swoosh

Insanity… that’s what it is, pure unadulterated insanity. What you ask? Well, on the Princess $1 deposit sale we booked two more cruises, both for 2020. The first one is 7 days in Alaska, the second 17 days from Rome to Dubai. We’ll most likely do the Alaska one, but the Dubai is a bit of a question mark. It has tons of sea days - as much as a transatlantic - and we don’t know yet how much we’ll like a long stretch like that. Our cruise across from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale this November will let us know.

My mom asked me why we were so crazy about cruising and I didn’t have an answer right away, in fact I am still thinking about it.

• I like dressing up and the whole ship experience. It is like having a string of date nights.
• It’s easy - we just book, chose our excursions, show up and everything is taken care of. It is easier on my anxiety when I don’t have to worry about being somewhere and getting places. That’s a lame excuse, but will have to do.
• If I’m tired (and with this darn illness I don’t have the stamina that I used to have), I can opt out of some of the activities. It is easy to take a nap in the afternoon, and if it was really dire I could skip an excursion. This isn’t possible on a bus tour.
• We are procrastinators, but by booking more than a year in advance we actually do it.
• I’m not really great with uncertainty, which is what a trip in the camper to the south US would be. Maybe if we didn’t have a giant camper it would be easier, but with 37’ behind the truck a certain amount of pre-planning is necessary.

It has been a busy few days: Pat over for supper Friday; birthday supper for my Dad on Saturday; Trudie & Leo for supper Sunday.

I have a chicken soup bubbling in the instant pot this afternoon. Chicken legs with backs attached were on sale so I actually served up meat last night. The bones were collected and stuck in a pot for 45 minutes to make a nice stock. Now the golden liquid is back in the pot, this time with onions, carrots, peas, and some lemon halves. It is a bit of an experiment and I haven’t decided if I’ll put noodles in it or not. I’ll decide at supper time.

The sun is out full-force today - it’s lovely out. A perfect winter day. If I felt that I could skate without breaking my neck we’d head to the canal, but alas, I am a klutz and never learned how to skate. Instead, I’ll sit on the sofa and look out of the window while I dream of swoshing along the ice.

Tomorrow is Spike’s 11th birthday, and just in case I don’t post, here he is the night we brought him home.

It is a spur that one feels at this season more than at any other. How nimbly you step forth! The woods roar, the waters shine, and the hills look invitingly near. You do not miss the flowers and the songsters, or wish the trees or fields any different, or heavens any nearer. Every object pleases.... the straight light-gray trunks of the trees... how curious they look, and as if surprised in undress.

~John Burroughs