Goddess Now
Monday, October 23, 2023
My Life in Haiku
My Life in Haiku
1 Journaling
Writing brings us lightInsights into our inner
Answers, know thyself
2 Danny’s. Visit
Grandson and girlfriend
What a treat, visiting Nana
Joy,peace,love for all
3Trees
Become like a tree
Stand tall and teach for the sky
After, bug a tree
4Romance
Romantic love songs
Take you on a mini trip
To Heaven and back
5Books
I’m a book lover
I hold ‘em,read ‘em,sleep with
Books, my companion
6Peace
Peace my go to place
Chaos outside, peace inside
Happy to be there
7Sleepless in Gulfport
Surrender is all
You can do to get some peace
Just breathe, get some rest
My Life in Haiku
I Sleepless in Gulfport
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
My Life in Haiku
I Painting Haiku
My First Trip Abroad
On a recent conversation with my daughter who I like to call Dr.J aka Joanne, she was telling me about her upcoming trip to England. She had planned all the excursions and was going by herself. You're my idol! I exclaimed, what a woman! Mom she said, don't you remember when you went to Spain 40 years ago alone? I drove you to the airport, Oh right, I forgot, This gave me pause, I started to think about it, the memories came flooding back. And as I enjoyed them ,I thought others may enjoy stories of my maiden voyage as well...So thank you Joanne for the inspiration.
I was 40 years old and newly divorced after 21 years of marriage
and 5 children. I was excited/nervous. I was teaching then, working on my
masters degree & had the summer off & I had just moved to Tibeca/NYC,
Yes. it was a very exciting year! The plan was my teacher friend &
colleague. Carole & I would meet in the train station in Barcelona. But
first I would fly to Germany & visit my son Glenn who was in the Air
Force and stationed at Hahn Air Force Base. First stop Frankfurt, Germany. I
was excited to see Glenn & see how he was doing in his new military life.
By all accounts he was thriving, the lifestyle was agreeing with him. He had
made friends, a girlfriend and bought himself a BMV that he was so proud of.I
was duly reassured.Glenn had set up accomodations for me off base, he
wanted me to get a taste of the real Germany.That piece of the trip worked very
smoothly, we had a good visit & did the tourist thing visiting some castles
& Octoberfest , beer garden festivals. When the weekend was over it was
time to say Adieu. Happy in the knowledge that he had adjusted nicely, I
proceeded to the next right thing. We said goodbye & Glenn put me on a
train to Barcelona where I was to meet friend Carole...and that nervous feeling
in my belly started, what was it ? butterflies/excitement/nervous again. It was
an overnite trainride to Barcelona & I would arrive in the morning. We
arrived on time & I disembarked to the platform. I looked around and went
upstairs to the mezzanine area. I looked around for my friend and remember no
cell phones back then, & I did not see her. So I looked around some more
& no Carole, I was devastated ; what to do? I'll get a place for the night,
take a relaxing bath & go back to the train station in the morning, that
was my plan. Got a place near the station, no bath only shower. It was so hot
in August, I learned one word pretty quickly: l'agua, my most prized purchase.
I went back next morning , same time of train arrival. Voila! there she was,
relief flooded thru me.Yay!
What happened was she went downstairs to the platform & I
went upstairs to the mezzanine & thats how we missed each other. But now we
were together and ready for our adventure. We had a whole month! Carole brought
me to the cute apartment she had rented, luckily she was a Spanish speaker,I
settled in and then we went exploring. Let the adventures begin!Here are some
of our adventures, we saw the Alhambra,that Moorish Kingdom, we were
awed by its timeless art and artifacts. But most of all I
remember, it was hot as hell that day, c'mon it was August!
We visited Catholic cathedrals as well and we were forewarned to
dress modestly or we would be refused entry. Strict those Catholics. We
had rich eyes viewing all those timeless treasures.
We had tons of fun in Barcelona, we
went to the beach, shopped for bathing suits ,we listened to music, went to
galleries and we rambled along Las Rambles, that famous street in Barcelona. A
highlight was Gaudi architecture , we marvelled at the whimsical Disney like
buildings, never having seen anything like it. We went to Flamenco dance shows
many times. My friend is a dancer, we soaked it up. It was wonderful!One day we
took a day trip to the Jean Miro museum which was laid out in a beautiful park
like setting. I remember it being a very pleasant day. Soon our time in
Barcelona was over (I loved it) and we were on to the next adventure, Cuenca a
lovely little hamlet with a town square . This was a new feature to me & I
delighted in the idea of a common area for the townspeople to hang out in.
Later found out this was a common occurrence in Europe.Would this idea fly
in the states I wondered? We then moved to Madrid where Carol had a friend who
had a Vespa that we tooled around town on. What fun, I considered getting one
for my life back home in Tribeca/Manhattan. Not, safety first. Visiting the
Prada museum was awesome! I noticed a big difference in
religous are ther & in America,, all the
religous figures were painter slim & slender, unlike in the
states.Curious. Seville was to be our last stop in Spain. We travelled to all
the points so far by train or bus. We got accomodations on arrival. The
plan was I watched the luggage & my friend who speaks Spanish got our
lodging. We always lucked out with nice ,modest places. How gutsy when I think
of it, no cell phones, no reservations yet we Yes, we did just fine getting accommodations.As a matter of fact
my friend Carol, the dancer, went back every summer to those very same sweet
places to study ,dance of course & Spanish, but I digress...Next stop
Portugal! We took a bus to the sea and a ferry to the Algarve...it looked very
beautiful upon arrival. I had a special interest in going there, my father who
I only met recently was Portuguese and growing up I didn't know any
Portuguese people, so I wanted to see them and get to know more about
them. I had plenty of opportunities. The people were beautiful, warm and
friendly. I liked that, especially the children. I remember meeting a
bunch of kids on the beach, they were so playful & fun, they let me
photograph them.
Now, being a couple of single women we were prime
targets for the male persuasion. As predicted, 2 sailors tried to chat us
up & pick us up. They offered to take us on their boat out to see
'the grotto'. My friend was very interested. I hesitated, we will be at their
mercy out on the water I reasoned. Being newly single I did not have the skills
my friend had of coping with unwanted advances. So she went & I did not; I
spent the day at the beach relaxing. When she returned at sundown I asked
'How was it?' They tried to make a move but I distracted them and I just
loved seeing the grotto. Okay, live and learn. We heard some fabulous music in
Portugal called Fado, so haunting. I did buy a tape which was the thing
back then so I can always rekindle that memory when I listen to it. ( or ask
Alexa) Before long the month was up & we were planning to fly home out of
Lisboa. I suggested we stay our last nite in Lisbon at a 4star hotel, my
friend agreed so on our last nite we had a very comfy, cozy stay at luxury
hotel, livin la dolca vida. About a week before our departure . I had a strange
felling in my belly, what was it? I felt homesick. I had never been away from
home for such a long period, one month. My friend just laughed, you're so
funny, so sentimental. Whatever it was, there's no place like home & just
like that I completed my first trip abroad bringing with me beautiful
souvenirs & happy memories. This adventure expanded me more than I
realized then but in retrospect it was pretty amazing: my own coming of age
story at 40 years old!