Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing
Onward the sailors cry
Carry the lad that’s born to be king
Over the sea to Skye
The Skye Boat Song is about Flora MacDonald‘s rescue of Bonnie Prince Charles from the Outer Hebrides to the Isle of Skye. From there he went to Moidart and then on the Paris.
Our trip to Scotland was a family trip, and part of it was uncovering the roots of clan Donald. Where better to start than the Isle of Skye?
Continue reading
Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile
75! Wow, that’s quite a few!
This week is difficult. It’s not because I can’t think of anything to smile about, it’s that there are too many smiles.
Last week I flew into Cleveland to visit family in Ohio. So there is family as a smile. And then I could go through the different individual family members and add smiles. Like a nephew you just graduated college and has a great job lined up. Or a niece who just completed a great Freshman year at college. On and on, I can add many such smiles, digging down deeper and deeper. Hundreds, no, thousands of smiles. A “niece” from China also graduated from college and her parents were visiting from China (she will stay here to work and go back to graduate school). More and more. A niece with a new house. etc. Continue reading
Thanksgiving here in the US means a lot of different things to different people. I think that all of us need to sit back and take in one of the meanings: a time to reflect and be thankful. Sure, there’s a lot out there that seems totally awful, from barrel bombs filled with chlorine killing little kids in Syria to police under large corporation control soaking people trying to protect their water on a freezing night. Sometimes we are angry or sad, but every so often we do need to sit back and think about what we have. So today I will participate in the “Full Grown Nerd’s” (Ms. Emily) “Three Things Thursday” thankfulness linkup.
Obviously there is family. As I’ve said often in the last week, I had a good visit with my brother this weekend. I just got off the phone with my parents and will most likely talk to them again later in the day. I’ll also talk to my sisters this afternoon. I have a pretty good relationship to my family, even if I don’t see them often. I know a lot of people whose relationship to their siblings and/or parents is very dysfunctional. That is something to be thankful for. Continue reading
Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile
This has been a weird week. I have a ton of things to smile about, which is great! But nothing is earth shattering, so I’m having a hard time choosing. So, eenie, meenie, minee, Moe, Curly and Larry…. I guess I’ll just pick something.
I have a relatively close relationship to my parents. I mean, they live 600 miles (about 1000 KM) away, so i don’t see them all of the time, but I do call often. Well, they were gone for 2 1/2 weeks. OK, “gone” is a harsh word. They like to travel a lot and have been all over the world. So for two weeks they were in German, mostly in the Eastern part that they don’t know very well (the first time the visited Germany it was still two countries) following in the footsteps of Martin Luther. They are not Lutheran, but some people from their local Lutheran church invited them along to celebrate the upcoming 500 year anniversary of the ‘Ninety-Five Theses”. After that they spent several days with friends in a different part of the country. Their friends live near the Austrian border and not far (across a lake or driving through Austria) from Switzerland. They had a great visit. Continue reading
Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile
I spent a good chunk of Saturday in Boston with my niece. We did a few things, like a tour of harpoon brewery, but also a lot of nothing and walking around. Actually, some of what we did will be featured on other posts ;) Since this is just reminder, saying I enjoyed seeing my niece and her boy friend. It was a huge smile :)
What made you smile this week?
If you haven’t seen it, here is a little background to The Weekly Smile as well as some quick guidelines.
So, what made you smile this week? Write about it and post on the link-up (or click the little blue frog below). While you’re there, read what everyone else is smiling about! And come back to it later, if last week is any indication new smiles will be added daily!
–-
Note – the weekly smile runs Wednesday Morning to Wednesday morning. I post in the morning (Eastern US) and put up the link usually between 7 and 8 AM EST. I also try to post on Sunday as a reminder. People can and do join throughout the week.
Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile
It’s the heart of summer and people are traveling. Some go to the coast with its cool sea breezes and some to the mountains for the fresh, clean air. Of course there are other destinations, such as the hot cities and the rolling countryside. Some people even go to the desert to visit. All in all, this is a time when people are on the move.
My brother and his family are taking a long trip that will (and has) hit both mountains and ocean. They spent some time in New Hampshire’s White Mountains before heading to the Maine coast. Later they’ll head up to Baxter in Maine for more mountain adventures.
They live in the Philadelphia area while I’m in New Hampshire. Notice I said the name “NH” twice. Yep, we had a short visit as they came through. More than that, their son is in the Albany area doing an internship as he prepares for his senior year of college. He drove out last Friday and spent the night at my house. We then met the rest of his family at a restaurant for brunch on Saturday morning.
It was a nice visit, if a little short. It’s nice to see people face to face instead of just on the phone or texts or emails or whatever. It’s also been fun seeing the pictures they’ve posted on FB of places I know well but are new to them.
So that was my smile for the week, family visits.
What made you smile this week?
If you haven’t seen it, here is a little background to The Weekly Smile as well as some quick guidelines.
So, what made you smile this week? Write about it and post on the link-up (or click the little blue frog below). While you’re there, read what everyone else is smiling about! And come back to it later, if last week is any indication new smiles will be added daily!
Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile
I know, I’ve been missing for a week. Do you want to know what I did? Well, I’ll tell you about it anyway :) I went to Ohio to visit family. We had a little reunion of sorts, as we do every year. Both of my sisters and my brother were there. Most of the kids were there. At one time we had 30 people at a cookout/barbecue. That number included a couple of people who are family in spirit if not blood and missed a couple who couldn’t make it.
I really don’t have time to write much – as soon as I finish this I have a week’s worth of work email to dig through so I have to be very brief. The long story short, a good time was had by all. I spent a lot of time talking to family members. I spent time doing stuff with them. We talked nature, books, movies, writing, art, science, technology, travel, the past, the future, the present and all sorts of other stuff, including even those taboo topics of politics and religion.
I’m glad I don’t have to see them every day, but it is good to see family face to face instead of by phone, text or computer.
So that’s my smile for this week: Family.
What made you smile this week?
If you haven’t seen it, here is a little background to The Weekly Smile as well as some quick guidelines.
So, what made you smile this week? Write about it and post on the link-up (or click the little blue frog below). While you’re there, read what everyone else is smiling about! And come back to it later, if last week is any indication new smiles will be added daily!
Trent's World (the Blog) 