Dine with the Ancestors at the Carnival

Wow, the COG just keeps getting bigger and better! Thirty-one posts comprise the February 4th Carnival of Genealogy, 41st Edition. The topic is: "If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors who would they be and why?" Take some time to meet the dinner guests and enjoy the culinary delights presented. They will make you laugh, they will make you cry, they will make you think. You'll run the full gamut of emotions and you will be amazed at the vivid imaginations of some very talented writers!

Who, What, When, Where, Why? is my contribution to COG-41.

Jasia also announced the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy:

"The Best of The Best!" It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History aka AGFH (an esteemed organization that all genea-historian bloggers who participate in this next edition of the COG will become founding members of) to honor their best blog posts of ..* in the following 5 categories:

Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in ... Tell us which you liked best and why.
Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in .. would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?
Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in ..?
Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in ..?
Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in ..?

The award given to these very deserving examples of quality writing of family history will heretofore be known as the iGene Award.

Start digging back into your archives and choose which of your blog posts deserve to be recognized for outstanding achievement. This is not a competition between bloggers but a chance for you to spotlight your own shining efforts at recording your genealogy and family history in ..*. There is no nomination process. You just need to announce your winning blog posts for the 5 categories mentioned above in an article on your blog and submit it to the Carnival of Genealogy.

Please act as your own "award presenter" by writing an introduction and include it in the "Remarks" box on the BlogCarnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is February 15, ...

*We're going to define ".." to include any posts written in .. as well as those written Jan. 1-Feb. 15, .. as well (so that new bloggers can participate).

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

Fondness for the Bottle

With the excellent modern dynamo hubs that are now available on the market, it might seem that using a "bottle" generator is a hopelessly outdated and clearly inferior method of powering bicycle lights. We imagine crusty old bottle dynamos making high-pitched hissing noises, powering feeble halogen lamps. Surely such a system cannot provide sufficient illumination. At least that was my thinking, until I actually used a bike with a bottle dynamo to get around in Vienna earlier this year. It was not a totally ancient bottle, but a couple of decades old and definitely crusty from use. And to my surprise, it powered my bike lights just as well as the dynamo hub on the modern Pashley I had back in the Statesat the time.



The vintage Gazelle I now ride as my main transportation bike has a bottle generator as well - this one from the 1990s. It is well-used and worn out, but works fine - both before and after we converted the lights on this bike to LED.



While I am not suggesting that a bottle dynamo is "better" than a hub, I think that it does have some underrated virtues, and that in some cases it can make sense to use it. Consider, for example, that...



Bottle-powered lights are just as bright.Most modern bottles can handle the exact same voltage as most modern hubs (6 volts / 3 watts). This means that I can use the same LED lighting set-up with a bottle as I would with a hub. There are differences in efficiency and a few other factors, but when using a bicycle for transportation at urban speeds, I have never felt this difference.

The bottle is easy to install.If you don't yet have generator lighting on your bicycle, installing a bottle is a matter of clipping it to the fork, or to one of the rear stays, using a bracket. Installing a generator hub is considerably more difficult: You must either rebuild the front wheel around the hub, or buy a new wheel with the hub pre-installed.

The bottle is less costly.A good dynamo hub costs around $80 on average, plus the wheelbuilding fee (or the price of a new wheel) - which can run rather high. In the EU, a decent bottle can be had for under $30, with no additional fees involved.

The bottle is independent of hub/wheel functionality.If your bottle dynamo breaks, it is not a big deal: buy another one. If your hub dynamo breaks, you will have to not only buy another one, but also rebuild the wheel or buy a new wheel.



The bottle weighs less!Surely that's an important factor for all of you out there counting grams on your roadsters and Dutch bikes?



Because my vintageGazelle's bottle has seen some wear, I will soon replace it with thisNordlicht HQ thatan acquaintance has sent from Holland - which is both a more modern, and a more classic-looking model.



And I also have this modern B&M dynamo that I acquired second-hand and plan to install either on my Bella Ciao or on my Raleigh DL-1. I am curious how these will perform in comparison to each other, as well as in comparison to the older AXA that is currently on my Gazelle - though I suspect I will not feel a difference.



I know that most of you probably prefer hubs, and I myself have excellent generator hubs on my touring bicycles. But sometimes a bottle is just a simpler solution - especially when the bicycle itself is simple. If only the choice of commercially available bottle generators was as rich in the US as it is in the Netherlands! Does anybody else out there use bottles? anybody prefer them?

Center for Great Apes Tour

When we were doing volunteer work for Reach the World, I wrote about a sanctuary that is nearby that houses a famous chimp. Michael Jackson's chimp, Bubbles, lives there now. The kids really got a kick out of that and asked me lots of questions about him. Unfortunately at the time, I couldn't really answer because I hadn't been to the place he lived so I couldn't tell them.



This past week that changed because we not only visited his home, we saw him in person and saw he is doing well. I can't even describe how excited I was to visit where he does live, The Center for Great Apes. It is very close by where we are this winter, but because it is not open to the public, you would never know it was there. It is very discrete and on land that allows a beautiful place for the animals to live in a peaceful environment.



The center was started when it's founder agreed to take in an orangutan and it grew from there. You can read the story here: History of the Center for Great Apes. In short, it is now a sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees.



We had a very small group with us from Thousand Trails that went for a private tour. We rode over with new pickleball friends, Garth and Rosemary. Since our group was so small, it made the visit feel very intimate.



We were allowed to take pictures, but they asked that we not share them on the internet so I won't post them here.



I can share that this was one of my top favorite things to do since we hit the road full time. It was so much better than I ever expected. So many times when we visit places where animals are housed, I have conflicting emotions. I am glad they are safe, but at times it doesn't seem to be a way of life that I'd think is truly enjoyable for an animal. That was not the case here at all. This was the most impressive sanctuary we have ever visited as far as the thoughtfulness they put into the environment for the animals.



On top of all that, we were able to get much closer to the animals than I had expected. So close that it was overwhelming to me at times, because of the emotions that welled up inside of me. I didn't even edit my pictures for a few days because of the swell of emotions that I was still feeling from the visit. If you are in the area, get a group together and GO visit this place! You won't regret it!



We have been enjoying gorgeous weather here this winter which makes things like this even more enjoyable. Living the life in Sunny Florida!

Gunks Routes: V-3 (5.7), Limelight (5.7), Arrow (5.8) & Horseman (5.5)

(Photo: Starting up V-3. Right here there's this one little reachy move. This move has given me a moment's pause both of the times I've led the route.)



This past weekend I played tour guide at the Gunks.



I was climbing with Deepak and Chin, two climbers I know from Brooklyn Boulders. They had little trad experience and wanted me to show them what trad climbing in the Gunks is all about. They knew how to belay and they'd been outside to climb, even followed a few trad pitches before, but had never rappelled or done a multi-pitch route.



If you wanted to introduce someone to the Gunks, which climbs would you choose?



I wanted the climbs to be classics. I wanted them to be interesting, and unlike the gym experience.



I thought V-3 (5.7) might be a nice place to start. It has a short first pitch, with a good crux that is totally unlike any gym climb. You have to use your body to get into the v-notch at the top of the pitch, and then you have to figure out how to get out of the notch to finish the climb. I was sure Deepak and Chin would have no trouble climbing the route, and I hoped that it would convert them to the way of the tradster, forever changing their view of the outdoor experience vs. indoor pulling on plastic.



My plan was that I would lead the pitch and stay at the top, bringing them both up.Once we were all there at the belayI could set them up to rappel, instruct them,then lower myself to the ground and give each of them a fireman's belay for their rappels. (A fireman's belay involves simply holding the rope while a person rappels. In the unlikely event thatthe rappeller loses control of the rap, the belayer pulls hard on the ropes, which stops them from going through the rappeller's device.)



I figured that if the climbing and rappelling on V-3 went well, we could then go do some multi-pitch climbs on the Arrow wall. But if Deepak and Chin were not into doing a multi-pitch climb after V-3, we could do any of a number of good moderate first pitches that were close by, like Alley Oop or Cakewalk.









(Photo: Getting up to the notch on V-3 (5.7).)




Everything went according to plan, at first. I led the pitch and liked it even more than I did last year. It isn't just about the v-notch. There are some good moves right at the start and just underneath the notch. The notch itself is fun, of course, and well protected.




Chin followed me up and seemed to do well with the climbing.









(Photo: Chin making the final moves out of the notch on V-3.)




But it was hot and sunny at the belay station, and as Deepak came up to join us Chin seemed to wilt in the heat. She told me she felt like she might pass out.




Oh no! This was not good. It had happened to me once before. But that time I'd been in the middle of leading a pitch when my partner Liz said she felt faint. That was a hairier situation. This time around we were both securely fastened to a bolted anchor, so there was nothing really to worry about. Still I wanted to get her to the ground where there was shade and water as soon as possible.




Luckily Deepak was just about at the anchor so when he arrived I lowered Chin to the ground. She didn't pass out and felt better almost as soon as she got down. Once I knew she was okay I set Deepak up to rappel and then we both descended. Deepak rappelled like a pro.




I thought we might be done after just one pitch but to my surprise both Chin and Deepak wanted to continue. Chin was okay with single-pitch climbing but Deepak wanted to go above one pitch if he could. I decided to take them up Limelight (5.7) and Arrow (5.8). I would have Chin follow the first pitch of each, then lower her. Then I'd bring Deepak up and continue with the upper pitches.




I had done the second pitches of both climbs as recently as last year, but I hadn't been on the first pitch of either one since . I remembered the first pitches as being unremarkable. And it is true, neither climb's first pitch is as great as the second.




But Limelight's first pitch isn't bad at all. It is quite nice. It has consistent climbing at an easy 5.6- level, with some interesting moves around the flakes at the top of the pitch. It is well-protected once you get going, but it takes while for the pro to appear right after you leave the ground.









(Photo: Relaxing atop Limelight (5.7), waitingto usethe rappel station.)




Limelight's second pitch is one of my favorites. There is one hazard I want to warn you about. I think this is a recent development. There is a very loose block just to your right as you get above the GT Ledge and onto the upper wall. The climbing here is quite easy-- this is a ways below the Limelight flake-- so the block is not hard to avoid. But I think I have placed gear behind this block in the past. This time, when it easily moved as soon as I touched it, I placed nothing in its vicinity, causing a bit of a runout.




Once you reach the unique Limelight flake, the awesomeness begins. It looks so thin. It is hard to believe the edges of this flake will be as positive as they are. But once you commit to the big move to get on top of the flake, the hands and feet are all there. Beautiful, delicate climbing takes you up past a pin to the rooflet, and then a few thin steps take you left to the finishing jugs. Along the way the pro is good. The flake will take small nuts pretty much anywhere, and there are downward-facing slots for cams on the traverse.









(Photo: Deepak following me up the 5.6 first pitch of Arrow.)




Arrow's first pitch is not as nice as Limelight's. There's nothing really interesting about it. The second pitch is wonderful, though. A fun easy roof leads to great face climbing on marble-like white rock past two bolts.




Arrow was my first 5.8 lead back in , and when I look back I'm not quite sure how I managed it, since I still find the crux move considerably harder than 5.8, even though I've led it three times now. I've gone to the left at the top bolt every time, because going to the right seems impossible. Even now that I have my strategy set in advance I find it challenging to commit and execute it. I'm still psyched that I somehow got it onsight. I don't want to spoil it so I won't tell you about the mantel/reach-through maneuver that I do...




Oops, I let it slip out there.




I did one thing differently this time that I'd never done before: I placed pro twice between the bolts. There are some thin cracks that will take pretty solid small Aliens. As I placed the second piece, which was just a few feet below the second bolt, it suddenly occurred to me that these bolts are bullshit. They are unnecessary; the pro isn't that bad without them. I resolved to come back to do a "fair means" ascent of Arrow, without clipping the bolts. Then after my perfect, truly free ascent of this compromised route I would have license to chop the the bolts on rappel, returning the climb to its natural state for the greater good and the glory of trad climbers everywhere.




I am kidding, of course. I don't think that would go over too well.




Maybe I'm 60% kidding.




It would be kind of neat to climb it without clipping the bolts. I might try it some time. I'm sure I wouldn't be the first.Heck, I'm suresomeone has free soloed the routewearing sneakers, in the rain.




Chin and Deepak both had no troubleclimbing Limelight and Arrow, and Chin in particular wanted to do at least one more climb. I felt a little bad that she'd missed out on the upper pitches of the climbs. So I proposed we finish with Horseman (5.5), a climb thatis traditionally two pitches. We could do it in one pitch (as most people do these days), but Chin could count it as two, and she'd get to top out on the cliff.




Luckily we found it open and finished up with another great classic. I love Horseman because it introduces you toso much of whatthe Gunks is about. You get thin face climbing, followed by a fun dihedral, a traverse to avoid a roof, and then steep juggy climbing to the top.




I don't know how many times I've climbed Horseman. On Sunday it was a joy. As I reached the end of the climb, I thought about how lucky I was that Chin and Deepak had asked me to show them around. The climbs we did together weren't projects of mine, and I wouldn't have chosen them if I'd been out with one of my usual partners. But climbing them was like being reunited with old friends.




There's something to be said for cruising up old favorites. It isa lot offun.

A JP Weigle Classic

A week or so ago, I came across a picture of a beautiful J.P. Weigle bicycle that got my attention because of its small size - "small enough for me to try!" was of course my immediate thought. And that is when I noticed something else: The location of the photo looked familiar... Could it be? Good Lord, this bike was in Boston! Turns out the owner (Mark) was not only local, but "wicked local" - his woodworking studio is 10 minutes away from my art studio. A visit was swiftly arranged and soon I was swooning over this bike in person.





Connectictut-based J.P. Weigle is a legendary framebuilder best known today for his exquisite randonneuring bicycles.





With a multiple year waiting list and prices to match the builder's status, Weigle bikes don't exactly grow on trees. I was extremely excited to see this one.






Based on the aesthetics I had assumed this was a recently made low trail 650B randonneur. But in fact the frame was built in 1982 as a sports-touring bike with 700C wheels, narrow tires and mid-trail geometry. This bike has an interesting, bitter-sweet history. It was made as a birthday gift for Mark's father - who at that point was in his 70s. Shortly before he passed away, he gave the bicycle to his son. Prior to this Mark had not been especially interested in cycling, but inheriting the bicycle drew him in. The bike was comfortable, fast, beautiful, and served as a tangible reminder of his father.






Over time Mark rode the bike more and more, eventually getting the frame repainted and updating the components. The current set-up is comfortable and racy in equal measure - reflecting the owner's enjoyment of spirited cycling, as well as his preference to ride in everyday clothing.





As I examined the bicycle, it was overwhelming to realise that the frame was 30 years old - a testament to the builder's commitment and consistency.






The lugwork, the craftsmanship and the overall aesthetic are impressive.






There is a crispness, precision and sense of harmony to everything that is just right.





And this is carried through in everything from the lugwork to the colour scheme and decals.







Mark's choice of components enhances the elegance of the frame further still.





A harmonious, personal, functional and beautiful build.






Being a custom frame, the proportions were made to suit the original owner - who was of short stature with a long torso. Mark's proportions are similar, though perhaps he is a bit taller. Having quickly measured the frame, the figures I got are 50cm x 54cm, which makes sense given how this bicycle felt to me. With the saddle set back and the handlebars considerably lower than the saddle, I was leaning forward much more than I normally would.





To say that I test rode this bicycle would be to overstate the fact. I rode it up a gentle hill, circled around a pothole-ridden parking lot, then rode it back downhill. Mark's saddle height was just right for me. The brakes were difficult for my hands to squeeze, but doable. The downtube shifters I did not even try, not that I needed them for the duration of this ride. The ride felt great over potholes, very easy uphill, and stable downhill. The tires felt much more cushy than 23mm, which was interesting. The bike did not have toe overlap with the 23mm tires and fenders. Though I would need to make some adjustments before I could confidently take this bicycle on a proper test ride, I can certainly see why the owner enjoys it so much.





It is not every day that one gets to see, let alone ride a 30-year-old J.P. Weigle that has been passed on from father to son, and once again I feel extremely lucky to live in a region where such a thing is within the realm of possibilities. I enjoyed meeting Mark, the bicycle's owner, who is an interesting person and makes some beautiful chairs I now crave. Some day I hope to meet Mr. Weigle and talk to him about his work, which I have great respect for. More pictures of this bike here!

The 2 Hour Commute

For the past week I have been spending every day at Mike Flanigan's workshop in semi-rural Holliston, MA. The place is 25 miles from my house and I decided to experiment with getting there by bike. This took about 2 hours, which is a pretty long commute. I then tried using other modes of transportation. To my surprise, the trip ended up being the same in duration. Here is a comparison:




Somerville-Holliston, via Roadbike (a loaded Rawland):

I left the house at 6:30am. The route I planned was a direct one, which I figured would be low traffic this early in the morning. And it was, for the first, suburban leg of the trip. After that I expected the road to get even nicer, as it grew more rural. What I did not count on, was that it would also become narrower and busier. Riding through Wellesley, Natick and Sherborn via Rt 16 in the morning was terrifying; I would not recommend it. The winding road is one lane in each direction with no shoulder. Lots of trucks drive at high speeds. I tried to stay calm, kept my line, and hoped for the best - but I would not repeat this trip intentionally. There are alternative routes that are longer and hillier, but safer. Once I entered Holliston, things improved and the last mile of the trip was pretty nice. I arrived 2 hours after I left the house, including a coffee stop along the way.






Somerville-Holliston, via Brompton + Train:

I left the house at 6:30am and cycled to the closest T-Station. From there I took the subway to South Station in Boston and the commuter rail to Framingham. The commuter train takes about 40 minutes. There is WiFi, and I used it to check my email. I disembarked in Framingham, and from there it was another 6 miles to my destination. I cycled on the main road again, simply because I had no time for a more circuitous route. This road actually wasn't too bad, save for one chaotic stripmall-esque intersection, which I walked across. There are a couple of climbs on the way, but they felt fine in my bike's lowest gear. I arrived at Mike's shop 2 hours after I left the house.






Somerville-Holliston, via Train + Car:

When a snowstorm descended upon us, Mike suggested I take the train without my bike, and he would pick me up at the station in his van. Weakened from all the sawing and filing I'd been doing, I wimped out and did just that. I left the house at 6:30am and walked to the T station, then took the subway and commuter rail to Framingham. The train was late and slower than usual, as tends to happen in bad weather. When I arrived, Mike picked me up in his warm and cozy van. There was some commuter traffic on the drive from the station to his workshop. We arrived over 2 hours after I left the house.Later, I spoke to an acquaintance who commutes from Holliston to Somerville by car. In theory, the drive should take about an hour. But in practice, the traffic in the morning and evening is so bad that it takes at least an hour and a half each way, sometimes longer.






If I had to deal with this commute on a regular basis, I think my preferred mode of transport would be train + Brompton. This would allow me to remain self-reliant, to carry a huge amount of stuff in my front bag, and to get some work done on the train while still squeezing in 12 miles of riding in the course of the day. Every so often it would also be nice to do the roadbike trip, but it would mean setting off even earlier in order to do the longer, safer route. Driving for 1.5+ hours in a car each way would be my least preferred method, but might nonetheless be necessary in winter: I am not tough enough to cycle on those hilly, narrow rural roads in snow and ice, especially in the dark.




A 25 mile commute is not abnormal in North America; in fact it is probably fairly typical. It's hard to believe that 7 years ago I was doing it myself, spending hours a day in my car.Doing it by bike would have been unimaginable back then, an absurdity. Now? Well, to tell the truth, it did not feel normal commuting for that long on a bike. But neither did it feel normal any other way. It's just too long of a ride/drive to be doing twice a day, every day, out of necessity, in all weather conditions. That's my take on the 2 hour commute. I am grateful to not have one these days.

Early Morning Beach Walk

The second day of our Cocoa Beach fun started way earlier than I normally enjoy. We were sleeping on a sleeper sofa and sleeper sofas are like bad oatmeal-lumpy and and unpleasant. So when I woke up at 6 am, I decided getting up was better than sleeping some more. In this particular case that worked out wonderfully because it got me out on the beach which is always a wonderful thing. Since we were there so early, we practically had the beach to ourselves.



Just a few other people and the birds.



There was the ocean, of course, and we soaked that up as much as we could.



Mostly, we watched the birds though. They seemed to enjoy the rising sun as much as we did.



I was very excited when I spotted one that was eating, because that meant it might stand still long enough to get some decent shots of it.





I was so excited about witnessing this creature having its breakfast until I walked over and saw that the bird had plucked the eyeball out of a fish. Nothing else. Just the eyeball. At which point I said, "ewwww...nature can be so gross sometimes" while pretending to dry heave. Nathan laughed and said, "yep", and I know he was thinking that is what makes nature so cool to him sometimes. I will spare you the picture of the eyeless fish because even though it was gross, I still thought it was interesting enough to capture with my camera.



I'll email Nathan the fish picture and since I would like to remember this beach morning walk in a "this is my happy place" kind of way, I'll end on this note:



Ahhhh, much better! Living the life in beautiful beach filled Florida!

Cycling Clothes for the Lycra-Averse

After reading yesterday's Minuteman Bikeway post, you may have been wondering: So what does a girl wear on a 22-mile ride on a fierce roadbike? I am glad you asked!

CYCLING CLOTHES:

I am not against athletic clothing when it comes to cycling as a sport. My problem is different, and I know that other women share it: My skin hates synthetic fibers, especially in the heat. Yes, the new synthetic materials are supposed to be feather-lite, super-wicking, fast-drying, ultra-comfort, and so on... But somehow my body just does not agree. If I attempt to wear anything synthetic, my skin goes haywire, and I immediately get this icky, sticky, "get-it-off-me!" feeling -- not to mention horrible rashes and irritations. Sadly, my skin is also sensitive to wool, even very thin, lightweight wool. I can wear wool as an outer layer, but not directly next to the skin.

As far as normally-available fibers go, this leaves me with cottons, linens and silks. Raw silk is the most comfortable of these, and has excellent natural wicking properties. Old-fashioned ski clothing used to be made of rough silk, but now these are super-expensive and hard to find. Cotton and linen are breathable, but not ideal for wicking. Still, if left with no other choice, it is possible to achieve wicking with cotton by wearing it in ultra-thin, gauze-like layers. Gauzy cotton clothing is currently in fashion, and I have taken full advantage of summer sales. The dress pictured in these photos is a good example.

This mini-dress consists of two layers of very thin, gauze-like cotton. I bought it in Europe, but I have seen many like it available in the US, from the Gap, Old Navy, H&M, and many other stores. The loose baby-doll style with large arm openings around the straps provides superb breatheability. Worn over a cotton sports-bra and cotton leggings (the leggings function as "bloomers" -- i.e. underwear and leggings in one), this sort of dress allows the breeze to circulate under the wide hem, through the arm openings, and in between the two gauzy layers, providing amazing ventilation. I had zero sweat stains during the 22 mile ride. It is crucial that this kind of dress be short and wide enough, so as not to get caught on the saddle when mounting and dismounting. Notice also the enormous pockets -- handy for storing hair elastics, mobile phone and camera. The leggings + sportsbra + gauze dress outfit, in several colour variants, is basically my cycling kit for longer, sporty rides.

CYCLING SHOES

Simple shoes -- the best bike shoes! I saw a heap of these on clearance at the UGG/Teva Outlet in Wrentham the other day. I remembered reading about these on BikeSkirt some time ago, and decided to give them a try. I wanted something athletic, but summery, that could be worn without socks. The Simples are great, because they have a thick, hard, shock absorbent sole that is extremely effective for pushing down on pedals. The natural canvas material makes them breathable and light in even the hottest weather, but the enclosed rubber toe is great for those times when your toe hits the pedal -- which can hurt like hell on a roadbike in open-toed sandals. I have worn Keds, Converse and Vans, and the Simples work better for me as bike shoes than either of those.

Cycling clothing for the lycra-averse (and the athletic-gear-averse) need not be impractical. I was completely comfortable cycling for 22 miles+ in this outfit and shoes, and could easily have gone for longer. At the same time, we were able to go straight from the trails to one of our favourite restaurants for a dinner out. Of course, everyone's experience is different, and what is comfortable for one person may not be for another. Experimentation and listening to your own needs is key.

Our Social Butterfly

Miss Ava has decided that she really likes attention from people now. The little dog that less than a year ago only had eyes for Nathan, now enjoys loving from anyone who will give it to her. She tags along for pickleball and sits on the cart, nice and quiet, and usually gets some attention from those sitting out.





At the Happy Hour, she came out and went around the circle to see just who would want to hold her.





It's nice to see our girl blossoming. She even makes friends with other dogs now! We are so proud!



Living the life in Florida!

Purple Leaves

Here you can see a close up of the blossoms of the purple leaf plum tree and the tiny little purple leaves just starting to grow.

Cuban Fashion: The mini skirt and black lace stocking obsession

You’d think that Cuban fashion is like this...



Or this...



Well yes, that is correct, for the most part. Cuban women like wearing insufficient fabric on their bodies that leaves nothing much to the imagination. They love to swagger down the decaying streets of Havana in their tanned or very dark skins. Pull down that cleavage more, throw out that overflowing chest, rock that waist, strutt off that voluptous belly and do the salsa with that bum. And they don’t care even if they are showing off copious amounts of stretched and sagging skin either. No one cares.



I guess it’s part of the sexy, exotic, confident and somewhat promiscuous culture in the Caribbean. Maybe it’s the weather. Who knows? Your guess might be good as mine.



But what we really found odd in Cuba were the women security guards. They are like gate watchers of buildings, museums and important establishments in the city and they wear DIMINUTIVE SKIRTS and BLACK LACE STOCKINGS. When Blondine and I first saw our first security guard in this unbelievable uniform, we were gobsmacked.



‘Did you just see that?’ ‘OMG... is this for real?’



‘WTF!?’ lol









WHY ARE THEY WEARING REALLY SHORT SKIRTS WITH BLACK LACE STOCKINGS?



This is a major, major, major fashion faux pas. I have no words. And then we realised that all women security guards wear the same thing. Seriously, they all wear this. This is work attire in Cuba. Work fashion.



Then we thought that it might just be a Havana odd fashion look, but oh dear, we were so wrong. We saw the same odd fashion trend in Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba and many other places. Waitresses, more security guards and even bank employees wear the dreadful combination. While some of these black lacy stocking designs are so hilarious and perplexing, I at the back of my mind demand to know who started this trend!



Nevertheless, we weren’t able to get around to asking the locals about the mini skirt and black lace stocking obsession. We have figured out somehow the mini skirt phenomenon, after all the young school girls wear their school uniforms with really short skirts, but they have underpants underneath though.



It is a common sight throughout Cuba to see school girls in very short skirt uniforms, so that quite explains it a bit. But for the black lace stockings...? Well, this one remains a mystery. For now.



All pictures in this entry were taken in Old Havana (Havana Vieja).