Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

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Recap of My Book Writing

July 6, 2016 / / 24 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) encourages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement or anything really about their writing. Starting this month, they have added a question as a prompt to get the juices flowing: “What’s the best thing someone has ever said about your writing?” It has been a while since my last “book update”, so today is a good day for some insights and an answer to that question.

The Background

As some of you know, my biggest passion is traveling. Since graduating at 22, I have been on the road or on the water full-time for 14 out of the 18 years. I’m not sure whether to count our current lifestyle of house and pet sitting as traveling, since we are semi-settled “abroad” (for me anyway), but still explore different parts of the country while at it.

The other thing I have been doing most of my life is write. I have always enjoyed writing and have been pretty engrossed by it since I started my first diary at the age of 10. Continue reading

WW – Opposites on Wharariki Beach

July 6, 2016 / / 14 Comments

I have decided to post photos of past travels in general and our eight year sailing adventure on SV Irie in particular for Wordless Wednesdays. I hope you enjoy them. My theme “Opposites” for this week comes from The Daily Post.

Wharariki Beach in Golden Bay, New Zealand

Opposites that come to mind are: sand-rock, dead-alive, arid-lush, air-water, dry-wet, bumpy-flat

Which opposites do you spot when looking at this photo?

Climbing Mount Greylock… the Easy Way

July 4, 2016 / / 22 Comments

Ever since we arrived in Heath, MA to do this five month house sit, Mark has been interested in climbing the biggest mountain of the state, which is located an hour drive away. Usually I’m the first one to partake in any exciting hike or adventure, but ascending a 3500ft (1067 m) mountain is not in the cards anymore for me. Many times in the past, when scaling smaller hills and mountains, my “Sure, let’s do it! I’ll just walk at my own pace.” turned into tough, steep climbs with loads of sweat, many breaks and a guaranteed headache. Turning 40 is no joke!

Entering the mountain park

Entering the mountain park

Continue reading

No Time to Write a Blog

July 2, 2016 / / 14 Comments

So, here is a “preview” of the blog I intend to post soon, about climbing Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts.

Mount Greylock behind a cemetery in the town of Adams

Mount Greylock rises behind a cemetery in the town of Adams

Six Word Saturday to the rescue! 🙂

Can you describe your Saturday in six words?

WW – Animal Partners in the Galapagos Islands

June 29, 2016 / / 10 Comments
Nazca boobies

Nazca boobies

Continue reading

Reblogging: Great Britain, RIP by Al Lane

June 27, 2016 / / 18 Comments

The result of the Brexit vote/referendum in the UK has shocked the world and its impact is global and immediate.  The Brits regrettably (and regrettingly?) have decided to leave the EU.  We all suffer because of it. I am disheartened by the way politicians misrepresent the truth and by how people don’t think critically and for themselves anymore. I fear for this right-wing trend to continue everywhere and hope the US, among other countries, will learn from the UK’s “mistake”.

My blogger friend Al is a writer, poet and citizen from the UK, who did an interview with me for his Dirty Dozen series recently.  He put his sentiments in words that make total sense. I have decided to reblog his post from yesterday on Roaming About, because of the insights it presents, and because I stand by his side. My intended bog post for today about visiting the biggest mountain in Massachusetts on Sunday will be postponed until later this week. You can see Al’s original post and comments here.

This great video by British comedian and HBO television host John Oliver also hits the nail on the head…

Continue reading

Our First Ever Attempt at Gardening

June 25, 2016 / / 15 Comments
Ordinary scissors do not seem to be the best gardening tool
Mark’s gardening aptitude appears better than mine
Jenny is being a great help!
We planted lettuce, eggplant and peppers in this little plot – cherry tomatoes, snap peas and basil elsewhere
Basil bliss!

Check out what others have to say about their Six Word Saturday.

How does your weekend look like? Any gardening in the forecast?

St. Petersburg Reflection

June 24, 2016 / / 5 Comments
Reflection from the grounds of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg, Russia

Reflection from the grounds of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg, Russia

I couldn’t resist  posting this photo on my blog after checking out Paula’s “Mirroring” challenge this week. 🙂

Full Moon of the Past

June 22, 2016 / / 11 Comments
Full moon on our sailboat in Deltaville, VA (October 2007)

Full(-ish) moon on our sailboat Irie in Deltaville, VA (October 2007)

… to stay with the theme of our most recent summer solstice full moon. Not much luck photographing that one, so I searched my archives.

I like Wordless Wednesdays.

Because I have been known to talk and write too much (here I go again).

Because a photo sometimes says more than a thousand words (depends on those words and what the shot does NOT reveal).

Because I finally have an excuse to post pretty cool, but disregarded photos of our travels.

Did you see or photograph the full moon (also called a strawberry moon in June) on June 20th? Did you go outside and let romance overtake you? Did you see fireflies and stars, and felt many mosquitoes upon your skin, like I did?

A Weekend of Camping and Hiking in Vermont; and a Visit Beyond

June 20, 2016 / / 14 Comments

I can’t quite remember the last time Mark and I went camping for pleasure, as in when we really wanted to go camping. My recollections go back ten years ago or so, when our dogs, the Grand Canyon and loads of insect bites were part of the experience. I mention the “for pleasure” part, because the previous time we seriously camped was for two months in 2007, when a tent and a car were all we owned, so camping was our lifestyle. It wasn’t necessarily our preferred way to live, but the cheapest option in between other adventures. We had just moved out of our truck camper and were in the process of searching and eventually buying our sailboat.

Trying to set up the tent at home - check. All parts are present.

Trying to set up the tent at home – check. All parts are present.

The tent we had for ages was finally traded for some local handicrafts in the San Blas Islands, Panama, a few years ago and a new tent recently became ours through a promotion online. It was time to test it out in earnest. Continue reading

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