The New 3 Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect

Posts filed in Learn

On The Road Again: Vado in Italia

09/29/2019•Italy, Learn, Travel

Ponte Vecchio, 1990, Florence, Italy

On Tuesday, I am off to Italy for five weeks. After a few days in Rome, I will be spending four weeks in Florence studying Italian language and culture. The picture above was taken in 1990, the first time I visited Florence—actually the first time I visited Italy. I was traveling with a friend on a Eurail Pass. We did six cities in six countries in two weeks. This was long before the internet—when you could travel without reservations and let the tourist offices in the train stations find you a hotel. Florence was my favorite place. I loved the architecture, the art, the smell of antiquity, the age of the city. I returned several times, but I haven’t visited Florence for about 18 years. I am excited to be spending time living in this fabulous place for a month. The course, for Seniors 50+, is offered through the Istituto Michelangelo, an Italian language school in Florence. If any fellow bloggers happen to be traveling through Florence in October, let me know. We could meet for coffee or gelato.

 

 

First Friday in Fairbanks

06/08/2019•Alaska, community development, Learn

The Common Thread

On the first Friday of the month, galleries, businesses, and community organizations in Fairbanks host art-based open houses. This week, my sister participated in an event at Thread, an early child care and education resource referral program serving Interior and Northern Alaska.

The open house featured several artists and provided materials for kids to make art at each station. It was a beautiful evening to inspire your inner artist.

My sister Ruth, of Ruth’s Rocks, helped kids paint their own rocks using acrylic markers.

Kids could design their own birch medallions.

Sheets of birch bark served as community canvases, with anyone, even the youngest guests, adding a touch of their own style.

Water color was also demonstrated.

Thread has a wonderful nature trail for kids and other activites to stimulate creativity.

Guests were entertained by a local duo.

Art is for everyone. Let your inner art free and discover your medium. Thanks, Thread for a fun evening.

Women’s March on Washington 2017

01/22/2017•cities, Culture, Family, history, Learn, Photography, Roots, Travel

I was proud to join friends, family and 500,000 women, men and children for today’s Women’s March on Washington. It was an uplifting, peaceful and friendly march highlighting a wide-range of  social, economic and gender related themes.

Survival

05/13/2016•Culture, Learn

Dachau Dormitory

Dormitory at Dachau

Dormitory at Dachau

 

Reconstruction of one of the dormitory rooms at Dachau.

DP: Survival

Grid

09/23/2015•Explore, Learn, Photography, Travel, wildlife

Great White Grid

WPCGrid

Great White Ghost, Etosha National Park, Namibia

Elephants in Etosha National Park, Namibia, use a mixture of white clay mud and calcite sand to cool their skin. Because the mud dries white, they are often called “white ghosts.” This aging bull elephant was using a dead tree as a back scratcher. His grey skin had begun to show through the mud.

 

WPC: Grid

Freedom Worth Saving

12/14/2014•Explore, Learn, Photography, Travel

Elephant Watering Hole, Etosha National Park, Namibia

African elephants, now endanger of disappearing within a decade because of poaching to fund terrorist groups and to satiate an unholy thirst for ivory.

African elephants in Etosha National Park, Namibia

African elephants are being slaughtered in huge numbers and are in danger of disappearing within a decade to satiate an unholy thirst for ivory and to fund African crime and terrorist groups. And to make matters even worse, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and several Republican congressmen are pushing laws allowing American big game hunters to bring ivory tusks into the US, all in the name of gun rights. The NRA and its supporters should be ashamed.

Travel theme: Freedom

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