Rebekah’s Studio

The down side of international travel for me is the length of time spent on planes and in airports. I understand now the feelings of winter travelers wanting to make it home for the holidays, only to be delayed by snow.

It’s why our house- and pet-sitters come from Massachusetts to Hawaii as early as they can in December every year for about three months.

Dear friends and family, know that DH and I are safe and warm.

After waking at 4 a.m. in Vienna the day after DH’s birthday (Happy Birthday Honey!), 10 hours in the air from Warsaw, clearing U.S. customs in Toronto before boarding U.S. Airways, then finally landing in Philadelphia, we arrived to see the remnants of the blizzard that caused the travel delays in the first place.

We gave a jingle to my sister-in-law Penny, who we called on on our way to Europe two weeks ago, to let her know of our situation, that we would check into a hotel and call her in the morning. We had to make arrangements to get back to Honolulu since we missed our originally booked flights. She texted a message to my iPhone, “Call me if you’re stuck.”

Our choices on Delta/Northwest were these:

No seats in the same fare category until Jan. 1.
Dec. 25: $1,000.00 additional per ticket.
How about first class? I suggested.
For Dec. 24 when our daughter was expecting us for Christmas Eve dinner: $880.00 additional per ticket.
And on Dec. 26: $53.60 per ticket.

So, dear Penny, we’re stuck! We’ll be at your house for Christmas! And to the folks at home on Oahu, we’ll see you with bells on on Sunday!

In honor of our friends and family everywhere, I am posting the photos of Pennsylvania that got lost two weeks ago while I was learning how to post from my iPhone.

I made the images prior to the snowfall of the farm in Chester County owned by DH’s college buddies Dave and Chris.

Chris foxhunts and Dave is an artist – he made the torii gate – and dentist. We enjoy catching up on each other’s travels. They have three Norwich terriers: Zoey, Maddie and Snaffles.

Snaffles holds the Grand Champion title for her breed, and CD (Companion Dog) credential. She is working on CDX (Companion Dog Excellent). We went with Snaffles to her training lesson with the trainer’s two big dogs as role models, and it was hilarious and very cute! Oh, the memory!

Betty and Joe, old friends of DH’s family who enjoy the activities and friends at their spiffy retirement community of five years, decorated the large Christmas tree.

We went to New Jersey to visit DH’s brother Paul and his wife Patty. Patty’s heritage is Italian, and the dinner she prepared included ravioli, a festive presentation of tomato-mozzarella-basil, and other yummy delights.

There’s also the view of the neighborhood from sister Penny’s front door (the first picture with snow).

Enjoy your holiday wherever you are. Peace on Earth and goodwill toward everyone.

With love and gratitude ~ Rebekah