Category: Life Lessons

I started this blog on November 19, 2017, when my friend, Ed, turned 100. My first story was about him. Our lives are a bit different now, but we’re both still moving forward.  This is my 700th tale and he’ll be 107 years old in November. A lot of things have changed since that first …

The Italian Chapel is a highly ornate Catholic chapel in the Orkney Islands. It was built during World War II by Italian prisoners of war who were housed there.  The chapel was constructed from limited materials. The bulk was taken from previously sunken ships. The ships were deliberately sunk by the Scots, and their Italian …

The biggest surprise from the cruise was our stop in the Orkney Islands in Scotland. That was our northern most visit. The countryside looks very different there. There aren’t a lot of trees compared to the other ports we visited, but there are several different types of grasses. That’s what I noticed first. We had …

I’d never heard of Cork, Ireland until I saw it on our British Isles itinerary. We left Southampton and had a day at sea before we landed in Cork. We planned an excursion to visit The Blarney Castle. Blarney Castle is now a partial ruin with a few accessible rooms and battlements. At the top …

If I ever go to London again, I’m going to the theatre every night.  If I had a “do over” from my trip to Europe, that would be it.  We went to a single play and saw the irreverent “Book of Mormon”.  It’s the kind of play where you either laugh or leave.  I laughed.   …

I was about eleven when I ran across the word “homosexual” in a book I was reading. I wasn’t familiar with the word, so I asked my mom what it meant. She wanted to know why I asked. “It’s in this book, and I don’t know what it means.” She asked me to read the …

We planned to take the Hop On Hop Off Bus in Liverpool.  It worked well for us in London, and we expected the same in our newest city.  We found the stop closest to the cruise ship but learned something new as we purchased our tickets.  It was twelve pounds for an all-day ticket and …

I met several nice people on my cruise of the British Isles.  Some were on the ship, and some were in the various ports where we stopped. I think we’re all more alike than different no matter where we live. We hired four different Uber drivers in London and private cars in Glascow and the …

We visited Normandy through the port of Lavre, France last Monday.  We stopped at the German burial field first where 21,200 German soldiers are buried in graves of two.  The American cemetery just down the road holds 9,387.  I’m told there are a total of twenty-one military cemeteries in the region where 130,000 died. When …

If you’re reading this on the day that it’s posted, I’m in London. I’m five hours ahead of my Michigan family and eight in front of my California kids. I assume my phone knows where I am as I’m using it to post the next several blogs. I’ve recorded previously written stories to share while …