4 posts tagged “trips”
The first time my brother and I flew to Peru without our parents, I forgot to take my passport to the airport. It didn't even occur to me to grab it before leaving my house—which happened to be 1,200 miles away. Needless to say, we did not get to board our scheduled flight that day. I had to ask a friend to break into my house, find my passport, and overnight it to my parents' house so that we could catch the next day's flight to Peru. Humiliating—especially considering that I've been flying internationally my whole life.
Still, I had to laugh when my mom called this morning to tell me to put my passport in my purse right now, two days before she and I are scheduled to travel to Peru. I was way ahead of her, though, thanks in part to the wonderful travel checklists from JCPenney (of all places). My mom stumbled across them a few years ago, and Mr. Guycita and I have come to rely on them every time we travel. Using them is much faster than making up a new list for each trip (which is what I used to do). And now I'll never again forget to pack my passport ... or a toothbrush ... or deodorant ... or anything else important!
This time last week, Mr. Guycita and I were at The Mirage in Las Vegas, watching the much-hyped extravaganza known as Beatles LOVE. I'd never seen a Cirque du Soleil production before, so I walked in with few preconceptions. What I did know was that (after having listened to the LOVE soundtrack several times) I really liked what George Martin and his son Giles had done with throwaway takes of classic songs.
Unfortunately, I think the show hindered my enjoyment of that music.
Don't get me wrong: The show itself is fabulous. The acrobats are amazing (in fact, I think they forever ruined the circus for me), as are the dancers. The production values and special effects (especially during "Within You Without You" and "Octopus's Garden") are top-notch. And I don't think there is a bad seat in the house. If you are a fan of the stage, you will love Beatles LOVE.
But if you are primarily a fan of the music (as I am), you may be disappointed. The sheer sensory overload makes it impossible to take in everything that's going on, and I was forced to tune out the music in order to absorb what was happening in front of me. Also, the storyline that the Cirque du Soleil folks have concocted around the lyrics can seem like it's stretching them a bit more than it should (for example, "A Day in the Life" becomes the soundtrack to the death of John's mother, and "Come Together" is reimagined as a free love anthem). But that's not to say that none of the interpretations are successful: "Something," with its simple set and beautiful dance, is especially mesmerizing.
What I realized during the show is that the music of The Beatles does not need any visual accompaniment. The best images are those you conjure up in your own mind, which is probably one reason their songs have stood the test of time. My favorite part of the show, in fact, had nothing to do with acrobats or dancers, snazzy props or fancy lights, or anyone's interpretation of the lyrics: It was the footage of the actual Beatles that rolled at the very end. That's what it's all about, man.
That said, Mr. Guycita and I had a great time on our trip, surrounded by more Beatles merchandise and music than we would be in probably any other spot in the world (besides Liverpool itself). As you can see, I was giddy with excitement, and Mr. Guycita played along (what a good sport):
Oh yes, you read that right. Last weekend, I took a road trip with three college buddies to see our friend Jen, who lives in the Springfield, Missouri, area. On our second day there, Jen took us out to her parents' 40-acre farm near Bull Shoals Lake.
We didn't know we'd be helping move cattle until the night before, so we city slickers didn't have much of a chance to back out. In fact, once the shock of what we were expected to do wore off, we were quite excited! The morning of our visit, we put on old clothes and old shoes (that we wouldn't mind getting cow poop on) and climbed onto the four-wheelers that would transport us up the hills to where the cows were hanging out.
It was a gorgeous, bumpy, slightly scary ride. I alternated between enjoying the beautiful view, hanging on for dear life, and snapping a lot of very blurry photos. When we finally came upon the cows, Jen's parents began to yell "HYAH!" and the cows started a-moving.
We followed—I mean, herded—the cows on the four-wheelers through a grove of trees to get to a small pond.
After taking a few minutes to enjoy the beauty around us, we left the cows by the water to bathe and hydrate themselves, as cows do.
On the ride back to the house, I saw flowering cacti and tons of other wildflowers, many with butterflies on them. Unfortunately, we were going too fast to get a good picture of any of them (you know how I love to take pictures of flowers!).
With our exciting cattle-herding adventure behind us, we ate lunch and then headed out to the beautiful nearby lake for an extremely relaxing afternoon of boating, sunning, and swimming:
Surrounded by the awe-inspiring beauty of God's creation and the warmth of old friends, I wished the day would never end. If this is what it's like to own a farm in the Ozarks, sign me up!
A few days ago, Mr. Guycita and I returned from an impromptu trip to Peru to see my ailing, 91-year-old grandmother. She is in bad shape, and it was a difficult trip, but I'm glad I got to see her one last time.
My grandma was hospitalized for the first few days of our visit. On the day they sent her home, she asked that a bouquet of white roses be placed in her bedroom. She loves flowers, and when she was younger, she would spend a lot of time caring for the ones in her garden. Their vivid colors were a bright spot in my grandparents' yard, which was (and is) always covered with a layer of dust from the desert.
On that particular morning, only a couple of white roses were in bloom, so my mom filled out the bouquet with different colored roses. My abuelita, who is now blind, did not know the difference, and the fragrance made her happy. Later that day, my grandma's younger sister went to the market to buy more white roses for her bouquet. It's funny what people will do for the ones they love, even when it doesn't make sense.
On the last day of our visit, my abuelito went outside to cut some more roses for my grandma. I went out back with him and took the opportunity to snap some photos of the beautiful plants in their yard. I thought other people might like to see them, too. It's amazing what lush beauty can emerge from the desert coast of northern Peru (in winter!).
