The humidity is oppressive. The air is so damp every surface feels a bit wet. A slight breeze just pushes around the thick air. The house is dark. Unsurprisingly, rain is predicted. It is 74° making the air feel a bit chilly. Tonight will again go down into the 60’s. June’s weather is quirky.

The dogs and I have a morning ritual. When I stir, they greet me with kisses. They get pats and scratches then leave to wait for me on the stairs. If I don’t come, they return to bed. If I do, we all go downstairs where they wait at the door for me to open it. I put the coffee on and get the newspaper. Yes, I still read the newspaper. I love reading it and doing all the word puzzles. When they are done outside, Henry waits at the door for me to open it, and Nala strolls in on her own. They get treats, a dog biscuit each and one other small treat. I take my coffee to the den and read the paper. The dogs nap. There is comfort in rituals.

I found The Mona Lisa disappointing. She was dark and tiny. David was impressive, every part of him. I was amazed to walk inside Notre Dame, but I was dazzled by the walls of stained glass windows in Sainte-Chapelle. They were jaw dropping. I had dinner at the Eiffel Tower. The views of the city from every window were amazing. Though the show was all in French, I enjoyed the music. It was winter when I arrived in Rio. Copacabana Beach was desolate. I took two cable cars to the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain in Brazil. From the top I could see the city and beyond. I remember seeing a submarine heading toward the harbor. Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Mountain was exactly as I had hoped. It was the picture in my geography book of the back of the statue with its arms extended. The statue stood at the top of a tall mountain from which you could see Sugarloaf and the city spread below.

Africa never disappointed me. I think it was because I didn’t know what to expect, and everything I saw was like nothing I had ever seen before. The first morning after my arrival I stood outside my room on the second floor and could see the ocean, palm trees and family compounds with rusted metal roofs and smoke rising above them. I heard sounds I couldn’t identify. I could smell the thick greenery. Everything felt unreal, almost dreamlike. I stood there for a while taking in the first of what would be the most amazing experiences in my life.

This entry was posted on June 26, 2026 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.