Joining Becky's Party With a Wonder

Please celebrate Becky's birthday as we all share our wonders. I was inspired to share something with you after attending a big arts & crafts show this weekend. It just so happened that at this fair there was a collection of old buggies and wagons and one in particular caught my eye. It inspired me to share my fascination with you.

I have always been fascinated with gypsies. Back during my piano lesson days I know there was a gypsy tune that I loved (and could play) in one of those John W. Schaum piano books. That song and the illustration is surely responsible for my strange fascination with gypsies. My first encounter with a real gypsy was a few years later. When I was in high school I worked at a department store in our hometown mall (a very small mall but a big deal in a small town). Anyway, we had gypsies who lived somewhere in the vicinity so the store manager would tell us when they came in the store (we were supposed to keep our eyes out for shoplifting). He said you will know they are here when the Cadillac pulls up. I remember the day a yellow Cadillac pulled up to the back door of the mall and a clan of five women, all dark haired with olive complexions, piled out of the care and entered the store. To me it was exotic and exciting to observe. I later learned that they were Roma gypsies.

Many years later as I was planning my first trip to Paris when someone warned me to "beware the gypsies." Of course I am thinking to myself, gypsies? Sure enough, within the first 12 hours in Paris, we encountered a gypsy mother with a baby and a toddler begging. We saw gypsies in the train stations, gypsies outside the churches and gypsies on the Champs Elysees.

In the early 90's I saw a movie about the Tinkers and discovered the Irish gypsies. Even though the name is different, they are still gypsies.


Photo of a Tinker wagon

Then in 1997 the most amazing thing appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution obituaries. The headline read, "U.S. Gypsies Come to Say Goodbye to Their Chief Justice." It was so unbelievable that a very important gypsy leader had been living right here in the Atlanta area. To this day I remember reading about the white horses and carriage that would carry the gypsy dignitary to his final resting place.

Since that amazing discovery NBC has run a special on the Murphy Village community just north of Augusta. After watching the program I was even more intrigued and fascinated with gypsies, their society and culture. I am just curious if others have had encounters with the gypsy communities.

Room With a View

We had such a nice weekend and I hope you did too. We spent the weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Thankfully there was no sign of a hurricane our way and the weather was perfect for celebrating the end of summer. Normally we go to my Dad's family reunion in Tennessee for the Labor Day holiday so somehow it seemed a bit strange to be away from my siblings but because my son is in Iraq, we decided to spend the weekend with his girls and go to the beach together. Here was our view from the balcony of our room. It was a perfect weekend on the beach with plenty of sun, fun, sand and water. So tomorrow is back to work as we say goodbye t0 summer.

Enjoy the Holiday

We are picking up the grandgirls and headed to the beach. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Dialogue In the Dark

Maybe I haven't mentioned it before but I do a lot of volunteering. Volunteering and community service is a part of my job and I love it. Today my volunteering led me to a most unusual experience. The Center for the Visually Impaired needed volunteers to help work with visually impaired tour guides in practicing going through an exhibit in total darkness. Yes, I spent 2 hours with Terence my tour guide who is legally blind. We went down several different paths in total darkness. Our first stop was a garden. We walked on a squishy path, traveled across a bridge, sat on a garden bench and listened to a waterfall. The next stop was a supermarket. We had to find a shopping basket and then locate items on the store shelves. I couldn't really figure out if we were feeling juice bottles or containers of vegetable oil. If you can't see, how do you know? We took our things to the cash register and then left the store and crossed a city street!!! We then went through a door and reached a dock. I walked up a plank and took a boat ride feeling the experience and hearing sea gulls. Our last stop took us to a cafe where we sat and discussed my experience. My role as a volunteer was to go through with my guide and then offer feedback so that when the exhibit opens this weekend, the visually impaired guides are fully trained and can lead groups through the exhibit.

Let me just say that going through the "paths" in darkness was such a challenge for me. My guide just kept reminding me to use my guide stick to help me find obstacles and to follow his voice. It worked but I also found myself sliding my feet just to be sure I didn't trip on something. The whole experience for me was amazing. When I left the exhibition hall I was wondering to myself what it is like to travel as a blind person. I love traveling but without vision, travel becomes a very different experience unless someone is willing to help paint the picture for you. If you live in the Atlanta area Dialogue in the Dark is definitely something to you won't want to miss.

Labor Day Weekend Makes Me Think of Port St. Joe

My mother grew up in Port St. Joe, Florida so when we were young we went back there often to spend Labor Day weekends on the beach. This weekend I was having dinner with my girlfriend, remembering back some of the beach adventures and she suggested that I share this one with you.

I usually spent a couple of weeks every summer with my cousins in Port St. Joe. It just so happened that my relatives lived across the street from "the monument" and just a short walk from the museum. By now you must be asking yourself what museum could possibly be in Port St. Joe. Most people don't know that Florida's constitution was signed in this small Florida town and at the time it was signed St. Joe was a bustling community. Unfortunately in the early 1800's the area was wiped out by yellow fever and a couple of hurricanes. When I was young we all believed a tidal wave had swept the town off the map but you can read more of the history here. After the hurricanes hit the surviving community, whatever was left of PSJ was washed into the bay. This is where I come in. During the summers the curator of the museum would pay me and my cousins 25 cents to walk in the bay at low tide to squish around in the muck for porcelain pieces and other items belonging to the early settlers that might have washed out to sea. Keep in mind that when I was in second and third grade, a quarter was good for 25 pieces of candy! We spent many hours in bare feet squishing around in the bay. So if you ever happen to get to PSJ, Mexico Beach or Cape San Blas, stop by and see the monument and enjoy the museum. I hope you will see some of my childhood summer footwork.

Penny of Lavender Hill Studio received the Tree of Happiness award and she shared it with her readership. It requires that I list 6 things that makes me happy. "You have just received the tree of happiness. It is scarcely a small plant, which depends on you to grow firmly and strongly. Plant it on your heart, water it with smiles and kindness, feel the aroma of its flowers, savour the sweetness of its fruits and protection under its shade whom you love."

So here are six things (though I could list a ton more):

1. Free Time - I love when I have easy days without too much to do so that there is time for daydreaming, reading, visiting with friends and family or piddling at home.

2. Traveling - Planning trips is one of my greatest joys. I love studying about travel destinations and trying to create the most unique adventures. To me even layovers are exciting in that I can spend time people watching in airports.

3. Being Outside - Nothing beats sitting outside on patios, in cafes & bistros, swinging on a front porch, napping in a hammock or sitting on the deck under a starry sky.

4. Rainy Days at home

5. Old Quilts

6. French-pressed coffee in a handmade pottery mug

What about you? By reading this posting you have just received this award. Please take it with you and post 6 things that make you happy.

Just Couldn't Do It

Do you ever stop and think about the jobs you couldn't do? For instance I know that I couldn't be a doctor or nurse. During the winter as I drive past construction sites it reminds me how lucky I am to work in a warm office. I just don't think I would get much done if I spent the work day warming my hands at the fire barrel. Sometimes when I see creepy looking crawl spaces my thoughts are that I wouldn't want to be a home inspector and have to go under a house and crawl around in a dark as scary place. What about mining? Every time we see another collapsed mine story in the news I have to remind myself to breath. Somehow just thinking about such an accident just takes my breath. Today as I went out for lunch I noticed that the window washers working at the building across the street were taking a break. I hadn't ever really looked at their "office" up close but I decided to go over and see what their work space was like. Not only are the window washers dangling 50 stories in the air but they work in a tiny space. Sometimes I have been at my desk when these loud thumps hit my window and then you see the window washer using big suction cups to help keep him or her stationary. I wonder how much a window washer makes an hour? Even if they don't get paid well, I bet the day is entertaining. My guess is that on occasion they get to see some interesting things when they look in the windows! Putting aside my fear of heights, I still couldn't be a window washer. After lunch I walked back to my office, looked out the window and felt a new appreciation for my job, clean windows and my office space.