Our good friend Diane passed away on Dec 20, 2025. She was what I always considered a stealthy force of nature. They thing was, she presented as this fairly proper and demure lady. But she was, in fact, a serious badass with a will of iron. She ran and won ultramarathons (we’re talking 50 and 100 mile races, you know, 100 miles without stopping), marathons and assorted other distances. She hiked and ran in Peru and Patagonia. She once described her training schedule for ultras and by the time she was done I knew I’d never be able to do one – I just didn’t have her sheer force of will or chutzpah or craziness or whatever mindset it takes to power through that level of pain/difficulty. 

We’ve known Diane and her husband Skip for a long time. Chuck met them way back not long after he moved to California and joined the same running club Diane was in. They didn’t run together (she was much, much faster than him) but they hung out with the club. I came to the table later, after I started working with Skip at USC (so I met Skip before I met Chuck!). Getting ready for a multi-day bike ride, Skip suggested I come run with the club and, you guessed it, that’s where I met Chuck. After Chuck and I got married, we ended up living not that far from them so would get together occasionally, including, but not limited to, a glorious trip to France and Italy in 2007 and various running events. 

When Chuck was diagnosed with cancer in 2008 we both came to the realization that we weren’t going to live forever and it was important not to waste the time we had and remember to appreciate the people in our lives. Skip and Diane lived pretty close but we had never made much of an effort to get together. We vowed to change that and we started having weekly dinners at each other’s houses (rotating locations) for the next 16 or so years. We even maintained the tradition during the pandemic when we did outdoor dinners at their house and listened to a neighborhood kid (and professional musician) and his friends play for the neighbors for free while we all dined on takeout Italian food. It was a magical break during a terrifically tough time.

Our dinners were often interrupted by life (travel, family, injuries and the like) but we always circled back and enjoyed sharing tall tales of all our various adventures. So this past Thanksgiving it was the same: we’d get together after the holiday and swap tales of what we’d all been up to. The universe had other plans unfortunately. In that brief window of time, Diane was diagnosed with pneumonia and lung cancer and in the space of about a month was – gone.

I was able to say goodbye before she passed, for which I am grateful but, oh, how I wish she’d had more time with Skip, for more adventures, for more, well, life. But boy, what she did with the time she had – now THAT was a life!

I am pretty sure that Diane’s idea of heaven is a very long run on a mountain trail in some amazing place. So that’s where I’m imagining her – chugging up the steepest climbs and telling anybody she sees “this isn’t much of a hill!” And since this is heaven, her best four-legged running buddy, Rocky, is tucked in right beside her.

Godspeed, Diane. See you on the other side.

Dear Southwest

You were great for so long. I loved flying with you. It was so easy and offered phenomenal fares. You went above and beyond to help passengers get to their destinations. It felt like we were all in it together. Yeah, those were the days. The days of peanuts – those days. But here we are – you’ve turned into just another airline. I’m actually relieved that you’ve moved to assigned seating. The current system is beyond screwed up and subject to abuse. I have to give you credit: early bird select was a great scam on your part. It makes it almost impossible to check in and get an A boarding number no matter how close to 24 hours you check in. So I buy my ticket and then you charge me MORE to get a “special” check-in number? Honestly, assigned seating will be a lovely change after dealing with the current mess.

Also, your app sucks. It used to be pretty nice but now? I’m lucky if it launches in time to check in. Oh wait, it doesn’t. Half the time the app won’t let me check in for precious seconds at the 24 hour point. So I absolutely get why people pay for early bird select. BUT so many people do it that there’s no guarantee you’ll get an A spot – if you’re lucky you’ll get. high B spot.

And hey, thanks for offering WiFi on board. Um yeah, when it works. Which is pretty hit and miss in my experience.

Oh and goodbye to free checked nags. I’d love to talk to the idiot who thought THAT was a good idea. It’s so much fun now in an aisle seat watching your head as people thrust huge bags into the overhead bins. The solution is so glaringly simple it blows my mind: charge for carry ons and make checked bags free. Duh!

I’ll always remember the good times we had, when it was easy to get free flights by flying a lot. I really hope when the new system goes into place you offer us better snacks than those awful pretzel-like things. Okay, that last bit is just me. Those things are just gross.

The next day marked the official start of our bus tour with My Ireland Tour. We met up with the group and our tour guide/bus driver Brendan after a taxi ride to the Dunboyne Castle Hotel. We were an eclectic group of 26 people: Americans, Canadians, Brits and Aussies (I think that’s it).  We had a group dinner at the hotel then the next day started the trek to Northern Ireland. We stopped at Trim Castle (where they filmed parts of Braveheart and oddly enough The Big Red One). Then we drove on to Belfast where we went to Titanic Belfast which included more than I really wanted to know about ship building and Belfast manufacturing but also lots about the Titanic which was more interesting to me. We stayed two nights in Belfast at the Clayton Hotel Belfast. Our second day in Belfast started with a tour of the city of Belfast. We had a super funny local guide who talked about the history of Belfast and the Troubles. We saw a peace wall (where we encouraged to write our own messages), the parliament building with lawn mowers driven by leprechauns (okay, not really but they were the coolest little electric mowers!). Then we had a bit of free time to walk around the city center. In the afternoon we went to Hillsborough Castle, the residence of the Royal Family when they’re in Northern Ireland (spoiler alert: not often). We had a great your of the castle (where it poured rain while were inside) then we got to walk around the extensive gardens (where the heavens magically cleared and the sun came out). We also visited the Bushmill’s Distillery where we tasted their whiskey (full disclosure: I really don’t care for whiskey but it was a fun tour).

The next day we headed off to Derry/Londonderry (depending on who you’re talking to). We had a walking tour in pouring rain. We were going to have some free time here but the rain got in the way. We did see City Hall (looks like a church but never actually was). One really big thing here: the tv show Derry Girls – they do tours dedicated to the show. We spent one night in Derry at the Maldron Hotel Derry (we stayed in a few of these – it’s a nice chain).

After leaving Derry we headed to Enniskellen where we toured the Ulster American Folk Park. It’s an open-air museum along the lines of Williamsburg VA where they have people showing how life was lived in the 18th and 19th century. Of note: it has the boyhood home of Thomas Mellon, founder of the American banking dynasty. The weather sucked – it was wet and cold which interfered with our exploring the open-air part of the park – as in we really didn’t have a chance to see much of it. Too bad, as it would be easy to spend at least a half, if not a full, day there. We did get to see a cottage and a schoolroom as it would have been in Scotland but missed the whole coning to America section as it just got too cold and wet to stick it out (we’re wimps). We spent that night at the Westville Hotel (I have to say that the one night stays on the tour were really brutal as we never really could unpack and have time to chill).

The next morning we took a boat cruise to Devenish Island. The weather gods were merciful and we had clear skies (though it was cold) and had fun exploring the ruins of a monastery on the island. After the cruise we went to Drumcliffe to visit the grave of William Butler Yeats (he of “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”).  Then it was on to Galway, where we spent two nights at the Menlo Park Hotel there. The next day we headed off to Kylemore Abbey and drove by the village of Cong where they filmed The Quiet Man. As the day progressed the weather once again failed to cooperate so our outdoor activities (including exploring the lovely gardens at Kylemore Abbey) were limited.

From Galway we headed west and began an exploration of the County Clare portion of the Wild Atlantic Way, a fabulously scenic route that spans the entire west coast of Ireland. A signature stop was at the Cliffs of Moher, but in one of the great so-it-goes of our trip, the cliffs were completely socked in with zero visibility. Ah well. We stayed two nights at the Dromhall Hotel in Killarney which allowed us to explore Killarney National Park (breathtaking).

Then it was on to Cork and Blarney Castle where for once the weather gods cooperated and we had a great time exploring the castle and its gardens. Chuck kissed the Blarney Stone (I did this the last time I was in Ireland so just took photos of him this time) and walked down and up the Wishing Steps with our eyes closed (this was very challenging as the steps were wet and we didn’t fall or trip, so we get extra credit IMHO). They say that if you do this and make a wish as you walk, the wish will come true in the coming year. So we’ll see. Then we got to go shopping at the Blarney Woolen Mills (where the potential of spending a LOT of money was quite high) and wrapped things up at the Midleton Distillery (home to Jameson Whiskey, which I didn’t like anymore than Bushmill’s). Their gift ship blew my mind – you could spend – wait for it – upwards of 500-700 Euros on ONE bottle!!! The next day we visited Charles Fort but the weather was wet, windy and bitterly cold which kind of spoiled that. We had free time in Kinsale which is, I’m sure, a lovely seaside town but given the crap weather we hung out in a nice little restaurant and watched the rain fall.

From Cork it was on to Dublin. Along the way we stopped at the Rock of Cashel (super scenic ruin which as a connection to St. Patrick), had a farmhouse lunch and wrapped things up at the Irish National Stud and got to see thoroughbreds, moms and baby horses and see cherry blossoms in bloom (the weather cooperated!). Our last day in Dublin included a visit to EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum (really interesting interactive museum) then a guided tour of Christ Church Cathedral which included getting to go up to the bell tower and ring bells and get a wonderful bird’s eye view of Dublin AND visit the crypt – very neat! We wrapped the day up at the Guinness Storehouse which I found very disappointing. It’s like Disneyland for beer drinkers with lots of flash and zero substance. It felt like giant tourist trap. I would have been more annoyed if I’d paid to go there.

And just like that, it was time to go home. See, I wasn’t kidding about the whirlwind! Ireland is such a beautiful country – it’s hard to pick out a favorite thing/place as it’s the overall impression of the place, the soft green feel of it all that I’m left with.

Photos here.

But life, as always, goes on.

We lost a good friend recently and attended a memorial service this past weekend. Memorial services for me mean a time to reflect on all the people I’ve lost in my life and revisit memories of them. It’s sad and bittersweet and lovely, all rolled into one big emotional ball. Life goes by so quickly and we never know how long we’ll have with somebody (or they’ll have with us) so treasure every moment, however small and inconsequential and never forget to let people know how much they matter to you. You literally have no idea how long you’ll have that chance.

What’s been going on other than memorial services?  We spent Thanksgiving with family back East then returned to the Bahamas for a week. It was lovely! Chuck continued his volunteer work and attended and spoke at conferences in Niagara Falls and Montreal. I’m still plugging away at my recovery, building my strength and confidence back up. I’m getting there but it’s a process. We’re looking forward to a trip to Ireland in April. My first big adventure post-elbow surgery.

I find myself right now at a loss for words both written and spoken. I’m looking for the positive but it can be hard to find that peace. I am not by nature an optimistic person but here I am at the dawn of 2025 hoping for the best for me, for the country, for the world.

I haven’t done any international traveling since I broke my elbow. Chuck went to Valencia, Spain for a medical conference so he has me beat. We have done some domestic travel: we went to New Mexico for the balloon festival in Oct 2023, then the Bahamas in Dec 2023 and went to see the total eclipse in PA in Apr 2024. Other than that, it’s been pretty quiet. I’ve missed the international travel but feel good that we have paid off the trips we took after I retired (we went a little crazy). And I’ve had a chance to focus on recovery.

The balloon festival was lots of fun and we accidentally were there for the annular eclipse. I mean, we just stood in our friends’ driveway to see it. It was really amazing – we took many photos and decided that it would be fun to go see the total eclipse in Apr 2024. We have been to New Mexico a few times but the balloon festival was a first and lived up to the hype – watching the balloons launch was incredible. Spending time with good friends just made it that much more special. While there, we also went to Los Alamos and visited the Bradbury Science Museum. Then we took a longer drive and went to Carlsbad Caverns which is pretty out of the way but was well worth the journey. Photos here.

We went to Harbour Island in the Bahamas for a week in Dec 2023 with my sister and brother-in-law. It’s best known for its pink sand beaches (the pink color comes from crushed conch shells). It’s a charming place where you have no choice but to slow down and take it easy. Getting there was the most stressful part: we flew to Miami then caught another flight to North Eleuthera Island then caught a small boat to Harbour Island.I took a few days to settle into the “take it easy” thing. The house we stayed at had a beautiful ocean view and it was a super short walk to the beach. It was a bit old but was clearly a well-loved home. We enjoyed walks along the beach, ate at some great restaurants and toured the island in a golf cart (that didn’t take long as it’s a small island). My sister and brother-in-law had visited years ago so it was a trip down memory lane for them. Photos here.

We headed to PA for the total eclipse after consulting the map of the eclipse path and deciding that Erie PA was the place to be (it was also only about an hour and a half from my sister’s). We actually watched the eclipse at Edinboro University as the traffic was getting a bit crazy. Turns out lots of people had the same idea we did! Still, we had a great time. The campus radio station was broadcasting songs about space and stars which was a hoot and they had an astronomer on hand to share info. The weather was looking bad right up until about half an hour before totality then the clouds parted and the sun came out. It was a really magical experience and has inspired us to chase the 2026 eclipse to Spain. Chuck took a bunch of photos but we haven’t posted them anywhere yet.

I attended a webinar recently that talked about reconnecting with your authentic self and it really resonated with me. One thing the presenter mentioned was the idea of “Is this it?” I am really pondering that one – working hard at figuring how I want to spend my time in this life as a person who doesn’t need to work. For the past several months my focus has been on wellness – fully recovering from my elbow injury and the impact the injury had on other parts (hello, neck and back!). But I need to start thinking beyond that. But maybe, maybe this IS it – the everyday-ness of getting up and living my life. Maybe I need to stop trying to figure things out and just LIVE. I can see the danger of overthinking could lead to me missing out on life as I spend way too much time overanalyzing what I think I should be doing. Okay, that was convoluted. Welcome to my brain.

So the quest continues for what I am going to do in retirement. But I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m already doing it.

Then on April 1, we were out for a walk with the dog when I managed to trip over a branch in the road (never saw it, was looking elsewhere) and broke both my elbows. I wish I were kidding. The good news: the left elbow break was fairly minor and would heal on its own. the bad news: the right elbow break was bad and required surgery (Open Reduction Internal Fixation, aka ORIF). In a lucky turn of events, one go the best elbow docs in So Cal is right here in Long Beach. The ER doc referred us to him and on April 7 I went in for elbow surgery. It was really sketchy for about two weeks when I had no use of my arms as both were in slings. Happily by the second week I could use my left arm (gently). But my right arm was out of commission for about 8 weeks. By the time I was released from the splint my hand, wrist and shoulder, as well as my elbow, were all in need of rehab after having been stuck in the same position for so long. Usually two weeks after ORIF surgery you can start gentle physical therapy but I wasn’t so lucky as the break was serious enough that the doctor determined I needed more healing time. Ugh.

So my entire spring and summer has been spent in slings or physical therapy regaining use of my elbow, wrist and shoulder. Boy, you really don’t appreciate how important elbows are until you can’t use them anymore. It’s been a long, slow slog back to functionality. Since I had to sleep on my back the entire time I was in the splint (and I’m a side sleeper), I slept in our spare bedroom where we have a Tempurpedic mattress that can be raised or lowered. So I slept on my back at a slight incline on a too soft mattress. Hello, can you say back pain? More ugh.

It’s mid-September now and after 5 months I’m around 60% back to normal. But all my other parts were also affected so I have been slowly rebuilding all of that lost fitness. Chuck has been an amazing and patient support, putting up with my occasional meltdowns and acting as my arms when I couldn’t use them. Honestly, if it weren’t for him I would have ended up in a rehab center, I was that helpless. My sister came out for a week as well, providing much needed comfort, as did my best friend. I’m a lucky person to have such wonderful support.

To say my confidence took a hit is an understatement. I am walking much more carefully these days and it took me a long while to get over thinking I was going to trip and fall again. My anxiety levels, which can be high on a good day, skyrocketed with this weird concern about falling. Yet more ugh. I am wrestling my anxiety into submission slowly but surely. And my right elbow, wrist and shoulder are all doing much better. The doctor predicts that I’ll regain full range of motion (eventually).

Okay, back on topic. A new chapter has officially begun. And it involves a lot of travel! Yay! First up: a quick trip to Rochester NY – Chuck was invited as part of his volunteer work. I’m looking forward to visiting the George Eastman Museum. Then the really big trip is coming up at the end of Sep when we head to France for a barge trip in Alsace Lorraine! It will be our first time out of the country since the start of the pandemic and I AM SO EXCITED!!!! After the barge trip we’re taking an extra week to explore more of the area.

We’ve actually had some pretty fun adventures since my last post in August. In September we flew to Pennsylvania and met up with my sister and brother-in-law for a small plane trip to Maine. We had planned to drive but decided that it was just going to take too much time and I’ve been wrestling with a lower back/piriformis issue that made leery of spending a few weeks driving across country and back. We spent a Pittsburgh and flew blah blah blah blah.

Welp, that whole post is already out of date, so I’m redacting the entire thing. But it is a good question: where DOES the time go??

I went east early to spend some time with my sister in Pittsburgh and Chuck flew to Maryland about a week later to join is for my niece’s 25th wedding anniversary. We both had great experiences in the air. We flew Southwest on points (yay us!) and we were impressed at how smooth everything was. Mask wearing was mandatory in both the airports and on the planes and the vast majority of people cooperated. After hearing so many stories of people behaving like idiots, I was pleasantly surprised at how careful everybody (including little kids) was being. I was really happy to have a mask with a lanyard as it makes life so much easier when you have to take the mask off to eat or drink.  All flights were full and there were lots of people traveling to one place or another. Personally, I had to remember how to pack efficiently – I fell out of practice after so many months of sheltering in place.

It was lovely catching up with my sister – we haven’t gone that long without seeing each other in well, decades. And it was great seeing family in Maryland. We stayed at a funny B&B in Cambridge called Victoria Gardens Inn (the website was hacked a few years ago so you have to go old school and call for reservations) – an old Victorian run by a lovely English lady who I think is pretty ready to retire from B&B hosting. But the accommodations were charming and the front porch was the perfect place to sit and catch up with family and the breakfasts were delicious. We explored Cambridge and enjoyed the small town vibe and charming riverfront (and lucked out with lovely weather). The family visit wrapped up on July 4 and we headed to Kent Narrows for a few days before heading back to DC and flying home. We watched a great fireworks show, ate at some really nice restaurants on the waterfront and explored Kent Island. It’s an area that I’ve been watching on Zillow – prices seem pretty good and there’s a fair amount of new housing which seemed wort exploring. But as often happens, what we saw on Zillow and the reality of the place were pretty different things. So we eliminated it from our potential retirement places. It’s pretty rural and you need a car to go pretty much anywhere and it’s only got one road in and out. But those aren’t necessarily deal breakers. The bigger issue is that Kent Island is getting developed – small farmers are selling out to developers who are then building housing. Which is great except there’s no infrastructure to support the housing – no shopping, no big roads. So you’d need to leave Kent Island to do any big shopping, go to doctors, etc. and deal with the traffic and the hassle of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  Now that we’ve been to the Eastern Shore a few times, we feel that if we did move there it would be to Easton (number one choice) or Cambridge (number two choice). While staying in Kent Narrows we hiked at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center where we encountered lots of birds and bugs (before starting our hike, we were strongly encouraged to coat ourselves in DEET which made a lot of sense once we started hiking).

We wrapped up the trip in Washington DC where we very quickly realized that pandemic rules still applied. All museums were by appointment only and lots of places were still closed. So we walked around seeing the sites which was fun expect for the (ugh!) humidity. After a few hours of walking around we were both sopping wet and exhausted. We were meeting my nephew and his wife for dinner and had intended on taking the Metro – but given how wiped out we were from our humid trek, we opted for Uber.

All in all, we had a lovely trip and felt quite safe navigating the increasingly confusing lines between what’s safe and what’s risky. Plane travel with the mask mandate in place is really pretty easy and feels very safe. We did eat indoors a few times but the places were well ventilated and we weren’t sitting on top of other people. The hotels were very hit and miss with their rules – for the most part people weren’t wearing masks but again, we never felt crowded or at risk.

The true end of the trip happened once we were home when we realized that Chuck had brought a little guest home with him – a tick from the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center had nom-nommed its way into his shoulder. A quick trip to urgent care offloaded the little fella (the doc extracted it in one piece, yay!).

Oh, and we arrived home to find a new resident in the yard: Pete the neighborhood peacock had made himself at home. He very casually jumped over the fence and headed in a stately way down the driveway like he owned the place.

We’re planning a Very Big Road Trip in September – we’re driving from CA to PA to meet my sister and brother-in-law for a flying adventure to Vermont and Maine. So I was glad we took this trip – it gave us a much better feel for how hard or easy it is to navigate our post pandemic world. We are keeping an eye on infection hotspots and plan on adjusting our route accordingly. We are stopping to visit family and friends along the way (if they’re vaccinated) and exploring sites along the way. Since we aren’t taking the dog, we also plan on revisiting some not-dog-friendly places we had to pass by last time we drove across the country.