Saturday, October 6, 2012

BACK TO PA FOR LABOR DAY WEEKEND

We barely got home and unhitched the Airstream before we received an email that said my Granddaughter, Casey was being baptized the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Since that Friday was my Grandson's birthday, it didn't take very long to make reservations for the Airstream at Camp Blue Diamond, a Church of the Brethren affiliated campground and retreat center where the baptism was to take place.  It is in the middle of Rothrock State Forest and is only about 35 minutes from State College.

The trip was a beautiful drive starting up the Shenandoah Valley, then Rt 522 into PA and through the mountains to the entrance to the park. In spite of my son's concerns about taking the Airstream into this park with out 4 wheel drive, the drive in was uneventful ~ only because we didn't meet anyone coming out on the very narrow road. Getting into a space was another story. We called ahead to make sure the park could handle a 34' trailer because many parks cannot. We were assured it would be no problem. I think that when I say, "34' ", the CG manager immediately thinks, "motorhome" because a 34' pull behind is a rarity these days. Airstream doesn't even make one anymore. And a 34' motorhome is ~ you guessed it 34' long.  Unlike my rig - which is a 34' long trailer, preceded by a 23' long truck.

We did succeed in safely parking in a very nice spot, reasonably close to the bath house, but only after trying several spots and almost getting stuck.

Then it was off to Tom and Ann's for Ben's birthday.  I've really fallen down on the job as photographer. TRUST ME - he just gets cuter as he gets older. I had a great time with the girls. They both showed me their doll collections and brought back many wonderful memories.

Camp Blue Diamond's lake is small but beautiful. I took canoe rides with Emily and all the grandkids. We really enjoyed just "camping" in the mountains.


Sunday dawned with gray skies amid worries about rain. But the big day came off without a hitch. Here are some pictures of Casey's baptism.





Rev. Bonnie is completing her 10th year at University Baptist and Brethren Church and obviously felt blessed to be able to bring 5 new members into the Church. Memories of Hancock, NY Firemens Carnivals - Chicken cooked over a big wood fire, held in wire and pipe frames. I do NOT remember ever getting juicy, fully cooked, unburnt chicken before. It was really delicious.

Thanks to all the members of the UBBC for making me and my new family feel so welcome, this time and all of the previous trips as well.

A peaceful ride home. I've finally gotten old enough that I can drive with the Airstream at a steady 60 MPH on the Interstates and just let everybody pass me. Carol calls it "our little 60 MPH bubble." Much more pleasant way to travel. And LOTS better fuel mileage, too. We parked and unpacked the Airstream. Tuesday Carol went to work with the kids and Emily went back to Salem High as a Junior. 

I rested. 

Monday, September 17, 2012

GETTYSBURG, BALTIMORE AND DC

Nice ride from Hershey to Gettysburg on Friday, Aug 17. We enjoyed the museum, diorama and film but didn't do much outside. Too hot.

Our space was waiting for us at Patapsco Valley State Park, Hollofield Area. It's a rugged, natural, truly beautiful wilderness barely 3 miles from I-695.

Rt 40 and I-70 actually pass through the park. But the park is big enough that you can enjoy it without even knowing the highways are there. This is the first time we've stayed there that we did not see deer. AND it's less than 4 miles to Bill and Bobbie's (Carol's sister) house.

Here is a map of the area


And a Google Earth view 


You can click on the images and see them enlarged in a new window.

We enjoyed a gathering of Bill's family and just hanging with them over the weekend. Bill had to go back to work Monday but Bobbie did not so we went to the the National Zoo in D.C.

We drove to Silver Spring and took the Metro from there. Didn't drive because we were meeting my Goddaughter Erin and beau for dinner in Rosslyn and the Metro really is convenient.

Another visitor to the Zoo took a picture of all of us.



Lots of animals, of course





I did say it was HOT, didn't I?


National Zoo is in Rock Creek Park and is built on a large hill. Start at the top, see things on the way down and then have to climb back to the top again. We were all feeling the heat on the way back when Emily insisted that we go into the Invertebrate House. 

Whoopee - lobsters, spiders and cockroaches. Oh My!  

But it was air-conditioned. So we went in.

One of the first things we saw was a giant octopus being fed by a keeper. While we all thought it was interesting, Bobbie went absolutely crazy over it. Like she was back at Disney or something. "I NEVER thought I'd EVER see a live giant octopus IN MY LIFE." We left her to enjoy and continued our tour.

She caught up to us after awhile, still bubbling. On our way out, we walked past the work area behind the tank where we had seen the octopus. Donna, the keeper was there and Bobbie told her how she had made Bobbie's month - maybe year. I chimed in with, "She can cross that off her lifetime bucket list now." Bobbie gushed, "Oh No. That was so unbelievable that it wasn't even ON my list." They talked for a little while about the octopus - her name is Pandora. She does change colors like all octopi but pink/orange is her "happy" color. Then Donna looked around and said, "There aren't too many people around right now. Would you like to feed her." Bobbie was just speechless. She just stood there gasping for air. I said, "Well YEAH." Bobbie finally said, "Ah, ah, ah, yes I would."

So behind the scenes we go. 

Here is Bobbie getting ready to put the stick with the shrimp head into the water



Here is Pandora grasping it in one of her tentacles


Looks like she's going to eat it.


Whoops. No. She's wrapping her tentacle around the stick 6 inches or so above the shrimp. She's not interested in the shrimp at all.  Bobbie said, "Oh Donna. Am I doing something wrong? She's not taking the shrimp." Donna said, "No. You're fine. She can see that you are not me. She thinks if she takes the shrimp you'll leave. And she wants to play. She loves attention." 

So Bobbie and Pandora played a gentle game of tug-of-war. Bobbie said, "She feels really strong." Donna said, "Yes. If she wanted to and you hung on to the stick, she could pull right over the side of the tank." But she really did just want to play.

If Bobbie stopped tugging, Pandora would sit (lay? float?) motionless for a few seconds and then tentatively tug a little to see if Bobbie would tug back. And they'd start all over again.

 So our newest bestest BFF from this trip was a giant octopus. All because Bobbie took a minute to thank Donna and tell her how wonderful the experience they had provided was. Of course, Donna LOVES her job and was just happy to share her love with someone else who was so interested. We got talking about her tiny work space and lack of equipment. She told us that the Invertebrates are a tiny part of the Zoo and the Zoo is a relatively small part of the Smithsonian so their equipment budget wasn't large. I said, "They skimp on equipment so they can pay you the big bucks, right?" She just laughed. So I asked, "OK. You come in every morning and work all day doing many different things. Which of those things would you refuse to do if they didn't pay you?" She thought just a second and said, "None. I'd do all of them anyway." I told her, "So you are either a very poorly paid employee - or an incredibly well reimbursed volunteer." 

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
Confucius

To the top of the hill, a short walk to a Metro station and off to see Erin and Kent. We got talking and didn't even take any pictures. But here's a recent one of them.
Cafe Asia is a wonderful Asian restaurant that had something for everyone in our group. I didn't get to spend enough time with Erin. But I never get to spend enough time with Erin. We reluctantly said, "Good by" and Metro-ed back to Silver Spring.

A short drive got us to the campground and we headed home the next morning.


Thursday, September 6, 2012

HERSHEY PARK

After a short trip from Cumberland, MD to Hershey, we arrived at Hershey Highmeadow Campground. Beautiful campground, two pools, etc etc. But we were there simply as a place to stay convenient to the amusement park. And it is PERFECT for that.

Many if not all of the reviews of the park mention trains every hour, all night long keeping them awake. If the trains are keeping you awake, you did not open and close Hershey Park with two teens, a tween and a 6 yr old. I know the trains ran because when I woke up in the middle of the night, I would hear one before I went back to a very sound sleep.

Since they are part of the "Hershey Family", there is a free shuttle bus every half hour. So we saved $12. parking every day. $24. a day when Tom and the kids were with us!

ALSO they have "Sweet Passes" which allow you into a portion of the park a full hour before it opens to the public. The section that opened early had three roller coasters and two of them were the only coasters in the park that my grandson, Ben was big enough to ride! By the time the common people were allowed in, he had 3 or 4 rides on each. We were so busy trying to keep up with Emily and the three grandkids that we only took one picture of the kids - a "glamour" shot of Casey and Emily about to get launched on the Storm Runner.





Tom did buy a picture from the Coal Cracker ride - Hershey's answer to a log plume. Here I am with Tom and all three grandkids, Casey, Sarah and Ben.


The 7 of us had a wonderful time. The very first coaster that Emily and I went on was the newest one, Sky Rush. We agreed that it beat anything that Busch Gardens Williamsburg had. We said that over and over as we sampled the other 10 roller coasters that we rode.

The third day the three of us were alone again. But we were pretty well done with rides. So we watched almost all of the shows and strolled around the park. Our favorite show, by far was "The Milkmen." And not just because that's the business my dad owned when I was a kid. They were talented and it was obvious that they were having as much fun doing the show as we were having watching it.



We got to meet many of the Hershey characters.



This picture of the three of us was taken by one of the characters who was out of costume and done for the day. It was funny that he was quite shy - out of costume.






The BEST picture, taken by Carol of course, is of this coaster at sunset.


Our cheapie digital camera has a VERY SLOW shutter response so this picture with the coaster upside down on the loop is an especially good shot.

I'm going to try to put at least one in-between in each and every blog. 

Here are two from Hershey - When Tom and Ben and I went to ride on the Giant Swing, the gate attendant said Ben was too small. Never mind that he'd ridden earlier. Neither Tom nor I said anything. We just let Ben look at her with those big blue eyes. She had a measuring stick that looked like a shepherd's crook except with a right angle at the top. She asked Ben to put his heels together and stand real tall. Still too short. Then she asked him to step onto a platform so that the bottom of the stick and his feet were exactly even, By now the supervisor from the control booth was watching. The attendant turned Ben so that the supervisor was looking at the edge of the stick. Then she TILTED it over ever so slightly and it brushed Ben's hair. I said, "Thank you." She winked and said, "You're welcome. Have a great day at Hershey Park." I HATE IT when someone does something especially nice but you can't write a letter to their employer to commend them because they broke a rule to do it.

#2. Emily and I were in line for a coaster and got talking to the lady and her 6 yr old daughter. After a comment about the "Height Nazis" she said, "Yeah. Sarah is an identical twin. But her sister is a half inch shorter and can't ride most of the coasters. Dad has her in the Kiddie section." Nice lady. We talked about where you from, etc. Three or four hours later Emily and I were in another coaster line. We'd been in it about 15 minutes when it stopped moving. People from in front of us started pushing their way back to leave. They said the ride was closed and no one could tell them for how long. We waited another 10 minutes or so and decided to leave too. Halfway out of the cue we saw our lady with the twin daughter. I said, "Might was well give up on this one. It's stopped." She said, "No. NO. Get back to your spot in line. We asked before we got in line. Some kid got a bloody nose. They'll be running again in a few minutes." We pushed our way back to where we'd been standing and since so many people ahead of us had given up, we were on the ride in 5 minutes.

Up and out early Friday, the 17th to go to Patapsco State Park near Baltimore via Gettysburg. 

Yes, I'll drive 34 miles out of my way to avoid I-695 around Baltimore.

Life is so good.

Monday, August 27, 2012

OUR LATEST TRIP

I told you that things wouldn't be in any kind of chronological order. This is the proof. We left Salem - in the Airstream - on Friday August 10th, 2012. Arrived at Rocky Gap State Park near Cumberland, MD mid-afternoon. Checking in was a breeze because we'd prepaid. They even gave us a pull through spot!

But when we got there, we couldn't find the electric box. I called back to the office and was told, "Of course not. You're not in the Electric loop. We only have 30 electric spots and they're always taken way in advance on weekends. Sorry, nothing we can do."

When I told them we'd have to go to another campground because electric was essential so we could leave the air conditioning on for the cat, they said, "Oh, you're not in a "pet friendly area" either." I told them that the cat never left the trailer but that didn't seem to matter to them.

"Well I'll be back to the office in a few minutes. Please just refund all my money and we'll go somewhere that has WHAT THEY TOLD US THEY HAVE. (emphasis mine).

Supervisor says, "We can refund Sat and Sun but not Fri because you've already checked in."

"That's not acceptable."

"Sorry, I'm not authorized to give you a refund for today."

"That's OK. Please get someone up here that is."

Supervisor's supervisor - All in the same ranger outfits. No rank insignia. But posture gave me a hint. I told her - AGAIN - that the reservation center had confirmed electricity. But if they were full, just give me my money back.

She said, "Wait a minute" and started clicking on the computer. Then she yelled across the office, "Is HDA empty." The answer was, "Yes. They left this morning."

She got out a new map of the campground and put a little black X on it and said, "Go around this loop, past a cabin and over a little bridge. When you get to the next cabin, there will be a spot on the right with electric."

"What number?"

"It doesn't have a number. It's not in the computer. It's not for rent. We just keep it for emergencies."

As tempted as I was, I DID NOT ask for all our money back. I mean -  if the spot wasn't for rent, how did they post our payment in the computer?????

We picked Rocky Gap State Park because it was very close to a dear friend from my previous life as an antique doll dealer. It was just a place to put our "home" while we visited with her.  We didn't intend to do any "camping activities".  But it is a BEAUTIFUL park. We took a 5 mile hike around the lake, another into the gorge and Emily and I went kayaking - a first for both of us.


Great hiking trails


Big beautiful lake


Wonderful Lodge where we had lunch in the middle of our 5 mile hike around the lake. 



And promises of seeing various critters - which didn't happen. Although there were very old signs of beaver activity.



NEXT BLOG - off to Hershey Park to ride rides with Emily and Carol AND my son and 3 of my grandchildren.

Friday, August 24, 2012

2011 was a great year.

It's August 2012.

2011 WAS a great year. It started with our return from London and ended with a Christmas trip to NYC. Time sharing a week each in Myrtle Beach and Williamsburg/Busch Gardens, two Airstream trips to Asheville, and one to Baltimore, NYC and State College, PA.

We all have our health. Andrew and Emily had very successful  years in school. Carol's job went well. I played a lot of Bluegrass. And even got paid a couple of times.

The following is a blog I intended to finish and post in January..

"Life happened" and I haven't opened my Blog except for "bumping" Tinkerbell since then.

I give up in trying to "catch up" on my blogging. It apparently ain't gonna happen.

What occurred to me this week, with encouragement from a dear friend - thank you Mary - is that this Blog was to be about my journey. And that journey didn't end when I remarried and settled down with my new family. YES, we continue to travel as much as possible. But my life is the journey regardless of where I am. Trips are going to continue but the blog may go in the direction of in-betweens - whether while on a trip or here in Salem.

SO - Here's our Jan 2012 trip to NYC.

Jan 22 is Carol's birthday. And I knew she had a long weekend coming. My mistake was in thinking they coincided. I was making plans for a NYC trip for the weekend of her birthday when she reminded me, last Thursday evening that the long weekend was a day away.

So the planning became as hectic as the usual trip. Make reservations at East Rutherford Fairfield Inn for Sat and Sun nights. Make sure the car was ready for long trip. Contact our cat sitter. Tell the bank that we're going to the city so they can "unblock" our credit cards. Get lots of cash from the ATM because the "unblock our credit cards" never seems to work. Check the TKTS boards to make sure at least some of the shows we want to see are half price.

I took a nap Friday afternoon. At 11:30pm Carol and Emily took some Benedryl and crawled into the car. Andrew was with his Dad for the weekend. I drove straight through to NJ, arriving at the hotel desk at 7:30am.

"Good morning. We've got a room reserved for tonight and tomorrow night. Any chance of an early check in?"

"Sure. When?"  

"Ahhh, right now?"

So we showered, ate the free hotel breakfast, caught the bus and were at Port Authority before 9:30.

The family has gotten so used to NYC that we didn't take a single picture. Please use the links !

The plan was to split up - Carol and Emily would go straight to the Times Square TKTS booth which opened at 10 for Sat matinee. I took the subway to the South Street TKTS booth which opened at 11:00 and would have tickets for Sat night and Sunday matinee performances. Carol scored first with tickets for Sat matinee "Rent". We REALLY came to see "Anything Goes" with Sutton Foster and Joel Grey. It wasn't available at TKTS for any of the performances we would be able to go to. SO - next choice - well, after standing in line for an hour waiting for it to open, the South Street office disappointed me with no shows we really wanted to see. So, back uptown to meet a thawed Carol and Emily in the lounge of the Doubletree Hotel. My favorite resting place for years had been the third floor of the Marriott Marquis. Huge open floor space because the Marquis Theater entrance is on the third floor. I've been using it for the rest and the rest rooms since 1985. Last summer they took all of the benches out. And they hassle people who are sitting on the floor. The restrooms are still some of the nicest in the city ;o)

After I warmed up with a cup of Starbucks, we headed a couple of blocks north to my favorite Thai restaurant. It was closed. In fact it closed so long ago that it was a different restaurant that had closed. So we walked over to 9th Ave to find a new one. I stopped a lady on the street - hey, it worked in Paris - and asked her. She directed us to one she said was the best of many in the area. I wondered if we should believe her - she had an English accent - but we walked up to it. I checked it out and decided it was too expensive for our tastes. I don't eat Thai in a restaurant with tablecloths. A couple pushing a stroller came by, so I asked them. They said, "Oh, that's one's OK, I guess. But OUR favorite is "Pam Real Thai". We walked back down to 47th and had some of the best Thai food I've ever eaten. Carol and I ordered off the luncheon special menu. Emily stayed with her favorite Pad Thai. Carol had Shrimp Fried Rice, I had Frog's Legs. Carol and Emily both tried some of mine. Both thought it was too coarse and chewy but I loved it. Cheapest meal we've had in the city and lots of take home left overs to heat in the microwave in the hotel breakfast area.

A quick walk back uptown to see the matinee of Rent and a 20 minute bus ride back to the hotel for an early bedtime. Hey, I had been up since 11:30pm the night before.

Up and out in time to for me to get in line for Sunday matinees at TKTS. STILL no "Anything Goes." But I did get tickets to "Godspell". About froze my toes off. Grabbed  the tickets and walked across the street to the Doubletree to meet Carol and Emily. We just enjoyed the warmth and the people watching (we were right across from the front desk).

Godspell was wonderful. None of us had seen it before. I hadn't even heard the soundtrack. It's a little backwards to be aware of Stephen Schwartz's work because of his "Children of Eden" which a wonderful Roanoke group called "Logos Theatricus" (Theater of the Word). The main members are parishioners of our Church. Well, Yeah, he wrote the music for "Wicked" and "Pippin" too. But WE know him for "Children of Eden."

Right after the show, Carol and Emily headed to Junior's to get our names on the wait list for a table. I got back in line for evening tickets. STILL no "Anything Goes" so I picked "Wit" starring Cynthia Nixon.  The Times Square TKTS booth has an express line for "plays" as opposed to "musicals" so I joined Carol and Emily in just a few minutes. As always, Junior's provided wonderful food at - for NYC - reasonable prices with three big doggie bags of left overs. And we were so full we didn't even split a piece of cheesecake.

A man in line behind me at TKTS said that they'd seen "Wit" in 1999. He said, "It's pretty rough." He was right. It was heart wrenching but uplifting at the same time. It's hard to believe how often we could laugh at a 47 yr old woman being given experimental treatments for Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. Nixon was incredible. I was so busy with my handkerchief that the man sitting on the other side of Carol gave her tissues. In 1999 "Wit" won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Best New Play from the New York Drama Critic's Circle and just about every other drama award EXCEPT for Tony awards because it wasn't staged in a "Broadway" theater. 

Although there are over 100 theaters in the Broadway area, only about 40 of them are considered "Broadway" and Tony Awards onlu go to productions staged in one of those. The main criteria is that they seat at least 500. After that I think it's pretty much politics.  "Wit" is back in NYC in a "Broadway" theater so it's eligible for the Tony awards. I predict at least Best Play and Best Actress in a Play. Maybe even Best Male and/or Female Supporting Role and some technical ones as well. Hi, this is me in August of 2012 - Both the play and Nixon were nominated but neither won.

Four blocks to Port Authority, up three floors HOORAY the escalator was working  and the bus was waiting for us !

Uneventful drive home Monday.

IS ANY ONE PAYING ATTENTION???


ONE         MORE         TIME

We didn't get to see any of the shows we had hoped to. 
Didn't eat at Carnegie Deli. 
Found more "Favorite" restaurants from my past that have closed. 
WAY too cold to do anything outside. 
Didn't make it to any museums. 
Ran out of steam and came straight home Monday.

AND HAD A WONDERFUL TIME ANYWAY !

Planning is good.

But the most important thing is to plan to have fun.

This is the second time we've done this trip in three weeks. I've created "Broadway junkies" in my new family. Three years ago they had never been to Manhattan. Now our currency is TKTS. When either of the kids starts with "I want that...." in a store, Carol or I say, "Well, we could get that. But it's half the price of a Broadway ticket. Do you really want to spend our money on that thing instead?"

I told a friend that I was trying to give the kids memories instead of things. She said, "You can't make them have memories. The most you can do is give them your time. And that's the most precious thing you have to share."



Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Tinkerbell Jerusalem BUMP

For my friends who are even MORE computer illiterate than I, "Bump" is used to bring a posting back to the top of a chat room.

I re-post this story each year to make it easier for newcomers to find.

Here's my story about the book and what it did for me. This book, and the author are responsible for a LARGE part of my outlook on life and my present journey.

Mary Ann, my wife of 36 years and best friend for 46 yrs (Yes, we were 11 when we met) died on July 3rd 2004.

In October, three months after Mary Ann's death, I hit bottom. In over 5 yrs of counseling for depression, this was the only time my counselor ever asked if I was having suicidal thoughts. I wasn't suicidal, but the fact that she asked indicates where I was. She gave me some very good advice and it helped some.

But, at least for a little while, I really needed to get away from everybody and everything that reminded me of Mary Ann. I had signed up as a Mortgage Broker in order to get health insurance. They sent me to a school in Newport Beach, CA. The only place I have really great memories that do not include Mary Ann is the Southern California area. I went to conventions in Anaheim regularly and usually stayed over the weekend in Newport or Laguna Beach. In those days airline fares were a lot cheaper if you stayed over a Sat night. The school ran all day Thur and the other participants left Thur evening.

I moved to a hotel closer to the beach for the weekend. On Friday I walked Balboa Island all day. It was almost deserted, exactly what I had planned for my "recluse-dom". Sat morning I went to my favorite thrift shop in the whole world. A tiny place about three blocks off the beach in Laguna Beach. I'd been going there for 20 years or more. Usually not more than twice a year so I'm sure no one there considered me a regular. But I thought of it as "my" shop. Two things about Orange County, CA. The labels in the thrift shops are different than those I find back east. And no man there would be caught dead in a thrift shop so men's suits were always $10.00. Unless they were having a half price sale.

I couldn't find anything that fit and I needed to buy something because I needed to go pee and they had a big sign that said "No Public Restrooms". In the past when I bought something and I could say, "Yes, I know about the sign, but the other ladies usually let me go down that hall to the second door on the right", they took pity on me. But I couldn't even find a necktie that I would ever wear. So I was looking at the books. There was "Tinkerbell Jerusalem" on an easel. Not even on the shelves with all the others. Standing up there waiting for me. I didn't know it at the time, but that was my first "Tinkerbell" inbetween. It looked interesting and it was 50 cents.

So I bought it.

I went down to what I supposed would be another deserted beach in Corona Del Mar, which is a tiny town surrounded by Newport Beach. There seemed to be quite a bit of activity for an Oct morning, but I figured, hey it's Saturday. I sat down on a bench and started reading.

For an hour and a half or so, I devoured the book. Then I came to the page where the author says, "It's all here. If you don't believe it, look around now. Lift your eyes. Do you see it? In the field of your vision, no matter where you are, there is an inbetween, a carrier of spiritual light, sending its healing and comfort to you, its love and beauty."

My first thought was, "I could sure use some 'healing and comfort' right now. But I spend 90% of my reading time sitting on the john. So there's a 90% chance that when reading this I'd look up and see a dirty shower curtain. OK, I'm staying at the Marriott, so I'd look up and see a clean shower curtain. Same difference. But I was on the beach. I looked up and there were 4 adorable little kids, three boys and a girl, playing in the sand right at my feet.

You know how I love kids. I have no idea how long they'd been there. I grinned from ear to ear with crocodile tears just streaming down my face.

OK. "Not only are there inbetweens, but they're PERSONALIZED inbetweens."

The lady sitting at the far end of the bench said, "Excuse me. Are you OK." I said, "Yes." and gave her a quick description of the book. Then I said, "It said, 'Lift your eyes' and when I did, there were the kids. I've had a very bad 4 years and kids have been my salvation.

I love them all. And please look at this picture." (pg 143). She said, "Oh my God. That's Jessie" who was the little girl playing right in front of me. I said, "Yes. It certainly looked like a twin to me. Except Jessie's hair is down. And the girl in the picture has a ballerina bun."

I got up to leave and she said, "NO. YOU CAN'T LEAVE. Jessie's mother is at the bathroom with her brother and you have to wait and tell her the story and show her the picture. We drove an hour to get here and most of the way we were talking about what we could do to Jessie's hair so she could play with the boys more easily. And we couldn't bring ourselves to even mention cutting it short. We never thought of a tight little bun. You HAVE TO wait to show her." So I did. Playing with the kids in the sand the whole time.

OK. At the same time I'm HAVING inbetweens, I can be GIVING them to others.

When I again got up to leave, they said, "Oh No. You have to stay. It's the 100th anniversary of the founding of Corona Del Mar and there's going to be lots of great food this afternoon and then at 6:30 there will be a free concert here on the beach."

I stayed. The food was incredible. I was sitting in the food court talking to a 90 yr old lady who had spent her entire life in Corona Del Mar. She assured me it was the best place in the world to grow up and live out your life.

Then the music started. The very first song was, "Cherish" and I started bawling like a baby. But it was OK. There was a married couple at the table with us and they both were crying, too. Again I was asked, "All you going to be alright." And again I said, "Oh yes. It's just that song has so many memories. And actually, they're doing a really good job of playing it." She said, "Well they should. It's The Association."

I said, "Yeah. Right. The Association.

At a Chamber of Commerce fund raiser.

On the sand.

At 6:30 on a Saturday evening.

Free."

She said, "It really is. They grew up here."

I left half a chocolate dessert on the table and ran to the beach. Where I sat with about 200 people and cried and listened for two hours. "Cherish", "Along Comes Mary", "Windy", "Never My Love", "Everything That Touches You", on and on for two hours.

OK, inbetweens ARE there all the time. If we just open our eyes to see them. And some of them are really impressive. I mean really, THE ASSOCIATION ???

That night I called the publisher's phone number that was inside the book and left a message on a machine. "I know it's out of print, but I need about a dozen copies of "Tinkerbell Jerusalem" to give away to friends. It has renewed my life and I need to share it with others. Some of my friends have a real need to read it right now. And some I want to hand the book and say "You're a major inbetween in my life."

My ticket home was for a 6:00AM Monday departure from LAX. That was standard. My usual plan was to return the car to Rent-a-Wreck on Sunday morning. They're about 30 minutes from the airport and they don't have much staff on Sundays. So I'd get there, ask them to call someone to come in and take me to the airport, then drive a mile up the highway to a diner and
have breakfast. This time Charlie said, "Tom, a couple got here about 20 minutes ago and I called a driver. He should be here by the time we get your car checked in." He was, so I got to LAX much earlier than usual.

There were three flights to Charlotte where I would change planes to Roanoke. 2:00, 4:00 and 11:00. If I got standby on the 2:00 I almost always made it to Roanoke late Sunday evening. The 4:00 was "iffy" and of course the 11:00 meant a middle of the night arrival, followed by a 7:00AM departure to Roanoke.

I asked the ticket agent for something that "looks like a boarding pass" so I could get past security to the gate to try and get a standby seat. He gave it to me.

I looked at a very long line and said, "Please tell me that line is for Southwest Airlines" which shares the terminal with USAir. He said, "No. That's the line for security. See that lady in the red dress standing way down there in the doorway? She's 2 hours from the x-ray machines which are at the top of that escalator. And I don't know how far the line goes outside that door down the sidewalk."

I said, "There are about the same number of people outside as there are in the terminal. So I'll miss the 2:00, probably miss the 4:00 too. Oh well, I can always catch the redeye." He said, "Wait a minute. Aren't you a member of the USAir Club?" I said, "Yes." He said, "We have a special elevator for you." He took me around behind the ticket counter, put me on an elevator and said, "Show your club card to the first person you see when you get off the elevator." It was the person I call the "x-ray concierge" who stands at the head of the security line checking tickets and saying, "You go to that machine." I showed him my card and he sent me directly to a waiting machine. That saved me 4 hours of standing in line.

OK, the inbetweens just keep getting better if you're really looking for them. I'm beginning to catch on.

The lady at the check-in desk said, "We're booked solid and there are two people ahead of you on the stand by list." I showed her my club card and she said, "OK. You're number one on the list for the 2:00 flight."

There was ONE standby seat.

It was an aisle seat.

I don't know if you've ever had the pleasure of going through the Charlotte Commuter Terminal. It's a big circular room with about 15 gates spaced around the perimeter. When I got there, it was packed full.

The kind lady said, "Oh I'm sorry. That flight to Roanoke is full." I said, "Oh, just take my name. There's always at least one no show." She said, "No. You don't understand. All 15 passengers have already checked in with me. There are no seats. You will not get on that airplane unless you see a stretcher leave this area with someone strapped to it." When I said, "Oh well, I'll catch the next one." She replied, "It's the last one tonight." When I said, "OK, I'll spend the night in one of those big leather recliners in the Club Lounge", she said, "We close the lounges at 11:00pm now." She thought I was crazy when I said, "Oh well. Something will work out or I'll just wait here until morning. That'll be OK, too."

There were two empty seats in the whole place. In a row of 4 with a young guy at one end who had put his bag on the seat next to him, I thought to save it for his companion. I sat down in the other end seat. A little while later a drop dead gorgeous young lady came in and checked in at one of the counters. Then, looking very tired, she stood and looked around. For some reason, I got vibes that she would not sit between the two of us. So I made eye contact, smiled, got up and moved to the middle seat and motioned to the end. She came over, sat down and we started talking. Nice conversation. She'd just finished a real estate school in Charlotte and was headed home.

Guys - you know me well enough to really appreciate this. For the very first time in my entire life, I ended a conversation with a beautiful young lady that was willing to continue talking to me. Don't ask me why. I haven't done it again since.

But when I did, the man on the other side said, "Hi. Where you flying to?" I said, "No place tonight it seems." and told him how my stand by system had let me down this time. He said, "Well, I'm a USAir pilot flying to Roanoke tonight to be there for my Monday morning schedule. For some reason they gave me a seat. Let me go out to the airplane for a minute. If the jump seat is empty, I can ride up there and you can have my seat."

At this point, I don't have to tell you what happened next, do I?

Of course, the jump seat was empty and a very puzzled gate lady said, "Mr. Cook, please come to gate 35, I have a seat for you."

OK, if you expect them, with gratitude, they just keep coming and coming. And all this within 36 hours of finding the book.

Monday I slept. Tuesday I went to my Grief Support Group and there was a questionnaire about our progress. Questions like "Can you say the name of your loved one without crying?" "Are you able yet to see even brief moments of joy?" I said, "Able to see them? God is hitting me over the head with them."

But wait, there's more. About a month later I got a phone call. "You left a message on my machine about "Tinkerbell Jerusalem. How can I help you?"

"I need some copies to give away." And I told her a very short version of this story. She said, "I think I can help, but how did you get my phone number?" I said, "It was in the book."

"NO, it wasn't. The main number was in the back of the book but it was disconnected years ago."

"Well, YES it was. How else would I have found you."

"My partner and I had an difficult breakup and we closed the business and I kept the second office number for my home phone but it's unlisted."

"I didn't get it from Directory Assistance. I got it from the inside front cover of the book."

"NO. All that was there was the address. And there's no longer a phone number associated with that address."

"You're not listening. It was IN THE BOOK."

"Where?"

"On a sticker inside the front cover."

"Oh my God. When we closed the company, I got stuck with the excess inventory and the left over office supplies. When I shipped some "Tinkerbells", I had some stickers that weren't going to be used anyway so I stuck them inside some of the books."

"There, see. No big deal. I found one of those books."

"YEAH BIG DEAL ! We sold thousands of that book and I put stickers in maybe 24 of them. And if you hadn't found one of those 24 you never would have found me. Tell you what, I have a partial case, probably 20 or 21 books. I'm going to mail them to you. When you get them, if you would please look at the outside of the box, see how much the postage was, and send me a check to reimburse me for the postage."

"Wait. You can't do that."

"EXCUSE ME. They're my books and I can do anything I darn well please with them. I've schlepped them through three moves in the last 5 years. If anyone had asked me, "Why?" I wouldn't have been able to tell them. Until now. Obviously I was saving them for you. They ARE your books. And I'm giving them to you. So there."

And she did.

When I gave them all away I called her back and said, "I need more books. Could I talk to you about buying the publishing rights?" I figured if I published some and sold half at retail, I'd have the other half paid for and I could give them away. She said, "When we closed the company we returned the rights to the authors. That author was living in Hawaii but I think she's moved back to Southern California. I believe I know someone who might have her email address. I'll get it for you." The next day she sent me Bonnie's email address with a "PS". "I found another case of books in the garage under some snow tires. I'm mailing them to you." So I had another 24 to give away.

I emailed Bonnie with the short version of this story and told her that she had saved my life. Or at least restored it to me.

I got an email back that said, "YOU are my inbetween for today. Please call me." The day before she had broken off a 4 year relationship with someone she loved dearly because, "He just didn't cherish me the way I cherished him." She was really feeling down and slightly worthless. She said that she had cried most of the night, second guessing herself. Then she got up and my email was there.

We talked for 3 1/2 hours. It was like we'd known each other all our lives, been out of touch for a short while and just picked up right where we'd left off. We became very good "long distance friends." And emailed regularly. A few months later we were laughing because we were both unemployed but so busy that it seemed impossible to get together on the phone. We actually made a "phone date" when she knew she'd be driving for a couple of hours. During that conversation she mentioned that her schedule was getting overwhelming. She was coming east to Vermont for a week long Yoga seminar but she had to leave it two days early to fly back to CA. We then determined that it was the same week in July that I would be in NY helping my son, Jeff and his family move from Niagara Falls to New Paltz. Since she was flying into NYC and bumming a ride with friends to VT, she couldn't stop in New Paltz and see me. I threatened to block the Thruway since Jeff's new house was 2 miles from an exit. Then I said, "What about on the way back to NYC?" She told me she had a Thur afternoon flight out of Albany. When I asked, "How are you getting to the Albany airport?" She laughed and said, "Airport shuttle I guess. Unless somebody offers me a ride." So I picked her up in VT, had 45 minutes to talk on the drive, then lunch and another 2 hours to talk before her flight. Incredible woman, really incredible conversation.

That conversation was a major turning point in my recovery.

Jeff is every bit as organized as Mary Ann was. I was in NY 15 days in July. By the first of May, he had my schedule worked out for all but two days. Back and forth to Niagara Falls a couple of times, work at the house on the days he could get off work, etc, etc.

One of the two free days was that Thursday. The first time Bonnie had been east in 30 years. The first time I'd been on the Hudson side of the Catskills since 1969. She and I being 45 minutes apart. Her schedule requiring her to go home early. From Albany. On one of only two days that I could have picked her up. And finding all this out after a chance remark about being too busy.

I now KNOW that she's so right about so many things. I see inbetweens every day. When I go to bed at night if I can't recall one, I know it was there and I just missed it. Bonnie, through that book and her friendship really did change my life.

Check out her latest project here.

I don't know if I'll be working with Bonnie on her website, re-publishing "Tinkerbell", maybe doing seminars together. But she and I KNOW that we're going to be working together sometime soon.

I'm out of books again. But it's available on the web for a couple of dollars plus shipping. Obviously, I think it's a "must" read for everyone.