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Posted by Nolan Dalla on May 25, 2023 in Personal, Travel | 0 comments

Every Picture Tells a Story: Constanta, Romania / Black Sea Coast (1990)

OLD PHOTOS: DAY 2
CONSTANTA, ROMANIA (BLACK SEA COAST) — MAY 1990

Today’s photo was taken 33 years ago. It’s special to me, for several reasons. First, this was the first weekend vacation Marieta and I ever took together and was way before we were married. We drove from Bucharest to Constanta, Romania on the Black Sea Coast.

It was supposed to be hot that time of year, but the weather was miserable. It never got above the 50s and rained all weekend. So, we had to stay in the hotel (that was actually kinda’ a lucky break for me, but I won’t go into details). One afternoon, we visited the beach but it was still way too cold to swim.

Constanta is Romania’s only major port. Most of the resorts are south of there, stretching all the way to the Bulgarian border. If you were to look behind me and travel those waters another 150 miles or so, you’d be in Odessa, Ukraine (while living in Romania, I never did visit there).

Gee, I’d love to be this age (and weight) again!

__________

Note: We held a garage sale recently and I’m going through lots of old stuff, including photographs which I’ll be sharing in the coming days and weeks. My philosophy is — a photo does no good tucked in an album or stored in a box. A great photo should be shared, especially when it tells a story. This is Day 2 of the series.

Posted by Nolan Dalla on May 6, 2023 in Blog, Essays, Politics, Rants and Raves | 0 comments

The Coronation Abomination

Someone, please explain why in the year 2023 there’s still such a thing as a “king.”

In a nation pressed with severe domestic needs – including a public health crisis – what can possibly justify squandering a whopping $125 million of the nation’s treasury on a “coronation?” This exorbitant cost comes atop the millions just spent on the late Queen’s *11-day* funeral last year. I mean, what’s up with that? I know a cremation service down the street that could have had the whole job over and done in 48 hours for 900 bucks (note-they only take cash). Then, there’s the $110 million this dysfunctional family of inbreds leeches off British taxpayers every single year.

Seriously, why are these preposterous and loathsome medieval traditions of royalty — constant bowing and fawning, mass serfdom, and so-called superiority by birthright — still a thing?

Explain it to me like I’m a clueless American foreigner because I just don’t get it.

Posted by Nolan Dalla on Dec 6, 2022 in Blog, Essays | 0 comments

Nones Grow, Christianity Declines in England

A VERY ENCOURAGING TREND

Christianity’s Retreat from England

For the first time in almost 1500 years, England is no longer majority Christian. Results of the 2021 census show the rapidity and geography of the retreat. What’s replacing Christianity? Not another religion, but “no religion.”

Posted by Nolan Dalla on Nov 12, 2022 in Blog, Essays, Personal | 0 comments

30 Years Ago Today

Thirty years ago, Marieta and I stayed in Holland for a few months. Her brother lived in Eindhoven, a Dutch city near the border with Belgium and Germany. We took these photos in Nov. 1992.

Those were great days and even better nights. When I think back on those moments, that might have been the happiest time of my life. Well, except for one other moment.

As to my happiest time, my hope is — I still haven’t lived it yet.

Isn’t that a joy to anticipate? Let’s all hope tomorrow is a better day than today and yesterday. And if tomorrow turns out to be something better than where we are now, then that’s something to celebrate.