Travel Spot: The Fairmont San Francisco

Travel Spot: The Fairmont San Francisco

For your trip to “the Golden Gate city”, embark on a world-class travel destination by staying or visiting The Fairmont San Francisco. People often say it is a “hotel so grand they built a city around it”, and that they did. Resembling a European palace it proudly resides at the corner of California and Mason street, situated … Continued

Okefenokee Swamp Chesser Prairie

Okefenokee Swamp: A wetland of intrigue

The Okefenokee Swamp is one of Mother Nature’s mysterious places. Straddling the Georgia–Florida border in the United States, this 438,000-acre wetland offers intriguing landscapes, abundant wildlife and a glimpse into the past.   Land of the Trembling Earth According to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, the swamp bottom “is sand, covered with peat. Methane … Continued

Lost Ring in Oahu!

Lost Ring in Oahu! The day just started off on a bad note.  My father in law let the dogs out in the front yard by accident…again.  Leina, my fiancé, dragged herself out of bed early to watch the dogs.  Sasha, our oldest dog, was not the problem.  It was Pa’a, the one year old … Continued

Colorado, USA: A Gift of Snow

There’s a field off of a growing road in a growing town in central Colorado. For most of the year, that field sits between an underfunded public school and a fire station, within earshot of a busy highway. For most of the year, that field is dirt and dry-brush. A hiding place for snakes and … Continued

Penn Quakers Pounce and Reality TV Saves Lives

Penn Quakers Pounce and Reality TV Saves Lives Author: Lisa Niver Rajna, CAS’89 Studying at the University of Pennsylvania, I learned fast and worked hard. As my studies focused on science and liberal arts, I never took a class in finance even though The Wharton School is renowned the world over for business. While watching Shark … Continued

Birthday in New York

Birthday in New York, NY The trip to New York was a present to me on my fiftieth birthday and a good enough excuse to be extravagant so I booked my stay at a popular expensive hotel in Times Square, the pulsating hub of Manhattan. Over weeks, I’d been jotting entries in my red notebook … Continued

The Pace of Freedom in Brookings, Oregon

Freedom is slow. It lacks the weariness and worry of the workday. Freedom strolls through the hours as if it had all the time in the world. Every moment seems to matter and to sharpen into clarity. No more the wicked counting of minutes. No more the squeal of the alarm clock. No more the … Continued

‘Walking’ the Freedom Trail

On Valentine’s Day, 2011 I took my oath as a US citizen at the young age of 62. My husband Bill and I were in our second year of RVing across North America. We have the freedom to be where we want to be, do what we want to do. As we were going up … Continued

Canada: I Enjoy Myself Without My Ears

I hate Klezmer music. The whiny shriek of the clarinet sounds like a castrato who woke up to find a tarantula staring at him. The tunes all sound like a newly bar-mitzvahed boy went crazy on Clarinet or Trumpet Hero. The roughness of the syllables coming from the singer’s mouth reminds me of what I … Continued

Where the World Meets

AMMAN. ALEXANDRIA. ATHENS. ANCHORAGE. I hate to fly. Take-offs are especially nerve racking for me. Yet, airports are my sweet spot. I drop my responsibilities, doubts and burdens at long-term parking, give a slight nod of acknowledgment to the sliding glass doors that part to welcome me, and breathe a contented sigh as I waltz … Continued

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