In just a few days, Robert and I head out for another longer cruise – this time we’ll be traveling for nearly a month. We sail from Ft. Lauderdale, across the Atlantic and then on to multiple European ports.
For those who like to read about our travels, stay tuned. We will soon be back to a schedule of multiple blogs a week in which we discuss where we go and what we see. We hope you join us for the journey.
On board we will return back to a daily routine of sea vistas from our balcony, long walks along the promenade with the smell of salt air, and daily cocktails – in other words, a world much like our life in Cambria. But it does come with the added bonus of meeting new people, seeing new places, and avoiding all daily chores.
Plus we leave for this trip protected by a personal umbrella of good feelings. In our quest to visit eventually at least 100 countries, we will be adding four more on this trip: Bermuda, Denmark, Estonia and Russia. That will bring us up to a total just under 80. The Century Club for travelers is within sight.
Along the way, we will also have the chance to lunch with some good Dutch friends in Amsterdam and later to meet some of my Finnish relatives in Helsinki. That includes a cousin whose father was the inspiration for a key part of The Finnish Girl.
Speaking of that book, I am feeling good lately about my novels. This past week, I was asked to be part of a panel of Finnish-American authors and do a reading from The Finnish Girl at this year’s FinnFest (which takes place in Detroit in September). Also a very positive review of my current book, The Long Table Dinner, was featured in the April 1 hardcopy issue of Kirkus Reviews (which goes to librarians around the country). And I had a fun book signing just yesterday in Morro Bay.
Our taxes are done, our financial advisor says things are looking good, and our recent house projects turned out wonderful. So why would we be blue?
Well, of course, there is that little matter of living in a country increasingly being run by incompetents, crooks, and amoral idiots. But I expect interacting with the Canadians and Europeans on board the ship will prove a bracing tonic to counter that bad fever.
If not, well . . . I did just pick up a copy of Fletcher Knebel’s 1965 bestseller Night of Camp David. As summarized on the back cover, “How can one member of Congress convince the highest powers in Washington that the president of the United States is dangerously unstable—before it’s too late?”
Oh, how I love the literature of prophecy. And I’m counting on you, Adam Schiff, to give us the happy ending that I’m sure was written into Knebel’s book sixty years ago.
Bon voyage.
Kirkus Reviews describes my latest novel as “a finely crafted story about late-in-life regrets.” The Long Table Dinner, is available on Amazon and other bookseller sites. Please check out all my novels in paperback or Kindle format, including: Tales From the Loon Town Café, The Finnish Girl, andThe Devil’s Analyst.
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