myretroperspective

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had/have (it's already the New Year here) a great New Years Eve filled with lots of love and laughter. Look out next week for posts about our year in review and some pictures from our little snow storm we had (it was the most snow this island has seen in 30 years!). But as for right now I'm going to enjoy this day off with hubs and curl up on the couch and watch old Bond movies. Just a little something to cure your wanderlust for the week. Tiger Temple -Chiang Mai We are interdependent and dependent on one another. We have got to find a way to make this whole planet work. ~ Andrew Young

Today was the big day to have my pre-surgery physical exam and testing to determine if I really would get a new hip next week.  It’s been about two months in the planning, but I’m happy to report that I passed!  Because of the doctor changing hospitals and all of the delays, I was feeling the surgery was never going to happen.  I hate these kind of days. Tonight’s photos are from my roving time yesterday on the refuge.  Dew on a young longleaf pine. I was pretty calm until I got about five miles away from my first appointment.  I could feel my blood pressure rising as I neared the orthopedic office.  I’m sure some of you know that feeling in the pit of your stomach when dealing with doctors and nurses.  I wish it wasn’t so. It took about an hour to go through that initial exam, and then I was sent off to the Mayo hospital for further testing.  Each person I talked to asked the same questions, but I was prepa...

Reading and translating the Christmas story Our friend's baby got crowds of attention from both the girls and the boys The younger age groups had a short dance performance for us He was SO excited for Santa to come! Every so often the foreign church that we attend goes and spends time at one of the local orphanages, Sungjiwon. I have always cherished the times that we are able to spend with these kids. Even though we don't speak the same language, there's always such an excitement that surrounds these visits and our last visit was certainly no exception. Every year the church throws a Christmas Party for the orphanage complete with Christmas carols, reading (and translating) the Christmas story, games, presents, and of course a little visit from Ol' Saint Nick (played this year by hubs). It can be such a bittersweet experience going and seeing these kids that I have grown to become so attached to. I love how their faces light up as we come in, ready for endless rounds o...

So sorry for the hiatus! Christmas was wonderful and part 1 of our global move (that would be the part where we move our bodies and our stuff mostly comes later) went smoothly. I'm planning to write about all of that soon, but in the meantime I want to catch up on Christmas. Indian Shores, Fla. is a sleepy little beach town, but in the 13 years since my parents moved there it has been undergoing a transformation. I really think it distinguishes itself from the other beach towns in between Clearwater and St. Pete beaches. It's family friendly without being tacky. It's classy without being snobby. It's clean and cute, and I'm so glad when I go "home" it's where I return to. I was really excited about getting to go down to the town hall and watch the boat parade on the intracoastal this year. It usually happens a few weeks earlier in the month of December, but this year it fell on Sunday the 23rd so we were able to go. and you thought Santa rode in a slei...

I set my alarm last night, and was up before the crack of dawn this morning to prepare for my umpteenth Christmas Bird Count (CBC) this morning. I opted out of driving to Folkston for a pre-count meeting at 6:15, and just met the group I would be counting with on the refuge a little after 7:00.  This would be the first time I would do a CBC from a boat rather than by car or on foot.  (on foot was out for me this year) Before we headed out into the real swamp, we had a few stops to make to try to find some red-cockaded woodpeckers.  Even though it was raining, we were able to find nine of these rare little birds between two  locations.  Cool beans!  There were four members in our group today.  Our leader was Art, a supervisory ranger, who was spending his last day before retirement getting paid to watch and count birds.  What a way to end a career!  He would be piloting our boat.  Besides the two of us, there was a woman who had don...

I apologize for the slight silence around here this week. A massive but happily welcomed food coma ensued for the better half of three days (no complaints here) and I simply got lazy. And instead of doing anything productive, I spent massive amounts of time cuddling up with hubs watching movies and enjoying the fruits of my baking labor (again, no complaints here). To say we had a good Christmas would be a great understatement. We were able to spend the better part of the holiday with friends and of course massive amounts of delicious food. We have found such an amazing community here and it has made all the difference in the world when it comes to celebrating holidays overseas and away from family. It all started Christmas Eve when a huge  box from The Land of the Goods (aka my mom's house) arrived with 43 pounds of everything that expats dream about. Our little apartment is now fully stocked with all the ingredients needed for s'mores, fudge, and a giant cookie cake. Br...

                                                         My oldest, Daniel, and his dog, Buddy. Forty years ago today, I welcomed my first bundle of joy into this world.  It was a struggle getting him birthed for a tax deduction as 1972 drew to a close, but I got it done.    At that time, they kept new mothers and their babies in the hospital for several days, and I even had a dinner with Champagne on New Year’s Eve that year. Where in the world does the time go?  I can’t believe that I have a child that is 40 years old.  Seems that it confirms that I really am an old fart.    How did that happen??  I need a few minutes to recuperate from that realization… Thanks f...

Hanoi is also called the "land of hundreds of jobs" because of its many ancient traditional craft villages. They perpetuate the rich cultural and historical values ​​of great originality, factors of choice for the development of tourism in the capital. Hanoi currently has 244 traditional crafts. A little girl operates a loom in the corner of Ha Dong silk weaving, a traditional craft in Hanoi (Photo by Talkvietnam) Today, traditional craft villages are a destination of choice for tourists. In addition to their discovery and purchase of their products, they have indeed the opportunity to meet their craftsmen, and even to learn their techniques. In recent years, the Bat Trang ceramic village, Van Phuc silk, lacquer Thai Ha... have become iconic sites. According to Tran Xuan Viet, Vice President of Hanoi People's Committee, the development of these villages and their tourism can promote their economic development, and thus improve the living conditions of their inhabitants as...

Dear tastebuds, I think I finally found the perfect cookie . I've already made two batches and as long as there's marshmallows in that bag, I'll be making more this weekend.  Dear Life,  the time has come when we're receiving baby announcements instead of wedding announcements. This both excites us (that it's not us) and terrifies us (that it could be us). Hubs and I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, too scared to even touch each other. Because we all know holding hands in bed is what really makes babies.  Dear Boss,  I came into work and you asked me if I had a party to go to because I had 'a lot' of makeup on. I guess lipstick is just too much in Korea.  Dear shock value, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that in our writing book their example of a how-to essay is about ramen noodles. Only in Asia.  Dear Dad,  even though you weren't here to carry on the tradition of cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, I tried my best and they turned out pretty...

There are two experiences looming on my horizon, and my day off today was spent getting ready for both.  As usual, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish for the day and I actually got most of them done.  Most immediately, I will be participating in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Saturday.  I have been email corresponding with the local organizer, and verified that the only counting I could do this year is from the seat of a boat.  Hikes on trails are out for me right now.  Tonight’s photos are from a recent visit to the ‘secret’ pond on a chilly morning.  Instead of finding three sandhill cranes in the field around the pond, there were eight.  They were all trumpeting away while feeding as I approached and shut off the motor. There are forms to fill out, and others to take along for this official bird count.  I’m actually quite thrilled to be doing the count out on the water.  Any time I can get out on the swamp is a bonus e...

Didn’t really sleep in on Christmas Day.  I was providing the baked ham for our Volunteer Village Christmas Dinner here at Okefenokee.  I got the ham ready by scoring it to put in the cloves, and pat the brown sugar on it Monday afternoon, so it was easy to just slide it into the oven in the morning.  The holiday dinner would be shared by 12 volunteers, staff, and friends.  Santa’s gift to me on this day was a visit from two folks that many of you may know and follow. Fellow recent fulltimers and bloggers, Erin and Mui joined us for our meal.  Erin writes the Two to Travel Phaeton’s Journey.   Since they were spending some time near Jacksonville, Florida, I emailed her and invited them to join us.  Knowing that they were early risers, I suggested they arrive at the refuge in the morning so I could give them a tour before dinner.  The refuge was closed for the holiday, so we had the whole place to ourselves.  I believe they had a good time...