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March 25, 2020March 25, 2020

Planning Future Travel in COVID-19 Season

79ca0fb6-f669-47e0-a999-a2b00ac8aba4 — All photos in this post by Marcos Dolislager

I was talking to my son, who is an even more avid traveler than me, and he remarked that one silver lining of this trial by virus is the travel deals that will be available when the travel bans are lifted. I couldn’t share his enthusiasm. This time at home has given me time to consider my motives for travel and to evaluate my priorities.

I am blessed that I have been to almost every continent and I’ve ticked most boxes of places I want to see. As I tally the cost in terms of climate change and personal finances, I’m no longer as interested in travel just to experience new places. I am more interest in travel as a way of spending time with people I love. I especially look forward to traveling with my grandson.

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Having said that, I received an email from TSA PreCheck letting me know I need to renew my membership before the end of June. I starred the email and thought about it for 24 hours. It is a no-brainer really. I am going to travel as soon as this COVID-19 season is over. So I just paid my $85 as a down payment on my hopes and dreams for future travel.

We will all get through this together. Right now it means staying home and taking care of ourselves, our families and our neighbors. For as long as it takes.

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My son-in-law works for Southwest airlines. He still has a job but we are all a little worried. He provided me these beautiful photos. The travel sector got a gut punch from COVID-19, so I will put a little money by each month so I can reinvest in airline tickets, hotel reservations and dining out as soon as public health officials and Governor Newsom give me the all clear. I was meant to go to Virginia to celebrate a friend’s graduation in May. The graduation has been cancelled, and the trip cannot be rescheduled yet. But when I can, I will pack my Away bag, fly Southwest to BWI, take the MARC train to Union Station and meet up with my friend Carole for dinner. It will be great.

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020

Self-Isolation Play List Recalls Travels

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_16ce I enjoy a weekly podcast of BBC Desert Island Discs. I just finished the Daniel Radcliffe episode. I’ve also noticed that the some people are creating self-isolation playlists and sharing on Instagram. Satellite Sister Lian Dolan created two with the themes of survival. We may as well have fun with it while we are waiting and looking out for one another by staying home.

I haven’t created a playlist since I dropped my youngest child off at UC Santa Cruz. And I don’t listen to as much music as I once did. So when I imagine being interviewed by the BBC presenter on Desert Island Discs, I think of the songs inspired by my travels.

My first big trip outside the United States was to Catrine in Ayrshire with Teen Missions when I was 16 years old. I came home at the end of the summer and discovered that My Sharona by the band The Knack had completely taken over the airwaves. My high school pep squad and student body adapted it to our school name, “La-Si-er-ra” and yet I had not heard it once! While I was in Scotland we sang a lot of Christian songs but weren’t allowed to listen to the radio; however, I did develop a real soft spot for bagpipe music and all things Scottish. Later I fell hard for the twins from Edinburgh, The Proclaimers. I have every album recorded by Charlie and Craig Reid and the disc I want in my COVID shelter in place is The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues.

My next travel adventure was to study summer school in Cambridge, England. First my then husband and I drove around England, Wales and Scotland. I loved Paul Young’s Wherever I Lay My Hat That’s My Home, and was bummed to find out that it didn’t reach the same popularity in America.

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I didn’t travel much while I raised my children–annual trips to Yosemite were more the norm. So when I was newly divorced I gave solo travel a go. Except air travel to meet up with a friend or group, I had not had complete control of an itinerary before and the rebel in me loved it. I chose London and Dublin for my first solo foray and I fell hard for Ireland. That trip I was mad for Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping. (And for the record, I apologize for linking to some truly bad videos.)

Within a few years I was semi-regularly volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Northern Ireland in Belfast. I even marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Downpatrick. There were many songs that I enjoyed singing as we enjoyed the culture in NorIreland. On one of my last trips a young builder who was apprenticing at the site shared with me his favorite song at the time: Voodoo Child by the Rogue Traders.

I discovered New Zealand through Habitat for Humanity as well. I met a group of Kiwis on a Jimmy Carter Build in Cambodia and the next year led a team to Wellington, New Zealand. Music was a big part of the build and I discovered Brooke Fraser. One of my favorite songs is Something in the Water.

I have returned many times to New Zealand and I like many other Kiwi artists besides the obvious–the phenomenal Lorde. I was briefly obsessed with Gin Wigmore’s Black Sheep. I have memories connected with the New Zealand National Anthem and the Rugby Union theme song for the Rugby World Cup, World in Union. Sometimes I would discover a song on Kiwi road trips that was a hit in New Zealand but not yet in the United States, such as Glad You Came by The Wanted.

The biggest connection with a song on any of my adventures was summer of 2014 when I followed the Tour de France from Yorkshire to Paris. For part of the tour I joined a Thomson spectator tour in the Alps. Our bus driver had a great playlist including Enrique Inglesias’ Bailando. If I only could take one song to my desert island it would be this one.

Working at home all day and then spending all evening at home is not quite as isolating as being stranded on a desert island. I have Facetime with my grandson and daughter and phone calls and texts with colleagues and friends. Still, there is a growing sense of the end of the world as we know it. Just as 9/11 ushered in a different set of priorities, so too will this pandemic.

March 14, 2020February 29, 2020

Gotta Eat Pi(e) Today

It is Saturday 3.14 so you have time to either make a pie or find a pie shop and, most importantly, eat pie! I don’t need an excuse and I’ve been baking and enjoying eating pie at specialty bakeries.

I gave a pie coupon to a friend and she hinted that when Lent is over she’d like a key lime pie. I’ve never made one so I searched for a recipe. Decided to try Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe with macadamia nuts in the graham cracker crust. The pie itself has just three ingredients: lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, and 4 egg yolks. I shared it with my neighbors over dinner and it was intensely sweet and sour. Yum.

If you are in Humboldt County, proceed to Bittersweet/Slice of Humboldt Pie a pie and cider shop in Arcata, California. I had a delicious salad so I could eat the peanut butter pie (with chocolate bottom layer) for dessert. My friends enjoyed a chicken pot pie and the chocolate bottomed banana cream pie and the apple pie. Yum, yum, yum, yum!

If you are in Sacramento, there is a new pie shop in Carmichael (a suburb of Sacramento) called I (heart) Pie. Mom and I checked it out. They just serve pie and coffee or tea. The website suggested they might offer other food so we had to reroute to Rubios for lunch and then try the coconut cream pie. Yum! The shop had just been profiled in the local paper so many options were sold out. They bake 8 inch pies and normally serve in quarters. We bought a whole pie and asked them to cut by six slices so Mom and I could enjoy a slice each and she could take the rest home to share with friends. Everyone wins.

Friends, go out there and eat some pie!

February 29, 2020

Loving Dick Taylor Chocolate

Dick Taylor Chocolate at 4 West 4th Street

Funny coincidences happen. I was preparing for a trip to the north coast near Eureka, California and I listened to an episode of Teaching Your Brain to Knit podcast and they extolled the enjoyment of touring the Dick Taylor chocolate factory in Eureka. Then I checked in with my friends the Watloves as to any plans, and Harriet mentioned that Brian wanted to take us all to tour of Dick Taylor Chocolate. A few days later we found ourselves at said premises. There were no tours available but plenty of chocolate to taste.

We tried the drinking chocolate, which was so rich that the sample quite satisfied. One of the salespeople gave us an extensive explanation of how chocolate is produced. I’ve been to the Cadbury factory in Dunedin, NZ and the process is very similar. The main difference is one of scale. As a chocoholic I didn’t mind listening to the magic of how the humble cocoa bean becomes delicious.

All that was left was to shop. They ship for free to anywhere in the USA if you purchase $25 or more of chocolate.

Arts and Drafts lounge at 422 First Street, Eureka, California

We were in Old Town Eureka so it was easy to proceed to Arts and Drafts where you can do crafts while you enjoy a beer. Or to my favorite print shop and stationary store, Just My Type Letterpress.

February 8, 2020

Crocker Art Family Adventures

Crocker Art Museum in downtown Sacramento is one of the adventures my grandson and I enjoy together. We started visiting when Cal just started walking, and he loved going up and down the stairwells and walking along the long corridors. He was afraid of the elevators but loved looking at the sculptures and glass sculptures in the stairwells. The museum is a quirky mix of old mansion and new museum connected by long ramps–perfect for toddler legs to run along. Now he confidently explores all parts of the museum.

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_2bec Tot Land on the ground floor of the old mansion is always a popular stop. There are a number of structures and activities to keep people under 5 busy. Over the years there have been additional exhibits for kids and by kids. There are also art programs for Wee Wednesdays (ages 3-5) and Artful Tots (19-36 months)–check the calendar for specific dates.

If your child guests are older than 5, you may want to use the Story Trail books available at the admission desk to go on a museum art scavenger hunt.

The cafe has a variety of foods. We bring our own kid snacks and I get a beverage or light snack and relax (briefly) in the light filled dining space.

It is worth a membership to make more frequent trips easy. Then if you are having a fussy day, you don’t worry about a short visit. If you are trying it out for the first time, your visit is free for children under 5, and costs youth to 17 $6, seniors and students $8, and adults $12. Your entrance is good all day and it is walking distance to Old Sacramento, so you may combine your activities.

February 4, 2020

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks

Today is the Rosa Parks birthday and the day we celebrate her tremendous contribution to liberty and freedom in the United States. Her humility and bravery are an example to people struggling for dignity and human rights around the world.

I was reminded of the importance of knowing her whole story by a TED Talk by David Ikard (also a podcast on TED Talks Daily 2/3/20). Professor David Ikard recommends reading Rosa Park’s autobiography, and I purchased it this morning from Powells. She is much more interesting than the abridged version usually told in the 30 seconds we generally give history.

The Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University in Montgomery, Alabama is also a must see.

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks.

January 20, 2020

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Penguins

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Today most Americans are observing the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. It is also Penguin Awareness Day and at first glance there seems to be no connection. There is a through line between the justice Martin Luther King, Jr. sacrificed his life to achieve and the existential threat facing penguins. Allow me to make my case.

I have a new travel guide for creating your own civil rights crawl in Alabama. It explains how Martin Luther King Jr. was a preacher’s son from Atlanta. He married Coretta Scott, who was from Marion, Alabama and he was the pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery when he became politically active. You can visit the church parsonage and learn more about his early adult life. You can see the bomb damage on the porch from an explosive (no one was injured, thankfully).

UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_2a7c You can also travel to the the Safe House Museum in Greensboro, Alabama and learn about an incident when the black community members kept Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hidden while the Klu Klux Klan terrorized their neighborhood looking for King. This was just a few months before he was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee. At this time in his career King was preaching about the need to address poverty and structural economic inequity. Just as old testament prophets were not popular, King and his message were unpopular. He was asking people to look beyond the gross injustice of sheriff’s with dogs and fire hoses to see the injustice we are all complicit with everyday in our economic interactions, which are shaped by our laws and regulations–all within our power to change.

The “march continues” as long as we continue to ignore the ways in which we externalize the real cost of our choices. There is a terrific interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross interviewing Bryan Stevenson about the Legacy Museum. You can listen to it as a podcast or on the website (1/20/2020). The Legacy Museum, featured in the travel guide, helps visitors to interact with the horrific human rights violations that happened during slavery, afterward as Jim Crow laws were solidified, and then with mass Alabama is celebrating Martin Luther King/Robert E. Lee Day today, so there is still a dialogue needed.

“Until we reckon with history we are not going to get free. I actually think we need an era of truth and justice in this country; we need to have truth and reconciliation; we need to have truth and restoration. And it’s not because I want to punish America that I want to talk about these things. I actually want us to be liberated. I want to get to a better place. I think there’s something better that’s waiting for us that we can’t get to until we have the courage to talk honestly about our past.” Bryan Stevenson, Fresh Air, 1/20/20 (around 28:00)

The climate crisis is similar in that we externalize the real cost of our choices. Someone else, usually someone poorer than me, pays the price for my lifestyle. I drove to pick up my mail today and the fossil fuel in my gas tank contributed to the global warming that is increasing the intensity of fires in Australia, warming the ocean and making it more difficult for penguins to find food. I have a bumper sticker that says I love Penguins, and I have done so little to curb my own greenhouse gas emissions.

And yet penguins continue to make us smile and to live their quietly heroic lives.

Whatever you may have heard of the The Green New Deal, it is rightly linking the need for a whole sale change in how we power our economy and social justice. I hope we have the vision in 2020 to elect new leaders and write new policies that give us and penguins a shot at a livable future.

January 12, 2020

Just Mercy Delivers a Gut Punch

As the film opened in 1987 on a rural highway in Alabama, I began to sweat as I realized that I wasn’t prepared for the suspense involved in watching Just Mercy. The film tells the start of real-life Bryan Stevenson’s career as he discovers his calling to work on systemic injustice in Alabama. This movie focuses on his first cases and Jamie Foxx stars as Walter McMillan, one of his early clients who was falsely accused of murder and awaiting a death sentence.

How do you make a legal case dramatic? Pick relevant topics: unequal judicial systems largely because of race and poverty, the importance of truth and the rule of law. Then tell the story in a way that we can root for the characters played by an excellent cast. Michael B. Jordan produced the film and plays the founding attorney of Equal Justice Initiative with such stoicism and self-control.

For Stevenson is a man to be admired and his work, not just in working with people wrongly accused, but also in working for systemic change in the judicial system for children tried as adults and given life sentences or death penalties, makes him heroic. Add to this writing a powerful book, Just Mercy, and then creating the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum in Montgomery. This was the draw for my Civil Rights Crawl and inspired me to write my travel guide. Thank you Mr. Stevenson.

There are many tough moments to watch in the film. I squirmed at various points, and dove under my sweater as it became clear that we may see an electrocution on death row. I don’t know what was finally shown because I had my eyes shut tight. It was intended to be horrifying and succeeded.

There were many stories in the book that could have been the focus of the film. It is interesting that the screenwriter chose to focus on Mr. McMillan’s story as it is set in Monroeville, Alabama, the home of Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird). At one point a cheerful denizen of Monroeville asks Stevenson if he’s been to the Mockingbird Museum in the old courthouse. “You can see where Atticus Finch stood.” At this point the irony is hip deep.

The Equal Justice Initiative’s work is ongoing. Stay till the end so you can see the “where are they now” facts as the credits role. The corrupt sheriff featured in the McMillan case was re-elected six more times before retiring in 2019.

This is one of a series of occasional reviews of resources you may want to check out before visiting Alabama for your Civil Rights Crawl. Not everyone finds reading pleasurable, so it is good to be able to watch this 2 hour and 16 minute film. It is rated PG-13 and would be suitable to watch with groups of people 13 and over with discussion afterward.

January 3, 2020January 3, 2020

Alabama Civil Rights Travel Guidebook Available Now!

With a great deal of nervous excitement I am pressing the “go” button to launch my first for-sale travel guide. I know I am more anxious than I realized because I woke up in the middle of the night wondering if I should launch given that we may soon be at war with Iran. Just another example of how thoughts in the middle of the night should be re-examined in the morning.

This is a personal milestone on several levels. I’ve been writing this blog (and other blogs since 2011. I wrote a mystery with National Novel Writing Month in 2011, but decided it wasn’t ready for public sharing. I kept writing and searching for my voice. I am continuing this quest, and I’m ready to share my first travel guide. Other than academic writing I did about 30 years ago, this is my first published book!

I am writing under the pen name of J.A. Pieper in part to set my blog and travel writing apart from my work as a consultant. Also, I am using Pieper because it honors the little girl and avid reader who wanted to be a fiction writer or a journalist someday. I had a thin skin so when I received lots more encouragement from my art teachers than my english teachers, I moved toward the visual arts. Today my skin is thicker, although not as tough as an elephant hide, so I am willing to risk more.

I don’t suffer any delusions about publishing. I am not quitting my day job (besides it is very fulfilling). Just as I love creating visual art, I love the process of exploring a place, blogging about it, then writing a guidebook, asking a colleague to edit (thanks Jane), then figuring out the design with a colleague (thanks Rebekah), then working through the publishing decisions with another colleague (thanks LK). And then collaborating with my daughter Sarah on the launch. It is really lovely to work with such positive people.

I am still on a learning curve. I have more to learn about the promotional side of bookselling. I want people to go on this civil rights adventure, so I want to get the word out. Let me know if you have ideas on this score.

There is a press kit on the On Your Radar Media Co. website.

Books are available on Amazon or if you a wholesaler at Ingram Spark.

E-books are available on several platforms: Bookshout.com and Kobo.com.

Go while the history is living!

December 19, 2019December 19, 2019

Cool Stop on California’s Highway 101

If you are traveling on Highway 101 through the Monterey area and want a taste of the Central Coast, Pezzini’s is a great place to stop. It is easy to reach from the highway and return on your journey. This market offers ready made artichoke and other local produce treats.

You can also step out into the fields surrounding Pezzini’s to get a closer look at how artichokes and brussel sprouts grow.

On this day I bought an artichoke cupcake. I’m happy to report that it was very yummy!

Pezzini’s offers a unique tasting and shopping experience. I’m going to add it to my things to do when I go to the Monterey Peninsula with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Gianni’s Pizza.