Vision Board 2025

Last year I was invited by local nonprofit expert, Marge Smith, to create a vision board. I went in with some apprehension, but as it is something that has intrigued me, I went with an open mind and created an 8.5"x11" vision for 2024.

Ten months into the year I reflected on how spot on the poster turned out to be. 

The top says: DREAM SPRING. Last October, we returned to Australia in time for their spring, which gave me a second spring.

The pile of books reflects the over 100 books I read last year.

The camera (hard to see in the picture) represents the photography class I didn't know I was going to take at the time.

ARCHAEOLOGY represents my weekly trips to Newlin Grist Mill and some other dig sites.

HOPE could represent the few months of HOPE I had that Kamala Harris would win the election.

GREAT ESCAPE I had several fun trips last year and this.

The Eiffel Tower was a miss, but in April 2025 I did return to Belgium, so maybe not so far off. 

This week Marge invited us back to create a new vision board. She has piles of magazines, junk mail, old calendars, fancy paper, stickers, and other treasures. My head gravitated towards the travel pictures and the words WHERE TO GO IN 2025. 

I was also drawn to the sticker: BE HAPPY BE BRIGHT BE YOURSELF. That's something I have not felt like being for a long time. I often feel as if I'm too much and need to be kept smaller, or feel as if I'm not good enough. I forget to simply be happy, share brightness, and be myself.

The other sticker: TRUST THE TIMING OF YOUR LIFE is the advice I didn't realize I needed. As I sat with a small group of women listening to their stories, and listening to Marge fill them with exactly what they needed to hear to go from planning to quit to planning to fight I heard her tell me I had to leave my last job. It was toxic. I'm still healing. No one else has said that to me. I felt seen. I felt loved. I felt I could make a step towards healing and stop beating myself up.

While I included pictures of places I want to go. A hot springs. Greece. France. Austria. Budapest. Canada. I also included a picture of hands connecting and realized I want to connect with people again. A rainbow. I want to fight so gay marriage stays a right. A guitarist in Argentina. I want more music in my life, and I want to go to South America. The pyramids. I want to go to Africa. A garden gnome that reminds me of the gnome in "Amelie" that traveled the world. The puffins clearly in love to remind me of my love.

I wonder if the pink background over last year's blue is a sign I'm ready to be happy and bright again.

The board is still without a vision for paid work. The paid opportunities in the past two years have found me. They've been enough financially and emotionally. More than enough.

I'll try to revisit this in a few months and let you know if it becomes as prophetic as the first one did.

Downtown Trenton Walking Club

Over a year ago, and fifty walks ago, Becky Taylor and Tim Brill started Trenton Walks! lunchtime walks to learn more about Trenton, and to share the capital city with others. They estimate that together they have walked from Trenton to Florida. They aiming for Key West. I'm sure after that they will aim for even further away.

Last week's walk was from City Hall to the State House. Though Thomas was our guide, he often graciously ceded the floor to local experts who just happen to be on the tour. While talking about the history of the1689 grist mill in Mill Hill, someone chimes in they remember when the river was uncovered and how wildlife has since returned to the area.

As we passed ArtWorks one man proudly states that he just received a call about a grant to revitalize the area. Then shares with us really exciting news about plans to bring Trenton back to life (including building The American Graffiti museum (TAG)). Don has lived in the area for six decades, and I've been here since 1988, so we are both cautiously optimistic about the news. If only a portion of what is planned to happen really happens Trenton will transform before our eyes. 

We took the path along the Assunpink to the Italian marble statue of George Washington behind Passage Theater (where Ashley was working at that moment), across the street from where one of her childhood best friends used to live. We heard the statue was made for the 1867 Centennial in Philadelphia. It was moved to Cadwallader Park where it was graffitied, and since restored, then tucked away in this park. 

We paused in the shade at the top of the War Memorial where we could see an empty grassy area that had once been part of Trenton's Stacy Park. The city has received a grant to revitalize the space.

As we walked back to the start Thomas pointed across Warren and State streets to where the second Masonic Temple once stood and said that was the home of the first professional basketball game in 1896.

It is also where the Constitution was signed. As we gear up for the sesquicentennial of our nation's founding, we'll be learning more about what happened here during the Revolutionary War.

Trenton has a lot of history.

The following Wednesday Don and I returned for walk #51. We walked from the canal parking lot up to the new pedestrian path on the Scudders Falls Bridge. This talk was led by members of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) -- a group of 37 people who keep an eye on the water safety for the entire Delaware River, which stretches from Hastings, NY to Delaware. They work with people from the governments of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and the federal government. 

During the Industrial Revolution era, the Delaware (the longest undammed river in America) provided the hydromechanical power located by what is now Waterfront Park. Ships traveled from Philadelphia to New York City along the canals. They went uphill, and back downhill through a series of locks. Seven from Trenton to New Brunswick. Seven from Trenton to Bordentown.

In the 1840s the Delaware River was an open sewer. Today we drink the water thanks to the work of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that began in 1972. Today the DRPC maintains it so it does not return to that fate.

The Delaware River is unique in that parts of it are freshwater and parts are saltwater. This unique attribute is why the shad thrive near Lambertville.

The next walks will be on August 24th and September 6th.

Christmas in August 2025

When telling Ashley about how much we enjoyed Ocean Grove's beach nativity she seemed interested in going with us. As I said in 2024 much as changed in the past year. In this case, the big change is that Ashley moved out and is living with her girlfriend, Anna. Anna was out of the country so we took advantage of the rare opportunity to have Ashley to ourselves.

The text I wrote last year is the same. Two churches work together to put on this annual tradition. The two-person camels often led by the smallest participants (under the guidance of a responsible adult) steal the show. Mary "giving birth" behind a blanket held up by Joseph is a close second. The entire tableau takes place in 30 minutes. We conclude by singing familiar carols that somehow don't feel out of place on a New Jersey beach in August.

Looking at the pictures, I very nearly wore the same t-shirt a third year in a row. The green is perfect for the Christmas-themed outing.

The line at Day's stretched down the block so we returned after the pageant.

It was really nice being able to spend the evening with our grown-up daughter.

Return to Musikfest 2025

For the first time in decades (?) Don and made a second trip to MusikFest. With ten days of sunshine, they really lucked out with the weather this year. They later reported that they had record crowds. As most venues are free, I don't know how they determine attendance, but I'm happy for them. (Last Monday)

This post will be brief. I want to share the great musicians. We made it to the South Side by the Steel Stacks for the first time. There is a shuttle bus that crisscrosses MusikFest (and one that Ashley used the day before), but we walked the 35-minutes from one side to the other an back again over the train tracks.

The weather was warmer than on Monday, a nice day to be outside but an even nicer day to enjoy air conditioning.

We listed to Corinne previewing her new album, Stories in Pink. Wearing my pink sundress I felt in the know even though it was a complete accident. I learned a few days later Cousin Martin plans to hear her album preview this weekend. 

We are seeing Martin next week on the Jersey leg of his vacation. I look forward to hearing his thoughts about her album. He has been a fan for a while.

After dinner we went to hear Grace Kelly perform. Not THE Grace Kelly, but a saxophonist by the same name. She played outdoors in Stadtplatz, but by then it was a lot cooler. The next day we learned Ashley heard her play the day before us and really enjoyed her music, too. Ashley's performance had ASL interpreters even though much of her music is instrumental. Our favorite piece (one Ashley did not hear) was about meeting her now husband and is often used as a wedding or engagement song, much to her happiness called Feels Like Home.

Even though Don and I went alone, through the music of these two women I felt a connection to family.

MusikFest 2025

MusikFest was founded in 1984 by Jeff Parks as a way to promote Bethlehem, PA. He and his wife had visited Oktoberfest in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and other outdoor festivals and thought it would be a good to do something similar in their hometown. His first volunteers were "FOJs" -- Friends and Family of Jeff. A nine-day festival was rather ambitious, but it was successful. Forty-one years later it is still going strong.

Don remembers going to his first MusikFest in the late 1980s when Craig, his co-worker, told him about it. My first was in the early 1990s, a year after we started dating. A number of years later we bumped into Craig and his wife at MusikFest. For many years we went at least once, often discovering new bands. We took Ashley when she was little, but at some point we fell out of the habit. Don and I returned in 2021 and were disappointed by the post-Covid version. Still, we returned in 2022. When we returned this year, I really thought we went in 2023 or 2024. We must have been busy. I'm also surprised I don't have posts from other years. 

A good festing experience involves walking around Bethlehem and discovering new music. There are always some misses, but it only takes one win to be a success.

This year we went on a Monday due to our new retirement schedule with Don working many weekends at REI. We parked on Market Street for free.

After having some alumni swirl and chocolate ice cream from the Penn State Creamery on Main Street, we caught littlebird duo, with their cello friend. They play some original music, as well as covers. They will return with the rest of the band (littlebird and the bad eggs) later in the week.

We walked downhill to Plaza Tropical for Lehigh Valley's Fig for a Kiss, a Celtic band. Their tent was dancing! The story telling with music made me smile.

After dinner at Fegley's Brew Works (beet salad for me, bratwurst for Don), we stopped by Zinzenplatz to hear the Sarah Ayers Band, which hails from Easton, PA. Our timing was off and we only heard a couple of songs before they were done for the night.

Gadan, a Celtic band from Italy was our surprise favorite band this year. Don even bought their CD after closing out their set in StadtPlatz.

We left them to hear the Amish Outlaws. The name of the band was more enticing than the actual group. It didn't help they were dressed like Amish farmers singing "ABC" but the Jackson 5. Their next choice was equally odd. Their tent, the giant Festplatz (which used to house Polka music all day, every day) was overflowing with fans. We were practically next to the port-o-pots, not an ideal place to stand. We headed back up to StadtPlatz because it was the closest to our car and caught a couple of songs by Rift -- a Tribute to Phish. Not being a Phish fan, we didn't last for very long.

Ashley is planning to go to her first MusikFest. Sadly she does not remember us taking her to hear the Red Elvises with her best friend at the time, Sophie. On the positive, I suppose that means we did not traumatize her or ruin her hearing by taking her to a rock concert when she was barely two years old.

Shifting Perceptions

Before we left we were told that St. John's has amazing sunrises. I looked at the cloudy forecast and opted to sleep in. This time of year sunrise is 5:30 am and sunset is nearly 9 pm. The temperature only reached 70 on our first day in Gander. 

It rained a lot. 

We soon learned there were fires on the northern tip of Newfoundland in the town of Musgrave Harbour. My jaw dropped when my google search first brought up a fire in Quidi Vidi on July 29th at one of their "stages," as we had lunch there last week. Best as I understand it, stages are fishing huts associated with the cod industry. They are passed down through the generations.

That was a detour. The point I meant to make was that the rains I grumbled about as a tourist were necessary to save lives and homes. It humbled me and changed my perception.

If we only learn to listen to each other, our perceptions can be changed all the time. Or, at least, we'd learn to understand someone else's perception.

Newfoundland Adventures part 15: Time to return home

The three-hour drive back from Gander was a let down. We stopped off in Appleton, and paused at the Silent Witness Memorial on our way to Gambo and Dover.

The Silent Witness Memorial is in memory of the 256 members of the 101st peacekeeping mission that crashed just off of the Gander International Airport's runway killing everyone on board.

It is stunning. It depicts an American soldier holding the hands of a boy and a girl holding olive branches.

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful. We did see two moose rest on the grass on the other side of the road (thank you to the car flashing his headlights in warning), and signs warning us it was a possibility.

Fortunately, this was the only moose we got close to:

We got some Sweet Rock ice cream in St. John's

The next morning we boarded our 7:30 am flight home. We are so used to getting to the airport at least two hours early, so we did. Sunrise is around 5:30 am this time of year. The car rental return counter wouldn't open for another hour. Security took moments so we waited in the line for Tim Hortons with most everyone else in the terminal.

Continental Airlines used to fly non-stop from St. John's to Newark. No one has picked up the route since Continental went out of business. Our flight north was through Montreal. The return was through Halifax. Three provinces in one trip that was less than a weeklong.

While I would recommend going to Newfoundland, I also don't see myself returning, unless I had another opportunity to see "Come from Away" with Newfoundlanders.

Newfoundland Adventures part 14: More real places in Come from Away

I shared pictures of the places the historical society of Gander put on their Wayfinding Guide to Important "Come from Away" sites in Gander. This is more the unofficial guide. Pictures of places that stood out in the show. 

A) Shoppers

Oz: "So I go down to Shoppers and the manager says just take what I want off the shelves -- toothbrushes, floss, mouthwash, deodorant." 

Technically this Shoppers was built after 9/11, but when we saw it as we drove to our hotel my heart leapt in joy. We bought some toiletries to support them.

B) Airport

"You've all seen the airport. Used to be the busiest airport in North America. Planes used to stop here to gas up from everywhere. Whoo! Frank Sinatra, Albert Einstein -- Mohammed Ali. The Queen!

"Then they invented jet planes that can get across the ocean on one tank -- So there's no need to refuel anymore. Leavin' us with this giant airport."

Today about a dozen flights come and go from Gander. They have three air traffic control agents working at all times, mostly watching the planes that fly over their heads. There is a giant waiting area, through the doors you step back in time to the 1950s in the preserved first class lounge. The first elevator in Newfoundland is visible, but not running. Upstairs is a museum. The counter in the picture is still in operation. Looked like they sell Sweet Rock ice cream. Two days earlier we ate some blueberry Sweet Rock ice cream in Trinity, NL, which was made 100 feet away from the store where it is sold.

No trip to Gander is complete without a stop at the airport. Later I realized we could have flown in and out of Gander for about the same price as St. John's, but with many fewer options.

C) Salvation Army

Garth (spoken): We rarely use them, but everyone dusted off their Salvation Army uniforms to welcome these people.

Muhumuza (spoken): There are soldiers everywhere.

This is actually located in Gambo. It is where Nick and Diane stayed.

I took a picture of the SUF (Society of United Fishermen) instead of the Salvation Army.

D) Dover Fault

Sitting on the Nick and Diane bench

Diane: We're told by our pilot to stay close to our shelters so we're ready to go again. So we end up on one last walk to this gorgeous lookout, the Dover Fault. 

This was one of the moments watching the show you might think they just made this up. The man from England falls in love with the Texas woman. They have one last date at the Dover Fault, the place where two continents collided millions of years ago. The Dover Fault Interpretation Center has a copy of the picture Nick took of Diane when Diane realized he was in love with her. The two married, honeymooned in Gander, and have returned every so often since.

Diane (spoken): Look at this: five hundred and forty million years ago, the continents of the world crashed together right here; and two hundred million years, they separated again, moving apart from each other.

E) The four meter long piece of World Trade Center steel

Actually located 15 minutes up the road in Appleton, NL

Gander has three other pieces of WTC steel

Inside the Aviation Museum

Inside the Gander International Airport

Outside Town Hall

F) Town of Gambo

Gander (with 9,000 residents) could not house everyone. Neighboring towns chipped in, including Gambo. As one character said, every town with 1,000 people has their own mayor.

Gambo is even smaller than Gander. When we stopped by the historic society (located behind this sign) and asked about "Come from Away" spots they gave us a blank look. I asked about the downtown area so we could see the gayest town in Canada. They said the road we were on was it. 

G) Pictures of real people

Inside the Dover Fault and Interpretation Center are pictures of those who inspired the musical.

The mayor. His son was our server at Rosie's

H) "Come from Away" Gander castmates Petrina Bromley and Astrid Van Wieren both appeared on Broadway in "Come from Away". Petrina was Bonnie, and is now Beverly. Astrid has always portrayed Diane. The rest of the cast all have impressive resumes.

If "Come from Away" is one of your favorite musicals, we both highly recommend seeing it in Gander. It is transformative. There are still tickets for this year, but check and make sure you can rent a car before you decide to go. Car rentals are limited and many have been scooped up by people going to St. John's for Canada Games. That won't be an issue next year.