Today’s Bits and Pieces: Fairhope, Alabama

03 Apr 2009 1 Comment

by Sheila Clapkin in USA: Travelling Outside California

Fairhope, Alabama!

You need to visit this little town in Alabama with hundreds of artists, authors and beautiful and friendly towns folks. Fairhope is the American Dream, still alive and thriving. I will tell you that we stayed in Suellen and Elisa’s home, but I can’t tell you exactly where because they would not like so many houseguests. Phil came and stayed too, and then there is Sophie and Dusty, so you see the house was full.

There are many and varied churches to choose from in and around this little town and the one I chose to attend, was suggested by our hosts. First of all, the welcome was brilliant, the people were there to pray and the Acappella, harmony of the songs they sang sent me directly to heaven on earth. More

Today’s Bits and Pieces: Palm Beach Florida!

27 Mar 2009 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in USA: Travelling Outside California

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA

On our trip, we visited with lovely friends in Palm Beach, Florida. I did not now it, but soon realized we were on an island. The beautiful gift giving Atlantic Ocean was viewed on one side of the deck and if you turned you viewed the Intra Coastal Waterway.  “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink,”

Everyday we saw something new. One day we happened upon a shell shop. Now this was not your ordinary shell shop, this one is totally distinctive in a very creative approach. We happened back to the shell shop for photographs the next day and the owner allowed us to go back into the garden and workshop where they made some of their unusual items for sale in the front of the store. Palm Beach has something for everyone even in the pouring, pounding rain. More

Today’s Bits and Pieces: First Class Seating

27 Mar 2009 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in USA: Travelling Outside California

I feel like telling you that First Class airline seating is a crock today. Maybe it is the wonder of flying, but today it is a crock.  I took Diane’s advice and shelled out the extra bucks for the first seats in the first class section for a flight across the Unites States.  Diane guess what, there were two ladies in back of me that were so totally irritating and when they included the lady across the way in their conversations, the sounds became unbearable. Their voices collectively and individually were piercing. I actually thought one was a man; a 300-pound man was my take until I turned around and saw an unattractive woman to match the voice. What a surprise. The two women directly behind me did not take a break from talking for the full 5-hour flight and the one directly behind me kept banging and kicking into my chair. Dear God, I had a headache and felt battered and beaten with words. I love words, all kinds of words, almost every word you can think of, but I hated their words, all of them. The way they said them, the way they kept up the banter, and I just wanted to yell. I kept thinking they would at least take a break during the drink service but no they did not even take the time to breath, they just kept talking. I didn’t turn around, but I am certain they talked with their mouths loaded.

Shame on me for my total lack of compassion for my fellow travelers, after all, we are all in the same boat, I mean plane. Finally, after about a full hour of the lady directly behind me banging, kicking, slamming my chair, opening and closing the tray table and heaven knows what else, I turned around and said, “Please.”  “Oh, I am sorry,” she said, but she never stopped talking on and on and on. They were so obnoxious I felt like I was going to throw up, but got the bright idea just in time to ask for the earphones given by the airline so that you can enjoy their selections of music. Whew!! More

Today’s Bits and Pieces: “Make Hay While The Sun Shines.”

13 Mar 2009 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Reflections

“MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES.”

Definition:

To do something while you have the time to do it.

To take an opportunity to do something when the time and conditions are near perfect or available.

To take advantage of a brief opportunity while it is still there. (To not waste time.)

The saying quoted here originates from farming communities. Often there would be a short or brief time in which the hay would be ready to cut. If reaped too soon the hay would be too green. To reap too late, there is risk that rain will come and it will be ruined.

I personally think it was a more than luck the day I had occasion to meet only briefly a lady who talked about the travels we were taking and said “Well, I see you are, Making hay while the sun shines.”  I thank her for getting it right and she was off in one direction and I in another.

I have been asked, “Why do you travel so much?” Don’t you think you should leave more time between trips?”  “What are you running from?” “Aren’t you content home?” or my least favorite, “Why aren’t you happy?” None of those reasons ring true and I did not have an answer except that I love to travel, albeit more than my partner, but still he goes and he gets there has sometimes, more fun that I do. I get energized and all my aches and pains disappear when traveling, but still that is not the answer.

The answer is really and truly; “We are making hay while the sun shines.”  It is as simple as that and it took me months to figure a proper real true answer for the questions some have asked. Thank you for asking, because the answer was so simple, so hard to uncover.

So you see Making Hay While the Sun Shines is not just an expression, it is a reality.

A Family Photo

20 Feb 2009 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Family Activities

Family photo

Today’s Bits and Pieces: Ever Heard of “Garage Door Tag?”

20 Feb 2009 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Reflections

Ever Heard of “Garage Door Tag?”

A very funny thing happened with the garage door his afternoon.  I went out and pressed the door opener button because I needed to leave the house for an appointment. The garage door went up 1/2 way and then stopped. Pretty soon it went down again.  I pressed the button and it went up a little and went down again.  I began to think, oh this is awful, and I can’t get out. Then, I remembered have another car in the front of the house. Oh how lucky I thought, but still pressed the button and again the door went up a little and then went down again. I tried I three more times and was about ready to give up when the garage door opened all by itself. Then Skip came driving in.

Oh my goodness we had been playing “Garage Door Tag.”  I would press and he would press, then he would press and I would press. Poor ole’ garage door did not know whom to please. We laughed when we realized that we had been canceling out each other’s door presses. Glad someone won.  So much for “Garage Door Tag.”

Today’s Bits and Pieces: Granny Maxine the Matchmaker

18 Feb 2009 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Family Activities

Granny Maxine the Matchmaker.

April (our granddaughter) is in the first grade at Wilbur Ave School. She has a classroom volunteer the kids call Granny. Granny is the grandmother of a little boy named Devon.

Granny also happens to be Maxine the lady who fixed Skip and I up on a blind date all those years ago (49) and also wore my wedding dress after I did.

Granny was helping the teacher do something with the attendance cards and noticed that April’s emergency contact # was to call Sheila and Skip. She really made a big deal about it and the whole class and teacher were so excited about it. Granny told the class and the teacher the whole blind date story and the double wearing of the same wedding dress. It so happens April sits right next to Granny’s grandson Devon. What a revelation.  Granny has been with the class since Kindergarten & they just found out about the connection. Cracky.

Granny called me to catch up after nearly 50 years and will call again when she comes to volunteer in the classroom.  We will get together and chat awhile. April called and told me the story and she was so excited that she now knows the whole story about how her grandparents became introduced.

Sailing Through the Chilean Fiords and The Man in the Elevator.

18 Feb 2009 1 Comment

by Sheila Clapkin in International Travels, Reflections

Today we were awakened at 8:00 a.m. by the announcement, in our staterooms that we would be passing the Amalia Glacier.  We all had our clothes ready to jump into at the moment of notice.  We ran to the upper decks donned in our finest layers, gloves, fleeces, hats, and cameras. First they showed us from the port side then turned to the starboard side and it was quite a site to behold. There were three streams flowing slower than slow into the main glacier up next to the sea. A ray or two of sun broke through and you could hear the ahhhs from fellow passengers.  Well, the sighting was over, so everyone headed for the breakfast buffet. Now that was a crowd. Standing room only was the only option other than the outside deck where all hands, feet and food would freeze up before the meal could be consumed.

Skip went on his walk, I went to sign up for Adobe Photoshop classes and on the elevator down, and I asked my fellow rider, “Are you enjoying yourself?” His eyes popped wide open and he said, “ Well, to tell you the truth, not really?”  My floor arrived and I thanked him for his honesty and was left to ponder his statement.

I decided to collect others opinions, so I asked the same question of many others. Here are some of the quotable responses. “ I paid my money, so I better be having a good time.” “ Hell, yes, but this is not the best trip we have had.” “The sea days are relaxing.”” We are supposed to be having a good time aren’t we?”” What? Are you writing a book?” “Once we started feeling better. It was a rather rough week.” Another answer was,” What am I supposed to be enjoying?”

Now we have been sailing through the Chilean Fjords for two days. I equate this to life and the lives we are living. We are truly floating along with thousands and thousands of yet unseen, yet explored, yet undeveloped inlets, narrows, channels, and straits from which to explore and choose. Now, I have forgotten to mention the cracks, gullies, streams, impenetrable forests, impassable mountains, and endless fields of ice, boulders, rocks, pebbles, and undergrowth; you get it right?

Some sightings give the opportunity for a second or two never to be seen or discovered again. Our lives are like the ship that moves along at a pace that allows only a glimpse. Sometimes it slows down, even deliberates leisurely for enough time to make a decision. When you apprehend that there are so many unexplored places physically left on earth, right in your neighborhoods, even your own home, you might want to move from the physical to a mental detection of the unrecognized inlets, narrows, straits and channels awaiting your perception and identification from within.

Now the question here is: “ Are you having a good time?” Heck yes.  Now to the man in the elevator, I dedicate my Chilean Patagonian experimentations to you.

Isn’t there an age-old question: Goes something like this: If a tree falls in the middle of the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a noise? I can’t begin to answer it scientifically, but as all of this nature passes by and when I have floated away and there is no one here to see it, does it still exist? If there is no one to enjoy its beauty is it still beautiful? If no one sees how the light plays on its continence, does the light still change the depth of perception and do the shadows still play with the variable lights and darks of the color green? So when the tree falls in the forest, what do you think?

And when you think no one is watching you or thinking about you, think again.

An Exotic Day in Rio

27 Jan 2009 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in International Travels


An Exotic Day in Rio

An extra day in Rio can be the most brilliant day of you trip or not. It is up too you.  We contacted Favela Tour-Rejane Tourism Workshop and I am including the email address because you will be extremely pleased with the tours they offer and very pleased that you have gone beneath the surface where the regular tourists do not have the knowledge or privilege to travel.

Contact info for Rejane: favela@favelatourismworkshop.com

We were picked up at 8:00 A.M. and delivered to the airport to make our midnight flight. What happened in those hours in between would be the making or the breaking our trip. After we spent a rather mediocre trip we met with pulsating and energetic success. We met Rajane and her partner. We were driven to a small hotel to drop off our luggage and check in for just the day and early evening.

We enjoyed a Brazilian coffee and then began an extensive tour of downtown Rio. It was early in the morning. I mention this because when we circled back at night to the same district there was a dramatic change.  All of the corrugated doors hiding nightspots were closed on our morning drive, only to be opened transforming into exciting and alive places full of people.  Before our journey to the airport, we were able to sample a bit of the nightlife. People wanted to talk with us and there was no means of communication except smiles, eye beams, touches, handshakes, and the sharing of the same space.

After looking through several downtown antique shops we found some semi ancient treasures from Brazil to bring back to sunny Southern California. We climbed with the help of a cogwheel train and an elevator to the top of the Christ Redeemer (Corcovado) The crowds were thick and the statue is so grand, you almost had to fall off the cliff to get a photo with the image totally captured. Of course we went to the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. I was urged to purchase Haviana footwear. So I did. Then we traveled to Sugar Loaf and Maracana Stadium with lots of sights to see along the way. We went for lunch in the rainforest and let water from the trees drip down onto our bodies.

My most memorable experience lies in our trip to the District, Favela Rocinha which is, an other worldly place, a place you cannot imagine. The favelas are Brazil’s shantytowns or slums. There are many of them, about a million people live there, they say about 40% of the population, and mostly they are built into the mountainsides.  These favelas started to become cites unto themselves years ago.  The country had a plan where they would give free land to farmers. So people squatted on land telling the government they were farms therefore receiving the land free and no taxes were required on this land. This no taxation, free water, and electricity is still in existence to favela dwellers. There are many shantytowns in many countries, but the ones in Brazil stand out because they are perched on mountainsides with the best views and in full view of the paying Brazilian middle class and rich.  I had no idea that the regular tax paying Brazilians hated the favelas so much, but when we excitedly told an airport official we had been to Rocinha, he said,

“ Oh you are brave of heart, we hate them because they rob us, they kill us and we pay taxes and they live off of us.” Okay…

We were picked up by a favela dweller and taken on a walk through the settlement. It was remarkable and amazing and more astounding than I have words to explain. The photos taken underground do not contain the smell, the sounds, and the depth of the experience.  You enter through streets barely wide enough for a truck to pass. Then, you are veered off into a darkness that is still light enough to pass for day.  These dark winding pedestrian paths keep you vigilant where to step, all the while twisting your neck from side to side, not to miss seeing something. The streets inside are about 3 feet wide and houses or places of business (if you can call it that) are on either side.  The cavernous dampness is profound. The people pass sideways. It is hot and steamy. It reeks in places and never quite passes for fresh. Life is being lived in the semi subterraneous place.

If you want to call it free water you can. It comes about 3 times a week and if the pumps are not working it has to be hand carried to one of the 4 levels. You have to have a strong back and powerful legs to live there. Everyone watches out for each other. No one steals within the favela city limit or death is a certainty. Electricity is free and the wires are everywhere and rival photos sent from India with wires of unbelievable tangles. Yes, electricity is free if you can hook up and if someone can fix the wiring to your house if it should need adjustment. (photo of wired fixer to follow). As a favela dweller our guide says everything is free. To me there was a heavy price to pay, one that very few reading this would want to pay. It was an honor to learn about this part of Brazilian culture and to learn both sides of the story.

Watch a video or two: http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEDYwWKVJ3xU

http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_xO_PaZsfKk

We rested awhile and were again picked up by Rajane and taken to another wildly exciting event. We went to the rehearsal for Carnival.

You do not sit in the stands, you stand in the stands and watch the parade of Samba schools dance, sing and wave in unison. You are immediately caught up in the sound of the music and start to dance even though you are not trained. There was a feeling of joy, exuberance and camaraderie throughout the evening of Samba. The music crawls in
side of your bones and dances.

We are home and there is jet lag, unpacking and mail among other things to attack and do.

Would I recommend the cruise or cruise line? Call me.

Would I recommend our day in Rio? What do you think?

Today’s Bits and Pieces: Insurance Fraud?

04 Jan 2009 Leave a comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Letters, Trials and Tribulations

January 2, 2009

Claims Examiner

RE: D236654

In response to your letter dated December 18, 2008 you mention

that our claim was not covered because of any serious Injury or any unforeseen serious Sickness…”

We stated the truth about our problem about not being able to take the Yellow Fever shot due to recommendations from our doctor. You also state in your coverage PAYMENT for medically imposed restrictions, as certified by a Legally Qualified Physician, which prevents an insured’s participation in the Covered Trip. So we are in fact covered. Our doctor stated these reasons why at our age he would not give us the shot to protect us. More

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