Describe your most memorable vacation.
Sometimes a one-nighter in your own area can be fun. I haven’t spent much time in Boston since I left my job, so it’s good to be back in the city.
Happy Birthday to all Americans. We are 248 years old today. Long may we run. 🇺🇸
What’s your definition of romantic?
This prompt is giving me flashbacks to my college art history survey: the darkened auditorium, the slides of painting, sculpture, and architecture from the Renaissance to the 20th century, the occasional nap. I got a B in that class. Not bad.
The Romantic Period in art (late 18th century to mid 19th century) was characterized by “a focus on emotion, individualism, and the sublime. Artists of this period often emphasized intense feelings, dramatic compositions, and the beauty and power of nature.”
Based on that definition, I’m going to have to say that the Grand Canyon is the most Romantic place I’ve ever been.
Pretty darn sublime, right?
Speaking of buckets…way to go Boston Celtics! 🏀☘️ NBA championship #18.
I started a Bucket List (I’ve heard some say “Life List”) in the notepad app on my phone a couple years ago. I update it whenever the mood strikes. Sometimes a TV show, movie or book will shake up the order. For example, I read a book called “Independent People” by Haldór Laxness (a Nobel prize winner in literature) which resulted in Iceland getting booted from my list.
Here’s the latest version:
Grand Canyon ✅
Paris ✅
Finger Lakes & Hot Air Balloon ✅
Tanglewood
Yellowstone National Park
Ireland
NYC comedy club or SNL
Southern Italy (Naples; Amalfi Coast; Cinque Terra) and maybe Sicily
Sweden
Return to Paris in warmer weather and see the sites we missed
Argentina?
Return to SoCal – LA/San Diego; Santa Monica; Venice Beach; Yosemite; Joshua Tree?
Key West
Austin TX
Greece
Acadia National Park
My friend Julie (the eventual artist) made sure we visited the Watts Towers in South Los Angeles.
From WikiHow:
Maybe this is a good metaphor for retirement. Try to go out on a high note—building to your full power. Maybe retirement should be the time when you become the best, fullest, most authentic version of yourself.
That’s my tagline for today. This is the last birthday of my fifties. My sixtieth year—my sixth decade—starts now.
That’s right, GenX is gonna be hitting 60 in 2025. I found a couple of very 80s concert outfit pics from 1982ish. I saw both the Go-Go’s and the B-52’s live in Boston. I can’t remember which outfit was for which.
What are the most important things needed to live a good life?
I think books, music and art make life worth living, once basic needs (food, shelter, safety) are met.
I got to go to an art show by a dear old friend from college last night. It is her first gallery show. In college, she was a double major in art history and religion. For decades, she’s worked as a museum educator and administrator.
She always had an artist’s eye and soul. We studied abroad in Italy at the same time and traveled together on our fall break. A fellow blogger’s post about the city of Bergamo (Italy) reminded me of that trip. We went to Bergamo, Parma, Verona, Venice, and Milan.
Her artwork involves deconstructing everyday packaging and reassembling in very cool ways.
A year ago this week, we were in Grand Canyon National Park.
This trip was motivated by the death of my close friend Carla who loved the Grand Canyon and whose ashes are spread there. (Carla is the person who set me up with my husband more than 33 years ago.) I would consider it my first “bucket list” trip of retirement, even though I didn’t retire until six months later.
I’m lucky to have a kind and hardworking husband who is willing to travel with me (within reason). He doesn’t love it like I do, but he usually ends up liking the trip a lot more than he thought he would.
Thirty-one years of marriage—that’s a whole lot of time together!
The Grand Canyon lives up to the hype. Go, if you can.
Related posts:
I’ve posted in the past about how I started getting flowers delivered monthly during the pandemic. They’re not cheap, but if I renew around Black Friday, I get a huge discount on the annual subscription from BloomsyBox.
I really like having fresh flowers in the house. It brings me joy. (Guys, I’m telling you, this is a winner for your anniversary or her birthday or Christmas.)
And now, I will subject you to more photos of flower arrangements.
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50 Happens 