Italy - Part Two

THE LAKE DISTRICT

Part One of our vacation in Italy had us off to a rocky start in Milan.  Things improved up at Lago Maggiore. Those of you who know Mrs.T well are aware of her love of flora.  As she tells below, she definitely was in her element in the Piedmont. The tour planner/editor made certain that there were plenty of opportunities for her to indulge her passion at each stop in his country of heritage.  

As you will surmise the stories trail our actual location a bit in time.  Wisely, days were left free to shop for food, wash clothes, and to prod The Muse into writing.  However, she is not the swiftest typist, and it also takes time to distribute our offerings. But if things keep on track you should have a good picture of our trip.

As the train rolled along the Italian landscape changed from flat to hilly and we were in the Piedmont.  Of course I was mostly sleeping as I do on trains. (Planes, trains, or automobiles, it doesn't matter -dt) These are the hills that lead up to the Italian Alps.  On fairly clear days you can see the tops of the snow covered Alps peeking over the lower hills. In some of the valleys are lakes most of which get their water from the melting glaciers.  This is the Lake District which many people think is the most beautiful part of Italy. In fact Queen Victoria used to come here for her vacations - as well as Churchill and lots of other famous people.  (Lido Palace Hotel in Baveno -dt) If it was good enough for the Queen it is good enough for me.

A lovely lady, Fiammetta, met us at the train station in Stresa to take us to our charming rooms in her home.  She and her father run a guest house in Carciano di Stresa. From our rooms on the ground floor we had views of Lake Maggiore and the hills. The rooms had very high ceilings, maybe 12 feet high.  The hugh embossed wooden furniture was maybe 8 feet high. (Things were high and tall but not quite that high and tall -dt) The curtains and couch were decorated with roses.

This whole town was a place of gardens.  All the houses had their own little gardens.  Many of the plants in bloom, such as rhododendrons and azaleas, were familiar to me.  They made swaths of color against the hillsides. Walls and arbors were blues with hanging wisteria.  Poppies of every color bordered paths dotting the stones with random beauty. Pansies in enthusiastic clumps froliced here and there.  I was enchanted.

Dan, however was slightly overwhelmed by me saying, "Look at this, look at that" constantly; he might have developed whiplash trying to follow my enthusiastic sightings.  Well the first thing we did was take a ferry out to Isola Bella. This was the palace and garden of the Dukes of Borromeo. The garden was terraced and a mostly formal garden complete with an amazing grotto full of lots of statues.  On the top was a unicorn prominently displayed because the unicorn was part of the family crest. There were lots of unicorn tapestries in the palace also. Pictures of a unicorn poking a lion with his horn. And a unicorn poking a leopard.  Not very encouraging if your crest was a lion or a leopard. A rather aggressive family these Borromeos. Evidently the Duke built the palace to upstage his brother who took the traditional family palace on another island. I'd say he probably succeeded. (The family included bankers and a cardinal who later was canonized.  The family still owns most of the islands -dt)

In addition to a lot of familiar plants were many I did not know.  There were strange lilies. The climate is odd in that a lot of subtropical plants grow there.  Giuseppe told me that sometimes it snows but it melts almost immediately and does not seem to hurt the flowers.  (There was snow not long before we came -dt) There were a lot of palms and such which grew well and also desert plants which needed to be in special gardens.  Among the formal gardens we saw lots of statues. White peacocks wandered down the paths. There were rows of orange and lemon trees on different terraces. Unfamiliar odors enticed me.  I loved the gardens! Dan asked me if I liked the gardens. Is the pope Catholic?

Our next expedition was supposed to be on a cable car (the funivia -dt) up the mountain (Mattarone, 1491m -dt) to see the alpine gardens. But it was cold and rainy and this did not seem like a good idea. (I did not miss it -dt)  So we went to visit the Botanical Garden (At Villa Taranto -dt).

As you wandered down the paths you heard different kinds of music playing in different areas.  There was the tulip maze, past its prime but still with literally thousands of tulips blooming around a contorted path.  (Originally there were 50000 tulips in the garden for April -dt) There was a Rhododendron Glen. There was a gathering of azaleas.  This garden was not formal at all. (Maybe not in the British sense but it was well organized -dt) Different arrangements of plants flowed up and down the hillsides.  And even more wonderful, from my point of view at least, many of them were labeled. There were what looked like palm trees with very hairy stems but I discovered these were tree ferns.  There were of course hundred of kinds of different flowers. I was in heaven.

From the Botanical Garden:  https://flic.kr/s/aHsmbeRzwy

Botanical Garden on Lake Maggiore flic.kr Explore this photo album by dxterrible on Flickr!

We rode home on the boat and caught a taxi back to our rooms.  Because of the loss of Dan's phone we could not call taxis. But our hosts generously drove us to the ferries and we were able to hail ones at the ferry stop.  We did enjoy hiking up and down the hills to visit the little grocery store, the pizzeria, and St. Blaise a lovely little church, all in our neighborhood. After a few lovely, peaceful, flower-filled days we were off to historical, political, artistic Florence.

Around Stresa and Isola Bella:  https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/B494zS

Stresa and Isola Bella www.flickr.com Explore this photo album by dxterrible on Flickr!

As you will read later Florence is quite a bit different than Lago Maggiore.   We are having a good time in a different way. The woes of Milan are mostly behind us although the lack of a phone has hampered us a bit.  

Stay tuned.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Casa de Terrible www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com We are still around. You may have thought we fell off the planet as we have not posted anything in quite a bit. But we are doing well at our winter home, mostly normal activities.

Sent from Outlook

Italy Part 1

Vultures, vultures, vultures everywhere.

As many of you know, we are on a month-long stay in Italy at the moment.  The Glass Art Society conference is in Murano in mid-May this year and we decided to make a vacation around the event.  Mrs. T writes about the first part of the trip in Italy below. However, the adventures really started during the transition between Mexico and Italy which the editor will relate.  We have had quite a month. We are not describing this to elicit any particular emotions but just as straight reporting. Sometimes you get a lot of curveballs.

Mrs. T and I are not fleet of foot anymore and now regularly obtain wheelchair assistance at airports.  Not only is this helpful but the 'pushers' usually know the gate we need. Fortunately our travel planner leaves ample time for transfers between planes.  Returns to the US have by far been our worst experiences; US airports are terrible. And Atlanta on the return from Mexico was not fun. At foreign airports the same assistants take us from plane to plane.  Not in the US. We are taken from holding area to holding area, handed off like hot potatoes. And they are understaffed. We feel like stockyard cattle going to slaughter. (Lots of metaphors to work with -dt)  The international gates are miles from the rest of the concourses. And we need to go through the near strip searches at security. Atlanta was another of the poorly organized and badly managed examples of the 'free market' at work; handicap assistance is contracted and it is obvious the lowest bidder wins.  It is surprising that anyone travels out of the US. But we made it back to Philo.

There we encountered another adventure.  The house was COLD. Not freezing but in the 50s; not what we wanted returning from the tropics.  And no hot water. And no oven. It took us a while to ascertain that we did not have any gas. We learned from our wonderful neighbors that there had been a leak somewhere in the gas lines that crisscross our area and somehow our line had been shut off.  I managed to have our gas reconnected and we had heat. However, the hot water tank seemed to have self-destructed some parts of its internals which will need repairs when we return. Cold showers are bracing. Makes one appreciate the travails of the pioneers.

Well, on to Mrs. T's account of the first part of our Italian adventure.

We managed to get to Milan, Italy by way of Chicago (think Atlanta again -dt) and Copenhagen (no problems -dt).  The plane to Copenhagen was not full so we got two seats each. This gave us room to spread out but not enough room to lay down.  We caught a train to our hotel. Here I must state that Learn Italian in 5 Days (on YouTube  -dt) did not work very well even though I practiced it for at least 10 days.  However most people smiled at me and answered me in English. Our hotel in Milan was clean and functional and being exhausted we slept well.  

The next day we went downtown on the Metro and saw a bunch of very expensive stores. (Milan is known as a shopping Mecca  -dt) We looked in the windows but did not go in. When we passed the Chanel store a whiff of expensive perfume escaped out the door.  There was a Prada Store but although I peeked about I saw no devils. I admit some of the clothes looked pretty nice but I did not see any fat lady shops.  

We also saw La Scala one of the oldest theaters in the world where they  invented modern opera, theater, and ballet. It was closed. We saw the outside of the Duomo, a very ornate old church.  The plaza in front of it was full of all kinds of people speaking all kinds of languages. I was a little overwhelmed but fortunately Dan was not.  There were a lot of soldiers hanging around in dress uniforms. We did not know then but found out later it was Liberation Day with parades and such coming in the afternoon.  We found a very old stationary store but it was closed. Dan had wanted to visit it so this was disappointing. (Many stores were closed because of the holiday. -dt) We were tired and ready to go back to the hotel.

Unfortunately the soldiers had blocked off access to the entrance to the Metro.  We were told we had to go back to the previous stop. At least I thought that was what we were told. (Everyone was being screened to go into the Duomo Plaza.  -dt) This was confusing because instead of the Yellow Metro line we would be on the Green line. A nice man told us how to transfer to the Red line so that we would end up at our stop.  The Italian people are so nice and friendly to strangers - I thought.

The stop was very congested as two stops crowded into one.  We managed to squeeze onto the next train. The train was swaying back and forth as we sped along.  Everybody was bumping into each other. (sardines in a can -dt) Suddenly there was a big lurch and somebody gave me a serious shove and I fell down.  Hands came from all around me lifting me up, giving me my cane and my purse, and reattaching me to the bar I was holding onto. "You get up and let the lady sit on the seat," said a friendly lady.  At least that is what I imagined she said. She could have been saying something quite different. A teenager got up and I was helped into the seat. Another person moved and Dan was seated beside me.  Well that was not so bad, these people are really quite nice, I thought again.

As the train rumbled to the next stop another younger woman held out my money purse and Dan's leather notebook.  "I think these are yours", she said and disappeared out the door. I was confused and by the time I realized my money had vanished with her they both were long gone.  I was devastated, not to mention somewhat impoverished. (about 200 euros -dt) I was not only angry that they had done this but very sad that I had thought they were so nice and they were not.  I also felt extremely stupid. I suppose I should be grateful they did not take my credit cards. Dan was furious but not at me. He was sweet, me telling me it was not my fault. Sigh. He had his little leather notebook in his pocket; they must have thought it was his money which was in another pocket which fastened shut. (We admitted whoever - and there may have been more than one - did the deal was skilled -dt)(R now stores money in her personal bank -dt)

The next morning we went down to breakfast which was quite good.  We were still both bummed out. It was after we left the hotel and were on our way to Stesa we realized that Dan's phone (and the leather notebook again -dt) was gone. Dan was absolutely incensed!  I was beyond caring. Milan was a hard luck town for us. Fortunately Dan had his phone passworded and fingerprinted. But he had all kinds of information about our trip on the phone and in the notebook (easy to read -dt), not to mention all his addresses and such.  After about an hour I gave up trying to comfort him while he raved. We sullenly sat thinking our own sad thoughts as the train rolled on. (We are rather savvy travellers, but these were first-time events for us -dt) (As an added precaution I had the phone locked when we reached Stresa.  -dt)

Some photos from Milan:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/shares/606oPC

As you may recall R's phone was damaged in Hurricane Irma and so is turned off in Philo.  If you want to contact us it is probably best to use email. We hope to have new phones by the end of May.

Well, that is a description of the beginning of our journey.  Next time Mrs.T will talk about our stay in Stresa, Lago Maggiore - a great time there.

Ciao.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Casa de Terrible www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com We are still around. You may have thought we fell off the planet as we have not posted anything in quite a bit. But we are doing well at our winter home, mostly normal activities.

                   

Sent from Outlook

AT THE WINTER HOME

We are still around

You may have thought we fell off the planet as we have not posted anything in quite a bit.  But we are doing well at our winter home, mostly normal activities. We watched the Olympics and enjoyed the Gold Medal by the USA Men's Curling - sorry Canadian friends.  As Mrs. T discusses below, the Terrible Airbnb was in full swing at the beginning of 2018. We had a great time hosting and we think our visitors enjoyed a relaxing time becoming expert lollers.  The annual festival was held but seemed a bit down in attendance this time. There are a few pictures from the last peregrination; be sure to watch the short video.  And the puzzlers have been at it in full tilt; they even completed one in about 24 hours.  However, they rebelled at a particularly difficult one of butterflies labelled 'Impossible'.  Not to be deterred, Dr..Puzzle took it to her place and did it on her own; that is why Judy is the puzzle doctor.

Festival and few other things:  https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/o59sQ9

Puzzles:  https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/Q7me1Q

On a more serious note, normalcy was interrupted by illness.  Rebecca had some intestinal hemorrhaging from ruptured diverticulars.  She had not been previously diagnosed - or we had not been told - about her having diverticulosis.  We are familiar with the symptoms of infection as the editor has had the condition for several decades.  But this was a different situation. She went to the hospital and was scoped from end to end. She healed up on her own rather quickly.  But her energy was diminished by her blood loss and the two night stay at VMC. Right now - mid-March - she seems to have recovered quite a bit; a blood test later this week will tell if her iron levels are back to normal.

I persuaded Mrs.T to put together a little story as we have been in the dark for a while.  I think too much lolling lead to the somewhat morose initial thoughts.

Some of you have inquired what is or was wrong with me.  That, of course, is a rather involved subject. However recently I developed a rather severe case of diverticulitis which involved significant internal bleeding and landed me in the hospital for a couple of days.  I emerged weak, grumpy, and anemic. (But no infection -dt) The doctors suggested I eat lots of beans, spinach, broccoli, that sort of thing. (I love this good stuff. -dt) I suggested steak and hot fudge sundaes.(Midwest farm girl -dt)  I lost!! I was also temporarily forbidden such activities as SCUBA, horseback riding, and boogie boarding. This accounts for the grumpy part.

I think perhaps I have to admit it:  I am growing old. One question is how I should go about it.  One problem is hair. I had decided to let my hair grow. (See the current  Prince Valiant look -dt) In the south for no reason I know of your hair grows a lot faster.   But another odd thing is that here for the first time my hair curls. My friend Judy explained it is because of the humidity.  At any rate because of all my pool lolling my hair was turning a particularly unattractive brown grey. (More yellow than brown -dt) I was told the answer was to wash my hair with purple shampoo.  I know this sounds silly but it turns out it is true. If you do it properly your hair turns out a lovely silver. Of course if you overdo it you end up with blue hair. (She had been warned -dt) As many of you know I have never been one to do things with a subtle touch.  "Is your hair blue?" Dan asked in amazement, unable, I suppose, to quite believe his eyes. "Well, yes," I answered and then I explained. (Where the hair length is going is anybody's guess -dt)

Another problem with growing old is the creaking.  When I move around I sometimes sound like the Tin Man from The Wizard of OZ.  This does not really hurt but it seems as if my bones are jumping around and rearranging themselves at will.  I don't know what to do about this. (The editor sounds like a box of cereal. -dt)

In Mexico almost everyone has a tan. (We can tell newbies by their paleness -dt)  This works well in covering those unsightly blue veins and brown spots which appear with age.  Then there is toenail polish. Since all the old ladies around here wear either sandals or flip flops nail polish works well to distract from unfortunate foot variations that develop with age.  Luckily pedicures in Mexico are quite reasonably priced. Colors currently in style include almost anything. Today I am wearing dark purple. (No surprise there -dt)

A serious problem with increasing maturity, as it were, is memory problems and mental acuity.  In terms of memory I remember just about as much as I ever did. (Correct -dt) It just takes me longer to recall something.  Perhaps it is because I have to go through so much remembered stuff before I get to the thing I am trying to recollect. Quite often I will be walking down the street and will turn to Dan and say "Jeanine" or some such thing.  He will respond, "Of course that was her name." He knows immediately I am talking of a name I was trying to remember in a conversation we had three days earlier. When we are watching Jeopardy  I still know a lot of the answers, but most of them I merely recognise (Probably the Brit spelling; see below -dt) after a contestant says it.  A totally different problem is short term memory.

I think a lot of what passes for difficulties with short-term memory is actually hearing problems.  Both Dan and I do not hear as well as we once did. The difference is I admit it but then I know Dan cannot hear either. (My tests come back normal -dt) (I think he cheated rt) We often adopt the smile-and-nod response method.  Sometimes we get caught and our confusion might be attributed to short-term memory loss when in fact we never heard about the thing in the first place.

This winter we had lots of family visitors.  These are very precious to us as the family of our youth diminishes.  Dan's sisters, Rachel and Janice, were our first visitors. As they had visited before they enjoyed going out on their own where they shopped and beachcomed.  I went with them to Destiladeras where we boogie boarded and saw lots of whales. (There have been quite a lot of whales this year; the beach at D. is a favorite spot to boogie board -dt)  A lot of the time we puzzled and lolled about. I think they both are honorary pool princesses.

Our son Nick was our next visitor,  He went horseback riding with me. He said he enjoyed it but did not go a second time. (He rode when he was growing up -dt) Nick and I went to Destiladeras and saw whales.  We walked on the beach and picked up shells. Nick and I painted together. I painted a blue tree and red sun under a tangerine sky. It is odd but I like it. (Definitely nice -dt) Everyone wants me to paint again and perhaps I will.  Nick puzzled a bit and was a definite loller. (But generally not in the water -dt) He gave Dan some kind of computer advice. Alas poor Nick is the only visitor still working full time so we encouraged him to loll.

Our last visitors were my sisters Ruth and Rita.  The three Rs ride again. Shortly after my birth our aunt Genie - Genevieve Swingle - dubbed us Reading Ruth, 'Riting Rita, and little 'Rithmetic Sue in a poem about the Three Rs.  Do any of you remember? (Only a few of you will understand the references -dt) I am not sure about Rita and I but Ruth is still reading with great gusto. (All three read quite a bit -dt) On Valentine's Day Dan gave us good chocolate candies and took us out to our lovely French restaurant the Bistro.  What a prince! (Just timing; Rebecca and I go there every year -dt) The three of us went to Destiladeras where Rita and I boogie boarded to Ruth's entertainment. We walked on the beach and munched on beach food. Ritta and I SCUBA dived while Ruth rode in the boat. Alas, I then got ill (Not from the food -dt) but Ruth and Rita soldiered on without me, going shopping and visiting our beach. They left plenty of time for cosseting me.  Ruth and Rita went horseback riding in my absence and had a great time. And of course we all lolled around the pool and did puzzles.

Both Dan's family and mine are games players and we played with all of our guests.  Janice played enthusiastically and Rachel carefully, Dan always plays to win. I want to do well and have a lot of fun.  We mostly played word games. Dan and his sisters had an advantage in that they spell very well. I on the other hand am creative and make up words that none have spelled before.  Anyway everyone won some and that was good. Nick played with us and sometimes won without having the methods of either of his parents. (Super Big Boggle was a favorite  -dt)

With my sisters, Rita found lots of words quickly and usually accurately.  Ruth was the best speller of us all. I don't think one of Ruth's words was ever disqualified.  Dan played intensely and usually accurately but when he could not find words would sometimes make them up. (Rarely, especially when compared to Mrs.T.  See following -dt) When I played, spelling was not an issue because everybody knows that I cannot spell. However sometimes I saw letters that spelled what I thought must be a word so I wrote it down.  Sometimes I was right, sometimes not. (Still she managed to win with outstanding scores sometimes -dt) I still maintain that if we were playing with the Oxford English Dictionary (The gold standard for many -dt)  of my words would have counted. (Only in ancient Norse -dt) What all this says about my, and for that matter everybody else's, brain power with advancing age I do not know. But if I figure it out and remember in two or three days I'll let you know.  He! He! He!

A glimpse at our visitors:  https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/8fq6Cz  (Thanks Brenda for the picture of the painters -dt)

Well that was a summary of what has transpired since the last post.  As you can see we have been a bit busy. Now we are glancing at the calendar and noting that return to Philo is not far in the offing.  However it will then be only a short time until we depart for vacation in Italy.

Stay warm and dry.  See some of you in about a month.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

POOL  PRINCESSES

Since her Hurricane Irma story Rebecca has been low key on the newsletter front.  Between American Thanksgiving and New Year it is tranquilo in Bucerias before the hordes of turistas show up for either New Year or Christmas.  We have emphasized many times that we are not on vacation, but just in our winter location.  So the climate is better, especially for our health; hope you are enjoying your white Christmas season.  But life basically follows the same routines.  Here Mrs.T does have her SCUBA - she has been out a half dozen times already - and she can enjoy the pool; as many of you know, your editor does not do water.  And the jigsaw puzzle activities have been in full swing.  (Right now Dr. Puzzle is back in B.C. visiting family.)  As she relates below, R has had some difficulty lining up horse riding but that seems to now be under control.  And starting in a few weeks our Airbnb will be in full swing with many welcome visitors.  Here is a between-the-holidays update from the resident muse:

Well we did it.  We finally got solar heating for our condo pool.  This means that Brenda and I spend a fair amount of our time lolling about.  Some renters a bit earlier were fairly athletic.  ('Athletic' has a different meaning for the editor. -dt) We generally frown on this but we let them stay anyway.  They took advantage of our generosity by showing off in the pool doing a thing called synchronized swimming.  This seemed to involve standing on their heads in the pool and kicking their legs about.  While it is theoretically possible that Brenda and I could put our heads underwater, we did not want to ruin our hair.  (We are still waiting for this theory to be tested.  -dt) After a bit of this I had had enough.  So I invented a new water sport:  SYNCHRONIZED FLOATING!!!  I got long blue foam floating tubes which Brenda and I put under our necks to stabilize us a bit.  Then on my command we stuck our right foot out of the water.  We continued with: Left foot out, both feet out, kick, right hand out, left hand out. But when I got to the next command - tubes up - the troops rebelled.  Brenda, unfortunately, thought I said 'boobs up'.  She not only was unsure exactly what I meant by this command but was also unsure if she wished to participate.  By the time we had gotten this straightened out our audience had who had been watching with bemused curiosity wandered away. (Waiting for the second show  -dt)

I was unsuccessful at trying to connect with the place I rode horses last year.  I decided to try to ride one of the horses who frequent the beach giving rides to tourists. (Western style is better for R in any case.  -dt) Of course when I went to the beach there were no horses in sight.  I waited and waited,  I had put on my boots so even standing on the beach hurt my feet.  Eventually when I was getting ready to go back to the condo in the distance I saw horses riding up the beach.  As they came closer I saw that they weren't really horses.  It was two little boys racing ponies through the surf.  After they passed me I realized that I should have asked them about horses.  Well I thought, if they rode up the beach they should ride back eventually.  I waited and waited.  Finally when I had almost given up I saw them in the distance trotting slowly back.  "Vaqueros," I called to them.  When they rode up I told them that I would like to go for a ride.  They looked me over assessingly.  "You will need a bigger horse," the older boy said doubtfully.  I assured him that I knew that I could not ride one of their ponies.  I suggested that perhaps his father had a bigger horse. "You wait here," the boy replied.  I thought he was about 8-10 years old. "You wait here," the little brother, maybe 5 years old, parroted. And the two of them galloped off down the beach.  Again I waited and waited.  Some time later the two little boys rode up on their ponies leading a larger horse behind them.  

I looked at  the horse.  He was a tubby unenthusiastic looking horse but he looked quite healthy and was considerably larger than the boys' ponies.  "I need a chair to get on the horse," I told the little cowboys.  They were confused.  I had hoped that some adult would come with the horse but alas not so.  I demonstrated my inability to get my leg above my head to the stirrup.  This puzzled the boys as they had never before encountered such a disabled individual who still wanted to ride.  But they did understand the problem.  We lead the horse over to a nearby beach chair and I clambered up.  I could then get my left leg into the stirrup but was not quite able to throw my right leg over.  Fortunately Mauricio, a beach jewelry vendor, hurried over and gave me a boost in the butt and soon I was sitting in the saddle.  (Sorry, no picture of that  -dt)

The elder boy attached a rope to the horse's bridle and started leading the horse down the beach.  After awhile of this somewhat embarrassing travel I asked the boy if he was getting tired and suggested he might try riding his horse.  I guess he decided that I was not going to fall off even in my advanced state of decrepitude.  We went back to where the younger brother was holding the ponies and we all traversed the beach at a very slow trot.  I was trying to converse with them in Spanish.  They were very enthusiastic but talked too fast for me to follow.  They knew only a few phrases of English so after a while we just rode.  It was a  very pleasant ride even though my horse seemed to be loping along at his ease.  I tried to find the boys on other days but did not. Now I have an arrangement with some older cowboys who bring a little white horse to our condo once a week for me to ride.  Life is good.  (You will find pictures of that below.  -dt)

Pool, pasada, puzzles, and more:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/rh43o4

And courtesy of Brenda - who provided the stepstool - we have some short videos (be patient while they load):

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ar_LTkWEqhbYkGTe314H14SWwhbi

Gerry from Manitoba also decided to ride:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ar_LTkWEqhbYkGXLaWCezY5l_eqs

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ar_LTkWEqhbYkGIcvmGv3G1XiTGb

As mentioned at the onset, we know many of you had a white Christmas and some are still in a deep freeze.  Stay warm.

Best wishes,

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

Home Sweet Home

I WANT TO GO HOME

I was not too worried about Mrs.T.  She had called me after her arrival and briefed me on the situation as preparations were beginning.  She indicated that the hotel seemed well-prepared; I misunderstood that she said there was a storm shelter.  More importantly, Rebecca seems to always muddle through.  She is resilient.  And she has a 'I-am-a-nice-person' aura and people always like her - someone would be certain to help her out.  Rebecca would eventually pair up with Nickie, her Guardian Angel.  I did worry a bit that she could run out of medicine and then her mental state would change.  But otherwise I figured she would be okay.   But yes, I did try to contact her routinely although I knew the communications had been essentially destroyed.

Irma has passed.  The people of Tortola, similar to those of USVI and now Puerto Rico, were less than satisfied with the response of their government, the 'B' in BVI.  But Rebecca and the small band at Sebastian's needed to push ahead and get through each day.  And Rebecca wanted to get back to Philo.  She and the others did not yet know about Maria and how small was the time window for her to leave.  Here is the final installment of her vacation adventure:

When I was allowed outside I walked along the beach picking up shells.  Beachcombing was fabulous. (Sebastian's is quite literally on the beach.  -dt) I have never seen so much coral of many different kinds on a beach.  There was brain coral, tremendous globes. There were great sheets of sea fans.  There was elkhorn coral and many other kinds.  Shells were everywhere.  They were nice big shells that were of many different kinds.  Of course there was housing debris everywhere  I didn't pick up tiles, but then it would take weeks (probably months -dt) for the tiles and sea glass to be polished by the waves.

At night we had a supper of little rolls with a small lump of tuna with sweet pepper.  This was our first protein in several days.  It was delicious.  We also had cookies and fresh figs.  For drink we had tea.  I am not really sure exactly what food we had which day; you get the idea we were eating light but somewhat bland meals,  Wanda left me the ginger snaps and peanut butter so I munched on that now and then.  They drank wine every night.  Anyway we got by.

The day after the road opened Wanda called me excitedly to talk to her friend.  This lady had a phone that worked.  I don't know for sure or if she had a satellite phone or what.  She had a stenographer's notebook full of messages people wanted sent.  I wrote down Dan's number with the message 'Rebecca is okay'.  I hoped it got through.  (I did get the message  -dt) Wanda had already called someone but we did not know if it got through.  This seemed more possible.

One morning the big yellow shovel was back.  It was digging a humongous hole in the land across the road.  Then it started dragging all kinds of debris and putting it down in the hole.  They are going to bury it I thought.  But no; they lit a big fire.  Since it was down in the hole it did not spread.  That night as I looked out I could see a line of big fires all along the beach. There was always a person or two watching the fire and throwing on more stuff as it burned down. Although by this time the Royal Marines and Engineers were there, I was impressed by how hard the local people worked clearing the roads and cleaning up after the hurricane.

One day a person named Keith showed up to see how I was doing.  Keith worked for the tourist board.  Wanda and I told Keith that I was almost out of medicine and also I would like to go home.  There still were not any commercial flights, only military and charter.  Well Keith would take me downtown and see what he could work out. (Sebastian's is some distance from the major city, Road Town.  -dt) First Keith took me to the hospital and got me in line to see the doctor.  Keith was going to get in the line for gasoline.  If I was done with the doctor I should wait at the hospital and he would pick me up.  Well in a couple of hours Keith came back but I was still waiting.  Keith got me a sandwich and some water.  Then Keith was going to get in the line to buy water.  When Keith came back from buying water I was still waiting but getting nearer the head of the line.  When I saw the very nice doctor she gave me a ten-day prescription for all of my medicines except one for which she substituted something else.  Then I had to go to the pharmacy to wait in line to buy my medicines.  All of them together cost $33, which I thought was quite reasonable.

Then Keith tried to find out about getting me home.  There was a rumor that there was going to be a boat to take Americans home but no one knew for sure or any details.  Then Keith tried to find me a place to stay downtown near the dock.  One dock was open by then.  But there was no room in the inn or in any hotel either.  Keith took me back to Sebastian's.  

The next day Wanda was going to take me to the dock to try and get on this hypothetical ship home.  I had too much stuff to carry a long distance by myself and everything had to fit into one bag.  I agreed to leave my fins and most of my diving stuff.  Wanda promised she would mail them to me later.  But I had to get rid of more stuff.  I picked out a nice collection of shirts and underwear that Wanda would give to some needy fat lady.  I deposited most of my funds in the bank of Rebecca.  I was going to deposit my credit cards there too but that would be uncomfortable.  Wanda said they could be replaced if there were a problem.   But I flatly refused to give up the shells I had collected.  

Wanda drove me to the area of the dock and left me in the car while she went out to scout around.  There was a fair number of people hanging  around but no line and no one knew if there would be a boat or not.  The ferry office was closed.  Wanda met Nickie who was waiting for the boat.  Nickie was one of the ladies who sheltered with us during the storm.  Nickie agreed to help me and try and get me on the boat if one did appear.  I was beginning to feel like the bad card everyone passes around in the game Old Maid.  The benches were all full so I was sitting on a thing they tie ship lines around to secure them to the dock; I forget the word for it.  (Mooring post  -dt)  It was very hot.  After a while some guys picked up a bench some old lady was sitting on and moved it so it would be in the shade.  Nickie chased some kids off it so I could sit in the shade also.

Nickie asked me if I had a phone.  I told her I did but it did not work; it had gotten wet in the hurricane.  It used AT&T.  At that time that was the only network that worked on the island.  Nickie is quite technological.  She took my phone apart, wiped off all the parts with a hankie.  She took out a big box (The battery -dt)  and two little boxes (The memory  -dt) and then she put it all back together.  The phone came on but said it needed electricity.  Nickie asked if I had my charger.  Amazingly I did.  (Yes, amazing  -dt)  "Don't worry," Nickie said, "I'll get some electricity!"  Shortly after that the two ladies who ran the ferry office arrived and one of them was Nickie's aunt.  We got plugged in and took turns calling everybody.  First I called Dan.  We both had been worried about each other.  I could only say I was okay and was waiting for a boat that might come to take me home.  Nickie called and told her grandfather approximately the same thing.  Nickie is an American citizen but her family is from BVI.  (Her grandfather was in Miami -dt)

But before we could make any more of our many phone calls something very exciting occurred.  Nickie's aunt got a phone call with more official info.  There was going to be a boat - it was a cruise ship - to take distressed Americans home from St. Thomas.  There was a ferry to leave Tortola to take passengers to the ship; only American citizens could go.  You must be on the LIST.  About then Keith showed up.  He knew about the list but did not know how to get on it.

Well we were both American citizens, but how do we get on the LIST?  Auntie did not know.  A number of bribes were offered by crowd members to no avail.  Updates came through periodically.  Green cards did not work.  No dogs  or pets were allowed.   Service animals were allowed.  Some people said they had called the embassy for help.  The crowd was restless.  What about Australians?  An American school group had a few students from others countries  - what about them?   Finally another call came.  People at the ferry office could sell tickets to anyone on the LIST or anyone who could show them a valid US passport.  Of course Nickie soon got her ticket and grabbed my passport to get a ticket for me.  But here's the thing: I was already on the LIST!  To this day I don't know why. (Probably due to her trip to the hospital  -dt) The phone number of the LIST was announced and was immediately tied up.

We still had to wait hours until the ferry left.  It was supposed to be there in two hours but we were afraid to leave so we did not miss it.  It was so very HOT! Two different people gave me bottles of water.  This made a total of four bottles I had drank.  I think either the people of BVI are very kind or I looked like a desiccated wreck - probably both.  We heard that we were going to be on a cruise ship.  I was ready.  (About this time I receive a call from Nickie's grandmother and another from Keith asking if R was okay.  -dt)

Finally the ferry came.  There was some to-do with people who were not on the LIST who tried to get on the ferry.  But we had tickets and were official.  The ferry's name was Native Son.  Nickie carried my bag which was kind of heavy what with shells and all.  And I dragged hers which had wheels.  Nickie and Wanda were especially nice to me. (And commendable work by Keith.  -dt)  Sometimes it is almost worth it being old.  Nickie and Wanda are both young and enthusiastic.  Nickie is an auditor.

At the dock we saw another of  Nickie's aunts and her grandmother.  There were lots of hugs all around. Nickie wanted to go and pick up stuff to take back but Grandma said "Absolutely not; you are not taking a chance on missing this boat!" So there were more hugs and Nickie and I got on the ferry to St. Thomas.

In St. Thomas we boarded the Norwegian Sky after being checked off the LIST.  They immediately gave us sandwiches and pop which we and everyone else ate enthusiastically.  We were told this was a snack; supper would be later.  Watching our fellow passengers I figured I was not the only one who had been eating light for the last week  Then we went to our room to take showers.  OH SHOWERS!!  It was wonderful!  I think we would have both taken second showers if the announcement for dinner had not come.

The cruise ship was large and confusing but Nickie has a great sense of direction. (Something Mrs.T definitely lacks.  -dt)  The food was plain but plentiful: sandwiches, hamburgers, and hot dogs at every meal. Lots of fruits but no dessert unless you count jello or nut bread.  At first we were so grateful for food we didn't care.  The ship was paid for by FEMA but after a couple of days I was ready for a menu change. (Fortunately the ship reached Miami about then  -dt)

Evidently someone had decided that no one could say we were enjoying entertainment because we weren't.  I can understand no floor shows but no movies seemed a bit extreme.   By the second day they relented and reopened the children's program for the sanity of everyone.  What really annoyed me was that they locked up all the books in the library.

Meanwhile Nickie and I were making phone calls telling everyone we were finally coming home.  Nickie was calling determinedly trying to find a flight home for me from Miami and I was taking lots of showers.  Astoundingly Nickie succeeded.  After we docked I had only a short flight and I was in Columbus.  I thought about kissing the airport floor but I figured I couldn't get back up.  And then I kissed Dan.

There you have it - Mrs.T happily reached home.  We hope you all enjoyed and were informed by this first-person account of Irma.  Nickie has thoughtfully called routinely to check on Rebecca; it seems that she really does have a new angel looking over her. The editor looks forward to meeting her sometime.  We hope to communicate with Wanda and James soon to see how recovery is going.  Please keep these and the many other folks affected by recent weather events in your thoughts and prayers.  They have many months of work ahead to get back to normal.

A technical note:  We now have approximately 300 correspondents in our distribution list.  Emailing is a bit complicated and sometimes someone is missed or overlook.  I apologize if you did not receive all three parts of the Irma saga, but you can see them - and other adventures - at the blog page.  Please let me know if you are changing your email address or if you would like to be removed from our list.  And you are welcome to distribute our stories or recommend other people to add.

Best wishes to all.

Our winter home beckons.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

IRMA - PART TWO

OUT OF THE EYE

Mrs.T's story continues.  Many of you were captivated by Part One of her encounter with Irma.  And although it has been over a week since she returned, the episode still holds a grip on her.   As the eye passed through there was more to come:

As the sky darkened, the noise of the wind increased to a small roar.  Wanda served everyone a glass of water.  The building would shake or tremble when debris or water crashed into it,  We had a small flashlight for comfort more than illumination.  The two guest ladies, Nickie (R was not sure what spelling you preferred.  - dt)  and the other one I didn't know, were talking to Wanda about mutual acquaintances.  The four guys and I said pretty much nothing.  I noticed that water had begun to seep under the doorway.  At first it was still a sheen, then an inch, then two.   The storm surge was rising.  I began to imagine the water rising over our heads and us floating out to sea.  BOOM, pause, BOOM, pause, BOOM, pause - the waves shook the building. I looked down and the water was rising over my ankles. Victor was sitting in the chair next to mine. I held out my hand to Victor,  "Do you want me to help you up, Princess?" he asked.   Victor always called me princess.  "I want you to hold my hand," I replied.  "I am a little nervous." "Of course," Victor answered.  I sat there holding Victor's big, strong, brown hand.  BOOM, pause, BOOM, pause, BOOM, pause.  The water continued to rise.  Eventually the sound of the waves quieted and the the water stopped rising.  I thanked Victor and he assured me I could hold his hand any time.  Slowly the water receded and the wind abated.

I don't remember lying down. But when I woke during the night, I was lying on one side of the bed with Ally beside me in her carrier then Wanda, and then James.  Ally gave a dissatisfied yowl.  "I know " I whispered comfortingly, "I know."  Everyone else was sprawled around the room with pillows and blankets on chairs and the floor. This was how it used to be when we visited aunts and uncles when I was a child.  It is going to be okay I thought as I drifted back to sleep.

When I awoke I heard Victor muttering something about 'looter' as he clanged about in the room next door.  I concluded that he was bringing his pots and pans, and stuff upstairs in an effort to save them.  I think it was James who said something about Rebecca.  And Wanda said, "I'll take care of her."  Would someone want to loot me I wondered.  Would they think I was a rich white person?  Silly looters.

Wanda brought in my breakfast.  It was ½ cup of oatmeal, three cookies, ¼ of an apple, and a cup of tea.  The oatmeal was made with cold water so it was kind of soggy and chewy.  The tea was hot they must have had a battery operated coffeemaker. (Probably a small propane heater  -dt)  Under the  circumstances it was better than I would have expected.  I thanked Wanda sincerely.  I think maybe she was pleasantly surprised, having expected complaints.  I figured Wanda was feeding the four of us so we each got ¼ of an apple.  She was an excellent quartermaster for our meager rations which had been pooled among us.

"Rebecca," Wanda explained " a lot of the hotel has been blown down and torn up.  So James and Victor and I will be very busy trying to clean it up and save what we can."  "I want to help," was my immediate response.  I'm afraid there is lots of broken glass, and nails and things and if you got hurt we could not get you to the doctor because the roads are blocked.  I want you to stay in your room today and lock the door.  Don't let anyone in but James or Victor or me.  "May I have the radio to listen to?" I asked.  "Of course, Wanda replied..  It worked on batteries and had only one station.  When I got tired of it would I turn it off to save the batteries.  Did I need anything?  Wanda left me two bottles, one of Coke and one of water,  If I got hurt or anything I should stick my head out the window and yell real loud.   Nobody was fooling me.  You don't need to lock the door to keep[ out broken glass.  It was those looters.

I looked out the back window and saw a lot of young men wandering around.  Several of them had bags or backpacks.  Victor was arguing with one who slunk away.  Three or four got together and started rooting through the debris where the restaurant had been. (Part of Sebastian's  -dt) Every so often one would stop and put something in his bag.

I turned on the radio.  The news was first.  There was no electricity on the island.   It had all been intentionally turned off before the storm hit.  This would prevent accidents and make it easier to turn power back on.  Second there was no water.  People should use seawater to flush toilets and bottled water to drink.  It was against emergency law to sell food, water, or building materials at inflated prices.  There was a $200 fine for each offence. (BVI uses US dollars -dt)  Third, there should be no looting.  The police had emergency powers.  There was a strict curfew from 6pm to noon.  All schools were closed.  All commercial establishments should observe the curfew.  The airport was closed.  All three harbors were closed.  The hospital was open.  More news in twenty minutes.  Then there was light island music for a while.  When  you got sick of that there was gospel music for a while.  Then there was light classical music.  After that there was a repeat of news.  It was the same except it listed two roads that were now open.  Do not go to the hospital unless you are sick or hurt the radio commanded.  Also the Queen is thinking of you and is sending help.  The Queen is sending Royal Marines and Engineers and supplies.

It was nice the Queen was thinking of us I suppose.  After all old ladies have to think of something.  I thought they really meant the government of the UK.  But I could be wrong; I have read about all these Royal charities. Maybe some of that was really coming our way.  I was tired of  the radio.  I took out  my little sudoku book and did a few puzzles.  And fell asleep.

Lunch was six cookies, a handful of walnuts, and half of an orange.  We got a small glass of orange carrot juice to drink.  It was enough.  I asked how it was going.  James reported they had two rooms cleaned and boarded up.  Victor mumbled something about looters.  Could I help?  No not today.  Victor remarked that it would be better when the Marines got here.  Those looters were afraid of them.  The Marines had big guns.  No one was afraid of the police.  Was there anything I wanted?  I asked for books.  After lunch I went to sleep.

When I woke up I thought about looters.  After every emergency there seems to be lawlessness.  If your house is blown away and when you go to the store they charge you $6 for a gallon of water,  there seems to be a certain Jean Valjean justification for looting.  (Of course things are always more expensive on an island even in good times  -dt)  But last week in the BVI there was a makeup store called Glam that was emptied from floor to ceiling.  Explain that.  At Sebastians looters took TVs from some of the rooms even  though there was no electricity and would not be for months.

James and Wanda and Victor were afraid of the looters.  Fourteen people had moved into one of the downstairs rooms and declared it theirs.  A bunch of young men came and went at will in another room.  White people in general were a target; white people who had lived there for while, like James, seemed to be exempt to me.  In Jost Van Dyke, a smaller island in BVI,  there reportedly were armed gangs of young men who were going into homes and stores and taking what they wanted.  We all waited for the Royal Marines.  

Supper was six cookies, ¼ of an apple, and some walnuts.  We had grapefruit soda to drink.  One of my pills that I take for anxiety had gotten wet and crumbled to a powder.  I was distraught.  Wanda scraped out a little bit of the powder into my hand and told me to eat that.  I felt much better.  Wanda could handle anything.  I had my own room to sleep in.  James and Wanda were next door and Victor on the other side.  I slept restlessly.  I woke  in the night and heard men's voices singing.  It turned out that some of the looters had found liquor from the bar and were having a party.

The next day a big yellow shovel came and spent time pushing all the trees and broken buildings and trash off the road.  The shovel belonged to the brother of a lady who lived down  the troad.  We were no longer trapped.  I saw one of our neighbors getting a delivery.  A boat came in fairly close to shore.  A paddleboard was put down beside it.  A bunch of boxes were loaded on the paddleboard.  A guy from the boat swam to shore pushing the board where someone was waiting to get the delivery.  Now the road was open Victor and James went to town to see if they could get anything.  It took them hours of waiting to get water and gasoline and an odd combination of groceries.  They found three pounds of spaghetti and two jars of pasta sauce.  Also two cans of tuna fish, a jar of beets, and a box of kitty litter.  Wanda was very good at making a little go a long way.  We decided to have a pasta party.  James was going to invite some of the looters in an effort to make friends with them.  We were all excited about having pasta.  Our chef Victor found some herbs to add to the sauce.  James reported it was pretty calm downtown and Wanda could go shopping next time, but not me.  Sigh.

As you have read above, after Irma's passing began the new phase of the aftermath.  Rebecca still had a few more days on Tortola.  She had to deal with some other challenges there including getting back to the mainland.  She will finish that in Part Three.  Writing this should have a cathartic effect.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Mrs.T Mexico had an 8.1 quake offshore of Oaxaca and Chiapas and was felt all the way to Mexico City.  Our friends L&J visiting the capital at the time were literally shook up by it but thankfully unharmed.  And since then there was the 7.1 temblor right in the capital which left hundreds dead.  Our hearts go out to all that suffered.  Bucerias has not been impacted.

As we have witnessed, shortly thereafter Maria devastated Puerto Rico.  Rebecca says Tortola looked even worse after Irma.  Although not directly hit, Tortola was also traversed by Maria - a cruel one-two punch.  Much smaller Tortola has many fewer resources than Puerto Rico.  We await an update on their situation.

And we do not want to forget our friends in Houston impacted by Harvey.  It seems a distant zephyr now.  But we know they are at the beginning of a longer recovery.  Fortunately access is much easier on the continent.

We need to respect Mother Nature.  Could there be more hurricanes or quakes in the offing?

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook