In the beginning of 2018, I became a “digital nomad”. I joined a remote work/travel group planning to go to So. America for four months: a month in each of Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Colombia. The first three months went well (as recounted in previous blogs) but the organization running the excursion was showing signs of collapse and I, wisely but reluctantly, decided to skip the last month in Colombia. When I heard that NextTribe was offering a trip there, I saw it as a way to “close the circle” and check it off the list of missed opportunities.
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Gardeners Anonymous, Where Are You?
Hang out with me for any length of time and you will hear me repeat my many mantras. A frequent one is: I have too many gardens for a single woman with a social life. It’s become a problem. While I do love gardening—I truly enjoy both the process and the result—it seems to have taken over my life and my yard. Ornamental trees, shrubs, flowers, ground cover, herbs, vegetables, a water garden, grass, and weeds; they are all there. And, as I (gracefully) age, I find gardening requires more Advil and leaves me with less energy for other pursuits. I truly regret it when I am too tired for dancing…but is having a meaningful conversation after dinner considered a pursuit? How about staying awake past 8 PM?
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Yellow is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair: Pine Pollen Season in the South
Working in my yard this weekend, pulling weeds and mulching the flower beds, I found myself humming this old folk song “Yellow is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair”. Not because my love’s hair is blonde in the morning (it is salt-and-pepper all the time), but because EVERYTHING was yellow, dusted with a thick coat of what my botanist friend calls tree sperm. Pine pollen—we all more or less hate it.

Everything looks dull. It clings to all surfaces; cars seem to be a particular magnet. With a small gust of wind, you can see it billowing in sulfurous clouds of gold. Despite our general annoyance—guess what? Pine pollen is supposed to be good for you! Seriously.
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