Hello Friends!! Here I am again, ready to publish one more blog entry before I hit the road for a few months of travels. After surviving a two month stint managing the hotel, I eased into a two week job in Puerto Lopez, this one the perfect antidote for the last. I've been house-sitting for friends Vittorio & Elena who own the best restaurant in town, Bellaitalia. Their home is actually above the restaurant, but the restaurant was closed during their vacation so my job was to take care of the pets and the plants -- no people! That doesn't mean that I didn't have contact with people at all, however I did spend quite a few days vegging out in front of the TV, watching DVDs and napping! Entire hours would slip away as I ... read more

Knowing I'd soon be returning to the hectic schedule of hotel management, I decided to spend three weeks on one of my favorite beaches, Playa Escondida, with some of my favorite people!! It was a wonderful, relaxing time. Lots of R&R -- sleeping 10 hrs a night (wish I could save up sleep credit!), playing Scrabble with Shana, reading several books a week (Jodi Picoult writes some bizarre stuff, I loved The Wild Trees and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind). I had the time and mental tranquility for working on an art project, catching up on email and blog entries (the last two entries were published within 2 wks!) I was fortunate to have the use of a friend's fabulous beach house, Casa Encantadora. Thanks Susan, for allowing me stay there!!! I took long, ... read more

Mama Tungurahua started making noise and spewing steam again on January 1st. The active volcano is the star of this blog entry! From Shana's house, 5 miles from the volcano's crater and 2 miles from her base, we could hear rumbling and churning all throughout the day. It sounded like a propeller plane hovering overhead. In the mornings, when the sky was often clear, great churning plumes of smoke were visible spouting from the crater. The first few days they were bright white, probably steam - but soon enough dark grey columns of ash would form, pulsing forth with each new rumble. I must have shot 150 photos in all -- I couldn't stop snapping -- the images grew more dramatic after each click of the lens. The wind blew most of the ash over the ... read more

I have now left the coast and am back up in Banos, looking out the window at majestic Tungurahua volcano as I type this blog entry. I am usually in bed by 8:00 or 9:00 pm at the latest, sleeping thru long and peaceful nights (with only occasional startled awakenings thinking about something I forgot to do at Mandala!) No more doggie howling sessions (with Lalo taking the lead and the others joining in, BonBon’s high-pitched, pre-adolescent yip audible above the rest). No more late nights, wishing I were already in bed while waiting for the kitchen staff to finish cleaning and then waiting for the guardians to return from driving them home. When they got back from their short visit to Florida, Maja & Aurelio sometimes sent me off to bed early and they closed ... read more

Arriving in LA, Claire was at the airport to meet me. It was nice to spend a couple of days with her and Sam in their lovely beachfront apt. I enjoyed catching up with my nephew a bit, and taking long walks along the beach with Claire. She drove me down to Dad’s place, about an hour south. It’s always an interesting experience to spend a week in Dad's Leisure World Senior Community and get a glimpse of his daily routine. I camped out on a futon on his living room floor, went walking with him and his sweet doggie Benny, met lots of his friends, and was a special guest at his weekly Scrabble and Cribbage Club meetings. In preparation for the tournaments, Dad and I played lots of Cribbage together (I didn't manage to ... read more