A Poem for the Tuesday Platform

Why do I travel;
for delight it brings?

Started with a bucket list
Moscow, Panama Canal
Great Wall of China as well

Those in mind, first came my son
To his wedding, Barbados
With blushing bride made their vows

While in the Caribbean
Why not visit Martinique
And St. Lucia, islands near

Learned of Napoleon's wife
Awed by their island homesite
Josephine's Statue, headless

Ate bananas in their fields
from their trees and sampled rum
from the barrel.  Shoulders rubbed 

Soon cruised Panama Canal
Then sailed from Moscow on to
St. Petersburg. Walked the Wall

Our bucket list long empty
With the highway in our veins
Now eighteen years we've traveled

Fifty states, most of Europe,
South America have been
India to Capetown next

Why do I travel
Because it's there
_ _ _

 - Poem Copyright, Jimmiehov 2019, All Rights Reserved
 - I am linked with Sanaa Rizvi in the Imaginary Garden at http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-tuesday-platform-questions-of-travel.html?m=1

 - I hate that this turned out sounding like a bragging write. More detail would have been more boring  But it has been much of my eighteen retired years and many summer while teaching has been on the road, sea, and air.
 - Best liked was driving literally all over Europe but there isn't one holiday travel that I have regretted. Eight have been Missionary oriented.
 - Oh yes,  Mrs. Jim has been with me everywhere except for my business
  monthlong romp in San Francisco and one trip to Guatemala.  Two of our children and three grandkids have also tagged along.

SkyWatch Friday (my twenty-fourth) -- Three sky views from the Caribbean

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My favorite is from this beach scene at St. Johns Island. St. Johns was not on our itinerary so we used our free time while docked at St. Thomas. We took a 'taxi' to the ferry across the island. The ferry took us to St. Johns. Then another 'taxi' to the beach. Back to the ship was the reverse procedure. I will probably blog about that some time next week on my other blog.

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Taken from the coastal highway at St. Kitts Island. We were on the way back to the ship after an excursion.

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Another scene showing the St. Kitts flag and a roof damaged by a hurricane. At least these people had a roof, homes in Galveston are still lacking roofs after our Ike.

Other Participants and How to Have Your Own Skywatch

SkyWatch Friday (my twenty-second) -- The friendly skies of Fort Lauderdale from Port Everglades

It's been a long, long time since I did a SkyWatch post. I've had a sabbatical, I've been gone. My last was on December 5, 2008!

I could say there were too many comments to answer them all (there were) but that isn't the reason. I could say I had to go away to find some pretty skies for photo shots. That was an incidental benefit but mainly Mrs. Jim and I just wanted to get away.

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These pretty sky pictures are Fort Lauderdale pictures. We were on the Queen Mary 2 just hanging around until we left Port Everglades. Others were leaving, we were not.

Finally we left and 'sailed' away towards the South Caribbean. Our first stop was Curacao. Click here to read about our trip. It is a work in progress, more will follow (I hope).

Eleven days later we returned to this port but the pretty skies weren't there in the morning.

Other Participants and How to Have Your Own Skywatch