Aren’t they wonderful?  New beginnings never meant clean slates — though wouldn’t that be nice!  The world is full of so many disappointments and problems, every now and again it’s nice to take a hard look at what you are doing,  give it the old clean sweep and get ready for a nice ‘re-do’.  Thanks to Steve Jobs pioneering efforts, we now have new technology opportunities available every day.

This is my anniversary — one-hundred blogs!  I think it’s time to celebrate by treating myself to a new format.  Hopefully, I’ll  be able to share video and all sorts of quirkiness with you, answer your questions, and it will be easily read on your mobile!   It’s gonna take a couple of minutes to develop, but I think it will be worth it.  Because everything worthwhile takes a trip of sorts.  I guess that is a pretty good tag line for the blog:

Everything worthwhile takes a trip of sorts.

So hang on to your phone, iPad or laptop and I’ll be sharing with you in the next one-hundred blogs in brand new form!

From pony express, to sort wave, to radio and  telephone, to television, to computer, to social media and streaming.    Personally I cannot wait for them to develop ‘smell-o-vision’ or a form of digital transfer of smells and tastes.  Then together we can hit the streets of Shanghai again, visit the food carts and really partake in some AWE.

Stay tuned!

Dawn

 

Wading through the photos of our 2014 trip down the Balkan Peninsula, I was a bit confused about what was what.  I can show Ron a photo of anywhere we visited throughout more than thirty countries, and ‘bingo’ he will identify the city, the country and many of the details that have slipped my mind.  But I know I’m driving him crazy with my questions.

It’s like the old comedy sketch – “Who’s on first?”  Abbott and Costello on YouTube.  Check it out, it’s hilarious.

Just 58 miles across the Adriatic Sea from Italy lies the Balkan Peninsula.    And though it is beautiful countryside, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro have been terribly affected by the war.

 

A friend of mine who left her home and business in Bosnia with her husband and two small boys, seeking political asylum, tells how lucky they were to escape. They have horror stories of being barricaded in their home with mattresses over windows deflecting flying bullets.  Yet she always remembers the natural resources of her native Bosnia with great affection.

 

 

 

 

I still have trouble accurately separating some of our photos.  Croatia?  Bosnia and Herzegovina?  Montenegro?  Dalmatia?  Several of the names have changed.  But in the larger scheme of things it isn’t odd, considering Burma is now Myanmar, Bombay is Mumbai, Saigon is Ho Chi Minh City, and if you try to get to Constantinople, you’ll end up in Istanbul.  And frankly, why would you?

 

 

As the Hirn Family drove the Camper down the Balkan Coast, Ron and I were reminded of our 1st ‘Big Trip’ together, pre-kids, 22 years ago. In 1992, we had bought an old VW Camper in Germany and traveled for 8 months thru 20+ European countries, simply reading and exploring the continent(and each other). The Yugoslav Wars were in full swing, so visiting the Balkan Peninsula was pretty much a mute point for us. Seeing this beautiful area of former Yugoslavia with our boys was particularly special knowing the great loss of human life and suffering that took place there 2 decades ago. So at the end of each day with the boys, we set up a campfire to discuss our adventure, share our impressions, and remember our own great loss, yet count our many blessings.

 

 

 

Taking one day at a time was just one of the valuable lessons we learned as a family on this trip.  There was no rushing around, and nobody particularly worried about the geographical boundaries.  And we rarely had to answer the question:  “Are we there yet?”

 

And though I may not be able to identify Bosnia-Herzegovina in photos,  I will try to always remember these precious days we shared with each other and our sons.

 

Dawn

Shanghaied:  “to trick someone into doing something or going somewhere.”

Three years ago today, we were in Shanghai. Willingly!  Intentionally!  We each had our favorite stories about Shanghai – Trenton and Colton became steamed dumpling connoisseurs.    We found out the steamed dumplings were especially delicious in Shanghai simply because they used a popular American ingredient to entice:  Sugar.    Sweeeeet!

Every big city beckons you to walk and Shanghai was no exception. We discovered that the 6 of us could stay together better this way. Not only could we get some exercise, but the slower pace lends itself to a less hurried feel and more conversation with the guys.

Beware of the traffic.We soon learned that cars were definitely the king of the road here, while we pedestrians were obstacles for a driver to scoot around as quickly as possible. On our first day walking in Shanghai, we were nearly run down within the pedestrian crosswalk. Ron and I were terrified, but the boys were excited because it was their first  Ferrari seen in China.

Electric bikes are on the rise-200 million Chinese own ’em- but there are few drivers here, in general, who qualify for the “Good Driver Discount.” Part of the problem are the rules:  The driver’s test reads like this:  “When you are turning a corner, do you:

1. A) Let pedestrians go first in a cross-walk
2. B) Just keep driving
3. C) Try not to hit them.

Nope!  It’s C.  But, they say, if you one of the ones to get it,  you shouldn’t take it personally. Drivers don’t discriminate when they hit you, a fact which doesn’t make the limp off to the Shanghai International hospital any easier.

I was personally blown away by the Pudong Financial District.  Left is the sight we saw in 2013:    In 1987, (right) it looked a bit different.   Progress!

If you are looking for a great place to make memories, get Shanghaied like we did.  Let your family adventure begin.  Engage!

Great Weekend!

Dawn

The day after Thanksgiving – known to consumers as ‘black Friday,’ is also recognized by overeaters as ‘judgement day.’  Second helpings?  Third helpings?  Even if nobody saw, you are feeling the effects of indigestion.

It’s difficult for most Americans to get the concept of ‘sufficiency,’ because we are so blessed by abundance.  But the words ‘just enough’ had a great deal of significance to Jesus when He prayed to His dad.   He called it the model prayer, and it included these words: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Seems easy enough – enough for each, enough for all, enough for evermore.  But sometimes we get caught up in the size of the feast and lose sight of the size of our personal production plants.  It becomes all about quantity, variety, and extravagance until we take the gastric repercussions seriously.

It became clear to me when we traveled the world, everyone doesn’t have ‘just enough.’

Even in America.  We are approaching the days of the year when ‘abundance runs wild.’  It always hits me the day after Thanksgiving, when I’m packed to the gills, and inundated with ads of Black Friday sales.   When is ‘enough, enough?’  When the money runs out?  When the table is filled with food?  When we find we have three pairs of black pants and two still have the price tags on them?

During this Holiday season, take a hard look at what you have been given. Life has become so much more precious to me since ‘what mattered most’ was taken away from me.  And having become immersed in helping others through the Ryan Shines Burn Foundation, named for my son who was taken by fire,  I see the results of your generosity. I see changes in lives of those children who have been disfigured by fire.   I see their joy as we offer help from the ravages of a fire, or attend a summer burn camp and get the opportunity to bond with others like them.   Just a bit of your abundance may guarantee their sufficiency.

Check out our foundation:  www.ryanshines.com

and you may be providing a moment or day of joy for these burn victims.   Daily bread. . . enough for each, enough for all, enough for evermore.

Thank you in advance!

Dawn

When we chose to stay a month in China, we thought of the words Dorothy uttered to her dog Toto when they landed in OZ:  “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore!”   There were obvious differences: giant Buddhas don’t stand in the middle of Birmingham streets, and Legion Field doesn’t look much like Beijing’s Birdnest, the stadium designed for the 2008 Olympics.   We could have stayed home and seen China’s history and beauty in glorious 4K resolution, but we would have missed discovering some of the best treasures of China: her people. There are some definite differences, in many cases admirable:

China’s Ideals                                                                 American Ideals

MYOB                                                                          Get involved in everyone’s

*Fit in                                                                    *Non-conformists (tattoos to T’s)

Value honor                                                              Trust your legal team

Quiet and aggressive                                              Outspoken and animated

Thin profit margin                                                   Wide profit margin

Saves humiliations                                                 “Swim with the Sharks”

Economics come first                                             Relationships come first

Humility is a virtue                                              “Humility”- sign of weakness

Respect for age, wisdom, ability                       Respect for success, wealth, youth

You can discover  China in HD on your TV.  But in order to be blessed by the people, you need total immersion with the  Chinese people.  When you break through their shy exterior, you’ll find the pearl – so to speak!

Dawn

As we crossed the Thames River in London, England I had the “London Bridge” ditty stuck in my head.  Agonizing little tune.  One of the guys heard me and asked, “Is this the London Bridge, and why did they always talk about it falling down?”

 

We investigated:   600 years ago, the bridge was strong, with 19 arches secured by strong foundations set into the river bed.  That would have probably been good enough to hold the thing up if some enterprising merchants hadn’t decided to make a mall and fast-food court out of it.  By 1358, London Bridge had 138 shops, and a new-fangled multi-seated public overhanging lavatory, handily dumping ‘dumpage’ into the Thames River.  (Yuk)  Nobody thought it would cause any problem until The Great Stink, of 1858, when the heat of summer aged the poop and voila!   The Great Sink! 

Fires and wars and floods came along, and they built it back.  But regardless what they did, nothing seemed to hold.  The old song finishes like this:

“Build it up with wood and clay,                                                                                                    Wood and clay, wood and clay. . . . Wood and clay will wash away,                                          My fair lady.

Build it up with bricks and mortar,                                                                                             Bricks and mortar, bricks and mortar. . . .Bricks and mortar will not stay,                         My fair lady.

Build it up with iron and steel,                                                                                                           Iron and steel, iron and steel . . . .Iron and steel will bend and bow,                                   My fair lady.”

Traveling made history come alive for us as a family.  London has so much to offer in the area of ‘strange but true’.   You think the London Bridge is Falling Down nursery rhyme has strange roots, check out:  “Ring Around the Rosy”. It’ll rot your socks!

 

 

Dawn