Mirror, mirror on the wall, can you see me at all?

When you are wearing a burka and you pose for pictures, what is there to see?

It’s a bit funny and I am not mocking the woman in this burka okay so hopefully no one will jump on me with a politically correct statement. It’s just that there is nothing to see in the picture except for a woman in black head to foot with a slit opening for her eyes.

This was taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the other week.

The sad truth about the Beach Vendors on Costa del Sol

The journey from Mali to Marbella; from Senegal to Sotogrande; for the promise of a better life...



Disillusionment – ´Europe is not the way we expected it to be'



‘When people save for the dream of going to Europe, they don’t understand the reality of the journey or life here when they arrive. The journey itself can be fatal. Some make it as far as North Africa, but the Spanish, Moroccan or Mauritanian security forces often intercept groups of men, load them in buses and then dump them out in the desert with nothing; many die there. If they make it as far as getting on a boat, some die of exhaustion or illness and there have even been cases when security forces have overturned boats and killed immigrants.’



Source: SUR in English, an English newspaper in Andalusia, Spain.









The article on SUR in English, an Andalusian-based newspaper. To read, please click to enlarge.











Many of the African beach vendors are decent looking, they could easily hold normal jobs back home, and they are tall as well.



The African beach vendors on Costa del Sol are everywhere, they are exceptionally mobile and they often move about from one boulevard to the other, always on the look out for the policia. There was a time when I saw a few of them packing up all their goods in a jiffy, bolting through the crowds to the other direction of the beach. Oops 112 policia calling? If they are caught, would they be charged for illegal vendor squatting or selling fake designer goods? I would guess the former.



From what I’ve read and heard, most of them have tried their chances on the job market, and even though they speak 3 European languages—French, Spanish and English, with the current bleak unemployment outlook in Spain (-+22% now), there are obviously no jobs in sight. And because of this, they have succumbed to peddling fake designer bags, shades and watches on the coasts of Spain.



Whenever I see people trying hard to survive by very little means on the streets, it really stops me on my tracks, and makes me reflect. I just cannot help but well up a hope of sympathetic feelings for these people. Nevertheless, I am grateful for what I have.

Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary

Back in , thanks to my niece Lauren, we stumbled across a horse sanctuary. Diana asked that day if I minded if we stopped to check it out for Lauren's sake. I did not mind at all. We got out, talked to someone and made a decision to come out for a day to do some work. I blogged about that day here: Helping at the Horse Refuge. What I did not know that day was how much the place would stick with me and draw me back for more.


Last year, as soon as I realized that we were in fact going to stay in one spot for a bit and that my last child was leaving home, I decided I'd better find something to do that would help me adjust to both things. I remembered how much I loved the "feel" of Sixteen Hands and started there. Then a series of health issues and a computer crash halted my attempt. Still, I knew I needed to get going with something or it would potentially be a very ugly scene when Austin did in fact move out. I thought maybe I should find something closer, something I had experience with, something that fit our lives when we started moving around again. So I looked around at my options. And kept coming back to Sixteen Hands. I'd tell Nathan that I still wanted to do it. But just did not get around to doing what I had to do to make it actually happen.



The first week I set up a booth for Thousand Trails at Friday Night Live in Wauchula, I see the lady next to us setting out items with horses on them. I say to Nathan, "I still want to do volunteering at Sixteen Hands" and then set out to go be friendly and talk to my neighbors just to make nice. I get to the front of the booth and am shocked to see it is Sixteen Hands. I most likely overwhelmed them with my excitement as I talked to Robin and Diane. I get the information again and this time, I know I'm going to follow through no matter what. I do. And the rest, as they say, is history.



I always knew I liked horses, but was not what I'd consider a "horse person". I wasn't obsessed with them like my niece Lauren or my Mom. I thought I'd enjoy being around horses. I had no idea I'd fall head over heels in love with them though. Or that I'd want to spend as much free time as possible with them. Or that I'd talk endlessly about them until poor Nathan's eyes rolled back into his head from sheer boredom.



I still love the 'feel" of Sixteen Hands. Probably more so than our first visit, because I know all that is involved with what creates and preserves that peaceful environment. I'm honored that they let me come out, completely green and stupid in all ways, and so patiently allowed me to find my way during this new chapter in my life. I'm guessing you will see lots about the horses and SHHS because it is where I spend a good bit of my time while we are temporarily planted!



Living the life in FL!

Yellow Wild Flower

I don't know the name of this wild flower or the name of the small red one in a previous post.

A Riverview Site

One of the advantages of having an annual site is that you can pick any spot in the park to plunk down on. One of the advantages to doing lottery and driving the park is when a great spot opens up, you see it right away. Which was the case a few weeks ago. As I drove through the park, looking for empty sites, I saw something that shocked me. One of my favorite spots that had been occupied by an annual site member, was now opened up. I drove back to the office and asked for permission to move to it. Then I went home and asked Nathan if he was ok with moving to it. Normally I would do that in reverse, but I knew if I waited then the site would be gone!



We are now on the end of a dead end road. Our side only has two spots, counting us. We are fortunate to have Rich and Donna behind us. Two of the spots on the other side of the road are annual sites with friendly neighbors also. And the site one away from Rich and Donna is the same way. So we are surrounded by great people that will remain neighbors for longer than two weeks at a time.



As great as they all are, the real draw is that this is now our "front yard".





More of the front yard view:



Most of the side yard is the part that joins with Rich and Donna's yard. Some of it empties into a hiking trail.




We are loving it here so far. It is so peaceful and we have a bit of space to spread out in, especially if we have company. The beautiful weather has meant that Nathan can work outside in the tent, and enjoy working without people walking by all day long. It helps him to not feel so cooped up inside and it gives me some space to get away from "work" when I am at home. We are already toying with the idea of renewing the site for next year!



Living the life in gorgeous Florida!

Mt. Rainier, Furher Finger

Mt. Rainier finally had a good weekend forecast, so it was time to attempt the Furher Finger route.



Our route is shown in red. We descended the Kautz Glacier route, shown in blue.

Dave on the Nisqually Glacier passing some crevasses on our way to high camp.

Our camp at Turtle Rock (9400').



We got an "alpine start" at midnight, so we could hopefully get to the top and down before the snow got too soft. Dave moving up Furher Finger.



Doug near the Hourglass.

Doug and Dave on top with a little snow falling.

Dave below the steep pitches on the Kautz Glacier, just above the Turtle Snowfield.





The weather was great on day one and OK on summit day. The fresh snow from a few days earlier made the climb pretty tiring. We ended up using our snowshoes to keep from sinking into the mushy snow on the way down from high camp.





It was fun and challenging to climb a new route on Rainier.

Our Travel Buddies Make it to Chesapeake Bay

Since we went full time, we have felt to lucky to be able to travel with Daryl, Diana, Lauren and Josh. We have had more time together in the past two years than we have the entire time we've been family before that. Since they had RV troubles after our last trip, they have not been able to travel RV style since we met them out West. We have only seen them once in that time period. It has felt like a really looooooong time to me. Especially since Diana is my best friend. They made it to TT's today and we were tickled pink to finally be back together again.



No, the geese don't have anything to do with this story. But I snapped a picture of them at the campground and wanted to share it.

Living the life in Virginia!