Sting Rays!

When we visited Cozumel, we got to visit the sting rays. My niece thought they were loads of fun. She hasn't stopped talking about them ever since. We got to watch them swim around in the water and also got to pet them. They were very friendly because they knew they were also going to get fed!

Ojai, California

Ojai is a jewel of a spot tucked into a little corner above L.A. Although I have cousins who have lived their for years, it took me until this Thanksgiving to actually go there myself. I was especially enthralled by the trees that had turned into vibrant reds and yellows. I have no complaints about living in Tucson, but I do miss that overstatement of color. And while Tucson has great sunsets, I caught a fabulous one in Ojai as well, the kind that made us all dash outside and search for our cameras.

Rick Steves Strikes Again

Although I've long admired Rick Steves' travel advice, his 2009 book of essays entitled Travel as a Political Act is also well worth looking it. Various chapters cover diverse parts of the world, but I was sold on the introduction alone. He describes the experience of watching a whirling dervish and realizing that even though the two men entertain totally different points of view, they each are loyal to their own set of values. Steves writes that he came away with a new sense of the breadth and beauty of humanity. As he concludes, "Experiences like this one can be any trip's most treasured sourvenir. When we return home, we can put what we've learned--our newly acquired broader persepctive--to work as citizens of a great nation confronted with unprecedented challenges. And when we do that, we make travel a political act."

Throughout the book Steves talks about the importance of considering new viewpoints and taking them into consideration when trying to find solutions to new problems. He celebreates the healthy act of politely disagreeing as a step towards achieving new understandings. I couldn't agree more.