Day 1 At Sea

It's amazing how distracted one can become when easily entertained. Sorry about the delay in posting our vacation together folks! Without further adieu, here is our description of Day 1 at Sea.

Vacationing on a cruise boat is a full body workout, even when you're sleeping. It was 7:14am when I started writing this post and the boat was still rocking violently. There was one long fall in the night where Maggie appropriately said, "Oh, crap." Pretty well summed up our first night of trying to sleep through twenty foot swells. Somehow, I did manage to sleep amid the rocking and blows of the great Pacific. At one point I wondered if I could use the phone in the room to call the helmsman and say, "Turn INTO the wakes!" (Otherwise you're being broadsided, which is really, really, really, really not fun.) But I don't think that we had much choice in the matter as we were in nothing but confused seas. (Wakes from opposing directions coming together usually right where your boat is...also not fun.)

When I took a shower on this first morning, I was grateful for the bars in the shower stall. Leaning on my sail crew training, I had a hand for myself and a hand for the ship. In other words, I was holding on for dear life. 

After my shower, I quickly made my way to the cafeteria. It was a long walk and were it not for my ginger candy, I probably would have lost my dinner from the night before. I remembered the advice I received from one of the waitresses the night before - when you're feeling like you're going to lose your lunch, eat a green apple. I swung into the cafeteria, grabbed my apple and somehow found Maggie. We enjoyed breakfast together and would you believe it? The apple helped tremendously and there were gluten free options!

Coffee, bacon, waffles smothered in strawberries and whipped cream - what more could one want? 

With waffles and coffee in my belly, we ran into Carolyn and Felicia before going to see a lecture on California Missions. Here's some trivia for you - what modern family name made its name in the Alaskan Gold Rush? (Answer will be in the end of this post.) The presentation was a little less than I would have expected, but I did learn a little.

After the presentation, Maggie and I split ways. I wandered around trying to find a place to write. I started up at level 11, but it was rocking so much, had to continue my exploration, but not before having fun with the crew.

Up on the top deck, wondering how the people in the background could read with the ship moving so much.

Being unable to handle the constant and sometimes violent rocking, it was time to continue my explorations. Throughout most of the ship all of the doors to the outer world were closed. It was like they didn't trust mostly drunk landlubbers out on high seas or something. (For the record, I didn't drink a drop on the cruise 'cause that's how I roll.)

My tummy began to growl, so I headed to the Lido deck where the food was kept. Much to my absolute delight, I felt the wonderful kiss of a fresh, outside breeze! The aft patio was open, so I walked around, soaked in the sunlight, and found a nice table where I could write. It was positively delightful. Being cooped up with 2,000 of your new best friends is great and all, but I was glad to be outside. I spend too far much time in a cave-like environment. (Don't get me wrong, I love my office, but natural light is good.) (I may have one of those "we-live-in-a-land-where-the-sun-does-not-shine happy environment lights on my desk, but I will neither confirm or deny that.) I'm a Southern Californian, what do you expect??

Many minutes passed as my pen scrolled out a whole new chapter in a sequel I've been working on for a while ere my stomach less than gently reminded me, "Hey you, up there," my growling tummy protested, "Get up! It's tiempo to eat!" Yes, my stomach is bilingual, but mostly it speaks in the tongue of Hungry.

I did a lap around the dining hall and left with an incredible burger and fries (for those of you who may be keeping track, there was no bun on this burger and thus it was gluten free). The table outside called to me still, so back out into the world I went to eat and to write. It was lovely. I sat at the bar and sipped a Coke from South Africa, which was specifically for Maritime consumption, so thank goodness my trip fell within that category! It was interesting that we had to pay for soft drinks. I imagine that cruises would lose a TON of money otherwise, but just FYI in case you're looking for a pop while out on the seas. Coffee, teas, and water are free and available at all times, which was heaven for a caffeine addict like me.

With a full belly I headed back to the room for a 15 minute nap. The ship was still rocking, but it was much better than the morning. It didn't take but a minute before I drifted into dreams.

At 2pm, there was an Indonesian Crew show, which I was quite excited to see. I love learning about different cultures. I knew that the girls were hoping to watch this as well, but I couldn't find them, so I sat in the balcony overlooking the stage on the port side. About five minutes into the show, an ENORMOUS wake hit hour bow and the entire ship rattled and thudded. Even the crew was caught off guard by the bombastic slap of the ocean.

The Indonesians put on a fun show, which highlighted different aspects of their cultural heritages. At first the crowd was slow to warm up to these performers, but after while, everyone was appreciating the work our crew put into seeing through our every need and our entertainment. We had the most fantastic crew and I was grateful for each and every one of them. Cannot begin to imagine the hard work that goes into being crew on a cruise ship.

The show let out at 3:00pm and then, the race was on.

It was tea time.

And everyone knew it.

Prior to the show, I had strategically positioned myself at the top row so that I could get across the entire vessel before everyone else. For those of you who are thinking, what's the big deal? It's just tea time on a cruise boat filled with mostly retired folk. Well, think of it this way - I'm an old soul who likes caffeine and I was on a ship full of British Canadians...there ya go.

Alas for me, my strategy failed.

HUNDREDS of people over the age of 70 whisked past me. Can't make this up. The people aboard may look feeble, but hot dang, they proved that they could move.

Once we all made it through to the main dining hall, we were given seats assigned by the order in which we arrived. I sat with a lovely pair of sisters, a young lady who was traveling alone, and an older family of native San Diegans. The sisters were in their 80s and they were hilarious. The sisters reminisced oF a cruise they once took when their vessel picked up Cuban refugees in a life boat  in the middle of the night. They spoke as if it was no big deal, just another adventure on a cruise.

At the end of tea time I circled the room. It was the biggest event of the day, so I knew that the odds of finding the girls were good and sure enough I found them.

Well, I found Maggie and Felicia, but Carolyn was still MIA. We talked for a little while before we went off in search for our companion. It didn't take us long. We visited in the hall for a while, then Maggie left to freshen up for dinner. Carolyn, Felicia and I went up to their room where we relaxed a long while. We stood out on their terrace and enjoyed the feeling of the wind on our faces.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time. We made our way down to the Manhattan Room, the main dining area, to see Maggie in line. We enjoyed a fantastic meal. I ended up not doing my second reservation at the fancy restaurant, which worked out for the best. It was far more fun dining with the girls.

Up to this point, we were all under the impression that we did not have cell service; I tried to pull up my published books for Carolyn to see, but remembering that I was on airplane mode, I said, "I'm sorry, we don't have service." No sooner did I finish saying that, Maggie pulled out her phone, which was ringing, and said in it, "Hello?" her cousin had somehow made a phone call through to her.

The look that Felicia and I gave each other was priceless. We could not believe the coincidence.

We ate until we were stuffed. I had to wrap up dinner around 8pm because I had an appointment - there was a massage awaiting me. My plan had been to run to the room after dinner, change into my pajamas and then proceed straight from my massage into my bed, but alas, I ran out of time.

Preparing for the massage was a neat experience. You go into the relaxation room, which was nothing but windows looking out over the sea. It smelled of lavender and was dimly lit. I was already ready to pass out in sleep. (Doesn't take much for me.) After getting changed, I was led to the little massage room to meet my massage therapist named Lydia. She was very nice and gave me THE best massage I've ever had. However, I told the girls that if you haven't had a professional massage before, a cruise is not the place to start. If you have, then it'd probably be one of the best you'd ever have.

After the massage, I floated back to the room, visited with Maggie, then fell blissfully into sleep, rocked by the ever calming arms of the Pacific.

Step Count: 10,477.

Until next week, dear readers, when at sea we will be able to enjoy the Dutchie's Return of the King,

Your humble author,
S. Faxon

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION: If you guessed Nordstom, you'd be correct!!!! If you guessed Macy's, you'd be close, but wrong.

Boarding, Party of 4

"Who wants to go on a cruise?"

The sentence that hooked me. I had never before been on a cruise. Never thought of it, not seriously. Living in a major tourist destination and working near a cruise terminal brings the Dam ships near my front door frequently. No, I did not curse. That is what they are called - at least, that's what the Amsterdam line is called. That would be the one that called my name. 

My colleague, Maggie, stuck her head in my office one morning and said, "Hey, Sarah, want to go on a cruise?"

I considered it for one small moment and said, "Sure." Gave her my budget and Maggie was off. 

Every few days I'd receive updates on prices and dates until one day - it happened. We found the north bound cruise to Canada on the Nieuw Amsterdam that had our names on it. One of our good friends at work was also in need of a cruise, so we did everything we could until the stars were aligned - we recruited our friend, Carolyn and her friend Felicia, to come along. 

The Ship

From left to right: Felicia, me, Carolyn, and Maggie from atop the ship

Our adventure began on a Monday afternoon. When we ladies met at Anthony's Fish Grotto, we laughed at the amount luggage we each had and pinned on the flours I had brought for each of us. It was Maggie's birthday, so we gave her a birthday sash, had a few laughs, then headed to the terminal. 

We went through the rigmarole of pre-boarding check-in in the enormous B Street Pier. Before we boarded, a photographer pulled us over and took all of our photos. We laughed and posed, all proudly wearing our lovely flowers, which we wore all day, even to dinner.

Second balcony up, us waving to my folks.

My folks came down to the dock to watch us depart. From the balcony of Carolyn and Felicia's room, we waved good bye to them and to the Maritime Museum of San Diego's 101 year old Pilot boat, which floated on by.

The Maritime Museum Pilot Boat on her bay cruise.

Once our boat began to move, we explored the ship. We found the cafe in the Crow's Nest up on the top floor. It was an incredible viewing area. I took some fantastic photos of our city and gave an abbreviated small tour about San Diego to the Canadians and Zonies (what we call people from Arizona) who were listening. All was well until...

I knew ahead of time that gale strength winds awaited us out on the Pacific, but I had no idea how intense it would be. Once we cleared the 400 foot peninsula of Point Loma, the wind broad sided us and the ship began to sway. Being high up on top, we were quite aware of the extra movement, so we booked it out of there and headed back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. 

Made this observation on my way down: a cruise is like a beehive. It seems like chaos at first, but there is order and direction. Every bee has his or her own itinerary and the hive is subject to the whims of nature. Just like those beehives, our boat rocked. Literally and a lot. 

The little TVs said that we were experiencing eight mile per hour winds. The fifteen to twenty foot swells assailing us said otherwise. Let me put that in perspective; in San Diego bay, when we have 12 - 15 knot winds, we see white caps, which are basically the result of one-ish foot swells and it makes for an interesting boat ride, but still comfortable....TWENTY foot swells are the height of two story buildings, and hot-dang do they crash against your 964 foot boat with a BANG. The waves were pounding against our boat. And yes, it was a little nerve wracking. BUT we were all boat people, so surely we would be fine! (I was prepared to the max - I had ginger candies and acupressure bracelets on because I hadn't yet been out on the high seas, so I had no idea how I would do.) 

On my way to my room, I was ping-ponging against the walls from the boat moving. Eventually, I developed better sea legs, but the boat was slamming around so much that the walls were shaking heavily.

Regardless, we all had plans to meet. I had reservations at the Pinnacle Grille, one of the fancy restaurants. I didn't realize at the time how early my reservation was, so when I made it to the room, I flash changed and ran in flip flops in a pitching ship to the restaurant where I changed into heels. The restaurant was lovely and the food was fantastic. I enjoyed a pumpkin sauce scallop, Caesar salad, crab legs, asparagus, and Baked Alaska with Cherry Jerry ice cream. SOOOO good. However, I didn't eat as much as I normally would; the boat was moving so violently that I was going green around the gills. My waitress Anca from South Africa was very kind and helped to keep me distracted. Although it was tough to be distracted when at one point, one lady who had the view of the sea said, "Oh, that's a good one." And then BOOM! A powerful wake struck.

Good times.

The entertainment hall.

After dinner, I went to find the girls and as fate would have it, they were no more than ten feet away in the first hall I searched. We went to find the entertainment for the evening and watched the comedian on board whose name was Russ. He was hilarious. It helped that we had a good crowd of people who were interacting with him. The show room was enormous. The cruise had well over 1,000 passengers, so it's not surprising that the entertainment hall would have the space to accommodate all of us. 

Once the comedy show was over, we went to watch the B.B. King jazz band. The two singers had lovely and incredible voices. We listened to them for some time, then Maggie adjourned from the activities. Carolyn, Felicia and I walked around a bit before also calling it a day. 

The main lobby.

Walking around on a pitching cruise boat was a lot of effort and it was time to rest!

Prior to boarding, we had vowed together to take the stairs and only the glass elevators on occasion, so that we could eat what we wanted guilt free...mostly. I have a Garmin step counter, so I told the girls I'd keep track of our walking adventures. For day one, we reached 11,606 steps.

Until next time when you get to hear about our first full day aboard trapped inside at sea!

Your humble author,

S. Faxon

Last of the Tulips

Mmmm...breakfast. While enjoying my breakfast this morning, I realized that I was sipping the last of the Tulip Festival Blend that I bought from the Skagit Valley's Fidalgo Bay Coffee Roasters. 

If you recall a few posts back this was the place where I went with my Aunties Arnie and Jan to enjoy yummy clam chowder and an enormous cinnamon bun. This is possibly some of the best drip coffee I've enjoyed and it makes me sad that it is at an end, like the tale of my trip to Seattle in March.

We enjoyed our last morning nicely and easily. It had been a great, whirlwind trip, so it was lovely to sip our coffees and watch the rain drip from the flora and fauna of their yard. The furred and feathered ones were already fed, but we had to take poor Mocha-Moch to the vet. She had a bladder infection. As we awaited our appointment, that was when Arnie and I fed the chickens, the crows, the squirrels, and Ellie Mae, the cat living on the heating pad in her retirement home under Gladys, their day traveler. 

We packed up my things and loaded up the RAV, bound to take Mocha to the vet at the bottom of their hill. It was tough to leave poor Mocha at the vet for observation. I had become quite fond of that sweet ball of fluff and love. She had slept on my luggage all morning and her brother CJ spent the night beside me on my sleeping bag (I was freezing - had numerous blankie and a sleeping bag to keep me warm.) 

Once Mocha was at the vet, we were off to Seattle. We planned our adventures around getting me to SEA/TAC - the airport - on time. I purposefully booked an afternoon flight so that we could spend as much time playing during the day as possible. Our first stop was to Jan and Arnie's church so that we could look at the beautiful photos of my aunt's that were on display. She is a nature and bird photographer and boy oh boy are her photos amazing! See for yourself here at her website.

From there we went to the University of Washington's Kayak rental facility to enjoy Mexican food overlooking one of the many waterways of Seattle. I have to admit, we ate very good Mexican food on this trip. After my YEARS of hunting for Mexican food that resembled what I knew from home in NYC, I was delightfully surprised by the Mexican yummies we enjoyed in the North West. The view from the little restaurant was superb. We got to look out on houseboats and kayaks being prepared for the spring season. 

From there we went to the Center of Wooden Boats where I was able to nerd-out on the many different vessels they had on display. (Are you noticing a theme of boats? There's a good chance that I like them, but I'll never tell! Unless you've been reading this blog for a while and then you may already know the answer to that.)

Moving on.

We stood in sight of the Space Needle, but our goal for the day was to visit another well known Seattle Institution; no, nothing to do with Bill Gates, Pike's Peak, Costco, or Starbucks (although that eventually happened). Instead, we went underground. That's right, under the very streets. 

The Old Down Town Seattle

There was ONE recommendation my friends from back home had for me on my journey to Seattle and it was to go do the underground tour. I'm SO glad I took their advice. I'm a history Nerdette and love to hear a good story, so this was the perfect adventure. I'm not going to do a spoiler of what they talk about because when you go to Seattle you have to do this tour. Disclaimer: it is not suitable for all ages - not because it's scary being underground, but because of the content. To give you an idea Seattle has the best case I've heard for being the origin city of the phrase "Skid Row." The tour was wonderfully colorful and I particularly enjoyed learning about what we on ships would call "deck prisms." If you are walking along a city street and see colorful stones in the sidewalk, those are likely crystal prisms that pour light below - it means, there's an underground passage beneath you. Most of which, you probably had no idea was even there. 

After the tour, we hopped back into the car and went to a surprise destination: 

The mother ship! 

Feel like I don't have to talk about this as you know what it is.

Alas, the adventure was over. My dear aunts drove me to SEA/TAC and with lots of hugs and kisses, I bid them fair winds for the time being. I knew I'd be seeing them again soon.

When I was in the airport, I ran into an old friend, which was a wonderful surprise. We visited and then we had to part ways as there was a plane with my name on it. My adventure to the north was wonderful. I feel very blessed to have done this weekend trip and who knows where the next adventure will take us...except...what's this??

Come back to see the adventures ahead on this, the weekly read!

Until next week!

Your humble author,

S. Faxon 

   

To Port Townsend!

Port Townsend

On my second morning in Washington, I woke up to the beautiful sounds of all the birds in the yard. The crows, the squirrels, the jays, the chickens were singing their morning songs. So precious! 

On day two of my adventures in the North West with my aunties, Arnie and Jan, we woke up early, fed and pet the furry and feathered people, then filled our thermos' with coffee and jumped in the car.

We had a ferry to catch.

Now, for my San Diegans and all non-ferry boat people, this was a big deal. For Washingtonians, this is an every day event, but the car ferry in Edmonds was amazing. We drove through the hills, admiring the dew and the footprints left behind by the rain in the night. When we came to the last high point before reaching Edmunds, this was our good morning greeting from the west:

Those white peaks in the distance are snow covered mountains. The Olympia mountains, to be exact. And yes, that blue stuff on the top, that's blue sky. It was a GORGEOUS MORNING with nothing but sunshine all day. 

We sat and awaited the ferry, our car was second in line. It was a surprisingly organized process. Perhaps it's because the people of WA have done this for so long, it's as standard a practice as starting one's car, but I was impressed.

We were on the lower deck and our car was only a few back from what in this direction was forward (it's hard to tell on ferry boats). As soon as everyone was all settled, we hopped out of the car, dawned our warm gear, and headed to the top to check out the views. And we weren't the only ones.

BUT this was Washington on the water in early March...In other words, it was FREEZING. So we hid behind the wind wall to try to keep warm.

But I love the feeling of the wind in my face, even if it's freezing, so I braved it for a while. 

At some point, we went back down into the really nice inner deck where there was a cafe, a newspaper stand, and a nice sitting area. We braved the viewing deck and realized that there was nothing but sunshine! Meanwhile, I do believe it was raining in San Diego...

Our ferry landed in Kingston and we began the drive to Port Townsend. We were headed to the tall ship Adventuress. She is a 103 year old schooner. The drive was beautiful. Learned all about the native trees and the logging industry up here. We even found where the buffalo play!

We made it to Port Townsend and bought some local cheese to enjoy while we watched the morning's light grow. Port Townsend is an interesting artist town that has had several of its buildings from the 1800s preserved. 

We skipped around until our appointment with the Special Projects/Development Coordinator of Adventuress, the sailing ship of Sound Experience. My aunts had been galley crew on Adventuress on many adventures past. They wanted to share with me the sailing boat that had brought much joy, laughter, and stories into their life. I'm a bit of a tall-ship person, so this was something I was really looking forward to. It was great fun getting to meet the former Pilot boat of San Francisco and hearing about the youth programs the organization promotes and hosts, which instill confidence, leadership, team building, and the passion of ship-wright skills in youth.

Adventuress

We walked all over this sweet little port town, enjoying Mexican food (yes, Mexican food and it was wonderful), delicious ice cream, and some yummy coffees. The ice cream parlor server told us to come back again, so we did. Our round two was for cold pressed coffee, which was very tasty and satisfying on such a cold day! The ice cream, was really good too. I enjoyed espresso ice cream and vanilla. Soooooooooooooooo good. (We had to follow up the ice cream with the coffee as we had chilled ourselves a bit too much.)

Eventually, we hopped back in the car and drove to to the Fort Warden State Park and looked out at the light house and Mt. Baker.

The mountains today were INCREDIBLE! We were surrounded by white peaks. The Cascades and the Olympias showed their beautiful majestic selves proudly and we enjoyed quite the load of Sunshine.

The day was starting to wind down, so we three adventurers hopped back in the car and headed east. We returned to our ferry and missed it by one car length! So while Arnie napped in the car, Jan and I explored the little port town, looking at all of the mom and pop businesses. 

Once the next ferry arrived, we were the first car on board, which was really neat as we enjoyed front row seats of what was coming. It was fun to watch the lights of the houses and businesses in Edmonds twinkle to life on the far coast while we approached. It started to drizzle on us once we landed and headed up the hill, back to the Coldesac Farm. Once we made it back, we fed the furry and feathered ones and enjoyed our Thai leftovers. I bonded with my new furry friends, Mocha Moch, who took claim of my suitcase and her brother Colby Jack. 

Colby jack was hogging the blankets

We soon settled for the evening and then it was off to bed! We had a big day ahead. We were to travel into the north to play with the Canuks!

If you have no idea what a Canuk is, you'll just have to wait until next week for our next post of the Weekly Read! If you do know, come on back anyway to learn about the adventures of my aunties and me!

Until then,

Your humble author,

S. Faxon

PS - Can't figure out why the background is white. Ugh. Sorry if that's annoying. If you have any suggestions on how to avoid/fix this, please leave your comments below. 

Seeing Seattle

In the midst of my production of the Golden Girls saga, I went out and about of my San Diego home northward bound to Seattle, Washington. My visit up north was brief, but PACKED with fun adventures and it's high time I share those adventures with you, dear readers.

 Last time I was in the North West corner was about twelve years ago (holy cow!), so I was quite excited to see Seattle once more. But I was especially excited to see my sweet aunts who live there!

Being a busy worker bee, I spent the first half of my Thursday at work before popping over to San Diego International Airport, also known as Lindbergh Field. (Side note; Charles Lindbergh's plane, the Spirit of Saint Louis was built in San Diego at Dutch Flats, an area of present day Point Loma, by Ryan Airliners. HENCE why the airport has two names,) My wait there was short and I was able to check my bag at the gate, which was a wonderful relief as I despise having to shove luggage over peoples' heads. I'm unusually paranoid that I'm going to drop my bag on someone's head. Talk about an ouch!

The flight was quick and painless. I ended up writing a fair amount of one of my books on my iPad during the voyage, so that was lovely. Felt like vacation right off the bat!

Sea-Tac was an interesting airport. I had to take a shuttle train from my terminal to the baggage claim before stumbling out into the cool and refreshing Washington air. My aunts were at the airport and ready to go! Even though there was heavy traffic leaving the airport, we were able to visit the entire way, so that made the ride go quickly by.

Mocha-Moch, my new furry friend

We enjoyed some yummy Thai food, but it took us just shy of an hour to get to their neck of the woods (literally) because of the traffic. We just laughed and visited the whole way up. My aunts are wonderfully adventurous spirits. They have been to England, Ireland, and Ecuador in the last few months alone! They just arrived that week from their latest international trip, but you would never know it from their energy! When we made it to their cute house, we fed the neighbor's chickens, (named Goldie, Opal, and Ethel), collected eggs, fed a different neighbor's cat, housed a stray kitty, who is quite friendly in the garage and turned on her heated senior citizen home, then fed their two cats and the 16 year old puppy, Sophie. They call it the coldesac farm. All the animals are very sweet and it was a lot of fun getting to help care for such a collection of furry and feathered friends.

We made plans to see the tulip fields and a few other amazing spots for the next day. 

Early the next morning, my aunt fed her "people". First, she starts with the crows and the squirrels, giving them a cup full of peanuts, which they gratefully received. After that, we fed Ms. Ellie Mae, the retired senior citizen kitty with her heated bed. She was never attracted to the idea of going inside, but she LOVED being pet. Then, we went to the chickens to let them out of their little hen house. We had to feed them in two separate piles - Opal likes to peck, I mean, pick on Goldie, so she and Ethel would eat from one pile of corn and Goldie could have her own.

The mostly golden girls

After all the furred and feathered friends were fed, we ate some yummy oats ourselves and then hopped in the car to go birding. We saw the most AMAZING things! We enjoyed the company of dozens of Russian trumpeter swans and Eagles! Real, wild, nesting BALD EAGLES!!! Now, my readers in the northern neck of the woods are probably thinking, "Meh, no big deal." But to a kid from the southern half of the states who has never seen a wild Eagle before, this was a wonderful and an incredible sight. The areas that we visited to see the birds were breathtaking even of themselves.

The only problem with birding in Washington in early March is that it is COLD! We were bundled up, but the wind coming off the water was a descent reminder that North West cold is waaaaaaaaay more piercing than South West cold.

We drove up a little ways more north and drove through the blooming tulip fields. It was spectacular. Yellow and orange, and gold flowers as far as the eyes could see!

The Russian swans were enjoying the flowers as well. If you're wondering what Russian swans were doing in Seattle, don't worry, they were here on visas...I'm just kidding. It's a part of their migration pattern to have their babies here then they eat as many potatoes as possible before making the incredible long trek back to Russia. Talk about a commute! Trumpeter Swans mate for life and travel in family units.

It was a lot of fun to hear the squawks and honks of the swans as we drove through the country roads, winding our way to the Mount Vernon area, where under the watchful gaze of a red-tulip painted tower, we had our lunch at the Calico Cafe. Oh my gosh. I will never be able to have better clam chowder than that which I enjoyed at this cafe. SO GOOD! We sipped delicious coffees and enjoyed our salads and soups. For dessert we enjoyed an excellent apple cinnamon bun.

We drove back down to our neck of the woods, watching the Canadian geese, the Russian Swans, and the tulip fields fly by. When we made it back to the house, we watched two Episodes of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs that talk about the Maritime Museum of San Diego's ships, the one-hundred-eleven year old steam-yacht Medea and the 152 year old iron hulled barq, Star of India. We did this in preparation for our next adventure, which I'll tell you all about next time in the Weekly Read!

Until then, Dear Readers!

Your humble author,
S. Faxon

The Golden Beginning

Starting this project about the Golden Girls was as easy as breathing and has been an absolute delight to produce. Wrapping up this project has become an interesting challenge. There are countless subjects yet to be covered and with any luck someday they will arise. These last few posts were of course to provide you an escape, but also (selfishly) to see if indeed there's a full-length book to be made of this, and do you know what? There is. (Surprise, surprise.)

Research for this project has further instilled and gilded my respect and appreciation for the actresses and the production team. The lessons that they taught us of endurance, family, hardships, and the value of friendship are timeless and everlasting. They'll fortify our capacity to live and to love if we heed the lessons and apply them to our daily lives.

In their own lives, the actresses applied the lessons of strength and friendship. Estelle Getty was referred to as every "gay person's" mother, being an ENORMOUS advocate for gay rights and for AIDS research. Betty White has done more for animal rights than most could boast, let alone imagine. Bea Arthur too was active in animal rights, but she was regarded as a loving mother and a wonderful friend. And Rue McLanahan returned her gifts of performing to students throughout her life. These women are not just heroes because of the women the portrayed on television, they are heroes because they were and remain to be, some of the most wonderful contributors to society that our last century produced.

If you're interested in learning a bit more about the girls and the show, I highly recommend watching the Golden Girls Reunion documentary: 

Since the end of the documentary, we have lost Estelle, Bea, and Rue. The documentary was made shortly after Estelle's death. Sophia was regarded as everyone's favorite girl and dear Estelle, she truly was a beautiful soul. Her fellow actresses held her in the most wonderful regards and she was will be remembered not as a "mean old lady," but as Betty White said, "The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us." (LA Times) I'd like to add, that so too will be Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose. The girls will live on forever. We will always hold them in our hearts, and thank them for being our friends. 

Writing about the Golden Girls in these last few weeks has been an absolute delight. It's been quite fun to blend my favorite pass times to share with you. As it turns out, and probably not surprisingly, there's still an awful lot to say. If you're interested in reading more about the Girls and how they impacted society, PLEASE let me know. There's a decent project awaiting to be written here, but I have to know that there is interest before I begin. Whether you choose to leave me a note below or if you share this blog with your friends via your social media, I will be most grateful. This truly is a treat for me to write to you, and regardless what you choose to do, of course, this is not the end. There's plenty more stories where the last few years have come from and you better believe, you'll see more words a'comin' next week!

Until next week, Dear Readers.

Your Humble Author,
S. Faxon

Endure

Words of wisdom or words of abject ridiculousness were bound to follow whenever Estelle Getty's character in The Golden Girls, Sophia Petrillo, breathed the words, "Picture it; Siciliy 1910…" Some of Sophia's stories rivaled Rose's with their nonsense and hilarity, but many of Sophia's tales did possess of a ring of wisdom to them, especially the ones we the viewers get to see her live.

Sophia's character, if you are not familiar, is that of a Sicilian immigrant who moved to Brooklyn with her mother, married another Sicilian immigrant and had two children, Dorothy and Phil. Last week we talked about her children, and there could not have been greater physical differences between Dorothy and Sophia. For starters, Estelle maybe stood 5'1, where Bea Arthur was near to six feet, so their height differences set the stage for amazing comedy. Side note, one of my favorite moments in the Girls is when Sophia goes to make one of her classic hard-punch one liners, Dorothy slaps her hand right over Sophia's mouth and to dismiss the moment says to the others, "I just love my mommy so much!" Pretty sure I cried laughing the first few times I saw that.

Anyway, there's a remarkable amount of depth to Sophia's character. Indeed, there are times when Sophia's gruff exterior make us cringe, but at the end of the day, her heart is one of gold. Sophia volunteers and does not tell her girls about the sweet, selfless acts she does in a day. She stands up for the little guys and she is motherly, in her own way, to her girls. But most importantly, Sophia's character gave voice to a generation that was disappearing in silence. A generation that was suffering with few in their corner. Society's forgotten were and are our own grand parents and great-grandparents fading in the dark, but Sophia Petrillo brought them back to our attention. In my first posting about the GGs, I talked about elder abuse, in this one, we're going to talk about the closing years in life and the healing nature of love.

There are quite a few episodes of the Girls that humbled their audiences to tears. One that especially comes to mind is about the trials of getting older. There have been countless movies and shows that demonstrate grandparents and great grandparents deteriorating from the perspective of their loved ones, but few from the perspective of the elder themselves. Perhaps it is because people are afraid of the unknown "end" and would rather write about it from a disconnected perspective of distance rather than throw themselves in those shoes. But the Golden Girls, they went there, and they went there in quite a few episodes. In the episode, "Not Another Monday", Sophia's good friend Martha and her go to the funeral of another good friend, Lydia. Martha is deeply rattled by the funeral. Her family is gone. Her best friend just died. She has arthritis, angina, pills beyond imagining, and so she decides that she doesn't want to go out in pain the way her friend had. 

Martha invites Sophia out to a lavish dinner and appears to have a new attitude on life until the following conversation, which begins with Martha saying to Sophia, "I want you to come over to my place tomorrow night."

Sophia asks, "What is it your birthday?"

"Sophia," Martha says solemnly, "There aren't going to be any more birthdays."

Eventually the conversation goes on for Martha to tell Sophia, "I want you to be there when I kill myself." 

The scene breaks with Sophia and the audience in shock. Martha tells Sophia that she wanted to decide when it was her turn to go, to which Sophia replies, "I always thought somebody named God did that." Martha continues to tell her that she doesn't want to die in pain or alone, so she wants her friend to be there to hold her hand. 

Sophia is deeply troubled by this. She understands that her friend is terrified to have seen her friend go out slowly and in pain. To be fair, we all fear that sort of demise.

Sophia keeps having nightmares of being there when her friend ends it. She consults with her girls and of course Dorothy fears for what the situation will do to her mother, but Sophia decides that she is going to be there for her friend and so she goes. Her friend gives her an amazing diamond and they begin to reflect on the good times. Martha has her pills at the ready on the table in front of her and once she realizes that she has everything prepared, she says to Sophia, "I'm so glad I don't have to go alone."

Sophia stands from the couch where they are sitting in Martha's home and says, "Do you remember how we met?"

Perking up significantly, Martha says, "Yes, about 8 years ago we shared a room in a hospital. You had the heart scare, I had the gull-bladder."

"They gave you my sponge bath by mistake."

"You ate my jello. It was a horrible little room. We couldn't wait to get out of it."

"Because we wanted to live," Sophia quickly reminds.

"Yes, I remember."

"Remember better! Remember life!" Sophia desperately pleas.

Shaking her head, Martha replies, "I don't have much of one. I'm not like you. You live with friends and family. Holidays and warmth. I hear the silence."

Sitting back on the couch with Martha, Sophia says, "We'll talk. We'll talk all the time. You can come over Thanksgiving, Christmas. Every Friday night, I may not always be there, but you can always talk to Rose."

"No, I want to go. Lydia looked so peaceful." Martha grabs her hand full of pills, but Sophia grabs them from her.

"We're not in this life for peace."

"You're crying."

"No I'm not, I don't cry!" Sophia protests.

"I can see your tears!"

"And I can see yours and you know what that tells me?" 

"What?"

"You're not as ready to die as you think you are. You still want to live, kid."

"Some kid. I don't know what to do."

"That's the point. If you're not sure, you can't change your mind tomorrow. You wanted me to be here for your death, how about letting me be here for your life?

"Like a friend?"

"Like a best friend."

This may be one of the most powerful dialogues in the entire seven years of the show. Yes, death is imminent and often times it can be premised with great pain, but it is the love of our friends and family that must keep us strong. Life is not easy and sometimes we are presented with great challenges that make us question everything, but every morning, the sun rises. Hope is reborn. We just have to hold on to those bursts of light, even on cloud stricken days. This lesson of appreciating every moment, every smile, every friend is something that Sophia teaches us in this and many other episodes. Her wisdom of strength through love is beautiful and one that we would all do well to abide. Fear of the unknown weakens us and makes us so susceptible to terrible decisions and isolation, creating an ever-downward spiral. Sophia's remedy is simple and so easy to abide; love. Open your heart to the world around you and you will find beauty, you will find reprieve and peace of mind, even if you are suffering. It is friendship and laughter that frees us from our chains. My own grandmother, Nelva Faye, was very sick towards the end of her life, but do you know what? She was surrounded by her loved ones and I remember her laughing, singing, even when in what she and we all knew to be her last few days in this plain with us. She did not die alone and she lives on through us, her family and her friends.

If you have a loved one who is getting on in years, please don't let them be forgotten. Do everything in your power to prevent that fate. They have contributed more to this world than we yet have, so let them know that they are loved and appreciated. Invite them out to tea, for wine tasting, for beach combing, whatever they or you deem worth, just don't let them fade. If you are in your later years, fill your life with laughter. Don't let yourself become isolated - go sailing, go walking, join clubs, go on cruises. There is so much life out there - live it to the last, dear readers. You only get one shot at this, so make it good. 

Many people have said that it's the things that we overcome, the mountains that we climb, that we remember most, but I want to add it's the loved ones who were with us as we met those challenges that we should hold most dearly in our hearts. This is the lesson that Sophia Petrillo teaches us. The "end" only comes if we allow ourselves to lose sight of the truly important and dear things in life: love, laughter, friendship. Surround yourself with these blessings, my dear Readers. Endure, smile, explore. Even if you are in your later years and especially if you are in a rut. You are not alone. Trust me, I know at times the road is rough, but keep Sophia's words in your heart; "We're not in it for the peace" and "keep your seat belts on, there's a lot of twists and turns." You never know what the road will bring.

Until next time dear readers when we wrap up this reading adventure with the Golden Girls.

Your humble author,

S. Faxon