Finally Friday - Lovely Lake Louise

What better place to start our Trafalgar bus tour, than a stop  at Lake Louise. As you can tell, it was  a  lovely day. 

 It was end of May and snow  still topped the  mountains

Beauty along the little walking path

Blue skies and trees posing

Nature's natural watercolors

Enjoy your weekend!

Juneteenth

 Juneteenth is celebrated to honor those enslaved folks who  finally got word that the Civil War ended and that they were free.  But then  a whole  new world still awaited them, and there is struggle today for  equal rights  and freedoms. 

Here in Texas, in Fort Worth, Miss  Opal Lee will not be walking as usual.  She's  having some health issues at age 98.   She was a school  teacher and is an activist known as the "grandmother" of Juneteenth in her fight to make it a federal holiday.  A museum is being built  in Fort  Worth to showcase the history.  

We actually met her once at the  Jubilee Theater in the audience.  A tiny woman with a strong presence. 

Blessings to her. 

Whatever Wednesday - Whoa Calgary

Whoa Calgary!   Yes, we started our Canada adventure at  the Calgary Tower.  Yes, those are my feet on the observation deck. 

And a sign we don't generally see in TX in  May. Guess it's still possible in Calgary, though we had warm temps  and enjoyed  patio eating without fear.  

This just kicks  off our Canadian Rockies adventures.  Hope you like mountains,  lakes, and glaciers. 
 

Monday Moments - Daydream Drift and Dad

One of those heavenly days that cannot die - William Wordsworth  1800

 Yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream - Kahlil Gibran  1923

So, yesterday June 15th was Father's Day.  Alas, my father has been gone over a year now.  Hard to believe.  Here was his favorite picture of himself - a Navy man.

And here was March 2024.  He passed May 9, 2024.  Age 91

He was hanging around in spirit in Folly Beach as my family - Ray, brother David and his wife Cherie, and my sister Lori - enjoyed time together early May. 

Oh we laughed and told stories - our favorite George moments.  

A good man.  

Finally Friday - The Private Patient by PD James

back blurb - Cheverell Manor, a lovely old house in Dorset, serves as the renowned  plastic surgeon  George Chandler-Powell's private clinic. Investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn arrives to have a disfiguring facial scar removed. Within hours of the operation, she is murdered. 

Commander Dalgliesh and his team are called in to investigate. But old crimes and complicated secrets of the past prove complex and perplexing. 

Oh so British, and such a good read. The writing is delightful, the descriptions and settings are rich, and the characters have depth.   The  Private Patient by PD James is an utter gem of a tale.  Kept  me guessing!    Pour a cup  of tea, and start reading....

Whatever Wednesday - Drifting Away

 A moment of Zen brought to you from a Folly Beach vacation

Monday Moments - The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

 cover blurb  London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society, with a single  goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second-class citizens by their male counterparts.  Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and Baroness Emma Orczy plan to solve an actual murder, a young woman found strangled in a park in France. 

Marie Benedict writes a lark of a novel, The Queens  of Crime. From start to finish, this book is daring fun. She captures the voices and bearing of strong women.  They use their own writing process and inhabit  their particular detective characters to think through the murder of this young nurse. They are appalled at the  lack of police attention.  But  they are not shocked that high  levels  of British establishment are involved.

This book was inspired by a true story in  Dorothy Sayers's own life. Benedict does a superb job of  showing strength in numbers when it comes  to the clever brains  and determination of  these successful women.  And she keeps  us guessing from start to finish as clues, red herrings, and more keep  the pages turning. 

Very, very fun find  at my library. 

Finally Friday - Look Up in Charleston

As you stroll Charleston, always stop and look up.  The  homes are often built tall and narrow - all the better to open windows and catch a sea breeze.  There are a lot of balconies and gorgeous finishing to  the roofs. 

Oh, it's a money town.  One can imagine the parties, the carriages pulling up to home, and folks decked in their finery stepping out to dance the night away.  

 We have to acknowledge the gardeners of Charleston. I wouldn't want  to be responsible for the greenery upkeep.

Home tour - look up. There's always a chandelier

The Joseph Maginault home "in town".  You had to have property/ plantation, and then your city home for entertaining during the high season. 

Charleston keeps its history intact and  up to date. Their historical society respects and maintains gorgeous  properties. 

After your tours, stop into one of the many restaurants that abound. Enjoy some very fresh seafood!

Whatever Wednesday - Stroll Charleston

 Welcome to Charleston, SC.  This is a delightful port city full of southern charm, trees dripping with Spanish moss, history, and architecture.  Take a walk with us

No Ray, they are NOT going to open the gate for you

A stately home

Lori and I in front of a bank window

And of course, lovely church steeples touch the sky

Monday Moments - Say More by Jen Psaki ( A break from SC sightseeing)

In Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World, Jen Psaki gives a candidly refreshing discussion about communication.  She walks us through difficult conversations and shows how humor can lighten a moment or diffuse a situation. Her time in the Briefing Room showed how she could discuss topics across a divide (think Fox News), and how it's important to  listen. 

She worked with a variety of bosses - hot  tempered Rahm Emanuel, cool intellectual Barak  Obama, optimistic John Kerry, and the thoughtful Joe  Biden. She had to jump in for a new tone for the country after the tumultuous Trump first term. 

I enjoyed  her writing and stories from the trenches. Obviously a smart cookie and definitely a go-getter.  P. 134 ...there's rarely been a day in my career that I didn't wish I'd answered a question with greater clarity or given more context.  What I came to realize is that fixing mistakes is not something you have to do because  you're  bad at your job, but because it is a part of your job. The solution to poorly communicating something the first time is not to stop communicating, but to keep communicating. 
 

She definitely gave me communication ideas to think about. Excellent Psakibombs takeaways - ha!

Finally Friday - End of May

I'll end my May posting with a step back to Cinco de Mayo in Folly Beach.  We had fun at Taco Boy

Here's Lori and Cherie.   I think David was off fetching more drinks 

 Ray and I cheered with margaritas.  It was a fun night out with drinks and tacos.  A DJ was blasting tunes.  Quite a festive energy. 

The next morning, my sister came back from a walk and reported that no one was passed out under any bushes at Taco Boy. 

Bueno!

Whatever Wednesday - Whoa! Now that's a big tree

"You have to go see The Angel Oak Park," said David and Cherie. Go see a tree?

Not just any tree. On St. John's Island SC, this is considered A Lowcountry Treasure - the largest Live Oak Tree east of the Mississippi.  It's 300-400 years old!!!

65 feet high.  25.5 feet circumference.  Shades 17,000 square feet

Branches are propped up a bit in places. 

 Lots of rules obviously.  Don't climb, carve, abuse, or do anything to harm this tree

Just gape in wonder. 

It's a damn big majestic oak
 

Monday Moments - Memorial Day

Fort Sumter - We took the harbor ferry out to the island for the tour.  Well done by our National Park Service.  They gave us the history, what built to that day that "started" the Civil War.  Shots fired on this Union fort and control by the Confederacy of Charleston Harbor beginning April 14, 1861

We were the first tour of the day and participated in the flag raising.  The Park Service emphasized the meaning of the flag - it flies over the United States of America and represents SO much

Ray hanging out with a cannon.  Sad to think that Americans shot at Americans from 1861 to 1865. Our official Civil War. 
 

Part of the reason we were in Charleston area was the birth of my grand nephew, Myles. He's my brother's first grandchild. One can only reflect on Myles' First Memorial Day, remember those lost in so many battles for so many reasons, and hope that there's peace for his lifetime.  So far - he's been being a baby for a month - up to nine pounds. 

And then there's the other side of Memorial Day - the opening of summer pools, beer cans, and the sizzle of burgers on a grill.  Here's an oldie flamingo picture.  We actually now have an Eagle floatie. 

Have a safe and memorable Memorial Day.  Pause and reflect on the meaning, salute the fallen. 

Peace

Finally Friday - Stroll the Grounds

 Prior  to the house tour, we strolled  the grounds.  I could  picture  men and women in their finery, enjoying the scenery. 

The money crop here was rice.  Dangerous  work for  the enslaved peoples who  worked the  land. 

Meanwhile, flowers

Tall  oaks

and the danger of alligators.   We took the nature tour tram, and this fellow was happy to pose. 

I did not take any pictures in  the  house, but it was quite spacious. It was on its third or fourth iteration due to fires. A lightning storm burned  the first homestead.  Civil War battle remnants and cannon  fire caused another house  fire. Each time it was rebuilt and  expanded due to growing families and wealth. The Draytons, of course, had a home in Charleston for the high season.  But it was nice to move the  party to  the  "country" too.  

Whatever Wednesday - Magnolia Plantation

 In  between beach times, we did venture out for some  history.  Magnolia Plantation and Gardens proved to be lovely and interesting. 

Greeted by a peacock

Maypole and flowers in one of the lush garden areas

I believe a cherub statue is a requirement

bird, bridge, and a bit of a boggy marsh area

Two tourists