Love Letters on Wheels

Did you make construction paper Valentines as a kid? Well, I just found out about a great reason to dust off the Fiskars and start cutting out paper hearts again.

Meals on Wheels will be delivering handmade Valentine’s Day cards to housebound seniors, as part of their Love Letters campaign on DoSomething.org. While the card-making part of the campaign is definitely targeted to kids/teens, I don’t see any reason we can’t all channel our inner child and join in too. (Someone who’s 90 probably sees the rest of us as kids anyway.)

Sign up at DoSomething.org/loveletters for guidelines and a list of participating locations with mailing addresses, and then make your card(s), ~~put them in envelopes (if you don’t have enough on hand, here’s how to fold your own envelope)~~, and mail them in by February 10.

A volunteer used to deliver Meals on Wheels to my grandpa and even bring treats along for the dog – making both of their days.

If you’re outside of the US and Canada, I bet there’s a nursing home or senior center in your area that you could deliver handmade cards to.

I think this is a beautiful way to spread some love.

[UPDATE: Cards don’t have to be in individual envelopes.]

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January 21, 2016

Where to Celebrate Australia Day in Arizona

Mr. Big is a 90-year-old eucalyptus tree outside of the town of Superior, AZ. Not every tree has a title. But, at 8 feet thick and 140 feet tall, Mr. Big gets your attention.

It (He?) is the largest tree in one of the largest collections of Australian plants in North America – at Boyce Thompson Arboretum.

To celebrate this forest of outback transplants as well as the cultural roots from their native soil, the Arboretum celebrates Australia Day with walk-a-bout tours and didgeridoo jam sessions.

Phillip and I went last year with friends Anne and Jameela. We watched a demonstration on playing the didgeridoo, and then Phillip tried it out. Meanwhile, outside there was a guy swinging a bull-roarer over his head. Because, I guess, that’s the kind of thing that can happen on Australia Day. So Anne and I gave that a try.

Then we caught up with the tour through the Arboretum’s eucalyptus forest with Australian native and horticulturalist Paul Chambers pointing out different types of Australian plants, telling stories of his work importing them to the U.S., and sharing aboriginal traditions.

We left for a bit to get lunch at Jade Grill in Superior (my fave!).

Afterwards, we came back to the Arboretum, and there was a didgeridoo concert under the eucalyptus trees. We could still hear it from across the Queen Creek as we hiked the High Trail.

A video posted by stephanieliebold (@stephanieliebold) on Jan 17, 2015 at 8:38pm PST

Australia Day 2016 is coming up this Saturday. You can check out the schedule of events on the listed on the Arboretum’s website.

January 19, 2016May 23, 2023

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

Yesterday was a free entrance day for US National Parks, and there are several more scheduled this year.

One of the first fee-free days we took advantage of fell on the same day as our nieces’ dance recital a few years ago. We searched “find a park” and saw that there was one – not exactly on the way – but in the right general direction.

Even though it’s just an hour south of Phoenix, I had never been to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Coolidge (not, incidentally, in the town of Casa Grande). Phillip hadn’t been since he was a kid, so we planned a pre-recital detour.

The “big house” it’s named for is a centuries-old adobe structure that’s still standing, now covered by a large metal roof constructed in 1932 to help protect it. Parts of walls from the surrounding complex remain, as well as an oval ball court.

It’s always fascinating to confront history like that and think about people living their lives within those same walls 600 years ago.

And then we went to watch our nieces dance their hearts out.

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January 16, 2016January 17, 2016

Seeing DC and C-ville

Charlottesville

We spent New Year’s Eve at a winery in Charlottesville, Virginia celebrating my cousin’s wedding.

Charlottesville (a.k.a. “C-ville”) is where Thomas Jefferson built his famed home, Monticello, which we were able to visit the day we got into town.

It’s also home to an extensive network of studios and galleries, known as the Monticello Artisan Trail and a historic downtown pedestrian mall with stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and a skating rink.

You could walk right out on to the mall from the lush atrium of the Omni Hotel Charlottesville, where we stayed.

Washington D.C.

We flew in and out of DC. With our limited time there, we were able to catch a few museums, some of the monuments, and the still-decorated National Christmas Tree, as well as finding some good food and even doing a little crafting.

And we were able to walk to almost all of that from our DC hotel, Embassy Suites by Hilton Washington DC Convention Center.

There’s more to come about what we saw, where we ate, and where we stayed. In the meantime, I’ve been posting photos on Instagram tagged #dccville.

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We received media rates for our stays at the Omni Hotel Charlottesville and Embassy Suites by Hilton Washington DC Convention Center. We also received assistance and Monticello passes from Visit Charlottesville and Destination DC.

January 11, 2016May 23, 2023

View of the Lincoln Memorial

The day we drove back to DC from Charlottesville, Virginia, we took a little time to explore one corner of the National Mall with the Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and a great view of the Washington Monument across the water, right as the sun was setting.

The statue of Lincoln has sat across from the reflecting pool for nearly a century. I wish he could tell us stories about all the things he’s witnessed there.

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