Caribbean Cruise - Drum Band

Another day in paradise...

Here we are in Antigua 10 days into our 14 day Caribbean Cruise!

I wasn't planning to post until we got home (ie, back to Our V) but we are standing here waiting for our jeep tour to start and we have wifi. So, I'll try doing this post on my phone. (I edited this post on my laptop when we got back)

One of my hopes for this trip was to hear a steel drum band.

This morning when we docked in Antigua, the giant Celebrity Millenium was parked one dock over from us. They had set up a steel drum band on their dock to greet their passengers as they streamed out of the ship. (Had our ship set one up also, we could have had a battle of the bands...)

Celebrity Ship Band

We sat and watched and listened to them for a while from our balcony. (So glad we got the balcony.) They were not very good.

Some background on me here. When I was a kid, I commuted daily to high school from Washington Heights to Columbus Circle, Manhattan, by subway.

On occasion, there was this big black guy who would go from car to car playing a big steel drum and passing his cup. (I have loved steel drum music ever since.)

He would start with the schpiel, "You have nothing to worry about when I am here; I will keep you safe."

One day he showed up without his drum.  It had been stolen

Anyway, he was much better than those Celebrity guys.

Back to Aruba. Later, we wandered into the downtown area and heard a really good steel drum band. So I am happy.

Town Band

This guy was dancing to Town Band, or to music which was only playing in his head; It wasn't clear.

Fun Fact #1 - The Cerebral Palsy Lady would also come collecting car to car on the #1 train

Fun Fact #2 - Freshman year I commuted with Esther E. because my mother thought I would be safer than by myself but how she thought 14 year old Ester E. would protect me or vice versa, I have no clue.

We're Off On a Caribbean Cruise!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled (actually, not very well scheduled) road trip for a 2 week cruise vacation! 

Expect lots of pictures! 

Meanwhile an update on my last post, Not in NJ Anymore. This is how Wolff's kasha us marketed in Wynn Dixie

and we have seen manatees and alligators! 

This manatee was seen from our clear kayak at Silver Springs State Park, FL.

Here is sighting of my feet!

Turning off mobile data now guys. Bye!

Top 10 Ways to Know You Are No Longer in NJ

1. Bales of Cotton in Fields 

Photo taken in SC

2. Alligator Warning Signs 

Photos taken in SC and FL

3. Spanish Moss - not Spanish, and not moss. (Actually, a bromeliad) 

Photo taken in Santee State Park, SC

4. Live Oaks 

These trees are spectacularly majestic. The name Live Oak comes from the fact that the trees stay green throughout the winter when other oak trees look dead. (I originally thought it was because they are loaded with tons, literally, of live growing plants. Like Resurrection Ferns. And Spanish Moss.)

Photos of Live Oaks taken in Savannah, GA

5. Camellias and Azaleas Blooming at the End of November

Photos taken in Savannah, GA

6. Welcome to Florida Signs

Take a wild guess where this photos was taken

7. Palm Trees

Photos taken in Paynes Praire State Park, FL

8. Actual Alligators (haven’t seen any yet, but stay tuned)

9. Manatees (haven’t seen any yet, but we are hopeful)

10. If You Want to See Snow, you Need to Check Your Ring Doorbell Back Home. (Or look at pictures from Buffalo)

Photo taken by Ring Doorbell in NJ. Downloaded in GA.

Prayer for the Traveler - What Happened to the Robbers and Wild Animals?

We Are Off on Our Next Adventure!

Every time we start on one of our trips, whoever is not driving always reads the "Prayer for the Traveler" (Tefilat HaDerech) soon after starting out. (Or as soon as we remember, which is when we see an accident, or someone cuts us off, etc.) Or on takeoff, for those kinds of trips.

This is a prayer we always say with a lot of Kavanah (very sincerely).

I have a card with a printout of this prayer in my pocketbook, but on our last trip, my pocketbook was locked up. So I figured it would be easier to just read Tefilat HaDerech from the Siddur (Prayerbook) app on my phone. Which I did.

But Bob and I immediately realized something was very wrong with the wording!

This is a translation of the defective text from the app:

May it be Your will, G d, our G d and the G d of our fathers, that You should lead us in peace and direct our steps in peace, and guide us in peace, and support us in peace, and cause us to reach our destination in life, joy, and peace (If one intends to return the same day, one adds: and return us in peace). Save us from every enemy and ambush and may You confer blessing upon the work of our hands and grant us grace, kindness, and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us and listen to the voice of our prayer. For You hear the prayers of all. Blessed are You G d, who hears prayer.

What happened to the Robbers and Wild Animals? And Pooraniyot*?

Protection is generally asked for these in Tefilat HaDerech. Given the types of trips we take, we definitely need it!

Try my phone, said Bob. But his read same as mine. Duh - he had recommended the app I used.

Then I remembered I had downloaded a printout of Tefilat HaDerech. Checked my downloads folder, and there it was!

I read it out loud, and whew, now we were covered!

Here is the version of Tefilat HaDerech we use -

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְפָנֶיךָ יְ-יָ אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ וֵא-לֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ. שֶׁתּוֹלִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם. וְתַצְעִידֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם. וְתַדְרִיכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם. וְתִסְמְכֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם. וְתַגִּיעֵנוּ לִמְחוֹז חֶפְצֵנוּ לְחַיִּים וּלְשִׂמְחָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם. (ואם דעתו לחזור מיד אומר: וְתַחֲזִירֵנוּ לְשָׁלוֹם). וְתַצִילֵנוּ מִכַּף כָּל-אוֹיֵב וְאוֹרֵב וְלִסְטִים וְחַיּוֹת רָעוֹת בַּדֶּרֶך. וּמִכָּל פֻּרְעָנִיּוֹת הַמִּתְרַגְּשׁוֹת וּבָאוֹת לָעוֹלָם. וְתִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ. וְתִתְּנֵנִוּּ לְחֵן וּלְחֶסֶד וּלְרַחֲמִים בְּעֵינֶיךָ וּבְעֵינֵי כָל רוֹאֵינוּ. וְתִגְמְלֵנוּ חֲסָדִים טוֹבִים. וְתִשְׁמַע קוֹל תְּפִלָּתֵינוּ. כִּי אַתָּה שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלַת כָּל פֶּה: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ-יָ שׁוֹמֵעַ תְּפִלָה:

Bolded words translated as:

Save us from every enemy and ambush, from robbers and wild beasts on the trip, and from all kinds of punishments that rage and come to the world. 

*This wording of “all types of punishments that rage to come to the world ” (in other translations given as “all manner of punishments that assemble to come to earth”) is a translation for the words פֻּרְעָנֻיּוֹת and הַמִּתְרַגְּשׁוֹת לָבוֹא לָעוֹלָם

Google translate defines the word פֻּרְעָנִיּוֹת as Atrocities. I translate the phrase as “all of the bad stuff”.

We got a very late start yesterday (Wednesday)...

This was one of the weirder things we have ever seen driving on the road...

It was a long slog down I95...

Our home for the night. Santee State Park, Lakeshore Campground, SC

Hope to be in Savannah for Shabbos!

Preparing ...

In preparation for our upcoming trip, Bob bought a new pair of Lowa Renegade hiking boots to replace his 8 year old Lowa Renegade hiking boots.

Had this tread been on our tires, we would have had a blowout a long time ago.

We’ll be heading out in a little over a week!

I wonder how many hundreds of miles these old boots logged?

Flowers and Hummingbirds and Ancient Korean Statues

Just because I haven’t been posting as many flower pictures as usual does not mean that I haven’t been taking them. I still take a photo of every single flower, at least according to Bob. And visit as many botanical gardens as I can.

But this post is only about the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Gardens on Mount Desert Island, Maine, more famously known for Acadia National Park.

The gardens are spectacular; it is amazing how many flowers are in bloom given that it is already September. But what kept me there for hours was the abundance of hummingbirds.

Hummingbirds are usually pretty ADHD-ish, but being in this garden was like being in a room full of ADHD kids who are hyped up on sugar. Which technically, I guess these hummingbirds were. 

And I was very much like those hummingbirds, flitting from flower to flower.

A lot of my hummingbird pictures look like this

But here are some others ...

When in motion, their wings were usually a blur and it sounded like jet engines were revving for takeoff.

Bob is ok with flowers up to a point. Past that point, he has his phone. The garden thoughtfully provides seating for bored spouses.

Other Garden Highlights

Tons of butterflies as well as hummingbirds. This monarch is on a plant aptly named Butterfly Bush.

Sample Views

You enter the garden via a gravel path lined with six pairs of antique Korean stone figures

This is the view from where the Rockefeller home once stood

Fun Fact 1: According to garden manager, Erin D., the hummingbirds are loading up on calories in preparation for their winter migration.

Fun Fact 2: We left Acadia National Park today and are currently in Augusta, Maine, on our way home.

I'm a River Birch, and I'm OK

This post is for my kids, and other Monty Python fans.

I'm a River Birch, and I'm OK.

I droop all night, and I photosynthesize all day.

Leave my bark alone and I'll stay that way.

 

Fun Fact 1: Yes, I actually googled, "What do trees do all night?"

Fun Fact 2: Trees actually droop their branches at night. 

Fun Fact 3 : Monty Python may not be politically correct. Their views do not necessarily reflect those of the management.

Fun Fact 4: Monty Python may in fact be politically correct, or may not be, depending on your ability to follow the arguments in this American Conservative article - Monty Python in the Politically Correct Crosshairs