I Have No Interest in Bungie Jumping or Skydiving!



There is only one admirable form of the imagination: 
the imagination that is so intense that it creates a new reality,
that it makes things happen.
Sean O'Faolain

Painting I Found in a Church in Ireland.
The Artist's Vision of Saint Mary
(When she received the news she was with child)

I love to write.  I feel myself tightening up and less able to focus, when I don't.  I get the same feeling of tranquility and focus when I paint. 


I already have my two small journals ready for my trip to Germany this month.  I put stickers and other things on the journal pages.  They're just inexpensive notebooks.  I spruce them up and it motivates me to write something every day.


Heidi at Detroit Metro Airport
With All Her Belongings, Moving to Berlin 


When I write while traveling,  I include people I'm watching, unique things I see, and brief notes on what happened to me during the day.  I jot down lists of food I need to buy, names of places I want to go to, or a general time-table for a bus or train. I try not to make my writing a chore while traveling.  I know I'd just leave the notebooks in my suitcase, if I did that.  I'm not interesting in it being a ledger or a record.  I want it be more personal.


Ladies making Tomato Paste (I'm helping)

Young  Boy Feeding the Birds (Ukraine)




I Always Cried When Students & Staff
Sang the National Anthem in the Courtyard
at the Private School I Taught at, In Turkey

I'm sitting by Mom's heater (in St. Ignace), in the living room, writing.  It's easy to take for granted a switch that makes the room start to warm up, instantly.  To make a cup of coffee, do a load of wash, make sweet rolls, drive up to Glen's to buy some bananas,  to go to the bank to get cash, or drive to Petoskey, without a map.


All day to day routines are disrupted, when I travel.  When I leave for Berlin, I'll have to adjust to new routines.  They break my habits and become learning experiences for me.  Where are the electricity outlets?  Adapter?  Where are the light switches? Why isn't there any hot water?  Where is the post office?  Why do I have to pay for a bag when I buy groceries?  There's never a dull moment, and I love it.  Disrupted routines make me smarter. I have to be more alert.


Mother and Daughter Artists, in
Courtyard, Painting Ceramic Tiles (Turkey)





My friend Birim's Mom, with me in Istanbul



Uncle Floyd's Funeral in Ithaca, Michigan












Graffiti on Wall in Taksim, Istanbul
.
I write things I notice about people, how they live, how they treat me.  I write about unexpected surprises in my travels.  Things that make me smile, laugh, cry or angry.

If I miss a train, lose my luggage, get lost or order something at a restaurant I don't like, I go with the flow.  It's part of the package.  Adjusting becomes the new norm.  If I refuse to let the disruptions fluster me, I'm more alert for inevitable surprises.

An old lady feeding a stray cat on the sidewalk.  A little boy whining to his mother in another language.  A waiter looking at me like I'm an alien, when I ask for milk with my coffee.  A young or elderly couple holding hands and walking, not saying a word to each other.  A young girl selling flowers on the street corner, instead of being in school.  A display in a store window making me want to stop and look.  An item on my plate I've never seen before and didn't realize I ordered.  


A Surprise Dessert in Turkey





An old Man Feeding a Young Cat
While Selling Lotto Tickets on the Istaklal

















I have no interest to go bungie jumping, or skydiving.  But, I think the surge I get from new experiences does something to me I can't get any other way.  And it isn't just a short-term surge.  It remains with me.  I live, think and react to things differently, in my normal, day-to-day life when I return.


Husband and Wife Selling Their Fresh Goat Cheese
at a Bazar in Iznik


Writing while I travel, makes me more perceptive.  Describing situations, places and people helps freeze things in my memory.  I have time to reflect in a relaxed way and let the senses remember without as instant judgement at the moment.


The Pier on Lake Huron, St. Ignace


I came up north to be with my mom for Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful I still have my mom.  She's 87 and fun to be with.  We went swimming at the Sportsplex in Gaylord, yesterday, and had lunch at the Sugar Bowl Restaurant.  

I'm thankful for my family.  The family members I continue to make memories with, and the ones I don't.  I'm thankful I have them.  There's a place in my heart for each and every one of them.


They might not need me; but they might.  
I'll let my head be just in sight; 
a smile as small as mine 
might be precisely their necessity.  
Emily Dickinson


My Niece, Jenna, With Her "Knowing Look"
During Her Band Concert


I'm thankful for you.  My reader.  I appreciate you sharing my blog with me.  You give me a voice, in a small way.  But, it's powerful for me.  It makes my life richer.  Loneliness can't gets its claws in me as easily, when I know you're there.  Thank you for letting me know, once in awhile, you are.  I write to connect, to share.  Thanks for making it possible for me.


Your heart 
is very much connected 
to your mind.  
                                    Mikhail Baryshnikov




This is a little Youtube clip from the movie E.T.
It reminds me of how I feel when I post on my blog.
I thought you'd enjoy it:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_YZuYESaoo





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