Portugal and Spain: Marbella, Ronda, and into Granada, Oct. 6 &7, 2026

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I struggled to find a title for this entry, but I think I got it right. Brevity. Gravitas. Maybe a bit of mystery?? Whatever. We  recently came to a decision about our next stop as a family. We formed the search party on the heels of our realization that, in our current quarters, we have no first floor shower. Which, to both the young and to overly optimistic elders, seems like a mere inconvenience. Until some life event dramatically changes the calculus,  and one is forced to adopt a new lifespan trajectory. Turn the page, stare into the abyss, and accept the fact that age is actually more than just a number. So, yeah. The "home" search needed action.  We looked around at six different places.  And we're now committed. It was not easy to come to the decision, but we think this place will be nice to go to. It's a little more than half the size of our house (no basement though). It's part of a facility that starts with independent living, which is our entry point, ...
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Missing Trish

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 So much energy, humanity, humility, and humor... Trish was the most reliable, genuine, and hard-working person I ever met, and she is deeply missed. People with cottages have the gift of having a home life, and an away life. The cottage often provides a getaway, an escape from... well, whatever. Often, owners of both leave "the city" and upon arriving "up north" (in Michigan, anyway), they cross the cottage threshold and emit sighs of relief, both literal and figurative.  They can relax. And so it was for Trish, I think. She worked hard at both abodes, for sure. But I believe the lake lifted her spirits, what with the sunsets, sunrises, boat rides, entertaining friends and family, communing with loons and swans and hummingbirds, pursuing fine dining (both home and "out"), and just generally enjoying the great outdoors and its all-embracing laid-back ambience. Thank you for that gift, Erwin "Erv" Bettinghuaus, Ph.D. , who we lost July 7, 2025. Tr...
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Italy: Context, intro, meandri e avertimentis: 1 of 12

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Cathedral of St. Andrew, Amalfi, inner courtyard Nearly a month in the making, this entry reveals the sixteen-day tour we enjoyed in the spring of 2025.  I've adopted (stolen) the Tauck travel company organizational schema to report on the experience. First, it's chronological, and second, I'm so challenged to make sense of the whole excursion that I'd never achieve any clarity of expression on my own.  Not to assume that I now will... Thus, a series of twelve entries have been crafted, each more or less reflecting different stops along the way. Florence, well, I still have work to do on that stunning city. Soon... Please note that I am not an archeologist, anthropologist, art historian... the list is massive. I'm also not a professional photographer. I am, instead, a humble enthusiast. And, for good measure, please note that the primary purpose of these entries is to preserve our memories of this most extraordinary adventure. Many, many thanks to Classic Travel in...
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