I dreamed last night that I was out of town on a “girls’ weekend” with a friend of mine from Minnesota. Two other friends of hers were joining us – people I had never met. One of them was deaf, and used sign language to communicate. While we were waiting for them to show up, my friend showed me how to sign a greeting. I don’t remember what the actual message was in my dream, but I remember the main gesture. It involved holding my [...]
We’re finishing up laundry and leftovers after a lovely visit from my sister and nephew last weekend. Now I’m packing and preparing for a weekend at the coast with three fantastic friends whom I haven’t seen in person in almost ten years. So I’m not going to write much this week, other than to say how wonderful it is to spend time relaxing and having fun with family and friends who mean the world to us. And that I hope you are able to enjoy [...]
The weather was sunny and dry when we left home, but clouded up on our way to the grocery store. It was drizzling when we went in, and pouring when we came out. People were racing to and from the store holding umbrellas over their grocery carts and themselves. “You wait here,” my husband said. “I’ll go get the car.” There was a long line of people with full grocery carts waiting near the entrance to the store, and I joined them. There was also [...]
242. That's the number of candles on America’s birthday cake this year. If America made a wish before blowing out the candles, don’t you wonder what it might have been? After giving it some thought, I have a few ideas. If it were me, I would wish for fewer headlines about the people who are most in the news these days, and more about people like the man who returned my nephew’s lost wallet a few weeks ago. My nephew figured it must have fallen [...]
Spoiler alert: Today’s blog is one of the Stroll-Down-Memory-Lane ones that evokes the song, “Sunrise, Sunset,” from Fiddler on the Roof. It has to do with milestone birthdays. Like 13, when you become a teenager, and 20, when you stop being one. Like 16, when you can get your driver’s license, and 21, when you’re officially and legally an adult. And then, before you know it, you start getting mail from AARP and Senior Living facilities, and all of a sudden your Medicare card comes [...]
“Why are you silent?” Tony asked. “You aren’t talking.” “I guess I just don’t have anything intelligent to say right now,” I told him. Actually, the reason I was silent – and I admit this is not like me – is that I was lost in thought. Thoughts and memories on the morning of my last day in Uganda. Tony was driving, as he had been doing for most of the time I was in Uganda. I was sitting in the passenger seat, as I [...]
What do you call a person who speaks two languages? (Answer: Bilingual.) What do you call a person who speaks three languages? (Answer: Trilingual.) What do you call a person who speaks one language? (Answer: American.) It’s an old joke, but there’s probably as much truth as jest in it. I was thinking about that when I was in Uganda, where I am always amazed at the number of different languages that are spoken in a relatively small country, and the number of people who [...]
Sometimes I felt like a rock star. Other times, like a zoo exhibit. It all depended on the looks on their faces. Surprise was always first. Then curiosity. And often, delight. The children usually smiled and waved. Some of the adults did, too. Or they glanced up and nodded, before looking away. Some stared. A few winked. “Muzungu!” I heard often when I was in Uganda. Mostly from the children, especially if we were driving very slowly due to traffic or potholes. Which is to [...]