Travels with Valerie

I know we look really happy in this photo, but a new rift has opened in our relationship. The problem, as always, is Modern Art. I long ago gave up on getting Ron to see that the mattress and box spring at the Tate Modern are “art”. And I justified his blind art ignorance with […]

I hesitate to write this. My impulse is to hide – to prevent anyone from seeing the hard reality of a household invaded by pancreatic cancer. But as I have helped Ron navigate this worst-possible diagnosis, the painful and honest stories from other cancer families are the ones that have given me comfort and offered […]

Different trips offer different tourist adventures. Although the Big Island has whale watching, hiking, volcanoes, star-gazing and more, we have devised our own agenda. With no whale watching planned, I wanted to make sure my commitment to marine biology was clear to all, and so I packed ONLY whale shirts for my workouts here. Here’s […]

We’ve moved to the sunny Kohala coast and rented a house that is outside the purchase consideration for our entire group, even if we pool our finances and then throw in your finances as well. The house is a conglomeration of items/appliances that I have seen in magazines but never had any actual contact with. […]