Thursday Theme=Limo

I have no pictures to show, even though I saw a very, very long stretch limo while I was walking in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore last Saturday on my way to the parking garage after having dinner at Phillips restaurant.

In the past when I was going on a flight I would use the area limo service.That involved slepping my luggage to my car, driving for over half an hour to the limo pickup place. I would than park the car all the time hoping it would still be there when I returned. Riding on the limo with a group of people I didn't know. This particular service after awhile switched from multi passenger cars to small mini buses. When one of these things hit a pothole you were lucky not to break your teeth. The last straw of taking that kind of Limo was the day I had flown back from Paris in November 2001. I had survived flying to Paris and back home by myself. We arrived back in NYC about 10pm. By the time the limo did pickup it was close to midnight. There were about three of us going to our part of Connecticut. We were unlucky to get a driver who didn't know exactly how to get us back to our stop. On the way up RT7 he started weaving. My thought was I have survived the flight, but I'm going to be in an accident. He eventually got us to our destination. That is the last time I used that service.

Now days when I travel, I take a private limo. I pack the luggage and leave them to the porch. The limo driver arrives, puts the luggage in the trunk of the car and he drives me to the airport. They generally arrive in a Lincoln Town Car. But one time to my shock they decided to pick me up in a stretch limo. Being the only person traveling I felt totally lost. So I have requested that they don't surprise me like that again. The nicest thing when I return the driver is there waiting at the airport. He drives me home and leaves the luggage on the porch. Since I use the same limo service for the past eight years, I have come to know most of the drivers and we have some interesting conversations. Oh my, it's time to make reservations for my next trip to the airport.

Theme Thursday=Festivals

Village fair view from north end of the Green

There are numerous types of festivals: religious, political, musical, artistic and civic.

In the early 1960s I loved reading the gothic novels written by Victoria Holt. One of the common threads in these novels was the yearly festival in the village. Everyone on the estates were all excited because they were going to take part in the festivities. The nanny or the governess, who were the heroine of the novels, were able to dress up and go into town to attend the festival. I thought this was so exciting.

I live in a small New England town that has an beautiful Green. As anyone knows about small New England towns they are very quaint and quiet. Back in the early 1960s you knew at 6pm they “rollup” the sidewalks. About 43 years ago our town held it first village fair. This fair was held for two days on the Green. There were tents and booths that featured the different business and civic organizations in our town. There were food and drink stands. There also were craft booths. At the early village fair they even had the water dunking booth. It was an invigorating and exciting time in town for two days and than at the end of Saturday night the sidewalks were again “rolled up” for another year.

The fair has grown over the years quite a bit. This year I was able to attend it with my two youngest grandsons and their mother. She had the thrill of watching her sons scamper all over the tank that sits at the south end of our Green. She reminisced how she had climbed all over the tank when she was a young child. Every year when I attend the village fair it reminds me about the festivals that were mentioned in the Victoria Holt novels.

Theme Thursday=Kiss

A Kiss is just a kiss or is it?

Most of us think of a kiss as a form of endearment, but it can and has been so much more. In the Holy Bible, Judas used the kiss as a sign of betrayal of Jesus. I suppose that is where we get the term “kiss of death”. Also in the Holy Bible New Testament we are instructed to greet each other with a holy kiss.

When traveling in Europe, especially in France, you see people greeting each other with a kiss on each cheek. And there is nothing more thrilling than having a Frenchman greet you by taking your hand and kissing it. In Paris during a trip there eight years ago I first saw lovers kissing freely on the street. It only took a few days of being there to get accustomed to that. I thought it was so romantic, than everything is romantic in Paris.

There is nothing sweeter than the kisses you receive from a toddler or giving kisses to a baby. Even though my oldest grandson is twenty-six years old he still likes me to give him what he calls “butterfly kisses” on his cheek. Some might ask what are “butterfly kisses"? It all started when he was a baby and I would give him a very fast series of kisses on his little cheek. When he became old enough to talk, he said they felt to him like the fluttering of butterfly wings.

Whether a kiss is given to a child, or a greeting or to a lover they all make us happy. So give someone a kiss (if you don’t believe in kisses than try a hug) today it might lower their level of stress.