Stamps In My Passport

You may find this a sensitive subject, and I can certainly understand why. Yet, we must all face it sooner or later. Death, that is. Now it seems that people of prominence, especially those who possess a great deal of either authority or money, attempt to circumvent this inevitably-final event by erecting monuments of one …

California Sons in Retirement (SIRs)

First of a four part series about retirement. Rob, our recently-retired fictional hero, is discovering the downsides of not devoting a full day, every day, to his boss and his long-time employer. Retirement was great at first. He slept in a bit each morning and read the paper before getting dressed. The long “honey-do list” …

Stamps In My Passport: Namibia

There are certain unique and distinct spots on this great planet of ours which are not duplicated anywhere. Locations where specific flora and fauna survive while becoming extinct elsewhere. Locations where wind, water, and topography come together to create an environment which is specific to just this single area. Usually indigenous peoples weave mysterious legends …

Stamps in My Passport: Nepal Wedding

Let’s face it—singing and dancing go together with “love and marriage like a horse and carriage.” I remember growing up and attending a lot of weddings. Invariably as the evening rolled on the band would get louder and louder and the music faster and faster. Eventually both young and old would be carried away with …

Stamps In My Passport: Guatemala

When we Americans visit foreign countries, it is our hope and desire to experience and be exposed to different and diverse situations. We seek out contrasting cultures, hunt for historic sites, and expose ourselves to an environment different from our own. It is these varied introductions to new surroundings and cultures that make an out-of-country …

Stamps In My Passport: Cambodia

My children were born and grew up here in California. Barbara and I loved, nurtured, fed, and educated them to the best of our ability. Meanwhile there were places around the world where children of a comparable age were being raised under entirely different circumstances. One of these extreme cases was in Cambodia. Here a …

Stamps In My Passport

If you are a loyal reader of my travel tales, you most certainly are aware of the fact that I love the adventure that travel brings. To explore a new area, to visit an exotic place I read about as a child, to stand at some historic location – they all fill me with awe …

Stamps In My Passport

Workplace safety has always been very important to us here in the United States. When visiting a production facility invariably one will see a sign stating the number of days since the last accident. On construction sites we expect to see workers’ heads well covered with colorful hard hats. Most everywhere we turn we are …

Stamps In My Passport

There is a friend who is a “zoo” guy. He loves going to and exploring zoos. At most of our get-togethers the topic of zoos comes up. Admittedly it is rarely me that introduces the subject, but rest assured he is always ready with a new zoo tale—no pun intended. Now during most of these …