Travel

Sandal-Making the Old Way – Visiting an Indigenous Village

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Cotocatchi, Ecuador –

The man paused to rest for a moment.

He had just reduced an agave petal to a set of threads.

And he had done this by setting it against a long board that he was holding against his body, and running a rock up and down the length of the petal.

And then, he was back in motion again, picking up another agave petal and starting again.

We had witnessed him doing this to several petals already, and he would continue for several more.

All to reduce the petals to the fibers trapped inside.

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Libations, Travel

A Day Amongst The Vines – Touring the Napa Wineries

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Napa, CA –

This is the life!

A glass of wine, a bite of food…

And someone else to do the driving.

I can see a couple of issues with touring wineries in the Napa Valley area.

Since I’m not from around there, I don’t know where the good ones are to go to for tours and tastings.

And since they involve drinking alcoholic beverages, driving might be an issue.

At least after visiting two or three.

Of course, I could just take advantage of an available spit bucket, and only taste the wine without swallowing it.

But where’s the fun in that?

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Travel

A Visit To The Mountaintop – Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep

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Chaing Mai, Thailand –

Yes, I know what they say.

“To find enlightenment, you must climb to the top of the mountain.”

How about I just ride the cable car instead?

It’s faster, and easier on the knees.

Yes, you lose the time spent in contemplation, as you are laboring your way up.

One step in front of the next.

But on the cable car, when you get to the top, you’re not nearly as out of breath.

At least for those of us not in great shape.

Plus, you avoid all of the people tempting you with trinkets or treats, trying to part you from your money, on the way up.

It’s much easier to say no when you’re going down the stairs and not huffing and puffing.

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Travel

A Long Soak in a Thermal Spa Pool

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Papallacta, Ecuador –

It was a cold, wet day. The rain falling non-stop.

We had planned on doing a little hiking around, to see what might be there to be seen, but the weather had other plans.

Well, seeing the sights wasn’t why we had come to Papallacta, so I guess it was only fitting that we wouldn’t get to see them, whatever they might be.

Even if it hadn’t been raining, it’s not like we would have been able to see much of anything. The fog took care of that.

That’s the thing about the weather, it doesn’t care what you have planned, it’s going to do what it wants.

And today, it seems to want us to spend our day being wet.

And cold.

And miserable.

But we had other plans…

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Travel

Living on Tonlé Sap

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Siem Reap, Cambodia –

It was dark.

So dark, I couldn’t see anything. Not even my hand in front of my face.

Yet on we glided, through the darkness, navigating the vegetation-lined water pathways back to the dock.

The rain continued to fall, and with no moon, stars, or any other visible light to guide us, I was placing complete faith in the boat driver to find our way.

On our way out, I had seen an occasional boat off in the trees, looking as if the driver had lost his way and crashed into the trees that rose from the meter-deep water.

Now I could understand how that might have happened without any sort of driver impairment.

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Life

Goals and Dreams

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Dallas, TX –

I had a dream last night…

Actually, I have dreams most nights.

But last night’s was particularly awesome.

In it, I was traveling to Europe.

Oh, wait; I’ve already done that.

I guess it was more like a rerun…

Oh well…

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Life

No Resolutions!

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Dallas, TX –

I’m not making any resolutions for the New Year.

Not that I ever make any resolutions.

It’s not that I don’t think there are any things I want to change or improve; I just don’t believe that making resolutions are the way to accomplish anything.

So, what do I do instead?

I make goals.

See, resolutions tend to have too much of a binary status.

We either keep them or we don’t.

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Food, Travel

Christmas in the Rhine Valley

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Boppard, Germany –

Sometimes, you don’t know why you do what you do. You just act on intuition.

Other times, you definitely know why you do something.

This was one of those times that fell somewhere in between.

Something had prompted us to pull off the highway, and go walking around town.

I just don’t remember what it was…

We had spent the night in Cologne. And luckily, our hotel had put out a very good breakfast spread for the guests.

But as we were leaving, we saw that they were putting out an even better spread for their employees, friends, and family. It was Christmas day, and they wanted to celebrate.

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Food, Travel

Cocoa, From Pod to Chocolate

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Tirimbina, Costa Rica –

“This is a ripe Cocoa pod, ready for opening.

“The traditional method the Incas used was to use their heads.

“Do I have any volunteers?”

The group taking the tour consisted mostly of College students, and they immediately had their preferred candidate.

“Jose, Jose,” they cheered.

Reluctantly, Jose rose from where he was sitting and approached our guide.

The guide smiled and then added some additional information that Jose might find helpful.

“The Incas observed the monkeys, which would open the pods by banging them on logs.”

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Enjoying Life and the Pursuit of Happiness