Keep Albany Beautiful (aka You Might be a Redneck...)

Well, I'm back in Albany after two weeks at home to take care of a few things. This came in my Dad's mail and really made me laugh, so I thought I'd share it. It speaks volumes about this area, and you'll see what I mean when I say Albany is different. If any of you know Jeff Foxworthy, this would be a great "you might be a redneck if..."!

There are parts of Albany that are really beautiful. Below are a couple of examples. The first is a river house that is on Byron Plantation. It's way off the road set among some really old pecan trees. I was able to zoom in to get the photo, but it doesn't really do it justice. The 2nd photo is of a cotton field just before harvest. It's hard to see the actual cotton because it looks like a glare on the plant, but these plants were full of cotton balls, and the fields go on forever.

The Most Beautiful Beaches in the World!

My Dad is much better and insisted that I go home for a little while, so I went home for a few days and then came down to "the beach". My vacation home is at Laguna Beach, FL, right next to Panama City Beach - the Redneck Riviera. You can see other photos of it on my vacation rental website at http://www.whittatsea.com/. We will be here all week and it's been wonderful so far. The beaches are as lovely as ever though there is evidence that a hurricane or two has come very close recently. The water is still warm enough that you can get in to cool off, and the weather has been perfect in the low 80's. The fishing has been good too! Dave caught 2 spanish mackerel, some bluefish, flounder, and a few other things. We've been eating mackerel and bluefish for several days now. Yum!

Tonight, the Indian Summer Seafood Festival kicks off and we plan to go. This festival used to be a small beach seafood festival where lots of local restaurants and self proclaimed seafood chefs would get together in competition. Then they added the entertainment and fair rides, and the arts/crafts, and in the last couple of years they've gone upscale and now have a wine competition and wine tasting. I think Blues Traveler is playing there tonight among other local bands. Should be a fun evening for $17!

Still in Albany

I'm still in Albany with my Dad, but things are looking better. He's been through almost 5 weeks of radiation therapy and the docs are encouraged by the results thus far. Of course some days are better than others, but he's doing remarkably well.

Since my last post, Tropical Storm Fay visited us here in Albany and dumped about 6 inches of rain on us. She also dropped a big pine tree limb on my Dad's work van. Like we needed one more thing to worry with! The insurance company totalled it because in addition to the winshield being demolished, there were dents in almost every panel of the body. We've been able to get the windshield fixed and it's driveable now, just a little scarred.

Albany is a strange town. For example, the only Starbucks in town is at the hospital (at least it's the only one I've seen so far). There's very little organic produce/products in stores except at Publix and one health food store, but this is farming country so there are roadside stands and neighbors with gardens all around so we've been able to get some good stuff. The peaches have been outstanding this year and we've probably eaten 20 lbs of them over the last few weeks. I have been able to get back to Atlanta for a couple of days and have to make trips to Trader Joes and Whole Foods while I'm there to stock up.

My camera battery is dead and I can't seem to locate my extra battery or charger - probably in the same location wherever they are - but hopefully will be able to get another one soon so I can take some photos here. There are parts of Albany that are quite beautiful.

Until then, keep the positive thoughts coming our way. We aren't quite out of the woods yet, but I know that a large part of Albany and the rest of the country are praying for us and sending positive energy to me and my Dad. Thank you all!

Slight Change of Plans

Well, I made it back from St. Thomas and then spent a few days at the beach in Panama City when I received a call from my father telling me that his doctor wanted to put him in the hospital. So I traveled to Albany immediately and have been here ever since. Not to publish his medical information here, suffice it to say that something is creating problems for blood flow to his leg and we are awaiting the diagnosis which should come later this week. He's out of the hospital, but on bed rest until further notice and a treatment plan is determined by his docs. So for now my travel plans are on hold until we know where this is going.

Albany is the town where I grew up, so it's very familiar, though very changed since I last lived here in 1977. My father has some awesome friends here and they have been wonderful. They have brought food, run errands, gave me tickets to the Little Theatre and have sat with Daddy so I can go out. Cooking meals is as easy as putting some of the wonderful meals they've prepared for us into the microwave or toaster oven to heat them up. We've had the best fresh butterbean, field peas, peaches and blueberries, and all kinds of other dishes that have been excellent. Gotta love that southern hospitality!!

Please send positive thoughts and good vibes our way!

Now Boarding for STT

Tomorrow I leave for St. Thomas. I love to go to St. Thomas because we have friends who live there and we know our way around really well since Dave lived there for a few years. That's where I met Dave. Its a very comfortable and very beautiful island and I plan to spend most of my time at the beach. I'll upoad photos if I can while I'm there but they may just have to wait till I get back. TBD

Here's one photo of Magen's Bay taken from the scenic overlook at Drake's Seat. Still as beautiful as ever!

Thinking back over the trip now that I'm home

I've been home a week now, and thought I'd reflect back on my trip and summarize my thoughts.

First of all, it was a wonderful trip and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to go! Thank you Michael & Beverly for making me aware of the yoga retreat, for encouraging me to go along and for being such great travel companions! I'm sorry my desire to ride elephants put you in the Chiang Mai hospital Michael!! Note to self and anyone else who is thinking about riding elephants bareback - wear long pants!! They have very coarse hair and it will prick your legs as you are trying to hold on. And you don't realize it until you are off and start seeing little bumps pop up on your legs. I only had 3 or 4 of them which I thought were bug bites and immediately put antibiotic ointment on as soon I noticed them, but Mike had on shorts and got the worst of it with hundreds of pricks that ended up infected. Not good! But he has survived and is on to his next adventure.

The experience at Yoga Thailand was so beneficial on a number of levels. First, the people teaching the classes, Adarsh & Heleen, were wonderful teachers and were very enjoyable to be around. And the people I met there who were attending the retreat were also enjoyable. Of the 12-14 people who were there, 4 of us were American. There was a couple from Australia originally from the Ukraine, two British women, one of whom lives in Dubai, a German professor who once taught at UF, and Heleen who lives in California, but is from the Netherlands. There were also drop in students from Sweden and other places. It was wonderful to be around such diverse people who were drawn together for a common interest. We had many conversations and I learned much about the different cultures and environments in which they live. This is one of the main reasons I love to travel - learning about things I would never learn if I just stayed in the U.S. I also learned alot about the Thai culture and cuisine thanks to the staff at Yoga Thailand who were so very accomodating. And I learned a little about Buddhism too. But selfishly, the most beneficial thing was that this retreat set me on a course to get healthy again. Since leaving Yoga Thailand, I've been doing yoga almost every day (except the days I was traveling) and I can tell a big difference in my flexibility (my mouse shoulder is much better!), and I'm even starting to lose some weight! Yay! It takes a lot of concentration and mindfulness to do the breathing right, remember the poses and do them correctly, so it is mentally and physically challenging but is very calming at the same time. The eight guiding principles of Ashtanga yoga seem to be good ones and I want to research more about the history and philosophy around it, and have already ordered the book "Yoga Mala" that is by the Yoga Guru, Sri K Pattabhi Jois, that taught my teachers. If anyone is interested, you can visit the website for Adarsh & Heleen at http://www.ashtangayogadaily.com/yoga.htm. They have also recommended one of their yoga buddies to me who teaches in Atlanta. I'd like to try and make it to a class with him at least once a week to keep motivated and make sure I'm doing it correctly (so I don't hurt myself).

I'm already planning my next trips - the first of which will be down to St. Thomas, USVI, which is a favorite, and is someplace where I can stay for free. We have friends who live there and Dave is there working and housesitting for the next few weeks. Then I'll spend some time at my beach house in Laguna Beach, FL once all of my renters are out. It's very peaceful once school is back in, and the weather is really nice there in Sept & Oct. I've got my heart set on a trip to Prague in the fall, and I'd really like to work Egypt and the Pyramids in somehow. Now if I can just get the money to hold out!! I'll be sure to keep my blog updated as plans progress and trips are underway.

Quick Temple Tour in Narita (Tokyo), Japan

I had a 1 day layover in Japan on the way home and went into the town of Narita for a few hours to see some of the temples there. Narita is where the Tokyo airport is located outside of Tokyo. I was most interested to see how the temples there differed from those in Thailand. The outsides seemed very similar, but the inside was a bit different. Of course the Japanese Budda looks a little different from the Thai Budda, and the inside of the temple seemed a little more formal or something. Another difference were all of the Japanese lanterns that were in front of the temples. And the cemetaries that were around the templese were different as well.