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The Bones You Save May Be Your Own


We are interrupting regularly scheduled blog content for an announcement from the Department of Public Safety of Buttercupland. Almost four years ago regularly scheduled content was interrupted for a bulletin from the ever alert Department of Public Safety concerning a fall which resulted in a broken foot and now, once again, I want to remind all citizens of Buttercupland to focus on fall prevention. Alas, I didn't pay close enough attention to this important safety advice.

 Three weeks ago, just before I left for the airport to fly to Argentina, I was sending a few last minute emails. I closed the computer and quickly jumped up, catching my foot in the non-secured computer cord. I fell right side down, with the brunt of the fall going to my shoulder, and it hurt. A lot. But I hated to cancel the trip for what might simply be a bad bruise. I got myself up, took two aspirin and pulled myself together. My theory was that since I could move my arm -- however painfully -- nothing was broken and I could still go on the trip. I added aspirin and Arnica to my carryon bag and left for the airport.

I did okay while I was away -- a little fall wasn't getting in the way of seeing the penguins -- and saw my orthopedist last week. Diagnosis: I have a small break in my shoulder. Gratefully, it's healing well and I don't even need a sling. I consulted Dr. Google and found that this is a common injury for elderly women who fall. I don't see myself as an elderly woman, but technically -- and somewhat amazingly -- I am a senior citizen. I'm out of yoga for awhile and being very careful about lifting and carrying things.

The moral of this story...actually there are several. First I am really fortunate I didn't break my wrist or worse, my leg or hip. Second, the Department of Public Safety reiterates the advice it gave three years ago, which is to look out for wet floors, icy and/or uneven sidewalks and wear shoes with good traction. The added advice is to secure household wires. Tripping hazards are just about everywhere and the bones you save may be your own.

I took the photo above during a visit to Brooklyn this afternoon. Usually I am at the gym on Monday afternoons, but alas, I will be absent for at least several more weeks. I used the time for a trip to Brooklyn and an enjoyable afternoon book browsing, drinking coffee and taking photographs. This was the view of Court Street while I drank coffee.

As ever, thanks for visiting and practice fall prevention. Your bones will thank you.

 

Pink Saturday Patagonia


I'm not the only one drowning in the sea of penguin pictures. My iPad had a bad bout this morning while I was deleting and downloading and totally froze. A quick trip to the Apple store and the care of the extraordinary Danny restored it to good health. I've still got a lot of deleting and sorting to do and instead of a full blog post on Ushuaia I'm posting a quick appetizer to link with Pink Saturday. This was my view as the small boat I was on pulled out of the harbor, leaving behind the Celebrity Infinity and sailing into the Beagle Channel. Yes, the sky was that blue and the clouds were that full and picturesque and yes, it was an extraordinary day. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and wishes for a great week.

Drowning in a Sea of Penguin Pictures

I knew I was neglecting Buttercupland when two friends mentioned that the blog was awfully quiet. They also reminded me that they were waiting for the long awaited penguin pictures. I got home on Monday and after grocery shopping, napping and doing a very basic sort of my mail, I settled in to choose penguin pictures to share with Buttercupland. You can see how far I've gotten. In an effort to capture every possible cute penguin I have taken hundreds of photographs and videos of penguins. I feel as though I am drowning in a sea of penguin pictures and iceberg photographs and hundreds of other pictures. In order to just begin to post again I chose several photographs I enjoy and will use this post to write about the cruise. I'm optimistic this will help "prime the pump" of blogging and set me back on the writing path. 

Getting ready to sail south. Buenos Aires is in the background. 

I've been thinking about going to Antarctica forever and had been studying various cruises for the last several years. I loved the idea of actually setting foot on the Antarctic continent, but both the cost and the potential for sea sickness deterred me from choosing one of the smaller expedition ships. There are only a few cruise ships that sail into Antarctica and the Celebrity Infinity does two sailings every winter, which is the Antarctic summer. At the end of 2015 I saw that the price was reduced which made the cruise very attractive, but I had already made plans to go to Peru. I decided to wait until the end of this year and if there was another "sale" I would be ready to travel. I booked my trip at the end of December and left for Argentina on February 5. It's more spontaneous than I usually am, but everything worked out well. Have passport, will travel.

Enjoyed all the nature talks on board. Every morning that we weren't in a port the theater was literally standing room only. 

I had mentioned my plans to a number of friends, but the amount of time -- two plus weeks -- the cost and/or the destination deterred them from traveling with me. I decided that if I wanted to see Antarctica, this was my opportunity. I knew it could be lonely, but I also knew that cruise ships had a lot of opportunities to meet people. I joined a group that played trivia on sea days, found some fun people to have dinner with and it seemed that with every excursion and activity there was someone to talk to.  

Whether in the dining room or in buffet, I enjoyed the meals and snacks and ice cream bar. Perhaps a little too much! I discovered that tea foods were served every day and these raisin scones quickly became my favorite afternoon treat, especially when I added whipped cream and strawberries. The only food glitch was running out of lettuce south of Cape Horn, but somehow we survived this deprivation.  

Sunrise at Ushuaia, Argentina
 
I've shared about my cruise experience and as I was thinking about how to make order out of photographic chaos for the rest of the trip, I decided to do a post about each of our four ports. As an introduction to my next post, Ushuaia, Argentina, I'm closing with a photograph of the sunrise as the ship neared Ushuaia, the most southern point in South America. We were blessed with calm seas and a perfect sunny day. 
 
I'm returning to my photographs with renewed energy. Next post will include penguins, actually lots and lots of penguins. 
 
As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. 

A Moment in Montevideo

 Not sure where the days are gone, but this is the last day of the trip and my flight back to New York is tomorrow night. There will be pictures of Antarctica and of penguins and of Montevideo, Uruguay -- where we are presently -- but they will wait until I'm back in New York. This is a quick hello and a photograph of my view at lunch from the deck cafe. Yes, my favorite place to eat on the ship.

I'm back to more regular blogging next week. Take care and enjoy the weekend!


Antarctica


I've been remiss posting, but I promise to share both Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn. Right now we're cruising into Paradise Bay, Antarctica and there are no words to describe the scenery. I've looked at thousands of photographs over the years, but I was still unprepared for the beauty.



Happy to send my greetings from Antarctica! 

Sea Days, Glorious Sea Days



This is my view, looking out into the South Atlantic. We left Buenos Aires last night and are heading south to our first stop in Patagonia. This is the most Southern part of South America and our only stop before we come to Cape Horn and then Antarctica. The deck is closed because it's very windy. As tempted as I am to walk on the track I'm being prudent and following directions. It's not rocky, but I can definitely feel the ship moving.

 I boarded yesterday afternoon and the highlight of the day -- besides exploring the ship -- was a Super Bowl party in the theater. Enjoyed seeing the game on the big screen. There were traditional snacks -- sliders, wings and chips -- cupcakes and cakes for each team. I'd hoped to post the cake for my Atlanta Falcons, but instead here is the Patriots cake. 
  
This was our view as the ship left Buenos Aires. I had an uneventful flight -- hurray! -- and enjoyed watching "Brigid Jones Baby." Very cute movie, especially if you're a Colin Firth fan. I spent Saturday in Buenos Aires catching up with a friend that moved there five years ago. What a treat! 

Thanks for joining me on my Antarctica adventure. As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care.


Next Stop: Buenos Aires



All packed and just about ready to go. Next stop, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hope to keep in touch while I'm at the ends of the earth.

Take good care!