Blogs from Falls Church, Virginia, United States, North America

I arrived back from India almost 5 days ago and am still processing the experience. Our guide, Singh, told our group that it would take several days for us to process all the experiences and he was absolutely right. I've had many people ask what was my favorite part of the trip and I've realized that I can't even begin to answer that question. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes and the PEOPLE were all amazing and all made an impression in many different ways. And I know I've only seen a very small part of India. People tell me that Southern India is a whole different culture...I may just have to go back and see for myself! It is true that the poverty and crowding can be overwhelming at times. However, there is ... read more

Four weeks and two days ago at this time, I was on a plane heading for Heathrow airport. After landing 7+ hours later, we headed to St. Bees (2 trains and a cab) and arrived by Sunday evening.....and the adventure of a lifetime began! I know I'll be processing my thoughts about the experience for months to come, but I will summarize some of my thoughts and feelings right now: As I said in the first posting, I was carrying the symbolic pebble from the Irish Sea to toss in the North Sea in honor of my friend, Sylvia. I thought of her many times during the walk and wished I'd be able to share all the stories when I returned. I smiled many times thinking that if Sylvia had been with us, I'd be having ... read more

9 June 2012 Saturday. Crossing the Great Plains. In 1895, following a visit to the top of Pikes Peak, the mountain that looms a mile above Woodland Park, Colorado (where we live), Katherine Lee Bates penned the following lyrics in America the Beautiful: "O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!" We descended from the "purple mountain majesties" down to the "fuited plain" otherwise known as the Great Plains that stretches from Colorado Springs to Kansas City. We did not see any fruit; mostly "amber waves of grain." So we consulted Webster's dictionary to see if one of the definitions of great is fruited. Websters defines great as: 1) notably large in size; 2) large in number or measure; 3) remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effectiveness; ... read more

I had decided in 1994 that we would move back to the States as soon as I could find a job. My kids were growing up fast, and I wanted them to grow up in the United States. I didn't want them to experience the same adjustment problems that other expatriot children had as they left they became independent of their parents, and their benefits associated with their employment with the government or multinational corporations (e.g., no citizenship benefits, no work permits or visas). As there were many base closures taking place with people losing jobs, this took longer than I anticipated. I paid for our home leave in 1994 and went through Washington, DC to visit the Pentagon to enquire about taking the position of my counterpart there who was retiring. They had decided to ... read more