Grandma and the Belugas

Catherine Claryce Wray Petty, my maternal hat-wearing/red-loving grandmother, was my lighthouse. She was the one who brought me back to my love of the Lord and the world of Christian friends. She also instilled in me a wanderlust that still flourishes.

When my sister, Wendy, brother, Chip, and I were kids, she took us on trips — one at a time and usually to visit relatives within the state of Virginia. When I was 11, I was privileged to accompany her on a car trip to Illinois to attend my cousin, Laura Yacobi’s, marriage to Ron Struyf, my now decades-long cousin-in-law.

During that visit, she took me to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan. The only thing I have a clear memory of from that trip was the beluga whale exhibit and my cousins getting to drink alcohol at the wedding. Go figure.

My grandma loved to travel. She was widowed in her 60s and as a single woman, lived with our family from the time I was six-years-old. I still have: bracelets from Florida; tiny souvenir purses from Cherokee and South of the Border in North Carolina; and maracas from Mexico. She also loved to visit “Hah-wah-yer” (her pronunciation of Hawaii).

Wonder why I have such a passion for travel? I would pretty much go anywhere all the time if it were free! I’m lucky enough to have a husband who I’m privileged to accompany on business travel once or twice and year. That helps feed my need for a temporary displacement on occasion.

I’m not one who wants to visit a new location and see all the touristy things. Of course, when you have a chance to see the coastal Tulum Mayan ruins in Mexico, the Taj Mahal and take a Pink Jeep ride in Sedona, Arizona, you take it. But I love to act like a local — like I’m just doing my everyday routine and going to the grocery store, walking downtown to get coffee and write in coffee shops. I like to watch people and it’s even more fun when you’re in a strange place or a place where individuals are purported to be standoffish and rude only to find they are just as nice as people back home.

I’ve been to India twice, Jamaica, Mexico and had a layover in London’s Heathrow Airport twice and been all around America. I still plan to visit Seattle, Portland, (Oregon and Maine), Denver and many other US locations when I have the chance.

If I can’t get away due to lack of time or funds, I take Artist’s Dates, as introduced in “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron http://juliacameronlive.com/books-by-julia/the-artists-way-a-spiritual-path-to-higher-creativity/ . It’s just taking the time to stroll through a museum, visit a bookstore, go to a concert, a graveyard or a farmer’s market. I go alone and drink in the atmosphere and think mindfully about the environment and what it feeds to my creative soul.

If you’ve never tried an Artist’s Date, do it. You don’t have to want to create anything more than a space in your soul and mind for something different, something off the beaten track that you would never ideate or experience without doing it purposefully.

I thank God for my grandmother who taught me the blessing and joy of being alone and in a different environment and what it does for my spirit. Grandma died at the age of 100 so I had more than 45 years to be taught and enriched by her presence. I miss you Grandma, but am proud to have taken up your mantle of passionate traveler, lover of Jesus and people lover. I imagine she smiles down on me when I follow in her wandering path.

Forty-one years after my childhood visit to the Shedd, I was able to go back alone, as my husband was in class at The University of Chicago’s School of Business. I skimmed through the exhibits until I discovered the belugas. I found the exit to the pool area where the whales performed and was able to hang out with one of the trainers and a beautiful female beluga who was just a few feet from me doing tricks, swimming and jumping. I couldn’t help but smile knowing Grandma would have been so proud and happy to know I made it back on my own.

Do you like to travel? Who or what drives you to wander the world? What’s the favorite place you’ve been or what’s your best wandering experience? Where would you go if you could visit your dream destination?

I’d love to hear from you……oh, and send pictures!