With its rusting chain and flat tires, some consider the dilapidated, whitewashed bicycle chained to a sign post on Chicago’s north side a piece of urban junk. Cyclists know better. Pedaling by, they pay silent homage at this memorial to George Chavez, a cyclist killed at this spot in a hit-and-run accident in June of 2006.

The “ghost bike” memorial project began in 2003 in St. Louis, Missouri when Patrick Van Der Tuin, after witnessing a vehicle strike a bike rider, placed a white-painted bicycle on the spot with a hand-painted sign reading “Cyclist struck here.” Upon realizing that motorists tended to slow down when they passed the memorial, cyclists placed 15 more “ghost bikes” in spots around St. Louis where cyclists had been hit by automobiles. The idea caught on and before long there were ghost bikes in Pittsburgh, New York City, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago, London, and dozens of other cities around the world.

Debate over whether the memorials should be temporary or permanent reached a zenith over a ghost bike in Washington, D.C.’s Dupont Circle. For more than a year, it stood just a few feet from the spot where a garbage truck struck down 22-year old Alice Swanson as she pedaled to Read the rest of this entry »

The first time I ever heard cello music was at a screening of the Chinese film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Although the movie featured astonishing cinematography and mystical martial arts scenes set against a background of exquisite Chinese landscapes, it was the music that made my jaw drop. I stayed for the credits; I had to know more about the haunting score. I never forgot that music, nor the artist who performed it, Yo-Yo Ma, so when I discovered the famous cellist was scheduled to give a solo recital at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida I immediately purchased a ticket.

I had no idea Yo-Yo Ma would be performing three of Bach’s Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites until I walked into the auditorium this evening and opened my program. Inwardly I groaned; I am not a fan of classical music, and Bach is one of my least favorite classical composers. Still, It was Yo-Yo Ma; I settled into my seat with an open mind.

From the very first note, I was mesmerized. The movements were at times dark and threatening, conjuring images of shadowy figures slinking through alleys, at other times melancholy or Read the rest of this entry »

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Look for the new “Get New Posts By Email” box on the very top of the right-hand sidebar. Enter your email address and click on the subscribe button. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link that must be clicked to verify your subscription. Once verified, you will receive an email notice each time I publish a post. Emails contains the title of the post, allowing you to decide if the content is something that would be of interest. You can also unsubscribe at any time by returning to the same box, entering your email address, and clicking on the unsubscribe button. Happy reading!

Today is all about my inner journey. Occasionally I need to be reminded of my own goals: to act authentically from a place of love, to help others whenever possible, to turn my life over to the Universe and follow the path that is set forth before me, and to be grateful for that which I have been given. The video below reminded me of all this. It is so beautiful that I must share it:

Thanks to Laura Lee over at Midlife Crisis Queen for her nomination of Hole In The Donut for a Splash Award!

The Splash is  given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs.

In the spirit of the pass-it-along quality of the award, I invite you to visit the following blogs which I am nominating because I have found them to be well worth following:

• Random Thoughts From The Beach
• The Fabulous Geezersisters
• Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site
• Travel Wonders of the World
• Briefcase To Backpack
• What A Trip!
• DuchessOmnium – Island to Island

Note to nominees: The rules for a Splash Award are as follows:

The Splash Award is given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs. When you receive this award, you should: 1. Put the logo on your blog (where do we find this logo to post?) 2. Nominate up to nine blogs that allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you 3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post 4. Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog 5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your Splash award

Visitors to Stonehenge have forever wondered, “How did they do that?” Now one man may have come up with the answer to that age old question. Wally Wallington is not a scientist or an engineer. He’s just a retired construction worker who is fascinated by the challenge of moving large items. Take a look at the video he created, demonstrating the process he used to build a Stonehenge replica:

His solution is so simple, yet pure genius. What I find most intriguing is that a common, everyday guy figured out what has mystified generations of “experts.”

The recent crash of a USAirways jet stirred up memories for me. A few years ago I was flying from the mainland of Honduras to Guanaja in the Bay Islands, which is located about 30 miles off the northern coast. The twin engine puddle-jumper took off to the east and banked left out over the blue Caribbean, climbing quickly.

From my window seat I was enjoying the view of the distant islands when suddenly, the pilot put the plane into a nose dive and banked so steeply that I was looking straight down at the water. Rather than leveling out and flying north we continued banking and descending rapidly. I realized that something was very wrong but no one else in the small plane seemed alarmed – not even when it became apparent that we were turning completely around. In a matter of seconds we were back over land and the pilot brought the plane out of its bank but continued to dive so steeply that I was sure he would be unable to pull the nose up in time to land safely. Read the rest of this entry »

Christmas morning dawned a cold but sunny 12 degrees. Although I never like being in Illinois in the winter, this year has been especially difficult. Because of repeated ice storms and snowstorms, I’ve been trapped inside more than usual. But yesterday’s crystal blue skies meant that Dad and I could go to my sister’s house without worrying about driving on treacherous ice covered roads.

Rather than taking our normal shortcut on back roads that were still slick, we chose the long way around. Although this road is better maintained, it crosses over a cooling lake that serves the nearby nuclear generating plant. In winter the area is often shrouded in thick fog that is generated when colder air temperatures come in contact with the the warmer lake waters. The past two days of sub-zero temps had turned the fog into a frost that coated the trees, creating amazing wind-blown ice sculptures from the naked branches.

After a quick stop to admire this sparkling winter wonderland, we continued to Linda’s house. The Weibel clan can disagree about many things, but where food is concerned there is never any disagreement – our motto is “The more, the better! ” This was the spread of appetizers that greeted us upon arrival:

Read the rest of this entry »

The snow has finally stopped here in Illinois and the temperatures have finally climbed above zero; it’s now 12 degrees and expected to climb all the way to 28. The sun is even peeking through the clouds – just a bit, but enough to melt a little of the ice that has been coating all the roads. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for temps to climb above freezing, perhaps even as high as 50 degrees. We fondly refer to this as pneumonia weather.

I’m not complaining though. I am surrounded by warmth – both of the temperature kind (Dad’s house is a cozy 72 degrees) and the familial kind. I am about to leave for my sister’s house, where for the next few hours we’ll be stuffing our faces, unwrapping presents, watching football, playing electronic games on the TV, and talking over one another until the din is so loud that my head begins to reverberate. I love it. I am so grateful that I can be here over the holidays with my Dad and the rest of my family. I hope each and every one of you are also with loving family and friends, enjoying the holiday. Merry Christmas everybody!