Hi, Jasa! I started this thread. Nice to meet yo, I look forward to learning a little more about life in Indonesia and what you like to read. Everyone here is very friendly ( I haven't been here long myself). Are there free public libraries in your town? sorry that I am so uninformed.

Dawn

and made a spelling error first off : ( of course I mean nice to meet you not yo.

Dawn

b_j_b if you make a mistake go to the top right of your post and click on Edit make the necessary correction and resubmit . . . where would I be without it? ;-)

good to know! nothing worse than seeing something wrong just as you hit 'send'

Dawn

However the Edit option goes away in time. I discovered that recently while reading an old post and being inspired to tidy it up a bit. It was too late.

I noticed that many have mentioned books set in their region, so I decided to do the same. Here it would be Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, the first half of the book before they go to the east coast. For something a bit more literary, John Steinbeck had his summer home close to me in the nearby town of Los Gatos. His books were actually set about an hour or more away, either on the Monterrey Peninsula, in the Salinas Valley, or further yet, in Bakersfield. In East of Eden he gives a vivid description of the California drought cycle that has stayed with me for years. I'm paraphrasing wildly here, but he said that those who came to the state in the "rich" years (abundant rain) had no idea that there was a 30-year cycle with more drought than rain. I don't know how accurate his 30 year cycle is, but there has always been tremendous fluctuation.

Rosefolly

Rosefolly,

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin--and other books in that series--take place in San Francisco, no? (not far from Valley of Heart's Delight). I have not read them, so I can't tell if they give the reader a sense of the city, or at least the city the way it was back then. Can anyone tell?

I'm about an hour from SF and have never lived there, though of course we visit often. It is my impression that Tales of the City reflects the flavor of a certain subculture as it existed in that era. Since I'm not part of that subculture your guess is as good as mine. Fun to read though, as were the sequels. And PBS did a good job dramatizing it about a decade ago.

oh my goodness, I do love Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore!

Dawn

Astrokath - it seems to be a lot harder than it used to be to send a private message here. It seems to be possible to RECEIVE messages - but I can't work out how to SEND one. Anyone able to help me?

So let me just say here that I'm definitely going to be in Adelaide between November 16th and November 20th this year. Are you going to be around then?

Martin,

Below are instructions how to send a message. However, it will only work if Astrokath has enabled messaging.

Scroll down all the way. When you get to the bottom, the central column says "Explore Houzz".

Click on "FAQs". That will take you to "Welcome to Houzz Support".

The column to the right says "Help for GardenWeb Users" .

At the bottom of it there is a line: "All 21 articles". Click there.

Question #17 is "How do I message another user?"

Idea #2

Another thing that you can do, is "Like" one of her comments. She will receive an e-mail from Houzz saying that you "liked" her comment. That at least will bring her to Reader's Paradise, and hopefully she'll see your message.

Idea #3 (which should have been number 2, since it is more useful)

That's all I can think of... unless some of the other Reader Paradisers have her actual e-mail address, and can either give it to you or let her know that you are trying to contact her.

Martin,

I just checked my account, thinking I needed to enable messaging, but it was marked as enabled already. I don't remember doing it, so maybe it's done automatically when you register. You can check yours to see if it is enabled.

Martin,

All that said, I tried to send a message and I didn't find anything that says "send a message". Can you figure it out? I don't know if, through Houzz, you can connect with them on social media.

Martin,

Sorry about the multiple posts.

Once you get to "How do I message another user?", look to the right and there be another question "How can I message other Houzz users?" . That says how to send a message, but I tried to send a message and I didn't see the "message" button anywhere. Rather frustrating.

That's OK RiT - I appreciate your help. I'd got as far as most of what you have done - I was hoping that there was something obvious I hadn't spotted.

I've fired off an email to Houzz - let's hope something comes of it.

I have RECEIVED a message from another member, so clearly it is indeed possible!

Martin, your 'like' of my comment alerted me to come here. I should indeed be at work during that time. We could perhaps have a coffee and a chat.

Hi Kath - you're on! Let's talk nearer the time.

For those who are interested - I have discovered how to message someone. You go to THEIR profile, and if they have enabled messaging, you can click a button and message them.

Obvious, really. I mean, that's like sending a letter by going to the recipient's house and posting it through their door. How else would you do it?

Silly us that we did not just know that.

blue_jean_baby_ I was born and reared in Maryland and our father always awakened us when the geese were flying over. Here in Virginia we still hear them now and again - just not so often. Would not want to live where we couldn't hear them.

Where is VA do you live, pink? I remember the wild geese well, heralding fall, when I lived in Tidewater, VA, from whence I relocated to SC.

woodnymph2_gw: We're in the Fredericksburg area. Sometimes early a.m. we can also hear owls, but nothing compares to the sound of Canada geese flying over. Still gives me chills.

pink I miss that sound so very much! For me, it represents the true beginning of autumn, my favorite season. Fall is quite different down here in the low country of SC......

woodnymph: How well I understand! When we lived in Maine I thrilled to the call of the loons, and I now miss that. But the geese still have it.

Pink, we have friends in the Richmond area (specifically Glen Allen) and they have lots of Canada geese that stay there year round. Apparently someone introduced them to the area and now they have multiplied. I gathered they are something of a pest. :)

I live in Winter Garden, FL (NW of Orlando). I was born in Lakeland, which is also in central Florida, between Orlando and Tampa.

Donna

Ms Meow,

My brother and his wife have lived in Lakeland over 30 yrs ago, so I know Lakeland a little. When I was "in transit" (working for a temporary staffing company), I worked in Tampa and in the Melbourne area for over a year, so I visited them frequently. Whenever I go to Lakeland now, I go to Circle B Bar Reserve for great bird watching. I've never been to Winter Garden, though I went once to Astatula trying to see a Florida Scrub-Jay.

For several years we have had a large flock of Canada geese residing year round at a nearby park. They are horrible pests, so many they block the bike and walking paths, and their droppings coat all the pathways until it is hard to walk on them. Despite the signs saying not to feed the birds, foolish people still do. One good thing about the drought is that some of the geese migrated this year. We still have geese all year, but fortunately not as many as we did before the small lake dried to half its former size.

Even being a bird lover I realize the great number of geese can become pests. Still, I feel sorry for them because they can't find fields of green on which to congregate. They should definitely not be fed by the public. Fortunately I've no exposure to the large groups and enjoy only the haunting sound of their migratory calls.

I like the migratory calls as well, and always found the sight of the V-formation overhead to be one of the thrills of Fall, already my favorite season.

Given that this is a thread on where we live, this might be a good point to say that after many years of being grateful for California's mild winters, I have recently begun to miss the snows of my childhood winters. Now that is something I thought I'd never say. I have come to realize that what I actually disliked about winter was the driving on dangerous roads. Now that I am retired I would be willing to live where there was a more definite change of seasons. What I am not willing to endure is the humid summers of those same climates I used to know. I never enjoyed summer. Spring and fall were always my favorite seasons. I wish I could find a climate that consisted of Fall, Winter, Spring, and LateSpring-Early Fall!

Rosefolly/Paula come and live in England where we have ALL the seasons you could want . . . often not in the correct order but, Hey! always a good talking-point with strangers especially this year when Summer passed us by and we have gone straight into Autumn.

Actually I do like your climate, Vee. I could imagine myself living in a town in England. I have visited several times, including a very rainy November, and always liked what I saw there. Every place has problems, of course, but the climate, landscape, and architecture there all suit my tastes. I don't think I could easily learn to drive on your side of the road, though, as I have a problem with left and right.

Rose, speaking from an experience we had on St. Thomas, I would guess you would VERY quickly learn which was the proper side of the road! My hubby and I live in the US and in St. Thomas they drive on the left. We rented a car and our friends and I kept gently reminding my DH (well, hollering at him, actually) to stay on the correct side of the road. A close encounter with a truck on a curve at the top of a hill seemed to finally get him acclimated!

Donna

When I go on holiday on the Continent, I often hire a car, and it is surprising how quickly you get used to it. The only issue I find hard is that the handbrake is on the wrong side - I just never seem to get that right.

The danger is not when you first drive on the "wrong" side of the road - it's a few days later when you're relaxed. I remember once driving my own car around France; it was about the third day of the holiday, and I was driving through some country lanes, and came to a main road. The road was quiet in both directions, and I turned right - and just automatically went to the left side of the road. About thirty seconds later, I realized my mistake as a coach came over the brow of a hill straight towards me...I still shudder to think of how close that was.

Martin, my DH has always insisted the reason he had trouble in St. Thomas was because they had American cars with the steering wheel on the left. He says he would have been fine if he had the steering wheel on the right.

Donna

Indeed. I don't mind driving on the right on the continent when I hire a local LH drive car. It's not a surprise to me that I made the mistake I mentioned above when I was driving my own RH drive car.

I've just looked up St Thomas - didn't know there was anywhere US where people drove on the left. It has a population of 50K and a total area of 30 sq miles. Most of the cars are LH drive. It feels like a very practical project to switch to the RHS over a weekend - I'm surprised they haven't already done so.

We've been to many Caribbean islands and it seems most people drive wherever they feel like. :) It can be very hair-raising. That was the only time we've driven ourselves (and it was many years ago). Now we go on tours with local drivers (and I generally watch distant scenery out the side window or shut my eyes!).

My husband grew up in a small country town in the Western Australian wheatbelt. When his parents took him for a holiday to a town by the ocean, he was overawed by the enormous amount of water, reaching to the horizon.

We lived in London for a while and he was never tired of the thrill from driving past Buckingham Palace on his way to work.

Travel gives some amazing experiences of places one reads about and they are so different when one actually gets there. Smells and sounds that can never be totally described in a book.

My first trip to Bali was like that. The tropical flowers, exotic smell of the place and the sound of the local music played by the gamelan orchestra in the hotel foyer was more enchanting than any written description could convey.

Martin, I told my hubby your story of driving your own car on the Continent and he feels quite vindicated now. :)

I have been in central Florida my whole life. For any who may not know, Florida is basically a giant sand bar. I think the highest elevation is around 300 feet. So I am awed by mountains! I think the Blue Ridge mountains are pretty big; you can imagine my reaction when we flew over the Alps on our way to Athens several years ago, and then over the Rockies on our way to Seattle more recently! I was glued to the plane windows. LOL But my dream retirement place would still be near the ocean. I particularly love the salt marshes we have down here.

Donna

Annpan, what you write of the sounds and smells being such a large part of travel rings so true. At age 16, I descended from a plane to Nassau, in the Bahamas. I still recall the heaviness of the tropical air, the humidity hanging like a weight of warmth, the voices of the "natives", and of course, the fragrance of exotic (to me) flowers. This was my first time traveling outside of the USA and it was quite a sensual, unforgettable experience.

Having moved to Charleston, SC, from VA 5 years ago, reminded me of that "newness": now, it's the tolling of the old and historic church bells, the brilliance of the oleanders, the clop-clop of horse-drawn carriages through mostly cobble-stoned streets, interspersed with soft accents....

The first time my daughter saw the ocean, she was two. We had gone to visit relatives in Florida in January. The weather was chilly, and the water was cold. An uncle took several pictures of me chasing her across the beach, because she was determined to go into the water, shoes, clothes, and all. Today is her 60th birthday, and she still loves the ocean.

Imagine that you are a small dog and one day you are taken from your home in England with its smell of sweet grass and put into a crate. You sleep through a long journey mostly in the dark with the sound of an engine throbbing which lulls and comforts you.

Then you are in the light again. Your keen sense of smell detects hot dusty ground and faint scents of unknown animals. You now live in a large room but it has your familiar blanket, which has been with you in the crate, on the bed.

One day you hear a voice you know. It is her, she picks you up and you taste her skin, smell her hair. All of your senses are alerted to recognise her.

She takes you to a place that isn't where you both belong but it is all right. You want to be sure you are not parted again from her smell so that night you sleep with your nose against her hair.

This was how I interpreted how my spaniel felt when we moved from England to Australia. I wasn't sure if she would cope, she was a nervous dog I took from a shelter but I couldn't leave her behind.

Very much enjoyed your travel story, Annpan. I like the way you put yourself into your dog's perspective. I am convinced she must be a happy dog to be so well understood.

Donna, it does not take much to upset my perception of left and right. A mirror will do it. Backing up the car can be nightmarish if I am tired or stressed. I avoid it when possible. For a moment I can grasp the concept of Stage Left and Stage Right but then it glides away. I believe this to be a mild and very common learning disorder. I have met a number of people who report the same, along with others who can't imagine why we don't just get it.

Also responding to Donna, my DH loves the ocean while I love mountains. A perfect place for us would be a mountainside near the sea. However it unlikely that we will move from our present location (Silicon Valley) any time soon, if ever. In any case both are within reasonable reach for us here.

Harborrose, I just loved your dream-come-true story. I hope your new home continues to bring you joy as long as you live there. There is some magic in life, and it comes only to those who are open to it.

Woodnymph, I have often marveled at how different a landscape looks to me when it is brand new and still a bit bewildering; and how it looks to me when I have become familiar with it. Neither is better or worse but they are barely recognizable as being the same place. I remember a 'eureka' moment that happened when we first moved here 25 years ago. I was driving around looking at the gold and olive hills, suddenly saying with astonishment "Why, this looks exactly like a painting by Cezanne!" So it did indeed, and so I remind myself when I think of it. Then just for a moment I get an echo of the wonder of that day.

Rosefolly

Here is one of the paintings by Cezanne that reminds me of our local landscape. I just love it, and it really looks a lot like this here except that we have more houses.

Very pretty, Rosefolly! We were out in CA a couple of years ago. We took a cruise from Seattle to Encinada. I was surprised how dry it was. I know you are in a drought, but I was still surprised how different your coast is from mine.

That is truly beautiful, Rosefolly, Many decades ago, I traveled in California. I especially loved the landscape on the Monterey Peninsula. Parts of coastal California reminded me of areas of Italy I'd visited, especially the Island of Ischia, off the coast, near Naples.

Hello again, everyone! It's been awhile since I've stopped by. I am still in Whittier, California (about 1/2 hour from Los Angeles). blue_jean_baby are you anywhere near Johnson Valley, CA? We are weekenders there (when possible), my great-grandmother homesteaded a place out there in the 1950s and we try and get there every other month or so. The desert is so beautiful and peaceful.

Other side of the 15 - more the Phelan/Pinon Hills area. I am partial to the Joshua trees : ) . But I know where Johnson Valley is, and it is a lovely area!

Maybe this year we will be lucky and have snow in the desert again, and you will be there to enjoy it....

Dawn

(sorry about the delay in responding, I've just not been in a computer mood so now I get to catch up)

The mingling of sky and sea at the outer reaches of the continent.

Rose, that is just beautiful!