Forgetfulness and Flexibility

I went out of town last week with great plans for what I would accomplish. I would care for and play with my granddaughter, of course, but babies take naps, and surely I would have some down time. And then I got to the security line at the airport in […]

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To Russia, at Long Last

One of the prime selling points of the Baltic Sea cruise for me was the scheduled stop at St. Petersburg. I had studied Russian in high school and college. I’d lived in the Russian dorm at Middlebury College for one year and eaten countless meals at the Russian table in […]

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Our Alla Tour in Helsinki

As I mentioned recently, my sister did most of the planning for our Baltic Sea cruise. She decided to use Alla Tours for the St. Petersburg shore tour, rather than the cruise line (Celebrity). As she and I explored at the Alla Tour options described on their website, we found […]

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More Beaches to Write About

As I’ve written before, any year is a good year when I get to walk on the beach. This summer, I’ve walked along two beaches and seen several others. The first beach was in California—on Balboa Island in Newport Beach. My husband and I took his mother to visit in […]

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I’m Back!

The reason I took most of July off from blogging is that I’ve been traveling a lot in the last couple of months. First a trip to the Los Angeles area in June, and then a cruise on the Baltic Sea during the first half of July. I couldn’t write […]

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