Author: Manny Kagan

History Does Matter

On our trip to Montana which I have written about over the last three weeks, I watched a TV documentary about an African American family whose parents were from Jamaica. While the father was of African descent, the mother was Chinese. However, because their children have dark skin, and the family grew up in Harlem, they were considered Black not Chinese. In the Jewish Orthodox tradition, if the mother is Jewish, regardless of the color of her skin, the children are considered Jewish (some Jews follow the tradition where religion or race is defined by the father’s lineage.

I am bringing this up because we made some friends in Montana, who have an interesting racial mix. The wife is of Scandinavian descent, while her husband is the product of a mixed marriage, with twist on his heritage.

His father came from Estonia, a small country on the Baltic coast bordering Latvia, where I was born. His mother was born in Turkey, from Jewish parents. Jews are divided into two ethnic groups – Ashkenazi who are usually of northern and eastern European descent and Sephardim, who are originally from Sepharad-Spain.

In 1942, the Jews who were not forcefully converted into Christianity were expelled from Spain. Many of them ended up in Portugal, only to be expelled again five years later. Some travelled to Turkey, which in the 15^thCentury was part of the Ottoman Empire.

This information has a direct connection with today’s world and our friends. 500 years after the expulsion, Spain and Portugal offered citizenship to the descendants of the Sephardic Jews, which included our friend’s mother, her son and her grand-daughter. This in turn offers an opportunity for one to get Spanish or Portuguese citizenship (The U.S allows dual citizenship), and since those countries are part of the European Union (The E.U.), their daughter, who likes to travel, can get a free college education in any of the European countries in the European Union, after receiving her Spanish citizenship.

Throughout history people have moved from country to country and by intermarrying, created new pools of DNA. This in turn can help to establish historical relevance for many families and perhaps a better understanding and tolerance of each other. Among dogs, mixed breeds are called mutts. Some consider mutts to be smarter than pure breeds. How about people?

P.S – Next week I will write about a dog shelter in San Francisco for senior dogs, called Matville. Meanwhile, enjoy these four images of mutts, and pre-order “42 Encounters for Dog Lovers” from www.encounterspublishing.com. Money back guaranteed.

 

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How Often Do You Play Golf?

As I wrote in the previous week, we were on vacation at the Meadow Lake Resort – located in Columbia Falls, in the Northwestern part of Montana. Our timeshare condominium was on the ground floor, facing a beautiful golf course.

I do not play golf, but I enjoy walking on golf courses.

I usually like to go early in the morning, at about 7 am, when there is not a soul around, and there is no danger of getting hit by a flying golf ball. Most golf courses are developed in a natural setting or are man-made, with rolling hills, trees and ponds – which attract different kinds of birds who fly or jump from branch to branch; singing their morning songs. Listening to them, I was reminded of my morning commute to work. After I take our puppy Max to his doggy day care sitter, at about 9 am I usually turn on the public radio station to listen to the short program called “Birds Notes”. Every time I listen, there are very interesting stories about birds as well as recordings of them chirping and singing.

One advantage of being on a golf course is that, I can listen to the birds directly from the source, and if I am lucky, to photograph them flying.

The air was crisp, with a little bit of the morning’s chill. Since the tourist season usually starts there in June, and it was too early for the players to be out anyway; I had the whole course to myself, except for a few maintenance workers, who were getting the course ready for the few expected golfers.

Golf is a remarkable sport. It is very costly to build a course and to maintain it. As a result, only those, who have significant financial means can afford to play the game regularly and to belong to exclusive golf country clubs. In spite of that, according to www.statistics.com, the number of people who played golf over 12 months in 2017, numbered close to 26 million players. Were you among those millions? I was not, nevertheless I am glad that the sport exists and that I can enjoy my morning walks.

P.S: The golf course was surrounded by large private vacant homes, that will presumably be filled in the summer.

I met only one woman who was walking her dog. There was nothing whimsical about her, to bring your attention to my photo-story book “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers”, which you can pre-order on www.encounterspublishing.com.

I am expecting to receive my first copy next week and the rest of the books will be available in the middle of July. Meanwhile, enjoy these four of images that I took at the golf course.

 

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When to Visit Montana

When we were planning our trip to Montana, which I wrote about last week, we forgot to research when the Waterston-Glacier International Peace Park is open for visits. The long name for the park is because it is actually two combined parks; one in Canada and one in the United States.

In 1932, the parks were designated the World’s First International Peace Park to commensurate friendship between the two nations. When we drove through the park at one point, there was a sign that read 22 miles to Canada. But we needed our US passports to cross the border. We arrived two weeks too early to have access to all of the peaks and valleys, many lakes, rivers and trails. Nevertheless, what we experienced this time probably would not be available later; the awakening of the nature in the early spring. The first leaves started opening on the trees, there was still snow on the ground in the higher elevation areas, water gushed forcefully in the Flathead River, and the majestic mountains with their white peaks surrounded us everywhere, while the young trees that covered the mountains were bursting through the ground to replace the old ones that burned in a recent fire. Seeing this brought to mind one of my favorite stories.

In the old forest one tree grew taller than others. The other trees did not like it and complained through the noise of their leaves. “Who does he think he is sticking his head above us?”But the big tree did not care and grew taller and taller until one day during a storm, lightning struck the tall tree and the sparks started the fire, during which all of the old forest burnt down. It was a sad moment, but as it often happens in nature, the ashes from the burned trees had become fertilizer for the seeds in the ground, of all the trees that had fallen over many years. It did not take long for the young beautiful forest to grow from the ashes while old burned trunks were still there to serve as a reminder of the perpetual forces of nature.

What we have seen in the park was enough for us to experience the area. We visited a place called Polebridge, where we met some very interesting people and enjoyed a slice of delicious huckleberry pie with ice cream. In the afternoon we drove to Lake McDonald, which was surrounded by snow covered mountains. Since we drove less due to the park’s closure, it gave us the opportunity to relax and to rest more, and time for me to keep writing my next book “Retirement Solutions for Smart People.”

While there, we met quite a few retirees who have chosen to move to Montana to experience the next chapter of their lives.

P.S. To get your attention back to my photo story book “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers”, I am sharing with you two images I took while there of dog lovers, and the other two which I took at Lake McDonald.

I was informed that the first batch of 25 books went into printing. Once completed, I will inspect the results, and the whole order of 2500 books will be available the first week of July.

Meanwhile, please pre-order at www.encounterspublishing.com. Money back guaranteed.

 

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When Was the Last Time
You Visited Kalispell?

If you have no idea where it is, neither did I.

We landed at Denver airport, and I asked my wife Elfa, what is our next destination?

That is when I learned the way to Glacier National Park in Montana, goes through the city of Kalispell that has a population of about 23,000 people.

We stayed at timeshare exchange called the Mountain Lake Resort, which is a 15 minute drive from the airport. When I told a friend that we are going to Montana for a week long spring vacation, he asked why. After all, with a relatively short time for vacations, the choices for many people are often places like Hawaii or resorts in Mexico.

We have visited these places many times. However, we love to visit the new places in our great country.  One of the ways to accomplish this is to visit National Parks.

In 2012, we spent a week in Yellowstone Park, which is also located in Montana. To get there, we drove through Utah and on the way back through Wyoming. The main reasons for us to come to Montana are for our encounters with beautiful nature, and the very nice people.

On the first day here we visited small local picturesque towns called Big Fork and Whitefish, where we had some very delicious dinners. On the way back, the GPS took us through a back country road with a driving speed of 35mph. It was around 8pm, and the sun was setting down behind the mountains covered with snow. The open fields were bordered by the birch trees on both sides of the road, sprouting with young green leaves and clusters of hanging catkin flowers.

Suddenly, I noticed two horses in a pasture who were involved in some kind of a dance. They were getting down on their knees in front of each other and then getting up on their back feet. While I photographing them, another car stopped as well, and women who were watching them with me said, “I have been working with horses for five years and have never seen something like that”. Just to see that was worth the trip to Montana.

P.S: Looking at the playing horses reminded me the of the way dogs play with each other, whom I observed at Stern Grove Park, where I photographed dog lovers with their companions. Some of those images appear in my book, “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers”. The book is going to be available in June. Please pre-order through www.encounterspublishing.com. Money back guaranteed.

 

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It’s Good To Be At Home

Each time we return home from a trip and lay down in our bed, almost as a mantra we say, “It’s good to be home and sleep in our own bed.” This time, it was after a week-long trip to visit the Glacier National Park in Montana. While there, I wrote four stories which will be posted in the next coming weeks, meanwhile I want to share with you some of my encounters since our return. It was our first experience to leave Max at his doggy care for eight days, and we all passed the test. The day after our arrival, before we picked him up, we had to go to a funeral for our co-worker’s wife. She was sixty and we have known her for almost thirty years and been on their wedding. After the funeral, we went to a party to celebrate friend’s seventy fifth birthday.  The theme of the party was “the 70’s”, and guests were dressed up for the period. We had a good time, and after the party we went to pick up Max who was very happy to see us and he rewarded us many kisses.

Most people like to travel to change their daily routines, to rest, to visit new places, to meet new people or relatives, to try different foods, to have new experience, to photograph and perhaps for many other reasons. In many countries in Europe taking holidays (as they call them in England) can be as long as six weeks, which gives more opportunities for leisure travel. In the United States, our vacations are relatively short, week here and there. Of course as owners of our business, we can afford to take more time off, and we used to do it in the past. But now with our new puppy Max, even a week seemed long. I missed him, and a few times I dreamed that he is coming to my bed to wake me up. Fortunately it was only a dream, and I could really sleep longer, rested and gained my energy back. But I also had an opportunity to send my “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers” book to the printing company. They promised to have 25 books in two weeks; the rest will follow in about another two to three weeks. Thus, you will be able to get your own copy very soon. And of course, we drove around and visited beautiful places and photographed.

As a result, from over one thousand images, there are few which I even printed. Eventually I will post some them on my website. In the meantime, our vacation is over. Our next one is planned for the fall. As always, I will keep you posted. The purpose of this trip was to visit the National Park, however we do not have to travel far to see the natural beauty. On Sunday, May 13^th2018, the San Francisco Chronicle Travel section, in the article, “Maintaining the majesty” I found a long list of the state parks we can visit within driving distance. It is good to be at home.

P.S: You will see more images from our trip in the coming weeks, meanwhile enjoy those four. The first one was taken at the airport on the way home, the Rodeo Princes, I encountered on the plane and the last two were at the birthday party. As you can see, regardless of where we go, we are surrounded by the dogs and their lovers. But you do not have to travel far to see them, just pre-order “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers” at Encounterspublishing.com. Money back guaranteed.

 

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Cheers,