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 |    Online journal capturing the moment and the memory of moments. A meadow meditation. |
   L'aura del campo 'é a lua, é a lua, na quintana dos mortos' ♣ Federico García Lorca ♣  L'aura del campo. A breeze in the meadow. So it began the last day of Spring, 2005; on the 16th day of the month of Light of the year 162. This is a supplement to my daily journal written to a friend, my muse; notes I do not share. Here I will share what the breeze has whispered to me. PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS! I L  V COMMENTS!On a practical note, in answer to your questions: IN MEMORIUM VerySara  passed away November 12, 2005 Please visit her port to read her poems and her writings. More suggested links:  These pictures rotate.   Kåre  Enga~ until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go. ~ Elizabeth Bishop, The Fish |
| Grilled ...¯\_(ツ)_/¯... For Monday's 30DBC entry, what meats, side dishes, and beverages are you serving? Do you have a go-to dish you like to prepare? When I had barbecue for 15 years as an event to bring people into my inner-city neighborhood and to bring many different types of people together, I served rib-eye steaks. Sometimes other people brought burgers or dogs. One year I paid friend to grill chicken. But I never grilled them. Usually there was someone eager to work the grill. Usually men, but one year a group of women decided that no one was going to eat if they didn't get grilling! I didn't provide alcohol and didn't want anyone bringing it. It wasn't a family reunion where everybody gets drunk, fights and makes up later. I was dealing with class, race and religious barriers among others. Side dishes varied from year to year from every salad and dessert imaginable to pizza. If I were ever to do this again... I don't know... those times are past. I don't have a place to grill nor the friends to invite. Peace, Kåre 9.juni.2019 Yesterday's flash fiction. Parsnips but no blood...
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| Morning glories ...¯\_(ツ)_/¯... Moon flowers I'm taking my cue from bobturn today.  I love both morning glories and moon flowers. The weedy white morning glories of my childhood were impossible to get rid of but they suffered no umbrage. There they were, white innocence, facing every dawn. People did plant the blue and multi-colored ones but the weeds were more generous. Moon flowers were trickier where I grew up. The growing season was too short and too cold. But they bloomed every evening where I stayed in Costa Rica as a college student. Whether the day was rainy or sunny the night was fragrant in their white raiment. Here at WdC we are a motley mix of moods and moments. Some of us are morning mavens, others like me an evening cloak, many are night owls. We are naturally cheerful and naturally gloomy, but although some of us may write about monsters, and monsters that would frighten a monster, we are all human. And we live around the world in most every time zone. Someone is always on line reading, writing, editing, reviewing, posting. It's morning or evening somewhere regardless of when we connect. Many times as a child I got up too late to catch the morning glories in bloom. I still miss them. But here, someone is always sharing their cheerfulness. And somewhere someone else is gathering the fragrance of moon flowers and sharing it with us. Peace, Kåre 9.juni.2019 102.578 |
| Best vacation ever ...¯\_(ツ)_/¯... England with friends 30DBC prompt: ... Tell us about your most memorable vacation! In 2011 I made my first trip across the pond. I had made friends at WdC from many parts of the world. I decided to start in England. Mavis met me at the airport in Manchester and treated me to a wonderful dinner reflecting her upbringing in Asia. I loved her two dogs and jackdaw and sitting looking over the cricket pitch. She took me to Arbor Low with Julia and I was amazed at how old it was. To an American everything in England is old. Even her house was merely 400. I was introduced to longboats, Eyam the plague village, the Norman ruins of Peveril, Buxton (blue stone and springs) and Glossop (cheese), the knot gardens of Lyme Hall, and a heart-attack-on-a-plate a.k.a. a full English breakfast. I was handed over to Scarlet who enticed me with roasted parsnips and chocolate. There were yellow duckies everywhere. We visited the minster at Southall, Lord Byron's estate, the ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest and Nottingham Castle where her mother once worked. I learned that I liked mushy peas more than chips when we visited Newark-on-Trent, although the fish was nice. She lives there now. I got to visit Manchester during the Pride Parade. Pink Union Jacks and more queens than Liz has ever met. Amanda took me to the Cathedral of the Book, the John Rylands Library, and I had a scone with clotted cream. When I stayed over in Oldham her friend Charleigh made fresh cheese scones. Then off to visit Ann in North Lincolnshire. Saw the Railway Museum and Yorkminster in York, the Lincoln Cathedral and the ruins of the Bishop's Palace, Stow minster, a bridge to nowhere, a ropery. And of course her own gardens and her sister Janet's barbecue. Mavis and Julia fetched me and we were off to Cleethorpes. Before we left I was whisked away to Liverpool and the Tate And Slavery museums. I had crossed England from one sea to the other. This was the Autumn of 2011. It was the best vacation ever. I don't expect to be totally pampered again! It helped me get the courage to visit Europe in 2012 and every year since. Peace, Kåre 8.juni.2019 |
| See the World ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ... Take a Train 30DBC prompt: ... what is your favorite method of traveling, and why? PART 2: Train. It will get you many places while you admire the view along the way. Plus... it's on land. Smoother than a bus and less nerve-wracking than driving a car or motorbike, they are everyday transport in much of the world... but not everywhere. BUS: Best when there aren't trains available. There are no trains through the fjords of Norway, for instance. And going in and out of tunnels is exciting. My favorite bus routes? Sogndal to Ålesund and Sogndal to Lom. Plus most small towns are linked by buses. Regiojet: Prague, Budapest, Bratislava is smooth and comfortable. The bus loops around Cape Town are wonderful. Hop-on hop-off buses are available in many major cities. Here in Missoula the rides are free for anyone. BOAT: Speedboat and ferries can be smooth going in Norway. Skip the cruises, go local and save money. I haven't been on the ferries linking ports in the Mediterranean but the same rule applies. On a long route take a book, but on short ferries, grab some food, find a chair with a view and just soak it in. One of my favorites is the ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera in Costa Rica. Take the one westbound at sunset. PLANE: Fast and cheap within the Schengen Zone of Europe. 4 hours non-stop from Faro to Oslo is ab-fab for around $100 if you plan in advance. There are numerous carriers, so be careful of the cheap-cheap ones if you have luggage; but, there are many options and short flights can be endured. And, unless you have the time, flying is the best way to get to the other side of the world... and maybe the only way. BICYCLE and MOTORBIKE: I haven't done either but some countries are flat and easy and set up for bikes like The Netherlands. Everyone has a moped in Taiwan. But beware... around the world not all drivers respect bikes, and its worse in some countries than elsewhere. And distances become a problem in spread out places like Australia. METRO: Learn the system! México City is cheap and goes everywhere. As long as your lodging is near a station all parts of the city are easy to get to. Same with Taipei. More difficult to figure out in Tokyo. Most USA cities do not have a useful one. TRAIN: Great in Japan and Taiwan, well connected in Portugal. For scenery my favorite trips include the Romsdalen in Norway and the coastal route of California. Japan is expensive but a seishun juhachi kippu ticket (available 3 times per year) is great for getting around at a reasonable price. The most "interesting" trip was in Romania. Using a squat toilet on a train is something everyone should experience... once. Peace, Kåre 7.juni.2019 102.565 |
| See the U.S.A. ...¯\_(ツ)_/¯... in a Chevrolet. 30DBC prompt: ... what is your favorite method of traveling, and why? PART 1: As a child we took the Chevy for a ride in the country. The '58 was a coral Biscayne sedan, the '60 a blue Brookwood station wagon (my mother's car... pedal to the metal!), the '62 a Biscayne sedan... again but blue, the '65 a maroon Impala sedan. The '68 Dodge Polara was my favorite though; it was silver. The only other cars my father owned during my lifetime were a brown '49 De Soto, a green '53 Oldmobile, a '73 maroon Chevy Impala and a silver '79 Honda. We had Chevrolets for most of 21 years. According to my mother we needed a good working car for my dad to go to work. She budgeted for it. And it did get used. He car-pooled before it was called that. We went on trips, mostly to visit family. On weekends I loved the autumn jaunts to the countryside but as a child the long distance roller-coaster highways through the hills made me car sick. I ate M&Ms. That helped. As a teenager we visited the Adirondacks, a totally different world and the farthest I ever got until I went to college in Kansas. I didn't go back. I moved to a small Kansas farm town. My first car was a french-blue '60 Pontiac Catalina. I loved going down dirt roads! My second car, a '67 green-blue Plymouth Fury was the most reliable. I really liked my '94 white Miata though... top down. I loved the open roads the best, finding different routes to take rather than just following the same highway. I loved the freedom. Until 2004 when I was penniless... and that was the end of that. I think this has a crisper picture: https://www.aaaa.org/timeline-event/dinah-shore-sings-see-usa-chevrolet/ Peace, Kåre 6.juni.2019 102.554 |
| I'm on a cruise? WTF ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 30DBC prompt: Design your own week-long cruise vacation. What would you do? eat? See? Is there a theme? Let your imagination run wild. Argh... the only reason I'd go on a cruise is to go places I couldn't otherwise (like Road Scholars). A week? What could I possibly do in a week? So I'll write an anti-cruise entry:  I promise I won't eat all the food that's in front of me. Jamaica? Yes, I'd get off the ship but there some places in the world where I don't feel safe. Jamaica is one of them. Could I go to the Dominican Republic instead?  I don't party. Philippinos I've met are among the friendliest people in the world but I'm not into beaches and people who hang out on them. Will there be time to visit Northern Luzon? Maybe lunch with a friend in Manila?  Eu posso falar português... mais só um poquinho. Brasil is a huge country. Merely stopping in at Rio? I'd rather wander around Florianopolis or visit friends in São Paolo. How about up your Amazon to Manaus?  I stay in hostels but sharing a small cabin? Yes, I've been to Norway. Love Norway. And the views are great from the ferries, trains, speedboats and buses but I'd have to rob a bank to be able to afford my own room on a cruise.  Maybe tour the Mediterranean? I am not used to dressing up and mingling with the upper-class. I might like talking to the staff though. As with all the other places, there's little I could see of Italy from a cruise ship that I couldn't see from terra firma or a local ferry.Sound whiny! You bet-cha. You do not want ME on YOUR ideal cruise.  However, a Road Scholar or National Geographic cruise might be okay because they attract a crowd that's more interested in nature or culture than eating and partying or lounging on deck getting second degree burns. Plus it's one way to see St. Helena and Antarctica! But even their cruises are far too expensive. The around the world trip with RS is over $400/day. Many cruises are around $100/day which is a good deal for conventional vacationers and tourists. I'm not conventional... and I'm a landlubber. So, see y'all somewhere where there's lots of land in all 4 directions as far as the eye can see. Peace, Kåre 5.juni.2019 102.536 |
| What's a vacation? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ An ideal vacation? When I worked I mostly didn't take one. If work was scheduled on a Holy Day I had to ask for the day off. That usually meant a vacation day. It wasn't automatic. The boss could always refuse... May all the Christians out there who get a paid Christmas day off without asking ponder that... So. Now I write and travel. When I am doing one or the other I rarely take a "day off". Most people think I'm vacating (pun intended) when I travel. Rubbish... They're wrong. Traveling is lots of work on a budget like mine. It's rarely quiet, restful, relaxing... And once home they think that because I'm old and "retired" that means I sit in my Barcalounger with a piña colada in front of my 70" screen TV and order pizza. If they only knew... Familiar with the phrase "a vacation from my vacation"? I "work" at home and away. When I travel, I take a gazillion photos, stress over timetables, reservations, pinch-my-pennies. I rarely write. A vacation day when traveling is realizing that thát day I will do nothing, as in abso-f-ing nothing. Sometimes my body just quits. I've learned that it's important to listen to it. Hard to go anywhere without a body. When I'm home, I write, I read, I visit friends. (FYI: I don't have a TV, don't eat pizza, despise pineapple unless it's fresh and don't drink alcohol.) A vacation moment may be giving myself the permission not to write, not to talk to people, to go on a walk that I desperately need to do daily but don't. Any break from my boring routines. But, you ask what would be my ideal vacation? My ideal vacation would be an all-inclusive around-the-world educational cruise. It would probably kill me. Peace, Kåre 4.juni.2019 102.510 |
| Am I Swedish enough? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I was raised thinking I was Swedish. My father's family was very Swedish. My mother's wasn't but she learned to make Swedish meatballs to impress them. They were herring eaters and beer guzzlers. A lot of stocky blonds. We knew they came from Småland, from a long line of Carl Johansons and Johan Carlsons. The changed their name to the parish they came from. They lived off wood and hazelnuts in the middle of nowhere. I've since been there. I suspect I know why they left. It's an area of furniture making and some family went actually went into that business in America. But, I also knew I had heritage back to Alsace, Germany, England and Ireland. 3 of 8 grandparents came from areas considered French or German. But the area I grew up in was heavily German an anything less than 110% wasn't German enough. But, at least I had my Swedish heritage. Then along came DNA testing. It has improved somewhat since my mother,sister and I took the test. We had some shocks. Too much English. But, at least the Irish rootlet was there. And there was lots of Slavic and Finnic that my forefathers didn't talk about. And Iberian and Italo-Greek... what? I'm much more Portuguese-Spanish than German. There was practically no German in my mother either and less in me and my sister which means there was little or nothing in my father. His father spoke fluent German. When I visit Sweden people speak to me in Swedish. I have my father's smile and the squat body structure of a Goth. The Svea are the tall blond ones. Now my sister tells me that further tests indicate we may have some Norwegian blood as well. Well, my handshake isn't firm enough, my eyes don't pierce the back of your head and I'm not pleasant regardless of the circumstance. I'm what a Norwegian would call a "damn head-headed Swede". I can live with that. Peace, Kåre 3.juni.2019 PS: I love Jana Hisham's video. The first part is very key to what my blog's about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EMW0W5VtLA |
| What is the weight of things? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My body weight fluctuates. I lose while I travel. I gain at home. My aunt has weighed 107 pounds all her life. She's 90. I never throw away clothes that are momentarily too big or too small. Apparently even the weight of a kilogram changes. But who measures the weight of a mental or emotion burden. What is the proper unit to express that in. And how does this relate to one who bears it? Can one predict when too much is too much. Other than saying after the fact: They're broken. My ability to carry my own weight, both physical and emotional has varied. I'm not as steady nor stoic as my aunt. I've been as skinny as a rail. I've been borderline obese. And worse of all, I've been broken. I feel for everyone dealing with the issues of weight, especially the weight of burdens. Their pain emanates and I vibrate sympathetically. Even community pain is difficult. Specific pain, like the suicide of a teenager, I find unbearable. Many people delight in horror shows, watch shootings and car crashes in gleeful or terrified anticipation. I don't go to movies much, seldom watch TV. The weight of the real World is far too much. I sit at home mending my brokenness. I travel mending my brokenness. My journey is one of putting back the pieces of that brokenness. Peace, Kåre 2.juni.2019 Today's blog was inspired by Robert Waltz. 102.338 views |
| Could Chasten be our next Jackie O? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Jack and Jackie were young and beautiful. 1961 was a year that looked the same upside down... cool. It was a time between wars when no one wanted to talk about the domestic and foreign unrest that would soon tear the country apart. It was Camelot. The White House had been a bit military-staid and Mamie-pink. Out with the old! A new era was upon us. In 3rd grade I stood along the curb as the Kennedys slowly drove by our school top-down in a convertible. It was a different time for sure. Jack was tall and handsome and Jackie had it all; poise, youth, wealth, beauty. Those who came after would always be compared to her: Lady Bird, Pat, Betty, Rosalyn, Nancy, Barbara, Hillary, Laura, Michelle, Melania. Lady Bird campaigned to make the highways of America beautiful. Betty brought her battle with the bottle out in public and breast cancer too. Hillary championed health care and went on to become Secretary of State. Michelle promoted fitness. Many were introverts, willing to play a supportive role. Melania, bless-her-soul, has a spousal unit that sucks all the air out of any room he enters. Her elegance gets overshadowed by chaos. But... maybe her successor will be the second coming of Jackie O? Who could prove to be one of the most interesting spouses to rule the East Wing in 60 years? Chasten! We already know him by one name (his last name gives some people grief). As a humanities and drama teacher of teenagers he's quite at ease on the stage. He uses social media and will bring the dogs. Both are pluses for a younger generation. And he has flair! To quote Katherine Igoe: "Chasten does improv comedy, and, hilariously, is much more extroverted than his "shy" partner Pete (interesting, given the latter's choice of profession and, well, the fact that he's running for president)." Will we revisit Camelot? I doubt it. But none of the other spouses have captured as much public attention. I mean, do YOU know any of their names? Peace, Kåre 1.juni.2019 |
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