A Whirlwind Trip

Back in the fall, I visited the States in a pretty major month-long whirlwind tour, with something like 1,600 miles driven and over 30 people visited in 7 states.

Major crops seen from the road: tobacco leaves, corn, cotton. Major cities visited: Springfield, St. Louis. Minor cities visited: Athens, Chattanooga, Hamel, Vicksburg, Mobile. Major holidays celebrated: Halloween. And when I got back to Germany, my neighbor had left her stove on, so I called the fire department while super jet-lagged and exhausted to keep the building from burning down. Whew.

Bulldog in front of the electric company building in Athens, Georgia

The Tree That Owns Itself in Athens

Oljiata Bridge, with a view of the Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Corn en route to Illinois

Conservatory at a park in Springfield, IL

Abraham Lincoln mural in Springfield

Rolls Royce get-together in Springfield

Frank Lloyd Wright house (Dana Thomas House) in Springpatch

Farmer humor in Hamel, IL

The Arch! in St. Louis

Cotton en route to Mississippi

View of the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, MS

Memorial at the Vicksburg National Military Park

Abita Brewery in Louisiana

Pumpkins!

Down by the bay in Daphne, AL

Let Your Heart Be Not Troubled

In August my dear aunt Linda died after 5 years dealing with breast cancer. She was an amazing artist, and my room is decorated with several paintings she made for me (as well as some she encouraged/forced me to do). I'm fortunate to have such beautiful reminders of her, even if I miss her every time I look at them.

There was a lovely memorial service at her church in September that she helped put together before she died. (She knew her own family too well to let any of them speak at the service.) Her siblings and friends had made table displays showcasing some of her different hobbies and art collections, and this is one of her drawings that I really liked:

I had a conference to attend just a few days after the service, so my journey began with a heavy heart but was surprisingly lightened by the service. I took a minute to enjoy the gorgeous weather and views in Chattanooga, and then had to continue on my way.
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The Sunshine State... A Few Months Late

I meant to post about the bi-annual family trip to Florida a few months ago, but, well, life got in the way.  You know the usual excuses, work stuff, moving, and so forth. So here it finally is, just in time before the new year! Highlights from Florida.

We were down the week tropical storm Emily was due to hit the mainland, but it turned away at just the right time, so we didn't have to make a run for it yet still got our daily afternoon thunderstorm. I was mostly successful in instituting Operation Tan-Not-Burned, which means that as of now (end of December), I am back to my splotchy pasty coloring.

There were big schools of baitfish, which meant.. there were also tons of dolphins!!! One of them was less than 10 feet from us in the ocean and was playing and surfing in the waves.. unnerving when it happens, though still cool.

I got up every day at 6 or 6:30 to see the sunrise; I'd throw on some clothes (though not very many, as it was really warm even without the sun having risen), grab a water bottle, run down 9 flights of stairs, and wander across the beach checking out sea turtle nests. Sounds like a nice routine, but my rising got later and more painful each day. I am just not a morning person, regardless of how awesome the sunrise may be.

We were there during the hayday of baby sea turtle hatching season. I learned what adult and baby turtle tracks look like in the sand and what all those colors and writing mean on the marked sea turtle nests. We also got to watch them dig up the remains of one that had already hatched. There had been dozens and dozens of eggs in it!

And that's that. I haven't done much traveling since I've been back in Tennessee, though I have done a bit of hiking and camping, just minus photos. Hopefully I will make myself get back into the habit of taking pictures and writing, but until then, best wishes for 2012!

In Memoriam...

I received the call Monday night that my grandma had died. While her health has been up and down for nearly the past decade, and even more so in the past 8 months, her death was very sudden and unexpected, caused by a sudden onset of problems nobody could have foreseen. It's gonna take a while to sink in.

She was the Keys family matriarch, and her death marks the end of an era, as well as the start of many changes. There won't be a funeral or memorial service for her, so here's my little offering of memorial for Barbara Keys, Player of Card Games, Writer of Letters, Baker of the World's Best Cherry Pies, and the strongest-willed woman I know.

I found this flower on the ground on my walk home from work Monday, freshly cut from someone's garden. I hope she would have liked it.