Winter

Winter

Likes and Dislikes

• I love a blizzard, just one per winter.  I love being stuck in a house with a wall of snow outside. I love the silence of the night as all of us are home and off the roads.
• I hate shoveling the snow and scrapping the snow and ice off my car.
• I love snow days.
• I kept my house at 57F.  I only increased the temperature if my hands got cold.  I hate cold hands.
• I have tons of scarves that I wear all winter and in to the spring.
• I sleep more during the winter than any other season.
• I used to love to go sledding after it snowed but now I am too damn old to do that.
• I went to Iceland in December once to see the Northern Lights and to see what it was like to be in 24 hours of darkness.
• I drink more porters and stouts during this time. i also like winter ales that are released at this time.
• The Women's March is in January and I have attended every one of them so far.
• I like to spend a weekend at the beach in cold weather.
• I have lots of winter hates but I don't wear any of them, not even my two mink hats.
• I hate Christmas.
• I like to put Jameson's Whiskey in my eggnog.
• New Year's Eve is overrated.
• I am becoming more of a professional football fan and the Super Bowl is more interesting to me over the last couple of years.
• I've participated in Christmas Bird Counts in San Francisco, the Chesapeake Bay, York, PA and Bermuda.
• I like to go to old row home neighborhoods and look at their Christmas decorations.
• My grandparents were married on December 25.  My sister was married on December 27.  My parents were married on December 29. Two of my nephews were born in December.
• When I worked, I always traveled during the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve.
• I spent a New Year's Eve in Bermuda, London, Greece, Belize, Nepal, Galopogas, Chinatown, California, and other places.
• I have leather mittens. They are my favorite mittens.
• I have too many boots.
• When it is cold, I drink honey whiskey.

Thoughts on Bangladesh

Thoughts on Bangladesh

November 24- December 31, 2019

ULAB

World Academy for the Future of Women

Dhaka, Bangladesh

I am here for five weeks to teach global leadership skills to women at the University of Liberal Arts-Bangladesh. 

• There are 80 students in our program. 
•  The program if off to a rough start as students aren't showing up as they have previously committed to do.  
• Only 30 are showing up on a regular basis.
• There is a man in the  program and he is cooking for me.  Yesterday he made me chicken dumplings.  I hope he makes them for me every day.
• He wears tuxedo type suits every day.  I would love to go to his house and take a peak in his closet.
• Traffic is a mess and there is too much horn honking at all hours of the night.
• I have never seen such banged up public transportation buses.  They look as if they have been in junk car derby races.
• I am told not to take the public buses as women are raped in the crowded buses.
• Most of my students are Muslim.
• A parent of a former student from Philadelphia contacted me last month to see if we could get together while she is also here visiting.  She emailed me today to say she is too damn tired to get together.  The traffic is wearing her down.
• She also told me that Bangladesh will fill me with despair and disappointment.
• My apartment is adequate. It is the university guest house.
• A man picks me up every day and takes me to campus.
• I am missing Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years because of this trip.  I am avoiding the most stressful time of the year in the USA.  I feel lucky.
• The women are soft spoken. I can't hear them.
• Many people speak in both Bengali and English in the same sentence.
• I visited a college campus and students were throwing darts at a life size portrait of Trump.
• I know nothing about Bangladesh politics.
• They gained freedom from Pakistan in 1971 and I don't remember it at all. I just remember the George Harrison album that raised money for the famine at this time.
• In 1974, the entire Royal Family was murdered and this horrific incident doesn't ring a bell with me.  I would have been a sophomore in college.
• I loved my visit to Paman City, an ancient, deserted city from centuries ago.
• I have off for Christmas Day which is a surprise since the christian population is about 5%.
• There is loud, constant construction going on right outside my apartment.  They start at 7AM and finish at 9 PM. Some moments, it's maddening.  The entire apartment building vibrates.

Margaret and Howard

Margaret and Howard
Albany, NY
1955- 2000 ( this is how long I knew them).


They were my great aunt and uncle; Margaret was my grandmother's sister. Both had been married to other people before they met. Divorce and remarriage were unheard of in the 1930's.

• They lived in a tiny house in Albany and lived frugally and had plenty of money. They had just two forks, two knives and two spoons.
• They never had children.
• They always considered my mother to be a little girl.
• They traveled around the world.
• They lived in India for a few years and that seemed to be the highlight of their time together.
• They used to be heavy smokers but gave up smoking at some time in their lives.  But they never put away the big ashtrays on a stand in their living room.
• They loved to play bridge and other card games.
• They always had a cat.
• Howard worked fro a paper company.  So he would bring us a full case fo paper every year.  We never had to buy paper.  I think I could find some of that paper now in my apartment.
• Howard was a gadget guy.
• Margaret was always a beauty.  She practiced yoga for years and stayed flexible up until her death.
• Howard liked to fix our things whenever he came to visit.  My mother would put together a list of tasks for him and he would work a few hours each day and then settle down and have a drink or two.
• They really liked to drink.
• They would come to our house for Thanksgiving Weekend and they would show up with a whole box of liquor: a gallon of wine or port, a fifth of whiskey, tonic waters, club soda and mixers.
• They had Citizen Band (CB) radios. His radio name was Apple Jack and hers was Apple Blossom.
• When Howard was only 5, his father took his brother and went out for a pack of cigarettes.  The two of them never returned. And Howard never heard from them again. Maybe 75 years later, Howard met a child of his brother who said the father never got over the guilt of his awful deed.
• Howard died first. Then my mom died next and Margaret was lost as she felt as if she had no family left.  And two years later, she died.

South Dakota

South Dakota

Custer National Park

August 2012

I've only been here once but I really enjoyed it.  I went with KT with the intention of visiting Mount Rushmore.  I always wanted to see this monument.  And I have to confess, I was underwhelmed.  It was nice but it was not a spectacular monument.

But I did love the Custer National Park which was where we camped.  There was a road where the buffalo roamed, particularly at sunset.  So we would drive our car there as the sun was going down and just wait for the herds of bison to meander pass us.

One night, the car window was down and a bison started walking quickly towards us.  We couldn't get that window up fast enough.

One day we drove through the Badlands and I was filled with amazement to think that explorers made their way through this terrain with nothing more than hope that there was better land ahead.  That was a journey of optimism.

We also traced some of the journey of Lewis and Clark and the Oregon Wagon Trail.  Again, a journey of optimism and tenacity.

I don't feel a need to go back here.  But I would recommend that everyone visit this beautiful state.

Breakthroughs

Breakthroughs

World Academy for the Future of Women

ULAB

Dakha, Bangladesh

December 26, 2019

I was in Bangladesh, teaching leadership skills to college women.  We were holding a forum with three successful women.  The moment was wonderful.  I had picked one of my students to be the moderator of the program and she exceeded my expectations.  Here is what she postd the next day on Facebook:

There's a point in your life when you realize everything you have worked for results in a greater accomplishment. When you don't believe in yourself, you think everything is falling apart when in truth, it's only creating a much diverse stage for you to fathom in.

I had the utmost previlege and honor to host WAFW's open forum "Speaking Up" and it is beyond words. A surrel request and the boost in confidence I gathered thanks to my facilitator Bridget E Kelly for believing in me. Never would I have ever imagined to get an opportunity like this. I could not have asked for more than what I truly worked so hard for.

To future endeavors and breakthroughs, for this momentum to continue.

Thank you everyone for being a part of yesterdays forum.

#AchievementUnlocked🔓

+6

49You, Sumiya Santa, Tiasha Tabassum and 46 others

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  Sumiya Santa You did really well❤.
  I'm so proud of you❤❤

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  Noor Ul Huda You were amazing. I am very proud of you Nusu ❤️

I'd Like to Thank All Those Who Got Me Here Tonight.

I'd Like to Thank All Those Who Got Me Here Tonight.

I heard this during a movie.  The main character was thanking those people who stood with him during his tough battle with sobriety. That got me thinking about all the people who helped me along the way.  There are a lot of people on this list and I wonder why I am so lucky to have so many people to thank.

• My parents- they taught me everything.
• My grandparents- Ida and Jack taught me the value of travel, how to play cards for hours and how to love my family.
• My siblings- they still tolerate me after all of these years.
• My in-laws- all of my siblings married well and they have been a big plus to the chaos of my family.
• My friends- they have been pillars of strengths and lots of laughs.
• My students- I think there are 10,000 of them.  They filled my life with purpose, fulfillment and joy.
• Mrs Jordan- my Social Studies teacher from high school.  She had such an enthusiasm for the rest of the world.
• Dr. Baker- my professor in my Master's Program in Educational Counseling @ PSU.
• Mrs. Sterns from Brandywine College- she was the first person to tell me that I was intelligent.
• F. Scott Fitzgerald- I didn't enjoy reading until I began to read his works and then I became an avid reader.
• Dr. Lewis-The doctor who did my vocal cord surgery in 1981.  I didn't have cancer.
• Dr. Souser- she preformed my breast reduction surgery in 2010 and the results of that surgery dramatically improved the quality fo my life.
• Joe O'brien- he hired me to be the Principal of Springfield High School, PA
• Sal Illuzzi- he hired me to be the Vice Principal of Stroudsburg High School, PA.  At that time, no one was hiring women for this position.
• Scottie Nesbit- he was my boss at Jenkintown High School.  I liked how he treated me and had faith in me.
• Jerrie Uberle, the CEO of World Academy for the Future of Women. I have been a facilitator for the WAFW on four different occasion and they have been wonderful times.
• Holly Born- she was a teacher who lost a child and hide this information from me until I needed her in my grief and she stepped up and helped me mourn.
• Maureen Nesley- she pulled me through my deep sorrow and found a grief group for me.  She took me there and sat with me as I cried my eyes out.
• The Overbrook for the Blind School staff and students- I grew up across the street from his school and I watched their struggles and residency for years and they taught be to persist.
• My Girl Scout leaders- I loved being a girl scout.
• My Overbrook Community- I grew up in Overbrook in the 1960s and 1970s.  That was a great time to live in this family focused neighborhood.  I have a strong sense of belonging and commitment to community.
• The Penn State Community- I have all three of my degrees from PSU and am forever gratefully for the education I received there.
• Joni Mitchell- I fall back on her music in good times and tough times.
• The Caner Patients- driving these strangers to their treatment has taught me how to be humble in a crisis.  May I have as much grace in my time of need.
• The people of Haiti- HFI and FLI-  the people I met worked for free in their attempt to improve their country. They taught their neighbors to speak English so that they could be more employable.  Many times, they didn't have enough money for a meal on any given day.

Downtown, Small Town- PA

Downtown

Small Town PA

February 2020

I love taking photos of small towns.  Sometimes, I just drive around and pull over and take so many damn photos of these downtown areas.  I love to see how other people live.

Alaska

Alaska

2007- June- I spent a week here with my sister, her husband and her father in law.  We went to Denali and saw no animals.  We took a train through the mountain range and the views were breath-taking.  We went to Fairbanks, Anchorage and the Arctic Circle. This was beautiful week.

2017- March- I took my nephew here with the expressed intent of watching the beginning of the Ididarod race.  We felt in to Anchorage a week early and went dog sledding, ice fishing, glazier watching, and curling. We went to ice sculpture contest and braves the ice and cold.  But unbeknown to us, the dog race was moved to Fairbanks so we missed the damn race.

I Hope for 30 More Years

I Hope For 30 More Years

A Conversation with Friends

Cape Coral, FL

January 2020

Dom and Jaye are preparing to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.  It's a second marriage for both of them.  They are in their late 60s.  I asked Dom if he ever thought he would be married for 30 years.  He told me, "I hope I am married to Jaye for another 30 years."  My heart soars with love for both of them.