Road Trip Part Three - the other stuff

The trip to Philadelphia was made with friends. We have traveled with this couple before and it is always fun.

We left at 8:30 am on Saturday morning. The trip was uneventful, but special for several reasons: I didn't have to drive. I love it when I don't have to drive. (And we still didn't have our car - they are promising we should have it Tuesday - almost a week from when I dropped it off the third time for repair). And our friends drove south from Baltimore to pick us up and then drove north to get to Philadelphia. That was a very generous thing to do.

After arriving in Philadelphia, catching lunch and confirming our tickets, we checked out Cleopatra and then the Hubble. Both shows were terrific.

Walking around, I notice they had a walk-through heart. Pretty cool. Yes, it was aimed at children, but children come in all sizes and I enjoyed walking through the 4 chambers of the heart and the lungs.

They also had a Pendulum Staircase. That was pretty interesting. I leaned over the staircase just long enough to catch this picture. I don't like heights so I was quick.

The trip home was uneventful as well. Yes, we used maps and we used GPS - thankfully that was their job. They did a great job driving and navigating.

The day ended with dinner in Columbia.

It was a wonderful day.

November 6 - I am thankful that we had the opportunity to see such important historic objects.

November 7 - I am thankful that I am a human being. Human beings are capable of such magnificent things. (Did you see those pictures from Hubble?) Sometimes we need reminders that we can do great things.

November 8 - I am thankful for friends that would ask us to go on this adventure with them, who would go out of their way to pick us up, and who would do all the driving.

Road Trip Part Two - Hubble

(posted Monday, November 8, 2010)

Our Saturday road trip was filled with more than just Cleopatra. The Tuttleman Imax Theater was showing a 40 minute movie called Hubble.

This theater had a 4-story domed, wrap-around screen, a steep seating arrangement that tilted you backwards allowing you to see the whole screen. The seating arrangement felt alittle like sitting on steeply slanted wall and if you leaned forward too much you would topple off the wall. Of course, that is just me, - height always makes me nervous. But once the show started, it was easy to forget about the seats.

The show started with the announcer giving all kinds of suggestions, cautions, warnings, etc. etc. etc. One of the announcements said that movie cameras and flash cameras were prohibited. Hmmm... And besides - "your pictures won't turn out anyway" - pretty much what they said exactly. Well ... I am sure you can guess that wouldn't deter me. No flash, but my camera worked just fine, thank you very much!

So folks ... welcome to the universe.

Here are the Hubble telescope that made these pictures possible.

Here is the "bus" that got the Hubble up real, real high!!! :-)

Here is one of the humans who braved this dangerous trip to help repair the Hubble.

This movie pulled out many emotions from me. I started out feeling immense pride at what man can do when we set our minds to it. Many people working together to make this possible and succeeding! Makes you wonder why we can't do smaller things like balance a national budget, or get along without our earthly neighbors without anger and war. Don't you think we should be able to do those little things if we can do this big thing???

And then when we get just a peek at our universe, those images make you feel small and unimportant. Even our Hubble is just a tool to show us how little we really know. We are just a speck.

Finally, the question of "Are we alone in the universe?" seems to be obvious to me. Of course, we aren't alone. The expanse of our universe is really beyond our ability to imagine - so there must be life out there somewhere.

PS - My camera did a pretty good job even without a flash. Of course, it couldn't show the full scope of each picture, but I was centered in the seats so I figured I would capture something if I just kept hitting the button. I really didn't know what I was getting because the camera was just resting on my stomach while I snapped images. I was pleased.

I love stretching the limitations and breaking the rules.

Road Trip: Part One - Cleopatra

(Posted on Monday, November 8, 2010)
On Saturday we took a road trip to see Cleopatra - The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, a fascinating museum exhibition currently on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA.

The exhibition, sponsored by National Geographic, showed the remarkable treasures discovered during archaeological expeditions of the land and under water locations of the old city of Alexandra and Cleopatra's royal palace. Unfortunately pictures of the exhibits were prohibited so I am forced to show pictures from the printed materials provided.

Initial impressions?

Wow, these people had a lot of gold. It was amazing just how many gold items were on display. What is remarkable is that the retrieval of these items continues - as well as searching for the burial place of Cleopatra. The gold on display was just the tip of the iceberg.

It was also interesting to note that images of Cleopatra are not common so getting some idea of what she looked like was not easy. Apparently after her death, Rome ordered all images of her destroyed. Guess they didn't care for her too much. But despite that, some images survived. Most images were on coins, but there were a few sculptures that managed to avoid destruction. But all images on display from Egypt were different. Apparently individual artists manipulated her features in a way to reflect the custom of the times - to display their Pharaohs as Gods - so these images didn't give you an idea of how she really looked. There was one sculpture of her in the Roman style - so her features were probably closer to what she actually looked like. If that image was correct, she was a beautiful woman even by modern standards.

Since many of the items on display were buried under sand and water, they were in excellent condition. It was amazing to see such beautiful items and think that 2,000 years ago these items were used, handled by those who served Cleopatra - maybe by Cleopatra herself. In fact, there was one piece of papyrus that was written in Cleopatra's own hand - signed by her. I found that most incredible that such a delicate a piece of papyrus had survived.

The trip was an success. And the Cleopatra exhibition was well worth the trip to Philadelphia. We saw a few other things while we were there and I will tell about them (with pictures) during another posting. It was a wonderful day.

Afghanistan Lecture Series

I did something different today.

I attended an interesting program on Afghanistan. Our local library sponsored three lectures in the Distinguished Scholars Series. I was dog free so I thought I would take advantage of a wonderful offering.

The lecture I attended was called: America's War: A View From the Ground. The speaker, Seth G. Jones, Ph.D, is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation and adjunct professor at Georgetown University. He served as a Senior Advisor to the Commanding General for US Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan and is the author of In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan. Besides being very knowledgeable, Dr. Jones was very careful to avoid taking political sides in the discussion. He did provide the probable impacts to the US if we remained in or withdraw from Afghanistan, and made it clear that there is no easy or correct answer. Since I try to stay politically neutral, I greatly respected his ability to present facts without slanting them to a personal agenda. A rare gift, indeed.

A side note: He looked very young to be a Ph.D and to have traveled in extensively in Afghanistan and to have been a advisor to our Special Forces! Young, I am telling you!! Young!!! But I was encouraged that such young people are so knowledgeable. Really, I was way impressed with his demeanor as well as his commanding knowledge of the topic ... I couldn't help but wonder exactly when our generation (the baby boomers) slipped from the lead roles. I am sure every generation wonders the same thing.

I had signed both mom and my husband up to attend, but they both bailed out on me this morning so I went by myself. Mom always hates to see me go to things "by myself" - as if there is some horror in arriving to your destination without an entourage. I keep reminding her, I am very happy with my own company. I have so little time to myself, that when I do get time away ... just me, I am thrilled. No matter how many times I tell her, she doesn't believe me.

There are 2 other lectures, but both fall on days when I have the dogs, so I don't think I will get to attend those. The other 2 lectures are by different presenters and the titles are: The Case for Withdrawal and Toughing It Out. Both are focused on Afghanistan. Very timely topics and sound interesting. I will hold the dates just on the off chance I can attend.

Weave-Its

Today I learned to weave-it on a Weave-It Loom!

I am hoping that I am not the only person east of the Grand Canyon who didn't know what a Weave-It loom was before this month. At 63 I kind of thought I knew everything, so finding out about this little gizmo and then finding out that I was pretty much the last person in my knitting group who was clueless about a Weave-It was stunning to me! Apparently everyone (except me) played with this little loom as a child. I think I must have been deprived!

Anyway, one of my friends, Happy One, was working on this little loom and recently showed off a beautiful blanket made from the little squares the loom makes. She was making it from left over yarn. And then I found an article in a magazine that featured the loom, the history and value of items made from a Weave-It. I had to have one - and the fact they aren't making them anymore didn't deter me one bit. I just had to have one now!! Turns out original ones from the 50s can be found on the secondary market, but eBay had a seller who made them - on a "Buy it now" purchase! Click! And it was mine. "Buy it now" was just made for me.

I made my first square today - 1 down, 199 more to go

Thank you HappyOne for teaching me this!!

Goal Setting and Soul Searching

This posting will be a bit dry so I thought a cheery picture would brighten it up a bit. So this is "A View from my Walk" picture - and it just proves that not all beauty and color in nature comes from flowers!

I am nearing the end of the first month of this 20 year journey, and plan to look back and see how things are going around September 1st - but how to do that! Six goals out of 20 are published and without some method of review, it is just a list!

Realistic goal setting for me has always been hard. Oh, yes, I can set goals easily and I love to set goals and make to-do lists, but I have the "eyes-are-bigger-than-my-stomach" syndrome - I set big goals and lots of them ... goals that usually aren't realistic in light of limited time. I am a Type A personality - I like to be the best, achieve the most, and control all the processes (i.e. do things without help and delegate almost never). I don't think these are positive traits anymore, but they have been part of me for as long as I can remember. As I have gotten older, I have given up some stupid stuff - my house isn't perfect and not always clean. I am not going for the slimmest body and I try very hard to not "lead" (having done that for a number of professional years.) But I do need sort through what can be tracked and what will be assumed.

Let's start with the easy ones!

Walking - this is pretty simple. Use a pedometer and improve the daily average steps each month. The starting goal is 10,000 steps average. That should work for awhile - until the daily step totals average 15,000 steps (or whatever number seems like a stretch). Then it is just a matter of keeping it up. Wa-la!! That was easy! I am doing great, don't you think? :-) (I think Type A's like to hear that they are doing well - so yes, I am fishing for compliments.)

Tai Chi and Stretching - this is pretty simple, too. Count the time and improve it each month. And this month, I did such a lousy job of keeping up with Tai Chi and I did no stretching. It won't be hard to do better next month. I would assume that these 2 would also reach a certain plateau, just like walking, and then just maintaining. I'll still need to figure out where that plateau is. (Type A's like to set themselves up for success - so I did bad this month so I can do better next month - yes, that works for me.)

Keep Learning - now things are getting harder. I have enthusiastically invited 3 things into my life this month that weren't there last month. So maybe if I blog about what I have done with these things for this year, maybe 3 times a month, I will at least show continuity. The downside is that I've invited 3 things in this month, but done nothing with them. More thinking, more thinking.

Photo Family History - this is a long term, episodic goal. Over the last few years I have worked on this project during a September beach week. Beach week is when my kids and my sister's family go to the Outer Banks. I used to go on this trip, but mom can't make it comfortably, doesn't really want to go anymore and my husband doesn't drive so I don't feel comfortable leaving them behind without back up when I would be 6 hours away. So if I work on this project once a year during beach week, it counts.

Friendships and Family - these are not objective elements. And up to now, they have been part of my life like breathing. I see family several times a week and friends socially every week, and email others. My blogging should be evidence of my commitment. I think these can be assumed to be valued at a high level already.

So, the initial sort of where I am going and how I will assess my progress is done for now. I will be back around September 1 to look at this again. I can tell you right now - I have earned an F in some of this! Type A's don't get F's ... maybe I can consider this a "growth" opportunity as I force myself to relax into a Type B personality.

No ... I am still a Type A. An "F" can't be translated into a "growth opportunity" no matter how you look at it!

A Saturday at the Mannings

Poised to begin!

It was a beautiful day for an outdoor event at The Mannings and a perfect combination of family, fiber activities, food, and learning. All the anticipation and planning of the previous weeks leading up to this one day - a day that seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Wouldn't it be grand if someone invented something that could slow down time just for one wonderful day.

I had 2 goals for that day (beyond spending time with family): begin spinning on my new spinning wheel and avoid purchasing yarn in the shop. Check and check!! I made a major discovery with spinning on a wheel - although it looks restful when done by skilled hands, it is anything but restful when done by a newbee like me. There have got to be 6 things going on all at the same time, using both hands, and both feet

and your brain - AND there is a small cycle of activity that gets applied over all that - drafting, allowing the twist to into the drafted fiber and then allowing the wheel to take up the spun fiber and then repeat, and repeat and repeat in order. *sigh*. I had to take a break to work on a complicated lace knitting pattern - at least while I was doing that my feet were resting. And no fiber purchases in the shop ... that probably was a first in the 13 years I have been knitting that I left empty handed. Actually I am trying to avoid buying yarn from anywhere for awhile. Over the winter I inventoried of my yarn stash - based on knitting 5,000 yards of yarn a year ... I would need to live to 92 or 93 before I ran out! That calculation just continues to fester in my brain. I am not opposed to having a decent stash of yarn, but I think a small yarn shop worth is pushing the envelope on acceptable.

The main challenge of the day was keeping our chairs in the shade. We started the morning perfectly situated under a tree, facing out past a grapevine to a rural setting unmarred by development. As the sun moved, so did we unfortunately. Each re-location was supposed to be our final move. We move 4 times - but in the end we won the battle with the sun.

And for the second year in a row, my sister won one of the many door prizes they announced. I think my sister should play the lottery!

First Efforts - alittle thick and chuncky but a start! I have already decided I need to buy a Wooley Winder so that I don't need to keep moving the yarn over the hooks! Have to save up for that.

One beautiful person is missing from this shot. Our other cousin LC from PA. She had to work in a new job. She was missed!

Total Steps: 3728 (that is what you get when you sit in the car to go, sit at the knit-in, and sit in the car to return - and, of course standing - like we did for this picture - not too many steps there either!)

#3 Keep learning - Dancing with the Stars??? Probably not!

It has been a peaceful morning. Meathead and Grimace went home yesterday - eager to spend a quiet night sleeping in their own bed without Milo's insistence on playing. I think Milo missed the canine company but we all really did need a break ... ALL of us!! Meathead and Grimace will be back today and my daughter will return tonight (Milo will be very very happy) and so we will have a big sleep over tonight - and it will be alittle easier with an extra set of hands.

Keep learning: I have given alot thought to how to reach this goal. Once you leave professional life, you have to seek out learning opportunities independently. I think it is one of the biggest transitions you have when you retire - keeping your brain active and engaged. I can honestly say that I haven't done a good job of that over the first few years of my retirement. I have played around with the possibility of learning a foreign language. But somehow it doesn't fit with where I am in my life right now ... it would be alot like putting sliced pickels on a peanut butter sandwich. I like both but together it doesn't seem to make sense.

I have considered auditing college classes, but additional time away from home right now is not a viable option. Of course, when it is possible, I might take some formal art training. It would be fun and I have some unexplored and novice abilities in art. I think learning Tai Chi over the last year was a kind of learning opportunity. On the up side - I am reaping more of the physical and mental benefits of Tai Chi. But it took me almost a year to get to this point in Tai Chi, so I should not put on my list of goals - Dancing with the Stars!!! HA

This year I have decided to learn to spin fiber into yarn. This goal fits in perfectly with my interest in knitting. I have resisted learning to spin for some time ... concerned about the costly purchase of a spinning wheel, unsure if it was something I really wanted to do, alittle intimidated by the prospect of learning new jargon, new skills, new equipment ... maybe I was intimidated by the prospect of learning again. After much thought, and looking at various spinning wheels, I am sure that this is my next learning opportunity.

I will buy a new wheel rather than purchasing one second hand. Knowing next to nothing about wheels - it seemed to make sense to spend alittle more and get a new wheel - one that doesn't have hidden issues that an experienced spinner might spot and know how to deal with. I am also going to get a portable wheel - one that folds and can be put into a carrying case - and I want one that has some style - old style - and is made out of named woods - not ply board, plastic or pressed/processed wood material (as I have noticed in some well known wheel brands). The Kromski Sonata is a full size wheel that come is 3 finish choices. It seems to have a decent reputation and is a wheel that is not easily outgrown. It is a polish manufacturer - and I have polish ancestors - TA DA! Seems like a match to me! But seriously, all things considered, it seems to have all the elements I am looking for (the polish thingy was just a plus LOL). So the investigative issues are complete. Just need to order the item. I'll wait another week ...

And then, major learning begins - still alittle scary!