wander-world.blogspot.com
Life's a trip!: December 2014
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Monday, December 22, 2014. It's in the Smiles . Have your Christmas and New Year’s traditions changed over the years? Have they changed since you were a kid? Or even from when you were in college, a young adult versus now, in your ol’ ripe age – whatever that age is? Remember even the night when I knew there was no Santa Claus anymore! It’s kind of unfair to say that lots of food was a Christmas tradition, because Romanians cook a lot, no matter what the occasion is, and no matter how poor they rea...
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Life's a trip!: October 2014
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Wednesday, October 15, 2014. About 15 years ago, almost to the date, he was caged at PetLand in Greensboro, NC, at Friendly Shopping Center. He was “up for adoption”, for a small fee of $150. I asked the shop clerk “how much did he cost” and he corrected me that “he is not for sale. But. In more ways than one. I went home and told my then husband about him. We had $300 in the bank and the mortgage of $750 due in a week. Two days later, a Saturday, sometime in the fall, my husband and my then step kids sh...
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Life's a trip!: July 2014
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Thursday, July 31, 2014. I grew up firmly believing America looks just like the movies. To me, The South-East looked like the life in Dallas. Los Angeles looked like Beverly Hills 90210. And the West looked just like any John Wayne movies, full of pistols, runaway rogues, horses and dirty bandanas. There was not much in between but open lands and people who hated all three of them. And the oven roasted turkey. And they, of course, invented … the rodeo. And yes, my friends, I am here to tell you I partook...
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Life's a trip!: The Road Too Much Traveled
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Thursday, July 16, 2015. The Road Too Much Traveled. When Jim Morrison wrote his lyrics about how “The West is the best”, he was not thinking of I-15, I can tell you that much! He was not thinking of all the people pulling guns against cops for not particular reason, or just against random people at the mall, fighting for a sale, or of the horribly polluted air between the canyons, either. These, and many others, are random truths you find for yourself once you move and live here. Well, tonight was my un...
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Life's a trip!: May 2015
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Monday, May 25, 2015. That May when Utah Valley Moved to Portland. I have lived in the high Utah Desert for five years now. Sheesh! That used to be my deadline max! 8220;I give it 3-5 years”, I used to say when we first moved here. Funny how time just sneaks up on you like a pair of wild wrinkles around your eyes. But never in five years have I seen so much rain for this long in this Valley! 8220;Rubber rain boots in the desert? This past Saturday, I found a window of sunshine in the sky to finally plant...
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Life's a trip!: March 2015
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Tuesday, March 31, 2015. I was told I was born a “big baby”. I am told I am a “small woman” now. It’s all relative and a matter of perspective, I guess. I was born in another world. Quite literally. It was called Romania then. I call my world North America – occasionally Romania now. It’s a giant leap and not only in geography! There was no email 40 years ago. No World Wide Web, either. The original World Trade Centers were barely 2 years old! You know where they are today. I was born in a blizzard, in A...
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Life's a trip!: January 2015
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Monday, January 19, 2015. 17 Years Ago Today …. 8230; I landed in Atlanta, GA, from Romania and then Amsterdam. And although I have occasionally looked back, I have never, ever considered, not even for a second, to ever return to my homeland, after I realized that living here was possible. And 17 years feels and sounds like a lifetime. Much has been lost and gained. Much has been lived, most of all. Got my citizenship and I cried. I cried a lot in these years! I do not know. And I do not care. Ho...Every...
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Life's a trip!: May 2014
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Sunday, May 25, 2014. I have at least a couple of friends out there who will think these two words are mutually exclusive. My own husband will say the same thing, perhaps, and that’s where he grew up. And I’ll have to say – because of all this bias, it took me several years (since 2010) to realize that yeah, there is so. A Michigan charm, and a big, deep, profound one at that. About Michigan that I can’t quite capture in words. Farmland somewhere between Grand and Big Rapids, MI. Maybe it’s the Mic...
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Life's a trip!: September 2014
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Sunday, September 07, 2014. How Not to Die or Give Up While Climbing a Mountain. The Timpanogos Cave Trail Adventure. Till a week ago, the most difficult trail I can remember ever attempting was The Shoals Falls Loop Trail in South Mountains State Park in NC. Or the Hot Pots trail, in Diamond Fork Canyon, in Utah. But both trails quickly fade in comparison to the Timpanogos Cave Trail, in American Fork Canyon, which kicked my butt! I will let you read on the specifics of the trail on your own. Loving hei...
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Life's a trip!: February 2015
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Sunday, February 22, 2015. Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake. A Photo Journey. This belongs in the series “around the corner from our house”, or “our very own backyard”. We’ve lived here for almost 5 years, and we have planned to visit Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake every single one of them. This time, we did not plan it. We just woke up one Sunday morning and off we went. Or all that desert brush? Either way, you feel remote, and lost. Do you feel small and lost yet? The "friendship" or tol...
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