I am once again home in Indiana..home to a yard full of fallen leaves..bright
sunshine..and frost on the ground. I have, however, spent the day unpacking
from my Sister Cruise. There are four sisters, and we spent the week along
with our parents on the Grand Princess traveling out of Galveston Port to
Cozumel and Costa Maya and back again to Galveston. It is quite a feat to get us
all together..my sister, Jo, started the arrangements almost a year ago...we
come from Fort Wayne, Indiana; Salida, Colorado; Houston, Texas; my parents from
North of Houston and I come from Northern Indiana.

night sky of diamonds
aurora borealis
embracing lovers

It was my first cruise so I was a bit overwhelmed with the massive size of
the ship...the activities..it is a little bit like a floating hotel. We all
have different interests and went our separate ways occasionally. I attended all
the dance classes...spent time listening to the musicians in the atrium
area...there was always quartet music or piano music...I became a musical groupie.
There were other classes..how NOT to gain 15 pounds on the trip, and one at
the end of the week on what do to if you did not attend the first seminar and
did, indeed, gain 15 pounds on the trip! But by late afternoon we joined each
other for high tea in the DaVinci dining room....we were served tea and scones
and small sandwiches and cakes and shared the events of the day...my sister,
Lee, is a definite tea drinker and looked forward to that event every day.

dinner story time
round table of four daughters
do you remember?

Evenings were spent together as we joined up in Mom and Dad's room (they had
a balcony!) for a glass of wine and then had dinner together. We had dinner
every evening in the same dining room at the same table so we all just fell in
love with our servers...one from Cancun..one from Romania. We spent dinner
time laughing and telling stories and eating four and five courses (remember,
this followed afternoon tea!!) Dinner lasted at least two hours every evening.
I was again overwhelmed at the sight and sounds of the dinner hour. When we
were kids growing up dinner hour was sacred. There were candles and flowers
and cloth napkins..and we could not take phone calls and even callers at the
front door...so this was alot like being home again.

dinner shoes of red
time..like droplets of white sand
we are together

We spent two days in port..Cozumel and Costa Maya...Cozumel has greatly been
influenced by the cruise ships that are now coming regularly in
port...catering to tourists with shopping and even sporting a Burger King and McDonalds..but
Costa Maya is still pretty much untouched. We took a taxi (?) to
town...drank beer in a thatched shed with a sandy floor...watched school children in gym
class on the beach..took supplies to the school..thanks to Jo who never
forgets any of the finer details...swam in the crystal clear waters...Leslie got a
massage under the palm trees listening to the other sisters talk in the
shade....donkeys passed by...merchants with baskets on their heads selling banana
chips..I bought handkerchiefs for all of us from a women who had embroidered them
all by hand and stopped me on the street...it was a place and time that we
did not want to leave.

blazing southern sun
sweat pours over my sunscreen
where is my T-shirt?

We spent late night evenings dancing or playing with the slot machines in the
casino..Jo and Leslie did pretty well..Lee and I were simply entertaining!
Mom and Dad headed back to their lovely room to let us all party late. It is
enchanting to have parents that are in love with each other.

I unpacked this morning. I have my photographs on my shelf...my new sister
shawl (we all have matching shawls!) on a chair in my dining room so I can
remember everything each time I look at it (or wear it!)..and I do have some white
sand in my suitcase! I am playing some lovely Spanish music, and I am already
deeply saddened to have the trip over. All my sisters have gone home to
their families...I have come home to the House at White Picket Gardens. Mom and
Dad are back in Houston.

Don't forget to keep up with my blog site on my web, www.louannhoman.com.
Today's writing is my haiku written on the ship in the evenings watching
everyone stroll by as I listened to the music that I love. Until next time, love to
all, Lou Ann

dancing through the night
my sisters and I
hold the wine glass high