On the Road Again and Tossing Things

“Here I am, on the road again . . .” Funny what you hear on the radio when you walk into an airport. Well, here I am after getting up at 3am, walking a couple miles somewhere between 4am and 5am in a crazy Halloween wind, and then repacking the suitcase I so carefully packed last night. I am headed to my brother’s wedding and I am required--well, not required but requested--to come in costume.

I purchased an elegant sequined mask and laid out elegant clothes to match but then bleck, bleck, blecked over the shoes I would be required to wear-—well not required, but you know. Anyway, I really am flip flops. There just isn’t any way around it. So I scavenged my closet somewhere between 5am and 6am and came out brimming with hippie clothes. Yey for hippy clothes! Then of course I was so inspired that I tossed everything formal and replaced it with hippy green and willow brown and a leafy sweater and--well, not quite flip flops, but close. Anyway, I feel much better . . .

Michigan, New Mexico, Thailand...oh my!

Well if I ever learn to stop running maybe I will stop this silly gallivanting around the globe. But I think that will not happen anytime soon. The blue skies call me. I need the wind at my back and the sun on my face. And I need to see and hear and experience everything. I will not promise to dutifully report back here. But will make a valiant attempt. I do want to share what I see. If you would care to see it, that is.

So on to Michigan in a few days for my brother’s masquerade wedding and a reconnection.

The Munson clan. I do believe they hail from Scandinavia and descend from Viking stock. Perhaps that explains the salt water in my blood and the restlessness in my soul. Perchance I may find a sympathetic spirit in my connecting. A long lost uncle with treasure to share. Well, we’ll see.

Carrot Cake and Caribbean Kitchens

When you travel you expect to see things. Buildings and parks and beaches and markets and jungles and pottery and sea shell necklaces and colorful fish and such. You know, things. But so much better is the kind of travel that connects you with people. Faces. Smiles. Conversations. Mind meeting. And kitchens.

I often find myself in kitchens. I am never sure how I got there. Usually it begins with my butchering a little Spanish in an open-hearted attempt to communicate with someone local. On this particular occasion it began with scuba lessons and meandered through two years of emails and photos and repeated trips to the Mexican Caribbean. But eventually I found myself in the non-non–non-touristy part of Puerto Morelos where every home has bars on the windows and the doors and all the people welcome you in. It is a strange mix, this guarded hospitality. Never-the-less, I did find myself in the kitchen grating carrots and measuring cinnamon amid discussions of quantum mechanics and Mayan traditions. I love those kinds of days. They resonate.



Crescent’s Famous Carrot Cake
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

4 eggs
½ cup oil
1 cup yogurt
Undisclosed amount of rum

3 ½ cups shredded carrots
1 ½ cups chopped nuts (I like pecans)

In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl whisk eggs, oil, yogurt and rum. Add wet all at once to dry and stir. Fold in carrots and nuts. bake for 40 minutes in 350 oven.

When cooled, ice with:
2 blocks of cream cheese
1 16oz (or to taste) box of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla