From An Empty Nest to Ocean Travel

free image by StockCake.com

Joyce's writing prompts for this week ushered me into some pleasant thoughts and recollections of family, food, sports, and travel. If you would like to link up your blog with this meme, click here:

http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2026/06/hodgepodge-questions-volume-658.html

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here. 

In 1994 I was living in Colorado Springs. I had two sons in college and a daughter beginning her senior year in high school. The "Empty Nest" season of my life as a parent was fast approaching.

(internet photo)

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

I like just about any salad. Taco Salad comes to mind right now because it is hearty with ground beef, beans, and cheese and crunchy corn chips. 

Yes, I like fresh fruit in a salad, especially blue berries and pineapple.

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be? 

Chivalry is not dead. It has a lot to do with how Gary won my heart! 

Us in Gainesville, Florida
April 2025

(By my observation) rare is the woman whose heart cannot be won with kindness, gentleness, and genuine consideration. While it seems to be overlooked (maybe even intentionally avoided?) by younger people, chivalry remains a wonderful asset to relationships . . . . . And the women who are treated with such generosity of manners should not resent it.

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska? 

I've been to Alaska* and enjoyed it. I've never been to Hawaii and probably never will at this stage of my life. For one thing, that long airplane ride to get there is not appealing. As for pineapple on pizza, yes, I like it. As with salad, I seldom encounter a pizza I don't like. 

Over half a century ago at my high school senior dinner in a downtown ritzy hotel ball room, Baked Alaska was served for dessert. The waiters brought it in on trays held high with sparklers brightening up the presentation. 

Baked Alaska with sparklers
(internet photo)

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)

and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

Forgive me, sports fans, but the World Cup does not especially interest me. If it's on, I'll give it some attention to be polite. My children were active with track, dance, wrestling, and cheerleading. There was a brief venture into soccer by one of my sons, but the arguing of the parents on the sidelines with yelling at the players turned us off. Other interests were pursued with no regrets.

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why. 

As for free tickets (and since we're dreaming here, I assume those tickets include free airfare, lodging, and food), I would choose Vancouver, British Columbia because I lived there for 5 months as a teenager and would love to see it again. Sooo beautiful!

Vancouver, British Columbia
Stanley Park is the large forested area above downtown.
(internet photo)

My family lived in one of the downtown high rises while looking for an apartment. The apartment we found was just outside to the left of this photo, en route to the University of British Columbia. We lived on the 8th floor with a balcony and had a beautiful view of the ships entering and leaving the harbor. The Pacific Ocean is to the left (west) of this picture, beyond Vancouver Island. This photo is looking north.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

*Since Alaska came  up in Question #4, I pulled out the photo album from my cruise within Alaska's Inside Passage  in August 2006. Here are just 3 photos from the 8-day trip:

our ship, Princess cruise lines;
photo from my camera

For me, the ship itself was exciting enough. HUGE, BEAUTIFUL, very interesting, lots to do, comfortable.

photo from my camera

We arrived at our first stop in Ketchikan at dawn. I remember the ship's engine got quieter as we glided slowly into the harbor. I got out of bed to peek out on our balcony to see the sleepy town's first lights dotting the hillside down to the water's edge. It was serene, so peaceful, very beautiful. That experience alone is one of my very favorite memories of this trip.

the small pilot boat that guided our ship into the harbor;
photo from my camera

Another aspect of ship travel that fascinated me was the small pilot's guide boat that would appear as we approached each harbor. I leaned out over our balcony to take this picture. It was interesting to me that this huge ship with all of its navigational equipment would rely on this (by comparison) itty bitty water craft to show the ship's captain where to "park" at the dock. There were several other large cruise ships just like ours and we all traveled pretty much the same route, so "parking attendants" were needed. 

Of course, I have many more snapshots from this trip, but these 3 are special to me. 

While I'm on the topic of ships, here are the lyrics to an old hymn that I love:

Jesus, Savior, pilot me

over life's tempestuous sea:

unknown waves before me roll,

hiding rocks and treacherous shoal.

Chart and compass come from Thee:

Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

When at last I near the shore,

and the fearful breakers roar

'twixt me and the peaceful rest,

then, while leaning on Thy breast,

may I hear Thee say to me,

"Fear not, I will pilot thee."

Author: Edward Hopper, 1816-1888

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

Post Script: We finished our jigsaw puzzle that was featured in my previous post. I did most of the work, but Gary found a lot of pieces, too. For the last ten, he called me to the table to finish the project. Yes, he is very chivalrous!

500 pieces, extra large pieces
that fit together very well

O Canada!

Reading the post titled "Colors of Summer" by Ellen at her blog, The Happy Wonderer - ellen b., I was reminded that today, July 1, is Canada Day. I'm taking her observation of this holiday as a writing prompt regarding an adventure I had that began 59 years ago today. My family immigrated to Canada from Southern California.

My father, who at that time was a corporate aviation pilot, was hired to fly a Lear Jet for the government in British Columbia. The summer of 1966, when I was 16 years old, we moved from the San Fernando Valley in Southern California to Vancouver, British Columbia. 

the Georgian Towers probably
late 1950s - early 1960s

Before the big transfer of our household goods, we did all the paperwork, medical appointments, and whatever was required at that time so that upon our arrival we were given our immigration cards to carry in our wallets at all times. It was exciting!!

the Georgian Towers in 2019

We did not have a place to live when we arrived, so our first three weeks were spent with living in a downtown high-rise, the Georgian Towers. I wish I could remember what floor we lived on but the article I've read says there were 22 floors. 

We had what was originally intended to be an apartment that was converted for hotel use, and a few years later went back to apartments again. There was a living room, a very small kitchen, a couple of bedrooms, a bathroom and a fantastic view of the harbor complete with ships, boats, Stanley Park just a few blocks away, and mountains for skiing on the opposite side of the water.

The article I've referenced, written in 2019, says the plan was/is to tear the building down to replace it with another with 49 stories! Over the years its stature had become rather dwarfed by the newer structures constructed all around it. 

main floor restaurant at
Georgian Towers Hotel

On the main floor of the building was a restaurant where we had our meals when we weren't eating simpler fare prepared in our apartment kitchen. I have a fun little story about that -- actually two. The first one regards a large pin (brooch) I had that was just costume jewelry. It was a gold cursive letter B, for Barbara. (Remember the large L that Laverne wore on her blouse in the TV sitcom, Laverne and Shirley?)

Laverne and Shirley, 
when it was the fad to wear an initial

I wore it to dinner one evening and noticed later before going to bed that I had lost it. I had no idea where it might be. I went back down to the restaurant to look but did not find it. 

ballerina with the
Bolshoi Ballet

At the same time, Russia's Bolshoi Ballet was in Vancouver, apparently staying in our hotel. The next time I was in the restaurant, the host remembered me looking for my lost pin. He handed it to me saying that a member of the Bolshoi Ballet had found it and turned it in! I was both grateful and amazed. This honest person could have kept the pin for themself since it was a large, very attractive letter B.

The other memory I have of that restaurant was of a young waiter (possibly just a bus boy), who caught my eye. (or I caught his eye?) Since we lived in the hotel for 3 weeks, we encountered each other several times and he eventually asked if he could take me out after his shift ended. His name was Mario and he looked Italian. Of course my parents said no. I imagine that even hastened their search for a permanent residence for our family, other than this hotel!

Another memory I have of our weeks in the hotel was the first couple of nights. Moving from the greater Los Angeles area up closer to the North Pole in summer, Sister and I were not use to the delay in sunsets, with total darkness not coming until nearly 10pm. That was an interesting phenomenon to us teens.

After the 3 weeks in the Georgian Towers, we moved into an apartment very near the entrance to the University of British Columbia. Again, a tall building, we lived on the 8th floor (which was the top) and again had a jaw-dropping view of the harbor in the distance from our balcony. 

Sister and I were intrigued, only at first, that our new home was just a few blocks walk from the 'beach.' It turned out that beach was quite different from what we enjoyed in Southern California. This beach was more like hard-packed dirt and since it was along a harbor with ships, boats, and the like, there were no big waves to speak of. Also, even in July, the temperature was cool and being in the Pacific Northwest, there was the rain. Oh well.

Lord Byng Secondary School

Eventually the summer came to an end and we girls had to enroll in school. Excitement combined with a healthy amount of trepidation got us into our classes. I was a junior by then (grade 11). I registered for English, geometry, a Canadian government class, physical education, and a Spanish class that I could only take via correspondence. 

It seemed that in this Canadian school, everybody took French, but I already had a good amount of Spanish behind me and needed to complete that for college requirements. They gave me a study hall and a record player with a large vinyl record of Spanish lessons. To say that was a hard adjustment for me would be an understatement. 

The Canadian government class was a mystery to me, too, but as far as I can remember, I studied and held my own well enough for the length of time I was there ..... which leads me to a major development in this Canadian adventure.

The one man in government who had taken it upon himself to hire my father to pilot the Lear Jet was reprimanded for apparently taking matters into his own hands, working on the assumption the funding for the plane and the crew would be forthcoming. It was not. 

To sum that up, by November it became clear Daddy would be let go and so over the [American] Thanksgiving holiday (Canadians celebrate that in October) we left Canada to return to the USA. We ended up in New Jersey, outside of Newark and then shortly after that we settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I won't go into the details of all of that except to say Sister and I had to learn resilience and to one extent or another, we did. We both were enrolled in three schools in that school year, and it was not without (allow me some Biblical humor here) "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

But with that said, there was one notable miracle for me that I have never forgotten, even better than the Bolshoi ballerina finding my brooch. In New Jersey I was put into a civics class where the teacher must have been a lawyer wannabe. His lectures were chock-full of legal cases proving this and that. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and when it came time after only 6 weeks for the semester final, I was absolutely beside myself with fear that my grade would fail me.

Actually, it did. BUT, when I had to confer with the teacher later, he told me he would give me a passing grade because he knew I was Canadian and would therefore not know much about government in the USA. 

Did I correct him with the truth that I was as American as he was, having been born in Oklahoma? What would YOU have done?

Whether it was right or not, I graciously accepted the passing grade he gave me and left it at that. Very shortly after that, Daddy's work took us to Oklahoma, the very town where I was born and where (blessedly) my grandparents lived. I felt an acceptance and security I had not felt in quite some time. 

This is my story and I'm sticking to it because it's the absolute truth. O Canada! I enjoyed you most of the time my family lived there but what an interesting set of twists and turns you gave me!

Philippians 4, verse 11 is a lesson I've had to re-visit all of my life, especially as an adult, with the many relocations required of me by both my father and my late husband with their jobs:

 

"... for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." 

One Bible translation even phrases it this way, "I have learned to be content in whatever state I am in." 

To be content with anything, there comes a time when we must just accept the matter, the issue, the circumstance, the people, the problem, whatever you want to call it. Change may come at some time, but meanwhile, often the means for peace is to just accept and choose to be content.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia

P.S. #1 Happy Birthday, Canada!

P.S. #2 without the magic of the Internet, I could not have provided any of the photos that enhance this blog post.