Yours in...

#527 Polyface Farm revisited

2012-01-07T21:30:00.004-05:00

In the two years since I first visited Polyface Farm, owner Joel Salatin's message in support of local food has gone mainstream.

Time Magazine

In 2011, The Atlantic magazine touted Polyface Farm as a "Mecca of Sustainable Agriculture". A subsequent Time magazine article on Salatin hangs framed on the wall of the farm's newly expanded sales center. Author Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, Food Rules) cites Salatan's sustainable farming techniques in contrast to the "industrial organic" approach.
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USA Today visited the farm and over 100,000 people watched.

So when University of Virginia Professor Rachel Most kindly invited me to return to Polyface Farm today along with her students, I was eager to see how things have changed in two years.

Joel Salatan has not changed.

He explained his farming philosophy and answered our questions in his unique hay bale amphitheater.

He demonstrated the first installation of his newest idea, sidewalk gardening, still under construction in the growing hoop house.

He quoted historic accounts of grasses taller than horses covering his Shenandoah Valley soil.

Clearly his crowd is growing. He made a few more believers today.

Yours in going to the polls three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner,
Kelly

#526 Christmas reading

2011-12-28T11:55:00.004-05:00

Christmas reading is fun!

To compile my Christmas 2011 reading list, I searched the PS shelves in Alderman Library; I re-read Fannie Flagg's A Redbird Christmas; and at the public library, I even found a Christmas-themed mystery set on a cruise ship. Ho! Ho! Ho!

The Birds' Christmas Carol, Kate Douglas Wiggin
Christmas at Monticello, Helen Miller
A Christmas Blizzard, Garrison Keillor
A Christmas Card, Paul Theroux
The Old Peabody Pew: A Christmas Romance of a Country Church, Kate Douglas Wiggin
One Christmas, Truman Capote
A Redbird Christmas, Fannie Flagg
The Romance of a Christmas Card, Kate Douglas Wiggin
Santa Cruise: A Holiday Mystery at Sea, Mary Higgins Clark
Winter Solstice, Rosamunde Pilcher

This year's favorites were both written by Kate Douglas Wiggin. I don't know how I've missed these two Christmas gems for so long, since Kate also authored Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and founded the Salmon Falls Library in Buxton, ME!

The Old Peabody Pew: A Christmas Romance of a Country Church,1907

The Romance of a Christmas Card, 1916

If the Alderman Library is not convenient, you can download these early-20th-century titles for free from your favorite e-book vendor. Now that's a merry Christmas!

Yours in unabashedly enjoying Christmas romances,
Mary

#525 Ginkgo!

2011-12-07T07:13:00.000-05:00

One hundred fifty-one years ago Mr. Pratt planted a ginkgo tree on the University of Virginia grounds near Thomas Jefferson's Rotunda.

Every November, Mr. Pratt's ginkgo puts on a show in Charlottesville. Here is the 2011 performance:

Yours in enjoying the ginkgo spectacular,
Kelly

#524 Switching Art

2011-11-26T09:37:00.001-05:00

When I reach for a kitchen switch, I see an Alaskan moose.

When I reach for a hallway switch, I see the Sunflower state.

When I think about the artist who created these wonders, I smile.

Thanks, Donna!

Yours in appreciating creative friends,
Kelly

#523 Including the kitchen sink

2011-11-25T13:58:00.003-05:00

Our townhome builders are a thrifty bunch.

In our kitchen, Ryan Homes installed an aluminum sink, 5.5 inches in depth. I think it was probably made for a motor home. Lowe's doesn't carry any sinks that small.

According to Lowe's prices, it looks like installing a sprayer would have cost our builder another dollar or two.

So, we bought our own sink. It is black and made of composite granite. And best of all, it is NINE inches deep with a fabulous sprayer.

Kelly took out the motor home sink...

And installed a sink for our grown-up house.

Now, doesn't that white wall need to be painted?

Yours in spraying and splashing,
Mary

#522 Christmas Dozen

2011-11-19T17:15:00.009-05:00

I love a good Christmas movie! Aren't I lucky the list of Christmas films is so long?

I tried out a new holiday film already this year: The Tsarina's Slippers, a Russian opera composed by Tchaikovsky and performed live at London's Royal Opera House. I like the opera, especially the Cossack dancing scene in Act 3, but my top dozen Christmas films (including one from every decade since the 1940s) remains unchanged.

Be sure to let me know what's missing from my list of favorites.

12. Scrooge (1970)

11. A Christmas Story (1983)

10. The Holiday (2006)

9. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

8. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

6. Holiday Inn (1942)

5. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

4. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

3. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

2. Love Actually (2003)

1. White Christmas (1954)

Yours in a fabulous cinematic Ho! Ho! Ho!

Mary

#521 Take One, Leave None

2011-11-06T16:24:00.006-05:00

The take-one-leave-one fiction library on board the MV Explorer is one of my favorite spots.

Voyagers leave behind books they've finished and look for their next read. Their goal is to find a break from their study, light reading that will require no struggle to understand.

And, of course, there are many other groups who like to take a book and leave a book. You'll find plenty of recent news about the Little Free Libraries and the recently formed People's Library at Occupy Wall Street.

And now I, too, have jumped on the book-sharing bandwagon and installed my own Guest's Library at home. Though quite a bit smaller than the People's Library or the MV Explorer take-one-leave-one library, one recent guest became the first to take home a book. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake now lives in Mukiteo, WA.

So next time you're visiting, be sure to check out our Guest's Library. Or if you see something you'd like on the shelf, I might even deliver!

Yours in sharing books,
Mary

#520 Happy birthday, Yamaha!

2011-10-21T22:55:00.001-04:00

My piano is 30 years old!

This loyal Yamaha console piano has stayed with me through quiet times, through 10 moves, and through 30 years of 1960s and 1970s folk music.

And my first post-college purchase was a great investment! Calculations show the cost to be less than $10 per month.

Yours in music appreciation,
Mary

#519 Americana JVP

2011-09-28T22:16:00.006-04:00

Hello USA!

When our family returns to the US after 3 years in Germany, we must focus the Johnston Visitor Plan (JVP) on all things Americana!

Spudnuts. Though the original recipe might be traced back to Germany, we now claim these potato-based delicacies as an American tradition and, in particular, as a Charlottesville tradition. Any time is Spudnuts time.

Montpelier. The home of the 4th US president and award-winning barbecue? Now that's Americana! The recently restored home of James and Dolley Madison is just about 30 miles NE of Charlottesville. And nearby Gordonsville offers hickory smoked goodness at the Barbecue Exchange.

College football. That's an American tradition for sure. The UVA Cavaliers took on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. Having attended the UVA marching band open rehearsal on Friday night, we knew the band would perform Danny Elfman's Batman theme song on Saturday afternoon. Next week, look out U-Idaho!

Sonic Drive-In. Didn't Americans invent the drive-in? Not only is Sonic Drive-In an American tradition, it is a family tradition. Carhops have been serving up burgers and those unparallelled Sonic drinks since before I was born. (That's a long time.) A drive over the mountain to Waynesboro is well worth the trip!

Humpback Rocks Visitor Center and Mountain Farm. Having the right guide who knows how to bake bread over an open fire and illustrate life on an 1890's mountain farm makes all the difference. Thanks, Allison!

Swannanoa. Though this 1912 Italianate villa needs some work to restore it to its former glory, the extraordinary genius of American stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany is still on display as soon as you enter.

Blue Mountain Brewery. Brewing may not be an American invention, but those folks at Blue Mountain certainly have perfected it. The mountain view from the front patio is not bad either.

Sunday Night Football. The Colts vs Steelers game didn't end the way we wanted, but our Pittsburgh friends are happy.

Luray Caverns. Pluto's chasm, the Stalacpipe organ (the world's largest musical instrument), and Dream Lake are just a few of our highlights inside Luray Caverns. Plus, pets are welcome!

Moneyball. Of all the terrific films about America's pastime, I think I like this one starring the Springfield-Missouri native the best.

We're proud to be the first stop on the "Hello USA" tour!

Yours in Americana,
Mary

#518 Saint and Nation and Maps

2011-09-18T12:17:00.000-04:00

Kelly keeps telling me he has a cool job in the Scholars' Lab.

He's always been inquisitive, so he's energized by working with scholars from so many different disciplines who use Geographic Information Systems. And he likes to make maps.

A few months ago, he came home with stories of his search for 17th-century political boundaries of Spain. He'd been consulting with Erin Rowe on her forthcoming book tracking the "Spanish devotion to the cult of saints".

Now Saint and Nation is published and shelved at Alderman Library. Four maps are bound inside. They clearly show, among other things, Spanish political boundaries from the 17th century.

Yours in agreeing Kelly has a cool job,
Mary

#517 Plein Air Dining

2011-09-14T22:11:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, many wonderful things happen all at once.

Last weekend - so filled with friends and weddings and gorgeous summer weather and outdoor dining - was one of those times.

Outdoor dining? Now, I'm not saying that this was the best part, but we savored every meal from Thursday to Sunday - outside. We Johnstons don't excel in the kitchen, so mixing out-of-town company with the perfect summer weather yielded Thursday night dinner at Petit Pois, Friday lunch at Basil, Friday dinner under a tent in Orange, Saturday lunch at Eppie's, Saturday dinner outside the UVA observatory, and Sunday brunch at The Nook.

I don't want to be accused of placing the emphasis on the wrong thing here, but really. Does it get any better than this? Perhaps we need to modify the Johnston Visitor Plan to focus more on plein air dining, because Charlottesville is really, really good at it. Much love to Margaret, our friend and weekend dining companion, for joining in the fun.

Yours in enjoying a delightful and delicious weekend,
Mary

#516 Wedding Geometry

2011-09-11T14:17:00.002-04:00

Saturday, 9-10-11, was a day for weddings, both geometric.

The afternoon outdoor wedding made fine use of spirally arranged chairs.

To start the service, each member of the wedding party walked single file into the spiral's opening, circumambulating toward the center and the waiting officiant, passing every guest along the way.

As the service began, we all served as ring bearers. The person seated at the spiral opening produced the wedding rings tied to a decorative pillow and passed them to his right. This blessing of the rings passed through the hands of each guest until delivery at the spiral's center.

The evening wedding made fine use of spheres.

Under a hemispherical observatory dome, the bride and groom wed. Hemispherical wedding cakes arranged in sequence away from a central sun cake mimicked our solar system.

We all took turns watching a full round moon through a five-ton telescope.

Yours in appreciating our creative geometric newlywed friends,
Kelly

#515 Moshe Safdie - Wow!

2011-09-01T00:14:00.019-04:00

Sometimes a building just makes me say Wow!

A few days ago I watched Charlie Rose interview architect Moshe Safdie. I was shocked to learn how many Wow! Safdie buildings we've recently encountered in our travels without knowing their common architect.

Singapore: Marina Bay Sands

National Mall: Unites States Institute of Peace

Arkansas: Crystal Bridges Museum of Art

Kansas City: Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Montreal: Habitat '67

all images: msafdie.com

Architecture, it's my one weakness. And maps.

Yours in enjoying the Wow! and the maps,
Kelly

#514 Frank Lloyd Wright's Zimmerman House

2011-08-28T20:01:00.008-04:00

"A work of art for kindred spirits"

He was a doctor and husband. She was a nurse and wife. Together these kindred spirits wrote a letter to Frank Lloyd Wright asking him to design "a small, spacious, simple home" to fit their Manchester, New Hampshire lifestyle.

Three years later the happy couple moved into their shiny new 1700 square foot modern home. Although the neighbors laughed, calling Wright's Usonian design a "chicken coop", the owners loved the place. It fit them. They enjoyed it for more than thirty five years, then donated the little gem to the local Currier Museum of Art upon their deaths.

Mary and I have been fortunate to visit more than thirty Frank Lloyd Wright sites around the world but never in New Hampshire and never one that felt like such a great fit for us, this house designed for two.

Yours in enjoying the benefits of kindred spirits,
Kelly

#513 Nate Visits Charlottesville

2011-08-07T02:01:00.001-04:00

Get ready. I'm about to show you how cool it was for us to have our nephew Nate hang out for a few days of fun around Charlottesville.

We're off to a strong start, Skyping with the fam in Germany and Idaho and Missouri.

We outsmarted the July Virginia heat by hanging out underground.

Outside the cave was too hot, so we hiked deep into the longest pre-Civil War tunnel in the United States.

Yea, I'd hiked this tunnel on Halloween before, but this July trip had the super dense scary fog and these scary cars. Don't ask. You had to be there. Scary.

After the tunnel we were chilly, so we fixed that by hiking to Humpback Rocks where we chilled.

Before he flew home, Nate made about 50 new friends at a party. He's so Rambis.

Yea, too bad that visit ever had to end.

Yours in hangin' with cool,
Kelly

#512 Boat Trip

2011-05-04T07:54:00.004-04:00

If you are missing the MV Explorer, you might consider watching Boat Trip.

Boat Trip, a 2002 Cuba Gooding Jr movie, is not known for its cinematic excellence. (Check out the trailer.) Cuba and his friend Horatio Sanz are having women trouble so they sign up for a cruise (not a voyage!) to get away - only to discover it's a gay cruise. But if you look past all the shenanigans, you'll see that much of Boat Trip was filmed on board the Olympic Voyager (the sister ship to the MV Explorer) like this scene on the 7th deck port side.

The happy ending involves Cuba parachuting into the pool on the 7th deck.

And if you watch closely, you can see some of the differences between the Olympic Voyager and the MV Explorer:

The Olympic Voyager has a gangway entrance on deck 3. (The MV Explorer gangway is only on decks 2 and 5.)
The Olympic Voyager deck 5 cabins have bay windows (The MV Explorer deck 5 cabins have balconies.)
The Olympic Voyager has a sporty yellow racing stripe. (The MV Explorer stripe is orange.)

Yours in enjoying the Olympic Voyager as a substitute for the real thing,
Mary

#511 Like a Sea Salt

2011-04-28T11:36:00.002-04:00

Back home again in Virginia!

We're thankful for so many things on the spring voyage.

Traveling with the 65 lifelong learners (aka Sea Salts) was a big highlight. Our friends Theresa and Paul and 63 other adventurous adult passengers were wonderfully engaged with the community - taking classes, serving as shipboard parents and grandparents, proctoring exams, playing ping pong on Deck 7, hosting parties for us in the faculty lounge, competing in Sea Olympics, and making videos...

And here's the official SAS slideshow...

Yours in wanting to be like a Sea Salt,
Mary

#510 America the Beautiful

2011-04-24T23:12:00.004-04:00

Home again.

This morning, we awoke to Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful and docked in San Diego after our 104-day voyage around the world.

America IS beautiful and we're happy to be home again.

After final exams, we've celebrated at the Alumni Ball, laughed at the amazing Sea Salts video, partied with the faculty and staff, cheered the graduation of 30 seniors (including a GIS student!), and hugged every one of our adopted family, our 21 work-study students, and so many other hug-worthy shipmates.

We are so very lucky to have been a part of the SAS 2011 spring voyage and we are so very lucky to be home again in America the Beautiful.

Yours in celebration,
Mary

#509 Touring the Bridge

2011-04-21T22:01:00.001-04:00

Three voyages, three bridge tours. Now we're starting to look beyond the captain's chair.

When it's your turn to parallel park the MV Explorer, this diagram is handy.

When the Captain dispatches you to the Tank Top deck, here's your map.

No bridge is complete without an artistic touch.

And no bridge tour is complete without a savvy guide. Thanks MV Explorer Third Officer Jean from Panama.

Yours in seeing the bridge with new eyes,
Kelly

#508 Hilo's Japanese Garden

2011-04-20T22:22:00.001-04:00

What a way to spend the last afternoon of the last day in our last port!

We visited Hilo's fantastic Liliuokalani Japanese Garden.

This sprawling thirty-acre city park makes most of the gardens we've already visited on this trip seem like postage stamps.

Liliuokalani's central pond is a tidal pool alive with exotropical fish and guarded by a massive Banyan tree.

Maybe we saved one of the best places for last.

Yours in enjoying Japanese gardens everywhere,
Kelly

#507 Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

2011-04-19T11:14:00.002-04:00

Dreams can come true. We’re in Hawai’i!

Of course, the weather is a little wet. We’re in Hilo, after all, the rainiest city in the US.

But what does that matter if you’re off the ship for the first time in 11 days and you’re setting off with good friends to visit a US National Park?

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is filled with all kinds of cool things like calderas…

And the rainforest…

And Hapuu tree ferns...

And lava tubes...

And the Holei Sea Arch...

And a lava rock wall...

And the Pu’u Loa petroglyphs...

It’s true we didn’t see any molten lava, but then again, we’re kind of glad we didn’t.

Yours in appreciating all the positives of a volcano-covered island,
Mary

#506 Land Ho

2011-04-18T23:01:00.001-04:00

After 11 days at sea, we dock in Honolulu to refuel.

Alas, the forward end of the ship is as close as we can get to the island of Oahu.

Yours in Hawaii dreaming,
Mary

#505 Happy Earth Week

2011-04-17T12:21:00.000-04:00

John Muir in the New World is a new 90-minute documentary film that premieres on Monday, the 18th,on PBS' American Masters series.

We were lucky enough to have a sneak preview of this film on board the MV Explorer with Peter Evans, a lifelong learner and one of the film's executive producers. He provided some background on how the project came together and led a discussion after the showing.

This new documentary focuses on Muir's contributions to the US environmental movement, but late in life Muir fulfilled his dream of traveling to the Amazon and to Africa. As we sailed up the River Amazon, I enjoyed John Muir's Last Journey: South to the Amazon and East to Africa.

Yours in bookending our trip with Muir,
Kelly

#504 Shipboard family

2011-04-15T11:42:00.001-04:00

How lucky are we! On board this beautiful ship, we often enjoy the company of our beautiful extended family – usually under a beautiful sunset.

Sammi, Jarett, Ison, and Amy are 4 students from all over the world who enjoy the shipboard pizza as much as we do. We gather regularly on Deck 7 for pizza and for an opportunity to discuss ship life, academic life, in-port life, and well, life.

Yours in appreciating our luck, our family, and all the benefits of sailing with Semester at Sea,
Mary

#503 National Library Week

2011-04-14T13:19:00.006-04:00

Happy National Library Week!

In library celebration, I’ll share some news about physical improvements that have been made to the shipboard library this semester.

Two large SUPER magnets were removed from under the library counter. These magnets had been in place since the library desk served as a bar counter in the ship’s casino. These magnets are so strong that if you walk near the desk with keys in your pocket, your pants pocket will be pulled toward the desk. And our cabin keys would often be desensitized. So the crew cut a rectangular hole underneath the counter and removed the magnets. We’re thrilled.

Two large unused map cases were removed from the wall next to the window.

The space is now a very sought-after work space in the library.

When you spend half your day trying to un-jam the printer, it’s time for a new one. See how nice our new printer looks sitting between the two library computers? Since the printer is bolted to the table and the table is bolted to the floor, removing paper jams in the rear compartment sometimes meant crawling underneath the table to come up behind the printer.

And we posted a Library of Congress classification poster on library shelving to assist students in finding library materials. The big orange magnets are compliments of IKEA.

Yours in celebrating libraries in our corner of the world, the MV Explorer library,

Mary

#502 Reading on the MV Explorer

2011-04-13T14:12:00.001-04:00

Today is our second April 12 on the MV Explorer and the post for this bonus day is about reading.

With bonus time, I like to read.  There are lots of ways (libraries, book shops, web sites) to get just the right book into your hands no matter where you are. Here is a list of some recent reading:

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
HOW: Purchased this paperback at Charlottesville’s Barnes & Noble before setting sail.
WHY: To prepare to lead a shipboard discussion group.
Greg Mortenson tells the story of his attempts to build schools for girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Gone Tomorrow by P F Kluge
HOW: Borrowed this novel from UVA library before setting sail.
WHY: To prepare for sailing with the author.
George Canaris, a novelist, has been teaching at a small Ohio college for 30 years while everyone waits for his next great novel.

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
HOW: Purchased from Amazon and downloaded to my Kindle.
WHY: To set the mood while sailing up the great River Amazon.
Backed by tons of archival research, this book documents Roosevelt’s attempt to explore Brazil’s River of Doubt from its source.

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
HOW: Downloaded this free book to my Kindle.
WHY: To read a seafaring tale while at sea.
The full title of this boys’ adventure story is Kidnapped: Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: How he was Kidnapped and Cast away; his Sufferings in a Desert Isle; his Journey in the Wild Highlands; his acquaintance with Alan Breck Stewart and other notorious Highland Jacobites; with all that he Suffered at the hands of his Uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws, falsely so-called: Written by Himself and now set forth by Robert Louis Stevenson. The title says it all.

Jane Austen’s Sailor Brothers by J. H. Hubback
HOW: Downloaded this free book to my Kindle.
WHY: To learn something about Jane and connect it to this voyage.
The inclusion of sailors in Jane’s novels Mansfield Park and Persuasion came from the inspiration of her two brothers Charles and Frank who served many years in the Navy.

Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
HOW: Purchased this novel at a Cape Town book shop.
WHY: To read an African story while in Africa.
Angel Tungaraza is a specialty cake baker from Tanzania with many skills besides baking. She reminds me of Mma Precious Ramotswe. I await Parkin’s 2nd novel.

The African Queen by C.S. Forester
HOW: Borrowed this adventure story from the shipboard library.
WHY: To read an African story while in Africa.
Just like in the Katharine Hepburn movie, Rose and Charlie Allnutt fall in love as they travel down the Ulanga River in German Central Africa on The African Queen headed toward Lake Wittelsbach and their goal to torpedo the Louisa.

A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
HOW: Borrowed this novel from the shipboard library.
WHY: To read an Indian novel while in India.
Despite all odds, a British teacher and an Indian doctor become friends in British-occupied Chandrapore. And despite a false accusation and numerous misunderstandings, the two remain friends though arguing their politics to the end.

Bala Takes the Plunge by Melvin Durai
HOW: Purchased this paperback at Higginbotham’s book shop in Chennai.
WHY: To read an Indian novel while in India.
In this short, funny, Indian novel, Bala dreams of making Tamil films and directing his favorite Bollywood actor -- a dream that leads him, naturally, to study engineering in college and move to the US.

Piggies on the Railway by Smita Jain
HOW: Purchased this paperback at Higginbotham’s book shop in Chennai.
WHY: To read an Indian novel while in India.
Set in Bombay, this murder mystery is a fun read with lots of references to India places and Bollywood actors.

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith
HOW: Purchased at the Kinokuniya book shop in Singapore (maybe the greatest book store in the world).
WHY: I can't pass up the opportunity to find out what's happening with Mma Ramotswe - especially since it is not yet even available at home.
Mma Ramotswe solves some mysteries and participates in the happy wedding of her assistant Mma Grace Makutsi.

Lonely Planet Taiwan.
HOW: Purchased this travel guide from Amazon and downloaded to my Kindle.
WHY: As a result of our in-transit decision to visit Taiwan instead of Japan, we need quick access to Taiwan travel info.
There is much more to Taiwan than visiting the world's second tallest building.

The Luck of the Bodkins by P G Wodehouse
HOW: Purchased this paperback at Higginbotham’s book shop in Chennai.
WHY: To enjoy the comic genius of Wodehouse writing about a cruise ship crossing the ocean while crossing the ocean.
“This is Wodehouse afloat – a voyage of pure delight.” - from the book cover.

Yours in connecting travel with reading,
Mary

#501 The Deans' Memo

2011-04-12T05:22:00.000-04:00

The primary avenue for shipboard communication on the MV Explorer is the Deans’ Memo, distributed daily while at sea to all passenger e-mail accounts. It includes all the announcements, events of the day, film showings, reminders to take malaria medicine, the Rumor Ranger, and an Alumni Spotlight including this recent gem:

Alumni Spotlight: Kelly and Mary Johnston are sailing on their third voyage together. “It’s really all about the students. Working in the library and computer lab gives us a unique chance to get to know students well. So now we’re convinced our world will be more tolerant, more inclusive, greener, and more peaceful. Our optimistic outlook is just one more benefit of being SAS alums.”

Yours in enjoying the glass-half-full view of the world,
Mary

#500 A Galley tour

2011-04-11T13:58:00.001-04:00

With an 11-day crossing between Taiwan and Hawaii, we have some time to tell you a little about shipboard life. First, the food.

We've never had a tour of the MV Explorer galley, so we leap at the offer from hotel director John Naggs to get a behind-the-scenes look at where our food comes from.

We enter the galley through the doors from the deck 5 dining hall. And then immediately we ride down the escalator to the galley on deck 4. Who knew we had an escalator on board?

The galley is immaculate. It is easy to see that the crew takes health and safety seriously. There's a reason they've scored 100/100 the last 4 times inspected by United States Public Health.

Everyone knows what a good cook I am, so I volunteer to make the soup for today.

We learn from John:

The crew bakes all the breads.
Though more expensive, the cooking oil used is later turned into fuel.
Since the installation of the new coffee makers on this voyage, we've used 3-4 times more coffee than past voyages.
Food waste is the only shipboard waste that goes straight into the sea.
As for equipment repairs, the advantage of a shipboard kitchen is that the engineers are on site. The disadvantage is that it's tough to get spare parts.
The crew spends about $400,000 at the beginning of the voyage to purchase food and supplements that with fruits and vegetables along the way.

Yours in appreciating those who work so hard to keep me out of the kitchen,
Mary

#499 The Top of Keelung

2011-04-10T15:24:00.001-04:00

Keelung, Taiwan harbor sits surrounded by lush green hills. Stairways take you to the top.

Yes, the first set of stairs is intimidating.

But there's a nice reward at the landing.

More stairs...

and more rewards.

But we're not done yet.

Inside the Guanyin statue we find five more flights of stairs with a tiny porthole view at the top.

From the surrounding park, we take in a sweet Keelung harbor view.

Yours in finding our way to the top,
Kelly

#498 Taiwan's National Palace Museum

2011-04-09T06:41:00.001-04:00

Taiwan's National Palace Museum holds many ancient Chinese artifacts. Collections from the 10th century forward were sent for safekeeping from the Palace Museum in Beijing to Taipei in 1948 with Communist control of the mainland imminent.

With so many amazing artifacts in the collection, we are surprised to learn that the 2 most prized possessions include the Jadeite Cabbage, a piece of Jadeite carved to look like cabbage, and the meat-shaped stone, cut to look like a piece of pork cooked in soy sauce. Sure enough, the exhibit room for these two celebrity pieces is packed with museum visitors.

We admire this food art for a suitable length of time, then head down to a much more fascinating exhibit: The Tibetan Dragon Sutra: the Great Treasury of Buddhist Scriptures in the National Palace Museum. Handwritten in gold ink on cobalt-blue stationery, these manuscripts from the 17th century are stunning.

These impressive manuscripts put us in a library frame of mind. So we end our visit at the National Palace Museum library building.

Yours in saving the best for last,

Mary

#497 Taipei Day of Fun

2011-04-08T21:11:00.003-04:00

One of the world's best museums of Chinese art, The National Palace Museum, lured us to Taipei, just a short bus ride from our port in Keelung, Taiwan. We'll post more about our museum visit soon, but just to ease your minds, yes, we saw the famous meat-shaped stone.

After the museum, Mary and I made a day of it in Taipei. Long walks took us through city parks like Shuangxi that looked like postcards.

The excellent subway system whisked us to the National Central Library .

The librarians have this OK view across the street toward the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial.

We wrapped up our Taipei Day of Fun with a stroll through the lush Taipei botanic garden.

Yours in doing our best to find all the best places,
Kelly

#496 Ishigaki-Shima

2011-04-07T15:58:00.004-04:00

"On the way" from Shanghai, China to Keelung, Taiwan, we anchor for a few hours at Ishigaki-Shima, Japan.

From what we can see from the ship, Ishigaki is a lovely island.

Japan greeted us by sending out the Japan Coast Guard to say hello.

And we greeted Japan by flying her flag.

For more on our brief stop, see Theresa's blog post: We could see Japan from our back deck.

We're sending all our good wishes to Japan while sailing on to Keelung,
Mary

#495 Shanghai highlights

2011-04-06T07:13:00.001-04:00

We've enjoyed our time in China and end our time with even more fun events.

The Urban Planning Museum in Shanghai seems like the right place to go to help us answer the question, "where and how are all these Chinese people going to live?"

So we walk over to the People's Square to check it out. The centerpiece of the museum is a massive 1:500 scale model of the city of Shanghai showing existing and approved buildings. This model is enormous. It covers about 6,500 square feet of floor space.

It reminds us of the models of the French cities in the Musee des Plans-Reliefs.

And, finally, the Seagull Restaurant dinner with Dan and Barb - incredible views of the Bund and the Pudong, good food (all those dumplings and yummy rice) and great conversation.

Yours in wishing for more time,
Mary

#494 More Suzhou

2011-04-05T00:02:00.000-04:00

In addition to the gardens of Suzhou, we enjoy a cruise on the Grand Canal and a walk up Tiger Hill.

China's Grand Canal is the longest canal in the world. Completed in the 6th century, the canal is more than 1,000 miles long stretching from Beijing in the north to Hangzhou, south of Shanghai.

At Tiger Hill, we admire the sword-testing rock, the canal, the flower balls, and the Yunyan Pagoda, a seven-story pagoda that has been leaning since before the Tower of Pisa.

Yours in admiring the Venice of the East,
Mary

#493 Suzhou gardens

2011-04-04T19:49:00.004-04:00

More subtle than Shanghai are the gardens of Suzhou, about two hours west of Shanghai. Suzhou has been around since 514 BCE. Located on the Grand Canal, Suzhou is noted for its classical gardens and known as the Venice of the East. The classical gardens are recognized on the UNESCO world heritage list.

A Chinese garden needs Chinese architecture, rocks, water, and plants. And Kelly believes every Chinese garden must include a gingko tree.

We visit first the Humble Administrator's Garden.

The Master of the Nets garden is the smallest garden in Suzhou and is reproduced in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. And it has a library!

The Lingering Garden is our third garden visit.

Yours in enjoying the subtleties of Chinese gardens,
Mary

#492 In-your-face Shanghai

2011-04-03T17:07:00.002-04:00

We throw open the curtains upon our arrival in Shanghai and wow! This is our panoramic daytime view from cabin 4104.

Walking along the Bund, we look back to see the MV Explorer framed by buildings that would never be termed subtle in their design.

And when night falls in Shangai, things get really crazy.

Yours in enjoying Shanghai's blatant first impression,

Kelly

#491 From Hong Kong to Shanghai

2011-04-02T17:14:00.001-04:00

Semester at Sea is all about embracing change.

Our shipboard population changed from 700 to 100 sailing between Hong Kong and Shanghai since many folks chose to travel overland in China.

So the MV Explorer's fantastic crew cranked it up a notch with full table service dinners both nights at sea.

And we found time to linger over breakfast and really enjoy the company of our new Spring 11 friends.

Yours in enjoying good food, good friends, and good numbers,
Kelly

#490 Looking Down on Hong Kong

2011-03-31T19:45:00.002-04:00

If you want to look down on Hong Kong, you climb Victoria Peak.

Our views on the tram ride to the top make the steep incline very clear.

Hong Kong seems to be all about the shopping. We avoid the multi-level mall at the top, but the view from the coffee shop is hard to resist.

Drizzly weather hampers the panormic vista, but the MV Explorer really is docked way down there in the fog.

The cool weather inspires us to walk all the way back down to Hong Kong and we make sure to trek through the botanic garden we loved back in 2006. Still no gingko, but the fountain has seen a facelift and the bamboo garden remains strong.

Yours in enjoying the ups and downs of Hong Kong,
Kelly

#489 Hanging with the locals in Hong Kong

2011-03-30T17:12:00.001-04:00

When traveling, local knowledge is a wonderful thing. Often on Semester at Sea, it comes in the form of a professional local guide who deals with thousands of tourist guests every year.

So in Hong Kong we are thrilled to meet up with our friends Toni and Brandon who live in Discovery Bay, just a short ferry ride (with free wifi) from Hong Kong.

Toni and Brandon are wonderful hosts. After lunch, a stroll around Discovery Bay, and a sample of Brandon's home brew, we explore Kowloon's Temple Street Night Market

and dine at scrumptious Temple Spice Crabs-all suggested by the local experts.

We have a fun time catching up with our friends from Lockerbie while learning why they like their Hong Kong lifestyle. It's good to be able to picture folks where they live.

Yours in wishing for local knowledge in every port,
Kelly

#488 Ta Prohm and Bayon

2011-03-29T03:09:00.000-04:00

While we are in the neighborhood of Angkor Wat, we visit two other temples: Ta Prohm and Bayon.

Ta Prohm is a popular tourist destination because the temple has not been restored. A jungle surrounds the temple and trees are growing out of the ruins. Did you see Lara Croft: Tomb Raider? It was filmed here at Ta Prohm.

We are amazed at the struggle between temple and jungle. To see more photos, click on the link to 'See all our photos' and select our Cambodia photo set.

Yours in struggling to control the camera,
Mary

#487 Angkor Wat

2011-03-28T05:03:00.000-04:00

We began planning our trip to Angkor Wat in 2006!

On our first SAS voyage, we docked in Ho Chi Minh City and spent all of our time in Vietnam. Next time, we said, we’ll go next door to Cambodia and visit those Hindu temples we've heard so much about!

So, a short flight on Cambodia Angkor Air takes us from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap airport, just a few miles from Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple is the world's largest religious building, first Hindu, then Buddhist, built early in the 12th century.

King Suryavarman II knew what he was doing when he included SIX libraries in his temple. Naturally, Nedra and I like the libraries best. This one is inside the innermost enclosure.

We enjoyed Angkor Wat so much, we got up early the next morning to arrive at the temple at 6 am to watch the sun rise. It was a cloudy day, but still spectacular.

Yours in gratitude for second chances,
Mary

#486 Go Bulldogs!

2011-03-27T07:02:00.005-04:00

Greetings basketball fans!

We're taking a break from our travel writing just long enough to say CONGRATULATIONS to Indy and the Butler Bulldogs for making it back to the Final Four for the second year in a row.

We're 12 hours ahead of the US east coast (and Indiana!) now, so we're all trying to keep track of the tournament here on the ship night and day. Here is the official bracket as it appears on the wall in the deck 6 dining hall.

Thanks to all who e-mailed us the good news.

Yours in wondering whether Kelly can find a place to watch the championship game in Taiwan,

Mary

#485 Phnom Penh

2011-03-26T05:01:00.001-04:00

We take a LOT of photos when we’re sailing with Semester at Sea.

At the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields of Cambodia, we took no photos. Yet we will remember our visit.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum had previously been the Security Office 21 (S21) for Pol Pot’s “Democratic Kampuchea” from 1975 to 1979. S21 was surrounded by 2 rows of corrugated iron fence covered with dense barbed wire. Inside S21 was used for detention, interrogation, and torture of those deemed to be a threat to the Khmer Rouge and its leader Pol Pot. After victims confessed, their photograph was taken and then they were blindfolded and driven 15 km outside of Phnom Penh where they were killed.

For a more recent update on the beleagured Cambodians, read this from The New York Review of Books:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jan/13/beleaguered-cambodians/

Yours in needing no photos,
Mary

#484 Sailing up the Saigon River

2011-03-25T18:31:00.002-04:00

Traveling by river is always fun - especially the Saigon River!

With many blasts of the horn, Captain Jeremy spent about four hours navigating upstream from the mouth of the Saigon River to the city formerly known as Saigon.

Yours in enjoying the excitement of river traffic,
Mary

#483 No Singapore Sling

2011-03-19T19:51:00.001-04:00

What to do with only one day in Singapore?

Many of our shipboard companions head off to Raffles Hotel to sample the Singapore Sling where it was first concocted. The Sling's "original recipe used original recipe used gin, Cherry Heering, Bénédictine, and fresh pineapple juice, primarily from Sarawak pineapples which enhance the flavour and create a foamy top."

But not us. On tap for us are the National Orchid Garden, the National Library of Singapore, and the Kinokuniya Bookstore. What a fabulous day!

First, we stop by to see the magnificent orchids at the National Orchid Garden.

Then after lunch at the Maxwell Food Centre, we walk all the way from Chinatown to the National Library of Singapore, admiring Singapore's architectural wonders along the way.

The architectural wonder of the 16-story National Library of Singapore fits right in.

Our shipboard novelist P. F. Kluge recommends Kinokuniya Bookstore as the world's greatest bookstore. And it does not disappoint. See that shopping bag?

Yours in loving our brief stop in Singapore,

Mary

#482 Saint Patrick's Day on the MV Explorer

2011-03-19T09:37:00.010-04:00

I've long enjoyed Saint Patrick's Day.

I started my green celebrations long ago during my undergraduate years at the Missouri University of Science & Technology, an engineering college. Since Saint Patrick is the patron saint of engineers, the school and town celebrate for 10 days ending with a downtown parade.

But the most fun place to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day is on the MV Explorer. The faculty, staff, and lifelong learners (aka Sea Salts) packed the faculty/staff lounge for a night of Irish singing and dancing. At our Irish ceilidh, Mike Connolly and Becky Hitchcock led us in the singing of some Irish favorites (Molly Malone, Danny Boy, Drunken Sailor, Boys of County Armagh) and taught us how to dance the Bridge of Athlone.

My favorite part was the group singing of the cleverly written Mary Jo Johnston's Ball, adapted from Mick McGilligan's Ball. What a lovely surprise to be honored with my very own song! The chorus goes like this "So they all went down to Mary Jo Johnston's Ball, where they had to tear the paper off the wall, to make room for all the people in the hall. Well, the girls and the boys made a divil of a noise at Mary Jo Johnston's Ball." And the verses were even more fun.

Yours in enjoying Saint Patrick through the years,
Mary

#481 Strait of Malacca

2011-03-18T18:17:00.006-04:00

Kelly is a certificate-carrying expert at watching out for pirates.

The crew did not ask for his help in looking out for pirates through the Strait of Malacca, but he was ready with his certificate - just in case.

Yours in feeling safe through the straits all the way to Singapore,
Mary

#480 Taiwan replaces Japan

2011-03-17T19:17:00.004-04:00

We'll be bypassing our stops in Japan and docking in Keelung near Taipei, Taiwan!

via Google Maps

Thanks to the Institute for Shipboard Education for their good work in keeping us safe and finding an alternate port out of harm's way. We have sailed on 3 voyages and each time ISE has altered our itinerary to keep us safe. We appreciate it!

March 17, 2011: The Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE), in consultation with sources from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the U.S. Department of State, global risk agency ASI Group, World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Spring 2011 voyage administration and faculty, has decided to replace its call to Japan with a four-day stop in Keelung (Taipei), Taiwan. ISE continues to monitor the ongoing situation and will make any other necessary changes as needed. The NRC has dispatched nuclear experts in Japan and currently reports that radiation concerns are limited to the proximity of Fukushima. According to the NRC and other authorities, upcoming ports of calls in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, and Hawaii are not considered to be at risk for any radiation exposure, due to their geographic distance from northern Japan. Currently, ISE is determining logistical arrangements and a field program for Taiwan, which will be posted to the current voyage website as soon as confirmed. Pending final confirmation, the expected arrival date in Taiwan will be April 4 and the departure will be April 7. The remainder of the itinerary remains unchanged.

From a SAS history buff, here’s some information on previous visits to Taiwan:

Number of SAS visits to Keelung, Taiwan: 41 (the 4th most visited SAS port)
First SAS visit to Keelung: Voyage 8 (Fall 1967, on the SS Ryndam)
First SAS voyage with China/Taiwan combination: Voyage 53 (Fall 1991)
Other China/Taiwan combination voyages: Voyage 57 (Fall 1993) and Voyage 84 (Summer 2004, the first voyage of the MV Explorer)
Most recent SAS visit to Taiwan: Voyage 90 (Summer 2006, the first voyage with UVA)

Yours in appreciation and anticipation,

Mary

#479 Skipping Japan

2011-03-14T19:03:00.003-04:00

ISE Cancels Call on Japan; Alternative Port to be Announced in 48-72 Hours

March 14, 2011: The Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE), in consultation with our shipboard administration, has resolved to cancel the Spring 2011 Semester at Sea voyage's call to Kobe and Yokohama, Japan on April 4 and April 7 respectively. This decision follows our careful assessment of the conditions in Japan which raise serious concerns about health and safety as well as concerns that our visit would impede relief efforts currently underway. Our assessment also takes into consideration a recent travel warning for Japan issued by the U.S. State Department. Currently, ISE and senior voyage officials are evaluating alternative ports in consideration of safety, logistics, and maximum value to the academic and field programs. Thank you for your patience during this complex process. A revised voyage itinerary will be announced on the SAS website in the next 48-72 hours. Participants who have signed up for ISE-sponsored field trips in Japan will be reimbursed.

#478 Chennai Public Library

2011-03-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

We stumbled on another library!

The Connemara Public Library in Chennai has been around since 1890, though this new building was built in 1973.

Why is it that libraries and fish tanks go so well together?

The library is "one of four national depository libraries which receive a copy of all books, newspapers, and periodicals published in India." On a Sunday, the periodicals room is quiet.

From the back of the periodicals room, we find our way to the old building.

The stacks are closed in the old building, so we can't walk further. But we admire the stained glass and the teak shelves and we remember this is where Ramanujan studied math.

Yours in enjoying another library day,

Mary

#477 Striking A Pose

2011-03-11T18:27:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture story about one of our local guides in India.

His academic credentials were impeccible with advanced degrees in all the right topics. He did a stellar job describing the Hindu gods and interpreting obscure temple symbology.

He was a very serious man...

...until he delivered the body positions lecture.

Yours in making a point with humor,
Kelly

#476 Ramanujan Museum

2011-03-10T19:37:00.000-05:00

In November, Kelly and I traveled to downtown Charlottesville to see a play produced by Britain's National Theatre Live about a Chennai mathematician. (Nod to Melinda and Margie!)

A Disappearing Number tells of the "heartbreaking collaboration between the greatest natural mathematician of the 20th century, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a penniless Brahmin from Madras in South India, and his British counterpart, the brilliant Cambridge don GH Hardy."

And now that we've sailed half way around the world to Madras in South India, we're eager to visit the Ramanujan Museum. But in India, securing transportation to an obscure one-room mathematics museum off the tourist route is easier said than done. With smiles and high hopes, Theresa, Kelly, and I head off in a tuk-tuk ready for an adventure.

After stopping 4 times to ask directions to the museum at 15/9 Somu Chetty, 4th Lane, Royapuram, Chennai, our tuk-tuk driver delivers us to Old No 15 (instead of New No 15) Somu Chetty - a fabric store. We are so close!

A few minutes later, we cheer our driver as he pulls up in front of the Ramanujan Museum!

Inside, those of us who began our undergraduate careers studying math pose alongside the great mathematician himself.

We are warmly welcomed with cool drinks (orange sodas) and introduced to the math education centre that provides a hands-on, visual approach to learning math: "Mathematics is not a looker subject like art, a listener subject like music, a looker & listener subject like dance, but a looker, listener and doer subject like craft."

And wouldn't you know it? There's a community library next door to the museum with magazines in Tamil, children's books in English, and computer language instruction books in English. Adults can subscribe to the library for 100 rupees per year.

Yours in appreciating the mathematical genius of Ramanujan and enjoying the library serendipity of India,
Mary

#475 Finishing our "puram" tour

2011-03-09T06:15:00.003-05:00

After our temple visits, we visited a shop of silk weavers before leaving Kanchipuram (famous for hand-woven silk fabrics and saris) ...

...for Mamallapuram (a UNESCO world heritage site) where we had lunch on banana leaves...

...before visiting the world's second largest bas-relief sculpture...

...and a 7th century stone carvers' playground...

...followed by the beautifully-sited Shore Temple.

Yours in enjoying the places I can't pronounce,
Kelly

#474 Unspeakable Names

2011-03-08T07:16:00.002-05:00

For me there's something magic about visiting a place I can't pronounce. And from Chennai, we took a trip to Kanchipuram and Mamallapuram. So that's double magic right there.

Turns out Kanchipuram is so much of a "Temple City" that it is sometimes called the "City of 1000 Temples". Most were built between the 9th and 14th centuries back when people said things like "City of 1000 Temples". Now in the 21st Century, we'd say "City of 1K Temples" or "City of 1K Temples presented by Doritos" if we were even inclined to get off Facebook long enough make the effort.

On our trip, we did not count all these temples, but that 1K number could be correct since we have experience in not counting temples. In 2006, we were lucky to visit the temple city of Bagan in Burma. We were younger then with more energy, so we have no excuse, but we didn't count the temples there either. I would say more than 1000 temples are there and UNESCO agrees.

Suddenly I have an urge to compare and contrast these two temple cities. But I've learned this sort of feeling always happens after a few months of the academic immersion that is Semester At Sea and if I lie down for a while, the feeling fades.

So I'll just quietly post some of our Kanchipuram pictures.

Yes, this religious icon needs further explanation.

Yours in saving the Mamallapuram photos for the next post,
Kelly

#473 Architectural Terrorism?

2011-03-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

If architectural terrorism exists, South Africa claims a blatant example.

A few years ago as Cape Town's urban sprawl pushed development up the slope of its natural backdrop, Table Mountain, city planners drew a line above which no new construction could occur. Their intent: to preserve uncluttered views of the mountain from the town below.

Savvy (nay evil?) developers found a loophole. On land just below the construction boundary, they built three tall residential towers with foundations well below the boundary and within the letter of the law but reaching high into the sky above the spirt of same. Residents of the three towers love their expansive views. Most everyone else in town despises the trio derisively dubbed "Salt, Pepper, and Mustard".

Local tourist guides term this an episode in "architectural terrorism".

https://picasaweb.google.com/jenninec/SouthAfrica#5462174118948631074

Yours in enjoying the views and the stories,
Kelly

#472 Library Day in Cape Town

2011-02-27T05:44:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Kelly and Mary's Library Day in Cape Town!

With no appointment, we walked right into the National Library of South Africa. Both the library campus in Cape Town and the one in Pretoria offer reference services and reading rooms for researchers studying South Africa history. Also, South Africa is the only African country besides Egypt that has full depository status for US Federal Government publications.

Shortly after the secret librarian handshake, we are seated with Najwa, the principal librarian, at the reference desk who is eager to tell us about her library and about her city.

Next up on our library tour is the new home of the Cape Town Public Library.

Mike gave us a tour of the recently renovated city library, courtesy of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Architecturally, the library space is a terrific example of reusing an old building for a higher purpose. Here 55,000-70,000 library users arrive each month to use the internet, to take workshops for job seekers (Mike's specialty), and to check out books. Eight librarians plus assistant librarians manage all that traffic.

If you're coming to Cape Town, be sure to include these 2 libraries on your list. And if you have time, stop by the National Library's Centre for the Book and tell us all about it.

Yours in library land,
Mary

#471 Walking on the Table

2011-02-25T01:53:00.001-05:00

A few months ago our friends were dancing on the table.

Sam and Shannon, we're thinking of you and your family now as we're walking on that same table.

Yours in happy memories,
Kelly (and Mary)

#470 Africa's Most Beautiful Garden

2011-02-24T03:20:00.000-05:00

Take an immaculately tended botanic garden in a unique climate zone supporting one of Earth's most diverse plant populations and squeeze the garden against Cape Town's Table Mountain backdrop.

This is Kirstenbosch Garden donated to the people of South Africa by Cecil Rhodes, the funder of the Rhodes Scholarships.

Our botanic day of fun began with a walk through the Stone Pines.

The succulant garden was other-worldly.

Cycads were dinosaur food.

Kirstenbosch grows acres of cycads.

But a highlight for me was the familiar tree nestled among the cycads that seems to grow everywhere we've lived and everywhere we travel, ginkgo biloba.

Yours in finding a familiar face in a strange crowd,
Kelly

#469 South from Cape Town

2011-02-22T07:37:00.001-05:00

Definition of a short drive: Anything south from Cape Town along the 30 mile peninsula.

Definition of a beautiful drive: Anything south from Cape Town along the 30 mile peninsula.

Our list of Top 10 Drives in North America is unchanged, but Chapman's Peak Drive along the Atlantic Coast of Africa exhibits the kind of exceptional beauty that merchandisers believe spur humans to buy things, so they film commercials here.

Our destination was Cape Point at the end of the peninsula, and we made it.

Along the way we saw penguins.

Baboons and ostrich live here too.

Yours in packing a lot into a short beautiful drive,

Kelly

#468 Hello Cape Town!

2011-02-20T18:59:00.001-05:00

It's good to be in calm sunny Cape Town.

After a day's windy weather delay, the MV Explorer slipped between the narrow concrete portals marking the entrance to Cape Town's Victoria and Alfred (yes, Alfred) harbor.

When John Muir arrived in Cape Town aboard the SS Windhuk (yes, Windhuk) in 1912 he wrote "No town that I have ever seen has so wonderful a background".

Ninety-nine years later, Cape Town's same background of Table Mountain, Lion's Head, and Signal Hill do not disappoint.

Yours in following John Muir first to Manaus and now Cape Town,
Kelly

#467 Flexibility, Safety, and Semester At Sea

2011-02-18T02:22:00.002-05:00

Things change quickly at sea.

Semester At Sea travelers are wise to remain flexible. Our first two SAS voyages included mid-trip itinerary changes. During Fall 2006 typhoon Shanshan intervened so we skipped a port. Summer 2008 we were on our way to Istanbul when bombings there resulted in our unexpected visit to Alexandria instead.

Now on Spring 2011, outside forces again intervene. We arrived at the entrance to Cape Town harbor yesterday right on time. But rough seas prevented the local pilot from boarding our ship and guiding us into the harbor. Now we’ve circled the harbor for 24 hours waiting for improved conditions and our harbor entry remains at the local pilot’s discretion. Safety really is a priority on Semester At Sea.

Yours in being patiently flexible,
Kelly

#466 The Kindness of Ghanaian Strangers

2011-02-15T04:50:00.000-05:00

Friendly. That's how I describe the people we met in Ghana.

Here's one example. Driving down a narrow dirt road toward a remote coastal town we came upon a gaping mudhole.

We surveyed the options, hit the gas, and sunk deep into the muck. Tires spinning, we were stuck. We all hopped out and pushed, but we made no progress. Then two local ladies approached with baskets regally balanced on their heads and babies cradled tightly against their backs. "We will get you help", they offered calmly. Shortly an excited crowd of young boys came trotting down the road and jumped energetically into the muck engulfing our van. While two boys pawed the glop from in front of our tires, others collected dry dirt and stones using their shirts to carry the cargo back to the scene. Another boy hacked palm fronds with a machete and piled the rough greenery under our tires. Shortly our van was back on solid ground and we all celebrated.

Yours in appreciating the kindness of friendly strangers,
Kelly

#465 Nautical Reading

2011-02-14T05:47:00.000-05:00

Life on the ship is Busy, with a capital B!

But when I can break away from the library and from all the evening programs, I choose to do some fun reading. Would it shock you to learn that I gave this some thought last fall? It's true. I brought a few 'nautical' books with me, mostly downloaded to my handy Kindle.

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
Jane Austen's Sailor Brothers by J. H. Hubback
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Cruise of the Dazzler by Jack London
The Cruise of the Jasper B by Don Marquis
The Witch by the Virginia author and my namesake, Mary Johnston
Cruises in the Sun by my uncle Kent Curtis

and

Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse - not at all nautical, but Wodehouse makes me laugh out loud.

Yours in nautical reading,
Mary

#464 Ghana's Coastal Forts

2011-02-12T23:23:00.000-05:00

In 2009, President Obama visited the Ghanaian coastal forts where Africans were imprisoned from the 15th to the 19th centuries in order to supply the Atlantic slave trade.

The president said "It reminds us that as bad as history can be, it's also possible to overcome." And he said he hoped the visit would show his daughters that far outside their "blessed" upbringing, "history can take very cruel turns."

His words of wisdom are now more meaningful to me having visited these somber landmarks with Semester At Sea.

Fort Appolonia at Beyin:

Fort Groot Fredericksburg at Princess Town (1683):

Fort Groot Fredericksburg slave dungeon:

Fort Metal Cross at Dixcove (1693):

Fort Metal Cross door of no return:

Yours in believing "as bad as history can be, it's also possible to overcome",
Kelly

#463 Dry Season Water

2011-02-12T02:10:00.001-05:00

February in Ghana is dry season. But today was all about the water.

We floated down a long canal through marsh grass and jungle...

into a lake...

to visit the Nzulezu water village, a tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On our return trip I bailed water from the leaky canoe

then Mary and Lisa walked the beach where locals pulled in long fishing nets.

Yours in H2O,
Kelly

#462 A Hot Start in Africa

2011-02-11T08:43:00.002-05:00

John Muir called Africa the "Hot Continent". After our first day on the ground in equatorial Africa, we agree with John.

Our hot Sunday walk through Takoradi's central market circle (the town's hub and spoke layout is Washington DC-like) put us face-to-face with enormous snails, live crabs, scalded pig's feet, guinea fowl, and fish in all possible forms. No photos allowed.

Clearly Sunday in Takoradi was all about the churches. Familiar hymns like "Rock of Ages" drifted through open pointed-arch windows into bustling courtyards. The local ladies do love to dress up for church and once services were over, they loved having their pictures taken.

Yours in enjoying a hot African start,
Kelly

#461 Busy, busy library

2011-02-10T02:58:00.001-05:00

The library has been a whirlwind of activity!

With a research project required in the Global Studies course for all 600 students, they have been making good use of the materials on board, as well as the UVA library databases.

We've also been busy with a physical inventory of every library book, DVD, CD, and map. That means using a barcode reader to scan EVERY item. Because our library catalog resides on the shipboard intranet, the success of our project relied on a responsive network. So we started our work each day at 0600 (that's 6 AM for you landlubbers) before the students and everyone else on board start to use the intranet. Library student workers even volunteered for the early (before 0800) shift and enjoyed the work. We placed my laptop on a cart, attached the barcode reader, and walked up and down the aisles. We completed our inventory project while we were sailing the River Amazon so we didn't need to negotiate any rough seas.

Our fabulous library team is made up of 11 student assistants and Nedra Peterson (on the left in our team photo below). Nedra is the director of the library at Woodbury University in Burbank, CA and is a natural shipboard librarian. In addition to her outstanding library skills, she is flexible, good-humored, and thinks fast on her feet. She's blogging her experiences at Librarian Afloat.

Yours in exciting library busy-ness,
Mary

#460 Greeted in Ghana

2011-02-08T16:58:00.000-05:00

The folks in Takoradi, Ghana greeted our arrival with native dancers.

Perhaps word of our earlier greeting in Manaus, Brazil preceeded us across the Atlantic.

Yours in comparative greetings,
Kelly

#459 Neighbors again

2011-02-06T10:35:00.004-05:00

We've enjoyed fabulous neighbors through the years. Now our worlds collide on Semester At Sea.

Theresa and I started our computer programming careers on the same day - working for the Technical Services Division, Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, OK - and we lived a couple of blocks apart on Cherokee Avenue. Little did we know that three decades later, Theresa, her husband Paul, and I would be sailing around the world together. (See Theresa's blog.)

When the NCAA took us to Indianapolis, our next door neighbors welcomed us warmly to the Crossroads of America. Dick and Dorane are Semester at Sea veterans and are the folks who first told us about the program back in 2003.

We are thrilled to be together again with all of our neighbors and officially celebrated our reunion with carne de sol and sardine pizza at Scarola's Restaurant in Manaus, Brazil.

And we continue to celebrate each day as we are all neighbors on the MV Explorer - fourth deck, port side.

Yours in loving the neighborhood,
Mary

#458 Remembering Uncle Lillard

2011-02-03T03:40:00.000-05:00

When we set out to travel around the world, I think about my Uncle Lillard who lived around the world.

In 1954, Uncle Lillard was hired by Voice of America, then the U.S. Information Service and Foreign Service. Despite suffering from polio, his assignments took him (and my aunt and 4 cousins) to India, Nigeria, Burma, Vietnam and Malawi.

Yours in remembering my cool, diplomatic, adventurous uncle,
Mary

#457 Blackwater

2011-02-02T02:21:00.002-05:00

I grew up on the banks of the Blackwater River in Missouri.

The Blackwater was not black but muddy brown and the source of the river's name is lost to history.

Having just spent time on Brazil's black river, the Rio Negro, I was pleased to see a rare sight on the tourist map, a river that's not colored swimming pool blue, but black.

Yours in map accuracy,
Kelly

#456 Architecture in the River Amazon villages

2011-01-31T02:01:00.001-05:00

I'm still thinking about that Amazon village visit. No, I don't mean the PowerPoint.

Walking several miles along the banks of the river where about 400 people live, we passed through clusters of small solidly built homes standing on stilts that placed their living spaces just above the wet season high water mark. Each home was unique. Several caught my eye.

Some had large porches.

Some had no porches.

Some had side porches.

Some had front porches.

Some were brightly painted.

Some were partially painted.

Some were not painted at all.

One new home was rising as the older smaller home was dismantled.

One had all the bells and whistles with a TV antenna, gravity water system, and window air conditioner.

This roof has the same graceful curve as the upturned prow of the local wooden riverboats. I liked it a lot.

Did I mention the churches?

All these buildings are within a couple miles of this location: -3.122102°, -59.873047°

If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can click here to view in Google Earth .

Architectural history students up for a little field work in the Amazon? Could these buildings be a thesis or dissertation topic?

Yours in appreciating the Not So Big House,
Kelly

#455 Powerpoint in the Jungle

2011-01-30T03:26:00.000-05:00

Can you expect to be surprised?

In anticipation of our visit to villages along the River Amazon, I expected to see surprising things. But not PowerPoint.

Yes, the bulleted list is alive and well in the jungle.

But Edward Tufte would be proud of the school principal's image-laden introduction to her water-centric village.

Hardware: Acer laptop. Software: Windows 7; PowerPoint 2010

Yours in avoiding death in the jungle by PowerPoint,
Kelly

#454 Paris in the Amazon

2011-01-29T05:01:00.000-05:00

In November, we had the pleasure of standing under the Eiffel Tower and gazing up at the four steel legs supporting the structure.

This week, we had the pleasure of standing under the dome of the Opera House in Manaus, Brazil and looking up at a painting of that same Eiffel Tower view.

Yours in finding the best views,
Kelly

#453 UVA Library does good work!

2011-01-28T17:40:00.004-05:00

Thank you UVA Library!

See how happy you've made Chris and me?

We're smiling because we're holding a copy of The End of Poverty in our hands! Since Chris forgot to pack his copy, we requested a last-minute purchase. And very speedily, you purchased, cataloged, marked, and mailed us this copy that makes us smile. It was waiting for us when we arrived in Manaus, Brazil.

The faculty are also smiling because of the hundreds of purchases made prior to the voyage that fill the reserve shelves behind us. And the 800 electronic reserves waiting for their students on the shipboard intranet. Thank you, UVA Library!

Yours in performing magic by making DVDs appear in the middle of the Amazon jungle,
Mary

#452 Meeting of the Waters

2011-01-28T04:17:00.000-05:00

At Manaus, the waters meet. It's visible from space.

The dark tannin-stained Rio Negro flows into the milk chocolate silt-laden Solimões/Amazon. The waters meet, but don't mix.

Extreme differences in water temperature and acidity keep the two waters distinct for many miles downstream from their junction.

Yours in enjoying this meeting,
Kelly

#451 Librarians in the Amazon

2011-01-27T09:59:00.000-05:00

If Mary is a magnet, libraries and librarians are steel.

In Manaus, we're docked very near the grand public library.

On the banks of the River Amazon, our village walking tour stopped at the school library.

And that same day, another member of our traveling party from Manaus approached Mary with this conversation starter: "You are a librarian? I am the librarian for 3 decades at The Federal University of the Amazon! My name is Maria and this is one of our library students."

Yours in traveling with the librarian magnet,
Kelly

#450 River Amazon villages

2011-01-27T06:18:00.000-05:00

The millions of jungle acres surrounding urban Manaus, Brazil are home for many people.

To better understand life away from the big city, we joined faculty and students from The Federal University of the Amazon to visit a string of villages along the south bank of the Amazon.

Clearly, we're not in Manaus anymore.

Up the boardwalk and down the shore we walked...

...to meet with administrators and children from the local school.

We saw beautiful vegetable gardens and their gardeners.

Check the high water marks on the trees. In a few months time during the rainy season, the River Amazon (now far in the background) will rise to flood everything in this picture.

Nine hours later we reboarded our boat headed back to Manaus.

And I've not even mentioned the librarians, the jungle powerpoint, the architecture, the rubber trees, or the massive termites.

Yours in leaving more for later,
Kelly

#449 Manaus Architecture

2011-01-26T15:06:00.001-05:00

We've sailed to the middle of South America!

After traveling a thousand miles up the River Amazon, we're secured to a floating dock on the Rio Negro, a dark water tributary and transportation hub for Manaus, Brazil, a city of two million people at the end of our gangway.

We joined Karen Van Lengen to see Manaus through the lens of an architect. Thankfully, this required maps.

Architecturally, Manaus is centered around the ornate Opera House built during a 19th-century boom when European 'rubber barons' did their best to recreate high society in the Amazon jungle.

Oh yes, the barons lived well in the jungle.

Today, city planners work to replace flood-prone housing along riverbanks with substantial homes near parks built along formerly crowded streams.

Yours in city planning in the Amazon jungle,
Kelly

#448 World's Longest River?

2011-01-26T08:53:00.002-05:00

Here's a not-so-simple question. Which river is the world's longest?

Above is an 1854 Victorian Infographic made widely available by David Rumsey, a remarkable map collector and proponent of cool historic maps on the web. Nineteenth century scientists thought the Missouri to be the world's longest with River Amazon second and the Nile fifth.

Our understanding of river length changes over time and the Nile took the length crown for many years. Now Brazilian scientists claim the Amazon is longer than the Nile.

Measuring river length is a question of scale as Michael Goodchild from the University of California Santa Barbara Center for Spatial Studies explains in the second half of this talk on spatial thinking.

No matter how long, River Amazon is one beautiful ride.

Yours in traveling the world's longest or second longest river,
Kelly

#447 Historic company on the River Amazon

2011-01-24T15:45:00.001-05:00

We are not alone on our Amazon journey.

Mary is spending time with Theodore Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and 20 other companions as they navigate Brazil's treacherous River of Doubt.

And I am spending time with John Muir.

Yours in following in the paths of legends on the River Amazon,
Kelly

#446 Entering the River Amazon

2011-01-23T04:49:00.002-05:00

When asked "what are you most looking forward to on your SAS voyage", we always mentioned our trip 1000 miles up the Amazon River on the MV Explorer, a ship 600 feet in length.

So when our ship's captain Jeremy Kingston announced in his very British accent "in about an hour's time we'll be entering the mouth of the River Amazon", we were all jolly-well excited.

We entered what may be the world's longest river (more to come on that) in the darkness around midnight, and by mid-afternoon on Day 1, we'd made considerable progress resulting in this snake-like GPS breadcrumb trail on the library's You Are Here live map.

Yours in river navigation,
Kelly

#445 Dominica, the Nature (and wet) Island

2011-01-22T04:56:00.005-05:00

About 370 inches of rain fall in Dominica's central highlands every year.

Mary, a former math major, tells me that amounts to a little over one inch of rain every single day. Thank you Mary.

So rain-wise, our visit to Dominica's Morne Trois Pitons National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was extremely average.

We walked through the rain forest to the Emerald Pool in the rain.

We walked to Trafalgar Falls in the rain.

Plants grow a lot when it rains.

Waterfalls multiply when it rains.

Yours in appreciating lots of rain,
Kelly

#444 Dominica, the Nature (and Architecture) Island

2011-01-21T04:54:00.003-05:00

It's not the Dominican Republic. It's Dominica. And that was our first official port.

Louis Nelson (sitting on the wall below) lead us on a fantastic walking tour of Roseau, Dominica's capitol.

Louis' enthusiasm and knowledge of Caribbean architecture got us all excited about projecting second floor balconies, lava stone quoins, and vernacular two-chamber dwellings (some built of shipping containers.)

All the very best architecture tours include the local library.

Later, Mary and I walked about a mile down the coast to find Zam Zam, our new favorite Dominica restaurant. Yea, the view's decent.

To see all our photos, you can always click on our 'See all our photos' link on the right.

Yours in visiting the Nature (and Architecture) Island,
Kelly

#443 Mapping Ocean Waves

2011-01-19T21:52:00.001-05:00

When it comes to comfort on the ship, this may be our most important map.

Rough seas our first day out of Dominica turned us all into practitioners of rock and roll. Today the seas settled and we're almost walking straight lines again.

Yours in hoping the wave heights stay low,
Kelly

#442 All Maps Are Lies

2011-01-19T09:26:00.002-05:00

This is a very mappy Semester At Sea. I'm a happy guy.

The Global Studies class meets every day. Attendance is required for all passengers. And it's taught this semester by Chris Smith, a geographer. Professor Smith invited me to guest lecture on the first day of class.

My topic: "Using Maps to Interpret the World".

So I introduced "How To Lie With Maps", showed a bunch of lying maps with scale, symbology, and projection issues, screened a West Wing video suggesting the Mercator Projection fosters European Imperialist attitudes, challenged the idea that just because it's on a map it's true, evangelized Geographic Information Systems, promoted cartograms, introduced concepts of spatial thinking, and suggested they pick their Semester At Sea traveling partners wisely to avoid folks with map reading skills like Joey.

Yours in contributing to a very mappy Semester At Sea,
Kelly

#441 Busy Time

2011-01-17T13:32:00.000-05:00

We've been busy. Think midtown Manhattan at rush hour or 5PM Friday at the Atlanta airport busy.

Between Mary's work in the library and my work in the computer lab during orientation and the first two days of classes, it seems we've had contact with most all of our colleagues among the 800 undergraduate students, faculty, staff, and lifelong learners.

And we kicked it up a notch during busy time by leading two book discussion groups and lecturing in the Global Studies course.

So our arrival yesterday in Roseau, Dominica, our first port, gave us all a chance to step on land, breathe, reflect, and recharge for the days ahead.

Yours in loving every busy minute of it,
Kelly

#440 Goodbye French press, hello real MV Explorer coffee

2011-01-16T13:19:00.000-05:00

Everyone agrees. The brown liquid that has long been served as coffee on the MV Explorer is not good. But here's big news for all of you SAS coffee drinkers!

The old coffee is gone. Shiny new coffee makers were installed this month by a Fort Lauderdale gourmet coffee roaster who supplies the fresh beans. The smell of freshly brewed coffee is evident in the 6th deck dining hall and early reports give the new brew thumbs up!

Yours in java goodness,
Kelly

#439 The Love Boat

2011-01-09T05:53:00.003-05:00

There is a LOT of romance on the MV Explorer.

During our short SAS alumni voyage from Nassau to San Juan to Nassau, we've celebrated 3 engagements and a wedding - the first wedding ceremony performed on the MV Explorer.

But my favorite romance happens when I catch the eye of the cute guy in the computer lab (across Deck 6 from the library) and he waves at me.

Yours in love,
Mary

#438 A Day in San Juan

2011-01-08T05:01:00.002-05:00

Hola, Puerto Rico!

More than 500 years after Christopher Columbus arrived in Puerto Rico, so did we.

In Old San Juan, we walked to Fort San Felipe del Morro, a UNESCO world heritage site overlooking the sea, and watched families flying kites in 80-degree sunshine.

And we bellied up to La Bombonera lunch counter, where locals have been lunching since 1902.

Just after dark, the MV Explorer pulled away from the dock and the lights of Old San Juan faded away.

Yours in enjoying one day in the rich port,
Kelly

#437 SAS librarians rock!

2011-01-06T20:00:00.003-05:00

Chris and Shannon took great care of the library during the fall voyage! And Shannon continued the caretaking during the 3-week enrichment voyage. So when I boarded in Fort Lauderdale, the only tasks for me were to prepare the library for the spring voyage. MANY THANKS to those two seaworthy librarians for getting us off to such a great start.

So now, 2 days after boarding, I can report that the S11 reserves are on the shelves, the S11 passengers (all 823 of us) have been uploaded into the Destiny catalog, and the 800 e-readings have been uploaded to the shipboard intranet. I also reviewed 9 boxes of donated DVDs for possible inclusion into our collection. There's more I need to do, but if the faculty were to board tomorrow, they'd be reassured to see their course materials waiting for them.

As good as that sounds, though, there are even more highlights. Sabrina, one of our fall 2006 student assistants, is on board for the alumni voyage. Erika, Sabrina says hi!

And Rachel is another fall 2006 alum on board. She is half-way through her library degree at Simmons College in Boston and is motivated to finish, so she can sail as a SAS librarian on the MV Explorer. How cool is that!

Yours in enjoying some quality library time,
Mary

#436 The World Is Our Campus

2011-01-04T21:10:00.002-05:00

Rumors of a major upgrade to the cabin décor aboard the MV Explorer are true.

In every cabin hangs a beautiful new wall map of the world, size large.

Yours in getting our voyage off to a mappy new start,
Kelly

#435 Our adventure begins

2011-01-02T08:13:00.004-05:00

We're driving to Fort Lauderdale to meet the ship! We love a good road trip, so we pack up the rental car and head south.

By the time we arrive in Savannah on New Year's Day, Laura Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons, is closed.

So we opt for the next best thing. We order calzone at Vinnie Van Go Go's pizzeria. It is no Italian Delight calzone (from Mission, Kansas), but we love the location in downtown Savannah's city market, the Art and Soul of Savannah.

Yours in taking our time,
Mary

#434 The Joy of Packing

2010-12-30T21:09:00.003-05:00

Our packing for the spring voyage is based on cool temperatures on the ship, warm temperatures in port, and shoes for every occasion!

Destination	Arrival	AvgHigh
Nassau, Bahamas	12-Jan	71
Roseau, Dominica	16-Jan	84
Manaus, Brazil	23-Jan	86
Takoradi, Ghana	6-Feb	88
Cape Town, South Africa	17-Feb	80
Port Louis, Mauritius	27-Feb	84
Chennai, India	6-Mar	89
Singapore	16-Mar	88
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam	19-Mar	93
Hong Kong / Shanghai, China	26-Mar	77
Kobe / Yokohama, Japan	4-Apr	64
Hilo, Hawaii, USA	17-Apr	79
San Diego, California, USA	24-Apr	68

Yours in making it all fit,
Mary

#433 Mappy Voyage!

2010-12-28T13:31:00.001-05:00

We're off on a thrilling adventure - sailing with Semester at Sea on the Spring 2011 voyage.

At last count, we'll be sailing with 605 undergraduate students representing 250 schools, 77 faculty and staff, and 54 lifelong learners.

With so many new ports of call, we don't know which we're most excited to visit. Some early predictions include our 1,000-mile trek up the Amazon River to Manaus, Brazil and our safari near Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Yours in circumnavigation,
Mary

#432 Christmas is all around

2010-12-27T04:43:00.001-05:00

From Strasbourg, France (the capitale de Noel)...

to Washington, DC...

we've found that, in the immortal words of Billy Mack, "Christmas is all around."

Yours in believing in the magic of Christmas,
Mary

#431 White Christmas

2010-12-26T21:19:00.005-05:00

What's better? The movie White Christmas or the musical White Christmas or an actual white Christmas?

This year, we were lucky enough to experience all three.

The 1954 movie White Christmas has long been my favorite Christmas movie. I watched it again this year to make sure Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye could pull off the Christmas miracle and save General Waverly's inn in Vermont from bankruptcy. And yes, with lots of musical numbers and romantic hijinks, they are able to do just that.

The musical White Christmas is new to our Christmas traditions. Though it premiered in 2004, we just got around to seeing it this year at the Empire Theatre in Richmond. Though the story lines differ a little, the live production featured vocal powerhouses in the leading roles, fun song-and-dance numbers, and snow showers over the audience at the conclusion. Our expectations were high and we were not disappointed.

But driving home through the snow-covered Charlottesville streets on Christmas night after a fun afternoon and evening with friends wins the White Christmas contest in 2010.

Yours in White Christmas heaven,
Mary

#430 Changing Time

2010-11-07T23:50:00.006-05:00

Last night we enjoyed an annual fall rite of passage. We set our clocks back one hour. We fell back. By convention, we choose to apply the time change overnight so we get an extra hour of rest. I suppose we'd all be even more confused if we turned the clocks back in the middle of the day when folks are up and about.

Changing time is all about the math. We've divided the Earth into 360 degrees of longitude. That means the earth must spin 15 degrees every hour to make a complete turn of 360 degrees every 24 hours. At the equator, each degree of longitude spans about 70 miles, so time zones are about 1050 miles wide.

Let's say you're traveling westbound around the world on a ship. Every couple days you'd grab a bonus hour of sleep as you move your clock back at each time zone crossing. But if you're eastbound, many 23-hour days you'd meet, setting your clock forward with each time zone crossing.

Yours in soon meeting 23-hour days head on,
Kelly

#429 Our Blue Ridge Tunnel

2010-10-31T20:14:00.011-04:00

On Halloween we hiked nearly a mile into an abandoned rocky tunnel under the Blue Ridge Mountains stepping over piles of fallen debris in the dark while bat colonies roosted silently overhead and water dripped slowly from the soot-stained ceiling.

Yea, that was fun.

Built before the Civil War and before dynamite, this engineering marvel was once the longest tunnel in the United States at 4,263 feet. Now the west entrance to the Blue Ridge Tunnel lies in a woodsy grotto at the end of an unmarked trail a short hike off the beaten track and unknown to the hordes motoring Skyline Drive and walking the Appalachian Trail overhead.

Locals plan to refurbish the arrow-straight passage as a rail-trail connecting the Shenandoah Valley with the Virginia Piedmont. Until then, it's our dank hidden gem.

Yours in finding the light at the end of every tunnel,
Kelly

#428 My first Purple Martin field day

2010-06-29T08:31:00.002-04:00

For sixteen years now, Purple Martin groupies in central Virginia have congregated each summer to hear about their favorite feathered friends.

Lance Wood leads the field day cheers. Orating from beneath shade trees with 120 nesting martin pairs as a backdrop, Mr. Wood explains the diligence required of humans looking to be successful purple martin landlords. In two hours he hit the highlights and answered every question from the lawn-chair crowd of veterans and wanna-be landlords.

My take-aways...passive landlords need not apply... bring ingenuity, fortitude, and commitment to be successful. Without attention to detail we humans are luring martins to their demise inside our carefully manufactured martin houses from predators like snakes, raccoons, and owls.

So it's not all fun and games at the PM field day, but the birds sure are fun to watch. Mark your calendars, June 25, 2011 for Purple Martin Field Day 17.

Yours in admiring successful landlords everywhere,
Kelly