Home Camping

I’ve always wished my Dad or my grand Dad would have spent more time with me when I was growing up. I wish I had more talks with my own kids. I kept on postponing until the opportunity ceased to present itself. I realize now that one has to be deliberate about these teachable moments. So next weekend, I’m going camping with my 2 grand kids. But this won’t be outdoor camping. It will be pitching a tent in our living room.

For a long time now I’ve often thought about spending time with my two boys to share some grandfatherly wisdom about life. A year would come and at the end of the year all I would have are good intentions. This year will be different. I’ve got permission from my wife and from their parents. I’ve never done this before … I just thought about it. The adventure starts next Saturday. Pending the approval of their parents, I plan to:

• give them an allowance and they will need to buy ingredients for lunch and dinner.
• teach them how to use a knife to cut vegetables and cut a whole chicken apart.
• teach them about different spices and when to use them
• prepare a hunting guessing game where they will take turns reading a clue to find a reward … help them to think on their feet
• read them the parable of the Prodigal Son over an artificial TV campfire. We will disect it from different character viewpoints and we will learn about relationships between men and God. I hope they ask a lot of questions.

We might watch a good family movie and then it will be time to snuggle up in the tent — protected from the wild animals (our cats and dogs) outside. I’ll probably let them sleep in the tent while I sleep in the couch beside them. When morning comes, we will prepare breakfast. Then take a 45 minute walk with our dogs. We will go to the park and play baseball or basketball — anything to make them sweat. With my bad back, this might be a challenge but I will do it for them. I will teach them:

• about fairness, winning and losing
• how to play the guitar and appreciate music
• about money, how it is earned and the pitfalls of greed
• about respect
• about friendship
• how to be a gentleman
• about the chains of addiction in its many forms now … because it’s easier to be objective about addiction before you are in it
• about sex … well, maybe not yet. But if they ask, I will give them the basics
• about love and attraction.
• that there are people who will love them and never abandon them no matter what happens in life.
• most importantly about our amazing God

I know this list is very ambitious for a single weekend but I will try. The world is so different from the world we grew up in. If we let our kids discover things by themselves, the negativity will overpower them. I will be giving them the armor they need to fend for themselves.

I could use your prayers for this occasion. I could use your advice. Who knows? You might want to do the same with your kids. This may be the start of 2 men who will make the world a better place for all of us.

TGIF people!
Raoul

Thanks to Peter Paul of S Pasadena for this sad joke.

Thanks to Rodney of Manitoba, B.C.

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The winter months are the perfect time to heat up your home with freshly baked goods. Baketivity is a super fun baking kit option that comes with an adorable chefs hat and child size apron. This. as well as easy to use recipe instructions, pre-measured ingredients and a delicious product. We baked one of the cupcakes kits, not only was it a joy to create, but the final product was a delight too. Baketivity offers single kit purchases as well as subscription purchases.

Little GF Chefs

Baking is a wonderful family activity and Little GF Chefs creates gluten free, allergy friendly baking kits for children, that can be delivered monthly or you can order a one time kit. While they have a big variety of options, we made the Under the Sea Cookie Kit which was such fun and actually looked like the above photo. What many parents will also appreciate is that the coloring for the cookies is all natural made from plants. Also the kit provides step by step instruction to create works of art.

The Under the Sea Cookie Kit makes 18 cookies and includes the cookie mix, icing, plant based food coloring, easy to use recipe instructions and tools to make your masterpieces.

Best part for parents of kids with allergies. “The recipe, mixes, and decorating supplies that come in your kit are all gluten free, dairy free, peanut free, tree nut free, egg free, soy free, sesame free, fish free, shellfish free and artificial dye free.”

Go Go Bird

What a delightful, hilarious fun outdoor toy that will keep you laughing and running. Ours actually flew up and got stuck in a tree the first day using it- luckily a city of Scottsdale park worker was kind enough to help us get him down! It can fly up to 200 feet. So best to keep your birdie away from trees.

This thrilling, flying, and lightweight bird is the perfect blend of a real outdoor activity and today’s trending drone toys. Check it out here. The easy-to-use remote control allows you to fly your bird up, down, around and through targets like hula hoops and more!

Octobo

Got your preschooler at home for the holiday break or home all year. It’s helpful if they know their letters when they attend kindergarten. It is a fun and creative way for them to learn. The Octobo is an award-winning, educational sensory plush robot that enables development in an interactive environment. Through guided storybooks, interactive tokens, and educational apps, your child will learn ABC’s, how to spell over 80 words and rhyme. Be sure to check out the different packages as they offer a variety of choices.

Clixo

A sensory creative toy that broadens the imagination and allows ideas to flow. Clixo is a fabulous toy that allows both kids and adults to create anything their imagination will allow, by clicking the magnetic pieces together. It is a lightweight toy that is easy to carry and relaxing while stimulating. It’s a perfect gift for all ages.

ABC Mouse

Not only are Hexbug Nanotopia hilarious and fun, but the whole family can enjoy the process of putting the playground together. It is a sensory toy for kids powered by vibration technology and has over 130 pieces. With tons of snap-together track pieces and obstacles, this is a vibrant playset to let your nano® loose in. Batteries are included so you can start the fun right away.

Please join my mailing list for the latest relaxation techniques, natural products, greatest toys and activities fo adults and kids and more. Would be great to hear from you so please connect with me!

www.masadasiegel.com * www.masadasiegelauthor.com

The post Fabulous Family Fun Activities appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Nena Anderson is in constant motion. She has to be. She has a garden and confesses “I like to cook out of it.” There are also two dogs, three chickens, teen-agers, a husband and five on-going, musical projects. Six, if you count her collaboration on Alex Woodard’s, For the Sender. “I always have something to do!” Anderson laughs. “I’m doing something constantly until I’m literally falling into bed. That’s just how I am. It’s exhausting!” (laughing)

Exhausting maybe, but extremely productive. The Anderson music catalog added two new discs last year with the release of the ‘live’ EP ‘Lonesome Nights’ and just before the holidays, ‘Christmas with Nena.’ Both projects co-produced with guitarist-husband, Deane Cote. ‘Lonesome Nights’ Nena says was a “completely live” learning process recorded in “one shot” and “really fun!” As for the Christmas album, she says. “It’s a throwback to a simple jazz combo with an Ella Fitzgerald, Julie London feel.”

The artistry of this composer, gardener, mom, foodie, graphic designer, writer, painter and chicken farmer, seriously has no boundaries. Her creativity and inspiration comes from others; family, friends and the people that mean the most to her. The songs she writes and the music she performs, reflect that. So our conversation started with her diversity in both style and presentation. How do you describe the music of Nena Anderson? “I don’t really.” She says. “It’s all music, it’s all music. I grew up listening to and being influenced by any and all styles. And I’m lucky enough to be able to sing most styles. I try not to worry about what style it is but our society needs a place to put it, you need a category for ITunes. Unfortunately, you have to pick a category and I struggle with it every day, still.

My second or third band was blues and I loved it so much, it was so easy and natural for me. But I felt that the genre and the people within it were so insular and so unwilling to accept things outside of that and it really turned me off. I’m one of those people that don’t want to be told what to do. I don’t want to feel confined. Now you’re a blues artist and now I’m stuck being a blues artist my whole life. And I was in my early 20’s! No, I don’t want to do that! I mean, I love it and I was very deep into it, why would I only want to do that? I think my solo band is the best thing for me right now, I feel like I can do all the genre’s and not worry about it fitting into Rock or Blues or anything, I can just do whatever I want.”

Speaking of multiple genres, how many different projects are you currently involved in? “So, I have my solo band – Nena Anderson.” She says. “It’s a four-piece band, with Deane Cote on guitar, Jefrey Kmak on bass and Tim Petersen on drums and we play about everything; we say it’s Americana, Americana rock, maybe even folk rock. The solo/duo thing is kind of an evil necessity. I actually don’t like playing solo, ever. I do occasionally but it kicks my butt, I can’t lie. I just don’t enjoy it. I can do it and its fine but it has to be a short set. I’m not a person who will play for three-hours by myself…I get sick of me. I hope everyone else does. But I’ve always played music to play with other people, to interact with other musicians. I’ve never, ever played it to play by myself or to play my songs. It’s always to have that collaboration. To me, playing solo is just not fun.”

Is it a social thing for you? “It’s not even social, though. When you interact with artists and you collaborate to create a bigger whole…it’s Magic! You can’t explain it and it doesn’t always work. But when it does and you can work with artists that understand that language, it’s fantastic. Deane and I have been doing some duo shows and it’s forcing me to stretch a bit as far as being a better guitar player. And it’s fun in a different way because it’s still interacting with another musician and not a whole band.”

Okay, that’s three. “Then I have Brawley which is the honky-tonk band and at this point we only play a few times a year. And have a great time, so much fun.”

You have a regular thing called Jetset out in Palm Springs. “So Palm Springs is jazz and a little Western swing and it’s Adrian Demain, myself and Jim Austin from Brawley and then we have a fiddle player, Bobby Furgo and he is fantastic. He was Leonard Cohen’s main guy for like 15 years or so. He lives in Yucca Valley and does a lot of session work in L.A. It’s a fun combo for sure!

So solo, duo with Deane, Brawley, Jetset and the Nena Anderson band, that’s five different projects? “And all of those we play originals as well as covers. My solo bands…it’s mostly originals with a sprinkling of covers, the other two are standards with a few originals. Adrian and I both write for Brawley and Jetset.”

When do you sleep? “I’m still doing other projects, too.” She laughs.

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“I used to sneak into clubs to see the Beat Farmers!”

– Nena Anderson on influences

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Tell us about the For the Sender project. “About 2011 a local songwriter, Alex Woodard, put together a group of songwriters in a collaborative project. He had asked his fans to send him letters to write songs about. And he got all these letters that were so fantastic, mostly stories of tragedy, hope overcoming hardship…and he picked a handful. So happens, he was living with Sean Watkins at the time and they wrote a song together based on one of these letters. He came up with the idea, why don’t I bring all my friends…and we had these family dinners where we’d all meet at his house and eat! The question was posed, ‘Why don’t we all collaborate and write songs about these letters?’ It came together very organically and I was lucky to be a part of that in the beginning. We ended up making an album and doing some shows. Alex ended up writing a book! It started out as liner notes and it became a book!” (laughing) “And then it got picked up and so we did two more. All of the (submission) letters picked a charity, so when we do these concerts all the money would go to these chosen charities. Now every Christmas we do this For the Sender show and we do some of these songs. For any audience to experience somebody’s story, like a letter being read and then the three songs that were written inspired by it and that immediate connection of music to a story is so powerful… and healing. The idea being that we all feel the same things. We all share it and you don’t feel so all alone.”

Did you have a musical family? “No!” (laughing) “My parents loved music. I took my mom to a concert once; I took her to see K.D. Lang. She said, ‘this is kind of cool. I’ve only been to three concerts, ever.’ I was like, really? So, I asked her what they were. ‘Oh, the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl!’” (laughing) Turns out the three shows were “…the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin! And I’m taking her to see K.D. Lang, whatever, sorry.” (laughing) “Excuse Me!” (laughing) “My mom was into pop music and we always had a lot of music around the house. My dad, and it tortured me as a child, my dad loved ‘old-timey’ music. It was PBS radio, which I thought was the bane of the earth. It was banjo’s, bluegrass, Carter family and later a little bit more of Hoyt Axton, Merle Haggard and all that stuff. It’s so funny because it’s almost like osmosis, I hated that so much growing up and now it’s some of my most favorite. And we did have music around all the time, but neither of them were musical, and I grew up wanting to be the opposite of that and I grew up in the era of punk and ska and new wave and I was into all of that. I did take some lessons when I was a kid and they were horrible.” (laughing) “I had guitar lessons and that was awful and I hated it. I didn’t last very long.”

How about other influences or training; vocal, theater? “No vocal lessons but in high school and in school at UCLA, I was a DJ. I was really into music and records and putting things together. And I did some musical theater when I was a kid, and I think that’s where the jazz thing comes from, my dad loved old movies and I STILL love old movies. Constantly, I watched old movies, musicals, noirs, Hitchcock films, science fiction, dramas, murder…everything! I loved all old movies and I particularly loved the musicals and the music from it. As I got older I realized, oh, that’s because they’re all the old standards. I get it! (laughing)

Your roots, it was ingrained in you. “When I first started singing blues…I sang in a rock band in college and did some session work with some people singing Electronica and dance music stuff. But none of it really fit. But when I started singing blues and jazz, it was just natural, there was just zero effort involved. I remember people asking me, ‘How long you been doing that?’ I just started last week, you know?” (laughing) “Well, maybe you should do more of it!”

I first discovered you through your blues roots. “You’ll love this; I started singing blues with Billy Watson and Joe Jazdzewski and Nathan James and a group of guys playing at a little coffee shop in Carlsbad called the Art House. I think Nathan may have been touring, but he was in and out.”

Billy Watson says he remembers those days. “The Art House was a coffee shop that had monthly art exhibits.” Billy says. “I hosted a Tuesday night open mic for two years around 93’and 94′. Nena had great talent right outta’ the gate. She’s also a great graphic designer. She was kind enough to do the art on my first and second CDs. She worked for a hip company called Red Sand. They were all friends with the Paladins and she did one of their covers too. She worked with all the guys we know like Eric Lieberman. She knew everyone and grew up a native here in San Diego. Her Dad is an old-school surfboard builder…before that term was even invented. He had a shop in Encinitas called Agua. He is still at it to this day. I am hugely honored to know Nena, she’s a pal.”

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Tell me about Lucky Scandal and some of your early bands… “It started out,” Nena says. “As ‘Lucky Scandal and the Many Shades of Sin’ and I can’t lie, we were pretty awful.” (laughing) “But we were good enough to play some local gigs. It was rock-a-billy and blues and at some point I met Eric (Lieberman) and I was looking for a guitar player. I sang and had been sitting in with the Juke Stompers and it was great. He and I ended up putting together a different band and doing a lot more of what I was interested in…jump blues, early R&B, and blues. We did that for about seven or eight years. It was still called ‘Lucky Scandal’ and I used to do the whole pinup girl look, high heels, big hair, the dresses and the whole thing. And we did really well, and at one point I had an eight-piece band, a horn section with Jonny Viau and we played big shows at the Catamaran Hotel, Humphrey’s and the Belly Up. It happened to be right in the middle of the big swing dance craze and we were already established. It was nice; we had lots of great gigs and a lot of people would come out and dance to our band. We were playing once or twice a month at the Derby in Los Angeles. About four or five years in, I changed the name to ‘47 Combo’ because 1947 was a good year for music of that style. We were mostly playing as a five-piece at that time, sometimes a six-piece. And I was working full time as a graphic and product designer and playing four or five nights a week and when I finally stopped, I nearly had a mental breakdown. I didn’t even know how exhausted I was and when I finally stopped I had about three months of complete… I was brain-dead. I was a mess.”

What about the Never Out and the Mules? “The Never Out was a rock band that I had for a few years around 2010, that had my friend O (Otis Barthoulameu) who had a band ‘Fluf’ and Bill Driscoll who’s actually April West’s son. He plays trumpet, drums and guitar, he’s a fantastic musician, and Mike Butler on guitar. We played my songs in a more rocked out way. It was super fun and I just wanted to play loud, I’ve been playing quiet, I want to play loud. And ‘the Mules’ which was a predecessor to my solo band, now. It was Nena Anderson and the Mules and that was the band I recorded the album ‘Beyond the Lights’ with.”

We talked about influences, but who else do you think made an impact on your direction? “I used to sneak into clubs to see the Beat Farmers!” (laughing) “I was going to the Belly Up when I was 15!” (laughing) “Because my parents had so many varied influences, I grew up with an open mind. I can honestly say the only thing I’m not a real fan of is Pop Country, New Country. I can listen to Heavy Metal; I can listen to Jazz and Country Rock. I love it all, but for me it’s about honesty, so regardless what the genre is I gravitate toward artists that are honest and who bring that to the show. And I love the song writers…Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard and John Prine.”

Would you call yourself a singer-songwriter? “No!” (laughing) “In the standard definition of it, yes, I am. Growing up in the San Diego music scene I always felt like singer-songwriter meant mediocrity and I didn’t like it. It was the coffee shop, open-miker who had a fifteen minute song and held every note out as long as they could. From day one, that was never my thing. Although I wrote my first song when I was 19, I never considered myself in that world. The first three bands I was in, I just started bands. I didn’t really play that much but I put together players and I had a band. I wanted that interaction of people so I bypassed that whole singer-songwriter thing that a lot of people start with. I did my first open mike, I think I was 34. I didn’t learn to play guitar until my early 30s. I went to East County and started doing an open mike thing out there on a weeknight. I have to kick my own ass, basically. If I don’t play out…like a show in front of people, I need the pressure of having to do it; that’s my motivation. So I started doing these open-mikes, solo with a guitar to learn something new.”

Is Southern California home? “Oh yeah! My parents moved here in 1971, my mom was from Indio and my dad was from Huntington. My mom used to ditch school and drive to the beach where she met my dad. They moved down here and my dad wanted to be a surfboard shaper, so in the early 70s he started doing it. I haven’t always been here; I went to college in L.A. but always Southern California-based, I lived in LaJolla and moved around. I’ve toured, I’ve travelled, and I love to go places, I’m actually not a static person but growing up here, I’m really spoiled and I hate the cold.”

You’ve been involved in Art and Music, you Blog about food…“I love food!” She giggles. “I’m half Chinese and I grew up in a family where everything is about food, everything. There was food to heal you, food for social gatherings, food because you’re too skinny and food…because you need more!” (laughing) “Everything was about food, all the time! I love food because it’s delicious; I love flavors, but also because food brings people together, you can share a meal with someone, you can cook for people and it makes them feel good. I have a garden and I like to cook out of it and a friend of mine, a native American man who works in Palm Springs, he’s always telling me, ‘food is special when you grow it yourself and you cook it for someone and you share it, there is power in that.’ Power in a happy, healing connection and I believe that.”

What inspires you? “Everything inspires me.” She says. “I went to school to be an industrial designer. I’ve been doing graphic design and building things, coloring and painting things since I was 14. Part of that world, and it’s the same for music to me, I cannot shut off my brain. And people will go, ‘oh, you’re not working on that now, or let’s work on this song, right now.’ I’m not that kind of person. I’m working on it for weeks, months; I’m stewing on things for a year and then it comes out. Inspiration comes to me through the people I’m around and I try to surround myself with people that are doers. People that have something to say, and opinions, whether I agree with them or not that’s irrelevant, but people with opinions and ideas and outgoing interests.”

You worked with Jack Tempchin. “I love Jack!” She smiles. “Jack loves lasagna!” (laughing) “He loves home-made lasagna! (laughing)

Everything IS about food with you, isn’t it? (laughing) “I’m telling you, food is the great connector.” She grins. “I got to work with Jack on the For the Sender project and people don’t understand. He is such a fantastic writer but he’s just the most regular dude on the planet. You can go down to Swami’s on any Friday night and he’s playing with the hippy drum circle. He’s awesome and every once in a while he’ll send me something and say, ‘I wrote this song, you wanna’ sing it?’ or I’ll poke him a bit and say, ‘what are you doin’? Come over and eat some food and hang out’ and he loves the way Deane plays guitar and we just get together and kick around songs. He’s such a great guy and so talented.”

Let’s talk about your catalog of music, it seems to be growing? “I actually have a lot of projects that I’m on but that aren’t necessarily MY projects. There are all these jazz compilations that have been distributed all through Europe and Asia that I’m on. They’re available online. They are all jazz compilations and it’s so cool because I’m on there with you know, Quincy Jones and Michael Buble and Cesaria Evora and all these famous people…and Nena Anderson. (laughing) “And it’s real funny. But those are cool because that’s how I met pianist, Danny Green. He’s a monster, he’s so great. A composer, jazz pianist, does Latin, everything. I worked with him on some jazz stuff way back in the day and he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this publisher that wants some songs. Do you want to come in and sing some vocals on a few of these tracks?’ And I get there and he says, ‘Do you have any original songs?’ Yeah, I’ve got a couple. I played one for him and he says, ‘We’re just going to record that now.’ So we recorded one and the publisher loved it and I sold my first song. I was like, ‘people buy songs? I can sell a song? I get a check for that?’” (laughing) “Oh, maybe I should write more songs.”

You’ve spent a little time in the recording studio over the years, for Nena Anderson projects and for others. “My own records, I have ‘Beyond the Lights’ released in 2011. I’m on the For the Sender CD and an EP I put out early in 2019 called ‘Lonesome Nights.’

‘Lonesome Nights’ was an experiment for us because I wanted to record completely live. To decide if that’s the way I wanted to record the entire album. So we did the EP completely live all in one shot in the studio. Considering that, I think it’s really fun and really good. But I think I learned from it that I don’t want to do that for my full album…maybe do a combination. And then at the end of 2019, I released the ‘Christmas with Nena’ album.”

Something I’ve long admired about the Southern California music scene is the support musicians give other musicians. I know I’ve seen you both out in support of other players. “We love it. Sometimes I need a night to recover and rest my ears, but we go often. A lot of it is, we believe in supporting the scene as much as possible. I’ve worked really hard, and still work really hard in our music community to try to support and bring people together. I’m the connector to people; you can ask anyone. I get calls from booking agents around town as well as musicians. Emails ‘can you recommend somebody for this? Do you know if so-and-so can do this?’” (laughing) “I’m free with information, too. I believe it helps us all. Deane and I have started mentoring younger artists and I’m very opinionated. I’m not mean about it, it’s supposed to be constructive and there’s the thing about pushing the community to grow a little bit. Even with the young artist, ‘No, you don’t play that gig for free. Ask for money. It affects all of us. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money.’ Just those basic kind of things that are so important.”

Your life is pretty full, with family, animals, gardens, art and your vast assortment of musical projects… “I always have something to do!” (laughing) “I don’t like to sit around. I don’t watch TV, I go all day long. I’m cleaning the house or working in the garden. I’m doing something constantly until I’m literally falling into bed and passing out at night. That’s just how I am. It’s exhausting!” (laughing) “I admire my husband because if he needs a brain break during the day, he’ll read for an hour or something, and I’m like, Oh, I wish I could do that! I can’t do it.”

The post Nena Anderson – Without Limitations appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Well, it’s been a week. And once again I find myself sitting on the park bench in Vevey, Switzerland next to the statue of Charlie Chaplin, with whom I share the panorama of shimmering Lake Geneva and the pristine snowcapped Alps in the distance. I’ve covered a lot of tracks: indulging in the region’s world-class wines and scrumptious Swiss-French cuisine, wandering Lausanne’s cobblestone streets, and seeing the former home of Audrey Hepburn in Tolochenaz, near Lausanne, and the current home studio of Jean-Luc Godard, also near Lausanne. I tried to make sense of Huguenot, John Calvin’s Gestapo-like control of Geneva, and laid victim to the region’s steep prices. A simple café au lait and a buttery croissant set me back twenty U.S dollars! But it was time to return to the centerpiece of my trip, an exploration of the life of Sir Charles Spencer Chapin. He chose Manoir de Ban, a neoclassical mansion in Corsier-sur-Vevey, to live his remaining 25 years, which, according to his family, constituted his “happy years.” I had reserved my final day to visit the Manoir, now rechristened Chaplin’s World – which has been repurposed and expanded as a museum that showcases Chaplin’s work and life as a family man in Switzerland.

Personal Life

Chaplin enjoyed what had appeared to be a fun-filled period during his time in Hollywood, but privately led a lonely life, filled with scandal and haunted memories of his impoverished youth. His home in the Pickfair neighborhood of Beverly Hills – a neighborhood named after the mansion of married couple, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks – was designed by himself and built by studio carpenters, not known for building structures that lasted.  It began to slowly fall apart, and was affectionately coined, “The Breakaway House.” The guests loved it, and it became a place of merriment and refuge from Hollywood’s bright lights. Chaplin would entertain his guests by playing a pipe organ, inventing new gags, organizing swimming parties and games of tennis, where even the elusive Greta Garbo was a frequent player.

Sadly, defamation was also part of his life. During World War 1, the British press labeled Chaplin as a self-absorbed coward whose loyalty to his home country of England was questioned for never serving in the military, despite aggressively selling war bonds and transferring large amounts of his substantial income to the British government. Nevertheless, cutouts of the Tramp were propped up by British soldiers in the trenches “so the Germans would die laughing” and his movies were projected on the ceilings of military hospitals where wounded warriors could enjoy morale-raising laughs from their beds. Another scandal occurred when Chaplin briefly dated 22-year-old Joan Barry, who later reappeared in his life, claiming that Chaplin was her baby’s father, and filed a paternity suit.

The public trial was so intense that Chaplin’s hair literally turned gray overnight. Blood tests proved that Chaplin was not the father, but, at the time, blood tests were inadmissible evidence and he was ordered to pay $75 a week until the child turned 21. Matrimony was also a problem for Chaplin: marrying three times to younger women with striking resemblances to his mother, Hannah. The wives club included Mildred Harris, age 17; Lita Grey, age 16; and actress Paulette Goddard, age 28, who costarred with Chaplin in Modern Times and The Great Dictator.

I have the good fortune to be married to a wonderful wife. I wish I could write more about this,
but it involves love, and perfect love is the most beautiful of all frustrations
because it is more than one can express.
– Charlie Chaplin

His life took a blissful turnaround upon meeting the luminous Oona O’Neill in 1943, daughter of American playwright Eugene O’Neill. Chaplin had been looking for a lead actress for his next (unrealized) project, and discovered the mesmerizing 17 year old O’Neill. He was overwhelmed by her captivating beauty, and their meeting led to a life-long romance. A month after O’Neill turned 18, they eloped and married in a secret civil service in Carpentaria, California.  Playwright Eugene O’Neill immediately disowned her upon learning of her marriage to Chaplin, who was the same age as him. He refused all future attempts at reconciliation. Chaplin’s final marriage lasted until his death, producing eight children: Geraldine Chaplin, Michael Chaplin, Josephine Chaplin, Victoria Chaplin, Eugene Chaplin, Jane Chaplin, Annette-Emilie Chaplin and Christopher Chaplin. Although Oona stayed in the background, happy to focus on their home and children, she also spent time at the studios when Chaplin was working, offering her opinion about his various projects.

I have no further use for America. I wouldn’t go back there if Jesus Christ was President.
– Charlie Chaplin

During the 1950s, the House Un-American Activities Committee’s witch hunts, a disturbing period in U.S. history where Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread Communist subversion, was in full swing. The committee used various charges of communism, communist sympathies and disloyalty to attack a number of  individuals, which included many left-leaning Hollywood personalities. Chaplin was considered dangerously progressive and amoral. FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover and HUAC mistakenly believed that he was injecting Communist propaganda into his films. It was also revealed that he had never bothered to become a U.S. citizen. When Chaplin and family were departing back by vessel to Hollywood from a European vacation, Chaplin was informed that he would have to submit to an interview concerning his political views and moral behavior in order to re-enter the U.S. Rather than fight a pending investigation by Immigration Services, Chaplin decided not to return to Hollywood at all. The Chaplin family, though, needed a new address in Europe. His older half-brother Sydney Chaplin, suggested they visit Switzerland’s Lake Geneva region. Chaplin set his eyes on the enchanting town of Vevey, nestled along the lake. He was taken by its enticing tranquility, not to mention Switzerland’s attractive tax laws.

You’ll never find rainbows if you’re looking down.
– Charlie Chaplin

Manoir de Ban

He purchased the vacant Manoir de Ban, a neoclassical mansion in Corsier-sur-Vevey, in a resplendent country-like setting near the banks of Lake Geneva. This is where he chose to live his remaining years with his family, from 1952 until his death in 1977. It was the most joyful and contented period of his life, where he would take strolls in the spacious grounds, plant flowers in his radiant gardens, play with his children and host friends from around the globe. He also spent a large percentage of his time working on the screenplays for his films, A King in New York and A Countess from Hong Kong, as well as adding music to his silent feature films, which he composed at the family piano.

Chaplin’s health was in slow decline after suffering a series of minor strokes in the late 1960s. Despite the setbacks, he was soon writing a new film script, The Freak, which he intended as a starring vehicle for his daughter, Victoria. His fragile health prevented the project from being realized.  His speech, hearing and sight began to be impaired, and he later he was confined to a wheelchair.After 10 years of absence, Chaplin returned to the U.S. to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1972 Oscar ceremonies. (The same year, Limelight is finally released in the U.S. and he wins an Oscar for best original score the next year). In this clip, Chaplin is clearly overwhelmed by the audiences’ response as he accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award.  The applause lasts for a record of 12 minutes, still the longest in Academy Award history.

In 1975, Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin. He was 85 at the time. He commented that he hoped to be called ‘Sir Charles’ (as opposed to ‘Sir Charlie’).

On Christmas Day in 1977, Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin died peacefully in his sleep with most of his family at his bedside.  Lady Chaplin said “All the presents were under the tree. Charlie gave so much happiness and, although he had been ill for a long time, it is so sad that he should have passed away on Christmas Day.” Family doctor, Henri Perrier, ascribed death to old age. Funeral services in Vevey were private and restricted to the immediate family. Sir Charles and Lady Oona are buried side-by-side in a simple gravesite at Corsier-sur-Vevein. When I told son Eugene Chaplin that I visited the gravesite, he smiled briefly with British understatement, and said that James Mason is also buried there, too.

Chaplin’s World – Manoir de Ban

On April 17, 2016, Chaplin’s former home and expansive grounds were officially open for the whole world to see. Rechristened Chaplin’s World – Manoir de Ban, it was repurposed and expanded as a museum that showcases Chaplin’s work and life as a family man in Switzerland. The goal was to allow visitors to discover the man behind the movies. The centerpiece of the museum is the three-story, richly decorated Manoir, and a newly constructed studio.

In  Chaplin’s World – Manoir de Ban, visitors are introduced to the Chaplin family. The home has been restaged with a number of its original furnishings, personal items, photographs and family mementos. Each room focuses on a particular period of Chaplin’s personal life, while the dining room pays homage to the family’s everyday routines as well as the many Hollywood celebrities who visited them. An interactive studio features the work of Chaplin the artist which commences with a montage of clips from his half-century of writing, directing, producing, scoring and acting in movies.

The interactive studio is followed by an exhibition of recreated scenes and sets from many of his most famous films, along with wax figures of Chaplin’s famous co-stars.

It’s almost like a theme park where guests can enter the iconic cabin from The Gold Rush, while in the middle of a simulated blizzard, sit in the famous barber’s chair from The Great Dictator, or negotiate  the cogs of the industrial revolution machine from the madcap scene in Modern Times.

A stroll in the Manoir’s 10 acres of expansive green grounds is mandatory with the reward of stunning views of the Swiss Alps and Lake Geneva. This is where Chaplin lived and what he saw and what he loved.

The world misses you, Sir Charles – but your legacy lives on.

This is the final installment of a three-part series about Charles Chaplin.

In Part 1, the focus is on Chaplin’s early life and the genesis of the Little Tramp, Part 2, Chaplin’s movies.

Special thanks to Chaplin’s World for their assistance in this article, and to My Switzerland for making my journey to Vevey possible.

The post In Search of Charlie Chaplin: His Personal Life, Part 3 appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Dad

When my Dad came to town my schedule went out the window. He believes these are his last years and he’s come to see his children, grand children and great grandchildren for the last time.

He’s staying with my sister who lives 50 miles away. So I drive through LA traffic and it takes me an hour and a half to get there. If you know me, I have a phobia for traffic so I try to go there after the morning rush and leave right before the evening rush. Like a vampire avoiding direct sunlight, I try to accomplish my tasks with him within the confines of the traffic hours. When I get back home, that’s when I get to do my day job.

For the moment, I am getting all his tech stuff ready before he returns home. I already fixed his iPad and returned his laptop that he couldn’t get to work properly. I helped him with his bank account. I already bought him a walker, earphones, and I plan to load some practical apps.

There was a time long ago when he was my role model. My early fond memories with him was walking to the doctor everyday for over a week to get tetanus shots after a dog had bit me. He would bring me and my bother to the barber shop where I saw him behave differently with “the guys.” He was always driving the family to school, to vacation spots, to family gatherings and special occasions. He wasn’t much of a talker … more of a shrewd businessman. He worked hard, was good in business, dedicated his life to my grandfather’s business at the expense of his own family. He had his faults … to some people he had lots of them and he definitely has enemies. But you know what? He’s still my Dad and I love him.

Dad’s hard of hearing, hard of seeing and hard of walking. At times I catch myself staring at him and wondering if I’m looking at my future self. Will my kids see me any differently? Will they know how much I love them? Will my ears and my eyesight fade as well? I’d like to, but it’s hard to have a meaningful conversation with him now. If I could, I’d like to know how he really feels about facing death and what will happen to him after that. Sadly, he and I do not share the same faith. He has been in my prayers forever. I wish my Dad a lot of things but there is one thing above everything else.

A song from Scott Wesley Brown

I could wish you joy and peace
To last a whole life long,
I could wish you sunshine,
Or a cheerful little song,
Or wish you all the happiness
That this life could bring

But I wish you Jesus,
But I wish you Jesus,
But I wish you Jesus,
More than anything.

I have a good relationship with my Dad and for that I am thankful. How are you and your Dad? Is he still around? Does he know how you feel about him … good or bad? Whoever your Dad is to you, realize one thing: out of all the possible Dads, God gave him to you. There must have been a reason, don’t you think?

TGIF people!

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Ernie of Fresno, CA for sending this joke.

Video of the Week

Another Flight Steward Gone Viral
Sent by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

66 Year Old Body Builder Receives a Special Present
A tearjerker video. Get out your tissues!

Don’s Puns

From Don’s collection of puns

Parting Shot

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA  who shared this.

The post Crocodile Dare appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Ron Howard was born into a show biz family making his acting debut at the ripe old age of 18 months. He made his screen debut at when he turned four and has spent his entire life in Hollywood with his breakout role as Opie Taylor on the “The Andy Griffith Show” shining a national spotlight on this adorable little kid from Duncan, Oklahoma.  As he grew up, he transitioned into playing teenagers on such television series as “Happy Days,” “The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang,”  “Laverne & Shirley,” and “Love, American Style.” He had co-starring roles in movies made for television as well as a part in the iconic coming-of-age film “American Graffiti.”

Over the course of his amazing career, Ron has won 39 awards which include, two Academy Awards, (“A Beautiful Mind,” and “Apollo 13”) four Emmys, a Grammy, two Golden Globes and was nominated for seven BAFTA Awards and was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts in 2001. He was honored twice by receiving two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television and motion picture industries.

There are too many films to list but some of the most memorable include, “Cocoon,” “Splash,” “Parenthood,” “Cinderella Man,” Rush,” “Backdraft,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Angels & Demons,” and “Frost/Nixon.” Ron is a national treasure with a reputation of being one of the nicest people in Hollywood, which is attested to by the famous actors with whom he has worked including, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell, Gary Sinise, Daryl Hannah, Robert Duvall, Steve Martin, Michael Keaton, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, Ewan McGregor, Henry Winkler, and Bill Paxton.  Ron is married to Cheryl Howard and they have four children:  Bryce Dallas, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige, and their son Reed Cross.

Recap:  In Part 1 Ron discussed the making of “Pavarotti.”  His goal was to illuminate the life and times of the world’s most famous tenor.  The documentary includes interviews with Pavarotti’s family as well as rare archival footage.  The film is CBS Films Polygram Entertainment Brian Grazer presentation, an Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures production, and is scheduled to open in select cities on June 7.

Following is Part 2 of my exclusive interview with Ron Howard, which has been edited for content and continuity for print purposes.

There is a thru line to your films, which are character-driven with a deep sensitivity to the human condition.  Why is that your preference?

Ron: I always think about character-driven stories.  As a fan, those are the stories that reach me the most deeply.  I can appreciate a good action movie or a fantasy that isn’t character driven and some of them are great.  But the movies and television shows that resonate with me are the ones where the characters are tested in ways that I find fascinating or I relate to or I feel I learned something through observing their journey – whether it’s fiction or based on real events.

A lot of young actors don’t make a healthy transition.  Some become drug addicts, some commit suicide.  Obviously, you never fell prey to some of the pitfalls of early success and the inherent financial rewards.  Another transition was when you decided you wanted to direct.  How was that received by the industry?

Ron:  That was another time and there were access limitations.  There was no cable, there were just three television channels and no independent stations, there was no Sundance, or independent film markets so it was a much more closed industry.   Generally, people were pretty patronizing when I would say that I wanted to direct.  They’d say how cute and someday I’m sure you will.  I was just chafing to do it now.  My dream was to direct a movie while I was still a teenager which I didn’t achieve, but my first film rolled the day after my 23rd birthday so I didn’t miss it by too much.

What grabs you when you’re reading a script?

Ron:  Usually it’s a surprise.  There’s something fresh about the setting and I like the way the characters are behaving within that setting and I feel like the script is offering the audience something fresh.

How do you set up your scenes with your actors?

Ron:  Through rehearsals and conversations, I try to understand what makes them tick as artists and I try to create an environment, which will allow them to excel.  I make known aspects of the scene that I think are important.  Some actors really want to talk about their characters and delve into it while others are very self-sufficient and lose something if they over articulate it or over analyze it.  As a director, I like to feel that I adapt my approach to what I think will allow the actor to really soar.

When you’re working with a narrative script, do you allow for improvisations or changes to the script as you’re shooting?

Ron:  It depends a little bit on the nature of it.  If I think the actor or actress has a gift, I’m definitely more inclined to try to open up some time in the schedule to let them improvise.   You wouldn’t think it, but the movie “Cocoon” had a lot of improvisation in it.  Other movies like “Parenthood” were very loose and very realistic and had very little improv.  It was tightly scripted and worked.  Even “Arrested Development” was initially supposed to have a lot of improvisation, but the scripts were so tight that while the actors might riff a little bit here and there, they just stuck with Mitch’s writing (Mitchell Hurwitz).  It gets down to how are we using our resources for the best effect.  Is it through improv or is it executing the script as written?

In a given week or a month, how many scripts land on your desk?

Ron:  Well, it depends on whether or not I’m shooting.  I’m getting ready to direct a scripted project from Netflix called “Hillbilly Elegy,” which will be starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.  During the nine weeks of shooting in Georgia and Ohio, I doubt that I’ll be reading any scripts.  When I’m just being co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment, I will read two or three scripts a week.

As always, I look forward to seeing your next film.

Ron:  Thank you so much.  This was fun.

Ron Howard Interview, Part 1: Ron Howard Discusses His Documentary on the Iconic Tenor Luciano Pavarotti

The post Ron Howard on His Career Transition, Script Selection & Directing appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Upon realizing the fiesta below won’t be stopping anytime soon, we head inside and shoot off a confetti cannon, a jolting surprise for those who had fallen asleep on the couch. Hugs and well wishes are shared by everyone, followed by a traditional pork dinner and the seasonal sweets panetón and hot chocolate.

Before long, silence fills the room and the food, our stomachs.

Being away from family and friends, comfortable traditions, and favorite foods is always difficult, especially during the holiday season. Despite these challenges, I decided to spend Christmas with my host family again this year, waiting to leave for vacation with some fellow volunteers.

This year I hoped to share a few more of my family’s traditions. We began by setting up our arbolito de navidad and decorating it with a few ornaments. Yet something was lacking, so I began scheming to fill the empty floor below its branches.

From the year prior, I knew that gifts are given primarily to children and rarely among adults. For me, gift giving has always been an important part of Christmas, and I couldn’t resist. Soon, the ground around our little tree was full of boxed surprises for my host family. Not surprisingly, my host siblings were not overjoyed by the tradition of waiting until Christmas to open them!

On Christmas Eve, we were invited by family members to spend the evening with them in Tarma, a larger town 20 minutes from our community. We dozed off watching telenovelas, built a small campfire, and shot off fireworks while waiting for midnight, the arrival of Christmas Day.

As we waited, I thought often of my family and friends back in the U.S. and missed them dearly. I found my mind wandering to my family’s faces, a baked salmon dinner, the recliner next to the fireplace, and gifts being exchanged.

This time around I had lowered my expectations, having recognized that many of my favorite traditions and memories cannot be recreated here, especially without my family. But this fact, like many other aspects of service, I have begun to accept and mentally frame in more positive ways.

Peace Corps requires serious mental flexibility. A constant flow of new experiences awaits our interpretation. I’ve learned that when situations are unchangeable, changing my attitude or perspective is the most powerful tool not only for survival but also to experience joy where it may not have been found.

So I leaned back against the dusty brick wall and decided to be present, allowing myself to be captivated by the colorful explosions which illuminated the dark, sloping hills of a town I have come to love.

****Disclaimer: “The content of this website is mine alone and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the Peruvian Government.”

The post A U.S. Peace Corp Volunteer in Peru: Christmas Round 2 appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Super Hero

Yup! There they were — young adults trotting around in gregarious costumes that would make a peacock blush. And there were lots of them.

Last Saturday I went to one of those Comic Cons (short for Comic Book Convention). I acted as Tour Guide to one of my faithful clients  (LA Leather Cleaners — they are THE experts when it comes to anything leather). Super Heroes and Anime (Japanese Animation) characters came to life. My clients had never heard about this strange activity. But knowing how good they were with “leather” I suggested that they diversify into costume cleaning and designing. Whether or not something comes out of this field trip … who knows? But this is how big ideas start. The entrepreneurs among you understand what I mean.

The creativity was fascinating. It reminded me of my youth. I used to fly around my room with my own cape and newspaper Batman mask. One of my happiest memories was when my Dad released me to play in a mining factory warehouse where they had bags of crushed limestone, I jumped from mound to mound like Spiderman wearing my costume … dust floating all around me. I had so much energy and imagination. The world was mine to conquer. I only stopped when a worker caught me in mid-flight and embarrassed me to the reality of my silliness. This “silly” gene seems to have passed down the generations.

When my daughter was in High School, she lived for “Color Day” — where the whole school dressed up in hand-made costumes using the orange  school colors. Every year throughout H.S. she and her friends became more and more elaborate with their designs.

My grandson’s birthday is coming up soon so I asked my daughter for gift suggestions. I found out that my grandson was so into his Voltron/Transformer Christmas present. He’s a mini-me with super powers complete with gutteral sound effects. I think I will create a life-sized Voltron costume for his birthday. Well, that’s the plan. Even my son had a full bodied Spiderman suit which I sewed  when he was my grandson’s age.

I can relate to my children and the kids of Comic Con because my childhood was rich with costumes, imagination and fantasy. When I play with children I am the adult playmate my young self wished I had. Every time I visit my grand kids they run and hide knowing that grandpa means game time. When I discuss film production with my daughter (who is now a Film editor waiting to be discovered), I can see her creative mind searching for ideas and I feed her with more ideas.

When was the last time you were a kid? Do you even remember? What was your favorite toy? If you were like me, you created a stage and wanted to play a role but didn’t know how to incorporate it in a play or a narrative. Like me, did you wish you had an older, smarter storyteller?

I recently watched Mary Poppins (the original version) with my grand kids. It was only then that I understood the deep meaning of the last scene where Mr. Banks (the no-nonsense father) takes his children out to the park and fly a kite.

Come on. Be an inspiration to the young ones. Be a real super hero. Go out, pick up a kid … borrow one if you have to … and go fly a kite.

TGIF people!

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
— Albert Einstein

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood for sending this joke.

Videos of the Week

Johnny Carson and Betty White
Sent by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

Did someone order the fresh calamari?

Incredible Singing Family
Sent by Charlie of New Jersey

What do you do when a family of operatic singers gather together? Why, you sing Le Miserab of course!

Don’s Puns

From Don’s collection of puns

Heavy Thought of the Week

Sent by Morgan of Inglewood, CA

Parting Shots

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who shared this

The post Saturday Morning Visitor appeared first on Traveling Archive.

I had put my favorite song on the record player. (They really had those things when I was a kid). The song was “The Baby Elephant Walk.” Pecky did a dance when he heard the music. My mother and father and I were laughing and watching the bird dance on the floor.

Then came that rumbling sound from the kitchen. It grew and grew, and we all turned to see my younger sister rushing into the room. She was excited about something she wanted to show us and didn’t notice Pecky.

Poor Pecky. One moment in the height of exhilaration he was making us happy, and the next we were scraping him off the floor with a pancake flipper. If you look in the dictionary under the word “squash” you will find a picture of my bird.

Today I am 71 and I still remind the bird killer of what she did. We still send crazy cards and funny gifts about that bird. There were the slippers one year with feathers sewn on the bottom and sticking out all over. I really can’t tell about all the creative Pecky drawings and e-mail attachments that have given us a good laugh over the years. We sure got a lot of mileage over a dead bird. Just think! If it had been a cat, it might have filled this whole book.

So why am I telling the story? As a reminder of the things that actually keep families apart. People spend their lives not forgiving their parents and sisters and brothers over some dumb thing done years ago. What a waste! I have a great sister. She is a riot. Wouldn’t it have been tragic if I didn’t know that because we weren’t talking?

Unforgiveness can be a life spoiler. I have seen this one played out too many times in people’s lives. Call it the Pecky Principle. People are important, the rest is squashed birds! Maybe there is a squashed bird in your past. Maybe it is time to invoke the Pecky Principle.

One such tragedy is well documented in history, an infamous feud between two families.  This one did not begin over a bird but over a pig. What started as a family loyalty issue during the Civil War grew into a major dispute and finally escalated into the most famous domestic feud in US history.

What should have been a simple disagreement over “little Porky” boiled over for one hundred years and cost a dozen lives in outright gun battles. The pig problem grew into land and timber disputes and deep-seated hatred which spanned generation after generation. And then one day, after a century of blowing each other’s brains out, the Hatfields and the McCoys put down their shotguns and signed a peace treaty putting an end to the madness.

Today the two families live in peace. 60 descendants decided that they did not want to be remembered the way their ancestors were and signed the reconciliation document which read in part:

“We ask by God’s grace and love that we be forever remembered as those that bound together the hearts of two families to form a family of freedom in America.” Today in Kentucky and West Virginia June 14^th is officially Hatfield and McCoy Reconciliation Day.  I met one of the actual McCoys who was part of that peace treaty and heard the story first hand. Absolutely amazing.

In the end, it was just a pig. For my sister and me, it was just a bird.

When I had leukemia in 2001 and my chemo began and hair started to fall out, my sympathetic, bird-squashing sister drove from Portland to Seattle to “feel my pain.” When she walked into the hospital and entered my room, she must have drawn a fair bit of attention because she and her daughter, my niece, were dressed in bird feathers with bird masks.

My sister works in a large medical facility and is aware of the treatments and what they do to the treatmentee  (Is that a word?). She knew it would be a matter of only a few days before I entered the realm of the bald, the world where people don’t waste all their hormones growing hair. So how did she express her sympathy? She talked me into cutting my hair off rather than waiting for it to fall off in blotches. I think she enjoyed telling me that.

Before she left, Sis gave me a supply of gummy organs to hand out to the doctors. I kid you not, gummy organs! Little green, yummy kidneys and parts I couldn’t recognize. They were definitely a hit on that floor of the hospital. You should have seen those doctors munching on livers and eyeballs and bragging about what body part they were enjoying. When my sister and niece left, I could hear them laughing all the way down the hall. Two molting gooney birds meandering through the ward dropping their feathers.

My daughter, Rachel, came for a visit later that day.  She and my wife sadistically enjoyed giving me the haircut my sister recommended. I still don’t know why they first cut my hair in a Mohawk fashion and then put on earrings and took pictures. But it may explain why I had so many the visitors all that afternoon including a local outlaw biker gang who brought me handmade sympathy cards?  I have always suspected the whole thing was my sister’s idea. I really wonder if my hair would have really fallen out.

So how is the bird thing doing these days? Well, I have been busy trying to grow a 500-pound parakeet. Why? None of your business.

____________________

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,”
Matthew 6:12-14 (NIV)

PS: Here is my sister and I today

The post The Bird that Sounded Flat appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Another name for paradise is: Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin where I spent the last six days on holiday. My daughter, her family and I stayed at the home of her husband’s cousin Mike. He and his wife Nancy have lived in this wonderful home for decades. Mike cooks everything from soup to nuts as long as anyone is hungry. Everything starts with his first cup of coffee in the morning! Without it, “The Little Engine that Could” doesn’t go. But once that first cup of coffee hits his gullet, he’s banging pots and pans all over the place and everything he cooks is heavenly.

Mike and Nancy have hunted for antiques and other oddities for years. Everywhere you look in the house you see something different or unique and many of their treasures will bring back many of your fondest memories starting with the front porch. The window on one side has no curtain, but a curtain rod that holds a valance that is made from seventeen old metal bug spray cans! On the other side of the porch is a shelf filled with every different size and color cans of bug killer you have ever seen.

There are advertising posters in every room of the house and the colors still remain vivid after many decades.  Each bed in the house has its own beautiful quilt and they are both colorful and unique. They are almost too beautiful to pull back to go to sleep. But once you do, you’re off to the world of “Wynken, Blynken and Nod.” A bedtime story I told my children about three children who sailed away amongst the stars in a beautiful red boat shaped like an old wooden shoe.

The kitchen has a small farm house table and the chairs are painted in the most beautiful French blue and cream color. If this table could talk, I wonder what stories it would tell. I wonder how many people fell in love at this table, or how much joy, laughter and sadness were shared, all the family celebrations over its long lifetime, not to mention all the wonderful meals and scrumptious desserts that most have been eaten there.

The house is on the Manitowish River and Mike has a pontoon boat that is like a “Giant Couch.” We all relaxed, talked and fished almost every day we were there. My grandchildren Emily and Kai caught and released their shared of fish. The river was calm and beautiful to be on no matter what time of day. There were small aircraft overhead and you could tour in a bi-plane if you wished.

I have been on many vacations throughout my life, but none of them compare to the time I spent in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. Peace, tranquility and beauty were everywhere you looked. There are a million trees there and the color green comes in so many different shades that it is absolutely intoxicating to look at.

The only thing that could have made our trip better is if the autumn leaves were falling.

The post Vacationing In Paradise appeared first on Traveling Archive.