Archive for 'On a Jet Plane'
Memorial Day 2010
Posted on 31. May, 2010 by Deb.
It’s Memorial Day weekend. For many, it’s a time of celebration. A time to gather with friends and families, eat BBQ, water-ski at the lake, and play. For others, it’s a time to celebrate the memories of those who gave their lives in service to their country.
Originally called “Decoration Day”, origins are traced back to the Civil War and the activities of Southern Women decorating graves. The first official observation, though, was May 30, 1868. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a National Holiday by Congress, who established not May 30, but the last Monday in May as the official date.
In some ways, it feels odd to be in the DFW area instead of the DC area, as I have been blessed to spend Memorial Day in DC for four of the past six years. I was in DC last week, though, and was able to spend some time at The Navy Memorial as well as Arlington National Cemetery. Two favorite spots of mine. Both, spaces to remember those who have given their lives in service to our Country. Both with very personal meaning.
During the weekend, I hope you take the time to pause a moment and say a thanks to those in which we honor on Memorial Day.
(Photos are Mine, Taken Around Washington DC. First four photos are Arlington National Cemetery. The rest of the photos: Navy Memorial, WWII Memorial, Korean Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial)
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Another Year Older
Posted on 30. May, 2010 by Deb.
I turned 42 last week.
I gave full reign to my Gypsy Soul and Workaholic Personality on my birthday: boarded a plane at 5:45 AM and was in a meeting in Philadelphia by 12:30 and ended the day with a dinner meeting, which put me getting to bed around 1 AM. It was a good way to spend my birthday: working hard and sliding between decadent Frette linens at one of my favorite hotel chains at the end of a long and satisfying day.
Not the ideal day for most, but for me, it worked. I was so thankful for the good work with a wonderful (and new) client. A new client is a wonderful birthday gift!
The following day, I boarded a train and headed down to DC where I was able to combine work for a couple of different clients with catch-up meals with friends. I saw a wonderful play at Ford’s Theatre with a dear friend and wound my way through a couple of exhibits at the National Portrait Gallery. I was also able to visit a special grave at Arlington National Cemetery during my trip, something I missed on my more harried trip into DC in early April.
There is something about being on hallowed ground that allows me to reconnect with my spiritual side.
My 41st year was tumultuous and stressful. My 42nd year will be about the continual improvement of the soul. Under my terms. Following my rules. Keeping in mind that I must continue to rebuild my faith and face it with courage.
(The photo is mine, taken May 20, 2010, Arlington National Cemetery)
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Wordless Wednesday: One Man BandJo
Posted on 05. May, 2010 by Deb.
(Union Square, San Francisco, CA, April 2010)
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Wordless Wednesday: Cherry Blossom Lantern
Posted on 28. Apr, 2010 by Deb.
This lantern is found along the tidal basin and is lit during the Cherry Blossom Festival.
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Sweet Dreams
Posted on 27. Apr, 2010 by Deb.
I love turn-down service. To come back from dinner and find my bed ready for me to climb between the incredibly wonderful frette linens. And there was chocolate on my pillow!
(Hotel Palomar, Chicago)
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Wordless Wednesday: Bay Bridge
Posted on 21. Apr, 2010 by Deb.
San Francisco to Alameda, Bay Bridge, April 2010
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Wordless Wednesday: MUNI Musician
Posted on 14. Apr, 2010 by Deb.
Blind man playing music in the MUNI/BART entryway, San Francisco, CA, April 2010
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Laundry List
Posted on 04. Apr, 2010 by Deb.
I was fortunate to spend a portion of my time in one of my favorite places these past few days: the Courtyard of the Hotel Monaco.
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(this photo taken in September 2008; not much has changed since then)
I didn’t get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but part of traveling over a holiday weekend and having family obligations means less down time. In a typical trip to DC, I would have planned to stay through late Sunday or early Monday. With my mom’s illness, I needed to be home for lunch. But I digress.
The spring air combined with a much needed cocktail got my head wrapped around what needs to be accomplished during the month of April. I set about doing a bit of woolgathering and discovered that my wish list is quite long. Still, I allowed my mind to wander as I sat in the garden and thought about work and wants and needs and the need to reintroduce some creativity back into my daily life. Brief moments aren’t conducive to a real brain dump, so I saved that until my flight home.
After breakfast was served and I was enjoying my 3rd cup of coffee, I sat with pen and paper and begin listing everything that had gathered in my mind. When you end up with a laundry list of to-dos and must-dos, getting a real control over it can be a task so daunting that it’s almost paralyzing. As overwhelming as it can be, the only way to make progress is to break it down into chunks and eat it like you would an elephant: one bite at a time.
April is going to be an interesting month. I already had the beginnings of heavier than usual travel and with the (potential) new contract, that means three days a week on the road. It’s the kind of travel I like: solid contract with the ability to find my way around a new town and make it “mine”. Granted, I’d love that city to be a city like DC, but to be honest, I’m thrilled with wherever work takes me. (I can tell you that there is no Kimpton Hotel in this city – there isn’t even a single Hilton Property in the town!).
Just keep good thoughts headed my way as I break down my laundry list into those manageable bites and set out to conquer the little piece of my world!
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On the Road Again
Posted on 02. Apr, 2010 by Deb.
After months of being a bit of a homebody, I’m on the road again and the rest of this month looks to be pretty busy, which, overall, is a good thing. I won’t begin to bore you with the details of work, just know that I love at about 98% of what I do and always prefer to be busier than not busy. I got word today on a new contract and I’m thrilled. I’m always flattered (and thankful) when an old client recommends me to someone and they become a new client.
This week, work has brought me to DC, which is my favorite place to be. I won’t be able to get out and do all the things I’d like to do (I don’t think I will make it to Arlington Cemetery this trip), but I did get an opportunity for some things.
After a rough winter, DC was blessed today with clear skies, light winds, temperatures in the low 80’s, and unadulterated beauty. The crowds are pretty intense with the peak of the blossoms and a holiday weekend. But I was blessed to be able to see the true beauty that Mother Nature offers us in the Spring.
Hope you are well. It’s long past my bedtime.
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Wordless Wednesday: Washington Monument in Spring
Posted on 31. Mar, 2010 by Deb.
My favorite city in the Spring: Washington DC, April 2008.
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Legends VS. Facts
Posted on 17. Mar, 2009 by Deb.
Today, I made the drive to Waxahachie. I drove around the town square, and saw that little has changed since the 1970’s. I was wishing for light and my camera, but those can wait. It was not quite 6 AM when I drove through, too dark for photographs and besides, I had places I needed to be. I have always loved the courthouse, which was built in 1897. It’s a grand structure. If you’ve seen the movie Places in the Heart, you would have seen the town square.
My aunt is in the hospital there, and that was the reason for the trip. It’s been over a year since I’ve taken the drive there, I guess we all get lost in work and life and fail to visit quaint towns that we used to visit. and I wanted to allow my cousins to take a break since she needs someone with her the full time she is there and my cousins as well as a second cousin are taking shifts. I went early, so that my second cousin, covering the overnight shift, could head on home for some sleep. She is doing better, my aunt, so that is good. But the drive as well as the town of Waxahachie brought a flood of childhood memories to me. My grandmother, as well as two sets of aunts and uncles lived in Waxahachie, the town my mother was from.
I was the youngest grandchild on that side of the family. The closest in age to me was my cousin John, who is five years my senior. Five years is nothing when you are 41, but it’s a lifetime when you are 6. My cousins were having children long before I had my first bra. I got to stay with my grandmother more than any of the other ten grandchildren, simply do to the chronology. Grandmother was a seamstress for the Haggar Pant company, but was retired by the time I was three.
I was always fascinated with the courthouse. If you walk around the structure, you cannot help but notice the gargoyles. The legend is this: a German mason by the name of Harry Herley came to town to help with the courthouse. He stayed at a boarding house while he worked, and fell in love with the beautiful Mabel. He took that love and began the carvings of her as a tribute to his love. But Mabel spurned his advances, and as time passed, he became bitter and the carvings became uglier and more grotesque until the 12th carving you see is a twisted demon.
I believe I heard that story for the first time when I was five or six. I never tired of hearing it and never tired of looking for the carved faces that looked down upon passersby and stood guard. The artistic representation of such a tale fascinated me. There is passion in art, whether it born of love or of pain.
Beyond the names of the parties, Henry and Mabel, historians say there is no fact in the legend. They say that it’s likely traditional European Characters, such as “the green man” and a child and a demented character. And that the faces were likely not carved by Henry, but commissioned from Dallas and shipped to Waxahachie for installation. I know that history requires we look at fact, but I am a romantic at heart and prefer to the legend of Mabel and Henry over the facts.
No matter what is happening in your life, I hope you have the opportunity to take a sidetrip to something memorable from your past. It’s Spring and a good time for road trips and indulging in legends.
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Thinking of Spring
Posted on 08. Feb, 2009 by Deb.
It’s February. According to the calendar, Spring is still another month away…and if we listen to old Phil from Pennsylvania, we’ve got six more weeks of winter coming (well, five now, since that prediction was made a week ago). I am ever the optimist…and hope that no matter what Phil says, Spring will be early. I prefer to use the “Greta” method…that when Mother Nature breaks the back of Winter here, I can tell, no matter the outside temperature, that Spring is upon us, because Greta (the Bouvier) begins sleeping on the tile floor of my bathroom rather than her blanket at the foot of my bed. She has been sleeping on the tile for the last 4 nights.
I was also going through photos to pull some things for the 52 Stories project and came across this photo of the Cherry Blossoms in DC from April of last year.
It was so beautiful last year. It’s a crap shoot, as anything is with Mother Nature, whether the blossoms that represent Spring to DC will have a good season or a short one. 2007 was very short and a heavy rain seemed to wash them all away in an instant. I missed the short-lived blossoms by about a week, though a few stragglers remained. 2008 was a good year and I was blessed to be there. I was doubly blessed to have a lovely April day to walk from the Jefferson Memorial, all around the Tidal Basin, past Roosevelt and across to Lincoln. A couple of my photos are here though if you look through the April part of my blog, you’ll see more). Hopefully, my blessings will be generous this year and I will be present to witness the 2009 Cherry Blossom Season as well.
It’s funny how one image can set us off into our head and woolgathering. It got me to thinking about the vagaries of Mother Nature. And how no matter how hard Winter seems, that Spring will come. It makes me think about planning, too. We plan our lives and set our purposes in most cases. We choose a college and a career path, or a partner to spend out lives with, or carefully plan a party for our parent’s 50th. Often times, they go off as planned, but sometimes, life throws us a curve. Mother Nature and the Cherry Trees are just one of those physical examples. 2007 was a curve, 2008 went as planned. The anticipation for 2009 is beginning.
Curves are usually thought of in the negative connotation, but I’m a big believer that curves are not always a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s simply a vehicle for growth or learning….when life is “perfect” and going according to plan, it’s easy to become complacent. Even when life isn’t going so smooth, we often ignore the signs of change so as to not rock the boat of our neat and tidy little lives. I know I doubted – and friends wondered – how I would recover the pieces of my life after the divorce, but I found it within myself and just did. When I probe inward and do a little evaluation, me in 2009 is a much better person than the me in 2004. Not that I am “done”, though. I still learn each day. And like my training in the QA world, there is continual growth in my soul…
Well, I certainly digress in what were my thoughts of Spring, but since this is my space to be who I am for this moment, it’s ok.
Spring is about rebirth and renewal and growth. Despite the fact that we know that Spring will eventually follow Winter, there is still the anticipation of its arrival. I am simply hopeful that it will be soon as I want warm breezes, shoots of green, and the beauty of a Red Breasted Robin to go along with the mockingbird family living in my front hedge. Patience has never been one of my virtues, but I am beginning to find a better understanding of her. I am beginning to appreciate how unexpected things in my life are helping me to find some growth…some confidence…and some comfort in the results of patience. How confidence and peace are intertwined and in reach.
And like Spring, it will come. In it’s own time. I am the ever optimist.
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Engaging in Conversation
Posted on 06. Feb, 2009 by Deb.
I’ve learned that there are less than half the number of women traveling for business as men. I see it when folks are checking in along side me, in the airport, and in the hotel restaurant….or bar. More than half of the meals I eat when I am on the road take place at the hotel bar. After a longish day, who wants to make it even longer by going from an office, to a restaurant and then the hotel? Besides, if the hotel has a decent restaurant, it’s convenient and filing expenses is easier because there are less receipts to lose.
When I was in DC, I did have favorite restaurants outside of the hotel, of course, but I frequented the ones closest to my hotel more than those that I loved that required a cab ride. You can’t eat 14 days straight at the same place. But on trips like this, where I’m in a couple of nights and the weather is rainy? Yep, hotel dining. It’s easier overall, as well, to eat at the bar. The service is usually quick, if you are in the mood to start a conversation, there is the bartender or other patrons in the same boat as you (traveling alone), headline news and/or sports is typically on….
My defense for avoiding conversation when my head is full of work is a book. It has to be a book, because the newspaper invites conversation and other patrons know that it’s easily interruptible because the articles short. I know it may be a cop out and when I have amazing food, I really focus in and savor what I am putting into my mouth. But I rarely go to dinner alone without a book.
I honestly enjoy conversation. You would be amazed at what a stranger may tell another stranger, especially if he has something weighing on their mind…or their heart. I usually stick to the subjects of business, where you are from, the weather, the game, or something similar. Women can’t be too terribly friendly to strange men, even in the safety of a hotel bar. I say safety, because the bartender usually watches out for single women alone. They really do, especially at nice hotels.
But even when you try to stick to safe subjects, you sometimes hear more than you bargained for. Sometimes, it’s a story that you want to remember – it was poignant or funny. I have one of those from this trip that, in all honesty, deserves to be one of my 52 stories for this year (I just need to take a photo to go with it). I had a second conversation last night, that although comment worthy (a daughter with Tourette’s Syndrome) crossed the line when the gent gave me his room number and told me to “call if I wanted to get together later”. Those are the ones that creep me out, how one moment you can be having a conversation with a stranger and he pushes for something more – even when you’ve told him you are involved with someone and he has told you about his wife. You are polite in your thank you but no thank you, but it makes the need for a quick escape to the comfort and further safety of your room.
Time to shut down and head to the gate. Catch ya later.
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People Watching
Posted on 04. Feb, 2009 by Deb.
I don’t know if I will ever tire of people watching. The airport is always a good place because no matter how much a person travels, they are doing something outside the every day. Well, unless you work in the travel industry, and have to work on the plane, it’s doubtful that you get on a plane each and every day. Last year at this time, I was doing at least two flights a week, sometimes up to four, but it still wasn’t part of my every day.
People have to wait here. You can’t decide, oh, I don’t want this cheeseburger badly enough to wait in this drive-through line. You have to go somewhere, you have to wait. Maybe that’s what is so interesting in the watching part. Humans are the same in many basic ways, of course, but each person has their own little quirk. So, you never quite know what you will see. I remember the days before electronics and most folks read or talked. You still see books in people’s hands, but usually I see a hand-held device. Some days I wish I had the time to walk around and survey the Blackberries from the IPhones.
I’m curious. I want to know where folks are going, what they are reading, what they are loving about their lives and what they are loathing. It’s part of what attracted me to blogs and later Twitter, the personalities. And how personalities interact. And how the interaction builds community. Bonding can be seen at the airport with strangers as they compare IPhone apps and rolled eyes over delayed flights. Some, simply sit apart, not interacting with anyone, lost within their own thoughts. I see the bonding moments in the Internet Community, at least at times.
The airport is much quieter today than it’s been in a while. Granted, I haven’t traveled much since late December, but I believe the economy is affecting the airline industry, which in turn affects the vendors at the airports, etc. As I went through security today, I was really wondering if TSA would be one of the groups doing layoffs if this keeps up. There seemed to be several extra folks watching me take off half my clothes (jacket, belt, jewelry, shoes), peering at the contents of my purse and briefcase, and then watching me put everything back together.
I worry about the economy like many of you. I know the things I have cut for economy’s sake and I know the things that if I can work into my budget, I will continue to work into my budget so that I can do my tiny part in stimulating the economy….
Time to log off soon and re-pack my gear into my briefcase for the flight. The boarding process is always interesting. It’s a 3 1/2 hour flight. I have some stories rumbling around in my head. I am hopeful I can settle in and write a little. Happy Hump Day Catch you guys later…
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Gypsy Soul
Posted on 25. Jan, 2009 by Deb.
I am feeling the longings of my gypsy soul more the last few days than I have in awhile. Despite the quick trip to El Paso last weekend, I haven’t really traveled anywhere since late December. I am feeling a little stir-crazy, despite the fact that I have been out and about…and despite the fact that I have been playing golf.
I think a part of me is missing DC. For three years, I was in DC at least once a month – and then this past year, I was basically living there. When I was traveling to several different cities on a regular basis, no matter how much I loved visiting them, my soul always felt comfort upon landing at DCA. I am scheduled to go back there for sure the end of February, but I don’t know if that is soon enough for me. I miss the little things that a lot of folks might not understand – like having coffee and reading the Washington Post (I can’t get the print version here in Texas), walking down to Teaism for french toast or salty-oat cookies and some tea, sitting at the Navy Memorial watching the people and the birds, walking through Arlington National Cemetery and leaving flowers on a few special graves, and sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial under the moonlight.
I’ve also been thinking about going to New Orleans. I don’t want to deal with the Mardi Gras crowds or craziness, but I would like to sit in the gardens at Jackson Square, eat Eggs Hussard at Brennan’s, stroll through the art galleries on Royal street, have my Tarot cards read and drink Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde.
Or maybe a new city, where I can explore and find new places to loiter and dream and write and think.
That lust for exploring is what my soul found and needs on occasion to feed it properly. I don’t think that is happening here, in Arlington, Texas for me. And I just don’t know if I can wait another full month before that happens.