Moe - travelswithmoe

Southern California or Northern Mexico

“California,” he said, “is like a beautiful wild kid on heroin, high as a kite and thinking she’s on top of the world, not knowing she’s dying, not believing it even if you show her the marks.”
Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton p. 78

Whale Watching in California

I wanted to see the spring migration of whales off the coast of California. We are fortunate to have friends who own a place in Port Hueneme. They let us stay there for a few days while we explored the surrounding environs and went whale watching.

Galápagos Islands in California

Whale-watching tours are available from Oxnard Harbor. The boat took us around Anacapa Island, pictured above, and back to the mainland.

Everyone on board shuffled around to find a good spot from which to view the whales. I sat on top of a – well I don’t really know. It was just a flat surface large enough to hold me and I perched myself up there, where I stayed. It was my happy place for watching whales. More people started to migrate up to the front where I was.

One gentleman, in particular, stood within talking distance of me. We started to talk about the trip and if we would actually see a whale. He was pretty sure that we would. He had taken this trip many times and knew a lot about the flora and fauna of the Channel Islands. These islands are also known as California’s Galápagos. There are 150 species found nowhere else on Earth but here. And that includes the Santa Cruz Island Pygmy Fox.

Fox in California — Photo by Kim Sunguk on Unsplash
*(Please note: This is just a plain old fox. I wanted to give you an idea of what a fox looks like.)*

“I Collect Skeletons”

While talking about animals, he suddenly said, “I collect skeletons”. “Excuse me?” I asked. And why is he examining my frame like that? Is he talking about animal or… “Animal, of course” he added quickly. Of course.

He has three horse skulls because that is what he’s teaching right now. He’s a veterinarian. His specialty is apes. They have exactly the same body as we do. (Some more than others if you know what I mean.) I asked him something that I have always thought about, “If they are so close to us then do they also suffer from mental illness?” He said, “That is a very good question and something we know the least about. We’ve seen Downs Syndrome, depression, and anxiety.” “What about schizophrenia?” He explained that schizophrenia is not something they can test for using blood or X-rays. Yeah, that’s true.

Sooner or Later…

Ape — Photo by Joshua Cotten on Unsplash

“They are ferocious though, aren’t they? I mean you can’t keep one for a pet.” I’ve heard gruesome stories of chimps and apes turning on people. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Sooner or later they will kill you. It’s natural for them.”

My Pathetic Fluke Shot

That’s what they call them. When the whale tail emerges from the water. This isn’t National Geographic level but it’s all I’ve got until my next whale-watching event. There were two Humpbacked whales waiting for our boat to arrive that day. They got to show off. Maureen was disappointed with the trip. She did not see much of the whales jumping and flopping around because people were crowded in front of her and she is not one to impose.

By Moe, 1 yearJuly 18, 2023 ago

Europe

Saint Malo the Beautiful Hostage

Word Origin Alert

The name Malo comes from the old Breton word machlou, a compound of mach “hostage” and lou meaning “brilliant, bright, beautiful”. Isn’t that interesting? What could it mean?

Photo by Daniel Morris on Unsplash

Early Celtic societies took hostages to make sure that the other side carried out their contractual obligations. Hostages served as collateral. They were usually the sons of vassals beholden to the overlord. However, daughters were also taken. If the vassal reneged or rebelled against the authority of his lord, the hostage could be blinded, hurt, or even killed.

Malo was a 7th-century (that’s the 600s) Welsh monk who ventured over to Brittany to join a hermit named Aaron D’Aleth on the site of what is today a charming medieval walled city that is a popular tourist destination in France. I don’t know if Aaron appreciated this houseguest since he was a hermit. Actually, a hermitage was also a religious retreat for monks. An Irish monk had already laid claim to what is now Mont Saint Michel one hundred years earlier. What’s with these Celtic monks moving south?

Pagans Invade

Pagans in Saint-Malo — Photo by Steinar Engeland on Unsplash

The Romans pulled out of “Britannia” as they called England, circa 410 AD. They had been there for almost 500 years. However, life had started to deteriorate even before that and some theorize that the Britons invited Angles and Saxons to help them repel the Picts and Irish. The Angles and Saxons were from what is now northern Germany but had been living separately from Germany for many generations by this time. They were pagans. Christian monks may have decided to leave for greener pastures and sail across the English Channel to places like Saint Malo and Mont Saint Michel.

By Moe, 2 yearsMay 14, 2023 ago

Europe

Mont Saint Michel, Normandy, France

Whose Idea was Mont Saint Michel?

Has anyone ever nagged you so much about one thing in particular, that they actually end up poking you in the head with their finger? You put this one thing off for so long that the nagger has to physically push your head with their thumb. No, me neither. But this did happen to a monk back in the early 700s. He said he thought it was the devil telling him to build an oratory, which is why he procrastinated. Why would the devil ask him to build a church? You would think the devil would tell him not to build a church.

Bishop Aubert who founded Mont Saint Michel

His name was Bishop Aubert from Avranches and the archangel Michael poked him so hard that he broke his skull. Jeez Louise buddy, take it easy. That skull is on display at the Saint Gervais Basilica in Avranches.

Today the abbey is overseen by monks and nuns from the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem. They run the Abbey and daily services. There are 7 priests and 5 nuns. I met a young nun at the post office. Her name was Claire. She smiled in a shy way and said they do not usually have their picture taken. She had already lived on Le Mont for 12 years. “So, you’ve been here since you were twelve?” I said. The post office worker behind the counter said something in French about that being a compliment. But, really she looked like she was 20. I asked if she would stay there for the rest of her life. She said she will go where the Fraternity sends her.

Rush Limbaugh once said, “If you ever get the chance, go see Mont Saint Michel.” So, I did get the chance and I went.

By Moe, 2 yearsApril 12, 2023 ago

United States

The Swamp or “Blood of the Earth”

“If you are afflicted with melancholy, go to the swamp”. – Henry David Thoreau

Yes, though you may think me perverse, if it were proposed to me to dwell in the neighborhood of the most beautiful garden that ever human art contrived, or else of a dismal swamp, I should certainly decide for the swamp…I enter a swamp as a sacred place. There is the strength, the marrow, of Nature.
The Patron Saint of Swamps: Henry David Thoreau, from ‘Walking’, May 1862.

We are not Separate

The American nature lover, philosopher, and writer Henry Thoreau believed that “A town is saved, not more by the righteous men in it than by the woods and swamps that surround it.” Out of such towns grow poets and philosophers because nature is a teacher, a mother, and a guide. We are not separate from the meadows, rivers, and trees. We are nature too. And we become better beings when we spend time in nature.

The Celtic Druids spent 20 years in solitude in the woods before they could become priests. They were the educated class. These priests were revered as wise. When people sought to make sense of their lives and the world they lived in, they turned to them.

Tree on Randy Road — Northwest Florida Tree

Socrates Said

Socrates said that the ideal habitat for men was a village surrounded by fields and forests and never a big city where men could not think among the press of swarms of other minds. “In the small hamlets, thoughts grow large and steadfast and philosophy can flourish as the vine and produce the fruit that gives exhilaration to the thoughts of men.” “The bedrooms of the rural places bred men. The chambers of the cities bred sterile perversions. Athens that small city bred Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and all the sciences. But Rome produced the ambitious”.

The abiding truth is that we are bound up with the life all around us. If we are not the wind, trees, rivers, and stones now, we will someday become part of them. There is more to cherish, and more questions unanswered in the mountains, woodlands, and bogs, than in the society of people.

Osceola swamp — Swamp in Osceola National Forest, North Florida

And swamps contain water which for Thoreau is “the most living part of nature. This is the blood of the earth.”

By Moe, 2 yearsMarch 17, 2023 ago

United States

Anime Weekend Atlanta (or Good Times in the Big Peach)

“Good moanin’, good moanin’, how are you this moanin’?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

“Good… might as well be.”

Two elderly black gentlemen had entered the dining area to eat breakfast. I was just finishing mine. Might as well be good. Yeah, that’s right. I might as well be good, it’s better than feeling bad. We all have a choice. Choose to feel good. It makes a lot of sense. As Tolstoy wrote in “War and Peace”:

There’s no escapin’ fate. But we are always findin’ fault and complainin’: this ain’t right and the other don’t suit us. Happiness, friend, is like water in a drag net – pull it along, and it bulges; take it out, and it’s empty!
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, page 1150.

I needed that. I was facing 3 whole days of an anime convention in Atlanta. Moe was attending her first “con” as they’re called. So I decided to run with it and have a good time.

Biggest Con in the Southeast

Yes, it was big. It took us all day to register, and because I did not have a booster, I had to pay $35.00 for a COVID test. I have had many COVID tests, and this is the first time I have had to pay for one. The interesting thing was that they wanted so much personal information first. I wondered aloud to my neighbor in line, “What’s more important, getting the test to find out if I have it, or collecting all this information about me?” A wry smile and knowing nods from the young guys beside me confirmed my suspicions.

A guy in line bending over backward for a Covid test. It’s a good thing I didn’t have to go that far.

Halloween for Elderly Teenagers and Young Adults in Atlanta

What other way is there to describe it?

Gawd!! How disgusting. Gouged-out eyes. That’s really horrifying.

By Moe, 2 yearsDecember 14, 2022 ago

Florida

Amelia Island: Pirate Paradise in North Florida

Who is Amelia?

Amelia was her father’s favorite.

*Princess Amelia (1710 – 1786), daughter of King George II of Great Britain.*

She never set foot on Amelia Island, and I don’t think she even knew where it was. This was par for the course because Amelia was English royalty and her father’s favorite. James Oglethorpe, the first colonial governor of Georgia, actually named the island after the princess. And it’s amazing the name stuck because eight different flags have flown over this 13-mile-long barrier island off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.

Motley Crew on Amelia Island

Soldiers, sailors, pirates, smugglers, slave traders, and British raiders have all taken refuge on or tried to claim the island. There are even old homes on Amelia Island today that still retain the false walls where slaves hid on their way north while traveling on the Underground Railroad.

As for treasure, a Spanish galleon carrying what would now be worth 2 billion in gold, the San Miguel, has never been recovered and is believed to lie just off the south coast of the island. In fact, we ran into a motley crew plotting something brazen and wicked, to be sure.

Pirate Talk

They were holed up in the Palace Saloon (1878), the oldest saloon in all of Florida, with the last cigarette machine in the world, when I heard one say:

“Arrrgh me hearties! Shiver me timbers and crush me barnacles if I ever saw such a sight as that! T’is true I seen it with my own eyes, a hole and in that hole more gold than all the fish in the sea! More pieces o’ eight than specks o’ sand on the beach, matey! I be dancin’ the hempin jig if the devil hisself, Cap’n Jack, knew I was telling ye all o’ this. But t’is so mates, t’is so. And t’is all ours for the takin’ me buckos. Cor blimey! Ye cowardly swabs, ye bilge rats-rapscallions are ye?! T’is tonight or never lads. T’is now or Davey Jones’s Locker for us all if the Cap’n finds out we be after his prize me hearties…”

Don’t Turn Your Back

Before I could walk back out of the saloon’s swinging doors, I was assailed by one of these scurrilous scallywags. “Ahoy wench!” he called out to me, “Come raise a pint or two o’ the grog, ye sweet lassies. Let’s all be merry together, me dearies,” he shouted as the others roared with approval. In a low voice, I told Maureen to be polite. “But don’t turn your back on them,” I said. Never turn your back on cutthroats such as these. We made some small talk, took a few pics, and beat a hasty retreat as soon as we got the chance.

Are these ruthless ruffians not the most vile sea dogs you’ve ever clapped eyes on?

Later that evening, we were having dinner at the restaurant in the harbor (there’s only one). As I raised my drink to take a sip, a sudden BOOM blasted out in the harbor. Everyone jumped and turned to see what was happening. It was the pirate ship, black and sleek, making its way out to sea on a sunset cruise. They fired a shot from their cannon because that’s who pirates are; loud and proud of it.

By Moe, 2 yearsOctober 31, 2022 ago

South America

Galápagos Islands (a poem)

Storming the Palace

Drama in Quito, Ecuador

“You mean you got on the last plane out before the revolution?” I said.

“No! The revolution already started a few hours before we left. People were gathering at the president’s palace. I think they closed the road to the airport just after we got there. I know for sure that the road to Otavalo was closed.”

“Wow. Close call.”

“Yeah, I know! Other groups are planning to go to the Galápagos, but I don’t think they can go now.”

“Jeez.”

“Yeah.”

“I know, right?”

“Yeah.”

A fiery end in true South American revolutionary fashion. How can you go down there and not witness at least one revolution? Other than that first bit of explosive information, I really didn’t get much more from Maureen about her trip to the Galápagos. She went with a group of high school students on her first solo foray into the wilds of the world. I would’ve appreciated a bit more in the way of stories, but nothing was forthcoming.

“Turtle Porn” on the Galápagos Islands

She did tell me about the turtle porn they witnessed within minutes of arriving at the sanctuary on Santa Cruz Island. The leader of the pack, a high school math teacher, came up with this classy, educational phrase. Nice. Apparently, it was unusual for the turtles to cavort in such a lusty manner, and the students were “lucky” to catch them getting frisky. A male tortoise tiptoed over to an unsuspecting female hardtop and proceeded to have his way with the tiny turtle (in comparison with him). “Oh! She can’t escape. She won’t make it!” The guide cried out. He made it sound like the female tortoise was about to be sexually assaulted.

And I’m thinkin’ these are elderly turtles. They are both probably over 100 years old. I am sure there is nothing to worry about as far as “assault” goes. They are both consenting adults, and if not consenting adults, then two consenting senior amphibians who have gone through this before and who are ENGAGING IN THE EVOLUTION OF THEIR SPECIES FOR GOD’S SAKE.

Galápagos Tortoise — *Photo by* *Cedric Fox from Unsplash*

So calm down people, get a grip, and remember why you are on the Galápagos Islands in the first place. Why is it such a draw? Who wrote the book? What was the theory? Has anybody cracked open a book lately? Turtle porn…

By Moe, 2 yearsSeptember 13, 2022 ago

Travels with Moe

National Dog Day

Long Live Dogs!

August 26th is National Dog Day. Let me tell you about my dogs.

Dinah Nicole

I had five dogs in 2021. It’s the most we’ve ever had at one time, and I didn’t plan it that way. They came to us as castaways. The first one I got at a shelter, so she wasn’t really a castaway. But, they were ready to put her down because she had a broken leg, so I did rescue her. Her owners had named her “Felony”. That kind of gives you an idea of what she was up against. She was three months old.

We named her Dinah instead of Felony. My brother called her Nicole because he said that her bedroom eyes reminded him of Anna Nicole Smith. That’s a weird thing to say, and I think he should probably try to get out more. Anyway, it’s because of her that we ended up with 5 dogs. She loved dogs and she loved people, too. She always rolled over on her back in greeting. Dinah died a few weeks ago at the age of 15. The world lost the sweetest little canine.

Deborah Anne

I found Debbie walking along my road. I picked her up and went to all the houses in the area, but no one claimed her. After putting up a “Found Dog” sign, her owner came to get her. 18 months later, the owner didn’t want her anymore, so I agreed to take her. When Debbie met Dinah, they had a vicious fight over a bag of food. It was my fault. You don’t introduce dogs in front of food. After that dicey first encounter, they never fought again. They became thick as thieves. In the remote backwoods, I watched as they hunted mice, squirrels, and birds together. Debbie is 13 and a half now and learning how to live without Dinah.

Chuey Fiona

It’s hard for me to write about Chuey. And we didn’t name her Chuey but she was so damaged that we couldn’t bear to change her name. Chuey was found “walking the streets of Texas”. Now Texas is not a small town so when you say walking the streets what does that even mean? Anyway, she was brought back to Florida. My friend was downsizing from a trailer to a minivan and had to give up one of her two dogs and Chuey was not the favorite. So I said okay, I’ll take her.

Chuey didn’t like to walk or didn’t know how to walk. I mean she always stayed up with the truck when I took everybody for a walk. She never joined us no matter how hard I tried. If there was a leaf blowing by on the road, she froze and stared at it. She was literally paralyzed by fear. It took years for her to relax. She never had dog friends. They avoided her. She didn’t know how to socialize.

Once in a while, she came along on a short walk I called “Chuey’s Loop”. That was also where I had seen foxes. I suspect Chuey was looking for a secret rendezvous with a fox because she was precisely the color of a red fox. She may have been part fox.

Not One Bark

Chuey never barked. My friend who gave her to me also never heard her bark. This is so abnormal for a dog. It upset us. We had Chuey for 10 years, and she never barked. We never knew how old she really was. I used to say that Chuey was a woman without a past. And that Chuey had secrets we would never know. But at least she had us for a while. She died on February 25, 2022, with people who loved her.

Marcus Julius Goofus

I found Marcus early one morning sitting underneath a Stop sign in a remote, undeveloped development. The night before, the temperature had gone down to 17F. He was freezing to death. And judging by the bones making a tent of his skin, he was starving to death. As soon as I saw him, I picked Debbie up and told the girls, “No walk today”. He body wagged his way over to me, and then I knew he was friendly. He jumped in the bed of the truck, and we drove home. As soon as I let him out of the truck, he ran off down the road the way we had come. I stared after him and said, “Easy come easy go”. About a minute later, he came running back.

It was Thursday when we met. He had his baby teeth. On Monday, when he went to see the doctor, he had adult teeth. That can happen. So he was approximately 6 months old. A year later, I met someone who recognized Marcus. They told me he had a brother. Their owner left town, letting two donkeys and the two dogs loose to fend for themselves. Nobody knows what happened to his brother. That’s about the cruelest thing you can do to an animal – abandonment.

Gone Too Soon

Marcus was a calm, gentle dog who loved to sit under trees waiting for squirrels to drop like ripened fruit. He goofed around a lot and slipped into the pool I don’t know how many times. He would crawl inside dog food bags. When he played, his eyes got all wide and shiny and his tongue hung out of his mouth. So we called him a Goofus. We think he was a Stephen’s Cur. I named him Marcus because I was reading a book about Marcus Luttrell called Lone Survivor when I took him home. One night in February, I found him dead underneath the gigantic Camellia Bush. He was only 6 years old.

Maximus “Moose Dog”

Max was thrown from a moving truck into the bushes on a city street. The mailman who witnessed this cruel treatment of an innocent animal retrieved him and brought him to our office, where his wife worked. My husband looked at him and said, “Has anyone claimed him?” Someone said they were wishing that he would. So he did. When he called me, I said, “I need another dog like I need a hole in the head.”

When I saw this 6-week-old pup with his extended belly full of worms and heard how he was thrown away like trash, what do you think I did? Yep, he was home.

Max does not like dogs. He doesn’t even like people very much. He is affectionate with me, though. I suppose it’s because I feed him, and I am part of his territory. Max has survived a beating with a branch and being shot at. And don’t forget, he was thrown out of a truck. I call him Old Man because I hope that someday he will get to be an old man. I don’t know what I’d do without him. If only he would mellow out a little. Max is a Catahoula Cur, and he is four years old.

One More Thing About a Dog

Don’t forget to look into your dog’s eyes and tell them that you love them. They understand that.

Argentinian Dog — Argentinian street dog in Resistencia

By Moe, 2 yearsAugust 26, 2022 ago

French Polynesia

Bora Bora or First Born Island

When will we three meet again,
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When the hurly-burly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
- Shakespeare's Macbeth

Pack of Three on Bora Bora

On a full moon-lit night we were greeted by a pack of three at the entrance to our lodgings. These were gentle beggars. They very discreetly inquired after snacks and when none were forthcoming, dissolved back into the night.

Mystical Three

I saw three packs of three dogs on the three islands we visited. This fascinating idea of three can be traced back to remote antiquity and farther still to primitive man. It occurs naturally and simply. There is a father, mother and child, sun, moon and stars, land, sea and water, birth, life, and death, past, present, and future. In humankind, there is a homogeneity of mind when it comes to three.

Ancient Egypt’s divine triad was Osiris, Isis, and Horus. There is the Germanic triad of Wodan, Thorr, and Donar. The great Hindu trinity is the Trimurti of Brahma, Siva, and Vishna. In Taoism, there are three pure ones.

In Buddhism, there are three treasures Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

Speaking of Religion

I was shocked to read the following.

“Jesus is saying who can enter the city of God. Just listen to this – ‘Without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters, and whosoever loveth or maketh a lie’. You see the company dogs are supposed to keep?”
“Travels with my Aunt” by Graham Greene.

Three More

And so it is with dogs. There is harmony between three dogs. They are relaxed and content living their lives the best way possible. They love and care for each other. Dogs help me adjust to human life in a foreign place. They indicate the degree to which I can trust or feel comfortable with the native population. They act as ambassadors.

The dog in the middle is a mother. The dog on the right has a bad limp. They are on the main street of Vaitape.

She reminds me of the dog roaming the resort in Punta del Este. Maybe these homeless dogs all take on the same appearance after a while. Maybe this is the ‘Third World Street Dog’ breed. You might say that this is not the third world with its $12,000 a night over-the-water bungalows.

This 2-story bungalow is $12,000 per night. For the record, it can no longer be called a bungalow, can it? These pictures were taken while touring the island in a boat piloted by Captain Dangerous.

And I would agree that this is not third-world material. However, many homes on these islands, away from the glitzy tourist hubs, would fit right into a slum in Fortaleza, Brazil, for example, like this one.

Our Humble Abode on Bora Bora

We stayed in one of a series of small one-room bungalows on the edge of the sea, which was so calm that Google registered it as a lake. And that is why the Pacific Ocean is called the Pacific Ocean.

By Moe, 2 yearsJuly 9, 2022 ago

United States

I Left my Codpiece in San Francisco

Is that a codpiece in San Francisco? What is that? And if it is, I mean what’s going on? Codpieces were all the rage in the 1500s. It’s rather dated. If you want a quick look at what a codpiece is, google Henry VIII. There’s nothing like a good gargoyle, is there?

Juvenile and Immature

What a childish thing to call a post about San Francisco “I left my codpiece…” I am quite disgusted with myself. San Francisco is one of the top 10 most beautiful big cities in the world and here I am making fun of it. Who am I to say such things? Nobody will read this trash.

The Human Touch

We were just traveling through San Francisco on our way to Tahiti. We were there for a day and stayed in the Nob Hill neighborhood. A few months before this, we were also in San Francisco to attend a virtual wedding in San José on zoom. You might be thinking, well, if it was virtual, why did you fly to San José for the wedding? Because there is nothing like the human touch when it comes to weddings. Especially, in the case of a mother seeing her only daughter married.

Grace Cathedral of San Francisco

Resist!

Do you see what I see? The color of these steps is the same as a resistor. Almost right down to the same order. It’s uncanny. Could it be that the Catholic Church is resisting change? That there is a double meaning behind these stairs? Is the Catholic Church indulging in activism against activists? What a mind-blowing thought. Let’s leave it at that. Some things are better left unsaid.

You will not find a photo of the stairs painted these colors. There is one photo, but people are sitting on the steps blocking the paint job. So, no there are no pictures. The church does not want to advertise its militancy, I suppose.

By Moe, 2 yearsJune 23, 2022 ago