bequia3

[bequia3]

A cow, a flood, and two weddings

My title may have oversold the train trip Ken and I had to San Antonio. Although all those elements were part of the trip, they were not the focus. I just liked the sound of the title. If I had a bucket list, it would include more train travel. I received a surprise from my husband for Mother’s Day – a train trip! We took our excursion the first week of June. Of course, when he mentioned a train…

[bequia3]

A Father's Promise

Happy Father’s Day to all those great men who shepherd their progeny through the formative years and beyond. Your influence on your children is enormous and felt throughout their lifetimes. Thank you. You are, in many ways, the architects of the future, helping to mold young minds and hearts to take their places in our human society. Happy Father’s Day to my husband, who has stayed the course…

[bequia3]

Planes, Trains, Automobiles plus Boats

I do not appreciate jewelry, new clothes, furniture, cars, etc. I love to travel. I like to look at those beautiful things, but I don’t want to own them. I would much rather spend a dollar on an experience than on acquisitions. Well, books may be the exception. Give me a trip to someplace, anyplace, and I’m a happy woman. I’ve been fortunate to have traveled a bit in my life, and it is never…

[bequia3]

Who Done It? - A very short mystery

Bequia at anchor in Doe Bay Winston kicked loose rocks into the slow-breaking waves, his sandaled foot making soft plops in the water. Sand crabs skittered away at his approach across the rocky beach. Cold, briny air blowing steadily against his face ruffled his dark hair and brought the scent of faraway adventure back to him. His forty-three-foot sloop, Bequia, bobbed at anchor sixty feet…

[bequia3]

Memorial Day

A short post to acknowledge all who died in service to our country. God Bless. Not a holiday to say “happy”, but a day to remember those who protected us. They gave their lives so we could live ours in peace. Red Ass, B24 Liberator I especially want to thank my father, Jesse Dale Davis who served honorably in WWII as a gunner aboard B-24 Liberator bombers, especially The Red Ass that led the…

[bequia3]

Seattle - Part 6 Finale, Green Lake to Pier 56

Green Lake Memorial Lantern Float photo by Vuong Vu As a final episode in our tour of Seattle, I will take you to the Green Lake neighborhood. It is a quiet neighborhood that I love to walk around. Green Lake is 259 surface acres and was named because of the algae that formed, causing the lake to turn green. At times, it produced noxious odors. The algae caused rashes for many who tried to swim…

[bequia3]

Seattle Part 5 - Queen Anne, Elliott Bay and Magnolia

Discovery Park takes up a major part of the land on Magnolia Bluff. It is the largest park in Seattle with trails, forest, meadow, and beaches for a diverse outdoor experience. Magnolia was misnamed by a military surveyor back in the 1800s because he thought that the red-barked Madrona trees that cover the hill were Magnolias. A caveat of the Treaty was the promise that any surplus military land…

[bequia3]

My Secret Life

Standing on the brink of eighty, I have so much past and a diminished amount of future. I must keep reminding myself of that because I don’t feel a day over thirty-five, and my tomorrows still seem endless. I’m listening to friends and colleagues about all they are doing to prepare for their inevitable end. Things like clearing out closets and storage so their heirs are not overwhelmed with the…

[bequia3]

Part 4 of Our Seattle Tour - SeaFair and Skipping School

Today is one of those not-quite-sunny-but-definitely-not-raining days, so we’ll go to another part of Seattle where I once worked, Leschi. It is on the east border of Seattle along Lake Washington, just north of the Lacey V. Morrow floating bridge (the second longest floating bridge in the world, next to the other Lake Washington Evergreen Point Bridge further north on the Lake, which is the…

[bequia3]

Death Nudged Me Today

To Gerry 5/4/45 to 4/10/19 This poem was written six years ago after the death of a dear childhood friend. Years accumulated without contact between us. In her final months, she reached out to me, a tender reminder of the bond we formed over sixty years before as twelve-year-old girls. Our families both relocated to Bellevue, Washington the summer before our 7th grade year at school; hers from…

[bequia3]

Seattle, Part 3 - Millionaires and A Troll

Continuing our tour, we go north to Capitol Hill, one of the most interesting, in my opinion, of Seattle’s varied neighborhoods. It is the center of the gay, lesbian, and transgender population of Seattle. Punk hipsters with tattoos, pink mohawks, and multiple piercings are commonplace, sharing the streets and sidewalks with men wearing business suits and carrying briefcases. Capitol Hill has…

[bequia3]

Seattle, Part 2 - Totems and Toilets

Our tour continues with a little bit of history. Seattle is built on seven hills: Beacon Hill, First Hill, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne Hill, Cherry Hill, Yesler and Denny Hill, with Magnolia Hill, West Seattle, and Mount Baker as later annexed inclines. You get the point – it is a very hilly city. Things are built on slopes, some notoriously precarious. Landslides are a geological gamble in Seattle.…

[bequia3]

Seattle

Recently, I visited Seattle, where I have not lived for over 28 years. It was a short, impromptu visit to see our daughter. The weather was atrocious, but the company was great. She and I had a nice long time to share memories and reconnect. However, I was reminded of the reason Ken and I fled to southern Arizona. This essay, which I will publish in several parts, is based on memory and journal…

[bequia3]

Happiness or Gratitude?

I recently encountered an individual who said they were in pursuit of happiness. They had experienced some setbacks in life and were feeling low and had been counseled to make happiness a priority. I posited, on the contrary, the pursuit of happiness is a hollow pursuit. Happiness is a feeling, a mood. Happiness is insubstantial, subjective. It comes and goes. It is transitory. Gratitude, on…

[bequia3]

An Ode to Isoroku Yamamoto

I would not be alive Were it not for December 7, 1941, A brazen incursion of Japanese chutzpah. I am a consequence of war. A Kansas farmer joined the Army Air Corps To fight the good fight. He trained at Lowry Field in Colorado. My mother, a young Denver girl, Met him on a blind date. Relationships blaze quickly in wartime. They married within weeks. Thank you, Yamamoto

[bequia3]

Yellow - an Ode to Palo Verde Trees

The color of spring The color of sneezes The color of itchy eyes Most of all The color of happy

[bequia3]

Puerto Vallarta Retreat

Picture prompt: Write a story about this magazine picture. The picture feels like peace. The quiet of a deserted beach on a warm sunny day. The serenity of aloneness. Who is this woman? Why is she so far away from anyone? Does she treasure her aloneness? Is she escaping from her life? What will the remainder of her day hold? I am reminded of a time when I needed to withdraw to peace and quiet…