Please Move Very Far From Here

JWise Photo of the Day

Idiot in a moving van speeding while swerving in and out of lanes talking on his cell phone at the same time

Flashed by photo radar, swerving in and out of lanes, while trying to maintain speeds over 90 mph, and talking on his cell phone – THIS IDIOT barreled down the freeway without a care in the world, well at least not for anyone else’s well-being. The rented moving van is full, and how do I know, you might ask? Because the back wasn’t fully closed and, as the door bounced, you could see stuff packed all the way to the front of the truck. My only hope is that he’s moving to Hawaii and is planning on driving the entire distance.

Evil Cloud Mouse

JWise Photo of the Day

Evil Mouse Cloud

Look at the top of the left cloud. Facing to the right is the evil cloud mouse. Its eyes are bulging and its cragged little bottom jaw is open in a twisted evil laugh. Caroline sees a Dumbo-like image; boy is she wrong. This takes me back to those days sitting on a bench in Amsterdam, sipping vanilla shakes and staring at the sky for hours, pointing out the changing figures in the transmogrifying heavens.

My Name is Red

JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline has the book, "Ny Name is Red" open in her lap as she reads to me on the way to work

Caroline is our live audiobook, here she is reading to us a book titled “My Name is Red”. The book had a slow start and the style grated at me for a while, but finally, I started to find a groove. The book is a murder mystery and I would prefer action and adventure. We finished Moby Dick while driving about and have taken in Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft written by Thor Heyerdahl along with a great little book about rafting the Tsangpo river in Tibet called “Hell or High Water”. On the upside, this sure beats listening to Caroline’s eight-track tape collection of Abba music.

Big Clouds

JWise Photo of the Day

Big Clouds over Phoenix, Arizona

What can I say? I’m a sucker for cloud and sky photos. If I could travel the country endlessly I am certain I could find a wickedly great sky photo every day. Speaking of this idea of endless travel, if anyone would like to entertain paying Caroline and me to do just that, we are open to suggestions, negotiation, and committing to just such an endeavor.

Going Home

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Shore bird on the Pacific Ocean in California

Time to leave Santa Barbara and get back to Phoenix, Arizona. The Party is over; everyone is going home. As I was late heading over here, so we are late getting out.

Woman entering the surf near Carpenteria, California

Cooling off in the middle of the day and brushing up on wave-riding skills, this young woman makes her way into the surf with a boogie board in hand. Up and down the coast, rain or shine, hot or cold, you will almost always see someone out in the surf bobbing up and down, looking for the perfect wave.

Amtrak train travelling the California coast.

It was nearly 2:00 p.m. when we left, but that’s ok. Had we left any earlier, we wouldn’t have experienced the excitement of nearly being run off the road by a semi just 15 miles from home in the middle of the night. Bad luck for the guy behind us, who ended up in a ditch because of this sleepy truck driver. Police were on this guy in minutes, but it took another half an hour before our racing hearts calmed down – ah, cheap thrills.

60 Years of Marriage

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Family get together celebrating 60th wedding anniversary.

Sixty years ago today, my Uncle Woody (left front) married my Aunt Ann (second from the right) at the All Saints Church in Buffalo, New York, on 205 Esser Avenue. To celebrate this special day their friend Boyd joined my Aunt Jean, cousin Nancy, and Nancy’s children Theresa and Daniel, Caroline, and me to wish them the very best.

Ann Burns in Santa Barbara, California

We started out with me making breakfast for everyone, and later on, we grilled Ted’s hotdogs for lunch. Daniel brought a pinata, and for the first time in their combined 150-or-so years, my aunt and uncle tried to break open the candy-stuffed pinata. All of us took a whack and had a great laugh.

Woody Burns and Caroline Wise in Santa Barbara, California

For dinner, we warmed homemade chicken corn chowder – a summertime favorite in Buffalo. On Sunday morning at Saint Raphael’s Church, the pastor offered a blessing and acknowledged the reaffirmation of their vows, a suggestion by Nancy – we were touched.