At the time of our visit, 1000 Pesos was worth something like 77 US Dollars. I can only imagine how dramatic the difference would be if the US Dollar were robust right now!

On the way to the ruins, our tour stopped at a cenote - a sink hole fed by an underground water source. This cenote was in a cave and was well below ground level. There were roots hanging down into the cenote from several stories up. Here is a picture taken at the cenote:

As you can see, tourists are allowed to swim in the cenote. I did not, but my fiancee did. He reported that the water was warm, not cold as one might expect. It is asked that you rinse off in a shower before going into the cenote if you are wearing sunscreen, since it might jeopardize the fish, plants, etc. found there. I had applied gobs of waterproof sunscreen before the trip left in the morning (I'm fair - OK pale - and I burn without tanning), so I decided not to swim.

Below is my favorite part of the whole vacation: the vast pool at the resort where we stayed. You couldn't see the entire pool from any one spot. We usually camped out by this end of the pool, near one of the the swim-up bars. We spent pretty much the whole day at the pool on the16th and again on the 18th. It's hard to see in this night shot, but the palm trees, huts and umbrellas around the pool made it quite comfortable even during the hottest part of the day. The beach was nearby, as well, but my camera never made it down there.

Good thing we had a nice, relaxing day on the 18th. Travel misery set in on the 19th, as we tried to return to New Jersey during an unprecedented December blizzard. We were delayed getting out of Cancun, and our flight from Ft. Lauterdale to Atlantic City was cancelled. We were scheduled onto the same flight 24 hours later (9:20 pm on the 20th). THAT flight was delayed several times, as well, and we finally flew out of Ft. Laut at 3:30 AM.

We spent 27 hours at Motel Hell in Ft. Lauterdale. As soon as we saw our rooms, we went out. I had 2 cosmopolitans and a shot of tequila with my dinner at the outdoor Irish Bar up the block. Hey, at least we were dining al fresco while everyone back home was shoveling snow!

It's REALLY rare for me to drink that much, but I was hoping to soften the impact of the seedy room. After dinner, we went across the street to the CVS. We bought snug sacs and super-huge towels to put on the beds (there were two couples and two rooms) so that we wouldn't have to touch the sheets. We also bought Lysol, and we gave each of the rooms a good spray down. I bought Deep Woods Off and put some on, just in case. I sprayed the outside of my luggage, too.

When we finally flew into AC, we had to dig the cars out of the snow. We had no gloves, mind you, and we hadn't worn our warmest coats, either. We drove out of the airport as the sun was rising at 7 AM on Monday, December 21st. We had to dig our way into the driveway when we got home. Then we had to go back out to pick the dogs up from the kennel. After that, we slept the day away. Going to work was not an option. I would have been asleep at my desk all day.

I was only back at work for 2 days before my next holiday began. With furlough days (unpaid leave days required of NJ employees to help balance the budget), personal days, holidays and weekends, I've been off since Christmas Eve. Tomorrow I have to go back to work, and the next few weeks (maybe the next few months) are going to be hard. Time to pay the piper.

Here are a few random photos from the trip:

An air plant in it's natural environment, camped out on the branch of a tree.

This tree was growing at the edge of the jungle just off of the balcony of our suite.

Mayan Muttley at Chichen Itza.

Here's a clip of Daisy in the snow this week.

And here's one of Muttley.

The snow is gone now, and we pretty much have a lake in the backyard. And it's still raining.

Quick question for my techie friends:

Would I get better video quality here if I published to youtube or another site before adding a video clip? The quality of these clips is better than the images you're seeing here. I uploaded from my PC directly to blogger.

New Worlds

I was never a big fan of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres of entertainment, but I've been drawn into them almost against my will over the last couple of years. That's because they're on the TV almost constantly at my house. I've become intrigued by Dr. Who, Torchwood, Being Human and Robin Hood - to name a few. I still can't quite buy into The Seeker - the storyline seems a little too much like a pointless video game to me.

I really rebelled against Robin Hood for the first season or two, watching only because I didn't want to sit alone on a Saturday night. The series has managed to draw me in, mostly due to the acting of Richard Armitage, who has brought real complexity to the character of Sir Guy of Gisborne. The current season has a new edge to it, complete with a cranky Robin and a haunted Sir Guy.

Robin Hood is drawing to a close, with only a few episodes left to air. I'm glad that it's ending because there can only be so many death-defying season's end episodes involving the few main characters of the series. This is a story that calls for a complete ending, not just a Newhart-style it-was-all-a-dream finish. It should be incredibly satisfying to watch the finale. It could end in a bloodfest - they've already had the courage to kill off a main character, one who did not die in the traditional tale. The series seemed doomed at the end of last season with the demise of this particular character, but, remarkably, this season has been more intense and dramatic because of the death.

In any event, watching Robin Hood has led me to the work of a talented actor, and I can't wait to see what he does in the future. He's sure to show up more and more, so keep an eye out for him.

Tearing My Hair Out!

Needed my passport tonight to order airline tickets for an upcoming trip, and it wasn't where it was supposed to be. Finally found it (phew). Since my birth certificate was with it, I started to feel pretty desperate. It would have been a challenge to replace both the birth cert and the passport and THEN get airline reservations in time for our trip. Four of us are traveling together, and we want to book the flights together so that we arrive at the same time.

The upside? I now know where EVERYTHING in the house is! I have looked in every box in every closet and in every drawer. I also found a lost password, as well as the keypad code to my car door. I never memorized it because I always use the keyless entry. Wonder if it still works?

So back to square one. Guess we'll order the tickets tomorrow. Hope the fares don't go up by then!

Photo Poem

When was the last time you saw acres of sky?

Or sat in the grass and let the wind wash over you, with no discernible sound of human activity?

Or contemplated the metaphors for life found in old farm structures?

Or saw light at the end of a hazy pathway?

Getting away can give you a new perspective on things.

Though there is always work to be done.

House of Fish

Image found at fishdeals.com

This place is turning into a fish house. Our 125 gallon aquarium currently has a partition in it to protect the pleco (sucker catfish) from the cichlids. He was under assault and losing fins fast. He is recovering nicely, but the partition can't stay up forever; it's ugly, and the cichlids need the run of the tank for optimal health.

Enter the 55 gallon aquarium, set up and cycling as we speak. The aquarium has to cycle through some chemical/biological phases before it's ready for fish. Once this one is ready to roll, the pleco will move in. His tankmates will be some nice, friendly community fish who will be unlikely to cause him any problems.

We lost one catfish already, sadly, to the aggressive cichlids in the other tank. My web research shows that it was a species of fish best left to nature or the truly large (commercial) aquariums. I think the cichlid mix in the 125 gallon tank (it's not my tank) is a little bit questionable. So what happens when they get bigger and more territorial? Will they spawn more fish tanks? And what happens if the pleco outgrows the 55 gallon tank? He just might.

Welcome to the South Jersey House of Fish!

Lions and Tigers and Bears

Aquariums, laptop-shopping and facebook taking up my time these days, oh my! Must find time to post. I like blogger better than facebook, yet somehow facebook draws you in. Social engineering at it's finest. Or most devious.

I'll come up with a real post soon, I promise!

Surprise!

My very good friend and fellow blogger, Mommanator, is having a giveaway in honor of her 300th post over at Grannie's Ramblings. Stop by and enter for a chance to win something good!

Lost

I recently read the book Lost by Gregory Maguire. Maguire is the author of Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which I have also read. Lost is about haunting, in more than one sense of the word. It wasn't as good as the other two novels, but it has haunted me.

The main character in the book faces a ghostly haunting that seems to be a manifestation of her own haunted emotional state. She has fallen into a pattern of marking time, failing to move forward, because of the events of her past and emotions that she can't quite seem to acknowledge or let go of. She is stuck and she has lost herself.

I feel like that character. I have made several major life changes over the last few years, some by choice and some not, and I've lost myself somewhere in the shuffle. The fallout is more than I ever expected.

In the book, the word 'lost' applies in at least two ways: the character is lost, and she has lost (suffered loss). I don't think I would have understood this entirely if I were not in a similar state.

The main character in the book has something of a breakdown. I am not about to do that. And this doesn't mean that there is nothing good in my life. It's just that too much change too fast leaves you whiplashed. And lost.

Double Bind

Conversation in my household tonight:

Me: Here's a quote from Oscar Wilde: A man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.

Him: (Laughter - a good belly laugh.)

Me: Do you love me?

Him: (Silence.)

"List 7 things that you love, and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love!"

OK, here's my list of seven things, with apologies to Virginia Gal for taking so long to get around to it! I, too, will not list the obvious things, like family and friends and pizza and pets.

1. VACATION: away, at home, whatever!
2. A well-written book.
3. Quiet. It's so rare.
4. Snowfall.
5. The wind. There's nothing like standing on the deck of a moving ship, or on a hill, and feeling the wind wash over you.
   
6. Valentine's Day.
7. Hope.

I'm sure I'd come up with a different list on another day, but this one is just as good and just as true as any I could construct. I won't tag anyone, I never do.

Daisy and Muttley

Caesar For a Day

We decided that the canoe should be moved today. It was sitting on the spot where we plan to till a strip and put in some azaleas (or something). The conversation in our house just a few minutes ago went something like this:

"Hey, there's a mouse in the canoe! What should I do with it?"

"Chase it out and let it go."

"I can kill it - you want me to kill it?"

"No, let it go, as long as it heads for the woods and not the house."

"You wanna see it?"

"Well, OK."

Sure enough, a little grey mouse was stranded in the now-upright canoe.

"Tip it so it can get out."

The mouse scampered off into the woods.

"Hey, look, there's another mouse! There's a Mama mouse and another baby!"

Mama and baby # 2 scampered off into the woods, as well.

So I got to be Caesar and give a big thumbs up to Ms. Mouse and family today. Too bad I had just seen a cat lurking out there in the woods a few minutes earlier...

Muttley

For Virginia Gal: Yes, Muttley is a Hanna-Barbera character from my childhood. This is a brief series of clips of the Muttley I grew up watching.

Here is the best I can do for a pic of Daisy and Muttley together. Right now, Muttley is recovering from a rite-of-passage medical procedure, complete with bedrest and an Elizabethan collar. He has to avoid strenuous activity for a week or two, so he has to be kept away from Daisy. They roughhouse a bit too much for his safety. There won't be new pics of them together for a little while.

Fave Foto Friday and All That Jazz

Here's the latest member of the family. This little fellow is 6 months old. He came to us from a family member who couldn't take care of him. He puts the Energizer Bunny to shame when it comes to his activity level. He gets along really well with our Daisy. He needs a new name, since the old one doesn't really work for us. Right now he goes by Muttley, which will probably stick forever as his nickname.

Just Right Night

I took the dog out a little while ago. It's just right out there: cold but not bitter (36.6 degrees, according to my remote thermometer). There's no wind, and it's clear and beautiful. It's not damp out there at all tonight, so the cold isn't bone-chilling. The stars are out, and Orion is hanging low over my back yard. I wore my dog-walking coat - a big old faux fur. It's the coziest thing I own.

I hope everyone had a happy St. Patrick's Day. I came home from work tonight and started cooking: beef stew with Guinness, colcannon and store-bought Irish soda bread. I must admit that this is the first time I've ever had to cook leeks in milk for a recipe! They're in the colcannon, along with cabbage, mashed potatoes and spices. The soda bread was good with butter on it, but it was not nearly as good as the homemade soda bread I had at work today. It was made by a co-worker. What a treat!

We finally sat down to eat at about 8:30, and I finished cleaning up at 9:30. That's OK. I haven't been sleeping well lately, but I have the feeling I'll sleep like a baby tonight!

Family Quest

I think I noted in a prior post that I had done a free trial at Ancestry.com. It was so cool to find handwritten census records for my ancestors over the last century and a half. I felt an instant connection to the names displayed on my monitor. That was my family listed there. For the moment, they seemed alive and very real to me. Fascinating details emerged, like occupations (very working class), countries of origin and the names of second spouses (oh, the mortality rate of those days).

A couple of weeks ago I went to dinner with my sister and her sons. My nephews both had birthdays in February. We had surprise additions to the family group in the form of a couple of long lost cousins. We sat there together, all flawed people with histories that were at once remarkably different and remarkably similar. Family stories were told as they had been passed on to each of us. Clearly the same stories, but passed on with a different slant by different parents (my mom and my aunt). Our flaws and our differences can separate us sometimes, but at the price of the things we share.

Through marriage and moving and divorce I've managed to lose touch with most of the folks from my younger days. I haven't kept old friends, and I am such a very different person now that I don't have a desire to look them up. Still, it's good to have some grounding in the past. The connections with family members are based on shared family history, not political, religious or world views. Cousins and siblings will be cousins and siblings forever. That's a bond that you can always revisit, even after long fallow periods. It helps you to remember who you are and how you got to be that way. It's a good thing.

What I've Been Up To

The mind boggles. I've been incredibly industrious lately in a totally non-productive way. I know, I know - that's not quite logical. Welcome to my world!

I've been playing around with Facebook. What a very different experience it is from Blogger! Since it doesn't seem to work too well with Internet Explorer, I downloaded Firefox. My goodness! All of these new formats to learn!

As if that wasn't enough, I signed up for a trial subscription for ancestry.com. I soon discovered it doesn't work too well with Firefox. What a complicated world we inhabit! The effort was worthwhile, though, since I have found several census entries for my family going back several generations on the maternal side. It gave me chills each time I found a record for a household that I knew to belong to my ancestors.

Over the long weekend, I read People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. It was a good read, and gave me food for thought. One of my favorite books, Year of Wonders, is by the same author. I read her Pulitzer Prize winning tome called March some time ago. It was not an easy read. I had ordered March from Amazon, and they sent me a copy signed by the author, which is kind of neat.

I've seen 2 movies over the last several days: Doubt and He's Just Not That Into You. Also managed a ridiculously overpriced dinner out at a fondue restaurant. Incredible what they charged us to cook our own supper! That was a ONE TIME ONLY experience. No need to repeat it.

So there you have it, industrious in a non-productive way. Guess that's my way of saying that the housekeeping has suffered in the pursuit of my hobbies.