Archives
By Manila time both Scott and I were running out of steam. I kept making plans for the last few days that involved getting out of town, finally realizing there were plenty of small adventures to pursue right there near our hotel after two months of Doing a Lot of Stuff! My favorite jaunt was to Chinatown, not sure why, maybe the weird sweets! Manila’s a tough city in many ways, and… Read More
January/February 2025. The Tropics. Great place to spend some winter…even if you’re from a too-sunny/warm climate already. Palm trees, blue skies and lots of ocean, mangoes, genocide museums, skyscrapers, lots of rice, chickens in the yard, islands—so many islands, history of American colonization and bombs, ancient temples: blackened by time and quietly accepting a world of visitors into their lush jungle home. At a Big Event. With your Favorite People. So, there… Read More
Once upon a time…in a lush island kingdom far far away, a princess married her prince, and with their cheering subjects’ approval and the encouragement of a herd of barking seals, they rode away on prancing white ponies accompanied by a most winsome gang of elves and gnomes and leprechauns and unicorns and dwarfs and mermaids and fairies, and one or two goblins and two trolls. They galloped over land and sea… Read More
When I was a kid up in the northwoods, there were two places on our land, I considered my own private hideouts. I was free to go to them anytime, and sometimes in the summer I would take a book and prop myself up against a tree and read for awhile. There was the “island” in the swamp, crossing a small strip of pasture, slogging through a mucky bit of wetland, all… Read More
Fantasy Island for a month. How does that sound? Especially in January? What follows is a show&tell overview, and you can judge for yourself. Well, actually the pictures are all pure scenic perfectness, only interrupted by human interest views, you know a cow or a crab or some cool kids. There’s a sweet little restaurant called Miley’s high up a hill; only good bread or butter (of any kind) I’ve had for… Read More
January has been quite a month hasn’t it? In my case, a brilliantly staged and fantastically (and I do mean with elements of fantasy) executed destination wedding in the tropical land of the Philippines started off the month/year for me. Life at its best. Soon though, the post-wedding glow was dimmed by an event watched with worldwide trepidation. On January 20th, the inauguration of our very own, home-grown, real life fascist took… Read More
The reality of having my eldest son live in the Philippines is daunting in the sense that…I am seriously old… and the PI is a long ways away. At least 36 or more hours at best. This is me vulnerable and cranky and needy, okay? But, as with many things in life there’s an upside. This is me being Pollyanna. Scott comes home a couple of times a year and stays a… Read More