How it Feels to Visit the Atomic Bomb Ground Zero in Nagasaki, Japan

Physically being in the Zone of Prayers brought us to an emotional state that is impossible to describe.

But, despite the horrific history of this spot, our feelings were directed toward peace and remembrance.

The site is incredibly solemn, yet very beautiful... CONTINUE READING >>

Also on GypsyNester.com this week:

Every family has 'em.

Piles of throw-away snapshots that you can't bear to throw away. Before digital cameras, our generation put every picture -- no matter how bad -- into a photo album. After all, they were precious - and we shelled out big bucks to have them developed.

Then there are the CLASSICS. The ones you should have thrown away, but instead you frame them. This one is ours. Think about it, we thought we were sitting for a lovely family portrait. Clearly, all heck is breaking loose and none of us could... CONTINUE READING >>

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A Powerful Prayer at The Peace Garden of Nagasaki, Japan

Nagasaki, Japan is no doubt best known as the site of the second atomic bombing on August 9, 1945.

The Peace Garden commemorates that tragic event in a beautiful and hopeful place... CONTINUE READING >>

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A Day of Reflection in Nagasaki, Japan

Our day of reflection takes through cherry blossom-strewn, peaceful Nagasaki.

Join us as we stroll through The Peace Garden with its towering Prayer Monument,  wonder at the surviving statues of a church at ground zero of the atomic bomb, visit the epicenter and the Atomic Bomb Museum.

We'll take you back to the day when the clocks forever stopped at 11:02... CONTINUE READING >> 

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It's Cherry Blossom Time in Japan!

In another of what seem to be unbelievable bits of good timing we have encountered in our travels, we hit Japan right at the peak of the cherry blossoms blooming.

At our first stop, Nagasaki, we were enthralled by the flowering trees all around The Atomic Bomb Museum. They helped add a quiet touch to the somber site advocating peace near the epicenter of... CONTINUE READING >> 

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We're Too Old For This Crap

One of our top priorities when becoming gypsy -- as opposed to empty -- nesters was to use our new found freedom to see family and friends that we hadn't been able to visit in years.

While finishing up our child-rearing years on a Caribbean island a thousand miles from the mainland we were understandably limited in our opportunities to drop in on folks.

Now that we are unfettered, we have had the opportunity to reunite with quite a few of our old friends. In every case I’ve noticed... CONTINUE READING >> 

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The Weight of Six Million Paper Clips

In a small town in Tennessee there is a monument so moving, so touching and so unlikely that the story behind it is almost unbelievable.

Here is a tale of a group of school children who found out that even the smallest idea can spark a world wide movement. And how compassion can change the world... CONTINUE READING >> 

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We're Too Old For This Crap

One of our top priorities when becoming gypsy -- as opposed to empty -- nesters was to use our new found freedom to see family and friends that we hadn't been able to visit in years. While finishing up our childrearing years on a Caribbean island a thousand miles from the mainland we were understandably limited in our opportunities to drop in on folks.

Now that we are unfettered, we have had the opportunity to reunite with quite a few of our old friends. In every case I’ve noticed... CONTINUE READING >>

The San Francisco Treat

Growing up all we knew about San Francisco was that it was really cool. Eric Burden sang about it, Otis Redding sat on its dock of the bay and it required flowers in your hair if you were going there. Sure Tony Bennett left his heart there but Jimi Hendrix left his guitar, on fire! Well... it's true, it's true, it really IS cool.
We rode the subway under the Bay into town (comforting ourselves with the knowledge that the odds of an earthquake rolling through while we were underground were minimal)... read more 

Woodstock Turns the Big 4-0

Woodstock. The name instantly brings to mind a whole era to any of us who were old enough to listen to music when the concert happened. I didn't go to Woodstock, I saw the movie -- at a drive-in, no less – with my brother pretending to be my uncle / guardian because it was rated R for showing muddy hippy-chick boobs... oh, and maybe that part where Country Joe led the crowd in a chant. I may have been too young to get into an R movie forty years ago but I was old enough to know something big... read more