Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

[jpalbny]

Thanks Camillus. Hope you are continuing to recover from your flu. It's been a really ugly season for viruses of all types. Chris and I have had one cold after another since November. I think she's brewing another one so I'm getting ready to catch it soon. Really looking forward to a change of seasons!

 

I did cook Schnitzel tonight. With veal (sorry Jeff; that's what was cheap today). And a bottle of Grüner Veltliner. Perfect combo.

 

 

 

Will continue my blog with some pictures from Easter Island. What a cool place to have visited! Thanks for following along!

[UKCruiseJeff]

JP - Lovely dishes and thoroughly approve of your veal ..... we have some in next weekend's basket at 50% off also! No short dates or anything just a wonderful wrinkle in our delivery services system that we enjoy using to the full. ;)

[Lois R]

Hi Coolers.:)...after trying to figure out what to do for my birthday,,I spoke with a long time friend today and we are going to Disneyworld together for a long weekend in March......she loves the parks and I haven't been in many years

and it should be fun:D......I am going to splurge and stay inside the park. I think we are going for 4 days and we

will get a "hopper pass"......it gets you in all the parks (multiple times per day if you want).....yes, I know it is not a cruise

but I am really looking forward to it and it is only a 2.5 hour drive for me to get there:D......and I really love Epcot and

all the restaurants they have to choose from. We are firming up the plans this week:)

[jpalbny]

Lois, that sounds like a fun time. And convenient, too. No overnight flights to Europe to worry about!

 

Disney does have a really good dining scene. There are restaurants that are so popular that they are almost impossible to get a reservation. Definitely plan ahead.

 

Epcot is our favorite of the parks also. We have stayed at the Yacht Club in the past, which is within walking distance of Epcot. There are a lot of restaurants within walking distance, between the hotels in the area, and the Epcot Pavilion. We really like the French bistro there. Or we take a shuttle to Downtown Disney and there are a ton more to choose from.

 

But if you're not careful, Disney could easily cost more than a river cruise. :D They make it very easy to spend money!

 

Enjoy it!

[Lois R]

Good morning JP:)............we are going to stay at the CONTEMPORARY and right now Disney is having specials for FLorida Residences so we both qualify for that too:D.........it saves about 57.00 per night.:)....we are going for 3 nights.

 

Truthfully, I am just thinking about saying....---...you know...can't post it on here, but a new 4 Seasons has opened and I am actually thinking of really splurging and staying there;) but then I look at the price and not so sure LOL......I think staying

inside the park will be fun. Don't have to drive anywhere:D

[UKCruiseJeff]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Lately I have been pondering the notion of fate and I am interested in hearing the viewpoints of Cooler denizens. Not related to religious beliefs although viewpoints may well be influenced by them. Is our destiny written in the stars before we even draw our first breath? Are life challenges designed to provide lessons which we are doomed to repeat until we learn them? Is the wheel of fortune or misfortune random? I have been blessed with a relatively easy life. There have been bumps along the road of course. The most recent challenge is more like a crater. I feel like I have been taken by the nape, given a vigorous shake and dropped into the abyss. I'm not looking for reasons why this is happening. I think that would be a useless exercise. I am more interested in how others view the challenges we all face at one time or another. Not to make sense of them. More to develop a mindset to deal with them.

 

Thanks for any input you feel comfortable providing!

 

Food pics are beautiful JP and J! :)

 

Have a great day all!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hi M,

 

I really could bore for Britain on the topic you raise, so in deference I won't. :D

 

The only rationale that I have realised that answers everything for me is realising that the hidden meanings and answers to life you seek is illusory because there is no meaning to life other than we are given the opportunity to be here for a short while and are offered the chance to soak it in and make of it what we will and can. And that "life" is on every front is a combination of the randomness of the choices you make and the circumstances that you find yourself - and they are all random - and others place you in and your choices are made in spite of the lack of foresight you will have or not. Many who find the randomness and lack of a predefined plan seek a greater meaning for life and find their solace and peace in religion because it has a defined set of rules and route maps with the reassurance of people in uniform in large places telling us what to do. If you have a religion you are spared thought and decisions, because you simply follow the formula on the pack and then you will be taken care of. For example, people struggle with the concept that we die and that is it, and that is why so many adopt religions or philosphies that fill the vacuum and give them hope that things aren't as dire and final as they actually are.

 

If you accept that there is no meaning to life whatsoever and that you are born, you live and you die and that in the middle bit ie "life" is the opportunity granted and it is how you share whatever joy there is, then to me (at least) everything else falls very neatly and understandably into place and makes perfect sense. The only people that seem confused are those that think this philosphy is far too simplistic and often too unfair and they therefore spend (waste) their time looking for some deeper meaning to it all than there is. The reason why they never find that "reason" is because it isn't there. Accepting life for what it is however, give you th opportunity of enjoying each moment for ewhat it is ie a moment without the baggage of constantly rationalising. :)

[mysty]

Thanks J! I am definitely working in the direction of the view of life you are describing (i.e. the randomness and lack of reason or deep meaning to life). The acceptance part of that is the difficult bit. I am not complaining and I refuse to wallow in self pity. Others are suffering more than I am and I recognize that. I am trying to find a way to suck the goodness out of life and to deal with the bitter taste that adds depth to the flavour. Thanks for sharing this J!

[UKCruiseJeff]

M, perhaps because of the current situation you are trying to reconcile how unfair life can be and (for example) how do we explain why decent good innocent people suffer and why others much less worthy and nastier do not. Making sense of the unfairness of life is attempting to rationalise the irrational. However clever you are, you never will.

 

My suggestion addresses it perfectly. Life is not "fair" because it is to a far greater extent than many seem able to cope with - random. We might be able to increase our chances of something or other but we certainly rarely have 100% control over anything. There are far to many other people and circumstances that behave randomly for us to have much control over most things. For that reason I am able to enjoy how wonderful lunch is with wifey every day. If you don't have the burden of feeling that you should be doing something more useful or important with your time then you are left with the joy and beauty of the current moment and even savouring it for what it is. If you can say "at this very moment I am reasonably healthy and reasonably happy and I am not really fearful of anything" then appreciating that should really be a wonderful thing. Fretting about everything else is what really does you in. :)

[mysty]

Thanks J! This is beginning to make more and more sense to me. And the fretting is what is doing me in. There really is nothing I can do to affect even the smallest bit of the current challenge. And yet it seems to have taken over my thoughts. Distractions work for about a New York minute before the flood of fret returns full force. I think I will put the fret down on paper and then shred it. I really need to recover some equilibrium. Onwards and upwards!

[MLeh]

Mysty: my philosophy, for what it is worth, is that as much as we like to think that we are in control, we cannot control all that happens to us. But, we can control how we react to what happens to us.

 

I hope writing it down and shredding it works for you! The visual is a good one: when the fret reappears, just mentally shred it again!

 

 

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[mysty]

Thanks so much MLeh! I do agree that the illusion of control does more harm than good. My mental shredder is up and running. Looking at a beautiful forest and not the trees.

[Bill B]

We are made of 'star stuff'. We are the universe in a quest to understand its self.

[Emtbsam]

Having faced a major abyss ten years ago, I realized that for me, the most important thing was to enjoy TODAY and not worry about tomorrow. I can't be sure of the future, but I can seize the day. In fact, I have etched Carpe Diem on my coffee mug! It works for me, and I am still here ten years on!

[Mudhen]

Mysty,

I'm so very sorry to hear you are involved in some tough sledding.....Please know that I'm thinking of you, and only of positive thoughts....

Speaking of sledding.....I'm in Newport RI, pooch sitting for our daughter. The forecast was for a few flurries last night. I'm now seeing about 4-5" of "flurries" and the wind is blowing the dog off the chain! Will need to get the shovel out and dig out the car, something I hadn't planned on! It's supposed to be over (pleeez!!!) this am around 10. It hasn't been a beautiful week, weather wise. Grey, rain, fog and cold...oh, and did I say FOG?!!!! Yuck. Snow is adding insult to injury....Will head home tomorrow am to John and Snitch....

Getting sick of winter....still a long way to go. Guess it's time for more cruise videos in my head!

Have a good day, all.....

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Emtsbam....thanks for the optimism! That is in short supply and obviously I need to add more "goodness" to the hope bucket. To begin my day I am savouring my first morning coffee in peace and quiet and adding that to the bucket.

 

Mudhen....thanks for your kind thoughts. Those do go a ways to the contents of the bucket! :) Safe travels home!

 

Have a great day all!

[Camillus112]

Mudhen, safe travel home. We are also getting pounded in the Syracuse area and I barely made it to the gym this morning. Mysty, you are being lifted by all our good thoughts; you are both strong and sensitive and that makes you a great person to have as a virtual friend. Enjoy YOUR day!

[mysty]

Thanks so much Cam! More goodness to add to my bucket! :) Stay warm!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good Morning Coolers,

 

There are few jobs in life that takes more self-disciplain and soul searching and perceived sacrifice than having a freezer clearout. :(

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! Another frosty morning here with temp of 3 F. And snow this afternoon.

 

 

And I found some music to clean out the freezer by. :) From Nunsense:

 

 

 

Be brave J! :)

 

Have a great day all!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Crevettes paella with garlic flatbread and Gruner ..... and tulips ..[img

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FC42HAA/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Camillus112]

Oh Jeff, paella marinara, how lovely! Puts me in the mood for our trip to Seville in March. Beautiful tulips...when will I get to enjoy them after this horrid winter...

[jpalbny]

I was partial to the Grüner myself. Love that stuff. But the shrimp looked delish too.

 

The tulips are pretty. Our amaryllis bulb didn't survive the summer so we didn't have that around to brighten our winter this year. I really missed it. Had managed to keep it for a few years and it had become huge.

 

I enjoyed the discussion on fate, destiny, etc. Haven't had the time to think out a good response but hopefully I will. Too busy trying to finish the trip blog.

 

Anybody see the eclipse? Was too cloudy here.

 

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[mysty]

J...the paella extravaganza looks awesome! And I also love the tulips! We have a Canadian Tulip Festival here in May every year.

 

http://www.tulipfestival.ca/

 

 

"Ottawa’s multi-award winning flagship festival since 1953, the Canadian Tulip Festival is one of the largest events of its kind in the world celebrating the Capital’s official flower as a symbol of international friendship and peace. The Canadian Tulip Festival is produced by the Canadian Tulip Legacy, a non-profit charitable organization established to celebrate the historic Royal gift of tulips from the Dutch to Canadians as a symbol of international friendship while preserving the legacy of the role of the Canadian troops in the liberation of Europe, and the birth of Dutch Princess Margriet in Ottawa during World War II—the only royal personage ever born in Canada."

 

JP....your blog is a really wonderful read! And the pictures are amazing! Thanks for bringing wonder to the Forum! And when the spirit moves it would be interesting to read your take on the fate/destiny topic. :)