We are pleased to announce the birth of our website and welcome your viewing of the new arrival. Actually, it is a few months old, but it’s eyes are just now opening. It is still wobbly on its feet and shakily unsure of itself, but with considerable trepidation, sort of, more or less, ready to face the world. As parents we are still overwhelmed by the technological complexities of nurturing this infant in an environment for which we are so totally unprepared. There are more pages to be added, but we are far enough along that we wanted to invite you to look around.
Pages Overview
01 About
More than you want to know about Norman and Jan Rodgers
02 Portugal
The Portugal page is a log of our marvelous tour in April, 2015 on “Portugal’s River of Gold” Viking river cruise. Our discovery of this country of explorers was a wonderful revelation. This little country, overshadowed by more glamorous and popular European destinations, deserves a higher ranking than it presently seems to have. Follow our daily exploits and get a taste of this incredible journey.
03 Choose Blues
This page recounts our very rewarding excursion to Clarksdale, Mississippi to savor the home of Delta Blues. We were overjoyed with everything about our visit. We hope that reading this account may be an interesting overview of Delta Blues. It is a great short trip for anyone within a few hour’s driving distance.
04 Storytelling Festivals
Experience non-stop laughter generated by professional performers who transform everyday experiences into hilarious adventures, take you on flights of fancy and often intersperse their tales with songs they have written.
05 Christmas Prelude, Kennebunkport, ME
One of the two best Christmas towns in America, declares HGTV. We learned why in December, 2015. This was a perfect way to launch our Christmas experience.
15-01 to 15-06 Copies of Norman’s travel articles in the 2015 issues of Mature Living magazine. More to be added soon.
15-01, 15-02 Nova Scotia – January, February
15-03, 15-04 Greece – March, April
15-05 Southern West Virginia – May
15-06 The Seine from Paris to Normandy – June
15-09 to 15-11 An expansion of Norman’s Mature Living articles:
15-09 The Summits of Switzerland – September issue
15-10 Navajo Country Part I – October issue
15-11 Navajo Country – Billy the Kid*
*This page is a parallel narrative of Navajo Country, included because relating of episodes in his life story were a feature of each morning’s routine on our motor coach tour’s navigation through New Mexico and Arizona.
Feedback from the Mature Living magazine articles
Response has been sparse, but gratifying. One person emailed that he and his wife had been thinking about Nova Scotia and the article helped them make the decision to visit the Province. The widow of the best man in my first wedding responded, reestablishing contact that had been lost for about forty years. A reader from Tennessee called to say how much they loved their several visits to Grindelwald, Switzerland. In the process of reminiscing, we discovered that we had been there at the same time in 1990, having brought groups to a senior adult conference. When I told him that Jan played the organ for that gathering held in the Protestant church, he exclaimed that he remembered her and could still visualize her sitting at the organ console. A friend that I had known in Kentucky more than half a century ago, wrote to let me know how much they had enjoyed their visit to Grindelwald many years ago.
We love embarking upon challenging adventures as long as they are not too exhausting, intimidating or hazardous. Even though building this website clearly falls within some of those parameters, we blindly blunder into the bewildering maze, hoping that we do not stumble badly, and emerge only mildly bruised.
Glad you joined us. Our hope is that you will find something here that will hold your attention past this opening page.
N/J
Pictured above is a monastery in Meteora, Greece that we visited in 2014. These rock pillars rise nearly 1,000 above the valley floor. Hermit monks lived in caves in these sandstone spires a thousand years ago, and some of the buildings date from the 14th century.
Norman and Jan Rodgers 