And Here We Have Idaho - Salmon -

Scott and I traveled to Salmon, Idaho with Jenna and Cliff and family, met my uncle, aunts, and mother there, along with my cousin and her daughter from NY.

My feelings:

What started out as a vacation ended up being a family reunion of sorts. 

Being together was nice - in short spurts, and it's fine to separate into small groups or do your own thing. Congregating occasionally is what's important. Four generations!  And now this weekend we go to Cedar City for the Weaver family reunion - my husband's people. I don't know them well; his siblings are closer to my mother's age than mine; I will attend because he needs to be there, and I will listen, learn about family, and be present.   

I'm reminded of the saying, "You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've come from." Family is so important - nuclear family, extended family, and family of choice - those we gather as we grow and go through life. 

With my family this past week I've been reminded we all have characteristics that bother each other, and over the years (I'm the oldest grandchild, only 7 years younger than my aunt [Kim's mother]) we've done that. We're volatile, frank, moody, bossy, assertive, passive, vague, loving, tight-lipped. However, kind words and time together and the resolve to stay family continues as we are determined to be family. 

As much as we distance ourselves - miles and time, we can't escape our similar mannerisms, physical traits - eye color, hair color, build, ways of walking. And even temperaments! I see myself in my mother and aunts. Jenna and Kimberly (Kim's the youngest grandchild, only 1 year older than the oldest great [Tyler]) both have characteristics that remind me of my grandmother. And my uncle is the spitting image of my grandfather. 

To build family ties we have to be willing to ask for forgiveness, forgive, compromise, watch over each other, learn about each other, and gather when the opportunity arises.  

Amen. 

Scotland -

17 days (2 airplane travel), 15 nights, multiple cities, multiple Airbnb's and motels, and Scotland is one for the books!
I booked our tickets to Manchester, England, 9 months ago, with no idea we'd end up in Scotland. Yet we did, and our adventure was worth the several months of planning, rearranging, booking (Rabbies Tours rock - 3 in all), rebooking, stewing, choosing, and then - viola - a perfect, yes, perfect time.

Our train journey took us to Liverpool - home to the Beatles (do the taxi tour) and the Liverpool docks, where ancestors from both of our families left for the United States. We stepped into Wales for an afternoon, buildings built in the 1400s amazed us.
Then on to Glasgow - Glencoe, Loch Lomand, castles, and massive granite buildings.
Next to Oban by the sea - the isles of Mull and Iona, an awesome wool fabric shop, sheep sheep and more sheep, great people, good weather.
Then to Inverness - again, granite buildings, a river through the middle of the city, lovely Airbnb hosts, great food, and a tour to the Isle of Skye, as well as Loch Ness, and great Scottish bagpipe and fiddle music.
Off too Aberdeen 2 days later - a gorgeous train journey, and then a quick trip to King's College, and rain, rain, and more rain. Making the most of this though, we binged on British TV and Doc Martin.
Lastly we headed to Edinburgh - castles, DaVinci Code Cathedral, the Royal Mile, Botanical Gardens, and massive stone masonry.
We ended our journey with a quick drop into Leeds, a stop at our favorite British diner - Nando's, for the best meal of our trip, and then back to Manchester and home.

Will I go back, probably not. Am I glad we went - absolutely. What an adventure, a chance of a lifetime. Beautiful people, great cool weather (thank goodness for Eddie Bauer down jackets and scarves), the landscape is spectacular, the transportation amazing. So grateful we took our backpacks rather than roller luggage, and grateful we had little expectations for great food!

I rocked the itinerary, with us only missing 2 things, and this was just because transportation was difficult. Not bad, not bad at all!

Rest and Be Thankful - A83 in Scotland

Scott and I had the amazing opportunity to spend a couple of weeks touring Scotland. 

We were on a small tour on a road between Glasgow and Oban, in the Scottish Highlands. The van pulled over after a steep climb through this valley. I thought perhaps we’d over-heated. Then we learned, the story goes that the Jacobites, led by General Wade, walked along the Highlands on this very steep road. Once you get to the summit, you can pause and take in the views. “Rest and Be Thankful” are the words inscribed on a stone, said to be placed in 1750, commemorating the completion of this road. (It’s also said many pilgrims, soldiers, and weary travelers used this road, or the sheep path, or stream path, throughout the centuries.) And this is the official name of this road and summit, with a fancier stone and the story.

As we summited, and got out of the van, I gasped, taking in the beauty. Oh my, I could see the road built in 1750, today’s highway, the valley, the mountains, the streams, and a lake off in the horizon. And I was thankful – my heart was filled with joy – I was grateful for the opportunity to take this amazing vacation, to see this part of the world, to see the hands of my Higher Power in the green green mountains, the flowers on the roadside, the cloudy sky. And I was thankful for being able to rest –

When was the last time you rested? When have you reached a “summit” in your life and stopped to be thankful? Self-care and gratitude my friends, whether for 2 weeks or 2 hours, is so very very important.

Following Our Bliss -

So - Scott and I shuffled off to Scotland for 16 days - 15 nights, 2-24 hour days in the air and airports, and we're home. We bought tickets to Manchester, England the end of August, last year, and then in December decided to go to Scotland rather than Ireland or Wales, like we'd initially discussed.

So many times people asked if we had Scottish heritage, family in the country, reasons to visit - and no, we were just following our bliss!

And I'll post more when I have a minute to download pictures, but in the meantime, this article popped up in my feed this morning, very appropriate for 2 "concessions" who took a chance on a country they knew nothing about, and had a blast.

Create a Little Bit of Bliss Every Day

By Holly Hildreth

“Follow your bliss and let the magic of life happen.” ~Janelle Jalbert

Is there something you always wanted to do as a child, and for whatever reason didn’t do? Is there something that you have wanted to do for years? Perhaps it is something that didn’t seem practical. Maybe you felt you wouldn’t be very good at it or you didn’t have the time or the money.

You can ignore the urging, submerge it, and choose not to follow through on it. But it will show up again and again, and sometimes in the oddest places. For me it was in the toy aisle at a local department store.

Here’s what happened.

My husband and I walked into a popular department store, looking for the toy and game shelves. We wanted a board game we could play with our young grandchildren. I assume there was some kind of bland elevator music playing, but I didn’t notice it until it changed to an upbeat dance tune.

The beat caught my attention, and my feet, seemingly of their own accord, started to move to the rhythm. A minute later they started to tap dance.

As a child I wanted to learn to tap dance, but for some reason I never expressed that desire. Perhaps I was afraid of looking big and heavy in a dance costume, or feeling awkward on my feet. Whatever the reason, I never told my mother, I never took lessons.

The desire to tap dance stayed with me, most times submerged beneath school, friends and family. As a teenager I learned one tap step from a friend, Shuffle Off to Buffalo, and enjoyed shuffling and tapping just for fun.

That’s as far as I went with it. There was always too much else to do. Besides, what would I do with it even if I learned how to tap dance?

Fast forward through fifty years and there I was in the toy aisle, tapping and shuffling my feet. My husband, tolerant man that he is, just smiled at me. But my feet surprised me that day.

I’d love to be the kind of person who can just break out in song and dance and not worry about what other people think of me. I’m not. For me to dance in the aisles of a department store is unusual.

Add to that the fact that I’m a sixty-four-year-old grandmother with an arthritic knee and ankle. I danced anyway and laughed at myself.

Back home again I went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. My husband sat at the counter reading a magazine. He said something to me and I looked over at him. The words “Take a Chance—Dance” headlined the page I saw in his hand in bold letters.

Okay, I thought, perhaps my feet and the Universe are telling me something.

“Bliss is doing that which fulfills you. Action that touches you deeply and fully. Bliss is active. Bliss is…following your dreams, desires, or heart.” ~Angie Karan

The next day I searched out a how-to tap dance video on my computer. I was delighted to discover a number of them specifically designed for absolute beginners.

I chose one, set the computer up where I could see it on the dining room table, and learned the first basic steps of tap dancing, shuffling and tapping around my dining room floor in my sandals.

My inner child was ecstatic. I smiled and laughed, stamped, shuffled, and tapped.

My husband walked in, no doubt wondering what all the stomping was about. “I’m learning how to tap dance!” I beamed. He smiled, shook his head, and left the room. I kept at it.

The emotional lift I felt from just those few minutes learning dance steps stayed with me all day. I smiled whenever I thought of it.

Our bliss may come in small packages. It may look like a subtle urging that has been with you since you were a child.

It may not be your life purpose, or even life changing. It may simply be something that allows you to express the childlike happiness that is within you. Something that many adults have forgotten is there.

I have no idea what learning to tap dance is going to do for me, or where it will take me. I do know that it is time for me to allow the desire that has been within me for years to express.

These longings stay with us for a reason. It is our soul talking to us through the language of our desires.

Why does my soul want me to tap dance? I don’t know. I do know that it’s fun and good exercise, and that’s enough for now.

What is your soul telling you? Let’s find out with a simple exercise.

Gather paper and pen and give yourself a few minutes of quiet time.

At the top of your paper write, “When I was a child, I loved to…”

Complete the sentence with a list of the things you loved to do as a child.

Now write, “When I was a child, I always wanted to…”

Complete the sentence with the things you wanted to do as a child but didn’t or weren’t able to do.

How many of these activities are part of your life today?

If your favorite thing to do as a child was to create models of rockets with plastic blocks, how are you expressing your love of creative construction in your life today?

What if you always wanted to go horseback riding as a child but only got to go once, and that love of horses is still with you? Could you sign up for horseback riding lessons today?

Perhaps you tell yourself you don’t have time or money for pursuits that are just for fun. Perhaps you tell yourself that you’ll get to that later. But if not now, then when?

Life zips by us while we are busy doing, doing, doing. Allow yourself to enjoy the journey. Listen to the urgings you feel inside. Don’t wait for some time in the future when you’ll have more time, money, or more accomplished. Do what you can to live a little bit of your bliss each day.

Now, if you’ll just excuse me, I have to Shuffle Off to Buffalo.