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Neil's Trips

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  • Trips
    • 2024 Trip to Alabama
    • 2024 Trip to Costa Rica
    • 2024 Trip to Panama and Colombia
    • 2023 Martha?s Vineyard
    • 2023 Trip to Albania and Montenegro
    • 2023 Trip to Slovenia and Croatia
    • 2023 Trip to Paris
    • 2022 Trip to the American Midwest
    • 2022 Trip to New England USA
    • 2021 Trip to Iceland
    • 2021 Death Valley
    • 2019 Road Trip to Branson, MO and Oklahoma
    • 2019 St. Oswald?s Pilgrimage
    • 2019 Trip to Sicily
    • 2018 Trip to West Coast of Vancouver Island BC
    • 2017 Morocco
    • 2017 A Summer in the Desert
    • 2016 Trip to Italy
    • 2016 Trip to Cuba
    • 2015 El Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage
    • 2014 Baja California Trip
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Author: Neil Peterson

One Surprising Way to Boost Your Health: Turn Up the Heat

May 29, 2025 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

Something I learned recently surprised me. And maybe it’ll surprise you, too. A few weeks ago, I attended a fascinating…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

We Owe Our Children Better: A Personal Call to Reduce America’s National Debt

May 26, 2025 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

Every child born in America today enters the world with a share of the national debt exceeding $100,000. That figure…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

A Love Letter to Herring

May 10, 2025 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

I just returned from the Netherlands and Denmark, and I can’t stop thinking about herring. There’s something about the way…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

Where the Eye Becomes Art: A Hidden Gem in Copenhagen

April 28, 2025 Neil Peterson 5 Comments

While exploring the charming streets of Copenhagen, my family and I stumbled upon a unique boutique that immediately caught our…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

Pedaling Through Copenhagen — and Into a Lesson on Happiness

April 27, 2025 Neil Peterson 8 Comments

Over the last few days, I’ve spent my time in Copenhagen a little differently than I normally might in a…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

Legoland: Where Fun, Bricks, and Big Ideas Meet

April 26, 2025 Neil Peterson 1 Comment

Leaving the Netherlands and heading to Denmark, there was no real debate about where our first stop needed to be.…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

The Floating Heart of Amsterdam: A Love Letter to Houseboats

April 25, 2025 Neil Peterson 5 Comments

Discovering history, wonder, and a way of life — one canal at a time. Spend even an hour walking the…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

The Day a 3-Year-Old and a 6-Year-Old Fell in Love with a 17th-Century Master

April 22, 2025 Neil Peterson 4 Comments

How a centuries-old dollhouse — and a brilliant museum — opened the door to art for two young hearts. Most…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

Tulips, Children, and a Day to Remember

April 21, 2025 Neil Peterson 8 Comments

  In Amsterdam and beyond, tulips are everywhere — in fields, in history, and sometimes, in memories that reach across…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

In Amsterdam, Bikes Rule — and Sometimes Bloom

April 20, 2025 Neil Peterson 9 Comments

In Amsterdam, bikes outnumber people — and a few lucky ones are covered in flowers. Here’s what I discovered about…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

How the Dutch Solve Problems (One Urinal at a Time)

April 19, 2025 Neil Peterson 2 Comments

On my first evening walking through Amsterdam, I stumbled upon something that stopped me in my tracks — and, no,…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

Adjust Your Expectations (and Your Knees): Greetings from Amsterdam!

April 18, 2025 Neil Peterson 4 Comments

After spending eleven hours flying in the sky, I touched down today in Amsterdam — the first stop on my…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

Buckle Up: We’re Headed for Adventure (with a 6- and 3-Year-Old at the Wheel)

April 16, 2025 Neil Peterson 9 Comments

Tomorrow, I’m boarding a plane to Amsterdam — and I already know this trip won’t look like any other I’ve…

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Posted in: 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark

Art in the Open: A Day with Desert X

April 13, 2025 Neil Peterson 6 Comments

I’ve seen art in galleries. I’ve seen it in museums, in churches, on city streets. But today, I saw art…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Many, Many, Many: A 101-Degree Friday in the Desert

April 12, 2025 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

It was 4pm on a Friday. After a long week, the options stretched before me like a buffet of rest…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

$800,000 Worth of Beer at My Local Grocery Store

April 5, 2025 Neil Peterson 5 Comments

I went into my neighborhood Ralph’s yesterday to pick up a few basics—nothing major, just some odds and ends. But…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Down the Drain: A Sewer Story of Friendship, Infrastructure, and Sludge

March 29, 2025 Neil Peterson 13 Comments

The other day, I went down a storm drain. Literally. Eight feet down into a dark, wet, sludge-filled storm sewer.…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

My Life in Cotton: The Quilt of Me

March 23, 2025 Neil Peterson 8 Comments

I don’t wear t-shirts much anymore. At this stage of life, I lean toward button-downs and sweaters—clothes that feel more…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

The Legacy of Bank Vaults: When Security Was Measured in Steel

March 16, 2025 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

Stepping into a bank vault in Laurel, a small Mississippi town, I felt like I had entered a bygone era—one…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Donald Trump — the Neville Chamberlain of our Time

March 2, 2025 Neil Peterson 7 Comments

After painfully watching the disastrous Oval Office meeting two days ago which ended in the berating of President Zelensky of…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Rediscovering the Root Beer Float

February 22, 2025 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

The other day, I did something I hadn’t done in decades—I had a root beer float. One sip, and I…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Rubber Duckies

February 2, 2025 Neil Peterson 4 Comments

I am not sure why, but I am still in love with rubber duckies.  In fact, truth be known, I…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

The $2 Bill

January 27, 2025 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

I carry a $2 bill with me all the time.  Why, you may ask. The reason is that one of…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Why I’ll Always Be 42: A Celebration of a Special Number

January 21, 2025 Neil Peterson 4 Comments

When friends ask me how old I am, I always tell them, “42.” That might seem odd since I’m chronologically…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Life Lessons from Turtles: Embracing a Turtle Mindset

January 19, 2025 Neil Peterson 4 Comments

I am not sure that you are aware of the fact that I collect turtles.  In fact, I have a…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Why I Cry More at 80: A Deep Dive Into the Phenomenon

January 16, 2025 Neil Peterson 5 Comments

At the young age of 80, I’ve noticed a surprising shift: tears come more easily than they used to, as…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Tears, Truth, and Transformation—The Films That Moved Me

January 12, 2025 Neil Peterson 4 Comments

The magic of cinema lies in its ability to transport us to places we’ve never been, introduce us to lives…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Embarrassed

December 30, 2024 Neil Peterson 6 Comments

Yes, indeed. I was embarrassed yesterday. Let me set the scene for you. Last night, I was at a restaurant/bar…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Joy Does Not Keep Score

December 26, 2024 Neil Peterson 5 Comments

This past weekend, I went bowling with my daughter, son-in-law, and my two grandchildren, ages six and three. It was…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

What We Can Learn from History

December 23, 2024 Neil Peterson 1 Comment

At the recent International Churchill Society 2024 Conference held in London which I attended, what struck me most was what…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Winston Churchill’s Sesquicentennial

December 21, 2024 Neil Peterson 5 Comments

2024 marks Churchill’s sesquicentennial — the 150th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s birth on November 30, 1874.  It is a milestone…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

The Power of Pilgrimages

December 15, 2024 Neil Peterson 1 Comment

The Power of Pilgrimages Pilgrimages can be traced back to prehistoric times when early humans journeyed to sacred sites, often…

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Posted in: 2024 Trip to Alabama

The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth

December 7, 2024 Neil Peterson 4 Comments

When I think of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1950’s and 1960’s the first person…

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Posted in: 2024 Trip to Alabama

Lynching in America

December 2, 2024 Neil Peterson 7 Comments

This is a topic that I have not discussed with anyone for years and years, if at all. Yes, I…

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Posted in: 2024 Trip to Alabama

Remembering the Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March on its 60th Anniversary

December 1, 2024 Neil Peterson 6 Comments

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama. I also had…

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Posted in: 2024 Trip to Alabama

A Very Unusual Saturday

November 24, 2024 Neil Peterson 7 Comments

Yesterday – a Saturday — was a very unusual day for me in that I did not attack, address, work…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Charlie’s Catfish House

November 11, 2024 Neil Peterson 2 Comments

Every once in a while, you come across an eating establishment that you have to talk about.  That happened to…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

The Value of International Travel

November 9, 2024 Neil Peterson 5 Comments

One of the most profound benefits of international travel is a newfound perspective it provides on one’s own country. International…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Middle Names

October 13, 2024 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

The other day I met an individual who had no middle name. Wow, I said to myself, this is a…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

The Good Humor Man

September 22, 2024 Neil Peterson 4 Comments

Does anyone remember the Good Humor man?  I sure do. Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, the sound of…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Daisy, Daisy

September 21, 2024 Neil Peterson 2 Comments

The 1892 song Daisy Bell, has a verse in it that goes like this…            …

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Panhandler

September 20, 2024 Neil Peterson 7 Comments

Today I did something that I have never done before. I was driving my car – my 17-year-old Jeep Liberty…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Car Detailed

September 12, 2024 Neil Peterson 6 Comments

Today I got my car — a 2007 Jeep Liberty — detailed. Now, you may ask, why am I writing…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

How to Fix Obesity in the US

September 6, 2024 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

My last blog and podcast I talked about obesity in this country, and how significant the problem is.  It is…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Obesity

September 2, 2024 Neil Peterson 2 Comments

Why am I writing about obesity, you may ask. I was shocked the other day—absolutely blown away.  According to a…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Gus Walz

August 25, 2024 Neil Peterson 12 Comments

I just have to speak up about Gus Walz, the 17-year-old son of Democrat vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. What…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Loneliness

August 24, 2024 Neil Peterson 2 Comments

Three months ago I wrote a blog about loneliness. What sparked my blog was the issuance of a report on…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

A New Word Every Day

August 19, 2024 Neil Peterson 2 Comments

Have you ever wanted to expand your lexicon?   Lexicon is your vocabulary, your dictionary, if you will.  The concept…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

A Return to the Opera: My Night with Pagliacci

August 17, 2024 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

It’s been 40 years since I last set foot in an opera house. Life has a way of leading you…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

Six Steps to Improving Your Sleep

August 16, 2024 Neil Peterson 3 Comments

The other day I, along with 15 of my college classmates, had the opportunity to hear from Matthew Carter, Associate…

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Posted in: Meandering Musings

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Neil’s Trips

  • 2025 Trip to the Netherlands and Denmark
  • 2024 Trip to Alabama
  • 2024 Trip to Costa Rica
  • 2024 Trip to Panama and Colombia
  • Meandering Musings
  • 2023 Martha's Vineyard
  • 2023 Trip to Albania and Montenegro
  • 2023 Trip to Slovenia and Croatia
  • 2023 Trip to Paris
  • 2022 Trip to the American Midwest
  • 2022 Trip to New England USA
  • 2021 Trip to Iceland
  • 2021 Death Valley
  • 2019 Road Trip to Branson, MO and Oklahoma
  • 2019 St. Oswald's Pilgrimage
  • 2019 Trip to Sicily
  • 2018 Trip to West Coast of Vancouver Island BC
  • 2017 Morocco
  • 2017 A Summer in the Desert
  • 2016 Trip to Cuba
  • 2016 Trip to Italy
  • 2015 El Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage
  • 2014 Baja California Trip
  • Uncategorized

Contact Us

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    neilpeterson1@gmail.com
  • Phone
    (206) 910-7515

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