Greece
and Italy, May, 2001Greece
and Italy, May, 2001
We want to say thank you once again to those whose interest in our trip, professional and personal, added so much to our enjoyment.
Uli Pershau, with Dolphin Hellas Travel in Athens, worked with us for the better part of a year, and she made planning the trip a pleasure. Even after we were well underway, when we found we couldn't make it to Capri, she found us a gorgeous hotel room in Florence when there were no hotel rooms, gorgeous or otherwise, in Florence. We still haven't met you, Uli, but we count you as a dear friend.
Our thanks to all of you who waited for the web pages, watched them spawn like rabbits and then cheered us on with your e-mails. We couldn't have abandoned this project, even if we'd wanted to, and yes, there were such moments, knowing there really were friends out there who really were waiting for the next page.
It was great fun, and home never looked so good. A month was probably a bit ambitious for us at this point, we probably won't do a month next time out, but this was a wonderful trip and we wouldn't trade it for anything.
To cap off her month long writing chore, Ramona has written a poem to commemorate the end of our journey and, once more, mark our safe return to the familiar surroundings of home. Enjoy.
HYMN
TO MY BATHROOM
Rub-a-dub-dub.
I'm home in my tub!
It's
length's just right and so's its height,
And
it's no trick to get in or out.
Three
baths, today left me no doubt.
My
toilet tissue's soft, it's thick,
And
I can reach it nice and quick.
I
know it's there. I know just where,
and,
glory be, there's even a spare!
As
for commodes, well, Europe's got 'em.
But
none of them really fits my bottom
like
the one at home… …the one it knows.
My
pleasure in my own throne grows.
No
mystery buttons, pedals or strings…
I
know the secret to flushing the thing!
As
I stumble through darkness, mornings at three,
You
can not know how that comforts me.
Friends,
that room is mine. Every inch, every tile.
No
need to share! Oh, see me smile!
Not
even for one I love the mostest
Do I relish the role of bathroom hostess!
(In
December, 2001, Ramona traded this refuge of 35 years standing for another, even
more hospitable, in our new home in Crowley, Texas. The first thing she did was
hang a framed copy of "Hymn" above the commode.)
That's all, folks.