Category Archives: Nature

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

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cape-cod-maPhoto from

Years ago, I went on a bus trip to Cape Cod. Spent a lot of time on the beach and seeing the sights. The journey ended at the extreme tip of the Cape at Provincetown.

Speaking of that eclectic little town, if you’re interested in food, take a look at a blog written by Jeannie Carriere. She spent a week there this summer and has the lowdown on good eats, including some interesting spots where you’ll find yummy lobster, clams and terrific fudge, among other things.

Back when I visited, I stayed in Hyannis Harbor. It is the perfect jumping off point to Nantucket Island. We took a ferry over and stayed the day. I vividly remember the rose covered cottages and hoped I’d be able to revisit someday and rent one of them for a week, but I never did.

If you’d rather travel a little farther into the Cape, you will find many nice places to stay in Harwich including the Sandpiper Beach Inn where Erin at Thirty Something chose to stay. Her pics and descriptions are lovely.

If you go, you won’t want to miss the Cape Cod National Seashore, 43,000 acres of beaches, nature trails, lighthouses and historic structures.

And definitely plan to stay a day in Provincetown. Besides the terrific food, there’s great fishing, art galleries, the clapboard houses are a sight to behold and if you’re real energic, you can climb the Pilgrim Monument.

Speaking of pilgrims, don’t bother making a side trip to see Plymouth Rock. It’s very disappointing and not worth the time it takes to get there.

Plymouth Rock sits inside a Greek Temple-like structure along a pleasant promenade in Plymouth Harbor, Mass. The rock is gray and worn, and roughly the size of a car engine, with the year 1620 stamped across its side. It marks the precise spot where William Bradford and the Mayflower pilgrims set foot in the New World, except for the fact that this actually happened in Provincetown.

Everything else is a “go.”

10 Ideas (and more) When There’s No Money For Vacation

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Over the past few months, I’ve pointed out a number of places to vacation. All in the U.S. All good for the pocketbook. All good to help boost the economy. But suppose you don’t even have enough money to hop on a plane, or a train, or to gas up the car? What then?

It could be time to get creative:

  1. Library – Visit your local library. There’s more than books there. Rent some DVDs and video games. Don’t particularly like to read, but you enjoy a good story? Try taking out an audio book. Many libraries offer free movie nights and concerts. There’s almost always activities for the kids. My library always has a 1,000 piece puzzle going so anyone can sit down for a while, unwind, and try your hand at putting in a few pieces. And nowadays, libraries have computers.
  2. Birdwatching – Don’t skip over this one (even if it sounds hokey). If you have kids to keep entertained, this is a great one. Buy a bird book. (An excellent one for beginners is the Peterson Field Guide.) Install a bird feeder in the backyard. No backyard? Take a hike at your local park. Begin a “Life List.” When you observe and recognize a bird, check it off your list. Before you know it, you’ll have a pretty lengthy list.
  3. Camera Safari – Both adults and kids love taking pictures. Get out there and photograph flowers, bugs, (birds, if they’ll sit long enough for you), other people enjoying nature. Compare all the photos and judge who got the best shot–adult or one of the kids? Post the good ones online.
  4. Adult Education Classes – Learn to Paint. Actually, learn to do just about anything. Ballroom dancing, Line dancing, Belly dancing – your city probably offers classes at your local high school or tech school. Do a little research.
  5. Fishing – Everybody knows somebody who likes to fish. Find your fishing mentor and spend a day on the water.
  6. Picnic – This one is obvious, but the fact is, I hate to picnic on a hot, summer day. My idea is a picnic indoors. It can even be an overnight picnic that includes: inviting one guest each, everyone choosing their own food & helping to prepare it, each guest brings their favorite DVD, and when everyone is dead tired, break out the sleeping bags.
  7. Hose ‘Em – Don’t have enough moolah to take the family to a water park. Put on your bathing suit and hook up the hose. Keeping in mind that most communities are trying to conserve water, this is an hour-long fun time that ends with some cool punch and a family board game in wet bathing suits out on the back porch. (Family time – none of us get enough of it these days.)
  8. Freebies – Keep your eyes and ears open for free events: Museum Free Days, Art Galleries, Community Fairs and Events, etc.
  9. A Bushel-full of Ideas from Pink Like The Color
  10. And Last but not Least from Home Baked Education

Wii Fun and an Update

We are having a good week.
We blew our summer budget on a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit which has been a really big hit with us both. Cameron is particularly into boxing, jogging and bowling as well as a Ben 10 game we bought with it. This is the first games console we’ve had in years and the first that we’ve really got the hang of. There is quite a bit of healthy competition in the house for getting first place in the games and activities! Much to my surprise Cameron switches off after about an hour of his own accord too – I thought I’d have to be dragging him away to get anything else done.

Macon, GA

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macon-gaphoto from

[My computer has been sick, but it’s all better now.]

So, what’s doing in Macon, GA? That’s what I was thinking 5 years ago when a friend asked me if I’d like to go to Macon for the Cherry Blossom Festival. It turns out that Macon has more, many more, cherry blossom trees than Washington, DC.

Here’s a report from Faye and Ken

Did you know that Macon has more than 300,000 Yoshino Japanese Cherry Trees? So many that Macon was declared the Cherry Blossom Capital of the United States” in 1983. Later, the Japanese Consul General named Macon the “Cherry Blossom Capital of the World!!” William Finkling found and propagated the first Yoshinos in 1949 and later he gave away 1,500 trees every year to the Macon community. That’s how there came to be many Cherry trees.

Anyway, I decided to go with my friend. Macon holds the festival for 10 days every year in March, so if you’re a person who prefers not to take summer vacations, you’ll have plenty of time to plan for this trip.

Let me tell you, they pack in a lot of events in those 10 days, too. And much of it is free: parades, craft and artists shows, food fairs, dancing in the streets, band concerts in the park, and the best fireworks I have ever seen (and that’s saying something, because I’ve seen a lot of fireworks displays in a lot of different places.)

If you like to tour Antebellum Homes, there are plenty of them. We visited one when we were there, but I can’t remember the name of it. I remember it was lovely and that it had a cannonball in the porch floor, right where it landed during the Civil War.

Learn more about the Pinkest Party on Earth

Two Squirrel Encounters

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Squirrels are just too fascinating.

Did you know they eat french fries and Butterfinger candy bars?

No lie! Last week, I saw a squirrel eating a Butterfinger right out of the wrapper. She was dainty about it, too.

The week before that, I stopped at McDonald’s for a burger and fries. I parked in their lot to eat and a squirrel came up to my car door. He begged on his hind legs–like a dog. I rolled down my window and dropped one of my fries down to him. He picked it up and crossed to the other side of the parking lot with it. We munched together.

Ya gotta love ’em.

San Francisco, California

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Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

When I travel I like to visit places I have read about in a book or magazine. I become the ultimate tourist. My intent is to take the words off the page and experience them in real life. San Francisco is a prime destination where you can do just that.

For one thing, a lot of stuff you’ve read about is within walking distance of each other. You can visit the sea lions, listen to their loud grunting, and watch them splash and play off the end of Pier 39. Other things the Pier has to offer: a marketplace, restaurants, street performers and loads of shops.

You won’t want to miss Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s only one or two blocks away from Pier 39 and the walk along the Bay is lovely. You’ll see picture perfect views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Just seeing the Golden Gate Bridge will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling. It’s a man-made phenomenon.

Tours. You want to take a tour? There are all sorts of tours: Seqway Tours, Motorcoach Tours, Bay Cruise Tours, Double Decker Trolley Tours, Culinary Tours, Alcatraz Tours, Submarine Tours, Chinatown Tours and Ride the Duck Tours. If you can dream it up–San Francisco’s got it.

So, right about now, you’re wondering how you can ride a duck, aren’t you? Well, the Duck is a W.W. II style amphibious landing vehicle, so you tour the city by land and by sea. Pretty neat.

Of course, you can’t visit San Francisco without riding a cable car or trolley. They’re everywhere. Hop on.

And by all means, never visit a city without sampling the local cuisine. In San Francisco, the sour dough bread is not to be missed. Make sure you eat some in every restaurant you visit, because you’ll never taste anything like it ever again (unless you go back to San Fran).

If you’re traveling with the kids, there’s an aquarium at the bay and a carousel smack dab in the middle of Pier 39. The kids will also love the live entertainment and the street performers.

San Francisco has all the other things you’d expect to find in a big city: museums, theater, opera, symphony orchestra and sports.

It’s all good!

New York, New York

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The Big Apple

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When you read that title, New York, New York, tell the truth, didn’t you automatically hear the lyrics in your head? I can almost picture a line of dancers kicking up their heels in unison at the Radio City Music Hall.

New York City is the next city on my countdown for vacationing on a budget and where to do it in the U.S. To be absolutely honest, New York City is pricey, but when compared to hopping a plane abroad, it’s a real bargain. It has everything, including the most diverse cross-section of ethnicity in this country.

How does one describe the city that never sleeps?

I’m just going to tick off  “some” of the things you will find in NYC.

  • Central Park, which encompasses the Central Park Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden, (2) Ice-Skating Rinks,  and an outdoor Theatre in the Park. (If you’re a birder–Central Park is your own personal heaven.)
  • Statue of Liberty
  • Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center
  • Chinatown
  • Harlem
  • Broadway (You haven’t experienced a play until you’ve seen one on Broadway)
  • Museums (My favorite–Metropolitan Museum of Art– you can spend days there and still not see it all) There are loads of other museums, though. Another popular museum is MoMA, Museum of Modern Art
  • Times Square (If you visit, be sure to grab a burger at the McDonald’s at Times Square. You won’t believe your eyes.)
  • Greenwich Village
  • The Garment District

There’s more, but the list would go on and on into infinity. Suffice it to say, every neighborhood has something new and different to offer and you can see it all because cabs are at your beck and call day or night.

And there is actually one freebie in NYC. The Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museums are free on Friday evenings. Not bad!

I’ll close by reminding you that shopping in New York is phenomenal. Bring some extra cash.

Vacation On A Budget

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If you’re like a whole lot of other people, you can’t afford to go abroad for a vacation. Getting there is expensive, even if you’re able to find a decent group deal. Worse, the dollar exchange is really, really bad at the moment.

Still, you’d like to get away for a little while, maybe in the spring or summer. The answer is simple. Travel in the good ole’ U. S. of A. If you happen to live close enough to any of these locations, you can plan a road trip. Best of all, you’ll be helping our economy while you enjoy yourself.

I’ll give you a short rundown of cities I’ve visited that didn’t disappoint. I’ll start with my two absolute favorites.

  • Niagara Falls, New York. Whether it’s daytime or nighttime, the Falls are the main attraction. They’re awesome, to use a word which means, “Go see for yourself.” They are lit at night with colored lights–truly a delicious sight. Then take a day-trip across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. Experience the Falls close-up on a short boat trip aboard the Maid of the Mist. How does it feel to be so close to the Falls: surrounded by rainbows, mist splashing your face, (you’re given a raincoat as you board the boat), the deafening roar? For an all too brief moment, your senses go wild: Seeing, Feeling and Hearing. Even the smells are memorable. There are loads of other things to do and see. This is a “must see” destination.

  • Grand Canyon, Arizona. I was in Las Vegas a couple of years ago (not a place you want to go when you’re on a budget). I had never been to Las Vegas before, so I thought I should see it at least once.  My real reason for going was because it got me smack-dab around the corner from the Grand Canyon. Before my feet ever hit the airport in Nevada, my Grand Canyon bus trip had already been booked and paid for. I’d seen pictures of the Grand Canyon hundreds of times, so I figured I knew what to expect. No! There is no way you can conceive its vastness, or its beauty. The only way I can possibly explain its size is–after spending several hours at the Canyon (which was not enough time), I returned to the bus for my return trip back to Las Vegas. The driver handed out pamphlets of the Canyon. On the inside of the four-folded pamphlet extending from one edge to the other, was a photo of the Grand Canyon. I asked the driver where we were exactly. He pointed to a tiny speck and he said, “That’s where we’re at and, actually, my stubby finger is too wide for this map.” That probably doesn’t explain it very well. Suffice it to say, if you haven’t already seen the Grand Canyon, put it on your Bucket List.

The Saga Of The Squirrels

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It was 7:00 a.m. I sat on the porch sipping tea when it happened. First, I heard the loud flutter of wings swooping to the ground, and then I saw the landing, It was a hawk gunning for two squirrels, who minutes before were running around the trunk of a tree, playing and squealing at each other. I expected them to scamper up the tree, but instead they stayed grounded. The hawk flew at them, but was unsuccessful. Flying close to the ground made it difficult for him to strike at the squirrels. They were too fast for him. After two attempts, the hawk gave up and flew away.

Here’s another Squirrel vs Hawk story. Again the squirrel outwits the hawk.

 I am at my computer just now and a hawk landed in the oak outside the window.  A squirrel was sitting on the next branch and it became Squirrel vs Hawk.  The hawk eyed the rodent, the rodent hopped up to the branch the hawk was on.  The hawk backed off, the squirrel returned to the lower branch.  The hawk moved closer to the squirrel and the squirrel hopped back up to the hawk’s branch.  The hawk spread its wing intimidatingly and the squirrel went back to his own branch.  Finally the hawk gave up and flew to the fence and then into the other trees.

Hawks aren’t the squirrels’ only problem. Dogs love the pursuit, too. Check out Basil

Basil spots a squirrel behind a bench. Before I can know what’s happening, he jumps on the seat, then the edge of the bench’s back, from which he proceeds to jump off, in an attempt to follow the squirrel up the tree. Of course, he falls to the floor, from where he continues his chase.

This happens in less than 30 seconds. After the squirrel jumps to another tree, he resumes the walk as if nothing had happened.

It appears cats are a major problem for the poor squirrels, too. See Martannasmimi’s Weblog

Rocky fell from his home,  a nest in a big tree. He was about to be attacked by a huge cat when Popa rescued him. Marta was amazed to see this tiny helpless little guy.

We called our local animal rescue person, a very nice woman who lives down the road . Jean is an older woman who has been taking in local injured wildlife for many years.

Some days are luckier than others.

Happiness Is A Walk In The Rain – Spontaneity

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image from

Last Saturday afternoon, as I was getting ready to walk home from my friend Bev’s house, the clouds shuddered and an unexpected shower of rain began pelting the windows. It sounded good to me. It sounded like bad timing to Bev.

Her immediate thoughts were: maybe I should wait until the rain stopped or slowed down, or I should, at least, borrow an umbrella, or…

But I was thinking, I couldn’t remember the last time I walked in the rain. So, I pooh, poohed the offer of an umbrella and ventured outside. It was a hot day. The rain felt cool. I noticed steam rising from the ground, as the earth drank its full. Huge drops of rain cascaded down from my head. There was no lightning, no thunder–a perfect day for a stroll. I looked up at the sky as I walked and drops of water splattered onto my face. By the time, I reached my front door, I was soaked to the skin. I stepped inside and dropped my clothes.

Spontaneity had surprised me and gifted me with a glorious, divine, magnificent interlude!

From the news stan(d)

Someone’s said that “spontaneity is the quality of being able to do something just because you feel like it at the moment, of trusting your instincts, of taking yourself by surprise…

You don’t think about being spontaneous, you just do it. It comes from within you to do what you like, how you like it and when you want it. It just happens – unplanned, unstructured and best of all, unexpected but still within your power to shape it.

The Cook Family seems to know how to be spontaneous.

The other day Dan got home from work just in time to catch the sun going down . The second he came through the door he said, “grab a blanket, we’re going on the roof.”

This idea tickled me – Manufactured Spontaneity

At Flax, the art supply store, you can buy a notebook with napkins instead of pages. Because so many great ideas started on a napkin. So. You should be ready with some napkins.

Spontaneity–it comes in all sizes.

What about you? Spontaneous or Well Planned Agenda?

Things I Love

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jukebox.jpg

Years ago, and I’m talking back in the early 80’s, I made two lists. One was titled “Things I Love” and the other was “Things I Hate.” Why would I do that? I have no idea. Maybe just because I love to make lists. I’m a list-maker, okay?

Anyway, I came across these lists a few days ago and I read the “love list” to see if I had changed much over the years. Except for “E.T.” (I guess I had recently gone to the movies to see that), and my favorite name at that time, “Leeanne” (which I have gotten over) and “jukeboxes,” (where did all the jukeboxes go?), there weren’t too many differences.

Perhaps the “ziploc bag” had recently been introduced, because it made my list. And it appears I actually had time to do “crossword puzzles,” “jigsaw puzzles” and to play “Scrabble.” Just when I got to reminiscing about how much slower the pace was back then, I came across this entry “uninterrupted concentration.” I suppose that wouldn’t have made it to my list unless it was an issue.

Here are a few of the things I still love:

Birds singing in the morning
Hot dogs at the ballgame
Root beer barrels
The sound of a merry-go-round
Words with double letters (Don’t ask me why, but that still holds true. Love ’em.)
The smell of orange blossoms and jasmine
50’s and 60’s music
A good book
Watching and listening to ocean waves
A true friend

My list is much longer, but these are some of the highlights. Here’s something really funny. Last week I wrote a post about patience and perseverance. Guess what was on my list: “patience and understanding.” I wonder if I meant mine or everyone else’s?

Do you have ten things you can think of off the top of your head that you love? Let me know.