Hello and welcome to part 25 of our journey to North Carolina.
Today in our travels we made time to swing into Durham NC to check out historical and acclaimed Duke University. This place had sentimental value to us because one of our family members attended the University as well as a friend of ours.
After enjoying some time here, we stopped for some groceries before moving on to the “Farm Country Campground” in Williamston, NC on our east bound trek to the Outer Banks. This was just the place for us to settle in as the tornado watch ended and we rolled out our awning for the first time and put our feet up to enjoy the cool of the evening. We were so relaxed here we decided to stay longer and soak up the relaxation.
Well this is it for today. We hope you come back and see how the trip unfolds as we share more of the USA Through Our Eyes. Until then be safe.
My pleasure. 🙂
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That’s our Emma girl. Sometimes she thinks she’s a flower child, I mean flower dog, lol.
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I love that photograph of your dog amongst the flowers. It is really a lovely picture. Looks so restful.
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Thanks Mathias.
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Sounds and looks like a naturally energizing environment. Wish you a lot of energy!:-)
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Thank you Anne.
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Beautiful pictures! The flowers make the place look so inviting. It’s so peaceful, perfect place to write and relax. I especially love the photograph of the sky. Magnificent!
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Awesome.
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🙂
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Thank you, Audrey! I’m so glad you found it to be a good resource and that we both “got” the connection to yours and Tom’s work. That is wonderful!
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It is Theresa and we have placed it on our browser favorites list. We spent yesterday afternoon learning from Maira Kalman. What a truly fascinating woman. Her perspective is genius. As I was playing and reading the interview Tom was in the background savoring every part of the interview. To think how you thought of us to share with truly touched us Theresa. You are amazing!!!!!
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I think that On Being would be a great fit for you. Krista TIppett comes from a spiritual context, and I have gotten a lot of different things from her podcast. – side note, it’s nice to have access to the “unedited” versions, but I usually listen to the edited one. I’m excited to know you might be enjoying more of Krista’s work!
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Thank you Dawn. It was such a beautiful area as was all of North Carolina. It is nice that you made time to talk with us and open lines between us.
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This has been so informative for us Theresa. Tom and I are now exploring “On Being” with Krista Tippett and the interview with Maira Kalman. We are thoroughly enjoying it! You have given us one more key to unlock yet another door into writing. Thank you, thank you!!!!
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Oh, I’m so glad my story touched you in the way I was hoping for. I, too, had tears in my eyes when I heard her speak this quote. I was madly jotting it down for you. As a side note, when I searched for the link to her interview, I discovered Krista Tippett has a transcription of the interview on the On Being website, so in case you want to just read it through, it’s there. And about sharing others’ stories, not only are you learning about, and being in, their daily lives, you have found a perfect voice to share and express those lives to us. Kudos!
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i love durham! your photos are gorgeous.
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Wow this is great! Retirement after that many years will be a joyful break. You’ve done your time and now you’ll be able to do things on your schedule. We gotta warn you though, you’re going to be busier then you were because everything you do will be because you wanna do it. We just love those next chapters in life. The first part of life we do what we have too and the next ones we do are because we want too.
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Yes, family did a stint at Duke on the way to becoming a Dr. and a dear friend came out of there pursuing a career in human relations. What beautiful grounds. Did you do some time there?
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Yes we do, The hubby is retiring after 26 yrs almost 27! I don’t think we’ll be able to stay still for to long though. I hope to be able to travel like you do!….I love reading about your travels.
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Wonderful post – duke alum in the fan – huh?
The clover photo is outstanding – and woof to the dog pics!
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Theresa as we read your comment we literally had tears of joy in our eyes. What Maira Kalman is doing so wonderfully is exactly what we are wanting to do. We know we have a long way to go but that’s okay because all good things take time. It is so special that you see what our hopes are. Wow, you have so much discernment. So often as we’re walking away from people that have shared a piece of their life with us we ask ourselves how can we carry their message to our readers. Each of them is always happy for us to share their story. Yes, you so well noted that our hope is to bring back that inside view so we can all understand how we have a common shared experience with them. We can’t wait to follow the link you provided to hear and learn more. You Theresa have touched us so wonderfully today! Thank you!
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So true.
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It is so pretty there Toni. You and your husband would love it. This is what we enjoy about traveling is our eyes get opened to so much. You both must travel a great deal in your service to our Country?
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Hello Tom & Audrey! I heard an interview today with Maira Kalman, a visual artist who does covers for the New Yorker, among other things. Something she said really struck me as being exactly what you are doing with your travel and blogging, that is, seeking out, and hearing, other people’s stories, in a way that breaks down the barriers of prejudice and biases about “otherness” that we all seem to have. I wrote down her quote:
“. . . People are leading very particular and very complex lives, and you can’t just make blanket statements, generalizations fly out the window. . . and every human being is a human being. People who you think you might have absolutely nothing in common with, philosophically, or just on a daily level, you find out there’s a tremendous amount of contact [shared common experience]. It might be so obvious to say that, but I don’t think that you can appreciate that until you actually go, and live that. . . . really, we can have a conversation about that and find the common humanity.”
And I thought, this is what you are doing. You are going out, and not only do you go out into the neighborhoods and communities where people live, you seek out their stories and you fully listen to them. And then, you bring back to us an inside view of the particular and complex lives that they are living, so that we can understand how we also have a common shared experience with them.
And, guess what, I think that is the foundation for world peace. Thank you. It is very special what you are doing, and I just wanted you to know that.
– T
p.s. The interview I heard was “On Being” with Krista Tippett, interviewing Maira Kalman, https://onbeing.org/programs/
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Those are great photos but I have to say that dogs and sunsets will always will.
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I’ve always heard how beautiful it is there. The horizon picture is gorgeous!
The pictures tell a great story I feel peaceful just looking at them.
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🙂
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Thank goodness!
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I can tell!
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Thank you Sharon. That’s our 8 year young rescue chocolate lab Emma girl. She travels everywhere with us. Its funny how the 3 of us make it work in our travel van because as you can suspect there ain’t a lot of room inside so there’s a constant dance going on. Folks along the way seem to really like her which leads into some great conversations and stories. Thank you for asking and making time to share with us.
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Thank you Theresa. It was such a serene place.
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🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂 You are so welcome! Yess!
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Gorgeous flowers and what a cute dog! What’s his or her name? I have not seen a photo until now.
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Oh! Daisy looks so comfy amid the clover. And the photo of Emma – a classic. Not to mention that stunning sky photo at the end – wow. Lovely article!
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Couldn’t agree more.
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They are smart aren’t they. Emma will take her Frisbee and jam it into our butts when we’re sitting on the chairs. Or she’ll take her little snout and poke it under our armpits or in our hands. Its her way of saying its time to walk and sniff the air while she sniffs the ground.
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Thank you Miriam. Its great being able to see where each other has been and learn from the journeys.
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It helps that there are two of you (and Emma). Tink seems to have figured out that bopping my mouse arm makes the cursor fly across the screen to get my attention. Smart little buggers, these doggies of ours.
xx,
mgh
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We love the razzing. Isn’t it something how laptops and smart phones have become such a part of our lives. We set limits on being on them because otherwise one could get lost in cyberspace. There is so much stuff out there and we sometimes get on a “rabbit trail” and it takes us hither and yon. There’s been a few times when the lid gets suddenly closed on the laptop followed by a mischievous chuckle and words to the effect of oops did I do that, lol.
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Beautiful photos. Love seeing your country through your eyes
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Thanks Annica.
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No we’re safe from the storms. We’ll wait to head into Florida until the Governor lifts the travel bans that are in effect.
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Thanks Ann. Yes we’re hoping also that all will be well and are optimistic it will be.
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I do – I was just razzing you a bit about the photo with the laptops. It made me smile in recognition.
xx,
mgh
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So lovely! 🙂
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It’s so pretty there! You’re not in any danger from the storms, are you?
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Good news that your family is safe, there are so many people without electra an there is a lot of water, I hope with you that everything coming allright. Emma look everywhere very nice. Thinking of you, Ann.
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Thank you Madelyn for your encouragement. We rest and blog and finding the balance is what we continually work on. You know what we mean with that effort, lol.
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Good morning Ann. It is so nice knowing you follow events here in the US. Yes, hurricane Irma is 1000 miles south of us in Florida. We have family there is the path of the hurricane and thank God they are safe. We were on our way there this past Friday morning when we got word that traffic to the state was no longer being permitted.
Emma loved posing in the flowers for all to see. She is such a ham in front of the camera.
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This is nice for us to hear Oristel. Thank you. It is so nice having you along with us on our journeys.
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GORGEOUS photos (as always). But I thought you were *relaxing* (not blogging – lol)
xx,
mgh
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What a lovely photos from a relaxed time Tom and Audrey, it looks so peaceful with Emma in the flowers. Here in the Netherlands we follow the news about the terrible hurricane Irma and ofcorse we think on Nine Eleven, I think you both do this also. I no our lives go on, but on this day I stand still a while. Warm greetings, Ann.
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Yeah! I could imagine! I love your blog because it encourages me to travel!!!
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It was so peaceful Oristel. We could have sat there for days.
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Yes the calm before the storm.
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Wowwww! I want to go to the farm!
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love the flower field photos! It just looks so idyllic and peaceful … apparently before the storm! haha 🙂
Gorgeous shots!
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