Caminobleu

How My Morning Went, or Why I Get Nothing Done

Not a Christmas Letter (Maybe New Year)

After a long absence from Caminobleu, I am sharing two December morning reflections with you instead of my usual Christmas letter.

December 19, 2024

We have returned from a month in Egypt and Greece, where we immersed ourselves in the history of two ancient cultures that have influenced Western civilization for thousands of years. Yet, more than the ancient ruins and their mysteries, I was fascinated by the lives of ordinary people, the farmers and fishermen (we saw no fisherwomen) along the eternal life-giving Nile and the people still living in simple stone houses, much as their ancestors did on the small Greek island of Syros.

The herons, stilts, kingfishers, and small birds flitting through the trees and reeds along the Nile delighted me, as did the sunrises and sunsets. I was fascinated by the fishermen who rowed with clunky oars, usually two men in a boat: one young, one old. The old one handled the nets and studied the water, sometimes standing for a better view; the young one rowed, often in strong currents. I like to watch fishermen, perhaps because they remind me of my dad.

I loved the clear waters and brilliant pebbles on the Syros beaches, which reminded me of my childhood on Lake Superior. The autumn crocuses, struggling to bloom in the arid, rocky soil on the cliffs above the sea, brought back memories of autumn pilgrimages in France and Spain.

I photographed stones and waves on the beach and told Kent, “This is my happy place!”

We took a ferry to Syros, seeking quiet after the intensity and crowds of Egypt and Athens. Our six-day visit coincided with the fledgling Syros International Chamber Music Festival, now in its second year. Violinist Pinchas Zukerman was the “grand old man” among the performers and organizers, but the younger musicians, their names hitherto unknown to us, were stellar. We attended all but one of five performances in the celebrated nineteenth-century Apollon theater, said to resemble La Scala.

I was touched by the participation of school children and the somewhat disorganized festival structure (performances started late, people wandered up and down forever looking for their seats, buying tickets was cumbersome, and people clapped in the wrong places). I recalled chamber music groups from the University of Michigan performing in the school auditorium in my small hometown of Newberry, Michigan, when one affable female violinist slept on our couch and shared our small bathroom without complaint. My parents faithfully attended the performances, enjoying the rare opportunity to experience what my dad called “highbrow culture.”

For information on the Syros festival, the music played, and the biographies of the distinguished musicians, see: https://www.meet-the-violins.org/en/events

December 11, 2024

In October, we met Rebecca Reynolds at an author event she shared with Kent at Albuquerque’s Books on the Bosque. Although we’d just met, she cleverly used Kent’s decision to run away to sea as an example of an individual choosing to make a momentous change in his life. When Iwoke up this morning to begin reading the book, I found the first chapter of Thresholds of Change (Denver: Connolly Fox, 2024, so inspiring I stopped reading and wrote the following:

I am captivated by Reynolds’ use of the metaphor of the chambered nautilus. The nautilus creates new spiraled chambers as it grows, sealing each chamber except for one thread of living connective tissue called the siphuncle. As Reynolds describes it, “A core life-giving line that provides ballast and connects us to all parts of our lives, even those we’ve left behind.”

“The journey is what’s truly important.” Our experiences in life are not “over and done.” They are all connected.

As a pilgrim who sees my life as a journey, I like the concept of a living thread connecting all parts of my life.

I recall Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses.”

“I am a part of all that I have met.” These words mean more at eighty than they did at seventeen when I first read them in Miss Dwyer’s English class. I remember Miss Dwyer not only for what she taught but for her enthusiasm and implied belief in the importance of her subject matter. Through the siphuncle, the presence of Miss Dwyer and many family members, friends, and mentors connect my past and present.

At Miss Dwyer’s urging, we chose the final words of “Ulysses” as our Class of 1962 motto: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” (How many of you remember your high school class motto?) This morning, I reread the poem in tears because I, too, now look back “from that sad height” (Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle into that good night”) and reflect on the meaning and purpose of life from the perspective of old age.

Perhaps we live to love, learn, and grow in preparation for whatever comes next.

The dear friends I’m losing with increasing frequency remain part of my life forever. Sometimes, like this morning, my memories of them emerge through that life-giving core when they are least expected and most needed.

We have returned to a different America than the one we left. As the chaos and my feelings of foreboding intensify during this week before Christmas, I watch, wait, and pray for light to come as the world turns and the sacred sun returns.

“Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.”

“Come, my friends, ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.” – Tennyson, “Ulysses.”

Linnea and Kent at the Acropolis early in the morning

Links to the poems:

Poems: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46569/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night

December 29, 2025

I wish you all light, strength, and happiness in the new year. And thank you to all who sent cards in the mail. I will write to you individually.

Holy Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation to the VIrgin Mary, Athens, Greece

Please also see our JacanaPress.com blog for news relating to We Ran Away to Sea, which to our surprise and delight has recently earned three awards .

Indonesia

Back in San Francisco, Indonesia seems like a dream. The heat and humidity, the friendly, polite people, the heavy traffic, rice fields, trees, endless temples in Bali, beaches, and the mix of cultures are going to take time to process.

Today is my 80th birthday, but instead of partying it is, perhaps fittingly, a day of transition, a time to face the realities of old age, to be grateful for each day, and, for now, figure out how to finish this sentence before i fall asleep.

Hello from Jogyokarta, Indonesia!

It’s been a long way to Indonesia on this rather last-minute trip, but we’re here with a congenial group of travelers, seeing places I knew nothing about.

After three nights in steamy, hot Jakarta, a mix of old (Dutch colonial buildings and outdoor markets) and new (shiny highrises, a haze of air pollution, and a state-of-the-art transportation system), we have moved on to Jogyokarta, a more manageable smaller city (Jakarta has 12 million residents and another 4 million daily commuters) where there are a few more foreign tourists, most probably here to see the famed largest Hindu temple in the world, Borobudur, which we will visit this morning.

On the way here from the airport we stopped alongside the road to visit with a couple harvesting rice, trying our hand at using their threshing machine. I loved being out in the countryside with views of the mountains, which have quite regularly spewed volcanos.

In the evening five of us had a lovely home visit with a family at their home, with a delicious home-cooked meal. The husband was fluent in English and Spanish, as well as several other languages including some Indonesian dialects (there are something like 140) and works in a business exporting teak furniture to Spain. We finished the evening learning to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on a set of bamboo instruments, each of us holding a set of bamboo pipes that played a single note.

People have been unbelievably friendly, asking us to pose with them for photos, the children giving us high fives, everyone one smiling, nodding, bowing, welcoming, eager to share, and curious about us.

There is so much more to tell — we gulped when we thought the ATM machine had swallowed our single card — but it finally returned it to us— whew! I had lost my two cards somewhere between the Oakland airport BART station and San Francisco, so we have no backup. I have many photos taken with my camera that i will wait to share when i have time to download and edit them st home.

Why Is Route 66 So Famous?

The front page headlines of this morning’s Albuquerque Journal, “A Very Fun 60s Vibe” caught my eye. The lead story refers to the re-opening this week of the Imperial Motel on the “Mother Road” in Albuquerque, a renovated 1960s era motel, complete with its classic neon sign and “butterfly roof.” (Apparently it is not yet listed on hotel booking websites.)

A secondary article mentions a Route 66 Visitor Center at the top of Nine-Mile Hill that is being turned over to the City of Albuquerque from Bernalillo County. I’d never heard of this place, apparently built with pandemic development money and completed in 2023.

I mentioned the newspaper articles to Kent who wanted to know, “Why is Route 66 so famous? Is it the song? or the TV series? Why doesn’t anyone write about Highway 14?”

Me: “What is Highway 14? What TV series?”

I’d never heard of either Highway 14 or the Route 66 series that ran from 1960-64 and had its own theme song (not the more famous, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” written by Bobby Troup in the 1940s” and first recorded by Nat King Cole).

Of course, I didn’t remember these details, but Google sent me to a lengthy Wikipedia article on the well-known song, and a separate article on the TV series.

From there it was a hop to a YouTube video featuring a couple of opening segments from the series with its theme music.

Meanwhile, the unsung Highway 14 that goes through Wyoming will be explored another day.

“I think it’s partly the song and maybe the TV series. It was the main road to California during the Dust Bowl. Let’s ask Jeanne!”

So, I texted our friend Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson, whose late husband David Kammer, did extensive research on the “Mother Road.” Jeanne is also the author of the children’s picture book illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root, Don’t Forget Winona

I’m already humming:

Well, it winds from Chicago to LA
More than two thousand miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route 66.

Jeanne replied:

David would tell you that:

(1) it’s important as the new highway system was east to west. Route 66 was meant to arc from the (rust belt) heartland ( Chicago), through the center of the country and on to LA.

(2) Easy then for migrants in Oklahoma to get to the “promised land.”

(3) Then the books, song and TV show because it became famous.

Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath? Wasn’t that set on Route 66? “Yes,” Jeanne said, “I think he used the term “Mother Road.”

See: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0303.cfm

I’ve found “Route 66” signs in far-flung places, including small towns in France and in a restaurant in Rome. I guess it’s true that “all roads lead to Rome.”

A route 66 sign along the Via Gebennensis in France

After Jeanne published Don’t Forget Winona, I became obsessed with the “Get Your Kicks” song and illegally downloaded at least a dozen versions from the now defunct Limewire and burned them onto a CD, which is now buried somewhere among many CDs (which reminds me, I took my Bose radio/player to a repair shop about 18 months ago, and last I checked about a year ago, it was still waiting for a replacement part). Wikipedia has an extensive history of the many recorded versions of the song, which will now be bouncing around in my head for the rest of the day (I’ll have to hunt for that CD or maybe I’ll just ask for it on Spotify).

A quick search of “Route 66” on Amazon brought up at least thirty-two books on the “Mother Road,” and did not include Jeanne Whitehouse Peterson’s Don’t Forget Winona.

Let’s get that keyword in the Amazon description somehow, Jeanne!

Now, maybe it’s time to take a ride or a walk on old Route 66 through Albuquerque.

Return to Tucson

I think it’s been thirteen years since I’ve returned to Tucson to visit friends I made there in the 1970s and friends I’ve met since. So, this week, we made a whirlwind trip, driving about seven hours each way to spend two and a half days in Tucson. We weren’t able to see everyone, and I forgot to take pictures of some, but I remembered how much I loved the Sonoran Desert, even though the city has grown immensely in fifty years.

I’d hoped for warm weather, but cold rain from California swept in putting snow on the mountains, which made the desert even more beautiful. It was wonderful to connect with those we did see, including Kent’s son Jake and his friend Hayley. Mary Lyday and I had so much to talk about, we forgot to take pictures.

Finally, here’s a push for Kent’s book and a wish for a Happy Valentine’s Day! I realized that We Ran Away to Sea is also a love story! Treasure those you love. We’re not here forever.

So far behind…

I’ve taken a look at my blog for the first time in a very long time. The past six months have been dominated by working on the JacanaPress.com blog featuring my husband Kent’s book. If you look there, you’ll find glimpses of what we’ve been up to, including six intense weeks of travel through Scandinavia in December.

“Why go in the winter?” I’ve been asked. Here is my reply:

Scandinavia is where my ancestors lived 150 years ago and for centuries before that.

Why in winter? I had a checklist: (1) I wanted a challenge and a bit of an adventure, (2) I wanted to avoid crowds and the high prices of the summer season, (3) I wanted to see the aurora borealis, (4) winter and snow bring back memories of my Upper Michigan childhood, (5) snow is beautiful, (6) I wanted to celebrate Christmas with relatives in Sweden and enjoy the Christmas lights and festivities, (7) our grandchildren were going to be elsewhere.

I loved the Polar Night when the day was four of five hours of twilight with the sun lurking below the horizon. I missed the sun, though, and on Santa Lucia Day, December 13, we crossed the Arctic Circle again heading south. I waited with anticipation aboard the ship (Hurtigruten’s Polarlys) for the sun to hit a high peak. My heart leaped up when I saw the first pink light hit the triangular peak I’d been watching. ”Thank you, God, thank you, Sun, for being there!” I was deeply moved. The Polar Night was beautiful, but what if I never saw the sun again?

We arrived home after our travels to face a pile of mail we still haven’t quite gotten through, repairs of things falling apart in the house (I think it missed us), preparing Kent’s lecture, “Escape to Sea: Dreams and Realities” for Oasis (it was well-received), and all the other busy activities that keep us from taking much-needed long walks.

First light after leaving the Polar Night — Return to the Light Decmber 13, 2023

From the Arctic (Update from email sent on December 8, 2023, so you don’t have to click on the link to view)

http://eepurl.com/iFJzzE Email sent from Jacana Press from the Arctic December 8, 2023

Can Reading Help Us Save the World?

Elder Activist Readers (EAR): re-written August 10, 2023

Who are we?

We are a small group who began reading books on climate change and the environment in the fall of 2020, spurred by Esther Jantzen (author of Walk: Jamie Bacon’s Secret Mission on the Camino de Santiago) who introduced us to All We Can Save, the first book we all read together. Over the past couple of years, we have read many books, all of which have shaped my perceptions and stirred me to action, although what I’ve done is very little. I am still a long way from living a simple life. However, I’ve gone from ignoring climate change and thinking, “What can I do?” to realizing that learning about the issues and doing what I can is at least a start. We have read of many instances when one person’s actions have inspired others, often resulting in making an important difference. This summer’s heat and the disasters including forest fires (even in Hawaii!), flooding, failed crops, and the deaths of humans and animals have driven home the importance of changing our ways..

This morning we drove around Denver, that jewel of the Rockies, from south to north, facing bumper-to-bumper traffic and slow-downs in all directions. The mountains with remains of the winter’s snow were hazy in the distance. Where there was once farmland or grazing land where the buffalo roamed were now acres of new houses. As we poked along in halting traffic, our vehicle also contributed to the pollution, congestion and wasteful use of fossil fuels. I thought, “Look what progress has brought!” We were trapped in an unpleasant, unhealthy, unsustainable environment created in the past one-hundred years by our love for and reliance on the automobile. I’m as guilty as anyone. I love my car and my comfortable life, and I’m taking a non-essential trip for pleasure in my air-conditioned car, while people are lying on sidewalks, dying in the heat. That’s not fair, is it?

There are currently five of us who read one book every two or three months and meet via Zoom to discuss our reading. We also send each other links to articles, websites, books, films, speakers, and petitions to sign. We choose the books together and take turns leading the discussions. We have had other readers participate occasionally, and we welcome new readers, or I urge you to form your own reading group. All We Can Save, includes suggestions and guidelines

We five are all retired teachers who have lived in other countries. We include former Peace Corps volunteers, a Vista worker, and three pilgrims who have walked the Camino de Santiago more than once. Esther divides her time between Albuquerque and Mérida in Mexico when she is not traveling elsewhere; Marty Corley, Kent Kedl (author of We Ran Away to Sea, which was inspired partly by his Peace Corps experiences and Small is Beautiful), and I all live in Albuquerque. Anne Roberts faithfully joins us from her home in Longboat Key, Florida. Our current book is U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s Poet Warrier: A Memoir which we will discuss on August 16.

Have any of you read books that you’d like to recommend? Books that have changed your life or your thinking?

Complete book list in order of reading:

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkerson (eds). All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, 2020 (read Jan 2021)

Shalanda H. Baker. Revolutionary Power: An Activist’s Guide to the Energy Transition, 2021 (read Mar-Apr 2021)

Arlie Hochschild. Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, 2016 (read June 2021)

Kate Haworth. Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist, pub 2017 (read Jul/Aug 2021)

Lydia Millet. A Children’s Bible (a novel), 2020 (read Jan 2022)

Paul Hawken. Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation, 2021 (read Feb/Mar 2022)

Kristen Olsen. The Soil Will Save Us, 2014 (read Apr/May 2022)

Robin Wall Kimmerer. Braiding Sweetgrass, 2013 (read June 2022)

Plus, we watched: Kiss the Ground (video)

Imbolo Mbue. How Beautiful We Were: A Novel, 2021 (read August 2022)

Vanessa Machado de Oliveira. Hospicing Modernity Facing Humanity’s Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism, 2021. (read September-October 2022)

E. F. Schumacher. Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered, 1973 (read December 2022)

Amitai Ghosh. The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Plant in Crisis, 2021 (read March 2023)

Sarah Augustine: The Land is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discover, 2021 (read June 2023

Joy Harjo. Poet Warrior: A Memoir, 2021 (reading August 2023)

We Ran Away to Sea

May 12, 2023

It was a big day today. We got the book loaded onto IngramSpark and ordered the first paperback copy that should arrive in about a week. Publication date is set for June 27, but that could change. A PDF of the book has also been loaded onto NetGalley, so we are hoping for some reviews. We are still finding some typos and small errors (oh no!) and expect to find even more when we actually hold the paperback in our hands. It’s been a long journey so far, and there’s even more to come.

We know we didn’t choose the cover most of you preferred. We’ll see how it goes! But we have the photo of Kent and Pam on the back, if that will make you happier.

We’d love to have more reviewers, although we’re not supposed to use friends and family. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked for reviews of a particular book (I won’t divulge the title) this afternoon and saw it had one review of ***** (five stars). The reviewer’s name: the same as that of the author!

I can see we still have a lot to learn!

If you’re interested in reviewing let us know, and if that sounds too daunting, here are a few links to websites that provide some easy guidelines and even templates for writing reviews:

https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/how-to-write-a-book-review https://share.reedsy.com/fiction_book_review_template_reedsy.pdf https://share.reedsy.com/nonfiction_book_review_template_reedsy.pdf