Autumn Leaves

Our area has survived the horrendous Camp Fire; it is enduring flash flood warnings as well as the overwhelming aftermath of the fire and yet there is a small ray of hope on the horizon. The autumn leaves are spectacular. The surviving towns are dotted with trees turning out the best fall color I’ve seen in years. 

A brilliant red tree lurks amidst some pines 

Orange trees decorate the streets

Yellow, orange and gold enhance the landscape. 

The miracle of autumn is illusive and fleeting. While it’s here, we all are enjoying it. 

The color makes the daunting task of recovery a tiny bit easier.

Stuff

It’s a month before Christmas, which means it’s time to put up our little tree. We also put up a couple of sparkly garlands, but more is needed. We will spend Christmas in the RV this year.    

 

While we are getting ready for Christmas, the autumn leaves are just starting to fall. The piles of red, orange, yellow and brown leaves are beautiful...and there are so many piles of leaves. Have you noticed that only Mother Nature can arrange a pile of leaves to look this good!

Lastly, I saw this 1969 Bug in town with a mosaic paint job. 

If you can, stretch these 2 pictures and you can see that each picture is a mosiac painted to look like it is made of teeny-tiny tiles. It’s the most amazing paint job I’ve ever seen. The person who created this masterpiece has a great talent that might be wasted on Volkswagens. Were this my car, I’d never sell it.

 

Four Generations

Four generations and a teddy bear blanket. 

Great grandma, baby, mom and grandma. 

I think this is great!

One more thing to be thankful for!

 

Thanksgiving

When I taught elementary school I had my students respond to this prompt: On Thanksgiving, I am thankful for ...” Over the years, I had answers like “my baby brother” or “mom and dad” or “my puppy”...this year my answer is “my house, which is still standing.” I’m also thankful for my family and friends who have been with me physically and mentally thru the ordeal of the Camp Fire. It’s a good Thanksgiving indeed! My you have a Happy Thanksgiving too!

Home

We are home — it was a good cruise. We went to a new country for us—the Philippines, and we visited a old home—Guam. We returned to Vietnam, China, Japan and Hawaii. We had 2 long periods of sea days—one 7 and the other 5 days. It was a trip of neat places and great relaxation. 

  Now we are home, and it’s a bittersweet homecoming. There’s been a huge fire in our neck of the woods. Our house survived, but the grasslands burned. The air is smoky beyond smoky. The house smells like smoke. The furniture smells like smoke. The clothes in the closet smell like smoke. 

We don’t know what happens next. Watch this space.

Honolulu

 

We are finally on dry land...first time in 7 days. During those 7 sea days, I crocheted a teddy bear blanket for one of the people on the ship. (Silky is giving it the “teddy bear stamp of authenticity.”) I also made some Christmas ornaments and a lot of red poppies for Veteran’s Day, the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

The water on the passage between Guam and Hawaii was rough at times. (You would never know that now, as the seas are calm, and it’s sunny (and believe it or not) relatively dry in Oahu. By dry I mean the humidity is low...it’s a perfect day.) Along with the rocky water, we had rocky emotions due to the “Camp Fire” that’s raging in Northern California.  That fire has been a rapidly spreading disaster that leveled the town of Paradise in less than a day...and then it went to the surrounding areas. We were afraid the fire would turn in the direction of our house and burn it down too. This morning I found out that our property was burned, but the house was spared thanks to 2 fire trucks worth of firefighters. THANK YOU — THANK YOU — THANK YOU!  Right now we are very happy campers. The grasses on the land will grow back. We wish everyone could have had the same happy ending. Recovery and rebuilding is going to be difficult and I wish everyone God’s speed and good luck. I  want to thank all the folks who were worried along with us. We are safe and sound and all is good.

 

So, landing in Oahu gave us good news and calm seas. We have a home to go home to when we disembark the ship next Sunday. 

Sea Days

Every cruise has a few sea days...days where the pax stay on the ship. This cruise has more sea days than most as there are 7 sea days between Guam and Hawaii and 5 days between Hawaii and the US mainland. Then there were a few sea days between Shanghai and Okinawa and between Vietnam and the Philippines...but those were short. Right now we are in the Guam to Hawaii stretch and the sea days are getting long for a lot of folks...especially the folks who are on  the 79 day cruise. 

 

This cruise was divided into different segments. Folks could sign up for a 79 day cruise, a 60 day cruise or one of two 30 day cruises. The LONG cruise starts in LA and ends in Fort Lauderdale (FLL), having sailed to Alaska, Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii...then back to LA and thru the Panama Canal to FLL. The 60 day cruise does not go thru the Panama Canal. The first 30 day cruise ended in Shanghai and the cruise we are on,  started in Shanghai. 

 

Today I talked to a number of folks on the 60 day portion and many are ready to go home...but of course there’s no getting off the ship in the middle of the big empty Pacific Ocean. It takes a special person to sail endless days.

 

There needs to be a lot of entertainment on a long long cruise. The Coral Princess is doing a pretty good job — but for those who have been on it a long time, the entertainment is running thin. Us “30 day” folks have not seen all the “stuff” that is being offered, so we are still  having a good time. 

 

I was prepared for the sea day experience. I brought a lot of crochet projects. I almost finished one Teddy Bear blanket (I ran out of yarn, so I’ll finish it at home) and now I’m working on a second blanket. I’ve also made some Christmas ornaments. Before the cruise started I loaded my iPad with books and I’ve read 7 so far. The other DrC is on his 10th book! We also use the internet.

Now for the surprise — I like sea days. They are relaxing and enjoyable. I can take my time to read a book without feeling guilty that I’m not doing something more productive (as I might feel at home). I can crochet all day long if I want. I can walk the Promenade or not. I can sleep late and/or go to bed early. There are no cares in the world on sea days...all I have to do is show up, which is just perfect. After a cruise with a few sea days, I come back home ready to take on the stuff that I did not do while on the cruise. 

Guam

After 3 sea days, the Coral Princess landed on Guam. To disembark we needed to go through Customs and Passport Control. We had been given forms to fill out beforehand, all we had to do was get in the line at our required time, and get off the ship. We had been warned that folks on the cruise did not follow the directions well, so we got in the line at 7 AM. At our suggested time (9:15-9:30) the procedure started. We were “inspected” and allowed to leave the shp.

Once on the island, we were met by a friend and we drove to her home in Yigo (that’s pronounced Gee-Go). We stopped along the way in Hagatna, the capital, to go to the new CHamuro Museum. The next stop was at Shirley’s for take out. Shirley’s is a Guam institution famous for Spam Fried Rice and other island delicacies. 

I bought the other DrC an order of fried rice with fine dine (Fin-E-Den-E) sauce. 

 

He was in Guam Heaven...he had not had anything like it in years. Once at Dottie’s home, we talked the afternoon away. A wonderful day with an old friend. All too soon the clock on the wall said 4:30 and it was time to go back to the ship. A wonderful day on our old island home.