A new wild ride every month

/ March 18, 2016

In October 2010, my dear wife Karen and I took our dream vacation. To celebrate our anniversary, we hopped on a plane to her hometown of Los Angeles and stayed a night so we could poke around her old haunts some. The next morning went to the LA airport to meet Syracuse friends Julie and Aaron, who’d gone to visit his LA-area-living mom. And we all boarded the jet to Honolulu, where we got on the Norwegian ship for eight nights of island-hopping in paradise.

I bought a Hawaiian-themed calendar as one of Karen’s Christmas presents for four years straight as a marvelous reminder.

But this year we cut down on the gift-giving, and that was one of the items I cut. My hopes were to pick it up at the temporary kiosk at Syracuse mega shopping, dining and entertainment complex Destiny USA. But when Karen and I arrived there in early January, they’d sold out of the Hawaii calendar. Apparently, we’re not the only Central New Yorkers who get our island fix flipping monthly.

Karen said she’d repeatedly spotted a suitable, similar-sized replacement hanging out for the taking at SMG, apparently sent in a pile through a business relationship.

Colorful, yes.

Colorful, yes.

On the wall it went.

Yes, that mood.

Yes, that mood.

Its black-and-white photo caught January around these parts very well.

My dear wife loves sunflowers.

My dear wife loves sunflowers.

When we flipped to February, the sunflower jumped off the wall. Perfect. That particular flower will always be dear to my wife. It was the favorite of beloved daughter Danielle.

Ready for the big season.

Ready for the big season.

March’s turn was a wild spiral of a ride.

This is one colorful calendar.

I refuse to look ahead, preferring to discover what we’ll have on our kitchen wall one turn of the page at a time.

Next year, I do believe 12 months of Hawaii may be back on my gift-giving list. No offense, new calendar company.

What’s your favorite calendar theme, and why? Where do you place a calendar if you use one, and why? Where is your dream vacation, and why?

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36 thoughts on “A new wild ride every month”

  1. I love calendars Mark – such beautiful photography and so much thought goes into each picture – after all each photo stays in place for a whole month and favorite pictures are sometimes cherished for decades.And generally they are quite reasonably priced , many are given away. I am drawn to nature focused pictures of scenery or animals. I think one of my all time favorites was one of all big cats in their natural environment. Fascinating picture of the tree in the snowstorm on your calendar.

    On a metaphorical basis it also fascinates me to equate emotional reactions from pictures with the passing of time. There is something very solid there that I suspect is related to the very structure of the universe. I believe that the space/time continuum is an expression of the integration of emotions. So time was created to give us an opportunity manipulate our environment and interactions to produce love. That in turn allows us to create ourselves by choice. Ha! And all that from a calendar.

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  2. That’s a beautiful calendar. I always make calendars as Christmas presents with pics of our kids on it for my husband, Grandma and one for myself. It kind of makes me relive the year we had whenever I turn a page over.

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  3. We also prefer Hawaii each year, too. Right now, there is a Psalm one with a picture of flowers and Denmark (behind this monitor screen). It’s good that you are patient and haven’t skipped ahead!

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  6. I can see why you’ll go back to Hawaii calendars.
    For about 20 years, I was heavily dependent on my Mary Engelbreit week by week calendars. Then we moved here. Now I am out of the habit of calendars. I kinda need to get back into the habit. My brain and my phone aren’t really working as well…

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  9. i’m not a big calender person, but used to love the far side ones. dream vacations – ireland (going this summer), cuba, vancouver/banff and most anywhere.

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  10. I tend to buy calendars with puppy or dog photos. But some of the calendars I get from work are gorgeous – I received one last year from a land surveyor which not only had beautiful photos of the local countryside, but also some very thought-provoking inspirational sayings.

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  14. I have two favorite calendar themes bro Mark, one of recipes on the kitchen wall next to the counter, and another with puppies next to my desk in the office/craft room. I get the same recipe calendar every year from the same pharmacy, but the puppies come from different places, depending on which ones are the cutest.
    Hey! I can’t believe I caught you this morning. Just feeling better today and managed to get a post off and start on my reader before the world crashes around me, and here you are too. So good morning little brother, have a good day, and a wonderful weekend. Hope you have the weekend off, and you can enjoy it with Karen. BTW, I think you’ll enjoy the Hawaiin calendar more than the one you have now. And just a hint, if you can’t find the Hawaiian one, try for a sunflower-filled one, just for Karen. Okay?

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      • Big changes for you, huh bro Mark? Do you at least have a small bottle of sand from Hawaii? Or ocean water. Memories will always be with you — and Karen will remind you. And you can grab some paint and brushes and play Picasso any time you get the urge. Even I can be a modern Picasso if I don’t have to stay between the lines.
        I have my good days and bad days, but the good outweighs the bad by miles and miles, so that makes it all worth while. Keep smiling little brother.

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