Wednesday, August 10 - Massachusetts

Back Story on Martha's Vineyard & My Czech Friends - Part 1

My sister expressed a bit of distress that my blog was not all travel related; that it was turning to a "my life" kind of thing. Not my intent.

Yes and no (on the blog). I no longer have unlimited funds to wander the globe! Thus as mentioned about 40 posts back, I have picked and chosen my future travels. In between I would like to fill the blog with some random writings. I find I rather enjoy blogging. You can choose to follow or not. There will be a lot of time between trips and I would like to fill them in with things I hope are interesting or humorous.

Next planned trip is to revisit Martha's Vineyard. I visited there on a regular basis for about 8 or 10 years. I have not been back in about 10 years. It holds many excellent memories for me, and I am looking forward to one last visit :)

Unfortunately I have no photos to post - they are actual photographs that would need to be scanned in. Too much work! I will, however, try to share in words the times I spent there with my friends.

I met Daniel and Jana simply by chance when I was living in Marlborough. Out at a local watering hole after work with my then-boyfriend (T-B) on a Friday night, there was a really good band playing. I wanted to dance (used to be pretty good at it!). The T-B was not so much into dancing. He pointed out a fellow dancing crazily in the middle of the floor. By himself. "Why don't you ask him to dance?"

Always one to take up a dare, I did! Tapped the guy on the shoulder and we just started dancing and laughing. When the band took a break we consolidated our group and finally introduced one another. He was with his wife, Jana, who did not like to dance either. Shortly after that T-B and I ended up going back to their house for a bit, and got to know one another.

Long story short, Daniel and Jana and I became fast and very good friends.

Over the next few months, Daniel relayed their story. His English was better than Jana's, but over time I came to be able to understand both. Even when they were speaking Czech :)

They were from Czechoslovakia, which it was called at the time. They literally escaped the Communist rule that was tearing their country apart in the mid 1970s. Czechoslavakia was a small country, but located right on the (then) Russian border. It, and Poland, were key to Russia's Communist hold on part of Europe.

I know I am dating myself and going back into archives, but it was important back then. The history is fascinating.

Daniel had been an electrical engineer, and Jana a dental hygenist. They gave up all of that to escape Communism and come to America.

Their journey took them south for a long while, then back north to Italy. Daniel worked at what he could to procure passage across the ocean for the 2 of them. Theirs was a love story for the ages! Married at 18, they were madly in love. And stayed that way :)

Here is a map. They had a very long, very hard travel.

Map of Western Europe

Arrived in the USA with pretty much nothing; eventually made their way to Massachusetts. That is when I met them. They were both working in Boston at the time at jobs that were way below their qualifications (they were no good in the US). Daniel told me simply, "It is what we have to do for now". Jana had like 8 cats at the time, which helped bond us :)

Daniel and Jana became the very best of friends.

About 5 years later they moved to Martha's Vineyard. Daniel eventually built a house for them there (and such a house!!). I was welcome any time, and visited frequently. We celebrated the Velvet Revolution :) And eventually Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic (which is the part they were from) and Slovakia. What it had originally been.

Daniel also built up a very good business for himself, and got a big piece of that American dream! For him and Jana.

Enough history for one blog! That is the back story, as short as I could make it. The whole history is quite something. Daniel and Jana told me in detail, with maps.

It took more than a ton of courage to do what they did - leave family and country behind - and arrive in a place where the culture and people were unknown. They believed. They simply believed.

More about Martha's Vineyard next time :) In a few days.

This took a bit out of me. The remembering and distilling it down.

Sunday, August 7 - Massachusetts

I want to thank the people who have commented; it is validation that SOME ONE is reading my little blog!

If you prefer to communicate privately, I set up an email account: Defiant.Traveler@comcast.net

Please note, you do need the "dot" between 'Defiant' and 'Traveler' in the address.

As I am having a lot of fun with this (the blog), I will continue to add random posts :) Next week I will try to succinctly relay the tale of my Czech friends, and their story, and how I became so well acquainted with Martha's Vineyard.

It is quite the tale. It will include a little history on Czechosolvakia as well (of course!).

When one gets to be my age, there are many stories for the telling. And many past travels I would like to share :)

I may be a bit of a "homebody", but at heart I am also a traveler. I am a Sagittarius, the wanderers of the Zodiac. I was almost born on the cusp the year I was born, so I do have a lot of Capricorn traits in me. Yeah, I do believe in this kind of thing. I also believe in birth order; discussion for another day!

From the website:

"Sagittarius is a fire sign ruled by Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. As the zodiac’s traveler, Sagittarius is the ultimate free spirit: optimistic, open-minded and ambitious. It is not a mindless ramble, either. Sags are spiritual and truth-seekers, and the best way for them to do this is hit the road, talk to others and get answers. Knowledge is key to them, since it fuels their broad-minded approach to life. Sagittarians are keenly interested in philosophy and religion. These disciplines aid their internal quest for learning and higher meaning. Sagittarians are consumers of information, the better to get the answers they need. It's a good idea to give Sags room to explore their world. If they feel hemmed in, they can become impatient and difficultt. Juggling a million projects, hobbies, etc., Sagittarius pursues a super-sized goal. Even when they fail, nothing keeps them down. They chalk it up as a life lesson. As the sign of wisdom and truth, Sagittarius “tells it like it is”. However, their honesty doesn’t always come in the prettiest package." 

"Caricorn (♑) is an earth sign, a power sign, and one of the four cardinal signs. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and all about hard work. They are happy to put in a full day at the office, realizing it takes a lot of those days to accomplish their goals. That's no problem, since Capricorns are both ambitious and determined: they will get there. Life is one big project, and they adopt a businesslike approach to most everything they do. While they can be introverts, Capricorns are practical; taking things one step at a time, both realistic and pragmatic. They are extremely dedicated to their goals, almost to the point of stubbornness."

I identify with both, but Sagittarius tugs at me more.

Symbol for Sag is "the warrior", and "the archer" - how apropos. I have a 'necklace' - a small stone on a leather strap I wear every day with my symbol :) I keep it tucked inside my shirt as I really do not want questions or comments about it.

Sagittarius, The Warrior

Sagittarius is represented as a centaur