- As we entered we showed our ticket (on our phone only, no printouts allowed) to a couple of greeters who would write down the section, row, and seat number on a post-it and gave it to us.
- Next you showed your ticket on your phone to the ticket taker who scanned the QR code.
- Next you gave your phone to another person who locked it in a bag and returned it to you. The Yondr bag, larger than the phone, no longer fit in your pocket and had to be carried in your hand.
- You showed the post-it to the ushers who took you to your seat.
Homer's Travels
Thursday, April 03, 2025
Music: Bob Dylan And The Band At The Orpheum
Monday, March 31, 2025
Guatemala 2025 - Days Thirteen And Fourteen - Ending On A Good Note
Saturday - 02/22 - Tikal
Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast, and watched the oddball attendees of the Tikal Convergence who were staying at our hotel. The people attending were shamans, shaman wanna bes, and shaman cosplayers. The colorful costumes and flowing fabric was an overload for the senses and common sense.
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A ceiba tree. |
Our tour guide spoke great English and we were in a small group. We entered the park and walked past the enormous ceiba trees to the main temple complex.
It felt a bit smaller than I remember but I was a bit smaller back then so everything felt bigger. Our guide gave us time to wander around the two main temples and the adjacent structures. Since I was here last they'd built a wooden staircase and platform on one of the temples to make it easier to climb. It started showering while we were there but it didn't interfere with us enjoying the temples.
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The temple complex seen from the top of one of the temples. |
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The top of the jungle with several temples poking above the treetops. |
We returned to Guatemala City and spent our last night in Guatemala.
Sunday - 02/23 - Returning Home
We had a relaxing morning at the hotel before going to the airport for our afternoon flight home. The return was uneventful.
Epilogue
I was somewhat concerned about visiting the country where I'd grown up. My memories of this place were a messy amalgamation of good and bad. My high school years were not the best for me. I worried I would sink into a gloomy place but that never happened. I found myself enjoying return to my old haunts even if I couldn't visit my old house.
Things change and a lot has changed in Guatemala. Most of the changes, I suspect, are more a result of foggy memory than actual change. The City definitely was more built up but the countryside, besides the fast food signs, was what I remembered. The roads were better and towns had grown. The influence of tourism, especially in the western Mayan Highlands, was more pronounced.
The new parts, for me, were disappointing. The eastern part of the country still hasn't been prepared for foreign tourism yet. As a result, our experience during our second week was a bit lackluster. It was also unfortunate, and beyond anyone's control, that the rain in Rio Dulce ruined what could have been a highlight of the trip.
The Wife dragged me kicking and screaming back to the country of my teenage years and I am very grateful she did.
Pictures can be found in my 2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Weekly Ephemera #137
- I walked three times this week. They were relatively short but I am working my way back up to longer distances after the long break I had. I managed to walk 20.75 miles (33.4 km).
- On Friday we turned on the air conditioner for the day because we hit a high of 81℉ (27℃). On Friday night the heat was switched back on as the week ahead will be a more chilly seasonal temperature. Saturday it rained and was gloomy all day but, with the warmer temperatures and the wet weather, things are starting to green up, another sign of Spring.
- I started watching "Daredevil: Born Again" this week. It has the same cast as the Netflix Daredevil series which makes me happy. I liked the original series and this one, so far, is just as good.
Monday, March 24, 2025
Guatemala 2025 - Days Eleven And Twelve - One Good ... One Not So Much
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A carved altar at Quiriguá. |
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A procession of leafcutter ants. |
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A Quiriguá Stele. |
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The canons of fort San Felipe de Lara. |
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A parting photo of the hotel bungalows. |
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Even the Livingston sign looked tired and weary. |
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Lake Petén Itzá through the jungle from our hotel balcony. |
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Weekly Ephemera #136
- The first half of this week was dedicated to chores. I paid the first half of our property taxes on Monday and did some overdue cleaning on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- We probably had our last snow of the season appropriately on the last day of astronomical Winter on Wednesday. It snowed, the wind blew most of the day, and I had my one and only chance to use the snowblower this Winter.
- On Thursday I got my stent (installed during my kidney stone procedure) removed. The odd sensation I'd felt for the past week or so was gone immediately. The doctor suggested that a lot of people have a hard time with their stents but it wasn't much of anything for me. Next follow up is an ultrasound next month.
- With the stent removed I went for a walk on Friday. Unlike my last walk, I felt fine this hike proving that what I'd felt the last time was, in fact, the stent. I walked 8.4 miles (15.6 km). Unfortunately this destroyed my legs probably because it had been forty-five days since I did a 'real' hike. Next week I intend to get back to my three walks per week schedule.
- I haven't really watched anything special the last few weeks. Last night, after seeing a reference to it on social media, I watched the 1959 version of "On the Beach". It was good but I wouldn't want to watch it if you needed a pick-me-up. Most post-apocalyptic movies/shows I've seen have always had some amount of survivors. No matter how bad it was, life went on. Not in this movie. It ends with extinction and it's kinda depressing. (You may want to skip it if you are triggered by suicide.)
Thursday, March 20, 2025
2025 Spring Solstice
P.S. For those expecting a Guatemala Post, I am taking a brief break and will post the next one on Monday (probably).
Monday, March 17, 2025
Guatemala 2025 - Days Eight, NIne, And Ten - Things Move Sideways ... To The East
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The only bird we saw at the bird sanctuary ... not a Quetzal. |
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Waterfalls ... without Quetzals. |
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A tiny little orchid dwarfed by its leaf. |
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Another orchid, similar to the White Nun ... but not the White Nun. |
Spring water fed pools. |
The Cahabón river flows under the pools to the lower left. |
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The setting sun with a bungalow similar to ours silhouetted. |
Pictures can be found in my 2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.
Sunday, March 16, 2025
Weekly Ephemera #135
- I got back the prostate biopsy that was taken during my kidney stone removal. Unlike my first biopsy, performed in 2022, which found no evidence of prostate cancer, this biopsy showed Gleason score 6 prostate cancer in two of the twelve samples. The Gleason score goes from 6 to 10 with 6 meaning low/very low risk of growth/spreading of the cancer. The suggested treatment for this is watchful waiting. I will likely get biopsies annually from now on and my PSA will be monitored. If the Gleason score goes up, further treatment will likely be necessary. That said, it could take years for the cancer to progress, so I consider this just another sign of aging.
- Spring is quickly approaching and some of the first signs are making an appearance. This week several Robins, Redwing Blackbirds, and Mourning Doves made their first appearance in our backyard.
- Pre March madness madness has arrived at the Homer's Travel's household and the Wife will be spending some quality time in the She-Shed until all this basketball craziness is over.
- I went for a walk this week. I kept it short since only a week had passed since my kidney stone procedure. Due to some very mild discomfort (probably because of the temporary stent inserted during the kidney stone removal) I decided to hold off on walking until I get the stent removed later this week. I still managed to walk 5.6 miles (9.0 km).
- I hope everyone has a happy and safe Saint Patrick's Day tomorrow.
Friday, March 14, 2025
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Hope you all are having an irrational ℼ day.
Thursday, March 13, 2025
Guatemala 2025 - Days Six And Seven - Antigua
Saturday - 2/15 - The night of the candles.
We left lake Atitlán and drove to the old capital of Guatemala. Antigua was the Spanish capital of the region from the 1500s until 1773 when it received major damage from an earthquake. Three years later the capital was moved to where Guatemala City is currently located. Our guide/driver dropped us at our sprawling hotel.
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A small part of the plaza filled with candles. |
Sunday - 2/16 - A walking tour of Antigua.
The Wife got up at 5:00am and walked to the cathedral for Mass. When she returned around an hour and a half later we went to breakfast, checked out of our hotel, and met up with our driver/guide. He parked the van closer to the central plaza and, from there, we started a walking tour of Antigua. We visited churches, former churches used as hospitals, tree lined streets, old colonial buildings, and earthquake damaged ruins (both old earthquakes and the big one of 1976). Antigua was much more touristy than I remembered. Homes in some areas were very expensive. Everything felt bigger and more crowded than what I remembered. As we walked we noticed Fuego volcano burping smoke and ash.
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An earthquake damaged church. |
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An arch used by cloistered nuns to cross the street. |
Up to this point we'd visited places I 'd been before. We had a great guide who knew his stuff and was very talkative. The weather also cooperated. We really enjoyed what we'd seen and done and it was interesting to me seeing how things had changed and how my memory played tricks on me. Next week we would be going to places I'd never been before. I'd never been in the eastern part of Guatemala and everything we saw this week was in the west. I was really looking forward to seeing new things. Unfortunately the luck we'd had the first week did not continue during our second.
Pictures can be found in my 2025-02 Guatemala Google Photos album.