Monday Morning Musings

What do Travel and College have in Common?

It’s Monday! There’s so much I want to write about this morning as we head into the second half of the last month of the year…

Yesterday’s post about weather stations prompted a question/comment about weather in Antarctica from Lois Thomson Bowersock. She’s adopted a pair of penguins in Port Lockroy! It’s almost Summer down there! I took the bait (proof that we really don’t have Free Will (Do We Have Free Will?) and looked it up.

Welcome to Port Lockroy, Antarctica, shown above! 360 Degree Webcam at Port Lockroy. The opening photo is a screen shot grab of a really cool web cam in Port Lockroy. It’s almost Summer down there, right? With 24 hours of sunshine! Check it out!

And check out Lois Thomson Bowersock’s Brilliant Blog, Expect the Unexpected! It’s always interesting. Here’s her tale of a Trail Ride near San Miguel Allende Mexico: Meanwhile Back on El Rancho.

I know some of my Brilliant Readers out there have been to Antarctica. I would love to hear your stories! The closest we’ve been is Cape Horn, which we rounded on a wonderful cruise from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. If you’ve been there, what was your biggest takeaway, other than checking it off your “to visit” list?

Which brings us to why we travel. There are two types of travelers. Some folks just want to check things off their list. For them, just being able to say “I was there” meets their needs. Get the iconic picture in front of the Eiffel Tower, see Big Ben, visit the Louvre, then move on to the next place on the list and add it to your travel resumé.

The second type of traveler is seeking something a bit more nuanced: a connection with the place and the people, an understanding of the culture and its history, an appreciation of how the puzzle pieces fit together into the grand tapestry of our shared life on this planet.

We attended a lecture and slide show by Rick Steves back in the 1980’s about a trip he took to Iran. While the sites he explored were incredible, it was his connection with the people he met that was really fascinating. It made me view travel in a wholly different way. A few years ago “Uncle Rick” came out with a book called Travel as a Political Act. It’s worth a read.

Which leads into the next subject this morning: College Admissions. What’s the connection, you ask?

This is the season when our dear High School Seniors are waiting to find out which colleges they can attend. It can be stressful! These bright young kids (and sometimes their parents) put lots of pressure on themselves to get into the “perfect” university.

The admission notice itself seems to be a judgment on their life up to that point. It can be really overwhelming.

But it’s not the end of the road, whether you get into your dream school or not. Rather it’s just the beginning. It’s what you put into your college education that matters the most. You can and will succeed where ever you go to school if you bring curiosity along on your journey.

Explore all the wonderful options available to you. Take the classes that you are interested in, as well as those which focus on your current goals and objectives. This is a time of discovery. It’s the beginning of the road, not the end.

Don’t just add the school admission to your check list and move on to the next item, whatever that may be. Keep your spirit of exploration alive! Nurture your curiosity! Volunteer to work in a field that piques your interest. Take classes in Art History, Geology, Astronomy, and whatever else draws your interest.

Be the type of “traveler” who seeks a connection to the World of Knowledge.

Develop and extend your personal habits of study and physical fitness that can last your whole life. Keep a journal and write down your goals. Go back and revisit them regularly, changing them as needed.

It will be YOU who determines if your college experience is a good one, more than the college itself. It is YOUR life, not your parents, not mine, not your counselors. You can make it great whatever school you attend, whether it’s a Community College or an Ivy League institution.

Don’t give the power to determine your success in life to the admissions officer. Keep that power for yourself.

It’s so EXCITING! Wherever you go!

We never know what surprises lay along our path. Yesterday as I was walking near our home I saw something struggling on the ground under a big tree. I couldn’t tell what was going on. Then I saw the flash of a barred tail and the flap of a large wing as something appeared to struggle up to a low branch.

Hawk! It must be injured! I whipped out my phone and shot this 12 second video:

Then it moved out of sight. I stopped filming, took a few steps, then

Off it flew! It wasn’t injured, but had something rather large in its claws!

After it was gone I checked out the area under the tree where the Cooper’s Hawk had been:

A pile of white feathers! I’m guessing they are mourning dove feathers. Stay tuned for a further analysis of the crime scene in tomorrow’s post!

Actually is it really a crime scene? I don’t think it’s a crime for a hawk to eat. Just part of survival.

The dense fog here is starting to lift. Wonder what surprises will be revealed today?

Hope you have a great week~!

Thanks so much for reading, traveling along, and for sharing.