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I found a time capsule in my basement
I opened a time capsule today. It wasn’t an intended one, but it sure took me back in time about 12 years. The capsule was in the form of a cheap, white plastic bag that was buried inside a cardboard box that once crated a microwave. I was looking for a camera lens box that had important warranty information on the lens. I opened the large microwave box, sitting atop a wardrobe that my grandparents once owned, thinking maybe it contained a bunch of smaller boxes. Instead, I found a hodge-podge of decorative tins and other reusable containers, and the plastic bag. For some unknown reason, I’d stashed the cards…
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The wildest animals we saw at the Grand Canyon: French girls
So there we are, taking our first looks at the majestic Grand Canyon from its north rim. It’s 9 a.m. and we’ve brought our breakfast with us to eat as we gaze at the colors and shadows on the formations in the morning light. We are in the main lodge building of the Grand Canyon Lodge, which is the centerpiece of the National Historic Landmark lodge and cabins on the edge of the rim. I’m taking photos of Lee looking out into the canyons from the three large floor-to-ceiling windows in a cavernous recreation room filled with leather couches and chairs. “What are those girls doing?” I hear a nearby…
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Remembering that I forget my birthdays
Birthdays make me stop and really think about how I’m spending my time. That’s why I quit my job just a few weeks after turning 30 … and quit another job a few months after turning 40. Both times I didn’t have another job lined up yet. The milestone birthdays seem to move me beyond thinking and into taking action. They put me in the whole life-is-too-short-to-not-be-doing-something-you-really-enjoy mindset. Today I’m just turning 42, so there won’t be any monumental announcements. Plus, I couldn’t just up and quit on my current boss {I can’t quit myself!}. Overall, though, my memories of birthdays are lacking and this bothers me. I recall very…
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Trip Guide: Sea Life Kansas City & Legoland Discovery Center
On our trips across North America, Central America and the Caribbean, we often seek out zoos, aquariums and other opportunities to get up close with wildlife and sea creatures. So when I heard an aquarium had opened in April 2012 in Kansas City, Mo., I was happy to finally have an aquarium to visit within a three-hour drive from our home in Wichita, Kan. Then I found out it was a chain … and I have to admit that I was a little deflated. Well, I shouldn’t have been an aquarium snob! While it’s not going to land in the Top 5 of U.S. aquariums, Sea Life Kansas City is…
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I wrote my first guest post on another blog, The Traveling Tomato foodie site
My sister-in-law Elyse started a new website this summer with the help of my niece Abby, who is making a summer job of helping get the site populated. The site is a travel guide to finding restaurants that have menus friendly to vegetarians, vegans, folks avoiding gluten, paleo enthusiasts, those keeping kosher or people who just like food! I’m betting you fall into at least ONE of those categories, so check out The Traveling Tomato. And in case you are wondering what paleo enthusiast means, I had to look it up so I’ll share: paleo eating refers to a diet that mimics the diets of our caveman ancestors and includes meats,…