Prisoner of Hopes

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  • A Walk On the Wild Side: Travel Goals

    After several weeks of touring historic sites and churches, we decided to broaden our Italian experience. Our destination for a local weekend experience was the Pombia Safari park. It is essentially a drive through zoo. You could drive your own car or ride in their safari wagon. We opted to drive. We arrived early, parked,…

  • Arrivals: Travel Goals

    When the plane takes off from American soil, I always release a big sigh. It finally sinks in that I am going on an adventure. This trip I was especially ready to release pre-trip tension. We flew through Atlanta on the day hurricane Helene hit Florida. The airport was pounded with steady rain and high…

  • Skunked

    Friday started out normally. I had laundry running and was packing for an upcoming trip. As I moved from room to room, I caught whiffs of an unusual odor. I kept working. There was a heat wave, with temperatures reaching 100 and I wasn’t too keen on working outside in between my zoom calls and…

  • Stillness, Surgery, and Serenity

    If you know me, you know I rarely sit still. Even when I am “watching” television, I am usually doing a word puzzle or craft project. When I am driving, I ponder and grapple with ideas. I like to be on the move mentally and physically. So when my husband finally decides (after 10 years…

  • I don’t want to be pretty

    I don’t want to be pretty, but of course I do. I don’t want to be just a winner of the genetic lottery, and ornamentally pleasing. I mean that must be nice, and I certainly don’t want people to think I am ugly. But I would rather be stylish and interesting. If you think that…

  • Hibernation

    The cold fingers of winter creep up on you. Wrapped in the post holiday glow, you don’t notice it at first. Still full and warm, you snuggle into a comfortable lull. At first it seems cozy. Contentment radiates, until one day you decide to pack away the decorations. The house looks clean and bright. You…

  • Confessions of an Extroverted Introvert

    Sometimes it just seems too “peoply” out there. Don’t get me wrong, I love people. I enjoy extended time with friends and families. I love going to work and encountering new individuals of all ages. But I am an extroverted introvert. There is something in me that screams for alone time. If I am in…

  • Decoration Day

    My grandma always called Memorial Day by its old name…decoration day. It was a day set aside to decorate the graves of soldiers with flowers and to honor their memories. Eventually, decoration day became Memorial Day. She was adamant about honoring family with artificial flowers. My decoration day celebration, however, is always the 48 hours…

  • The Mother Road: Travel Goals

    Standing under the sign that signals the beginning (or the end) of Route 66 on Santa Monica Pier, I feel the excitement and anticipation that a great road trip always brings. We are in Los Angeles to help my our daughter and son in law make a cross country move to Chicago. So for the…

  • Perspective

    There is water running down my windows but it is not raining. The air outside is like a sauna. It is steamy and thick. Why is it that when I pay to visit a sauna, I enjoy the sensation? But, when I am trying to mow my lawn, enjoyment is not the word I am…