One of the joys of my life is collecting lines, quotes, and bits of information I want to remember. Since reading is my most favorite activity (whether books, news articles, or blog posts), this collection reminds me of what I’ve read.

I’ve also been participating in Jillian Hess’s Noted Commonplace Book Club, where subscribers share their favorite words. What a calming way to start my day. Here are a few of mine:

I also placed a new poster in my front yard:

We need to find moments of meaning in these rather dark times.

#minneapolis #ice #authoritarianism #fascism

Here we are, wearing our goofy Viking earbud thingies, but our smiles tell the real story. Life is better with traveling friends. Starting with the Rhine River cruise where we met, laughed together, and made plans for another adventure, here’s the total list.

September 2017 – Rhine River Cruise Basel to Amsterdam

September 2018 – Danube River Cruise Budapest to Nuremberg and extension in Prague

September 2019 – Rhone River Cruise Lyon to Avignon and extension in Paris/Normandy via train

Feb/March 2020 – Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia

2021 – No Trip due to Covid

October 2022 – Douro River Cruise Lisbon to Porto

October 2023 – Mediterranean Cruise Barcelona to Rome

October 2024 – Visit to Rhode Island

April 2025 – Tuscany Villa and visits to surrounding small mountain towns

October 2025 – Elbe River (plus two days in Berlin and then two days in Prague

Next year will be our tenth trip, so we are beginning to plan something special. I keep thinking back to that moment we met, on a street in Germany. We were on a river boat cruise, and we had all been dropped off in a small town to shop and get lunch.

“Do you mind if we join you?” I asked brazenly.

“Come sit down,” they said.

We laughed and talked all through the meal, and then explored together the rest of the trip. At the end of the week, we decided we HAD to do this again. And we’ve not stopped since. All our friends elsewhere know us and them as “the friends you travel with.”

We have had some wonderful food tours, strolled through museums and churches, and enjoyed fascinating explorations of a country’s culture and history. This most recent trip focusing on WWII and communism felt a little too close to home (see previous post).