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An Alexander Calder sculpture welcomes concert goers to an unforgettable experience merging art, music and nature. Tippet Rise, six years in the making,  is gaining international acclaim for its invention, talent and originality. GLORIOUS CONCERT HALL, SCULPTURES, WORLD CLASS ARTISTS COMPLEMENT NATURE'S OWN GRAND STAGE AT TIPPET RISE Each piece of sculpture at Tippet Rise contributes an evocative voice to the complex. Here in the Olivier Barn, Stephen Talasnik's large wall sculpture gives a striking effect. Talasnik, born in Philadelphia and New York based, is one of the world-class contributors. STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER WHEN PETER  and Cathy Halstead began their search for  the perfect place to build their dream, they had one unifying goal. The place must inspire, with landscape that would enhance both the music dear to musician Peter's heart, and the visual arts which have long inspired Cathy's painting.   The property they ultimately settled on is a few miles above the tiny Montana town of Fishtail.  Still a working cattle ranch and once inspiration for well known Stillwater County painter Isabelle Johnson, the wide and sweeping landscape stirs the imagination and lifts the spirits. Marco Polo "Mark" di Suvero's looming piece is one of the stunning abstract expressionist sculptures gracing Tippet Rise. NOW WITH millions of dollars worth of sculpture -- and a concert hall whose impeccable acoustics delight the world's top musicians -- Tippet Rise indeed inspires. The project pays fitting tribute to the working ranch's late resident rancher and painter, Isabelle Johnson.  Some believe her ghost is riding high, waving her paint brush, smiling down on the Halsteads' unique endeavor. A world traveler, ahead of her time, Johnson studied in Europe, merging cutting edge technique with her own energy, curiosity and undeniable talent. So, too, do the Halsteads. Peter Halstead's own poetry entertains at Tippet Rise, where pre-concert talks and readings prepare viewers for an evening of enticing delights. Married for decades and friends since their teen-age years, the couple shared dreams and goals as their relationship and artistic tastes matured. They traveled the world, and studied at both Columbia University and New York University. Peter is an accomplished pianist and well published poet, with a wry wit and broad tastes.  He also possesses Pianist Anne Marie McDermott, interviewed by Peter Halstead, shares spirited anecdotes before her weekend concerts of Haydn and Mozart recently.  Halstead also writes erudite program notes. an enviable collection of Steinways which he plays, stores and shares at the art center. Cathy is a respected visual artist, who has shown in top galleries. Tippet Rise pays homage to both of their lifelong passions. 'MAJESTIC'  describes their collaboration -- grand artwork and enchanting concerts on 11,500 acres where cattle roam and sheep graze. As season two of the venture caps, one listens to Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn -- along with new-age percussion works -- performed on perfectly tuned instruments by artists who play the world's great concert halls. The concert goer ponders beauty on several levels -- both man made and wondrously spawned by nature.  Outside, seemingly at peace with the practiced sounds from within, deer graze beneath the cottonwoods, framed by the Olivier Barn's showcase windows.   http://www.whereiscookie.com/2016/07/tippet-rise-magic-arises-from.html TOURS TO  the sculptures are available, and a delightful restaurant serves healthy western fare created by Nick and Wendy Goldman of Wildflower Kitchen and Catering. Peter  Halstead shares his grand pianos, including Vladimir Horowitz's personal piano, which Eugene Istomin also played.  It resides at Tippet Rise, and is kept tuned for visiting artists. Beyond the summer concerts, specialty films, plays and operas are shared via cinema. Area university ensembles and community arts groups are invited to perform. Neighbors are invited to barbecue. Workshops are held throughout the season and an outreach director insures the community participates in and is kept abreast of the center's endeavors and global reach. Tippet Rise, named after Cathy's mother, merges landscape with the couple's lifelong commitment to the arts. The Halsteads' unique merger would surely please their ancestors -- philanthropists with a love of nature. http://www.whereiscookie.com/2016/06/tippet-rise-philanthropists-love-of.html Sweeping vistas draw the viewer in -- rolling hills, clouds  straight out of a fairy tale, and sculptures, each in its own space, not visible from the other. AS HEIRS  to the Grey Goose vodka fortune and other successful investments,  the Halsteads hired the world's best talent to shape their vision. We are the beneficiaries of their largesse.  The Halsteads' belief -- that art enriches the human experience, and that nature inspires both artists and aficionados -- will outlive us all. Meanwhile, we anxiously await season three. NEXT UP:  Oregon's lighthouses have long inspired, with their remarkable  architecture and time honored history of helping sailors, commerce and tourism.  We take you on a tour of some of the finest.  Remember to explore, learn and live and catch us Fridays when we post for each weekend a novel spin on the arts, nature and whatever else catches our eye!

AUF WIEDERSEHEN TO A BELOVED ICON: ACTOR, WRITER, CAT LOVER, GOURMET, GARDENER, TRANSLATOR, TRAVELER "The sun will rise and the moon will set and we learn how to settle for what we get. It will all go on if we're here or not, so who cares, so what." --  "So What?" from the score of "Cabaret"      STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Hannelore Carter, left, her longtime companion and "son of the heart," Jason Webinger, and Christene Meyers, at a reception following a play. SHE CALLED  herself "your Hannamama." We were devoted to one another and I just received the sad news of her passing. Although we shared no bloodline, we were connected by a mutual love of theater, travel, animals, literature and nature.  Her joie de vivre was contagious.  Folks said we had the same sparkle to our eyes and we both liked good gin. I shared her love of the eccentric -- in both humans and animals. We enjoyed gallows humor, puns and the French language. She loved the score of "Cabaret," in which we both acted, particularly the sardonic song "So What?" which she sang with gusto on and off stage. Hannelore Carter was my "heart mother." After my mum died seven years ago, I leaned on her. "I shall be your fairy godmother," she said. During our 47-year friendship, I wrote many stories about "Frau Carter" and her late husband, Constantine Carter.  We performed in plays together -- "Cabaret'' was a highlight, at Billings Studio Theater in 1977.  Hanna played Frau Romance blooms, then is crushed, in "Cabaret," in which Hannelore Carter  played Frau Schneider. Here, the  character  receives a pineapple from Herr Schulz.  Schneider, who runs a Berlin boarding house and falls in love with a Jewish grocer, Herr Schulz, during the Nazi rise to power. Bullied by the Nazis, the character declines marriage, betraying her heart and a chance for love. Her heartfelt portrait of the "Cabaret" character was drawn from personal experience. Hanna, born in Germany on Jan. 4, 1926, came to America in 1952. She'd lived through Hitler's hell and knew the sacrifice of war. Her father was killed during an Allied bombing, and she lost friends as an adolescent in Bavaria growing up between two world wars.  Like many of her contemporaries, she was a Hitler Youth, although her parents were quietly "anti-party," and had strong feelings about Hitler's reign of terror. She became a champion of human rights, had many gay friends and a curiosity for all cultures and creeds. Hannelore Carter's fondness for animals, and her clowning instinct, came together at "The Chalet," where she received guests, including Yorkies Nick and Nora.  It was a treasured retreat in the Beartooths.   HANNA, AS HER  American friends called her, loved to tell the story of meeting her future husband, a native New Yorker.  She'd come to America as an au pair girl and nanny, and was crossing a street near Central Park, pushing her young charge in a pram.  "I paused at a street corner, to consult my map," Hanna said.  "A neatly dressed gentleman approached me and said, 'Could I be of assistance?'  It was Con, of course. I said, 'Sir, I am not a pickup.' But I allowed him to walk me home." They dated, married the next year and remained together nearly 48 years, while Con pursued a long, successful career in the hotel business, from The Big Apple, to Denver, then Billings in 1955. Con was a fixture at the Northern Hotel until the late 1990s. Hanna nursed him through cancer, in the same home on Parkhill Drive in which she passed early Tuesday.  Her 89th birthday was Jan 4. HANNA COULD  clown -- her letters to me often ended with "your sour Kraut" -- but she had a sweet, deeply serious side and won awards for her acting, at BST and other theaters.  Memorable to this reviewer are her leading roles as the eccentric medium, Madame Arcati in "Blithe Spirit," and as the formidable German grandmother in "Lost in Yonkers."  Another favorite role was as the title character in "Mother Courage and her Children," by fellow dramatist and German, Bertolt Brecht. But she ranked her "Cabaret" role as tops and cherished the guidance of director Skip Lundby. "Hannamama" near Nye, with her hiking stick. From left: Christene Meyers, Bill Jones and Jason Webinger.  She was a tireless translator for German guests, including stranded or injured travelers whose lack of English presented a problem during Montana visits.  One middle-aged German tourist had a heart attack a few years ago while visiting Yellowstone Park.  Hanna navigated the red tape of his hospitalization, tended him and his wife daily, helped him recover and return to his homeland. HANNELORE  was an early-day member of Landmarks,  a Billings preservation and beautification society.  She was a talented gardener, terrific German cook, avid hiker, brilliant seamstress (no patterns), devoted swimmer, delightful letter writer and card maker, and creator of a playground of brick walkways and garden paths in her meticulously tended back yard.  She adopted abandoned animals, cultivating a fondness for orange and gray cats, and bestowing whimsical names. She loved our Yorkies, Nick and Nora, whom she referred to as "your fetching children." Besides acting, translating and volunteer work, Hanna taught for many years at Rocky Mountain College.  She wrote short stories and poetry, including eloquent odes to both of my late husbands, Bruce Meyers and Bill Jones.  She referred to Bruce as "Bruce the Great," (he was the emcee in our beloved "Cabaret" when I was head of the bawdy Kit-Kat Band).  She called Bill "our Billy Boy," and penned a portrait to him for his memorial at High Chaparral in the Beartooths.  Hannelore's moniker for Keller was "your Prince Charming."  She is my only "elder" who knew well all three of my life loves. Cookie's only photo of herself, her "bio mum," Ellen, and her "Hannamama." HER LONGTIME  companion and devoted friend was Jason Webinger, who was with her when she passed Tuesday morning. "I promised her I'd be there until the end," he said, with emotion. He held her hand through her last night, administering the morphine hospice prescribed.  She called him "my son of the heart," and he was her confidant, dinner companion, traveling mate, power of attorney and, finally, her loving caretaker.  Jason called Hanna "my soul mate, my dearest friend."  He shared her father's Oct. 15 birthday, which they celebrated with great gusto. Jason and Hannelore loved their hillside perch at "The Chalet," which they built together in Cathedral Mountain near Nye. There they hung their paintings, artwork and  treasures from lifetimes of travel. She hoisted a red, white and blue banner on the porch, proud of her nearly 63 years on American soil, which she celebrated on her 60th year here with a 2012 party. Hanna was an only child, as was Con. They had one daughter, Heidi, who kept vigil with her mother and "adopted brother" Jason, these past weeks, traveling from her job in Iowa. HANNELORE  specified there be no obituary, but as Jason told me today, "Of course, she wanted you to write something." As a fitting memorial, I'll make a donation in her name to the Humane Society. My heart is heavy, Hannamama.  Auf wiedersehen.  You told me, "It doesn't mean good-bye. It The famed Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia is next up. We photographed it, sailed under it and climbed up it! means until we meet again." COMING UP :  We bumped the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge features to pay tribute to our dear friend Hannelore Carter, who died Tuesday. We'll resume our travel and theater specials WEDNESDAY, giving this eulogy appropriate view time and Cookie a few days to mourn. Remember to enjoy, learn and live, as Hannamama did. Visit us Wednesdays and weekends at www.whereiscookie.com

A mother's love of all things theatrical inspires lifelong affection for drama, movies, costumes and the Land of Make Believe  Rudolph Valentino inspired the writer's mum's sense of drama. "I'm the sheik of Araby (without no pants on) Your love belongs to me (without no pants on) At night when you're asleep  (without no pants on) Into your tent I'll creep (without no pants on)......" STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER and archives SHE WAS  always my first birthday caller. She'd burst into the traditional "Happy Birthday" song, always adding in her perfect-pitch mezzo: "Without no pants on.  And many more." Ellen Nystul Cosgriffe class valedictorian photo, 1945. The writer's parents, Ellen and Richard Cosgriffe, in the late 1940s. I understood the "and many more" part. Lots of people add that little footnote. Robbie,  Ellen, Cookie frolicking on board the QEII. But the "without no pants on" part -- what the heck did that mean? After more than six decades of wondering, I decided to find out as my mother's own Aug. 27 birthday approaches. So here goes:  That little addendum, "without no pants on," forever part of our family tradition,  refers to the song, "The Sheik of Araby." It was written six years before my mother's birth, in 1921, by Harry B. Smith and Francis Wheeler who composed it in response to the wild popularity of Rudolph Valentino and his "Sheik" films.  Mums was a huge Valentino fan. THE SONG  lived on long after Valentino's untimely demise, and  Don Albert's band recorded the first parody version with the chant "Without no pants on" between the lines of lyrics. Cookie and her mum, Ellen, had tons of fun, here singing "Side by Side." Fats Waller, Rosey Clooney, Spike Jones and many others -- including the Marx Bros and the Beatles -- recorded their versions. Valentino died young, in his twenties, almost a year to the day of my mother's birth. He'd been in that great casbah in the sky for a year when Ellen Betty Nystul, was born Aug. 27, 1927, the only daughter of Gustav and Olive. As a child, she looked much like Shirley Temple with fetching curls and that same precocious talent.  She could sing and tap dance, play trumpet and violin.  She learned piano in a day, watching her mother, my talented gram, play. She was drum majorette, tap dancer, ballerina (I have her toe shoes, a red pair and a beige.) STILL A TODDLER,  she began her lifelong love of theater, costumes, singing. Valentino's sense of style inspired Ellen, and a parody with  the famous "without no pants on."  When we Cosgriffes were growing up, we entertained in our small Montana town. The late Jim Annin ("They Gazed on the Beartooths" author and city father) often introduced us, "The Countless Cosgriffes." Ellen's memorial was a theatrical family affair. It began with just two Cosgriffes -- "Cookie and Peny" -- and grew to include the whole family.  My mother always dreamed we would be a Rocky Mountain version of the Von Trapp family, singing a western "Edelweis" to an enraptured audience. WE PERFORMED  cuttings from popular Broadway shows of the day:  "Oklahoma" (I was Ado Annie, the girl "who cain't say no") and "My Fair Lady" (my brother Rick was a reluctant Henry Higgins, complete with English accent; we females were the extras -- flower girls in Covent Garden, the hatted Ascot horse-race ladies. Peny was picked to sing "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" to my piano accompaniment. In a sketch from "Annie Get Your Gun," we wore western duds for a bang-up "Doing What Comes Naturally.") Ellen's later years included theatrics and lots of dogs. Mum dressed us alike for our 1964 trip to the East Coast and the New York World's Fair, hoping, I presume, that we'd be discovered by a news photographer from NBC.  I remember one of our outfits well:  black and white t-shirts, black shorts and smart little red scarves. One afternoon, we walked from our hotel, the Waldorf Astoria, to Rockefeller Center.  We sang "Give My Regards to Broadway" on a street corner, to amused New Yorker smiles. Ellen also enjoyed hats and wore this one to her granddaughter's wedding. MUM HAD  dyed all our hair red --  hers was already a brilliant henna and my sister Peny had an authentic, gorgeous naturally red mane.  Mine was not red enough for mum, so she touched it up a bit. The blondes and brunettes in the family became redheads, too. Daddy wore the t-shirts, but refused to submit to the Clairol bottle! I KNOW  Valentino was mum's greatest theatrical inspiration for his sense of style and drama.  She saw all his pictures multiple times, knew about his romances on and off the screen. She had a trunk of Middle Eastern costumes -- long flowing robes and scarves. She became an excellent belly dancer and performed her "Dance of Seduction" at her 25-year high school reunion!  The writer knows her mother would have enjoyed Cairo's belly dancers.   MUM IS  responsible for my love of the Middle East. And my passion for costumes, dancing, dress-up and hats. I've played in pit orchestras for dozens of musicals, from "The Fantasticks" to "Man of La Mancha" and "Cabaret," in which I played piano as head of the bawdy Kit Kat Band. (NOT "without no pants on"!) Late last year, I returned to Cairo, where a buxom belly dancer entertained us, slithering up to Keller during a Nile cruise performance. I toured a real casbah! A casbah in Morocco. I've been to several exotic dance performances recently, including a spirited tango show in San Diego and a flamenco production in Las Vegas. I've donned a pirate girl hat on an afternoon sail with Cap'n Keller.  "Come to my casbah," mum would whisper to us as little kids. "We shall make beautiful music together." Ellen's last public appearance in 2008, here at a reception with her daughter, left, and Hannelore Carter.  THAT INVITATION  meant come to the costume trunk.  We'd squeal with delight and rummage through mounds of costumes -- orange and green can-can skirts, red and black flapper dresses, Victorian bustles, western skirts. And always hats! We'd decide on a theme, dress up and off we'd go off with mum to a world of make believe -- the casbah. And beyond. At mum's memorial, the clan gathered to tell stories, remember costumes, sing her favorite songs. Cookie and Keller carry on the costume and hat  tradition inspired by Cookie's late mother!   My mother: what a dame! She was inspired and inspirational. She painted, danced, traveled, lived with gusto. She invented recipes and didn't let a missing ingredient send her to the store. "Improvise," she'd say. No flour for the Thanksgiving gravy? Use pancake mix. Delicious! Everyone raved. SHE WON  every masquerade ball in which she competed, whether dressed as a Russian cossack, Indian princess or French chanteuse. Her prizes:  three months of milk from the Columbus Creamery, a radio, 25 pounds of butter, a garbage disposal, 300 feet of garden hose, a free permanent at the hair dresser's! SHE WAS  eccentric, no doubt, larger than life, an Isadora Duncan figure living in a small Montana town, surrounded by people who mostly didn't share her sensibilities or sense of drama but appreciated her talent. She yearned to "bust outta this little berg" and she did, saying "Good-bye Columbus" (Montana) to earn New York's Times Square -- Cookie and her mum loved it! advanced degrees and use her own personal struggles and experiences to help others. Although she's been gone five years, I still hear her voice on my birthday phone call. How I wish I could call her on hers and return the compliment. I keep her castanets on my night table and look at them every day.  Sometimes I put them on my fingers and click them. "Come to my casbah," they seem to say. Thanks, mum. "And many more. Without no pants on." Santa Catalina is a picturesque destination for our travelers. COMING UP: Travel with us to "26 Miles Across the Sea....." The island of Santa Catalina is waitin' for us! Then we're north to Alaska, with a look at the pleasures of cruising the state's wild coast. Plus a study of the evolution of the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings, Montana, flowers under the Big Sky, Montana Jack's summer offerings and Rio's wonders. Remember to explore, learn and live and check us out Wednesdays and Saturdays at :  www.whereiscookie.com

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Editor's Note:   Two weeks ago, we described our journey up the transplant list at Scripps Center for Organ and Cell Transplantation, a world renowned facility luckily 10 minutes from our home.  We detailed the 19-month process leading to the midnight call that a donor had been found. Now -- exactly three weeks from the surgery -- we continue the complex story of the procedure and recovery. We'll finish the three-part piece next Friday with insight into the caregiver's role and an appeal for organ donation . Our last night in Malaga in November, Keller enjoyed non-alcoholic beer while Cookie celebrated with a gin and tonic from our patio above the lovely Spanish harbor. (Local cheese, nuts, tomatoes and olives!) RIGHT UP until "the call," we'd maintained our hectic lives. Although our brilliant hepatology doctor, Catherine Frenette nixed international travel after the first of this year, she'd sanctioned a November Thanksgiving trip to our beloved Spain, including our annual trans-Atlantic crossing to the U.S. We made the most of it. It was a spectacular trip, delightful in every way -- beginning with eight days in Malaga then time in Lanzarote, our favorite of the Canary Islands. Cookie and Keller celebrated last Thanksgiving shipboard.  WE'D CONTINUED  sailing, touring my novel, biking, hiking, teaching, writing, contracting, photography missions. After we were vetted and approved for transplant, we spent six weeks in Asia. We plan international trips two and three years out and while we postponed a return trip to the Galapagos, we kept trips on the books for late 2017 and 2018, hoping my dream was correct: that "the call" would come in mid-May, which it did. After getting on the transplantation list, Keller continued to see plays -- sometimes two a week -- here with Cookie, top left, with niece Amarylla, and Cookie's sisters Misha and Olivia. By May 12, we had read copious literature and statistics, and met with more than two dozen specialists in Scripps' well orchestrated guide for this complex surgery. Like detectives studying a mystery, we learned there would be two teams of surgeons -- one harvesting the organ from the donor, another removing Keller's flawed liver and "installing" the new organ. The team would make a huge "Mercedes" incision beneath the ribs, clamp and cut vessels from the old liver before its removal then reconnect these to the new liver, sewing it in. We discovered that part of the blood to the heart would be clamped off, with tubes elsewhere to allow blood to flow around the site where the surgeons would work, returning normal amounts of blood back to the heart. Keller leaves Scripps in a record three days -- we had prepared for five to seven and three days in ICU (he was there less than a day.) WE LEARNED  that the gallbladder of the new organ would be removed, the bile duct reconnected and another "t-tube" would be inserted to monitor quantity and quality of bile the new liver is making. Dr. Christopher Marsh, chief of the transplantation department, explained later that the pain Keller is still having in his ribs is because of the sturdy clamps inserted to keep his ribs open for the hours needed to complete their work. OF THE MANY  thoughtful Scripps gestures during the long and taxing surgery,  a nurse kept me informed from the operating room at the transplant's critical stages. One of our grim considerations leading up to the transplant was that someone must die for us to receive our liver -- a curious thought.  The person whose family gave us this great gift was still alive while we were enjoying our date night three weeks ago-- a sobering thought which we contemplated as we waited, yet celebrated, that Friday night at our date night hang-out, La Jolla Shores. Transplant Tale: The Prequel Keller less than a week after surgery, with one of the attending surgeons, Dr. Jonathan Fisher. He is part of the gifted Scripps transplantation team. He earned his MD at Columbia University.  Scripps has a fine international reputation. Its surgeons and doctors are the creme de la creme of prestigious medical schools, Case in point: Dr. Jonathan Fisher, of Columbia University, who met with us before Keller was wheeled into surgery.  He explained that the surgery could take up to 12 hours, but that six or seven hours was more customary. (We finish the saga next week....please visit us.) Cookie and Keller depart Scripps Transplantation Center a record three days. Keller and our flashy new bags arrive at Parador Gibralfaro in Malaga.  Scripps' sanctioned our November trip to Europe.  Keller with his surfboard, a year ago. He plans to catch a wave in weeks. COMING NEXT:  We explore the caregiver's critical role in the transplant process and the importance of retaining one's routine and some sense of "normalcy." Here, Cookie exercises with her Jazzercise pals, niece Amarylla and great-niece Peny.  Remember to explore, learn live and catch us weekends for a novel approach to art, nature, life.

Peny Jil Cosgriffe Hayes was a beautiful and talented sister who died 27 years ago this week.   REMEMBERING A LIFE WELL-LIVED:BLITHE, BEAUTIFUL SPIRIT PENY ( Editor's Note: This essay, by Christene Meyers, was first published three years ago and has appeared in various versions in newspapers and magazines. It is reprinted today by request, on the 30th anniversary of her sister Peny's passing .) TWENTY-SEVEN  years ago, the world was mourning the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Our family was saying good-bye to our beloved Peny Jil, my sister, who was enduring the last few days of a nine-month battle with leukemia. I was on my way from Montana to University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, on one of 25 flights to see sis since her diagnosis on April 5, 1985. It was the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, and I’d raced into an airport lounge in Salt Lake City to watch the Challenger launch. Waiting for my connection, I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed for the TV. I watched in disbelief as the shuttle broke apart 73 seconds into flight. Soon, everyone knew that all seven crew members had perished. I’ll never forget the anguished faces of Christa McAuliffe’s parents, Ed and Grace, as their joy turned to horror. "Evita" was the last pay the sisters saw together. Theater was a tradition. FOR MY  family, it was sorrow upon sorrow. My father and mother, Richard and Ellen, were experiencing their own grief as the doctors in San Francisco told them that morning that Peny would not survive. The ardors of chemotherapy, radiation and failed bone marrow transplant had weakened her beyond recovery. We had been so hopeful  – battling the odds – conferring with doctors, reading everything, hoping for a miracle. She slipped into a coma the night before and although I had just left San Francisco, hope in my heart, I headed back to say good-bye. Christa McAuliffe left the planet the same weekend as did Peny, 27  years ago during Challenger's launch. PENY WAS BORN  in 1949. Christa was born in 1948. They would have been friends. Both were gregarious, over-achieving, loving, fine teachers, intrepid adventurers, with daring, charisma and humor. Christa became famous as the first teacher to train for a space flight. Peny was a ground-breaker, too. She left Montana to live in a commune in northern California. There she met Jim Hayes, a New Yorker who left a successful law firm for a simpler life. They established a porcelain pottery studio and had two delightful children, Amarylla and James. Peny taught aerobics, grew vegetables, was an accomplished cook, singer and seamstress and made blueberry pies instead of birthday cakes. She was a fine swimmer, sly prankster and never missed an opportunity to hear a jazz concert or take in a play. Peny, on mother Ellen Cosgriffe's lap, and Cookie, 1952, right. The sisters performed and dressed alike until their late teens. As children, she and I were known as Cookie and Peny and we toured a song-and-dance act to Montana towns, performing for many functions, including a gubernatorial inaugural. Our musical mother dressed us like twins until we were in our teens. In our last years together, we began a tradition of sister weekends in San Francisco, seeing plays, going to clubs, ordering room service at midnight. The Hayes family visited Montana and we met in Hawaii when the kids were young. Our last play together was “Evita” and I think of Peny every time I hear “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.” I wonder if Christa’s sister, Betsy, thinks of  Christa every day. Even after 27 years, I’ll bet she does. PENY JIL  Cosgriffe Hayes had gorgeous red hair and a lilting soprano voice. She learned to play the viola in two days. She loved to  dance and stopped the show with her passionate movements. She also mastered piano, guitar, trombone and flute. In her last weeks, she played her flute in the cancer ward, greeting other patients, her instrument in one hand and her portable IV in the other. She was also an accomplished artist and was building a successful porcelain business with her husband Jim when disease struck. Cookie, left, baby Amarylla and Peny on Maui in 1974.  Both Peny and Christa were married happily and had small children. Christa’s children, Scott and Caroline, were nine and six when they lost their mother. Peny’s children, Amarylla and James, were twelve and nine. I am devoted to my niece and nephew and follow their lives with pride. I often wonder how Christa’s kids are, how their lives have gone, what they’ve become. I KNOW  Christa would be proud and I’m certain Peny would be pleased that her children have full, happy lives. She loved both town and country and her kids have many of her wonderful traits – one each living in the two worlds she loved. James is the country boy, settled in rural northern California where he grows and markets organic vegetables and eye-popping flowers. Amarylla lives in the Bay Area where she is taking time off from her marketing and catering career to be a busy mom. Both have loving partners. I gave each couple a holiday gift of a video my own partner put on a DVD. In it, their mother sings a leading part in a Christmas cantata in 1984. From left, sisters Cookie, Olivia and Misha, with their niece Amarylla, Peny's only daughter, of whom she was proud.   That long-ago rehearsal is one of the few remnants we have of Peny in action, along with a funny tennis match with her husband Jim, filmed at Flathead Lake in Montana during the summer of 1983. My late husband, Bruce, provides a hilarious commentary for the match, the youngsters’ antics in the lake and the picnic we shared later in the day. ONE OF MY  late mother’s favorite Cookie-Peny stories was of a holiday performance Peny and I gave in the Congregational Church in Columbus, Montana, in the early 1950s. We were singing “The Lord’s Prayer,” with our grandmother Olive accompanying us on the organ. I was four; Peny was three, “Irish twins,” as we were known. When Peny began fidgeting with the brass rings on the velvet curtain framing the altar, I slapped her hand. She slapped me back. The fight continued, all without our missing a note and offering a teeth- Peny, left, and Cookie, sing a holiday song. clenching “amen.” The congregation was in hysterics and the minister was laughing so hard he had to remove his glasses. I CELEBRATE  my sister’s rich but brief life and her robust 36 years on the planet. Christa had only a year longer. How much more could these two wonders have accomplished had they lived? How I wish Peny were here with me now, for I’ve recently settled in California. We would see even more of one another, enjoy the jazz and the plays. She would cherish her grown children, and her adorable grandson. We’d meet again at the Fairmont or St. Francis to toast with chardonnay and order chowder at midnight. WHAT I KNOW  about loss is that it becomes a permanent part of our lives. Each fallen loved one holds a sacred place in our heart and history. Our affection never changes. Our sadness in their leaving never abates. But slowly, miraculously, the debilitating sorrow gives way to wistful thanks. Thanks for their having been here. For since their existence has altered ours, they are forever with us.

A sculpture to world peace frames Cookie and Keller at the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Honolulu, home to the often photographed USS Arizona Memorial. The Tree of Life sculpture is a relief, a symbol of renewal created by Arizona Memorial architect Alfred Preis to inspire contemplation.   HOMAGES TO WAR, TRAGEDY,  TERRORISM, HELP US REMEMBER, HONOR, AND AVOID REPEATING STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Photos of victims of the Holocaust leave the viewer  numb at Yad Vashem in Israel. This is the ceiling memorial to those who perished in Nazi concentration camps.  Christene "Cookie" Meyers in the Bruce Meyers Poet's Garden on the campus of MSU-Billings in Montana. It honors her late writing teacher husband, Bruce Meyers. WHEREVER IN the world we go, we never miss an opportunity to visit a memorial. War, loss, suffering, heroism and sacrifice are universal themes. So is the need to honor the fallen, those we loved, those who have suffered loss. Nearly every village in Europe has a memorial to the victims of World War I. War memorials are found on every continent, in metropolitan areas and remote villages alike. These -- and other memorials --  illustrate the emotional power of architecture. From Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial to New York's 9-11 homage and the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Atlanta, these tributes stir strong reactions as iconic pieces of art and architecture. Often they are destinations for locals and travelers alike. The moving memorial to victims of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, attracts thousands of visitors each year, as does the striking tribute to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, pays respect to those killed by the bomb ending World War II but at a huge cost. I HAVE personal experience with memorials, having designed one myself to honor my late husband, a poetry and creative writing professor for 25 years at a Montana university. That memorial reminds me, and others, of his gifts to hundreds of students. It provides a quiet place on campus for students and professors to meditate, write, reflect. Pearl Harbor spotlight Other memorials remind us of the cruelty of man, of senseless death, heroes and selfless deeds, the hope that peace will prevail in our muddled world. Especially now with the devastation in Ukraine, and in our country, the immigration controversy, it seems appropriate to study memorials and the hope they give us for a better life. A young Japanese man studies the sad story of the internment of thousands of innocent Japanese Americans at the Pearl Harbor Memorial.  Many soldiers of Japanese descent served as translators, helping shorten the war. THE MOOD  around memorials is always quiet and respectful. Whether in New York at the site of the World Trade Center destruction of "9/11," Yad Vashem in Israel, or Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, memorials seem to calm people, to draw them inward to private thoughts. In Honolulu, at the Arizona Memorial, we joined an international queue with fellow tour members, including a Japanese couple our age from Tokyo.  It was interesting to travel with them, and glean their take on the memorial.  For while the U.S. suffered grievous losses, Japan suffered destruction of two cities. Americans of Japanese descent suffered loss and humiliation in the internment camps. One is in Wyoming, not far from where I grew up in south-central Montana.   The striking White Monument at Tell Banat, Aleppo  Governorate, Syria, dates from the third millennium BC, and honors fighters from  state army. World Trade Center in New York with its  extraordinary museum remembers the  terrorism attack of September 11, 2001 and honors its victims. Yes, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor but 6,000 Japanese Americans served as translators and interpreters with the Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific, using the language of their parents and grandparents to shorten the war and save lives. So it's complicated.  WE LEARN  through memorials of the misguided effects of war and violence, hatred and prejudice. Ironies and sorrow go hand in hand with war and terrorism. Brothers wiped out, serving on the same ship. Husbands and wives perishing together in a jump from a burning tower. Entire families destroyed by an act of violence.  Anne Frank's family lived in an annex during the occupation of Amsterdam. The pictures she  clipped and saved are preserved. Campus memorial honors beloved professor Crete memorial honors fallen in crucial battle What always strikes us about a memorial visit is the quiet.   People move silently about the exhibits, touched and often emotional about their experience and expressing their reverence as they pay their respects. So let this week be one of remembrance, meditation, hope and thanks.  Reveling in applause after a fabulous dance  number are 3 of the leads in a terrific cast: L-R:  Xavier J. Bush, Emma Nossal, Anthony Michael Vacio, gifted "triple threat" dancers-actors- singers.  Dazzling dance in a fun, feel good show. BEST ON THE BOARDS: Sheer unadulterated joy awaits the audience in New Village Arts' smashing production of  of "Singin' in the Rain"  The hit musical has more energy than a barrel of Red Bull as it plays to sell-out crowds in this perfect, intimate venue. The story of a silent movie star and his jealous, tone-deaf partner making the transition to the talkies is a perfect antidote to "May Gray" or "June Gloom." Revel in terrific tap dancing by dashing leading man Don Lockwood, his nimble sidekick Cosmo and a thoroughly adorable chorus girl Kathy (with a voice like a nightingale.) Audrey Ward plays a delightfully off-key Lina Lamont, the fading silent star, and the expert ensemble dances, sings and clowns its way through two-and-one-half hours of musical theater bliss. A.J. Knox directs the beloved classic with some of the sharpest choreography San Diego hoofers have ever delivered. An absolute delight to the clever curtain call. The run ends July 2 with a fun Italian dinner-or-lunch and show package option at Via Vai Cucina.   newvillagearts.org   760) 284-4393 Gay Pride is celebrated all year in Sydney, Australia, with posters,  banners, concerts and special events including the city's famed Sydney Opera House. June has many special events. UP NEXT : Gay Pride month is in June, a celebration of a tradition begun in 1970, a year after the Stonewall Inn Riots took place, as a peaceful march with no dress restrictions where people could express themselves and their sexuality freely. There have been peaceful marches, protests and celebrations every year since and Pride Month is joyously celebrated in Australia and worldwide. The month is dedicated to commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots of New York. A series of gay liberation protests began in 1969, and the movement has since spread enthusiastically outside of the United States. We witnessed the enthusiasm on our recent trip to Australia and share insights and photos. Remember to explore, learn and live and catch us weekly for a fresh spin on nature, performance, travel, family and the arts.

Fabulous dancing marks "The Empire Strips Back," in San Diego. Here, Chewbacca and Han Solo dress the stage in a wonderful dance. It's  one of the highlights of an action packed, unauthorized burlesque parody of the "Star Wars" trilogy. It is playing through April 30 in San Diego. --(Photo Courtesy of The Empire Strips Back ) 'STAR WARS' HIP, NEW PARODY FEATURES COMEDY, BURLESQUE, SEXY DANCING AS FANS CHEER ON BELOVED CHARACTERS   Emcee Eric Newton provides "adults only" banter and slick intros, with clever commentary and a dramatic sweeping cape. STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER and Craig Ridgwell (and courtesy Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox) Hans Solo and Chewbacca from the 1977 film. The parody faithfully recreates familiar characters and their costumes. THE FORCE  was with us -- and "the farce" paid a visit, too -- in a fun, hip, entertaining parody of the wildly successful "Star Wars" films. We settled into comfy chairs in a "pop up" San Diego theater, for a sexy, energetic and affectionate burlesque redo of one of the film industry's most successful endeavors.   The crowd whooped and hollered at a risqué reinvention of the 1977 box office block buster and its spinoffs. We were ringside at "The Empire Strips Back" with pop music, props and puppets in a perfect, fun adult entertainment. You'll find plenty of sexual inuendo as the successful romp plays San Diego, the latest of a dozen major Australian and U.S. cities to feature this engaging, original show. It's selling out every venue it plays, and just finished SRO runs in San Francisco and Los Angeles. A half-dozen sexy dancers appear as Snowtroopers, in homage    to "The Empire Strikes Back," released in 1980. The show takes its moniker from that chapter of the "Star Wars" oeuvre.   ONE NEED NOT be a "Star Wars" fan to enjoy the show.  We'd both seen the original -- I covered the 1977 world premier -- so we had an affection for the larger-than-life characters and storyline. The audience was mostly people half our age -- hip folks and sci-fi nerds not yet born when the first movie was released. But they knew the characters, perhaps better than the older fans did. Everyone loved the show. One longtime lover of the series told us at intermission that although she considers herself a purist, she thoroughly enjoyed this pleasing new parody -- even though it has little to do with the original story. IF YOU LOVE  colorful characters andover-the-top costumes, beautiful lighting and terrific dancing, the show is sure to have you laughing and enjoying. It is a stripped down, dressed up, fast paced parody of the beloved trilogy.  Jabba the Hutt gets huge applause at "The Empire Strips Back." The fun begins before you enter the auditorium when ushers direct you to your seats with their lightsabers. The delightful emcee, Eric Newton, opens the show with a comely nymph from another galaxy gyrating, smiling inviting us in. A full bar does booming business, enhancing cheers, whoops and whistles from the full house. The fun tone is set as Eric takes center stage to introduce each fast moving act. Sultry, sexy dancers in beautifully lit sequences delight sell-out audiences at a pop-up theater venue in San Diego. A captive Princess Leia moves sexily in a bikini to Nine Inch Nails’ "Closer." R2D2 does a cute cameo as a space pimp, making the heavens rain by ejecting wads of cash to the delight of the well lubricated audience. Sexy stormtroopers stomp and grind to a pounding White Strips tune, "Seven Nation Army." A gigantic Jabba the Hutt has the audience giggling and cheering as he gyrates, smiles and leers. A lightsaber has so much power that its bearer must strip.  There's a stunning dance number by an Olympic style gymnast as Han Solo with an endearing Chewbacca the Wookie. Their sweet, energetic dance has the audience on its feet -- goths and nerds alike. Fun technical effects include moody lighting.    PREPARE YOURSELF for some seriously sultry Stormtroopers, an alluring Boba Fett, tempting Twi'leks, a delightfully indifferent Taun Taun, sophisticated Skywalker, Droids aplenty and -- as they say in Vaudeville, "all that and more." Creator Russall S. Beattie is the muse behind this unauthorized burlesque parody which originated   Once you get your tickets, you'll enter the world of parody and fun at a new pop-up venue. in Australia. The fact that Lucas and Disney haven't endorsed the sell-out production doesn't phase the crowd.  Our Saturday night audience was in a "Star Wars" frenzy, clapping, shouting, cheering for two hours. During the 15-minute intermission, the lobby did a booming business on $14 wine and various souvenirs and paraphernalia.  CREATOR BEATTIE'S  imagination is limitless.  The "adults only" caveat comes for suggestive dancing, bawdy sketches and Eric's lively, x-rated emcee banter. The special effects are fascinating and larger than life, a la that gigantic Jabba the Hutt creature, a wondrous, on utter yet endearing arrogance. An accomplished ensemble plays Captivating pair: Amanda Sitton and Sean Murray shine in an elegant "Present Laughter" production. BEST ON THE BOARDS:  Sean Murray is splendidly elegant and sardonic in "Present Laughter," at Cygnet Theatre. The Noel Coward masterpiece, written in a few inspired days, features Murray as the aging actor, beset by midlife issues, an upcoming tour and too many women. Surrounding him is an excellent cast of innocent ingenues, a sardonic housekeeper, no-nonsense secretary, witty wife, demure dilatants,  and hangers on. Each character is portrayed with nuance and style. Trysts, twists and verbal treats abound as Murray dresses the stage in a stunning array of lounging robes. It's a perfect role for him. His extraordinary talent ranges from Don Quixote to Henry Higgins, Ebenezer Scrooge and a smashing turn in "The Rocky Horror Show." As the aging 1930s stage star and playboy, (played by Coward himself in the original production), Murray endows his character with skill, lightness and a fanciful range of facial expressions. The terrific cast maneuvers with ease on a handsome set, under the practiced eye of director/actor Rosina Reynolds.  Through April 29.   cygnettheatre.com 619-337-1525   Heading into Katoomba town, Christene "Cookie" Meyers and Bruce Keller are just off the train and off to their hotel. UP NEXT:  Come with us to explore Katoomba, Australia, in all its majesty. From the wonders of Scenic World, to fine dining, a historic rail station and enticing boutiques, this quiet little town near Sydney, Australia, is in another world. A world class inn, Hotel Mountain Heritage, offers spectacular Blue Mountain views and a terrific restaurant. If you're looking for unique surroundings, friendly people, ethnic food and lovely lodging near beautiful Jamison Valley, don't miss Katoomba.  Remember to explore, learn and live and catch us weekly for a fresh spin on travel, nature, performance, family and more. www.whereiscookie.com

It's "kangaroo communion" as Bruce Keller feeds two hungry critters at Lone Pine near  Brisbane, Australia.  We flew 7,513 miles to commune with these curious creatures in one of the world's largest and best run animal preserves, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. CRUISE BRISBANE'S WATERS,  WALK, TALK WITH THE ANIMALS IN AUTHENTIC AUSSIE ADVENTURE Plus a delightful, informative boat ride to get you there in sight-seeing comfort Brisbane's Mirimar II offers the best, most scenic way to get to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It leaves from downtown Brisbane, making its way through the city and into beautiful woodlands "...I would converse in polar bear and pythonI would curse in fluent kangarooIf people asked me, can you speak rhinoceros?I'd say, of courserous, can't you?" --from "Talk to the Animals." 1964 Academy Award best song Oscar, from "Dr. Doolittle" with Rex Harrison     STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER WE'D HEARD STORIES  of a relaxing boat trip to a place where we could feed active kangaroos and contented koalas. People remembered their time on the river to a world famous sanctuary in the suburbs of Brisbane. Those stories don't do justice to this marvelous place where critters are protected, loved and cared for as if they were royalty in a penthouse. One has to see it to believe it. The Koala and River Cruise and Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary deliver. We booked the five-hour Koala Cruise excursion not knowing what to expect, but we'd read rave reviews and other travel writers endorsed it. The wildlife shows at Lone Pine are extraordinary. Here, a bird of prey has his eyes us as he flies close overhead . WE CLIMBED  aboard the sleek and comfy Mirimar II. The Skipper was glad to see us as the boat had seen little activity since COVID and was just beginning to recover from the lapse of bookings and temporary curtailment. We settled in to perfect seats on the top deck for a fascinating narrated boat journey to the Koala  s anctuary.  Both Lone Pine and the boat that takes you there are treasures. While Lone Pine's title implies a focus on that sleepy resident of Australia's thousands of eucalyptus trees, the premier attraction is also home to dozens of contented kangaroos, shy dingos, saltwater crocodiles and a bounty of beautiful birds. Beautifully trained sheep dogs are in residence, too, along with stealthy birds of prey, who perform with skilled trainers in a breathtaking show. A mother kangaroo and her large joey seem happy to be among Lone Pine animal lovers. ONCE COMFORTABLY on board, with coffee from the snack bar, we traveled up the river a leisurely 20 miles to Lone Pine. There we disembarked and walked a brisk uphill trail from the jetty, up a tree-lined path to the sanctuary entrance. The Mirimar Koala and River cruise has been taking visitors to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary for over 70 years and is a "must do" experience while in Brisbane. We cruised through Brisbane's historic landscapes, iconic attractions, pastoral scenery home to mansions,  and interesting wildlife habitats. We were happy to listen to the entertaining recorded commentary, with occasional asides from the knowledgeable captain. We entered the sanctuary for nearly three hours to explore.  Some people stopped for lunch at the cafe, but we'd brought our own snacks, so took off to study the trails and decide where to go first. WE HEADED  for the kangaroos and weren't sorry. Lone Pine is the world's first and largest koala sanctuary. But first, we passed by 130 koalas, most of them snoozing with a few brought out for photos.  We learned that the koalas have a light schedule, working only a few days a week and then for a couple hours at a time. They lead a pampered, well tended life. For under $20, visitors can hold a koala under the watchful eye of a trainer. The pretty creatures "work" on a revolving, pampering schedule are are not over-taxed. The kangaroo feeding was joyful.  The pellets we purchased look like dog kibble and were nibbled gratefully up by the 'roos right from our hands as we stroked and talked to them. We walked among them, petting, smiling, watching them nurse their young. We enjoyed several shows, including a lively birds of prey show -- dramatic as two trainers coached the birds to fly back and forth, over our heads. The Australian sheep dog and sheep shearing shows were fast-paced and fun.  Views from Mirimar are great with not a bad seat for gazing. We missed the platypus swimming but admired a giant alligator, complete with his trainer's affectionate allegory. Then lorikeet feeding -- more fun! The animal haven boasts 70 species of Australian native animals in a spacious natural bush setting befitting the world's first and largest koala sanctuary.  The boat stays long enough to allow time for the changing shows and  naturalist talks.  Activities are spaced so that one has time to wander leisurely. LONE PINE  is thoughtfully designed. Signs point to various trails and shows so if you're interested in the sheep dog or birds, you can be on time and find a good seat.  Its 44 acres allow animal lovers to explore and find places of individual interest. Families, couples, student groups and singles looking for a nature-driven diversion are comfortable at Lone Pine. Cookie is thrilled to feed the 'roos. The unique restaurant and food service area are lined with koala cages so one can munch lunch and watch the sleepy critters at the same time. Occasionally, we saw one rouse himself slightly to snack, dreamlike, on a eucalyptus branch.  One youngster remarked, "Look, mum, they poop in their sleep."   ON THE RETURN  voyage, our Mirimar companions savored  Lone Pine has excellent signs and marks to guide you to exhibits, shows and place to place.    our time in a magical place. The bar was open for beverages and snacks, as we motored past those stately homes with a capsulized commentary. Prices for both the boat ride and sanctuary entry range from $55 to a family ticket for $250 Aussie dollars. The handsome boat also does charters. MORE INFORMATION & tickets: mirimarcruises.com.au/ lonepinekoalasanctuary.com/ Accomplished actors Richard Baird and Amanda Evans, among a gifted cast in "The Cherry Orchard. " BEST BETS:  Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, with its elegant prose and stirring story, meets David Ellenstein's stylish direction of a dream ensemble in Northcoast Repertory Theater's thoughtful production of one of theater's great plays, "The Cherry Orchard." The story of an aristocratic Russian landowner returning to her family estate just before it is auctioned touches the heart and tickles the funnybone. The moving story of class struggle and life changes shines with both humor and poignant moments .  The San Diego production is getting raves for its timely appeal. Although written 120 years ago, the timeless tale grips and stays, a complex study of social change and the intricacies of relationships. It runs through April 2 in this intimate, appealing venue. northcoastrep.org   858 481-1055 With the city skyline as a backdrop, Christene "Cookie" Meyers and Bruce Keller travel the waterfront of Brisbane, Australia. UP NEXT : We're off to fun, bustling Brisbane, then on to natural wonders in Katoomba, a gorgeous mountain town near Sydney where we feature a delightful hotel, Mountain Heritage Inn, to enhance your visit with spectacular scenery and first-class ambiance. First, the busy capital of Queensland, Australia, on the meandering Brisbane River. It's  deeply connected to water sport, culture, nature and life on the river. This hip, modern-day city pays homage to its past in stately homes, parks and country estates. From free ferry rides to an animal preserve, rock climbing, botanical gardens, art galleries and kayaking, it's a town of many faces, moods and pursuits. Come with us, remembering to explore, learn and live and catch us weekly for a fresh spin on travel, nature, family, the arts and more, at:    www.whereiscookie.com

Enjoy each day and celebrate holidays with a trip to the beach -- or a favorite restaurant. Here, Bruce Keller and Christene "Cookie" Meyers kick holidays up a notch in Vietnam.  FOOD, FUN, FINDING A NEW PLACE HIGHLIGHT HOLIDAYS ON THE ROAD and our recipe for holiday jambalaya This Vietnamese meal was prepared for a special holiday gathering at our hotel in then Saigon.  STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Shopping and schmoozing in the Caribbean, Cookie made a new friend in St. Lucia who directed them to a delightful cafe for local fare. Noodles are part of a special holiday meal in Tokyo.   HOLIDAYS ON the road overflow with adventure, fun, surprise and delight. We've spent a dozen yuletides in warm climes -- Vietnam, Australia, the Caribbean, and once in chilly but beautiful Finland. We try to do something special on a holiday abroad -- take a special hike, a city bus, boat or bike tour. Then we always cap the day with a meal in our new environs. Maybe we walk into a village to find a cafe popular with locals.  We chat up vendors and hotel folks to find street fairs, food stalls and flea markets, all popular during the holidays in Europe and the Caribbean. We glean tips on munching and shop for gifts in the same outing. In Saigon (pre-Ho Chi Minh City) we were directed to a small hotel restaurant with a huge, tasty holiday feast of pork, pickled veggies, tangy soups, chicken dishes, noodles, rice cakes, and delectable desserts. For two of us, the bill was $35.  IF YOU'RE staying home, don't let that stop you from putting a little international flair on your table. If you're Norwegian, try serving lutefish on Christmas Eve. Or how about making latkes on Hanukkah or noodles and dumplings on New Year’s Day. Whatever your ethnic persuasion or interest, the holidays are a perfect time to broaden your tastes while you eat, drink and be merry. Dedication to delicious food is  universal, whether you're visiting some new place or channeling a French or Italian chef's pantry. It's easy to open a cook book or go on line to spice up a holiday meal with a recipe from another country or culture. Try one or two of these if they sound intriguing. IN A HELSINKI mood? You can savor porkkanalaatikko, which translates   Even a simple breakfast can be made exotic when you're on the road, or dreaming of being . to carrot casserole. In Lisbon, try the country's favorite dish, cod, called bacalhau, which you can make extra festive on Christmas Eve by trying "Bacalhau de Consoada."  In northern China, we've dined on jiaozi, those delicious pork dumplings. Time consuming to make but so tasty. In Israel, holiday time means latkes, those irresistibly crispy potato pancakes sometimes kicked up a notch with zucchini or tahini. One special New Year's Eve in New Orleans, friends invited us to their kitchen to prepare a delicious bouillabaisse. Peking Duck on our plate for New Year's Eve, in China of course, a Shanghai eatery. In Kyoto one New Year's Eve, we sampled a fragrant "year-crossing noodle” dish. Toshikoshi soba is a thin noodle concoction traditionally served to welcome the new year and bring good luck in Japan. Of course, sauerkraut rules in Germany and panettone in Italy. IT'S FUN  to do something new, too, combining a meal with an outing. Try a hike up a hill or in a nature preserve, park or zoo, followed by a meal in a nearby restaurant. Many places that attract tourists and families are open during the holidays. SO WHETHER  it's spicy tamales in Mexico or or a spongy yule log cake in France, tuck into something different this holiday -- even if it's from your armchair with something unusual in your home kitchen. You don't have to cross an ocean to try something new. We're sharing a recipe we made with friends from Louisiana whom we met on a cruise. It's the state's favorite one-pot dish: jambalaya.  We cooked this jambalaya while visiting new friends in their New Orleans home over Christmas. This succulent dish varies from kitchen to kitchen, depending on the cook and recipes passed through generations. Jambalaya usually contains chicken or pork sausage -- andouille, chorizo or smoked sausage are favorites. Seafood is normally added -- crawfish or shrimp, but we've also had lobster in jambalaya. Onion, bell peppers and celery are musts, with rice, chilis, seasonings and broth -- all cooked together until the rice is done. Some jambalaya recipes have a Cajun spin. This one comes from a Creole cook.   Bruce Keller enjoys a New Year's souffle with thick whipped cream, served in the Canary Islands'  Lanzarote by a gracious waitress. JAMBALAYA INGREDIENTS 3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided 2 tablespoons seasoning, (Slap Ya Mama is great, or our favorite chili powder.) 10 ounces (300 g) andouille sausage, sliced 1 pound (500 g) boneless skinless chicken cut into 1 inch pieces 1 onion diced; 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and diced 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced 2 stalks/ribs celery, chopped; 4 cloves garlic, minced 14 ounces (400 g) can crushed tomatoes 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon each dried thyme and dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne powder) 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce; 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 cup thinly sliced okra (or 1 teaspoon file powder) 1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice (short grain or long grain) 3 cups low sodium chicken broth 1 pound (500 g) raw cleaned shrimp/prawns tails Sliced green onions and chopped parsley, to garnish INSTRUCTIONS Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season the sausage and chicken pieces with half of the seasoning. Brown sausage in the hot oil; remove with slotted spoon, set aside. Add rest of oil to pot. Sauté chicken until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. Sauté the onion, bell pepper and celery until onion is soft and transparent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes; season with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes or cayenne powder, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and remaining seasoning. Stir in okra slices (or file powder), chicken and sausage. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD RICE  and chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low-medium. Cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked, stirring occasionally. Place shrimp on top of  mixture, stir gently, cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are pink (5-6 minutes, depending on shrimp size.) Season with a bit more salt and pepper if needed. Remove from heat. Add optional extra hot sauce, cayenne pepper or Cajun seasoning. Serve with sliced green onions or parsley.   Why not check a longed for trip off your bucket list? Here, Cookie and Keller visit "Godfather" country in Savoca, Italy, and the church where the  famous wedding scene was filmed. UP NEXT : New Year's Eve is upon us, a time for ringing in the new. Why not make it a year to accomplish something you've longed to see or do. Let's put a positive spin on 2023 as we emerge from so much darkness. It's been a difficult three years with the trauma of the pandemic, the heartbreak of losing loved ones including pets, political unrest and bitterness, accidents, a horrible war, illness and changed plans. But there is hope for a new, brighter year.  There's also the opportunity to broaden our horizons, challenge ourselves, click something off our bucket lists. Have you always wanted to visit "Godfather Country" in Italy and see where the film was made? Have you dreamed about seeing the gorillas of Rwanda? Maybe you'd like to take a relative to Paris to celebrate a graduation or wedding?  How about a resolution to plan that longed for trip? Shake up your routine, meet new people, try new foods in new places, explore new vistas. Join us to resolve to make your dreams come true and stretch a bit in this first few days of the new year, remembering to explore, learn and live. Catch us weekly for a fresh spin on travel, nature, family, the arts and more: www.whereiscookie.com    And please share the links.

Bruce Keller and Christene "Cookie" Meyers relax on a Thanksgiving Day in southern Spain.   TREASURE EACH DAY, APPRECIATE YOUR  BLESSINGS, COOK & DINE OUT,    REMEMBER TEMPUS FUGIT Cookie and Keller tried something new lastThanksgiving, when they took to a dune buggy on the sands near Cabo San Lucas, giving thanks for travel.Cactus ATV Tours offers a fun time on the sand.         BE THANKFUL, SHAKE UP YOUR ROUTINE, MAKE A TURKEY WIGGLE, JUMP ON A DUNE BUGGY! STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER Last Thanksgiving, we were in the Canary Islands for a Thanksgiving fruit drink here.   A favorite Thanksgiving meal for us on the road is lamb skewers and a Greek salad, this one in Santorini. WE GIVE THANKS  this week for our family and friends, for decent health, and being double-vaxxed and triple-boosted.  We are traveling the world again after a rough run with the virus. As we look around the table -- counting empty chairs -- we realize how fleeting and precious life is. We vow to make the most of each day, to embrace the world with kindness and compassion, to help others when we can, to be gentle with ourselves. For sometimes, we're our own harshest critics. WE VOW TO  appreciate and share our many blessings -- which we often take for granted.  Warm clothing as winter approaches, beautiful stores in which to shop, the means to buy whatever we want.  We're grateful for the pleasure of concerts and theater.  The fun of cooking a meal together, or enjoying a dinner out. These are joys and advantages we don't take lightly. The delight in art,  the pleasure in sharing a meal are two of humanity's most basic and rewarding rituals. SO ENJOY  the shopping, preparation and serving of the meal -- whether in your own home, or with friends and family. Do something new to spread the thanks this holiday. Consider that sharing our bounty of food can be an important part of the holiday. Volunteer to help feed the homeless.  Or if you have a single neighbor or friend who might be spending the day alone, make a plate for him or her or invite the person over. You'll be amazed at how much it means. When you make dinner, consider incorporating a favorite family recipe handed down to you.  That ties the meal in with the memories. HERE, BY  special request, is my dear creative Gran Nystul's famous Turkey Wiggle recipe: Gran's Thanksgiving turkey   was chosen to be large enough for her tasty "Turkey Wiggle." GRAN NYSTUL'S WEEKEND TURKEY WIGGLE 2 lbs (4 cups) leftover turkey meat, cut into 1-inch cubes 2 c turkey or chicken stock 1 l/2 c uncooked white, brown or wild rice or 3 cups uncooked noodles 1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes or three fresh ones, diced 2 medium chopped onions (optional two cloves of diced garlic)  1 green or red pepper, chopped 1 c green olives and 1 c black olives, chopped ¼ c pimentos, chopped 8 oz mushrooms, sliced and sautéed in butter or olive oil (if using canned, drain juice but save to moisten casserole) 16 oz package frozen peas, mixed veggies, peas or corn  1 can of mushroom soup or cup or so of leftover turkey gravy Gran Nystul's Weekend Turkey Wiggle delights with its flavor -- and awakens sweet memories. (Gran improvised; use what you have. That's the beauty of "wiggle.")  PREHEAT  oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients in large saucepan, bring to brief boil. Transfer to buttered casserole, cover with foil,  bake 30-35 minutes until liquid is absorbed but casserole is still moist. Top with croutons or crumbled leftover stuffing. Sprinkle with grated or shaker cheese-- gouda, gruyere, parmesan, sharp cheddar are fine. Delicious with a spoonful of chutney, salsa or cranberry relish. BTW , historians tell us the turkey feast probably did not derive from the Pilgrims who may or may not have eaten the bird for their "Thanksgiving." They probably ate venison, and they'd have used their fingers. Gran would not have approved of that! "Big Fish" at Coronado Playhouse is a delightful love story beautifully sung, with a touching lesson about a tale-telling  dad with a huge heart. Above Amanda Blair, Michael Harrison. BEST BET: Southern California theater is alive and well and recovering from several years of pandemic and postponed shows. On the peninsula across a spectacular bridge from San Diego, Coronado Playhouse is producing "Big Fish," featuring a stable of fine actors, two leading actors with gorgeous singing voices and a spirited ensemble. A small live band adds class. Great holiday story with heart, and fine family entertainment.  Tickets or more info: www.CoronadoPlayhouse.org ; 619 435-4856 boxoffice@coronadoplayhouse.com Casa Mila -- La Pedrera -- is a monumental, magical place with inspiration from Gaudi's visit to Mount Monserrat. NEXT STORIES UP:  We're off to Las Vegas for holiday shows, then on to Barcelona. Put these two contrasting and engaging cities on your bucket list. We love Sin City, and Spain's most lively town. Vegas is the brainchild of Bugsy Seigel and Antoni Gaudi was the architectural genius who left his mark on Barcelona. So come to the Vegas Strip then Gaudi's showy Casa Mila and Casa Batllo. We feature the Vegas Bugsy couldn't have imagined and the Barcelona Gaudi created. Meanwhile, remember to explore, learn and live. Catch us weekly for a fresh spin on entertainment, travel, the arts & more. Get yourself in the holiday spirit at "Rouge," an exciting new show in Las  Vegas, with flashy lights, sexy dancers, gorgeous bodies, festive costumes.

A seafood and pasta dish in Rome hits the spot for a special evening celebrating our anniversary. MEALS TO REMEMBER: FROM LAVISH  Visiting a market is a fun way to begin a visit in a city. Here, a guide in Porto, Portugal, shows off fresh produce.  TO SIMPLE, CULINARY MEMORIES MAKE FOR A MEMORABLE JOURNEY TAKE A CHANCE, BE DARING, TRY WHAT THE LOCALS LIKE Bruce Keller hoists a brew in Spain, after asking the waiter for a popular non-alcoholic local beer. Most countries now offer N/A brew, and some even have it on tap. STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER   ON THE ROAD,  on a ship, in an airplane or while exploring a new city or village, food is always an enticement. It's part of the memories you bring home with you. It enhances the travel.  The pizza in the little hole in the wall in Naples, where the owner greets you himself. The lamb skewer in Mykonos, served with flair by a waiter who brought an extra table out to accommodate you. The special farewell dinner aboard a cruise ship, with your favorite coq au vin  cooked to perfection. This young Portuguese boy relishes his ice cream treat in a crowded cafe. The surprise birthday dessert and singing waiters who present it with an off-key "Happy Birthday" salute. The sizzling paella made on the street, served to two dozen guests after a festival in Barcelona. MORE THAN any other element, food shapes a journey.  It enhances and defines our memories of a trip. We're just days back from a five-week trip to Europe and consider ourselves amateur epicures. We love both good food and adventuresome travel.  Our fellow travelers around the world have epicurean tastes -- they love art, life, refinements and all that good food and drink offer. This paella was perfectly served in Tarragona, where it was the special of the day, wine included.   For us, having a meal in a new or favorite city, is an essential element of a trip. A memorable duck dish with friends, sublime memory of a meal in Porto. Why order room service when Las Ramblas is a block out the door or the Left Bank is across the river? Sampling local food is an essential part of feeling "authentic," taking the pulse of a community, getting an understanding of how people live, laugh and gather. Food shapes a community and tells the world what people plant, harvest, cook with, celebrate, season with, serve for friends.  Food makes us who we are. Mahi mahi with goat cheese offers memories of Hawaii.  DINING AT A STREET cafe with locals offers a sensory cultural exploration.  It makes us feel we are part of life in Rome, Tokyo, Rio or Singapore because local food more than anything else conveys so much of local culture, cooking and tradition.  In Barcelona, Cookie and Keller stop for ice  cream.  It is on a par with the best Italian gelato. In a restaurant, we also see how people interact.  In many cities, dogs are welcome.  It is not uncommon to see a family dining with a doggie under the table.  Many restaurants offer water bowls by the door. In Paris, one "rents" a table for as long as one likes -- simply by ordering. It can be a full meal, a beer or espresso.  Doesn't matter.  The table is yours for as long as you like and we find it relaxing to linger -- watching the world and the people go by. A string of dried peppers made it safely home with us. ANOTHER FUN tradition we've developed over the years: we go to local stores and markets to bring a few food and drink items home: cookies, nuts, coffee, tea, dried fruit or peppers, chocolate. We buy roasted almonds from the old gentleman by the bus stop, and savor those thousands of miles away.  Think about the power of food.  It utilizes all five senses. Naturally, we taste our food. But we also touch it, smell it, savor it with our eyes and listen to it -- the satisfying breaking of a bread stick, the sizzling of the butter in the crepe pan. When we commune with food, the place and time of the meal or snack becomes an intense memory of the journey. Without a meal or ten in a local eatery, there can be no truly authentic travel experience. Arts patron Pedro Alvares Ribeiro talks about his passion for collecting, preserving and  enticing at his fascinating Casa Sao Roque. UP NEXT : A Portuguese arts patron made his fortune in banking, and decided to give something back. The result: Casa São Roque, a delightfully preserved manor house and one-time hunting lodge which dates back to 1759. Entrepreneur, art collector, wine connoisseur and world traveler Pedro Alvares Ribeiro has turned this fascinating building into an art museum showcasing myriad displays, visual treats including film, and much more. The home -- now a museum in Porto, Portugal -- has a stately air, befitting its history. Ribeiro says the architecture is typical of the elegant homes owned by bourgeoisie and noble families from Porto. He combines his sharp collector's eye with the soul of a poet and the funding to acquire unique artworks and exhibitions. We spent a day with him, enjoying one of the displays,  up now through Jan. 31. "Warhol, People and Things," an intriguing exhibition focusing on Andy Warhol and his influence across several generations of photographers, filmmakers, musicians and multi-media artists. Remember to explore, learn and live and catch us weekly for a fresh spin on the arts, performance, travel, family, nature and more: www.whereiscookie.com . Please share the link.

Hospital workers -- doctors, nurses, physician assistants, lab technicians, food service people and janitors work 365 days a year. Nurses cared for Bruce Keller and Christene "Cookie" Meyers during his recent hospitalization for a ruptured appendix. His surgeon operated at midnight. A pair of painters spiffs up the Berkeley in San Diego. The vintage ferry boat is open at the Maritime Museum most days, including Memorial Day and Labor Day. EXPRESSING GRATITUDE FOR MEDICAL PERSONNEL, RESTAURANT WORKERS, CLEANING PEOPLE, TOUR GUIDES, BUS DRIVERS AND ALL WHO LABOR ON HOLIDAYS TO ENHANCE OUR LIVES  STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS Taxi driver Marcos picked us up on a holiday in New York City during our most recent visit. PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER IT'S IMPORTANT to be thankful. We are, and we try to show it, expressing gratitude to people who make our lives easier. We think about those who work late hours and days that many of us have off. While we are relaxing, hitting the beach, staging a family party, millions of others are getting up in the dark, heading to work while we're traveling, partying or simply "chillaxing."   A Hilton worker sterilizes the door of a hotel room.   With Labor Day in the wings, today's story is a salute to people working on this holiday and others.  We honor the pilots and flight attendants, medical personnel, hotel workers, restaurant and café people, drivers, guides and bus drivers, law enforcement workers, janitors and bus boys and girls. WE EXPRESS  our gratitude to those legions of life-enriching workers: health care staff, hotel and restaurant crews, grocery store clerks, truck drivers bring us fresh produce, cruise personnel, UPS delivery people, vegetable and fruit stand sellers, fitness trainers, construction workers, taxi and bus drivers, coffee shop baristas and cafeteria checkers, buskers who brave the streets, parks and subways, and many others. They play a major role in keeping us relatively sane and healthy, even during the recent, unprecedented months of isolation, anxiety and A worker at Billings Clinic Hospital in Montana delivers meals on Sunday.  depression caused by the appearance of COVID.    More Labor Day kudos, click here Sanitizing closets, bathrooms and hallways is this man's job, here in a San Diego Doubletree. A Home Depot clerk helps Bruce Keller with his purchases for a home repair project, one of many. Keller often works holidays . SINCE WE often travel on holidays, we're curious about their origins.  The idea to create and celebrate a day for laborers was the brainchild of New Yorker Peter J. McGuire, a carpenter and labor union leader. He wanted to thank his hard-working employees, celebrate their contributions and treat them to a day off with their families, while honoring their accomplishments. He lobbied the chain of command to back his idea, believing the entire nation should give thanks to American workers in a formal, public way.  His desire that working people be recognized on a special day each year blossomed. As it gained support and momentum, McGuire drafted a proposal in early 1882.  He presented it at a meeting of New York's Central Labor Union. His colleagues thought the idea a good one so plans were put in place.   THE FIRST LABOR Day was held in his native New York City on Sept. 5 of that same year. It was a joyous affair, inaugurating a day off for workers who joined their families and friends to celebrate with picnics, concerts and speeches. Cookie enjoys an elegant cheese dessert, served on a holiday by a dapper maitre d'hotel .   Twelve years later in 1894, the nation followed suit and it became an official federal holiday, always on the first Monday in September. This year it is Monday, Sept. 5, the same day as its debut. It is also celebrated in Canada during this same three-day weekend, signaling the end of summer. Around the world, more than 160 other countries celebrate Labor Day May 1, their day to show appreciation for labor and workers. May we pause with renewed appreciation and gratitude for all those who help us enjoy the good life. Christene "Cookie" Meyers and Bruce Keller take to the water for a whale watching adventure out of Victoria, B.C. UP NEXT : While we're in a traveling mode, we offer our own "Ten Commandments of Travel," our tips for making your journey the happiest and most fulfilling possible.  Whether you're traveling in your native state -- or to another continent -- we offer pointers on adjusting to the new, to appreciating and finding joy in a new place or country, new language, new food, new time zones. We want you to revel in your new surroundings and make the most of your precious time on the road.  Doing a little homework is a key part of the formula for successful travel. Meanwhile, remember to explore, learn an live and  catch us weekly for a fresh spin on travel, nature, family, the arts and more: www.whereiscookie.com