Where's Calgary?

I was explaining to a friend, a former flight attendant on domestic routes, that my plane leaving from San Francisco to Europe had to stop in Calgary to refuel. I found it amusing because I thought, wow, gas prices must be bad when you have to make a stop in a different country en route to your non-stop destination.

“Where’s Calgary?” she asked.

She wasn’t joking.

When I was explaining this to another friend, out of concern that a former flight attendant didn’t know her geography, she said to me, “um, I don’t know where it is, either.” Oops.

Two smart women, one with street smarts and one with a university degree. Neither know their geography. And to be fair, I don't know everything about geography... but Canada is our neighbor.

Calgary is in the province of Alberta, Canada.

One reason to travel...

...beautiful scenery and a chance to catch your breath.

Kullaberg

Town of Mölle, Sweden

These photos were taken on the same day in May. The rain turned to sun... turned to rain and sun again.

(I left my digital camera at home and used a disposable again, hence a bit grainy.)

Life lesson

I have it made up in my mind that my parents will be around as long as I am. They’ll stop aging at 70 and I’ll always be able to pick up the phone and hear their voices on the other end. Then reality sends a reminder.

The pain on my cousins’ faces as we buried their father’s ashes, my uncle, was torture. He passed away a few months ago and now with schedules coordinated, they had to relive his death one more time as the entire family gathered for the ceremony. In true Swedish form, there was no dramatic crying but you could feel the sorrow.

We later made it a festive evening because as my aunt said, my uncle would not appreciate us feeling sorry for him. Nobody cooked, food was catered, and wine glasses were refilled well into the night.

How lucky I feel to have known my uncle as well as I did. How lucky I am to still have my dad.