While I recently posted a photo of me and my Dad for Fathers Day, there is a better one. You may have seen it before on my FB page. It was taken by a professional photographer from NY back in the Fifties. As I recall, it was published nationally, and may also have won some awards. The photo is my paternal Grandmother, Yuki Kataoka, and my youngest sister Carolyn. It was taken on the ranch next doo Read on...
I was going to do the walk in the city on 9th June. However, Central line had severe delays on both directions; I decided to do the walk around Piccadilly, St James and Mayfair.
I was instructed to use the South Exit 3 to go to Piccadilly. A lot of shops had Jubilee window displays, very patriotic. I was particularly fond of one of the gentlemens clothes shops display – contained several puppie Read on...
This is an exciting blog to write. We have had several events that have made us happy: Happy, Happy, Happy! The biggest and happiest of them all is the birth of our first Our grandson, Ryan, and Amber had a baby boy on Oct. 4th. His name is Henry Max Wilder Knapp. Of course, hes the cutest baby ever. A new generation has begun in our family. Whew! Does that mean we are super old now? Nah. Age is Read on...
We had an early start – and a long day but we made the entire narrow part of the loop before dark, so that was a success. What was NOT a success was that, after promising the kids we would all swim in the 7 sacred pools at the end – we found out that it was no longer allowed. Covid? Insurance liability? Dont know, but it would have been nice to have known. Davids photos show some of the beauty Read on...
States with the highest life expectancy were mostly in the Northeast and West states while states with the lowest life expectancy were Southern states.
The fact that there can be such large differences in life expectancy within one country, thats what I find most interesting, Dr. Elizabeth Arias, director of U.S. Life Tables at NCHS and first author of the study, told ABC News.
Rounding out the Read on...
Aber ich bin doch etwas berrascht ber den Zimmerservice hier im Lande. Die Zimmer werden nmlich nicht gemacht. Zuerst hatte ich das nicht gemerkt, weil ich eh nur eine Nache blieb. Aber dann in Lutsk war ich verblfft, weil ich zwar vier neue Handtcher bekam aber das Bett nicht gemacht war. Hier im Ibis war dann die Steigerung: keine Handtcher, kein Bett gemacht, kein Abfalleimer ausgeleert, der Se Read on...
As of today, here are the State Department warnings regarding travel to my destinations in May. Serbia: Reconsider your need to travel. It has not been updated since Oct, 2021. Belgrade is only 320 miles from the Ukraine border! Croatia: Exercise a high degree of caution. (Mar 2022) Greece: Same as Croatia France: Same as Greece Germany: Same as France So, what am I going to do? The cycling portio Read on...
This iconic mural was painted in 1990. It was based on an actual photograph of Honecker and Brezhnev kissing. I photographed this just as these two guys kissed in front of the mural. The funny thing is, many conservatives today would probably be saying variations of My God, help me survive this deadly love in the face of marriage equality and rising LGBTQ visibility.
Like many other people my age Read on...
Veliko Tarnovo. Notable at left center is the Cathedral of the Birth of the 1844 and reconstructed 1913. EE1975117
From Bucharest, travel would by land through the Balkans all the way to Zagreb. The groups motorcoach crossed the Danube River over the long Friendship Bridge at Ruse, leaving Romania and entering Bulgaria. Thence on to Grabrovo via Vielke Tarnovo for overnight.
Near Gabrovo is the Read on...
Yesterday was another public holiday here. It was Archbishop Janani Luwum Day. On Feburary 16th 1977 Luwum was killed at the orders of Idi Amin shortly after delivering a speech to protest Amin for his arbitrary killings and unexplained disappearances of civilians and soldiers. Though the official account is that he was in a car crash
Acts like these are still happening under the current ‘Presi Read on...