Tag: travel

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Resfeber

Humorist Erma Bombeck titled one of her books When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It’s Time To Go Home. It’s a compilation of hilarious travel essays and global anecdotes. We haven’t been anywhere far away since I’ve retired, and already I look like my passport photo. It was renewal time, and while we don’t have any definite plans yet to visit Iceland or Ireland or even Canada, we like to keep our options open just in case the opportunity arises. My brother and sister-in-law took a Viking cruise out of Amsterdam down through French Wine Country a couple of Augusts ago, and they’ve been urging us to consider a river cruise. My heart leans toward Iceland or some Scandinavian place where I have to bundle up like a real Viking just to breathe the air and can go inside to cozy up by a rip-roaring fire.

Sometimes, the dream is as exciting as the reality. There is a word for this: resfeber. It’s a Swedish noun that refers to the feelings of all the excitement of travel before it ever begins. If I ever write a travel book, it will have this word somewhere in the title or subtitle.

I’m feeling sparks of resfeber this week because when our latest Georgia Magazine came out, I did what I always do: I thumbed to the section of upcoming events throughout the state and discovered that The Long Run, an Eagles tribute band, would be performing at Lake Lanier in Buford, Georgia on August 22. I snapped up two tickets and reserved a lake spot campsite at Margaritaville so we can drive the Wayfarer up on Saturday and take our Schnoodles to a new place we’ve never camped, full of all-different smells for them to enjoy. I do think that this is what they love most about being camping dogs – – taking in the world through their noses.

Next, I’ll make sure our Eagles t-shirts are clean and ready to wear. We got matching ones when we flew out to see them perform at The Sphere in Las Vegas this past February. We’ll wear those to see the tribute band.

Resfeber.

I might just spend the day planning a trip.

resfeber takes hold

I open my Road Trippers

app and start planning…..

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August Open Write Day 3 of 3 with Joanne Emery: Deep in Nature

Our host today for the third and final day of the August Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com is Joanne Emery, who inspires us to write poems about being deep in nature and the sensory and inner feelings associated with it. You can read her full prompt, and the poems of others, here. My poem today will follow the photos of our trail walk we took on Saturday.

Over the weekend, we took our two four-legged sons Boo Radley and Ollie to F. D. Roosevelt State Park for a quick getaway in the Wayfarer. While there, we took a hike along Mountain Creek Trail, and even though it was hot, the shade provided a respite from the extreme temperatures and the heat advisory in effect.

We like to start the day at the top of the mountain with a picnic breakfast overlooking the valley below Pine Mountain. Where many campers cook full breakfasts on outdoor kitchens, we like to take the easy route and buy coffee and muffins at the registration center and find a picnic table. The boys expect bites of blueberry muffin, and sometimes we cave in to their pressure.

The hike begins with Briar and Boo Radley in the lead, and Ollie and I follow. We make sure they stay on leashes in case we encounter other critters – human, canine, or reptilian, or other – on the trails. On Saturday, we did not meet or pass one other person. In fact, the trail was eerily silent of birdsong, traffic, voices, and even rustling of leaves in the wind.

The different types of mushrooms are always fascinating to me, including this one that is a shelf/bracket fungus that is either turkey tail or a lookalike. We also saw several patches of bright orange colored chicken of the woods and oyster mushrooms as well.

F. D. Roosevelt State Park has a naturalist who offers foraging classes on occasion when mushrooms are bountiful, and I have always wanted to attend the session and learn more about mushrooms and their benefits. I would still be reluctant to eat a wild mushroom, but I’d love to learn more about them.

Getting across the bridges is always interesting. Boo Radley hesitates and sometimes decides to go around the side. Ollie never hesitates and always turns around to be sure I made it across safely once he’s on the other side (how your dog tells you you’re old without telling you you’re old). Even though they’re schnoodles, they have the sense of adventure of sled dogs sometimes – they put themselves in four-wheel drive and pull us along.

They like to play in the streams, and as long as the water is running clear, we let them. On Saturday, they took drinks and walked around to cool off when we took a short break to let them play in the creek.

The natural ferns speak to me in whispers of my mother, reminding me I’m fortunate not to have crippling anxiety, my father echoing her: stress is a killer, I can hear him say. But not in these woods, not on this trail, not deep in nature. Nature heals.

I’m surprised I remembered the fairy tree door, but I knew when I reached the top of one hill that it would be on the other side. Sure enough, it was there, protecting the forest treasures inside – fairies, woodland critters, swag for those who take one and leave one.

And I kept watching for signs of fall in all the heat. Here and there, dotting the trail, were red or yellow leaves. I picked up several fallen acorns and put them in my pocket. I reflected on yesterday’s post about Noah and his wife, and the hope God sends in leaves. Yes, my answer is clear: God does still send hope in leaves. Ask and ye shall receive.

On Mountain Creek Nature Trail, Saturday August 15

Boo Radley leads

Ollie follows

four-wheel drive kicks in

along the trail

splashing in creeks

crossing bridges

inhaling fresh air

underfoot crunch of pine needles

and acorns giving us

out-of-office peace

resetting the focus

to the moment

with each step

deeper and deeper

into the woods

red leaves bringing

the hope of autumn

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2nd Friday Retirement Adventures: August

My cleaned-out work space on the last day

Retirement officially began two weeks ago, and there are both upsides (a more relaxed pace and lingering over coffee in lounge clothes and slippers on the front porch, for example) and downsides (lots of initial paperwork to replace life and dental insurance policies that don’t continue forward, for example) to this new chapter. At the beginning of my first week off, I used a green spiral notebook like the one in the image above to make a list of all the things I wanted to do — something enjoyable each week, blending in some new hobbies and routines as well.

Here are some things I’ve enjoyed in my first official two weeks of retirement, as teachers and students have returned to school:

  1. Mahjong – I went for lessons with a former teammate who is also a new retiree! We are learning together how to play the game with tiles. Unfortunately, we have also discovered the highly addictive http://www.mahjong4friends.com, an online game that has us both staying up late at night.

2. Rag Quilting – I created a rag quilt for my newest grandson, who shares my birthday. We drove down to coastal South Carolina to make the delivery and see our son, daughter-in-law, and our grandchildren who live there.

3. Morning Walking and 4. Yoga – I’ve started walking a mile each morning on the treadmill and dabbled in floor yoga and chair yoga. I seem to do much better with the chair yoga, at least while I build some stamina. Yoga looks simple and easy. It isn’t.

5. Friends of the Library Book Fair – My sister in law and I drove to Columbus, an hour away, to check out the sale. We each came away with just under ten books and spent about ten dollars. Not that either one of us needed another book. But I am in the process of reorganizing my TBR pile and increasing my reading time.

Holding out a bag, ready to fill it full of new books!

6. Local Bookstore Book Club and 7. Summer Reading Poetry Book Club – I have been in a fabulous book club with my Kindred Spirits Sisters at work, and we will continue to read and meet and enjoy book based adventures. This month’s selection is Dear Debbie by Frieda McFadden. I’ve also added a local bookstore book club (The Ferryman and His Wife by Frode Grytten) to my reading life and finished an online poetry summer book club (44 Poems on Being With Each Other by Padraig O’Tuama) hosted by a member of one of my writing groups as well.

The next couple of weeks will include two getaways in the Wayfarer, and I’ll share the adventures on those trips on the 4th Friday of August, along with a few other new endeavors. Everyone kept asking what I would do in retirement, and I’m so eager to share the ways I’m enjoying it! I have 100 things on my list…..

Retirement

it’s a new chapter

new characters, fresh-spun themes

~ keep turning each page!

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Rag Quilting in Retirement

Whenever a new grandchild is born, I dust off their great grandmother’s Bernina sewing machine and start cutting rag quilt squares to welcome the baby in style. My mother left me her treasured Swiss machine from the company named for the Piz Bernina peak in the Alps. It’s the same one she taught me to sew on, and while I’m not the excellent seamstress that she was (nor will I ever be), I feel a deep inner joy knowing that the same machine she used to make our clothes for decades is still being used to make quilts for her great grandchildren. I hope she’s smiling with pride as she gazes down from Heaven!

A lot of times, it’s hard deciding on a rag quilt theme and colors, but this idea came easily. Since Oakley Finn and I share a birthday (July 8), I chose stars and stripes for America’s 250th. There are also narwhals on one of the square designs, and one with waves too, because these grandchildren live in coastal South Carolina and love ocean and sea creatures. Even though there are not any narwhals making the trip from arctic waters down to the Lowcountry waters, I think they fit into the scheme of things just fine.

Retirement time allows for visiting family and sewing rag quilts, and I’m loving every minute of being able to do the things I truly enjoy! I feel blessed!

Rag Quilting

generations stitched

together, transcending time

where love knows no bounds

Our 8th grandchild, born on July 8th, weighing 8 lbs, 8 oz. – the 8th member of his family!

Today is the first day back for students in our school system in Georgia. When I started feeling the tug to retire throughout last school year, I said to a few friends, “If the stars align, I’m thinking about retiring.” Isn’t it ironic that on this first day for students, my sister-in-law Bethany sent me a reminder that this very morning there will be a planetary parade of lined-up planets! It’s as if we have moved out of the realm of the stars and into the planetary universe with someone upstairs nodding a big YES on this first day that I will not be in all the school traffic trying to get to work. I’m home – – living a more relaxed pace and loving it.

Screenshot
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Retirement Surprise Dinner!

It was supposed to be an ordinary day: August 1, my first official day of retirement. At work the previous week before I took the personal days I needed to use or lose, I had asked to simply slip out the door without a party or even a mere cupcake. I’m not one for too much celebration since I like everything to be simple, and I don’t like to be in the spotlight. On my last office day, my husband worked with my friend Janette and sister in law Bethany to arrange to bring the RV up to the parking lot so my friends could wave to me as I drove away to the open road. One week later, he’d asked me to save the evening – like he does if we have a date or something. I figured he was planning to take me to dinner, just the two of us.

I repotted plants all morning while he mowed grass and did the weed eating. And then I came inside into the air conditioned cool and cleaned out the refrigerator. I did that kind of deep cleaning that you do every two or three years where you take all the shelves and drawers out and wash them, then line all the countertops in towels and let it all air dry. Briar was in the shower, and as soon has he was done, I stepped in for my turn to clean up for the evening. I wanted him to go first so I could see what to wear without asking too many questions. Wherever we were going, we were leaving at 5:00.

I chose black pants and a black and white shirt, the sort of outfit that seems to adjust itself to the formality of any occasion. I put on my silver hoop earrings and my beaded bracelet that was a gift from Bethany when my soul Schnauzer Fitz crossed the rainbow bridge this past spring, and the pearl and silver cross necklace from my children. And then, I bottomed it all off with my black Teva TirraTraveler sandals that look like something between a fancy Sunday School shoe with a beaded ring and just as fitting for the beach or kayaking, and the shoes I would choose as my one forever shoe if I could only choose one pair henceforth. I dried my hair, put on some makeup, installed my contact lenses, grabbed my trusty Portland Leather bag, and stepped into the living room.

And there sat my brother, who’d made the trip to surprise me from five hours south. And my sister in law – – and they hugged me and led me outside to see a gift they’d made together, just for me, that was in their cooler in the back of their car. A toasted coconut cream pie. A favorite Costa Rican recipe that they had made together in their own kitchen the night before, knowing it’s my favorite.

It was that kind of moment where there was nothing else in the whole world that would have been more meaningful. Family who’d traveled in with so much else going on in their own lives, who’d stopped their world to make me a pie and bring it so we could sit around with coffee, talk, and share memories.

I was blown away that my husband had planned such a sweet retirement dinner for me. We were going to my favorite Italian restaurant two counties northwest of us, and we were on the way. And there, at a corner way in the back hidden from immediate view, were three of my colleagues I’d met the very first year I came to the county and had joined on adventures outside of work throughout the years ~ all avid readers who love to travel, see shows, and go out to eat. I’d taught their children and we shared some of the happiest and saddest times of the past 20 years of our lives together, from book club discussions to following each other’s favorite travel itineraries to being there when we’d laid loved ones to rest. Here they were to surprise me and surround me on my first day of retirement!

My brother gave a toast, and we talked of life and the living of it. We all clinked glasses and talked deep into the night, sharing our stories of how we met, how we stuck together, and how we’ve laughed along the way …over coconut cream pie and coffee. Clean refrigerator shelves and drawers lined the kitchen as we gathered in our living room after dinner. I glanced out at the freshly repotted plants on the back porch and felt a similar joy deep inside: new fresh earth, still-strong roots, and room to grow and thrive in new directions with the right watering and sunshine.

Toasting

they made me a pie

showed up for my retirement

toasted coconut!

….and toasted retirement, too

in a glass of prosecco!

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Poetry Postcard Fest 2026

2026 Poetry Postcard Fest

Along with the members of my small group Stafford Challenge members, I joined the Poetry Postcard Fest 2026 earlier this month, committing to writing an original poem daily and mailing each out to another participant on a postcard for 31 days between now and August 31. My list arrived, and I got to work. The organizers asked us not to share these until our virtual celebration gathering, so I will withhold any photos of this until after we have had our Zoom gathering. I’ll feature most every postcard during an upcoming month to share what I wrote and mailed. If you’re interested in considering this poetry opportunity for next year, mark it on your calendar! Here is some information about the event, along with a link to the official website. The shorter forms work well for these poems, and largely mine have been Haiku. I can’t wait to share more about the poems I send and and receive!


Poetry Postcard Fest

Around the world, we

write poems on postcards, then

mail them to new friends

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Overlooking Albuquerque

As we completed half of Route 66 in the summer of 2023, we took the Sandia Peak Tramway to the top of the mountain to get an aerial view of Albuquerque. We’d decided to fly into Chicago and home from Albuquerque, having rented a car with my husband’s brother and sister in law to complete a little more than half the journey that summer.

From this vista, you can see the entire city of Albuquerque and surrounding areas. It’s a magnificent view of the west, and I highly recommend it.

Sandia Peak Tramway

Albuquerque’s peak

(you can almost touch the clouds)

Sandia Tramway

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The Big Texan Steakhouse – Amarillo, Texas

Another great stop on our Route 66 trip was The Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo, Texas. It’s one of those places where you can get a free meal if you can eat a ton of food in a certain amount of time. We didn’t attempt that, but I can testify to the delicious food and the western atmosphere of the place. Plus, their gift shop has some of the best Route 66 souvenirs we found between Chicago and Albuquerque!

The Big Texan

Big Texan Steakhouse

don’t overstuff yourself, though,

on a long car ride!