Lily of the Valley season

It 's lily of the valley season, and the lesson here is to take the time to enjoy it while it is here.
Lily of the Valley are my favourite spring flowers. I love the way they smell. They grew in the shade on the far side of the garage when I was growing up, and in my current house, they grow right under my office windows so I can smell them while I work.
Many years ago, I noticed they were in bloom, and promised myself I'd get out there to cut some and bring them inside, but I was so busy working, that by the time I went out to enjoy them, their season was over.
Take the time to stop and enjoy while you can because time is fleeting.
~ As time can be redeemed at no cost, spend it well, let no hour be lost.~

NYC Anniversary trip - day 3

Sunday. Sunny. Windy. Cold. Very quiet in NYC. Our mission today - to see the site of 9/11 for ourselves. We caught a taxi, early in the morning, and were driven down to the bottom of Manhatten island. 


Several things struck me. The area is enormous. They're building 5 new condo/office towers. The footprints of each of the twin towers are now giant reflecting pools, each an acre in size. The space fenced off for the new construction is several acres across and down. It's huge. And very quiet. There is no evidence on the other buildings of what took place. The turn-of-the-century church is still intact. The buildings that would have been across the street are free from scars. The only architectural casualty seems to be a monument located at Battery Park, across from the statue of Liberty that imploded because of the heat from the explosions. The first fire station that answered the call is located literally across the street. On its wall is now a large brass sculpture honouring those who lost their lives.


I'd like to say we stayed reverent for the rest of our day, but we didn't. The rest of the time before heading back to the airport was filled with more walking, shopping, and lunching. And watching in awe as people actually paid money to sit in the open air on a freezing cold December day to ride across the water to the Statue of Liberty. Better them than me. Wall street, which still had its barricades in spite of the Occupy'ers recent departure, is actually more of an alley than a street. I had pictured something more impressive for the centre of North American business. 


We had a wonderful weekend. Happy Anniversary my love.

NYC anniversary trip - day 2

HUGH JACKMAN! 2nd row! 3 feet away! WOW!

But that isn't all we did today. We walked a lot. We were over-run by Santas. We wandered through Central Park. We checked out store Christmas decorations (Bergdorf Goodman wins). We stopped for lunch in a diner. We had dinner at the Russian Tea Room. And, oh ya, we saw Hugh Jackman's 1 man show, and it was terrific. Grin non-stop start to finish.

After breakfast today, we set off from 44th street to walk up 5th Avenue to 82nd where the Metropolitain Museum of Art is located, at the far end of Central Park. We wandered through the photography exhibits and the displays on American furniture. Then, we walked back through Central Park, lovely in the sunshine, before stopping at a diner for lunch. After lunch, we walked all the way back up Broadway to Macy's to see their Christmas displays, then wandered all the way back down 5th Avenue to see the displays at Saks and Tiffany's.

Funny thing about 5th Ave today - it was over-run by Santas. They were all converging on the front steps of the library on 5th Ave. There must have been thousands of them. The police were there in their riot gear, ready for it all to get ugly. We also saw one of NY's finest chase and tackle a thief. The police officer knocked over an older man and a stroller in the process of tackling his target. The sidewalks were crammed with people - worse than Moscow car traffic (and that's saying something) so it took a lot longer to walk places than it should have because we had to shuffle in the crowd. Dinner at the Russian Tea room was very nice. We had a lovely chat with a man and his family at the bar before we were seated. He was a lighting guy, responsible for lighting the holiday displays among other things. He gave us some tips on what to see tomorrow before we head home.

Hugh Jackman was great. He sang. He danced. He even tap danced. At the end, he tried to raise some money for Broadway Cares. "I'll auction off my undershirt - I'll autograph it - how about we start the bidding at $1,000?" Guy in the front row says "how about $10.000?" then somebody counters with 11 and front row guy comes back with 20 and the other person matches it! Can you imagine just donating $20,000 spur of the moment like that? I can't.

The Anniversary Trip to NYC

It's been a while, hasn't it, since my last travel post? This Christmas marks mine and Peter's 20th anniversary. Years ago, when we talked of how we would celebrate it, there was travel to somewhere exotic planned. Since we did a lot of exotic travel last year, Peter's idea was to stay closer to home and spend the weekend in New York City.

There's something about a city all dressed up for Christmas. Last year, we saw London in all its holiday splendour. Sloan Square was particularly beautiful with all its Christmas lights. Last night we flew in and had the chance to do some wandering after settling in at The Algonquin Hotel on W 44th street, very close to Central Station, 5th Avenue, the Metropolitain Museum of Art, Times Square - all the big stuff. The Algonquin is NYC's oldest hotel. It opened in 1902 and they have maintained the charm of yesteryear. There's even a resident cat, Matilda, that we are hoping to meet at some point during our stay. Dinner at The Round Table last night was terrific - attentive staff, beautiful well-appointed dining room with that olden days feel - very elegant.

After dinner, we went for a wander. We started in Times Square. From our entry point at 44th street, it felt a lot smaller than it looks on tv at New Years. If you wander away from the building where they drop the ball, the space fans out, but it still doesn't seem very big.

Next we stumbled upon Rockefeller Centre, its big Christmas tree, and the ice rink. Today, we will go back there to spend some time at the Metropolitain Museum of Art.

Next stop - 5th Avenue. Sak's does a movie in the same style as the Christmas movie on the Konstmuseet in Göteborg, but less detailed. There's a clock that counts down to the next presentation, and people (like us) stop to gaze up at it and wonder what's about to happen. It's a lot of bubbles and opening and closing windows. Somebody did a lot of planning. All the big fancy department stores have wonderfully detailed. Bergdorf's and Tiffany's were my favourites.

The weather is supposed to be colder today. We'd love to have snow, but bright sunshine will be just as nice.

Where were you on September 11th?

September 11th is the Kennedy assassination of my generation. I used to think it odd that people remembered exactly what they were doing and where they were when Kennedy was shot. Then the twin towers fell. And I saw it. And I remember.

I think it was a Tuesday. Doesn't matter. I do know I was working late shift or afternoons because I was still home getting ready for school, and the news was on. I remember thinking that the 1st plane's navigation system must really have gone wrong for it to crash into that office tower. And then the 2nd plane hit, and 2 planes with faulty nav systems didn't make sense. And then the rest of the details came out.

I can picture the tv in my mind. I know exactly where I was standing in the room. Odd.

How do we prevent this from happening again? Better airport security isn't the answer. They catch all the wrong people - they catch the innocent but 'didn't read the new rules' ones. Global understanding? Maybe. I think Love is the answer. England Dan and John Ford Coley do too.

And when you feel afraid
(Love one another)
When you've lost your way
(Love one another)
And when you're all alone
(Love one another)
And when you're far from home
(Love one another)
And when you're down and out
(Love one another)
And when your hopes run out
(Love one another)
And when you need a friend
(Love one another)
And when you're near the end
(Love)
(We've got to love)
(We've got to love one another)

Light of the world, shine on me
Love is the answer
Shine on us all
Set us free
Love is the answer...

Soul Searching

Anyone who's seen my quote wall knows I find inspiration everywhere. I copy good quotes down onto any scrap of paper I can find in my purse. Sprout still has one saved in his cell phone I saw at Tjolöholm slott outside Sweden (As time can be redeemed at no cost, bestow it well let no hour be lost).

I wanted to share a couple of blogspots I found this morning full of good stuff:

http://www.brigittelyons.com/ - Unfettered Ink: Unconventional Wisdom for creative people on a mission

http://zenhabits.net/unrun/ - Zen Habits: Smile, Breathe, and Go Slowly

Last night, I went to hear Carrie Fisher's one woman show called "Wishful Drinking". I had read the book and enjoyed it, and thought ' hey why not' so I went. She was very entertaining in a way that made me think she'd be a great person to be good friends with. Her perspective on life is so positive. Granted, getting to that point has involved several detoxes, time in mental institutions, substance abuse, and electroshock therapy. I had to write down a couple of the things she said. The first is about Paul Simon, to whom she was married for a short while. They were a volatile mix to say the least, and when things went downhill, they really went downhill. "Things were getting worse so fast we didn't have time to lower our standards." I love that. The other thing I've taken with me is one of her lifelessons: Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

True.

Which is what led me to Zen and Unfettered Ink.

St Lucia Learning Project 2011

This is a photo of the Teaching Team 2011.

The backdrop is Mango Tree hotel where we stopped for a drink before dinner on our weekly Wednesday afternoon trip to Soufriere.

Thank you all for lifting me up. I hadn't laughed so hard or so often as I did with all of you.

Blessings.

* Stories to follow