Homeland

Week 30: #52 Ancestors – The Old Country By Eilene Lyon Though I have ancestral origins in England and Wales, perhaps a touch in Ireland, an overwhelming number of forebears came from Germanic regions of Europe. I’ve traveled there several times. On one trip, we specifically visited Heidelsheim and Mainz, because I knew my Springer... Continue Reading →

July 25, 2020 46

The Slide Years: Seismic

By Eilene Lyon The Slide Years is a series in which I select an image my dad took from 1957-1982 with Kodachrome slide film, then I write a stream-of-consciousness essay – a sort of mini-memoir. The freight-train rumble woke me out of a sound sleep at 3:04 a.m. on February 4, 1976. Wait a minute,... Continue Reading →

May 28, 2020 31

Back on the Bayou

By Eilene Lyon We picked up a rental car at the New Orleans airport and headed to our hotel – a reasonably priced national brand right on St. Charles in the Garden District. For our brief stay in the city, we could take the trollies wherever we needed to go. We took the St. Charles... Continue Reading →

May 26, 2020 47

The Jewel of Idaho

Week 14: #52 Ancestors – Water By Eilene Lyon Priest Lake, near Canada in Idaho's panhandle, has long been a popular recreation area. In the 1920s, actor/director Nell Shipman "discovered" the lake and established Lionhead Lodge and her own film production company there. Though she stayed only a couple years, her movies introduced the country... Continue Reading →

May 14, 2020 39

Louisiana Wild

By Eilene Lyon Since we won't be traveling in the foreseeable future, I decided to look back at a trip we made in April 2012 to Louisiana - our first visit to the "deep South." It coincided with the migratory bird festival on Grand Isle. And since this past Saturday was World Migratory Bird Day... Continue Reading →

May 12, 2020 36

The Slide Years: Road Trip

By Eilene Lyon The Slide Years is a series in which I select an image my dad took from 1957-1982 with Kodachrome slide film, then I write a stream-of-consciousness essay – a sort of mini-memoir. The most epic road trip in my early life saw my family moving from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, to Guatemala City, via... Continue Reading →

May 7, 2020 36

Biking Dalmatia

By Eilene Lyon After spending two relaxing days in the old city of Dubrovnik, we took a cab on Sunday afternoon to the harbor at nearby Gruž to board our home for the coming week, the Harmonia. The ship is family built/owned and under contract to the German company, Inselhüpfen (Island Hopping). Though many Harmonia... Continue Reading →

April 28, 2020 40

Biking to Vienna – Part 2

By Eilene Lyon Part 1 After a lovely breakfast in the castle at Bad Kruezen, we breezed downhill on the bikes back to Grein where we visited the Stadttheater before heading out again along the Danube. Established in 1791, this is the oldest original theater in all the Germanic countries. All of our short rides... Continue Reading →

April 14, 2020 38

Biking to Vienna – Part 1

By Eilene Lyon On our last morning in Salzburg, we went to pick up our biking gear for a six-day ride to Vienna. That’s when we learned we hadn’t received our vouchers and itinerary from the desk clerk. We had very little time to peruse the materials, drop off our suitcases to be transported to... Continue Reading →

March 31, 2020 38