I was lucky to visit the two most iconic US national parks over the last few years—Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.
I’m now realizing that trying to paint landscapes based on any of those photos is just going to be frustrating. Those views are just too beautiful to be rendered by an amateur painter. I should just be happy I got so many great photos with my cell phone. My pics take me back to the actual feeling of awe.
I want to try another landscape at some point, but need to try something more humble.
Really not happy with this. I’ll keep it out as a way of hopefully learning from it.
This area is called “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” in Yellowstone National Park.
My husband is just about 8 weeks post-op from his second total knee replacement (and it has been a real bitch of a recovery), BUT I am pleased to report he walked the first mile of my walk with me yesterday without too much pain. That was the first time he’s walked a mile since last summer. He had walked a half-mile with me on Wednesday and it was OK, but he went faster and it felt better yesterday.
He’s still got swelling and using ice a lot, but now he can take Advil or Aleve which was not allowed for the first 6+ weeks. He still needs Oxy some, but not as much. Weed gummies for pain relief and sleep have helped. Yay cannabis.
I can feel a battle brewing between us over footwear. I’m a walker—usually 2-4 miles per day. Even though I never ever break into a run, I wear running shoes. I’ve been purchasing a new pair of ASICS-Gel Cumulus sneakers ever year for the past ten years, ever since my doctor told me I needed to replace my shoes more often.
This is my latest pair.
They are comfortable and in my opinion, COOL. Right? Both of my kids said they liked them, unprompted. Well, my husband hates shoes like this. He thinks they are dorky. He always wears black VANS, which in my opinion are too flat and not cushiony enough for walking with his new knees. I want him to get shoes like mine, but he thinks he’s too cool to wear dorky running shoes. I’m hoping the physical therapist comes out on my side.
Here we are in Yellowstone National Park in 2024 (pre knee replacements) in our usual footwear—me in ASICS, him in VANS. He thinks he looks way cooler than me, based on the shoes.
What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?
Given the success and inspirational nature of the Artemis 2 mission, I’d have to go Astronaut.
I wouldn’t want to do any of the preparation or training (I’m prone to vertigo) but just beam me up, Scotty, to a window seat, for one day so I can see the coolest views ever.
It would have to be a day when very little is required of the crew, because I’m not good at incapable of running science experiments or flying aircraft. I could probably handle photography duty for one day and also I’d be good at the PR stuff. I could call Houston and talk to the media from space with great enthusiasm.
Photo of the lunar flyby captured by the Artemis 2 astronauts
Can you imagine how mind blowing it would be to see that for real?
I’ve posted a couple times about my trip to the Soviet Union in college. I was with a group of students and history professors. It was a big deal to go “behind the iron curtain” back then, so we prepped for this trip for many months—studying Russian history and learning how to behave in a communist country. (They didn’t want any of us to end up in a Siberian prison camp.)
In addition to stopping in Helsinki (Finland) on the way into the USSR, we stopped in Budapest (Hungary) on the way out. Back then, Hungary was firmly part of the Soviet-aligned Eastern Bloc. And we happened to be there in the immediate aftermath of an epic snowstorm. Other than the snow and total paralysis of transportation on the streets, I remember kind people and one particularly delicious hot meal in a restaurant with some young musicians who gave us a cassette tape of their rock band.
In light of the recent good news that Hungarians dumped their far-right leader Viktor Orbán (a buddy of both Trump and Putin) on Sunday, I dug out my Budapest pics. Google describes Budapest in 1987 like this:
Budapest in 1987 was a city in late-communist Hungary characterized by economic scarcity, socialist architecture, and a quiet, daily struggle, yet it was on the cusp of major political change. The city experienced a historic, paralyzing snowstorm in January 1987 and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site that same year.
I’m not in any of these photos, but I took all of them. None are particularly good, but as a group, they give you the vibe.
Fun fact: Budapest is actually two cities—Buda and Pest. In this pic, I’m standing in Buda looking over the frozen Danube River towards Pest. The large domed building on the far side is the Hungarian Parliament in Pest. (Pronounced PESHT)
The famous Fisherman’s Bastion is a fairytale-like, Neo-Romanesque lookout built between 1895 and 1902.
An Aeroflot route map in a Budapest window. (We flew sketchy Aeroflot into Russia.)
My friend Lincoln standing in an alcove in Budapest.
My friend Rob playing a balalaika at the Budapest airport.
Walking was the only option for seeing anything at all while we were there! The city was paralyzed with snow and the authorities really couldn’t deal with it.
Two of our professors at the Budapest airport. The one on the right, Dr. James West, taught Russian history and was one of the best teachers I ever had. He’s one of the reasons I majored in History.
Listen, I know that nobody needs my hot take on what’s happening in the Middle East, but this is truly whack. The Trump regime has literally stranded upwards of 1,500 American civilians abroad. They were not warned not to travel to the Middle East before they left for their trips, and now they have no clear way to get home.
As someone who has consulted the US State Department (and enrolled in its Smart Traveler Program) before going abroad, I find this very disconcerting. Is it even safe to travel abroad now? Is the United States Department of State still a trustworthy institution? Have they fired so many experts that only unqualified people are making the big decisions? Are they just WINGING this whole damn thing???
Two good things have happened in my family recently. My daughter’s partner is now my official son-in-law. They tied the knot on their own at the Town Hall. I’m a little bit disappointed that I wasn’t there, but hey, at least I got a picture. My son-in-law is a good and kind person and a wonderful Girl Dad to my granddaughter. He’s also tall and good looking (never hurts).
Let’s face it, weddings are fun, but some young people and their parents spend (waste?) ridiculous amounts of money on them. Personally, I was a lifelong believer in the Princess Bride fantasy and had a traditional wedding (paid for by my parents). I think I’ve cracked open our wedding album about three times in 33 years. And I’ve never watched my wedding video. So the fact that my daughter totally skipped out on feeding “the wedding-industrial conplex” (as my friend calls the wedding biz) is OK by me.
The other good thing is that my son landed a new, better job within his company. And the really good news is that he doesn’t have to move out of state to take it! I really like his company and they seem to really like him. He started there as an intern after his junior year of college. They know him quite well and they truly seem to care about their employees. Perhaps it’s because they’re based in Sweden, where people’s happiness actually matters to employers.
I’m proud of my kids! There. I said it. I find it super annoying when people brag about their adult children on Facebook, but hey—it’s my blog and I’ll brag if I want to 😉
My son’s company sends all employees to Sweden for orientation during their first year. Now I want to go to Sweden!
The Winter Olympics end today. And thanks to Alysa Liu and her fellow skaters (but mostly Alysa), they were very satisfying for me. I really enjoyed watching the figure skating “gala exhibition” yesterday, especially the opening with the entire US gold medal team skating together.
Now I know there’s still the little matter of the US v Canada Gold Medal Men’s Hockey game yet to come in about an hour. (I’ll be at church for most of it, but I’m sure my husband will watch intently.)
The last thing I actually care about is the Closing Ceremony in Verona, which starts at 2:30pm EST.
I thought I had been to Verona during my semester abroad in 1985. I had a very vague recollection of wandering around the city thinking about the Montagues and the Capulets. But, unlike Milan, there is no photographic evidence from Verona.
Then I remembered that I started buying postcards, rather than taking pictures, at a certain point during my time abroad. Maybe it was because it was a pain to get film developed and printed in Italy, or maybe I just got tired of always lugging my camera around with me.
Anyhow, I recently located my stack of 41-year old postcards and sure enough there is one from Verona:
The caption means “Verona in the 1800s”
This actually looks like something I would buy if was wandering around thinking about Romeo & Juliet. Very romantic in a 1980s kind of way. Note the shopping bags. This was very much the vibe of a 1980s semester abroad in Italy. We were there to see stuff, buy stuff, meet people, and generally have a good time. Studying was not a priority. Anyone who spent a lot of time studying in their room was missing the whole point of being over there.
So yes, I can confidently say that I have in fact been to Verona when I watch the Closing Ceremony today. (My husband will only be half-listening when I say this, but hey, l’ll only be half-listening while he watches that hockey game.)
Coincidentally, I’m LX too—same as the Super Bowl.
Last night was a bummer for Pats fans, but hey…nobody ever expected them to make it to the Super Bowl this year. It’s just too bad they were never really in the game. Husband disappointed, but not crushed.
On the bright side, Bad Bunny was awesome. I closed the activity ring on my Apple Watch dancing along. No, I didn’t understand most of the Spanish, but I liked the vibe. My favorite part was the ending where they came dancing straight towards the camera flying all the flags of the Americas.
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love” was the message on the screen above the flags.
It definitely felt like a big F U to Trump and ICE and all that they represent—white nationalism, hate, fear.
I took my family to Puerto Rico in 2016, because I really wanted to see it. We liked it a lot. Ahead of that trip, I tried to learn some Spanish with an online language learning program through my library. I gained a lot of words, but no real fluency. I did the same thing before a trip to Mexico.
Bad Bunny made me want to give it another shot at some point.
My kids and me on a street in San Juan in 2016
A very hot kitty resting in a tree trunk in Old San Juan in the summer of 2016
A stop on the way to El Yunque National Rainforest in Puerto Rico
Final thought: Brandi Carlile did a beautiful version of America the Beautiful—it would make a much better national anthem.
With the Milan-Cortina Olympics about to start, we’re going to be seeing many shots of Milan’s iconic Gothic-style Duomo.
This reminds me that I visited Milan in 1985 with my friend Julie during our semester abroad in Italy. We climbed up to the rooftop terraces of the Duomo. Back then, you didn’t need reservations or special tickets to go up.
I love it when photographic evidence of my foggy memories actually exists!
Here’s a photo I took of Julie taking a photo through a doorway atop the Duomo in Milan 40+ years ago. Julie is a great photographer so I’m sure she got a wonderful, artistic shot. But I like my pic too. Her red coat looks cool. And you can see some of the over-the-top decorative elements of the roof. Those endless spires remind me of wet, drippy sandcastles.
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