Happy Birthday Mom

This would have been my Mom's ninetieth birthday.  Based on some genealogy research and some questioning of my one-hundred-years-old Great Aunt, she probably would be turning ninety-one today but that's a whole different story.

Happy Birthday Mom!  Miss you.

P.S. We are celebrating this birthday by starting our Camino and leaving Burgos to our first stop, Rabé de las Calzadas.

The Wife's Camino - Part Two - Getting To The Start (Burgos),

The Wife's Camino is starting on a good note.  Our Lyft driver was early, our flight to Chicago and Madrid were on time, and we managed to get on an earlier bus which got us to Burgos two hours early.  On top of that the weather is over 80℉ (27℃) and while there is rain in the forecast over the next few days, it is afternoon rain which means we have plenty of time to get to where we're going before the rain starts.

I definitely didn't pack well this time.  It seems I have more stuff and not enough stuff sacks.  I also think I have a lot more weight which doesn't make since.

We are both strangely sore and stiff after getting here which I'm sure will not make tomorrow very fun.  We are walking just under 8 miles (12.8 km) which isn't too long but will surely kill us.

I hope we don't look and feel like this guy in Burgos.

After today, WIFI will be sketchy at best and cell data will be slow, if not non-existent.  Posting will be unpredictable.

Weekly Ephemera #144

• Since I will be walking close to three hundred miles starting next Friday, I decided to be lazy this week and did not walk at all.  Instead I watched eight movies including: "Knives Out", "Her", "MI 7", "The Tomorrow War", "Smile 2", "Multiverse", "The Visit", and "The Mandela Effect".  The first four were pretty good.  The last four were a mix of so-so and ok enough.
• We are slowly getting things together for the Wife's Camino later this week.  I insect-proofed our sleeping bag liners with Permethrin in case of bedbugs.  One of the Wife's ex-co-workers brought his kids over to check out our yard – they will be mowing and watering plants.  I went around locating where various things we will need are – things like dry sacks, rain jackets, my pocket knife, compact flashlights, etc.
• Not sure if I will be posting while on the Camino.  Since we are walking shorter stages this time I will have more time at the end of the day but that doesn't guarantee I will feel like writing posts.  I may post some pictures ... or not.  It will be a surprise for everyone.

The Wife's Camino – Part Two

Next week, we'll be returning to Spain to finish the Wife's Camino.  We're flying to Madrid and taking a bus from the airport to Burgos, where we left off two years ago.

To bring everyone up to speed, we started walking the Camino in May 2023.  Our original intention was to walk the entirety of the Camino.  With hindsight, I planned stages that were too long and pushed both of us too hard.  When we arrived in Burgos, we were planning to take a day off – our first after eighteen days of walking.  Along with the difficult stages we were walking, the Wife was having very painful foot issues.  When we arrived in Burgos and we were recovering from two long walking days, we decided the Wife's foot issues weren't going to get better, so we ended our attempt.  Before we even got back home, we decided to split the remaining two-thirds of the Camino into two legs: one in 2024 and another in 2025.

In 2024, just days before we were supposed to return to Burgos, my Mom's health issues led to us canceling our return to the Camino.  After some more thought, we decided we weren't getting any younger and had to try to finish the rest of the Camino this year.

Over the last two years, the Wife has worked on her foot issues.  She got a pain-relieving cream prescribed by a foot doctor.  She combined this with wider shoes.  She hopes these changes will fix the foot pain she was experiencing.

On my part, I have put together a plan with much shorter stages.  We will also take days off when necessary.  This will lengthen our Camino by quite a bit but it will also be easier on us both.  The only thing I worry about is potentially losing the social aspect of the Camino.  Our slower pace most likely won't sync up with other pilgrims.  This sort of happened during my second Camino when G_v and I walked longer stages than other pilgrims did.  It did diminish the experience somewhat.  On the other hand, this is the Wife's Camino, and a slower pace will make it more enjoyable, allowing us to linger longer at more places along the way.  In any case, it's likely the plan will change as we go, depending on how we're feeling.

We are both looking forward to returning to the Camino.

You can read about the first part of the Wife's Camino starting with this post from 17 June, 2023.

Book: Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash"

I decided to start reading some sci-fi 'classics' so for my sixth book of the year I read Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash".  The book was published in the summer of 1992.  It's a very computer/internet heavy science fiction story set in a satirical alternate future.  I had difficulty reconciling the WWII and Vietnam war references with the advanced level of technology used in the book but it still works when you accept that the book is less a narrative and more a commentary of where the real world was heading.

The book started out slow with a lot of exposition of how computers and the internet work which is understandable.  In 1992, few people understood the internet, and many weren't using computers for anything besides work.

Some of the action takes place in the Metaverse, a term first coined by Stephenson.  Despite Meta (formerly Facebook)'s trying to create the Metaverse, this part of the book has not come into existence yet.

Once all the exposition was out of the way, the book read a lot smoother.  Once I accepted this was some satirical timeline where computer tech was more advanced than ours, I started to enjoy the book a lot more.  The novel's world-building was a bit weird and took some getting used to but added a bit of humor and a lot more strangeness to the read.

I gave this book four stars out of five in Goodreads.  I have avoided classics because I often couldn't get past the outdatedness of the material but, if I get over my hangup, I will find many enjoyable books to add to my collection.

Weekly Ephemera #143

A fairly slow week  for us.

• We had a roofer back on our roof repairing/replacing a couple of turbine vents that were making squeaky noises when it was really windy – which it has been lately.
• I walked three times this week for a total of 25.5 miles (41.0 km).  On one of my walks downtown, I bought a magnet at a store specializing in Omaha/Nebraska memorabilia.

  

  Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha, in magnet form.

• I finished watching "Andor" and decided to rewatch "Rogue One" since it's pretty much Andor season 3.  Really liked Andor and Rogue One is one of my favorite Star Wars movies.
• One of the Wife's friends spent the weekend.  We ate a huge brunch, while laughing, at Louie M's before she headed back home.
• Our next trip, the completion of the Wife's Camino is approaching rapidly.  More on that later this week.

Guatemala 2025 - Magnet Edition

Better late than never, I guess.  The last set of travel magnets collected during our Guatemalan adventures earlier this year are available in the Travel Magnet tab at the top of the blog.  We purchased eighteen magnets from the trip.  They are a mixture of the nice and the cheap.  Here are a few of my favorites:

A carved wooden Jaguar mask.

A magnet that incorporates actual lava from Pacaya volcano.
(On the back it indicates it is from a 2010 eruption.)

A wooden magnet incorporating Mayan textile.

My favorite is from Orchigonia.

Several of the magnets we bought appear to be handmade which makes them special.  Others are more generic and labeled with a sharpie.  Still, they all prompt my memory and bring me a little joy.

Weekly Ephemera #142

• The Homer's Travels' week was all about the Pope.   Cardinal Prevost was on the Wife's shortlist but, like everyone else in the world, thought he was a long shot.  When he became Pope, the Wife was over the moon.  Not being religious myself, even I was moved by how happy everyone seems to be.  I wish him well.
• I planted a few plants in my corner of the backyard.  Several of the ones I've planted over the past couple of years have come back up again but I have a few holes where some didn't make it.  I'm still maybe four or five plants away from filling the space under the fir tree.  We saw a couple rabbits in the backyard so keeping my fingers crossed they will leave them alone.
• I walked three times this week totaling 26.2 miles (42.1 km).  It's starting to warm up, suggesting a hot summer is coming.  This coming week will see temps approaching 90℉ (32℃), so I will be sweating a lot, I think.
• I went to see the latest Marvel movie, "Thunderbolts".  I enjoyed it.  This movie and the last Captain America movie earlier this year have been lower-key and remind me of the earlier Marvel movies.  Sometimes you have to get back to the basics.

Great Britain 2024 - Magnet Edition

As I mentioned on Sunday, I finally photographed and uploaded the Great Britain travel magnets.  We bought forty-nine magnets on the Great Britain trip so to pick a few favorites for this post isn't easy.  I usually prefer the handmade magnets but none of the ones we saw were handmade.  Still, there are quite a few nice ones now on our new magnet display wall.

A wee beefeater.

Stonehenge.
(We must like this style as we bought four at different places.)

Wooden ones are nice too like this one for Lindisfarne Priory.

A nice city one from Stratford Upon Avon.

A Scottish Hielan Coo.

The Wrexham AFC mascot.

If you want to see all our travel magnets, click on the Travel Magnets tab under the blog header picture above.

Weekly Ephemera #141

I skipped last week's Ephemera post because I was out of town last weekend.  Time to catch up.

• Last weekend we went to Minneapolis, to celebrate one of the Wife's cousin's First Communion.  We stayed at the Matron of Honor's (MoH) and Best Man's (BM) new house.  Their new house is very nice and is perfect for them.  The long weekend was full of family and conversation and I had a good time.
  
  The first communion was nice and the after-party with family was fun and full of food.  The Godson's and Deacon's families are great and fun to be with.
  
  On Monday we joined the MoH and BM and went antiquing and booking in Stillwater, MN.  It was a bit drizzly but we had a great time looking for treasures.  Sadly, none were found.
• I finally took pictures of the rest of our magnets.  Naturally, a day later I came across three more magnets hiding on my desk in the den.  I will be posting a couple travel magnet posts later this week.
• Our travel agent called this week and told us the September tour dates for our Greek, Albania, Macedonia trip fell through.  Fortunately, there are dates in early October that will work so she is reworking all the hotel reservations and Athens tours.
• Moving the trip will let me go to Rilo Kiley's reunion tour at the Astro.  Looking forward to that.
• I walked three times over the last two weeks.  I walked a total of 27.9 miles (44.9 km).   I skipped a couple walking days to get some chores I'd put off far too long.
• I started watching "Andor" season 2.  I like it so far.  Also watching the current series of "Doctor Who".  I'm also working through a show on Amazon.  "ALTER Collection" is an anthology horror series where each episode is themed and consists of four to ten short films.  They are a bit hit or miss and some are surely movie school projects but they are holding my interest.
  
  On Friday the Wife and I went to see "Sinners".  I have mixed feelings.  The music, setting, and ambiance were spot on but the horror felt a bit off.  There are many layers in the movie and it's worth a view.
  
  Since the conclave is this Wednesday I figured I'd better see "Conclave" so I watched it today.  The three cardinals vying for the position of Pope reminded me of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Visually stunning at times, loved Ray Fiennes, but the final twist was not necessary.

P.S.  Happy Anniversary to the Wife's Niece and Husband!  To everyone else, I hope the 4^th was with you today.

Book: Richard J. Evens' "The Coming Of The Third Reich"

For my fifth book, I returned to non-fiction.  This e-book was given to me by a gamer friend back in February 2022.  I wanted to read it but I kept putting it off for one reason or another.  Given current world events, I finally decided to read Richard J. Evans' "The Coming of the Third Reich".

"The Coming of the Third Reich" is the first of a three-book series on the rise and fall of the German Nazi Party.  It covers the period from the late 1800s to 1933, when Hitler became Reich Chancellor.  The second book covers 1933 to 1939 and the third book covers World War II and the end of the Nazi party.

I'd known a lot about this history for a while.  Back in the 1980s, when I was in college, I read William L. Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich".  Evans' book goes into more detail and is an easier read than Shirer's book.

Reading this book while watching what has happened in the past thirty-five years or so is kinda scary.  The parallels, especially during the last one hundred days of the current administration, are both creepy and quite foreboding.  An example of history rhyming as Mark Twain might have said.

I gave this book four stars out of five on Goodreads.  I have the second book in my e-book library.  I expect to read it sometime this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if more parallels reveal themselves.

A New Magnet Display Wall

As many of you may know, the Wife and I collect travel magnets wherever we go.  I photograph each one and you can see them in the Travel Magnets tab at the top of Homer's Travels.  There are currently seven hundred and three magnets.  I haven't photographed the magnets from our Great Britain or our Guatemala trips yet – forty-nine and eighteen respectively.  So, adding them all up, we will have Seven hundred and seventy travel magnets.  Not surprisingly, we were running out of display space for them all.

Last week, I started putting together a new magnet display wall in the She-Shed.  I am a master procrastinator capable of taking two hours of work and stretching it out to five days.

On Monday, the first day, I cleaned the oil off the two-by-four-foot metal sheets on the first day.

On  Tuesday, I attached nine command strips – theoretically capable of holding forty-five pounds – to each of the two-by-four-foot sheets and put them on the wall.  Even though each sheet only weighed twenty-four pounds (plus the weight of the magnets) I was paranoid, so I rested the bottom edge of the sheets on the top of the wainscoting to take some of the weight.

On Thursday I cleaned the oil off the four six-inch-by-four-foot sheets that would go across the top.

On Friday I attached the command strips to the small sheets and put them on the wall.

The new She-Shed magnet display wall with most of our international magnets.

The Wife put the magnets up on Friday.  She moved the international magnets to the She-Shed.  The American magnets are staying upstairs on the original two display panels.  We were both surprised that we had enough to fill the upstairs panels.

We now have 21 ft² for domestic magnets and 36 ft² for international magnets.  In our den I have another 4 ft² with all the magnets from the Camino, Appalachian Trail, and a few places I visited without the Wife.  We now have room to grow ... and more places to go.

Weekly Ephemera #140

I hope everyone had a happy Easter.  We spent the day at the Wife's niece's place with family.

• I put up the new magnet display.  I will talk more about it later this week in another post.
• It's been a dry winter and early spring, so we turned on the sprinklers earlier than in the past.  I also spread weed and feed a month earlier than I normally do.
• On Wednesday our roofers came in and repaired the hail damage from last summer.  A screen guy came by to take three of our window screens to repair the tears.  New gutters were put in on Friday.  The only thing we are waiting on is the window wrap repairs which will probably happen sometime in the next two weeks.
  
  We watched as bad weather and hail blew through the next day. Fortunately we only got rain and wind.  North of us saw softball sized hail stones.  Dodged a bullet there.
• Our air conditioner was inspected on Thursday as well.  Everything checked out.  The day before, the roofers had noted that the chimney for the furnace and water heater was severely corroded.  Our HVAC people will likely have to replace it.  We are waiting for an estimator to come by.
• On Thursday I had a follow up ultrasound of my kidney.  Everything looked good (yay).
• I hiked once this week.  On Monday, I didn't feel like walking, so I worked on the magnet wall. Friday was cold and windy, so I skipped my walk to finish the magnet wall.  My one walk was 8.6 miles (13.9 km).  I probably needed to rest my legs a bit but next week I need to get back at it.
• I finished "Daredevil: Born Again".  I liked it.  It was a more low key Marvel show with more intrigue and less fighting.  I also watched "A Quiet Place: Day One".  I liked the original two movies and I enjoyed this one as well.  It sketched in a few plot points left blank by the other movies.
• I started planning out the stages for the Wife's Camino.  It may take us longer to finish than I expected.  I planned out shorter stages which lets us hit more interesting places but adds to the length of the walk.  These plans, naturally, will be subject to change.  Fortunately I paid a little extra for airline tickets that can be changed.

Weekly Ephemera #139

• This week we had our sprinkler service turn on/adjust our in-ground automatic sprinkler system.  Normally I would just turn it on myself but there were a few sprinkler heads that I wasn't sure how to adjust.  Watching the technician I realized I could have done it myself.  This was the first and last time I will pay someone to adjust my sprinkler system.  They charged way too much – over double what the service was worth in my opinion.  Another expensive lesson learned.
• Spring is solidly here.  The AC has been turned on and probably will stay on until the fall.  This week we will have it inspected to make sure everything is working properly.
• We received some sheet metal that will become our new travel magnet display.  The metal will cover part of a basement wall in the She-Shed.   We will have another thirty-six square feet of display space soon.  Not sure exactly when as I have been in a major procrastination mode lately.  I'm going to try to get it done sometimes this week.  It really shouldn't take much time to put up, but my brain is still dreading it.  Heck, I still haven't photographed our magnets from our Great Britain trip last September.  I am a master procrastinator.
• I walked three times this week for a total of 26.4 miles (42.5 km).  Each time I walk I go a different route.  I think I've done most of my longer routes so this week I'll have to start repeating.
• We started watching the final season of "The Handmaid's Tale".  That show hits too close to home.  We are balancing that out by watching the latest season of "The Great American Baking Show".

The Beginnings Of An Escape Plan

Ever since the current administration was (re)elected, we have wondered what we would do if the worst-case scenario played out.  The Wife was adamant that we needed to have at least a concept of a plan.  I was hesitant, thinking we should stick it out.  I felt that leaving the country would be wrong when so many people do not have the luxury of that option.  The last eleven weeks, especially the last one, have shifted my way of thinking.  I still think we should stay, but I am now a little more amenable to making a contingency plan.

First of all, we can't stay in America so we have to consider where we would go.  During the COVID pandemic the Wife put in the time and paperwork to become a citizen of Luxembourg through her ancestral connections.  This means she, as a European Union (EU) citizen, can live anywhere in the EU.  I, on the other hand, am not an EU citizen but, As I am married to an EU citizen, I can become a permanent resident of Luxembourg, similar to having an American green card.  Residency allows me to live in Luxembourg indefinitely, but I cannot move to other EU nations.  I would still be restricted to 90 to 180 days, depending on the country's rules, just like any tourist.

I still need to investigate how to transfer our American retirement funds to EU/non-American financial institutions. I don't think there is a way to do this without incurring a large tax bill. Currently, this isn't an issue as the money can stay in America. However, if things really go all authoritarian, I could see restrictions on moving funds out of the country becoming a problem.  Until then, I have moved all our stock holdings to cash to protect our assets.

There is still a lot more to plan but let's hope this stays a hypothetical plan that never needs to be exercised.

Weekly Ephemera #138

• Where the heck did April come from, and what did it do with March?!?
• We went to see Bob Dylan and the Band on April Fool's day and boy howdy did I feel like a fool for going.
• I walked three times this cloudy, gloomy, and windy week.   I walked 24.7 miles (39.7 km), which was close to my goal.  Next week, barring any unforeseen distraction, I will try to go more miles.
• Thursday and part of Friday, I watched the tariffs cluster-F demolish the growing economy this administration inherited.  Earlier today I put in sell orders for all my stock investments.  This decision drove me crazy – too many what-ifs and WTFs.  The uncertainty in the world, and the economy, is making me feel very uncomfortable.  Going to all cash and 'safe' investments will help me rest a little better at night ... if the FOMO doesn't kill me first.

Music: Bob Dylan And The Band At The Orpheum

On Tuesday the Wife and I went to see Bob Dylan and the Band perform at my favorite venue, the Orpheum in Omaha.  I can't say I had a great time.

The first thing that was new was increased security at the Orpheum.  I assume the security, aimed at preventing the use of phones and cameras, was most likely a Dylan requirement and not a venue requirement.  No other concerts there have restricted phone use.  The security process consisted of the following:

• As we entered we showed our ticket (on our phone only, no printouts allowed) to a couple of greeters who would write down the section, row, and seat number on a post-it and gave it to us.
• Next you showed your ticket on your phone to the ticket taker who scanned the QR code.
• Next you gave your phone to another person who locked it in a bag and returned it to you.  The Yondr bag, larger than the phone, no longer fit in your pocket and had to be carried in your hand.
• You showed the post-it to the ushers who took you to your seat.

During the hour or so we waited for the show to start (no phone - no clock - no idea how long we waited) we watched multiple people being questioned if they were in the correct seat.  Turns out some of the greeters weren't putting 'balcony' on some of the post-its.  The only way to clear this up was to go out to the lobby so that their phones could be unlocked to verify their seats.  This continued after the performance started as late arrivers came in and found their seats occupied.  Not a very smooth process.

The performance itself was ... not what I expected.  There was no warm up band so Dylan came out with his band and started performing.  I expected not to understand the lyrics - Dylan is known for his unique vocal style - but I didn't expect to not understand eighty to ninety percent of what he was singing.  I can confidently say I did not know a single one of the songs he performed.  I found this unusual as I am familiar with some of his stuff.  You would expect he would at least sing one familiar song for the more casual Dylan listeners in the audience.  He did not.

I liked his band.  They would start playing and I would be getting into it then Dylan would start playing the piano, his instrument of choice during this concert.  His playing was discordant and often distracting.  His singing did not help.  I did like when he played the harmonica.  Dylan is eighty-three so some of this may just be his age.  I don't know.

One odd thing is his lack of interaction with the audience.  He did introduce the band members (the only words I recognized were guitar, bass, and drums - the names seemed garbled) but he never spoke to the audience.  No 'Hello Omaha', no 'Thanks for being here', no acknowledgement at all.  The show ended without an encore.

I obviously didn't enjoy Bob Dylan.  I feel like it was a waste for me to be there.  I feel like I took a seat away from someone who would have really appreciated Dylan.  The Wife enjoyed it more than I did.  She did recognize one of the songs but not until the song was almost over.

Guatemala 2025 - Days Thirteen And Fourteen - Ending On A Good Note

Saturday - 02/22 - Tikal

Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast, and watched the oddball attendees of the Tikal Convergence who were staying at our hotel.  The people attending were shamans, shaman wanna bes, and shaman cosplayers.  The colorful costumes and flowing fabric was an overload for the senses and common sense.

A ceiba tree.

Our bus picked us up and took us to Tikal national park, home of one of the larger Mayan complexes.  I'd been there twice before back in the 70s.  Things had changed a bit.  It is better organized and accessibility to the temples has been improved.

Our tour guide spoke great English and we were in a small group.  We entered the park and walked past the enormous ceiba trees to the main temple complex.

It felt a bit smaller than I remember but I was a bit smaller back then so everything felt bigger.  Our guide gave us time to wander around the two main temples and the adjacent structures.  Since I was here last they'd built a wooden staircase and platform on one of the temples to make it easier to climb.  It started showering while we were there but it didn't interfere with us enjoying the temples.

The temple complex seen from the top of one of the temples.

We met back up with the guide and we visited other temples that were only partially uncovered including one that gave you a panoramic view of the jungle and the tops of temples.  All in all the tour was very good and it was a great ending to our Guatemala trip.  Tikal was just as magnificent as I remembered it.

The top of the jungle with several temples poking above the treetops.

We stopped for lunch in the park before heading out through the gift shop.  The bus dropped us off at the airport.  I remember it just being a grass strip but it is now an international airport.

We returned to Guatemala City and spent our last night in Guatemala.

Sunday - 02/23 - Returning Home

We had a relaxing morning at the hotel before going to the airport for our afternoon flight home.  The return was uneventful.

Epilogue

I was somewhat concerned about visiting the country where I'd grown up.  My memories of this place were a messy amalgamation of good and bad.   My high school years were not the best for me.  I worried I would sink into a gloomy place but that never happened.  I found myself enjoying return to my old haunts even if I couldn't visit my old house.

Things change and a lot has changed in Guatemala.  Most of the changes, I suspect, are more a result of foggy memory than actual change.  The City definitely was more built up but the countryside, besides the fast food signs, was what I remembered.  The roads were better and towns had grown.  The influence of tourism, especially in the western Mayan Highlands, was more pronounced.

The new parts, for me, were disappointing.  The eastern part of the country still hasn't been prepared for foreign tourism yet.  As a result, our experience during our second week was a bit lackluster.  It was also unfortunate, and beyond anyone's control, that the rain in Rio Dulce ruined what could have been a highlight of the trip.

The Wife dragged me kicking and screaming back to the country of my teenage years and I am very grateful she did.

Pictures can be found in my 2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.

Weekly Ephemera #137

A slow week here in the Homer's Travels household:

• I walked three times this week.  They were relatively short but I am working my way back up to longer distances after the long break I had.  I managed to walk 20.75 miles (33.4 km).
• On Friday we turned on the air conditioner for the day because we hit a high of 81℉ (27℃).  On Friday night the heat was switched back on as the week ahead will be a more chilly seasonal temperature.  Saturday it rained and was gloomy all day but, with the warmer temperatures and the wet weather, things are starting to green up, another sign of Spring.
• I started watching "Daredevil: Born Again" this week.  It has the same cast as the Netflix Daredevil series which makes me happy.  I liked the original series and this one, so far, is just as good.

Guatemala 2025 - Days Eleven And Twelve - One Good ... One Not So Much

Thursday - 02/20 - One good day.

We had breakfast at the hotel and caught a boat to the mainland.  Today we would go to Quiriguá, a Mayan site known for its carved stela.  Originally we would have visited Quiriguá on our way from Copán to Rio Dulce but ... things happened so we made the roughly hour and a half trip from Rio Dulce.

A carved altar at Quiriguá.

It was a really warm day when we got to Quiriguá.  We started in the small but well marked museum.  Our 'guide' tried to explain things but we pretty much just read the signs instead of listening to his broken English.

A procession of leafcutter ants.

A Quiriguá Stele.

After the museum we walked through the ceremonial, commercial, and royal Mayan complex.  The highlights were the stela.  The whole complex is rather small - considered medium sized for a Mayan community - but it was interesting.  We also managed to see a little wildlife, namely iguanas and leafcutter ants (who paraded across the path with their bannerlike leaf fragments held high.

We bought some items at the tiendas outside the museum before heading back to Rio Dulce.  Here we stopped at the castle of San Felipe de Lara.  The Spanish fort is situated at the narrows where the Rio Dulce connects to lake Izabal.  The fort was used to stop pirates sailing in from the Caribbean into the lake but the fort was also a target for the pirates as well.  It was relatively small but it was pretty cool.  Definitely worth the visit.

The canons of fort San Felipe de Lara.

After a very satisfying day we returned to our hotel for the evening.

Friday - 02/21 - Why are we doing this?

A parting photo of the hotel bungalows.

Today we were scheduled to take a boat right along the Rio Dulce from the city of Rio Dulce to Livingston.  Along the way we would see a lot of nature, wildlife, and get a view of the fort from the water side.  I was really looking forward to this but, five minutes out from the hotel, the rain began to fall and the Wife and I had to retreat under a large black plastic sheet to keep ourselves dry.  It came down pretty hard.  The water was a little rough and now I know what it's like to be in a garbage bag, in the rain, while being spanked - something I really didn't need to know.  I peeked out from under our plastic covering and saw several things that, on a rainless day would have made incredible pictures (for example, five cormorants skimming the water with reeds in the background - looked awesome) but it was not rainless and my camera does not like water.

We arrived in Livingston, a town with a mixed Mayan, Afro-Caribbean, and Latino population.  It was still raining and we had our umbrellas (our unprepared 'guide' did not have an umbrella or any rain protection at all).  We walked up the main street looking at ... nothing in particular.  After a while we stopped at a hotel to use the facilities and our 'guide' suggested getting drinks at the bar.  The Wife and I looked at him like he was crazy.  We asked if there was anything in Livingston we should see and he said no (!?!).  At this point we asked to go back to the boat.

Even the Livingston sign looked tired and weary.

We got back in the boat and covered up against the rain.  The 'guide' and the boat captain tried to point things out to us but we both had had enough.  We remained covered through most of the return trip even when they tried to show us birds and iguanas on various islands while it continued to rain.  They suggested going to see the fort from the water and we said no.  The rain had washed away any enthusiasm we had left.

The fact is, any guide with any experience would have looked at the weather forecast and would have canceled this boat ride.  It was a total waste of time.  If the weather would have been good I know I would have thoroughly enjoyed it, it would have been a highlight of the trip, and I would have had dozens of awesome pictures to post but the weather sucked.  Our 'guide', once again, had no plan B and hadn't even checked to see if we wanted to continue with the bad weather coming.  Very disappointed.

Lake Petén Itzá through the jungle from our hotel balcony.

We picked up our bags and went back to the mainland where our 'guide' handed us off to another driver who would take us to Flores and Tikal.  The drive was three hours and it was a nice ride.  Our driver spoke better English and the hours passed by quickly.  We arrived at our hotel on the shore of lake Petén Itzá.  The view from our room looked out through the jungle to the lake.

Tomorrow we would be going to Tikal and hopefully we would have a better last couple days in Guatemala.

Pictures can be found in my 2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.

Weekly Ephemera #136

• The first half of this week was dedicated to chores.  I paid the first half of our property taxes on Monday and did some overdue cleaning on Tuesday and Wednesday.
• We probably had our last snow of the season appropriately on the last day of astronomical Winter on Wednesday.  It snowed, the wind blew most of the day, and I had my one and only chance to use the snowblower this Winter.
• On Thursday I got my stent (installed during my kidney stone procedure) removed.  The odd sensation I'd felt for the past week or so was gone immediately.  The doctor suggested that a lot of people have a hard time with their stents but it wasn't much of anything for me.  Next follow up is an ultrasound next month.
• With the stent removed I went for a walk on Friday.  Unlike my last walk, I felt fine this hike proving that what I'd felt the last time was, in fact, the stent.  I walked 8.4 miles (15.6 km).  Unfortunately this destroyed my legs probably because it had been forty-five days since I did a 'real' hike.  Next week I intend to get back to my three walks per week schedule.
• I haven't really watched anything special the last few weeks.  Last night, after seeing a reference to it on social media, I watched the 1959 version of "On the Beach".  It was good but I wouldn't want to watch it if you needed a pick-me-up.  Most post-apocalyptic movies/shows I've seen have always had some amount of survivors.  No matter how bad it was, life went on.  Not in this movie.  It ends with extinction and it's kinda depressing.  (You may want to skip it if you are triggered by suicide.)

2025 Spring Solstice

Today is the Spring equinox in the northern hemisphere.  While I have lamented the lack of a decent winter this season, I do welcome the arrival of astronomical Spring.

I hope everyone has a great first day of Spring!

P.S. For those expecting a Guatemala Post, I am taking a brief break and will post the next one on Monday (probably).

Guatemala 2025 - Days Eight, NIne, And Ten - Things Move Sideways ... To The East

Monday - 02/17 - On the way to Cobán.

We'd reached the halfway point of our trip.  Behind us were all the places I'd been before.  Behind us was a surprisingly good week.  The second week would be a new experience for me.  New places and new experiences.  I couldn't wait.

We were picked up at our hotel in Guatemala City.  We had a new guide.  He was quite different from our previous guide.  For one, his English was very sketchy (at best).  Based on the confused look on his face, he was having difficulty understanding me as well.  Over the next five days we would become unsure if our 'guide' was a guide or just a handler.  He took us out to our bus ... yes, an actual short, forty-ish passenger bus ... for a driver, a guide, and two guests.  It was very comfortable but way too big for the places we would be going.  The driver spoke no English.

The only bird we saw at the bird sanctuary ... not a Quetzal.

We left Guatemala City and headed east.  I'd never been east of the city before.  I was looking forward to seeing new things.  Our first stop was the Ranchito del Quetzal.  Here we would see the Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala.  The first thing we discovered upon arrival is that none of the local guides spoke English.  The second thing we discovered is that there were no Quetzales at the Ranchito del Quetzal.  Apparently at this time of the year the Quetzal moves to higher altitudes.  For the next hour or so we followed our local guide as he whistled bird calls and pointed out the types of venomous snakes in the sanctuary (not very comforting to the Wife), large hummingbirds (the only actual birds we saw here), lizards, and waterfalls.  I did my best to translate the local guide's explanations to the Wife as our guide didn't do squat.  We ended up going through the shop (no magnets!?) and purchased a very nice painting of Mayan women.  I wanted a t-shirt but they did not have my size.

Waterfalls ... without Quetzals.

My question, at this point is why were we brought here?  Our guide was surprised that there were no Quetzals and that the local guide did not speak English.  One phone call from our guide would have fixed that.  Was it worth our time to stop there?  Was there an alternative?  I truly doubt our guide took the basic steps to ensure it was worth our while.

A tiny little orchid dwarfed by its leaf.

The next stop was Orquigonia, an orchid sanctuary.  The sanctuary is in a restored forest surrounded by clear cut hills.  Orquigonia has over five hundred varieties of orchids that have been painstakingly gathered from all around Guatemala.  The sanctuary is known for having the White Nun orchid, the national flower of Guatemala.  Of course we arrive here to find that the White Nun does not bloom at this time of year.  We also find out that the local guide ... doesn't speak English.  Once again I translated everything for the Wife with no help from our guide.  We did see a lot of orchids and the view from the sanctuary lookout tower was pretty so visiting the sanctuary was definitely worth it.  I learned a lot including how small some are (they give everyone a magnifying glass at the beginning of the tour).  We bought a very nice homemade magnet before leaving.

Another orchid, similar to the White Nun ... but not the White Nun.

We arrived at our destination for the next two nights, Cobán.  Cobán is a working class city.  When you read about what there is to see in Cobán, the first thing they do is have you leave the city.  Our bus stopped at a hotel and we got out.  We tried to check in but it turned out to be the wrong hotel.  Once again, our guide (and driver) didn't have a clue.  You would think they would have checked the address of the hotel before we arrived.  We got back on the bus and drove another five minutes to our actual hotel.  Our hotel was split in two by a busy street.  One side had the main desk, restaurant, gardens, and rooms.  The other part was a small number of rooms around the parking lot.  Guess where we ended up.  They told us it was the quietest part of the hotel but that kinda fell flat with us.

We ate dinner at the hotel and went to bed hoping the next day would be better.

Tuesday - 02/18 - Semuc Champey.

Usually your guide would let you know where we were going and what we would need for the day.  Our guide, for some reason, did not want to talk to us about anything.  We knew we were going to the natural pools of Semuc Champey.  I had an image of a resort/spa where we would rent towels, change in nice changing rooms, and swim in the pools.  What we actually got was not as nice as I'd imagined.

Spring water fed pools.

Our bus dropped us off at a convenience store where we got in a pickup.  The pickup had been hired since the road to the pools would have been difficult for the bus to handle.  The pickup dropped us at the entrance of Semuc Champey.  There were few amenities here.  Rough bathrooms.  No towels to rent.  Only street food to eat which, in Guatemala, was an invitation to Montezuma to have his revenge.

The Cahabón river flows under the pools to the lower left.

We walked down a muddy, rocky path which took us to the pools.  The pools are actually pretty cool.  The Cahabón River passes underneath/through a limestone bridge/tunnel 984 ft (300 m) long.  On top of this bridge/tunnel are spring fed pools that flow into each other.  The water is bluish green and very clear.

We changed into our bathing suits in a rickety changing room with muddy floors.  Our guide kept our stuff as we entered the sun warmed pools.  Every surface near and in the pools was smooth, slimy, and very slippery.  This would never pass muster in the US.  The liability alone would shut it down.  I explored the pools and looked at where the river went under the pools.  It was pretty cool.  The Wife had water shoes and I did not.  I just wore my hiking shoes.  I was able to keep my feet under me until I entered a pool to join the Wife and totally lost my footing.

With 20-20 hindsight I should have taken the scenic trail we'd passed on the way to the pools that went up a strenuous half kilometer trail to a viewpoint overlooking the pools.  I think getting a picture from up there would have been more enjoyable for me than slipping and sliding around the pools.

We returned to Cobán for showers and dinner at the hotel.  I can't say I had the best time at Semuc Champey.  The whole place felt like a let down but I don't know if the issue was Semuc Champey or my attitude at the time.  If my expectations have been calibrated properly and I'd done my own research, I think I would have enjoyed it more.  The place is going to change in the next few years.  A new, nicely paved road now leads to the entrance to the park and it is just a matter of time before it becomes more resort/spa like.  Good?  Bad?  Time will tell.

Wednesday - 02/19 - On the way to Copán Rio Dulce.

We got up early because we had a long driving day ahead of us.  We would be crossing the border into Honduras and spending the night near the Mayan complex of Copán.  We left with bag breakfasts and a warning from our guide that there were rumors of protests along the way.

Not long after leaving Cobán we slowed to a stop in some small town where, sure enough, they were protesting the state of the roads.  As part of their protest they blocked the road.  Going around the obstruction would have required a four wheel drive vehicle or nine hours of driving.  It took our driver and guide three to four hours to figure out what we would do.  Once again, our guide did not have any plan Bs.

Finally, after sitting on the bus for hours (except when we went to the convenience store for a snack), we turned around and headed to Rio Dulce.  Copán was officially off our itinerary.  Rio Dulce would have been our stop at the end of Thursday.  Instead we would stay there for two days.

The setting sun with a bungalow similar to ours silhouetted.

We arrived in Rio Dulce shortly after 5:00pm after eleven hours on the bus.  We caught a boat that took us to Catamaran island where our hotel was located.  We ended up in a bungalow on pylons over the river.  The hotel was very nice and full of American expats.  The first one we met was from Council Bluffs, IA - across the river from where we live - small world.  The 'Yacht rockers', as the Wife referred to them, were a bit cliquey and lost interest in us once they found out we hadn't gotten there by boat.

This whole day was a bust. We spent most of it stuck inside our too-big bus watching the countryside go by.  In the end we ended up in a very nice hotel watching the sun go down and the lights of Rio Dulce turning on for the evening.

Pictures can be found in my 2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.

Weekly Ephemera #135

• I got back the prostate biopsy that was taken during my kidney stone removal.  Unlike my first biopsy, performed in 2022, which found no evidence of prostate cancer, this biopsy showed Gleason score 6 prostate cancer in two of the twelve samples.  The Gleason score goes from 6 to 10 with 6 meaning low/very low risk of growth/spreading of the cancer.  The suggested treatment for this is watchful waiting.  I will likely get biopsies annually from now on and my PSA will be monitored.  If the Gleason score goes up, further treatment will likely be necessary.  That said, it could take years for the cancer to progress, so I consider this just another sign of aging.
• Spring is quickly approaching and some of the first signs are making an appearance.  This week several Robins, Redwing Blackbirds, and Mourning Doves made their first appearance in our backyard.
• Pre March madness madness has arrived at the Homer's Travel's household and the Wife will be spending some quality time in the She-Shed until all this basketball craziness is over.
• I went for a walk this week.  I kept it short since only a week had passed since my kidney stone procedure.  Due to some very mild discomfort (probably because of the temporary stent inserted during the kidney stone removal) I decided to hold off on walking until I get the stent removed later this week.  I still managed to walk 5.6 miles (9.0 km).
• I hope everyone has a happy and safe Saint Patrick's Day tomorrow.

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Hope you all are having an irrational ℼ day.

Guatemala 2025 - Days Six And Seven - Antigua

Saturday - 2/15 - The night of the candles.

We left lake Atitlán and drove to the old capital of Guatemala.  Antigua was the Spanish capital of the region from the 1500s until 1773 when it received major damage from an earthquake.  Three years later the capital was moved to where Guatemala City is currently located.  Our guide/driver dropped us at our sprawling hotel.

A small part of the plaza filled with candles.

The Wife wanted to go to early Mass the next day so, after eating dinner at the hotel, we scouted out the short route to the central plaza where the cathedral was located.  The sun was going down and the central plaza was filled with candles.  This was part of the festival of candles where the plaza and some side streets are lit up with candles, food and crafts are sold on the streets, and people mingle.  We did some shopping just off of the plaza before heading back to our hotel.  The candles would have been prettier if we'd stayed until it was darker but we are reverse vampires and are rarely out when it is dark.

Sunday - 2/16 - A walking tour of Antigua.

The Wife got up at 5:00am and walked to the cathedral for Mass.  When she returned around an hour and a half later we went to breakfast, checked out of our hotel, and met up with our driver/guide.  He parked the van closer to the central plaza and, from there, we started a walking tour of Antigua.  We visited churches, former churches used as hospitals, tree lined streets, old colonial buildings, and earthquake damaged ruins (both old earthquakes and the big one of 1976).  Antigua was much more touristy than I remembered.  Homes in some areas were very expensive.  Everything felt bigger and more crowded than what I remembered.  As we walked we noticed Fuego volcano burping smoke and ash.

An earthquake damaged church.

We ended up at the central plaza where we took a short break in the shade  before we visited a jade factory.  Everything at the factory store was beautiful and expensive.  We decided not to purchase anything there.  We did stop at an indoor artisan market not far from where our van was parked.  We didn't find anything we wanted there either.  I looked at a 'jade' mask but I don't believe it was actually jade and the seller said it was and priced it as if it were.  I walked away when he showed be a cheap looking reproduction of a reproduction.

An arch used by cloistered
nuns to cross the street.

We stopped at a food place and bought some sandwiches and snacks for the road we got back in the van and headed back to Guatemala City.

Up to this point we'd visited places I 'd been before.  We had a great guide who knew his stuff and was very talkative.  The weather also cooperated.  We really enjoyed what we'd seen and done and it was interesting to me seeing how things had changed and how my memory played tricks on me. Next week we would be going to places I'd never been before.  I'd never been in the eastern part of Guatemala and everything we saw this week was in the west.  I was really looking forward to seeing new things.  Unfortunately the luck we'd had the first week did not continue during our second.  

Pictures can be found in my 2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.

Book: Danial Suarez's "Delta-V"

My fourth book of the year was from an author I've read before, Daniel Suarez.  It's been fourteen years since I read "Daemon" and "Freedom".  His new book, the first of two, is "Delta-V", a near future science fiction book about asteroid mining.

There are really two parallel tales in this book.  The main one is the selection, training, and launching of the asteroid miners.  The secondary tale is about the subterfuge and law bending used to finance the asteroid mining mission.  The main tale is well written and interesting.  The secondary tale stretches credulity.

Credulity is a variable.  If I'd read this book when it first came out in 2019 I would have really struggled with that secondary tale, but now, after a couple months of the President and Elmo, I could start to see something like this happening in our 'new world chaos'.  Along with this I found it weird that the American life seen in the background of the storytelling was so normal.  I struggled to understand how we could get from where we are to where the book is in the mid 2030s.  This has always been an issue for me.  I once stopped reading a Clancy-esque war drama after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  I just couldn't get over how the world in the book could no longer mesh with the real world.  I guess you could say, in terms of near term sci-fi, we have reached the singularity.

Despite this I liked the book and gave it four stars out of five on Goodreads.  It was interesting enough that I have added the sequel to my reading list.

Guatemala 2025 - Days Five And Six - Lake Atitlán

Friday - 02/14 - Arriving to Lake Atitlán

We left the market in Solola and drove to Guatemala's second largest lake, Lake Atitlán.  On the way we stopped at a viewpoint.  From here you could see the volcanoes on the south side of the lake.  In the middle of the picture are the twin volcanoes of Atitlán and Tolimán.  To the right of those is the volcano of San Pedro.  The lake itself is a collapsed caldera and is very deep.  The viewpoint also had vendor stalls and we bought a few treasures.

Lake Atitlán and its volcanoes.

We left the viewpoint and headed to our hotel on the shores of the lake.  We were too early to check in so we had some lunch out on the veranda overlooking the pool and lake.  As we ate a pretty good lunch several helicopters came in and dropped off guests with their luggage.  Nothing says 'Income Gap' like arriving at your hotel in a helicopter.

The view from our balcony.

We checked in and went to our room.  Our room's balcony looked out over the lake, pool, and the extensive hotel gardens.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the gardens admiring the flowers, going to the water's edge and dipping our fingers in (it was a cold lake), and chilling at the bar.

Saturday - 02/15 - A boat ride around the lake.

There are eleven towns and villages on the shore of the lake.  We would be visiting three.  The first was Panajachel.  Panajachel is a tourist place and we didn't spend much time here.  We parked our van, took a Tuk Tuk (something introduced to Guatemala after I left) to the harbor, and got on our boat.

One of the many San Juan la Laguna murals.

A short boat ride took us to San Juan la Laguna.  Several of the towns around the lake compete for tourism quetzales and San Juan is no different.  The town has decorated its streets with murals, bright colors, and hanging street decorations.  The mural artists from around the lake are famous and do commissioned work all over Guatemala.

Decorated streets.

After visiting some of the better murals we stopped at a cooperative where we learned about the local Mayan weavers.  I left with a hand woven T-shirt.  From there we went to a chocolate factory where we learned about cacao.  The Wife discovered that white chocolate is not really chocolate (I've told her before but it took a Mayan chocolatier to convince her).  We tasted various levels of dark chocolate.  The dark chocolate in Guatemala is sweeter than in the American dark.  I would say 80% Guatemalan chocolate is about the same as 70% in the states.  I tried 100% which was obviously bitter but not nearly as bad as I expected.  We left with some white chocolate, 70%, and 80% bars.

We returned to our boat and went to a town that we added to our itinerary, Santiago Atitlán.  The Wife wanted to visit the church here where the heart of an American martyr is kept.  Stanley Rother, known as Padre Apla to the local Mayan people, ran the mission in Guatemala from 1968 to 1981 when he was murdered by the Guatemalan army who accused him of rendering aid to the rebels.  In 2017 he was beatified by Pope Francis.

We returned to our boat, returned to Panajachel, and tuk tuked back to our van.  We left the lake and headed to our next destination, the city of Antigua.

Pictures can be found in my 2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.