Category Archives: adventure

Sign of the Week – July 11th

It’s Friday and this week’s sign comes from the tunnel connecting terminal 1 at O”Hare International Airport to the C gates. It was at the bottom of the escalator after my wife and I descended. Yes, we fly for LOVE.

LOVE – pass it on. O’Hare International Airport, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, 3:16 PM

There was another at Pass It On billboard at the opposite end of the tunnel, buy I was already on the up escalator when I noticed it.

Our flight left a bit late, but we arrived on time Wednesday morning.

Other than the hiccup of losing my credit card in the taxi when we arrived at the hotel and then being re-united hours later when Roy came back to the hotel and returned my credit card our first two days in London have been great.

Wednesday
I remember traveling from the states to Europe when I was young. My dad always told me no naps, just do things and then go to bed early. Once we had the credit card sorted out, we were on the move.

We did mostly tourist stuff. The Tower of London and a boat ride on the Thames back to Westminster and the tube back to our hotel was what was on the itinerary for the day and dinner at Dishoom.

We started at the Underground station in South Kensington near our hotel.

Fifty years ago, when I was here with my stepmother, Juliana she took us to the Tower of London. She was so patient with us. I can’t imagine what it might have been like for her;  going from no kids to having three boys aged 13-12-10. I know we weren’t an easy group, but she handled us like a pro. We were blessed to have her.

When my wife and I were planning she asked me what I ‘wanted’ to see and the Tower of London and a picture with one of the Yeoman Warders as on my list.

And I wanted the see the poppy exhibit. It was beautiful.

We finished with dinner at Dishoom, an amazing Indian restaurant my wife has raved about since her trip with her sister almost ten years ago. It was delicious.

Once we go home, I followed my dad’s advice. I was out.

Thursday
We had breakfast at the hotel and planned our day. We decided to visit the Westminster are and take in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, then walk to Buckingham Palace. We figured we would decide what was next, later.

We arrived a little bit past half past nine, but the sundial was off due to daily savings time. Nature knows the time, always.

Westminster was bustling with activity and we walked with the crowd to see Parliament and Big Ben, then set out to visit the Westminster Cathedral. But Big Ben must be taken in from afar.

Afterwards, we walked to the Buxton Memorial Fountain. But alas it was closed for renovations. However, we found a lovely bench along the Thames in the shade and discovered a New World import or hybrid. The leaves are similar to the maple and the tree had a spiny pod dangling from the branches. We were curious so we searched it on the internet. The source of the tree is unknown, but botanists believe it is a cross between the Oriental Plane and the American Sycamore and soured by the great Colombian Exchange. Click here to read more!

The London Plane trees provided lovely shade for us the entire afternoon.

We decided to forgo a walk and took a bus, my first ever trip on a double decker bus – we rode up top. However, up top is quite warm and there is little air flow on a warm summer day – temperatures in the late morning were already hovering in the upper 80d (30C+).

We arrived closer to Buckingham Palace and began walking toward the palace until we came to Royal Mews. My wife decided she wanted to go in and I passed and planted myself in the shade opposite the Royal Mews. It was fun people watching while she enjoyed the tour. We both enjoyed our time!

We were already very close to the palace and walked toward the Queen Victoria Memorial and fountain, alas it too was turned off.

It was lovely to walk around the in the sunshine and we found a lovely spot in the shade before I snapped an ‘Susie’ before we headed off on our next stop – shoe shopping.

 

You can deduce whom is who…

The roads were clogged and most of our trip was to the shoe shop, by we walked along a tree-lined road – yes, London Plane trees provided shade for entirety of our walk.

It took the two of us a while to arrive at the shoe store via bus and foot.

After the shoe store, my wife took me to a a place she and her sister had eaten for a late afternoon bite. It was delicious.

After exploring and shopping (me patiently waiting) we were spent and returned to the hotel to regroup.

It was an easy ride home, though I panicked at one stop and thought i had misread the map, but I didn’t. London transport is as easy as I remember it.

After re-grouping and freshening up, we ventured out for a late night bite to eat, sorry no photos.

Yes, we fly for LOVE!

It’s Friday and our last full day in London. Today is going to be an amazing day, possibly a million and six times better than yesterday so, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, walking back in time in the present, and remembering why I am here.

Why do you fly?

Tuesday’s Tune – Leaving on a Jet Plane

Tuesday’s here and shortly, we’ll be on our way.

I’ll be trading my summer office for a hotel room, park bench, or cafe somewhere or someplace.

‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane, 

I remember when this song was popular. It was 1970 and we were living in Venezuela and preparing to move back to the states. I can remembering hearing this song playing on the record player in our home as my mom packed the house before  the movers arrived to load everything to return the states. We weren’t much help – me aged 8, and my two brothers aged 7, and 5; likely more in the way than a help.

Jet travel was new and novel, and probably very expensive. But for an eight year-old, it was a wonderful experience and lasting memory. It was a propellor plane to Caracas and jet plane to Miami, then another jet home to Houston. Even today, when I smell diesel exhaust which  smells similar to jet exhaust, it takes me back to those early days of jet travel.

my mom – 1966 Paris at Orly, watching planes with us

Funny, but I am not alone. Every year when I teach the unit on smells and particles, the students make a list of smells they like and don’t like and we compare as a class. Invariably, there is always at least one kiddo (or more) who says they like the smell of diesel exhaust for the same reason; it’s usually a boy.

‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane, 

Today is going to be a great day, it could be a million and six times better than yesterday. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Still need to finish packing and taking care of things around the house. Making the Days Count, one day at a time going back and forward all at the same time.

Do you remember travel  when you were a kid? Continue reading Tuesday’s Tune – Leaving on a Jet Plane

Sign of the Week – Warning (part two)

It’s Sunday morning and I am starting the day in the summer office. It’s cool for the moment, but today’s forecast calls for afternoon temperatures to reach a high of 93 (34C).

The Arizona weekend began with an early Saturday morning flight to Phoenix, renting a car, grabbing a bite to eat on the recommendation of a friend before finding the right spot for my ‘signature picture’ which I share with my brothers and a few friends. It’s a silly picture, but fun.

My hotel was within walking distance to the stadium, and I paced myself in the heat. Chase Field has a retractable roof, the first of its kind when it opened in 1998. The roof was closed because it was 100 degrees (38C) late in the afternoon before game time.

The Astros won Saturday night’s game 1-0 (nil) and clinched a playoff berth as did the Diamondbacks with a Chicago Cubs loss. I walked home and grabbed some tacos for dinner at the hotel.

Sunday morning, I woke early and planned the day. The hotel I was staying was architecturally cool. It was constructed in the 1930s and had been a bank before being converted into a hotel and legend had it that the penthouse was once inhabited by Alfred Hitchcock.

coffee Sunday morning in the hotel lobby…an impressive Art Deco building from the 1930s

I had a breakfast date with a fellow blogger, Ingrid from Live, Laugh RV: Our Next Chapter. She and her husband were originally from Chicagoland not far from where I love before moving west, then retiring and deciding to live the RV life. Ingrid’s posts left yearning for travelling in retired RV lifestyle from one location to another while exploring and enjoying being outdoors. Her photographs were always stunning. It was wonderful to meet Ingrid in person, and we were never at loss for something to say over breakfast. After breakfast, we took an ‘ussie’ and I headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for the last game of the season.

Ingrid and I after meeting for breakfast, October 1, 2023

On the final day of the season, all baseball games begin about the same time Sunday afternoon. I arrived when the gates opened found my seat behind the Astros dugout in hopes of seeking out my favorite player, Maurico Dubón.

Mauricio in the dugout

Continue reading Sign of the Week – Warning (part two)

Sign of the Week – Warning (part one)

Last week I jumped into the deep end of the pool and created a new feature for my blog. My decision might have been premature, on the way home Saturday I drove around searching for signs, I didn’t see any, but I haven’t past the church since last week and I decided to take a different path with the sign of the week post, so hang on this week’s sign is from 2023 and there is a story which goes along with it and I have been looking for a way to tell it. WARNING – this is likely to be a LONG READ and I am breaking the post into two parts.

This week’s sign comes from Arizona when I was there for MLB stadium number 28, in September 2023.

Every MLB stadium has signs like this posted around the stadium and smaller ones close to the field. In recent years, stadiums have put up netting along the infield to make being a spectator safer. It’s a good thing, but if you go to the stadium, you do have to be paying attention foul balls often make it over the net and baseballs are hard and there are no screens in the outfield to protect fans. Continue reading Sign of the Week – Warning (part one)

W^2 – portage

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, June 12, 2025

Portage means to change from one waterway to another; more specifically it means to unload one boat and transfer the goods to another boat.

During the annual canoe race in late July, the racers must navigate the Ausable River and ‘portage’ their canoes at several spots along the course. For the racers, it means they have reached a dam along the river, and they must climb out of the canoe, pull their canoe out of the river, and carry the canoe to the river below the dam. Then climb back in and continue paddling down river.

Portage is also used as a name for a city. There are five cities or towns named Portage in the United States – Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

the view from our daughters apartment – a great place to enjoy morning coffee

It also is our daughter’s new home. Last weekend we moved her from her college home to a new home in Portage, Michigan. She took a job and needed a place to live; she chose well. It’s a great apartment (much better than my first) and it has a nice patio for the dogs where they can sniff and explore. It’s also a nice place to sit and sip coffee while watching the dogs – Fern and Nova.

 

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A post shared by Clay Watkins (@makingthedayscount)

This morning finds us at the lake with our son and his family – the grandies. It’s their first visit and it’s the first time we’ve had three generations at the lake in long time. Our daughter will join us late Friday night or early Saturday morning for a full three generational photo. I can’t wait!

It’s going to be an exciting day with maybe a visit to the beach and hopefully some photos. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day or I’ll be left behind. Making the days Count, one day at a time, while watching the dogs, the grandies, or a sunset.

What are you going to watch today?

W^2 – two sunsets

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Lake Margrethe sunset – Saturday, April 19, 2025 8:34 PM EDT

I’ve been meaning to share the sunset photo taken Easter Eve when we were at the lake house for Easter. It was a fun weekend and great to get away with family and dogs. Our daughter met us there. She’s a two-hour drive away at college. It wasn’t until she went away to college that she fully understood the restorative benefits of a weekend drive to the lake house.

I do love a sunset and was able to find this past weekend when we were visiting for the Memorial Day Weekend.

Lake Margrethe sunset – Saturday, May 24, 2025 8:54 PM EDT

No single end of the day is the same. Never, not one.

It’s Wednesday evening, Thursday is a few hours away and there are seven more sunsets before school is finished for the summer. Making the days Count, one day at a time, enjoying a Wednesday evening thinking about sunsets for the summer and beyond.

Where do you go to watch the sunset?

Starry night

It’s Memorial Day weekend and I am reminded I started this blog on a Memorial Day weekend fifteen years ago. Somehow, I’ve kept it going.

Along the way, I’ve gained some amazing friends all of whom I know only through Making the Days Count. I have met a few and even stayed in one’s bed and breakfast – twice.

After school let out for the weekend, I climbed in the car and drove north. A lot of folks had a similar idea and what can be a five and half hour drive stretched into a seven hour plus drive. But when I arrived, my family was here, the dogs greeted me enthusiastically, and the stars were shining brightly.

the stars at night are big and bright…..Grayling, Michigan, May 24, 2025, 12:10 AM EDT

I’ll be driving home Monday so I can teach six more days, really four, but the kiddos are in school for six more school days. School’s out Tuesday, June 3rd, and my summer break OFFICIALLY begins after noon on Wednesday, the fourth. It’s going to be a great summer.

Today is going to be a great day. I am going to continue to write and keep making the days count like I have for the past fifteen summers. Last Monday, I reminded my students that the four days next week are going to count. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days COUNT, one day at a time, looking up, looking down, looking all around.

What are seeing when you look around?

W^2 – time flies

W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, August 14, 2024

It is Day 72 with four remaining before it’s back to school.

Time flies.

It’s six months with three more before my son’s twins arrive, we can bearly (sic) wait. Always making the days count.

an empty plate, West Chicago, IL August 11, 2024. 1:49 PM

This past week has been a flurry of activity, and the next four days will be, too. This past weekend was our daughter-in-law’s baby shower, and we helped our son get his yard and house ready. It was a beautiful day, the yard looked wonderful, and it was a great day to celebrate the coming arrival of our first grandchildren. Exciting.

Time flies.

Today we are back to Michigan and the lake to help our daughter move into the house she and some friends have rented for her senior year.

Time flies.

Today is going to be an amazing day. I know it and I can feel it so, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time making time, because time flies.

How has your time been flyin’?

Day 64 – dog days

I could hear the gentle rain tapping on the roof this morning when I got up before Ivy. Yesterday the weather made a turn. It’s cooler today after several days of warm, sometimes hot, muggy stillness of the dog days of August.

Later this morning, we will be going home. It is both exciting and bittersweet.

Ivy was a puppy when I first started blogging, now she’s a senior dog, the senior dog. She doesn’t move like she once did, which is a blessing because I can remember many times trying to find her when she wandered away from the cottage and took off into the woods. We’ve learned a few things since those early days, but Fern is a lot like Ivy, but she will return when you call her. We have an Invisible Fence at home and both dogs know the boundary. At the lake we’ve been using a training collar, but that doesn’t contain either of them, especially Fern who has been known to return home with a deer leg, or two. It is bittersweet watching Ivy age, but it’s heartwarming seeing how Fern interacts with her. (NOTE – edited, last sentence added after publishing)

Fern and her deer leg from our trip here in April ’24

Continue reading Day 64 – dog days

Day 60 – the great blue heron visits

This morning, I woke up before Ivy and decided to go back to sleep, but before I could, I heard her stirring and quickly got up with her and got both she and Fern outside. When we were outside, I scanned the lake, and I noticed the heron was back. The heron was perched on the bow of Ely boat exactly where it was two days before. The heron didn’t seem fazed by the commotion of our morning routine and fortunately, Fern didn’t notice our visitor as she had Tuesday when the heron first appeared.

this morning’s phot, from the yard

Tuesday morning, I snapped a photo and sent it out on the family chat. Moments later W replied with a photo which he took the day before, on Monday.

Our Ohio friends are visiting this week. They arrived Monday afternoon well after our kids returned home after the race this past weekend. The race weekend was busy, and before our kids left, we took a family photo on the front steps. A family photo is something I have wanted to begin for a while, but I hadn’t done anything about it. There was a bit of grumbling, but we came together, and we have a family photo at the lake, the next time we take one it is going to include three generations, not two.

Tuesday afternoon, when we went out on the lake, we discovered evidence of the heron’s Monday visit to the Moomba on the tarp. Fortunately, it was a one-time visit.

This morning, after the dogs had finished their morning routine, I came inside and told my wife about the heron, and she got up to see it.

Normally, my morning routine is solitary – it’s just me and the dogs with my morning coffee. This morning, I had company.

It wasn’t long before H was down. I pointed to the heron, and we started talking about our visitor. While we deliberated, I remembered I had a copy of Sibley’s Guide to Birds. The guidebook was published in early 2020, and it helped us navigate the pandemic and I have a copy here and at home. It’s a great resource to have. Continue reading Day 60 – the great blue heron visits