Category Archives: Travel

Plotting the Great American Road Trip

The Great American Road Trip is shaping up. We are driving 3,000 miles or so to see my father and stepmother in California, and then we’re heading back on a different route, making various stops along the way. Hotel prices are out of sight this year, apparently in sympathy with the skyrocketing gas prices. ButContinue reading “Plotting the Great American Road Trip”

Father’s Day Festivities

Yesterday was Father’s Day, and Bob’s choice of what do for it involved eating crabs by the Chesapeake Bay. So we drove out to Deale, Maryland, in the afternoon and ate at a restaurant on the dock, with a view of the boats. The weather was perfect, Bob got his crabs, and my vegetable-averse sonContinue reading “Father’s Day Festivities”

Throwback Thursday: The Germania

My great-grandfather Francisco Petrini emigrated to the U.S. on this ship, the S.S. Germania. He boarded the ship in Naples, Italy, and arrived at Ellis Island in January 1904. My grandfather was born two years later. (The Germania was built by the Scottish shipbuilding firm Caird & Co. for the Hamburg American steamship line.)

Sophomore Year: That’s a Wrap

On Thursday, he took his final exam. Then we packed up some of the stuff in his dorm room and moved it to a storage unit we rented near campus. It was that, or rent a van this week and again in August, who cart his dorm stuff back and forth — and find aContinue reading “Sophomore Year: That’s a Wrap”

Becoming Italian, Part 2

Today I did something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. After several phone consultations, I contracted with a genealogy firm that will research and pull together the documents I need for claiming my Italian citizenship. If all goes well, I will eventually be a dual citizen, with both a U.S. passport and anContinue reading “Becoming Italian, Part 2”

In a Hole in the Ground, There Lived a Hobbit…

Greetings from Middle Earth, where it was snowing as I arrived here in the Shire on Monday. This was after a 75-degree day on Sunday, and temperatures in the 80s for several days before that. Bob and I had driven down to Harrisonburg on Saturday to spend Easter with Jon Morgan at JMU. I bookedContinue reading “In a Hole in the Ground, There Lived a Hobbit…”

Reflections From a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Last night I submitted a photograph to a juried art show. The theme of the show is “Drips, Lines, Splatters, and Splash,” and the curator is seeking artwork in all types of media that show exceptional use of color, line, movement, and space. I submitted work to this gallery once before. It was rejected forContinue reading “Reflections From a Galaxy Far, Far Away”