It’s 5:20 am and I’ve already been up and about for an hour, packing last-minute items into my suitcase. As I have done for the last few years, I am going away to be with my family for my birthday. I had made the reservation a few months ago, and of course, I didn’t think… Read More Birthday respite?!
Well, maybe it’s not entirely life-changing, but at least it’s going to change my life at leisure. I can say with certainty that my life of “retirement” is over, and it’s all because of a phone call I got last Sunday afternoon from the Rev. Paul Lillie, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. You may… Read More Life-changing phone call
A few days ago, a longtime friend who is a faithful reader of this blog sent me this message: “… I haven’t read a blog from you for quite awhile. Everything ok? 🤗💕” I pointed out that I had written a post just five days prior, but apparently she hadn’t received the notice. People who… Read More Controlled (?) mayhem
Face it, what’s happening in our world is pretty depressing and grim in case you watch the daily news. Therefore it was a welcome respite to go to the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra’s concert on Sunday afternoon — a new season, a new conductor and new concert outfits! Australian-Chinese conductor Dane Lam is the new Music… Read More Awesome season opener!
I’m not home quite yet, but I can already proclaim that my trip to Colombia was absolutely fantastic and I would go again in a heartbeat! It turns out that the reason my trip to Colombia was so cheap was that I didn’t realize that my return had a long layover in Los Angeles —23 hours—where… Read More It was a fantastic trip!
It’s my last day in Colombia, and I opted to take a private, 4-hour walking tour of the Walled City and Getsemani, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d see wildlife up close and personal! At 5 am, I was awakened by the squawking of four macaws right outside my hotel window.… Read More Wildlife in Cartagena!
I know that when I let it be known that I was going to Colombia, more than a few of my friends were worried that I would be in harm’s way. Our tour manager, Alejandra, explained that Colombia was in a war for fifty years, and that if you observed one minute of silence for… Read More Steamy Cartagena
You’re probably wondering why I am now in Bogotá, Colombia, of all places. A number of people asked me why I chose this country of all travel destinations. The explanation goes back several months when I was considering attending the Association of Anglican Musicians (AAM) conference in Dallas in June. The first thing I always… Read More Whirlwind tour of Bogotá
Yesterday afternoon I spent four hours in a walking tour of Bogotá churches and 95% of the time we spoke Spanish. Woo hoo! It helped that Alejandro, my tour guide, has another life as a professor of English at a government-funded technical school and could gently correct my mistakes. But I think that carrying on… Read More Zipaquirá Salt Cathedral
The second walking tour I took was called “Bogotá Religious Tour” which lasted four hours (!) and the only two people on the tour were Alejandro, the guide, and me! It was because of the availability of this tour that made me want to come here to Bogotá. After the graffiti tour in La Candelaria,… Read More Bogotá Religious Tour