Viking River Cruises

The Viking River Cruises catalog came today with the list of voyages 2018. I am over the moon. "Set sail with us on a journey that will awaken, nourish and expand your mind, and truly allow you to explore the world in comfort."

There isn't much that thrills me more than travel. Every week I get a catalog and emails from Viking. I have to stop and feast my eyes and let my heart fly away with desire to travel. Do I want to go to Europe, Russia or China? YESSSS!!!!!  I love the idea of River Cruises. I can see land on both sides. (I didn't do well deep sea fishing. That's another story.)

Traveling is about how adaptable we are. We represent the USA. Patient, grateful and with a sense of humor goes a long ways. When we are demanding, rude, loud and obnoxious, we are not welcome.

I love learning other's ways and making life-long friends. We are all just people, and we're not that different. Living patience, curiosity, sympathy, compassion and kindness leaves a good impression.

  

Viking River Cruises 

Journeys of Discovery

Available 2017-2018

                                     Rhine Getawayㅡ8 Days: Basel to Amsterdam
                                     Danube Waltzㅡ8 Days: Budapest to Passau

                                     Romantic Danubeㅡ8 Days: Budapest to Nuremberg

                                     Grand European Tourㅡ15 Days: Budapest to Amsterdam

                                     Paris to the Swiss Alpsㅡ12 Days: Zurich to Paris

                                     Cities of Lightㅡ12 Days: Prague to Paris

                                     Tulips &Windmillsㅡ10 Days: AmsterdamㅡAntwerp─Amsterdam

                                     Passage to Eastern Europeㅡ11 Days: Bucharest to Budapest

                                     Paris & the Heart of Normandyㅡ8 Days: ParisㅡRouenㅡParis
                                     Lyon  Provenceㅡ8 Days: Avignon to Lyon
                                     Chateaux, Rivers & Wine: 8 Days: Bordeaux-Saint−Emilion-Bordeaux
                                     Elegant Elbeㅡ10 Days: Prague to Berlin
                                     Portugal's River of Goldㅡ10 Days: Lisbon to Porto
                                     Waterways of the Tsarsㅡ13 Days: St. Petersburg to Moscow
                                     Imperial Jewels of Chinaㅡ14 Days: Shanghai to Beijing

                                 
                                     Iconic Western Mediterraneanㅡ8 Days: Barcelona to Rome
                                     Viking Homelandsㅡ15 Days: Stockholm to Bergen

                                     120 days World Cruise: Los Angeles to London.

https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/ Treat yourself to great photos, interesting packages and extensions, the layout of the ships, and all the necessary details. They are thorough.

My heart is scheming. I overcame my fear of heights driving over the Continental Divide and hiking the Grand Canyon. I CAN overcome my fear of the sea! Repeat. Repeat. How can I go from one cruise to another? I think my ticket may be as a "Travel Writer." Oh, the wheels are turning! I won't sleep tonight. Have toothbrush, will travel!!!

(All copy about Viking is directly from their catalog.)

2017 RedConvertibleTravelSeries

Words to live by

            Be humble                   
                                                         Sing Loudly      
                               
                                                                                          Live for today
     Call an old friend
                                                                                    Push fear aside
                                    Give hugs 
                                                                                                      Be curious
        Hold Hands
                                   Take a chance
                                                             Make a new friend
Take pictures            
                       Smell the flowers   
                                                            Smile at a stranger
      Embrace                 Be kind         
                                                          Love one another

                           Choose happiness

"Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht"

This Christmas Eve morning, I joyfully told our Sunday School class some of the history of "Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht." "Silent Night" to us.

At St. Nicholas's Church in Oberndorf, Austria, 199 years ago today, Assistant Priest Josef Mohr discovered the organ didn't work. They had to have music for Christmas Eve mass. He walked through the snow to teacher, Franz Xaver Gruber's. Mohr had written a poem two years prior and asked Gruber if he could set it to music in time for Christmas Eve Mass.

Gruber arrived at church early with his guitar and music. He and Father Mohr taught the choir to sing "Stille Nacht" in 4 part harmony. The congregation loved it.

In the spring, the organ-mender came and repaired the organ. Testing it, he played Stille Nacht and memorized it. When he went back to his village, he taught the children to sing it. It was carried to other churches and locations. Today it's known around the world.

Flooding took its toll on the original church. The Stille Nacht Memorial Chapel stands on a mound in its place.

Go to StilleNacht.info  for pictures, music and further information. It's a heart-warming read.

Merry Christmas family and friends and may your New Year be filled with many blessings.

Love, Maeann


2017 RedConvertibleTravelSeries
Microsoft Clip Art photo

Chipping Campden Cotswolds, United Kingdom

Do you ever wonder

where the road 

will take you?

What's down this alley?

Who lives here

What do they eat

Fish and chips?

Original watercolors
by Rosalie Jordan

Purchased there in 1993
while traveling with my sister

They now hang
 on my kitchen wall
a reminder of
a once-in-a-lifetime trip

Was there once a gate?
Were sheep contained

Waiting for market?
Or something else?

Rosalie Jordan original art

©poem only 2017 Red Convertible Travel Series

We're More Alike than Different 6/18/17

Harry Overstreet,

           

"I have my own

 particular sorrows, loves, delights;

and you have yours.

But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love,

belong to all of us, in all times and in all places."

Microsoft Clip Art

2017 Red Convertible Travel Series

Without NE roots

When I crossed the border into Nebraska last month, it seemed I was "skimming" the earth, not tied to it. I had multiple choices for places to stay, but none were home. Wonderful friends and extended family take me in like family. If I bought a house there, I might not see them as much as I do when I'm just visiting.

I miss the cemetery. My dad's people were from Sweden. My mother's waved at Columbus, or so Grandpa Williamson said. I wish I knew them, but then I remember their lives are braided with ours. My namesake Mae, was my Grandmother Mae Simmons Williamson. Her devotion to family blooms in me. The Ann is for my grandmother Anna Alm Benson. She traveled from NE to Denver, CO to be treated for TB. Grandfather Roy Williamson had a zany sense of humor. A meal wasn't complete unless he snatched somebody's bread or squeezed the cake in their hand. Great-grandfather Peter Benson worked his way to the Midwest building barns with wooden pegs. Great-Grandmother Nellie Williamson was the local Mid-Wife. Yes, I see a bit of each of them in me. And my parents loved to travel, like my sister and I do. The apples didn't fall far from the tree.

On the Memphis news this week, a retired couple sold everything and have been world travelers for two years. That brightened my day. When I travel, I could keep on going. Maybe I, or we, will someday.

©2014 Red Convertible Travel Series

The Grand Canyon & Harry Overstreet

The Grand Canyon

Always the same

Constantly changing color

Breathtaking from the top

and the bottom!

           
Harry Overstreet, "I have my own

 particular sorrows, loves, delights;

and you have yours.

But sorrow, gladness, yearning, hope, love,

belong to all of us, in all times and in all places."

Photo: Microsoft Clip Organizer

©GC Poem 2017 Red Convertible Travel Series

Turn your day around

Somebody's
having a bad day

Giving it to The Lord
could turn your day around 

©2017 Red Convertible Travel Series

Sharp Family Photos

Hmmm, we do look sharp
Living up to our name
On Xmas cards

Note cards

T-shirts

Hmm, nice formal shot
Love your blue ribbon

Papa, you look a little beat up

It's all the hand work, you know

Well, I like you a little weathered

It gives you character XO
Want to cut a rug

💕💕💕💞

 Son, what are you doing

Seeing what you see

You're such a cutup

©2017 Red Convertible Travel Series

Winter Love

I looked out 

one wintry morning

Someone put hearts
on the street
in front of our house

without footprints

Ah,

When the driver turned around
the tires made joined hearts
A gift

of winter love

Thanks, whoever you are💕

©2017 Red Convertible Travel Series 

Sleepy Sweetie

You, there, 

open your eyes
you don't know
what you're missing

One never knows
what surprise
is in
a ball of
chocolate chip cookie dough

©2017 Red Convertible Travel Series

Even in disasters, love is there.

I saw this spot
on the ceiling
of a local business

It reminded me

Love is from above.

©2017 Red Convertible Travel Series

Beet Love

T'was a single drop

of beet juice

When I turned around

it had made a heart

Love's sweet surprise

©2017 Red Convertible Travel Series

Christmas 2015 and MS Tornadoes

Mississippi was unseasonably warm and wet Wed., Dec. 23rd. Fourteen tornadoes ravaged 150 miles across the state. The Governor declared a State of Emergency. Along US 49 and 322, in our Clarksdale area, homes, a church and a crop duster's business were severely damaged. Our neighbor's home had the meter base torn off.

Tornadoes traveled northeast clocking winds in excess of 150 miles an hour. I55 was closed between Batesville and Como after multiple truck accidents. I put cat, Madchen, in the bathroom. She sat and stared like a statue. Johnny was a nervous wreck insisting we move to the bathtub. Instead, I tested my faith muscle. From my recliner, I prayed for protection for all in its path. Buckshot, our little dog, was not rattled. Neither was I. The storm came over our house, lifted the shingles, and laid them back down. Not one blew off. Thank you, Lord!

Holly Springs was ravaged the worst. Topped trees looked like tall pencils. A car was trapped under a twisted tractor trailer and the occupants survived.

The death toll rises. It took weeks to log damage and put a pall on Christmas. But there were miracles to give praise for. Three people left their house and piled into their truck. Before they could get away, it blew the truck into a tree saving their lives; the house was destroyed. Many homes were wiped off their foundation. Victims concurred the tornado sounded like a raging freight train.

Our hearts go out to all. Google MS tornadoes 12-23-15 for more information. If you want to help, contact the Red Cross.

Wed. evening I watched I Love Lucy reruns I haven't seen since 9/11. They are light moments that shore us up for coping with life's monsters. Peace and Grace to all and to all a Good Night. May your Christmas be Merry and the New Year super!

Love,
Maeann

©2015 Red Convertible Travel Series

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is all around!

 Finding natural "hearts" started with this.

 Then I took a walk and saw this.

 A tiny bit of egg white escaped the griddle to show some love.

 Oh, chocolate cake loves us too!

 I chopped celery for soup.

When I cleaned off the cutting board,

I found this heart.

 Broccoli love.

Deer meat skillet magic!

A baby seal napped on my napkin.

Nibbling an apple and sunflower seeds,

I turned a slice over to pick up a seed.

This is what I got.

I tried to create another and the seeds wouldn't stick.

Nature does it best!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day

and keep your eyes open 

for Love!

©2015 Red Convertible Travel Series

Happy New Year, Sleep on your Dreams for 2015

Celebrations around the world

The desires in your head

put on paper

in a pie shape

sleep on them

as long as it takes

Penguin love

Sweet

As 2015 unfolds

prepare to check off

your dreams

because

Mighty Reflections

You let your

subconscious

 do the work

I've done it

It did!

Have a Very Merry New Year's

and a fabulous New Year!

©2014 Copy only
Red Convertible Travel Series

Her Heart Was Aimed Towards Me

     There wasn't a time in my life when I didn't know the Miners family. Bill and I were Cradle Roll babies at the First Presbyterian Church. We graduated from high school the same year. Leonard plowed Nadine's garden and brought them fresh fall mushrooms. Over the decades, plates of cookies, garden produce and other goodies were delivered back and forth. Our support for one another is without end.
     Intelligent and well read, they knew Shakespeare as if he were their next door neighbor. They studied and conversed about everything and anything. 
     Nancy is the last of the living. The rest are as near as her next thought. She said, "We genuinely liked each other. We had different ideas. We debated, but we didn't fight. We were always there for each other.
     "When I was small and overly shy, I was invited to a neighbor girl's birthday party. Two other friends were there, but they wouldn't talk to me. I guess they already knew each other. I stood at a distance. The phone rang. The Birthday girl handed it to me.
     "Nancy, are you having a good time?" Mom asked.
     "No," I whispered into the phone.
     "My heart is aimed towards you, Honey. It will be okay."
     "I broke out in a smile. Mom, the foundation of everlasting arms took time to check on me. Her love is the kind that is there all the time, goes all the way, always, all ways. No conditions. No clock. No yardstick. No count-it-out. All loving you for you. Carried all the way 100%.
     "Thank you for thinking of me." I hung up confident I could fit in, and I did."

©2014 Red Convertible Travel Series  
   

   

   

An unexpected 💗

I didn't do this 

I found it
when I opened the bag

Peanut butter will stick

forget the jelly

©2014 Red Convertible Travel Series

Thoughts for Fathers for Father's Day

Father's

Kinds of fathers 

loving, kind, 

happy, strong, 

weak, mean

Their childhood

molded them 

What will Baby be

The father holds his newborn

Speechless, overcome with joy

the responsibility seems staggering

I can't do this 

In his arms their bond is forged

deep, everlasting

Protectiveness rises in him

Gentleness flows from him

Baby trusts him

asleep in his arms

He memorizes baby's lashes,

the all-over scent of Johnson's

Child of my heart

You are the new and improved version

of your mother and I

Be all you can be

The process is subtle

Not just Father's words,

his thoughts, too

Baby believes he's right

Whatever is thought or said

by the bed of a sleeping child,

he or she will become

©2014 Red Convertible Travel Series

Biloxi, MS Cemetery behind The Elk's Lodge on I90

Part of the cemetery's monster Live Oak Tree

It takes "a group" to put their arms around the trunk.

2014 Red Convertible Travel Series