A Great Trip

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After my father died my mother said, "I'm not going to feel sorry for myself, I'm going to mourn him by having a good time and sharing it."  So she invited me and Jessie on a trip to a destination of our choosing.  Jessie wanted Australia, I wanted Italy, so we compromised on Greece.  We took a cruise from Athens to Istanbul, visiting the islands of the Aegean.




When we got home I made some drawings.  This is Santorini, with our ship in the hands of the mermaid.
A pair of pelicans roamed the streets, making us feel welcome.


This is Rhodes. The little bronze owl actually sits at the top of a fountain in the middle of the city but I put him outside the gates, standing guard.


Our last stop was Istanbul--we were so glad to leave Istanbul for the last because it was our favorite.  This is the gate of the Dolmabachi Palace, with two angels from a temple in Athens, and, of course, a pelican. 

Here we are in Istanbul.

Do you think we look alike?  Wherever we went, people looked at us and said,
"Are you related?"
As my nephew, Danny, said, "There's just one face, and it goes from MomMom to Barbara to Jessie to Molly."
The wonderful things we saw on that trip gave me years of inspiration, including my series, titled Great Gardens. Here's one. I didn't actually see anything like this, it's just that what I saw got my imagination working.




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