60/60 Project
On July 9. 2015, I turned
60. To celebrate this milestone, I visited 60 different places during the
year. Every place listed offer me an opportunity to reflect or see life
just a little differently. Below is a list of the places I visited:
1.A
morgue/funeral director- Saturday, March 28, 2015 (#1)- I certainly didn't think this would be my first event
but it was. And so it kicked off my year of reflection about life and
death. My good friend, Rick Chamberlain, died after a year long battle
with cancer. Fortunately, I had just seen him the week before and he was
really ill. So his death was no surprise but still was so, so sad. He
died on Friday, March 27 and Darcy kept him in the house all afternoon so
friends could stop by and pay their respects. By the time I got to the
house, he had been taken away. People comment that he looked so calm.
I wanted to see him in that state because he didn't seem calm to me last
week. He was struggling with pain. Later, I sat with Darcy as she made the
dreadful arrangements for his cremation.
The moment was too final fro comfort.
2.Pocono
Wildlife Rehab Center - PA- the importance of animals- Saturday, April 11, 2015
(#2)- I visited this center maybe 20
years ago when it was smaller and at a different location. So I was
surprised to see how much the Center has expanded. Run solely by
volunteers, The PWRC takes in all types of injuries wildlife from around the
east coast. Katie Uhler is the founder and CEO of the organization. I
hired Katie about 25 years ago to teach Biology at Stroudsburg High School. She
still teaches full time and runs this center on the side. But it has
become a beacon for wellness and respect of wildlife.
3.A Dog
Show- Watching people's passions - Sunday, April 19, 2015 (#3)- This was great fun. I was meeting friends to
watch their dog compete in a show in Baltimore, MD. I parked my car and
called to connect with them. "It has already been worth the price of
parking just to see all of these wackadoodles out here with their dogs". I
tell them. There are dogs in little custom made booties. Dogs are
being rolled in on carts and groomed and trimmed and pimped. Some dogs
have their own exercise treadmills. Their hair and fur are blown dry.
And their owners are obsessively pulling on their stumbled tails.
"That's to queue him to keep his tail erect. That's important that
it stands straight up." said one nervous handler.
4.
Met the
President- April 24, 2015 (#4)- Ok,
this wasn't on my original list because I didn't think I would ever meet the
President of the United States. But the opportunity popped up and I got
to meet him and it was VERY exciting.
5.
The Redwood
Forest- April 27, 2015 (#5)- It made me dizzy to stand under these magnificent
tresses and look up to take these photos.
6.Seal Sanctuary- CA- (#6) I had been to this sanctuary before and have
also been to one in South Africa. I like
to watch how animals live together.
7.Lobby on
Capital Hill- May 13, 2015 (#7)-
OK, this wasn't on my list either but the opportunity came up and I jumped on
it. I was invited to the National CARE Conference and we were trained to
be lobbyist for the day. We meet with senators, congressmen, legislative
aides and world leaders. Our lobbying focused on three pieces of
legislation: (1) ending gender based violence against women. (2) providing
family planning to women, and (3) passing the Global Food Security Act of 2015. I did this again in May 2016
8.Left Hand Brewery- CO- I went to several breweries this year but this one was my
favorite. The brew master spoke with us
and poured us here porters: one which was carbonated, another that was nitro
and the other was cask quality. He
explained the differences and had us taste the difference s and chatted us up
about beers. This is how I like to spend
my time in a brewery.
9.Spent the night at a Hot Sulphur Springs Spa- CO- we had the whole place to ourselves as our hotel
room was the only room in the hot springs area.
After 10 PM, everyone had to leave and we got to roam from pool to pool.
10.Bette
Midler- June 16, 2016- It’s always great to see the Divine Miss M. I
think I’ve seen her about three times.
There was a time in the early 90’s when my mother, sistersand nieces
tired to get tickets to see her. But we
waited too long and my mother never got to see her and now my nieces are no
longer interested in Bette.
11.A week at the beach with friends- we went to Chris Reeder’s house for a few days
just to relax and help Darcy change her scenery. It had been three months since Rick died.
This respite was good for all of us.
12."O", the Water Show- Cirque du Soleil- NV- I went to Las Vegas two years
ago to see this show. When I arrived in
town, I was stunned to see how expensive the tickets were so I got cheap and
decided not to go to the show. When I
came home, I was mad at myself for being so damn cheap. Then I got a call from Charlene Frable who
asked if I would take her out to NV to see the show. She decided to give up on her treatment and
put together her bucket list. This show
was the first thing on her list. So we
flew out to NV for three days to see this show.
We got the best tickets in the theatre.
I paid $200 for my ticket and it was worth it. The next night, we went to see Zaranka”-
Cirque du Soleil- June 27. In hindsight, I
wish we had gone back to see the Water Show again. There was just so much to see and comprehend.
13.Volunteer in
a Soup Kitchen- June 30, 2015- (#7) The Parish
Foundation, Elkton, MD- As part of our on-going community service, the members
of the Cecil County Democrat Club served dinner to about 100 people in the
county. They come here every night for dinner, no questions asked, no judgment
passed and have a free meal. It was so obvious that some people needed the
help. But there were a few people who seemed to be pushing the envelope on
need. But, if someone is going to risk all dignity just for a free meal, he
must need it. A couple of families showed up and we sent them home with care
packages. One woman asked if she could take a dinner to her son in the hospital
because she wasn't sure anyone was going to feed him. The recipients were
genuinely grateful and eager for simple conversation. I was grateful too
because I got to leave there, go to a restaurant and order whatever I wanted
(without judgment).
14.The Ganges
River - India - this is where I celebrated my
60th birthday. - MOTHER GANGA- I have
never seen a body of water more respected and more utilized in my entire life.
I live near a river so I understand that a body of water can grab hold of you
for some unexplained reason. But this river owns the heart and soul of every
Hindu I have met. People speak of this river with a reverence that is
admirable. They use the river as their primary water source for bathing,
cleaning, praying and relaxing. Yet they pollute it with such disregard that
they must think this river will clean itself, and maybe I am wrong about this
thought. Maybe they just don’t care that it is filthy, littered with tons of
debris, fecal matter, decomposing body parts and years and years of deposits of
cremated ashes. Maybe they have so many family members in this river that it is
a comfort to be here with them regardless of the polluted conditions. Regardless,
this river has a strong hold on everyone.
This river exudes life. Millions of souls are resting
before me. And each day more and more cremated souls join the Mother Ganga to
watch over all of us.
15.Monkey
Temple- July 15- Monkey
were everywhere near my hotel but that didn’t seem to satisfy my quest to visit
this temple. I hopped on a bike taxi and
this skinny. old man labored for three miles to take me here. The place is
overrun with monkeys that run rampant and dodge in and around the
visitors. It unnerved me. Why did I not
anticipate my reaction and why do I always have to seek out something beyond my
comfort level?
16.
The Bizarre- Baltimore, MD- July
23, 2015
- This store is listed in an article about unusual must-see places
in Baltimore. So I made a road trip to check it out. While it was interesting,
I wouldn't call it a must-see place. There were a lot of oddities but nothing
too creepy. And nothing that I would buy for a friend or myself.
There is a box of photos of men
in the early 1920's who have exceedingly large scrotums. Some of them are
larger than basketballs. While these photos were interesting to look at for the
moment, I wouldn't want to pay these photos and have them around my house.
looking at the photos for a few seconds was enough for me.
I went here in the late
afternoon. No one else was in the store and the two men who ran the store
seemed to be engaged in other activities since there were no customers. I am
not sure who would buy most of the things in this store and I wonder how it
survives.
17.A
night swim in the North East River- August 1-
I went with my neighbors. The air and
the water were the same temperature which made the swim so pleasant. I could have stayed in all night and still
have plans to somehow sleep on some sort of raft and just float away through
the night.
18.A
tour of the Jewish community in Towson with David Neff- August 10, 2016:
David is 21, Jewish, Republican, a homosexual, caustic and lives in a small
town. He sticks out in so many ways. But
he recently moved to Towson and asked me to come have lunch with him. SO I did.
He asked me to meet his at Goldstein’s Deli and I could hardly wait to
order my lunch. I was going to have lox
and bagels. After we ate, he took me on
a tour of the synagogues where he worships.
There are three of them and each of them offer him something different.
19.A Mosaic
Design Class- trying something new- Touchstone Art Institute- September weekend,
2015- This was a fun, three-day weekend, in the woods. I know nothing about mosaic design and will
never do something in this medium again.
But it was fun to explore and give it a try.
20.Delaware
Water Gap Jazz Festival- September
11, 2015- Rick Chamberlain was honored which made this a bittersweet day. Then
it rained all day which made it difficult to stay warm and dry. Regardless, there was something very nice
about day spent in good company, good music and good cheer.
21.Pope
Phrancis in Philly- September
25, 2015- This event exhausted me. I was
emotionally drained by the time the Pope left town.
22.Pot
cookies for Joe-Oct 17- As
friends, we had secured some pot cookies for Charlene in hopes of offering her
some relief from all of her pain. But the though of doing something illegal,
even as she laid on her death bed, was too much for her. She just didn’t want them. So I chimed in and asked if I could have them
for my friend, Joe who was dying of pancreatic cancer. Joe was happy to receive my gift. As a matter of fact, his last meal was a smoothies with three cookies
thrown in for good measure. I hop these
cookies brought Joe some relief.
23.PHOTO
facial- I got my face zapped- Oct 14- I
wasn’t sure what this procedure would entail but I waned to try a new kind of
facial treatment. It was painful, expensive and ineffective. I wont do that again.
24.Laurna
McKenna Concert- Oct 31- Wilmington, DE- I went
with Kathy Flatley, the only person I know who also knows who Laurna McKenna
is. This woman has a powerful voice that
can lure anyone into a contemplative mood.
25.Campaigned
for Diane Simon for School Board- In the primary, she was
the top vote getter. So we spent the
summer and fall, dropping off literature at people’s doors. The race was so close; it took three days to
get the results. In the end, she came up
17 votes short.
26.World Academy
for the Future of Women- promoting
leadership within women- Sias University, Henan Providence, China: I
returned to China and to the WAFW after a three-year hiatus. It was great to be back and just as enjoyable
as when I taught in this program in 2012.
27.Thanksgiving
in China- Nov 26, 2016- What a treat. The Chinese don’t care about this dinner and
made no effort to hide that this dinner is a nuisance to prepare.
28.Lunch
Program for the sanitation workers- Nov 28-
My students planned a lunch for all of the sanitation workers on campus. Every worker was treated to a bowl of noodles
and they ate with so much gratitude. No
one ever throws them a bone. They made
the assumption that I had sponsored the event and thanked my profusely. It was hard to convince them that the
students wanted to thank them for all of their had work.
29.Christmas
Lights Extravaganza- South Philly- December 2015- I wanted to see the lights in Brooklyn but
that didn’t happen. I’m Ok with that
because I did get to sneak down to South Philly to see the lights and that was
extravagant enough. I don’t put a single
light up for Christmas. But it was
obvious here that neighbors came together at this time of year and work to make
their street the best street in the hood.
30.Lunch
with Lynn Schoch -it’s been ten years- Dec 19; 2015-
A lot of good people slip through my life. Lynn is one of them so I made a
point of tracking her down. She is 85
now and time is running out for both of us.
So we had lunch and it was great to see her.
31.Quebec City,
Canada for Christmas- December
2015: most of my trips center on the
people and the sights. The living
conditions are rarely even considered.
But this trip was different. We
stayed in a luxury hotel and ate large quantities of gourmet food. We saw no sights and spoke to as few people
as possible. But we really, really ate well. We did go to the Sacrilege
Bar- December 26- I wanted to spend Christmas day here but, damn it, it was
closed. So we went the next day and
spent the afternoon here, sitting at the bar, drinking beers and loving the
name of the place.
32.Hospice Visit-
Dec 29, 2015- I
spend the afternoon at the hospice center with Charlene. We have been friends for 20 years and now
there are only a few days left. She has been struggling with cancer for almost
5 years and she was determined to beat it but now she is left with no other
choice but to go gently into the dark. In a few days, the cancer will win and
Charlene will be gone. So I went to the
hospital today to say goodbye. I had planned on stopping in and only staying
for 15 minutes as I thought that would be enough time and then she wouldn’t
feel obligated to stay up any longer than she could, just to visit with
me. But Charlene is beyond any
capability of visiting with me. Her
breathing is labored; it is difficult to swallow or talk so she doesn’t attempt
either. She falls in and out of
sleep. Some of this is morphine induced.
But mostly she is exhausted from this hard work of living. Her sister sits with
her this afternoon. Her husband just
left to go to dialysis and he will then go home to rest and be back in the
morning. Friends have stopped by. Some
of them are uncomfortable with how helpless they feel. Some of the visits are very short. Others stay about an hour and they leave. But now that I am here, I don’t want to leave. I can’t
walk away. This will probably be the
last time we are together. So I want to stay even though I am probably
overstaying my welcome. I can’t bring
myself to move on. “Stay as long as you
like”, Phyllis, her sister tells me. “And if you need a moment of privacy to
say goodbye, I can go to the lounge and read my book.” I don’t have any need to say any profound
last words. Truthfully, I don’t have anything to say. But I just really want to hang around. So I
do and now I am in conversations with the nurses on what I think needs to be
done to assure me that Charlene is not suffering. In the early evening, I decide to leave because I just can’t stare
at her anymore. Phyllis hugs me and I
tell her how sorry I am for her and she tells me that she is sorry I am losing
a friend. I kiss Charlene on the forehead and wander off into the dark, foggy
night, hoping that tonight, Charlene will wander off as well.
33.New
Year’s Dinner in Stroudsburg- returning to the familiar- Dec 31, 2015-
we lost Rick in March and now Charlene died just yesterday. So it was nice to spend a quiet night with my
Stroudsburg friends.
34.PA Farm Show-
Hershey, PA- January 14, 2016- I went with Patricia. I didn’t think she would join me but she did
and we had a good time. We spent a lot of
time watching the animal competition.
The first group of animals came out and we couldn’t tell if they were
goats or sheep. I couldn’t make it as a farmer.
I do not have any personality qualities that allow me to be consistent
in anything I do. And animal care needs
consistent attention.
35.Served as a
Night Supervisor for a Homeless Shelter- January
2016- I did this twice in one week. It was interesting and I was grateful to come
home to the comforts of my own home.
36.Phoenix,
AZ- escaping- January 2016-
I talked myself and others in to a four-day trip to warm AZ to discuss
important matters about WAFW. Truthfully,
I just wanted to go some place where I could get warmed from the rays of the
sun. The fact that I was leaving a
blizzard behind in MD made this trip ever more special.
37.Filed as a delegate for Hillary Clinton’s campaign- February 3, 2016- My name never made it on the
ballot but, at least, I attempted to be part of history as the first woman is
elected president to the United States. I followed up to be the
Cecil County Coordinator for Hillary Clinton’s Campaign`- being a part of history- March 2016
38.Safari- all lives
mater- Tanzania- Feb 2016- five great days of lions, giraffes, elephants,
impalas, rhinos, birds, gazelles, zebras, hippos and fun company. We are in our safari
truck. The hood is popped up so that we
can stand and look at everything and take photo after photos to document this
special moment in our lives. We are one
of five trucks, parked in the narrow road. There are herds of elephants on either
side of the road. We are shifting and turning and stretching in an attempt to
capture the perfect National Geographic photo. One large elephant turns and
begins to walk towards us. No command
appears to have been given. But all of the other elephants fall in to place and
follow this leader. Slowly and quietly, they meander through a narrow opening
between truck two and truck three. We are all silent and watching with delight
and fear. We are so close, we could reach out and touch these magnificent beasts.
But we also know something could spook then and they could charge at us at any
moment and we would be defenseless. they don’t charge at us. They just meander
past us, quietly, slowly and orderly. We
stand in absolute silence, filled with gratitude for this moment of beauty and
tranquility. The moment is spiritual.
39.Islamic
Wedding- Tanzania- Feb 2016
40.Labor Room- the beginning
of life and death: I watched as one
woman after another gave birth alone, without medicine and with great potential
for everything to go dreadfully wrong- Seng
Erma Designated District Hospital. Tanzania--My friend is a new doctor who has
just started a Peace Corp assignment in Tanzania. She is the delivery doctor in this small
hospital in the northwest part of the country. The volume of pregnancies
overwhelms her. This hospital delivers twice the number of babies than her
previous hospital in the USA. But her
previous hospital had dozens of doctors delivering babies. She stands alone in this ward and oversees
all of the births. I spent three days in
the hospital with her. Most of my days
were spent, sitting on a chair, trying to stay in the background. But if I had put on rubber gloves, I could
possibly have been called in to service.
41.Ra Khun Resort-
Tanzania- five wonderful days of
decadence.
After a week observing a district hospital and then a week on safari, we were
ready for a little bit of decadences. We
booked five days at the Rus Kutan just 40 kilometers from Dar Es Salaam. The place sits right on the Indian Ocean and
caters to 20 people. There are luxurious
huts, overlooking the ocean. All meals
are included. Drinks are extra. The
scenery is beautiful and life is good. Here are just a few things that I
enjoyed:
· Snorkeling
at an old ship wreck;
· Blue
ball monkeys roam around us;
· $200
bar beer on the first day. We got that under control the next day;
· Morning
naps;
· Afternoon
naps;
· Early
evening naps;
· Massages:
v Day 1- head massage
v Day 2- salt scrub
v Day 3- foot massage
v Day 4- full body massage
· Bottle
after bottle of Kilimanjaro beer;
· Floating
in the warm water of the pool;
· Skinny
dipping late at night with a sky full of stars;
· Protecting
our food from the monkeys and not always being successful;
· Lingering
at the dinner table until 10:30 PM, deep in conversation on how to save the
world;
· Sleeping
with the door wide open so we can hear the ocean all night long;
· Large,
encumbering mosquito nets that were difficult to get in and out of our massive,
luxurious bed;
· Great
food, too much food at every meal;
· The
lovely feeling of being cut off from the rest of the world, oblivious of the
news, obligations and worries;
· Days
that blend in to each other with nothing to distinguish one day from the other;
· Relaxing,
bordering on lethargy;
· Accommodations
fit for a queen. It’s the type of place
that is so nice I begin to panic and dread the thought of leaving the minute I
step in to this bit of paradise.
42.Philadelphia Flower Show- March 10, 2016- the last time I went to he Flower
Show was in 1970 when a man selling pruning shearers told me his product was
for men only because women weren’t strong enough to use them. I got annoyed at
this comment and challenged him. He let
me try the shearers and I couldn’t sue them.
But so what, I was only 14 and a weakling. Even though I wasn’t successful, people in
the crowd cheered me on because of my hutzpah. Now, 45 years later, I am here
again with my sisters and this event which seemed so massive to me years ago,
now seems so small.
43.Beautiful- the play, March 2016, The Academy of Music. I remember when Carole King released her Tapestry album in 1970. It was spectacular. Every song was a hit and 40 years later,
still holds it’s own as an album of great magnitude. It is always joyful to
listen to this particular album which takes me back to that summer when I
struggled to find my way in to the adult world.
44.Eastern State
Penitentiary- - repentance- Philadelphia, March 2016. This prison was once a show place of good
sense and reform. The prisoners repented
through solitary confinement. Now our President has banned solitary confinement
as being inhuman to young prisoners. I
wonder how many thoughts and practices will swing back and forth in my
lifetime.
45.Lego Exhibit- how do you
start a big project? - Wilmington, DE- I wanted to see the big exhibit at
the Franklin Institute in Philly but I missed it. So I drove up to a mall in Wilmington to see
this smaller exhibit. I wonder how
anyone gets started with such a big, big project. Is there a CAD program that lays out the
whole process? A lot of preplanning was
involved in this show.
46.Jameson’s Eagle Project-April 23, 2016- VA- I’ve had many students who earned
Eagle status but now, my nephew is closing in one this achievement that is
admired by everyone for a lifetime. So I
am hell bent that it is going to happen.
To his credit, he let me nag him with phone calls and texts and never
complained. He spoke to me politely and
tell me know when he would be completing his project so I could come and watch and
take photos. Now, I await the ceremony.
47.Toured the
Barrier Islands in Florida along the Gulf of Mexico- May 2016- I went with Jane Momer, my high school
friend. She drove. I sat in the
passenger side, with the top down and the wind blowing in my face. “Let me know if you are bored, we don’t have
to go all the way to the end,” she tells me several times. I try in vain to
convince her that I love to go exploring.
I am an explorer.
48.George Peabody
Library- leaving
a sustainable legacy- Baltimore- May 16, 2016- Peabody opened this library
with the intent of making it available to everyone, regardless of social status
or economic status. So many, many years
after his death, the library is still open to the public for free. There is one
slight problem. All of the original
books are still in this library, they are obsolete and too fragile to
handle. SO this library, this building
of knowledge is nothing more than a beautiful museum. Peabody’s intent is long lost. So what do I want to leave as my legacy and
how do I work at this idea so that my intent sustains itself?
49. Alice Paul
Institute- standing up to inequality at all cost- I recently visited this home because I admire Alice
Paul's courage. She came from a family with money. She attended
Swarthmore College when women didn't go to college. She earned a Master's
degree from Penn when few people earned that degree. And she risked it
all in her pursuit of equality for all. She was arrested and jailed three
times. She was beaten and force-fed. I have a lot of opinions and a lot of conviction
but I lack courage when there is the potential for me to be hurt. I
admire people who risk everything for social justice. I wish I had this level
of courage but I don't. I wanted o go here because I met two people who have
stood up and showed so much courage. I met Bernie Sanders just after he announced his candidacy for the
presidential race. I was walking into an elevator and he was walking out.
I stopped him and thanked him for stepping up to run. He thanks me,
exchanged a few pleasantries and moved on.
I also Met Congressman John
Lewis- I don’t have as much courage as he has. He was in Selma and
got beaten as he crossed that bridge. Then he came back the next day to attempt
to cross it again. Physical violence
intimidates me and leaves me vulnerable.
50.St. Padre Pio Shrine- finding hope. A woman sits by the statute, holding a
relic of Padre Poi. She prayers over
people upon request. They touch the
relic and she touches their area of ailment.
They pray together. A woman
stands up in front of everyone and gives testimony to her friend’s improving
health, “She couldn’t be here today but I think shies going to walk
again.” The crowd cheers with this great
news. Many people know each other as if they come her frequently. This site serves as a tonic in a toxic world.
51.Boy George/ Cyndi Lauper Concert- just a little
bit of nostalgia. I’m not really a
Boy George fan but I went in honor of my mother. In the mid-80’s when he was so popular, my
mother loved him. “I love how he applies
his make-up and he really has a sense of style,” she once told me. Her ability to see him as he was, way back
then, was really inspiring to me. I remember hoping that I would be that
open-minded when I reached her age.
Well, now I am pass my mother’s age when she liked Boy George. I find myself to be disinterested in a lot of
pop culture. I don’t even know if there
is a Boy George type out there to like right now. I have to be a little bit more like my
mother.
52.Columcille Park-
Bangor, PA- May 31, 2016- This park is a realtivley new park. Designed by a few local people, it serves as
a place to walk in quiet and solitude. There
is a walking mediation circle and as I walked it, my mind stayed focused on one
thing: do not fall and trip over all
these damn rocks because I could really hurt myself.
53.A cup of Kopi Luwak (civet) coffee- A little
decadence never hurt anyone- I first
heard of this coffee from the movie, The
Bucket List. Unabashed and with great arrogance, Jack Nicolson drank this
coffee exclusively. At $50 a cup, it’s
the most expensive coffee in the world. It isn’t that the coffee is so
expensive, it’s that the process is costly.
I wanted to try a cup for my celebration year. But I didn’t really want
to pay that much for a damn cup of coffee. As luck would have it, my friend was
given a package of this coffee from business associates in Thailand. So he brewed me a cup. It was delicious. It was smooth, with no bitterness but a rich
flavor. I enjoyed it but I don’t think I
enjoyed it 50 times more that my dollar coffee at McDonald’s. I think this will be a once and done
opportunity.
54.A Quaker
Ceremony- I served as the Officiate at a
wedding for two women in a self-uniting ceremony-- being truly authentic- Marriage Equality- June 4, 2016
55.The Fitzgerald’s'
gravesite - paying homage to those unknown people who
shaped my voice- Rockville, MD- June 8, 2016-I really didn’t like to read until I
was a senor in high school. That is when
I finally, finally began to read American literature. I was mesmerized by The Great Gatsby. It was so different
from Shakespeare and Canterbury Tales and Greek Mythology, all reading
assignments II didn’t read. But once I began to read Fitzgerald, Hemingway,
Dorothy Parker, Thornton Wilder, and others, I became a reader. I thought of myself as a reader. For that reason, I will be forever grateful
to F. Scott Fitzgerald.
56. Kansan Odsal Palyul Changchub Choling- Center for Buddhist
Study and Practice in the Nyingma Tradition- Poolesville, M- June 8, 2016: I enter the Prayer
Room which is open 24 hours a day. There
are written instructions to remove my shoes and turn off my phone. The room is large and filled with hundreds of
candle holders and small Buddha statues.
A nun sits up front and prayers, sometimes in silence but other times,
she mumbles. She is Caucasian, my age.
Her head is shaved. She wears a maroon cloth that constantly falls down
her right arm. She adjusts and readjusts
as she prays. She prays from a prayer book that she uploaded on her IPAD
tablet.
57. Krishna Village- Bear, DE- June 2016- team Janna nitya-yukta
eka-bhaktir viśiṣyate
priyo hi jñānino ’tyartham
ahaṁ sa ca mama priyaḥ: Of these, the one who is in full
knowledge and who is always engaged in pure devotional service is the best. For
I am very dear to him, and he is dear to Me. (Your humble servant, Jahnava devi das).
58. Skete Monastery- Cambridge, NY- June
21-23, 2016- “Our mission- New Skete is a monastic community of men and women
rooted in the tradition of the Christian East. Through prayer, worship and the
work of our hands, we seek to respond to the mystery of God and the Gospel’s
power to transform human living.
Welcoming all, we seek to bridge the old with the new and to witness to
the sacredness of all creation.”
59.New Skete Kitchen- a production line- I wanted to see how people functioned doing the same thing day after
day. Does it get boring. Do people lose interest. So I went to this small factory that is run
by nuns. They hire four women from the
community and together they make about 1000 cakes a week. When I came into the bakery, I was
immediately impressed by the cleanliness of the place. It was spotless. The women wore white bandana
which made them look a little like nuns.
Everyone had a specific task and works quietly. “We bake on Mondays and
Wednesdays and ten Tuesdays and Thursdays we do all of our packaging and on
Fridays we catch up on new orders and inventory and things like that,” one
woman tells us. “And you called us the Cheesecake Factory. That’s a big chain store. That’s not us. We are a bakery.” So there you have it. Her sense of pride
feeds her good attitude and this work is not boring or monotonous to her. She prides herself on the high quality of her
work.
60.Craters of the Moon Monument- Idaho- July 10, 2016:
I ended my year of exploration here, in a place that looks like it’s out
of this world.
TO BE CONTINUED
1. Library of Congress- there is a lot of information out
there
2. Enfield Shaker Museum - NH
3. Ephrata Cloisters - Ephrata, PA
4. Ferguson - MS- how will this turmoil be
resolved
5. Westboro Baptist Church- KN- what causes hate?
6. Forest Haven Asylum- Laurel, MD- how should we treat
people?
7. Monsour Medical Center - Jeanette, PA- an
abandoned medical center
8. Hell House Alta- Ilchester, MD
9. Fort Carroll - Baltimore, MD
10.Seven
Fields - Colorado Springs, CO
11.Philadelphia
Murals Tour - P
12.A drag queen
show- something a little different
13.A mega church
14.A tattoo
convention
15.A comic book
convention
16.Mt. Laurel
cemetery - Philadelphia- forgotten
17.Skid row -
CA
18.A court case-
seeking justice?
19.a slaughter
house- do I need to eat meat?
20.a falconry-
in sync
21.organic
farming- a better way
22.Horse Races @
Delaware State Park
23.Native
American museum Washington, DC
24.A dragon boat
race
25.The Late Show
with Steve Colbert
26.Inscription
Rock - Native American site
27.Duke Farm
- Hillsborough, NJ
28.The United Nations -
NYC
29.Canterbury
Shaker village - NH
30.Moravian
Museum- Bethlehem, PA
31.Walter's Museum-
MD
32.Hexenkoph
Hill - Williams Township- ancient Native American site
33.Red Caboose
Motel- PA- something quirky
34.Moss Forest
35.Penshurst
Asylum
36.Bedford
Springs Hotel- PA- a warm retreat
37.National
Archives- Washington, DC
38.Deep Creek Lake -MD
39.Oyster Bay
National Park - NJ
40.Chincoteague
Pony Run - VA- last week of July
41.Patuxent
Research Refuge- Laurel, MD
42.Tilghman
Island - MD
43.Solomon
Island MD- far from the maddening crowd
44. Bird watching
in Cape May - MD
45.Taping of Wait,
Wait, Don't Tell Me- I love this show- DONE
46.Acoma Pueblo
in Sky City- NM
47.Mesa Verde-
CO- for the sheer beauty of the place
48.Great Sand Dunes-
CO- another beautiful spot on this earth
49.Aztec Ruins
National Park
50.Mikveh Israel
Cemetery- Philly (8th & Spruce St) oldest Jewish Burial Grounds
51.The Great
Falls on the Passaic River in Paterson, NJ
52.Ocean Grove-
NJ
53.C& O Canal
National Park-1057 Thomas Jefferson NW
54.Morris
Arboretum in Philly
55.The National
Women's Hall of Fame- Seneca falls, NT
56.Peter
Whitmore Farm- Waterloo, NY- the Mormon Church was started here
57.Johnson
Victrola Museum- Dover, DE- Victor Talking Machine
58.Haines Shoe
House
59.Toad Road-
The Gateway to HELL- York, PA
