This buffalo was not happy to see Tom when he went for a walk in the neighborhood. He used no zoom to capture this photo when suddenly this monstrous agitated animal started to approach him. Tom ran like a “bat out of hell” to get away, telling me the story while still breathless from running.

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We keep jumping around from year to year as we decide which photos to share on this particular month and day to ensure the photos are interesting. Undoubtedly, over the years, we were scrambling for new photos when staying in specific locations for extended periods. At times, they were simple, somewhat uninteresting photos of our immediate surroundings.

The buffalo snorted and stomped his feet, ready to charge.

However, today’s shared photos from June 24, 2016, are of particular significance when Tom had a scary incident with a large water buffalo in Bali that scared the wits out of him. See the story here. At the time, he was terrified, but a part of this made us laugh then and again now as we reviewed the photos.

So, enjoy these photos with us once again today, which are four years old, when nothing is more soothing during lockdown now than a good laugh. Perhaps a chuckle has significant meaning, especially today when I’ve had some bad news about my dear sister Susan, who’s in a care facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, unable to receive any visits from family during times of COVID-19.

This was a second buffalo who considered getting in on the action. The cow behind him seemed disinterested in what was transpiring.

Several workers were involved in a road paving project.

She was moved to a new facility, a small, 10-patient nursing home with comprehensive care about three months ago. There is never a time a staff member isn’t available to assist her.

Over these past years of world travel, Susan and I have spoken on the phone regularly, often laughing and sharing stories of our mutual world travel experiences. Once she was moved to the new facility, her health and memory began to fade rapidly when conversations became more difficult.

This is the grassy path Tom took in search of photos, never realizing what lay ahead.

Since she’d moved, I was calling her daily, usually in the mornings, which was her early evening, knowing that nothing was more important to her (and to me) to stay in touch with her since no family members in the US could visit her due to the virus, which remains the case today.

Nevada is in about the middle of the 50 US states regarding the number of cases and deaths, with 14,000 cases and almost 500 deaths, although not as horrible as many other states. Nonetheless, no family members are allowed to visit. 

A sad part of her isolation has been that she hasn’t been able to see her beloved pet, Chase, an adorable Yorkshire Terrier who sat on the bed with her day after day. This fact alone has surely contributed to her going downhill these past months.

Cows were contained in this roughshod enclosure.

Over the past three weeks, I have been calling her both in my morning and evening, which are the opposite times of day in Nevada, never having her pick up the phone, which was always at her side. I left numerous messages to no avail. Surely, if something happened to her, the facility would let us know.

This morning, I called the facility directly, explaining she was not picking up the phone, regardless of when I called. As it turns out, they’ve taken her phone away from her. In her confused state of dementia, she’d been calling the fire department and police several times a day asking for help. (We don’t anticipate any abuse at the facility since family members know the owner and the facility is highly rated).

When I spoke to her evening caregiver, Ray, he explained about the phone being taken away. They preferred not to take the phone away, but they had no choice when the police and fire department told them she had to stop calling.

Cows often looked to see who was passing but seldom showed signs of aggression.

Now, all I can do is call to get updates on how she is doing and leave a message to tell her I’ve called and that I love her. This breaks my heart and the hearts of our family members, who also cannot be in touch with her any longer.

But, we are not alone in these sad feelings when so many have loved ones with the virus and other conditions are in hospitals and care facilities, who are suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease unable to take calls.

A dear friend experienced this same thing these past few weeks when her mum was hospitalized with a broken back and other conditions. Due to COVID-19 and her aging mother’s health status, phone calls were difficult and confusing, while getting reports from doctors was impossible. 

Then, the awful reality remains for the patients in hospitals and other isolated facilities and unable to spend time with and hug their loved ones. How frightening this must be. Our dear DIL has surgery again today and will be alone at the hospital. We pray for her health and well-being.

Finally, Tom returned to the entrance to the villas and the beginning point of the road under construction. He was relieved and grateful to have avoided injury.

Many of you who are reading this currently can relate to this sad scenario. Not knowing how a beloved family member is doing and their prognosis is frightening and frustrating. This scenario is rampant throughout the world now more than ever.

We can only continue to do our part in preventing the spread of the virus by wearing face masks, social distancing, hand washing, and avoiding crowds. We pray that in time there will be improved access to loved ones in hospitals and facilities.

This is hard for all of us, in one way or another. Love and prayers to all.

Photo from one year ago today, June 24, 2019:

We visited the tourist favorite Joyce’s Craft Shop and Art Gallery while on a drive in Connemara, Ireland. For more photos, please click here.

As we began the drive to Benabbio while in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy, in 2013.

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A weird phenomenon has befallen us as we spend more and more days in quarantine, another word for our status in the lockdown in Mumbai, India.
Now, some may say describing our situation as quarantine is faulty when we are in a state of lockdown, not quarantine.

The café and entrance to the only restaurant within a 30-minute mountain drive from Boveglio, Il Cavallino Bianco, was quaint and charming.

“Quarantine” is described in part in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as follows: “as a state of enforced isolation.” The common misconception of quarantine during COVID-19 is that one must be sick or potentially sick to be in quarantine. That’s us. See further descriptions here.

However, today’s story does not regarding the definition of the word quarantine. Instead, it’s about our perception of time itself while we’re in quarantine and lockdown.

Houses we encountered as we walked through the town.

In no way do we diminish the difficulty of being in lockdown as being more challenging than others throughout the world. But, our situation with the lack of opportunity to be outdoors, let alone meander in larger spaces, feels for us more like a quarantine of those infected with the disease than our intent, coupled with stringent lockdown rules, to remain virus-free.

From the basis of this scenario, we have observed a peculiar sense of time passing: the days are long, the weeks are fast. After doing some research, I discovered this peculiarity is not so unique after all. What’s the deal with this?

Mustard painted house across from the restaurant.

It’s prevalent enough to warrant a story in the popular publication, Psychology Today which we found here, written by Dr. Casper Addyman, Ph.D., a psychologist and writer for the fine publication. Below is a snippet of his article oddly posted only a few days ago, on June 20, 2020.

Based on his analysis, the word has been renamed regarding lockdown and quarantine during times of COVID-19 to “Quarantime” not “Quarantine,” as commonly used in today’s media.

Vivienne’s grocery store, across the street from the restaurant.

“Quarantime: Why the Days Drag and the Weeks Fly By 

Research on time and memory explains why the lockdown distorts our perceptions.

Strange lockdown time-dilation effect; days have become much longer, but weeks much shorter.
Any explanation for this?
@ImranKhan, 2:21 PM · May 14, 2020

Quarantime!

My longer answer as a time perception researcher is that the passage of time as it happens (days) will be slower because of the monotony of your environment. But the memory of the time elapsed (weeks) will be shorter because time is made of events and there were fewer of those.

@czzpr – 2:30 PM · May 14, 2020

Time is memory

What tells the time?

1. Despite forty years of looking for them, no one has found them.
2. A mathematical law called the Central Limit Theorem proves that human time perception is worse than any ticking clock would measure.
3. If we did have clocks, we’d probably have to start one for each event we ever wanted to keep track of.”

A sign in the town square describing the village’s history.

The balance of this story may be found here. There are two aspects mentioned above of our lives right now that attribute to this peculiar sense we possess day after day:
1. A lack of memorable events transpiring throughout the day, making the days drag on
2. When we look back over a passing week when we had so few memorable days, they all seem to blend into one fleeting passage of time, whether in weeks or months

The interior of the church was austere and dark.

Thus, the daily sensation of the slow passing of time, a week later, a month later, is all becoming somewhat inconsequential in our memory banks as a significant part of our lives.

As we reviewed our time in Marloth Park, when each day was an action-pack, days and weeks seemed to pass on a cohesive and consistent basis. As we review past posts, we can remember each day distinctly.

The organ was above this doorway on a balcony.

But, I assure you, the many months we’re spending in lockdown now will remain in our minds as one single experience with little to recall. Oh, we’ll remember the day the cyclone passed through, the walking in the corridors, the repeated room-service meals, and the endless hours we spent streaming shows to occupy our minds. 

The rest, which may prove to be six months long, will be a blur of one long and challenging period in our lives, in our travels, caught in a scenario we could never have anticipated.

The confessional.

May all of us, during these trying times of COVID-19, experience memorable days, weeks, and months that we’ll carry with us well into the future.

Photo from one year ago today, June 23, 2019:

At the Station House Museum in Clifden, Ireland two-wheel buggy was used over 100 years ago. For more photos, please click here.

We can’t imagine anyone would cut this down as a Christmas tree in Campanario, Madeira, in 2014.

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This hotel, Courtyard by Marriott Airport Mumbai, couldn’t have been a better place for us to hunker down during the lengthy lockdown. They have been very kind to us and provided a haven while exercising caution and diligent procedures to ensure their few guests have been safe from the virus.

The previous night’s rains brought water to the creek.

The cleaning staff has done an excellent job of cleaning and freshening our room each day, and the food coming from the restaurant has been fresh and rarely disappointing, keeping in mind we each order the same two meals every day. 

Occasionally, I may change my entree to salmon, grilled chicken breasts, or Paneer Makhni, but my vegetable side dishes always remain precisely the same. Tom has the same order for both breakfast and dinner, never varying.

The tile roof, the greenery, and the sea create a scenic view.

In these trying times of lockdown for many of us, minor annoyances may become more apparent and significantly impact our state of mind. I think of moms, dads, single moms, and dads with kids being locked up together for months. 

The stress of their scenario can only be exacerbated by annoyances such as messes left unattended, school work not completed, loud fighting among siblings (and adults), and arguments over day-to-day life.

For all, we know this may be the fish guy from whom we recently purchased fresh tuna.

We remind ourselves how easy it is for us when we don’t have to deal with any of the above. We both get along so well and thoroughly enjoy each other’s companionship, even after these many months in the lockdown, making this experience easier for us than for many.

We don’t have to think about filling or emptying the dishwasher, taking out the trash, feeding the pets, or cleaning the bathroom. Add in financial stresses, and it’s no wonder so many people worldwide are in a state of anxiety and stress, coupled with concerns over contracting the virus.

We never tire of the scenery on the island of Madeira.

Our only “household” task for each of us is hand washing our clothes. The lack of such stresses leaves little room for annoyances. And yet, as we always say, “everything is relative,” and we’re no more exempt from feeling annoyed or frustrated than anyone, regardless of how grateful we feel to be in this hotel, under these circumstances.

Many have written to us asking how we’ve been able to stay upbeat. Surely, in part, it’s based on the lack of the above-mentioned daily stresses felt by most people.

This must be a variety of cactus.

As a result, we have little room to complain about any potential annoyances we’re experiencing during the lockdown. But, since many of you asked, here goes:

1. Phone calls from the staff: With their thoughtful intention of keeping us informed, they call us way too often. In 24 hours, we may get five or more calls asking if we have laundry. Last night, after getting a call at 11:19 pm about the laundry (while we were sleeping) today, we requested they no longer call us about laundry. Also, from time to time, the kitchen calls asking if our food is OK, usually while we’re sitting with trays of food on our laps while dining. (There’s no table in our room). We appreciate the consideration, but not the frequent phone calls.
2. The necessity of reminding the housekeeping managers that we don’t want any newly arrived staff cleaning our room unless they’ve been staying in the hotel for three weeks. With the frequent rotation of staff, we understand we may get someone new. However, over time, we’ve come to recognize the cleaning staff even with their masks on and have turned away several cleaners when we discovered they had newly arrived at the hotel from being in the outside world. With Mumbai as India’s #1 COVID-19 hotspot, new people present considerable risk, even if their temperature is taken daily.
3. Inconsistency in items served with our meals: Often, the trays have arrived, missing forks, knives, and regular food items. Last night, my dinner came without my entree. Lack of consistency is a result of the turnover of staff. We understand, but they do have a list in the kitchen with all of our requests.
4. Inconsistent items left in our room after cleaning: Here again, staff turnover may result in insufficient toilet paper, towels, soap, shampoo and conditioner, and coffee supplies.
5. The majority of the occupied rooms on our floor are employees, not guests. Invariably, they leave their food trays in the corridors outside their rooms, often those from three meals a day, often for two or three days. I see these accumulating trays as I walk the corridors ten times a day. Two weeks ago, for the first time, I contacted management that trays left in the hallways with uneaten exposed food present a high risk for disease, insects, rats, and mice. Management, who previously had no reason to check this floor, had no idea. They immediately responded, and all trays were removed, and it has been much better since. Although I felt bad about complaining, they were very concerned with cleanliness and sanitation and were grateful for my input.
6. Noise: All the laundry for this floor is kept in the suite next door to our room. The staff leaves the door ajar all day and night by engaging the deadbolt to prevent the door from locking when open and closed. This door bangs day and night from air pressure changes in the corridors. We have for this door to be locked at 6:00 pm and has been so since our request.

Oceanview from the road above.

These annoyances wouldn’t be noticeable if only staying in a hotel for a night or two. But this long-term stay changes everything. Tom says jokingly, “The only consistency is the inconsistency.” This makes us laugh every time!

 

Do our opinions in these areas impact the reviews we’ll write about the hotel when we finally can move on? Not at all. Overall, the way they’ve provided a safe place for us, along with their efforts and kindness, definitely warrants a high rating.

Hillside scenes were always fascinating.

These few minor annoyances would easily occur in any hotel, even those with five-star ratings during the trying times of COVID-19. We are very grateful to have stayed here and for their efforts to ensure a safe stay over these many months in lockdown.

 

May your day be free of as much stress as possible when hopefully, soon, life will continue on…

Photo from one year ago today, June 22, 2019:

A replica in the Station House Museum in Clifden, Ireland, of the biplane that made the first non-stop transatlantic flight by two British pilots from St. Johns, Newfoundland, to Clifden. For more details, please click here.

This plant in Madeira, Portugal made me squeal with delight. Tom laughs at me and happily maneuvers the car for a better view.

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The ocean is behind this old vine-covered garage.

I ended up buying an HP Chromebook in order to get away from the less desired and problematic Windows 10. Now I realize I may have made a mistake, especially when it comes to managing, storing, and editing photos.

Using a Chromebook means using Google’s cloud for storage of almost all saved items including documents, files, and photos. This all would have been fine except with my over 20,000 stored photos, it’s a nightmare.

There is Ms. Goat posing for a photo while we drove by while she munched on the vegetation.

Also, using folders in Chromebook is tricky. Finding photos is tricky and, worst of all, I have no suitable means of editing photos and finding them easily after editing. In Windows, this was a breeze.

Recently, while working with the web developer to revise our site, she needed resized photos. This would have been an easy task in Windows 10. I spent hours trying to figure it out using Chromebook. Of course, I followed online instructions. But even so, the task seemed impossible. 

We discovered many homes covered in vines growing prolifically in this ideal weather.

I don’t want to spend endless hours online trying to figure this out. We had to make do with the photos we have and go from there. It’s a lot easier when using photos I’ve taken with my phone but with my phone which is also Chrome and it still is not an easy task.

At this point, I’m seriously considering purchasing a new, inexpensive Windows 10 tablet for photo processing, editing, and cloud storage.

Grapes were growing everywhere. Madeira is known for its wine including the popular pink Madeira wine many of us enjoyed in the ’70s and ’80s.

This is the bush from which I took the shot of the flower in the following photo. Love this!

At least, most of the Windows 10 tablets are lightweight, many only slightly over 1 lb, .45 kg. Also, I’ve spent hours searching for an app that would solve this issue which is sufficient to work with the number of photos I need to access.

Other than this issue, I really like the Chromebook but, the reality remains, I may need one more device to assist with the long-term continuation of our site, especially once we “get back out there” and start taking new photos, some of which may need editing.

I couldn’t get a perfect shot of this flower while we were on the move but it was fun to see.

When we were in Udaipur in February, I purchased an adapter for our large-sized camera memory card that works well for transferring photos from the camera to the Chromebook laptop.

The terraced farms and gardens planted in even squares and rectangles cover the hills.

So, the end result is this:
1. Figure out an editing app that works for Chromebook and is easy to manipulate, and store changes or, in the worse case…
2. Purchase a Windows 10 tablet to use for photo editing

Oh, gosh. After years of experience with computers and devices of all types, I truly am in a quandary. We often wonder how seniors with little to no experience can manage to use technology as it quickly changes in today’s world.

An old boarded-up house, uncommon on the island.

After writing this today, I feel motivated to try to find a Chromebook photo editing solution today. If not, we’ll have to figure out how to proceed from here.


Happy Father’s Day to all the dads worldwide. May you feel as special as you are today and always. Also, Happy Summer Solstice for those in the northern hemisphere and Happy Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere!


For those uninterested in technology, we apologize for today’s post. 

Photo from one year ago today, June 21, 2019:

This is the sun on its final ascent in Connemara, Ireland. For more photos, please click here.

A drive into the hills in Campanario, Madeira, Portugal, offered appealing scenery.

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What better time than now to relive memories from our more mobile times in years past? If we lived a somewhat “normal” life in a home in the US and were subject to the lockdown, I have no doubt we wouldn’t do a whole lot different with our spare time than we are doing now in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India. 

Most likely, we would have spent time organizing areas of our home, cleaning drawers, closets, and cabinets, cooking, and baking. In our spare time, under those circumstances, most likely, we’d have spent time reliving the past through old photos and reminiscing over past experiences along with binge-watching shows to escape from the lockdown and lack of social life.

Now, a portion of our free time is spent binge-watching favorite shows, which seem to be the best panacea for getting “outside of our heads.” Wrapped up in an excellent British mystery drama is a perfect escape on a typical afternoon. 

Nothing was more delightful than a clear sunny morning in Madeira.

At 3:00 pm each day, we’ve been watching “Endeavor,” a delicious PBS “copper” show with many episodes, mostly lasting for 90 minutes. Typically, we watch two episodes, stopping at 5:30 pm to order dinner, which often doesn’t arrive until 6:30.

We’ve been watching “Curb Your Enthusiasm” during dinner lately, season 9 with season 10 to follow. This funny Larry David show leaves us howling with laughter, a welcomed reprieve from the more profound mysteries of the afternoon.

Often during the early afternoons, once I’ve uploaded the day’s post, I go through the steady stream of email messages from our friends/readers. As they mention past posts and photos, we find ourselves rereading the older stories we haven’t thought about in years.

When we smelled smoke, we ran to the veranda to find a neighboring garden burning.

I can’t believe the positive feedback we’ve had from readers regarding once again seeing our old photos. With so much time passing since the onset of our travels, many more senior photos seem new to our readers and again to us.
In reviewing the photos and past stories, we found ourselves giggling over long ago experiences, some of which remind us how naive we may have been about world travel in the beginning years, and others that have stayed true to our essential criteria and beliefs. 

We are so fortunate to have this easy-to-follow online history of our lives over the past eight years and only wish we’d be posting years earlier, although the then source of fodder may have been mundane and boring to most.

The owner and architect of our holiday home, Carlos, lives next door with his family. I took this photo from the door in my bathroom into their backyard.

I’d considered writing a book throughout my life, even promising myself I’d do so once I retired. Without ever planning it, our site has become that “book,” soon approaching 3000 posts sometime in November 2020. 

After all of this fulfillment in sharing our lives with all of you, my desire to write a book is long gone. Everything I’ve had to say has been said here, and the ease with which I write here each day may be clouded by a struggle to condense it into a book.  After all, what book has 3000 chapters?

No, I won’t write a book, nor do I am interested in attending book signings, appearing on local TV shows, or acquiring a degree of celebrity that may go with it. 

Wow! The flowers would soon be gone as summer moved in, but I enjoyed taking photos until then.

After all, our story is somewhat peculiar in that we’ve yet to meet another couple who’ve been homeless, without storage, without owning a car or “stuff” other than that which fits into a few bags, traveling the world for almost eight years? Most people (especially of our age) aren’t crazy enough to do this for so long.
Adding to the peculiarity of our story is the fact I had emergency open-heart surgery in Africa and miraculously survived, and now and in the future, spending many months in a standard hotel room in lockdown in Mumbai, India. 

If someone had asked us several years ago if we’d be able to be confined to this degree for so long, we’d probably have said we couldn’t do it. But, somehow, we are pretty OK, filling the days and nights with a bit of this and that and finding great comfort in the support from our family, friends, and readers all over the world. 

I found this rose in a neighbor’s yard. Not wanting to disturb the neighbor’s garden, I shot this without moving the stem in front of what appears to be an almost perfect rose.

Stay well.

Photo from one year ago today, June 20, 2019:

Painted sheep grazing in a field in Connemara, Ireland. For more photos, please click here.