Boomeresque:Definition
1. Adj.: Describing a person born between 1 Jan. 1946 and 31 Dec. 1964
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Zentangle Diva Challenge #276 – Zentangle Travels Edition

by Suzanne Fluhr on July 18, 2016 · 20 comments

Dawn over the Atlantic enroute to Dublin.

20160712_161118Thank you to all who participated in the Zentangle Diva challenge last week when I was the guest Diva. I saw some very nice work interpreting my theme, Give Peace a Chance, and I was comforted to see how many of you all over the United States and the world share my yearning.  …And then came the massacre of innocents in Nice, France on Bastille Day; the attempted coup d’etat in Turkey; and then, just yesterday, an ambush and murder of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 🙁

                                     *******************************

This week, the Zenatangle Diva, Laura Harms, posted the weekly challenge later than usual because she is in the midst of a road trip with her family and lost track of time. They have already traveled 2,400 miles (3,900 kms.) from their home in Saskatoon, Canada to southern California.

As a wanderluster/travel blogger, I can totally relate. When I was practicing law full time, and keeping track of our sons’ schedules, the days zipped by. I lived and died by my calendar. There were court dates, deadlines, soccer games, pediatrician appointments, special school assemblies, parent-teacher conferences, and school holidays, so I was always pretty sure what day it was.

When we travel, the quality of time changes. The days seem to slow down. There are discrete mornings, afternoons and evenings, new foods, new cultures, new languages and new experiences. Mr. Excitement and I often start our days during a trip by discussing what day of the week it is. Fairly frequently, we don’t agree, so someone has to whip out their smart phone so we can check.

Tangled sculpture aboard the Celebrity Silhouette

“Tangled” sculpture aboard the Celebrity Silhouette.

Laura’s challenge this week is for us to share a tile we’ve done while moving. One thing I love about Zentangle and Zentangle Inspired Art is that it has seriously reduced my desperation during long haul flights and airport layovers. As long as I have a few tangling supplies, I’m quite content to entertain myself for long periods of time.

As I mentioned last week, I am nursing an injury to my right (dominant) hand wrist. Speaking of travel, I’m pretty sure I caused the problem during some prolonged suitcase pulling during our trip to Scotland and England at the end of April. Unfortunately, long intervals of grasping a pen is one of the things that exacerbates the pain. My sister, an Occupational Therapist, has suggested not doing that for awhile would aid the healing process. It turns out I’m not the best at following medical advice, but I promised myself I’ll hide my tangling supplies this week to see if that helps.

I was happy to see that I can actually participate in this week’s challenge with tiles I produced on prior trips. Unlike Laura, I’ve never tried tangling in the car because I think it would make me feel carsick.

These tiles were tangled during a “get me outta here!” Caribbean cruise last February; “here” being our home city of Philadelphia which can get quite frigid thanks to polar vortices that dip down from Canada for weeks at a time. I loved sitting out in a warm breeze on deck, tangling to my heart’s content, looking up at the azure sea when I needed to rest my eyes.

Zentangle at sea.

Zentangle at sea.

This one was done at 35,000 feet during a 15 hour flight from JFK Airport in New York City to Johannesburg, South Africa in 2014. I’ve shared this before, but I don’t think it was memorable enough for anyone here to remember.

Zentangle during flight

Zentangle at 35,000 feet.

My next opportunity to tangle while on the move will be in early September when we’ll be in London and Iceland.

How do you keep yourself entertained during long trips?

{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }

Maggibee July 18, 2016 at 6:10 pm

I knew yours would be the first name on the Diva blog this week. It just was meant to be. Mine must wait until tomorrow morning and i shall do the same, finding previous ZIA from fights to pastures new. I like yours, they show a good memory for patterns, since i assume you had to pull them from memory, not internet. Either way, nice work Suzanne.

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Suzanne Fluhr July 18, 2016 at 6:24 pm

I’m lucky I had some tiles consistent with the theme because I can’t really hold a pen right now. I’ll be waiting for for your post to see what you found from your travels.

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Jacqueline Gum July 19, 2016 at 6:44 am

Really beautiful tiles and I love that even in your down time, a need to be productive still shines through:) Creatively productive still takes energy, even though it seems different in nature. My long airport layovers were spent reading books of all kinds – novels, non-fiction and if I tired of that I started playing cards. Not on a computer, but real cards. If I couldn’t conjure a Gin Rummy game with my companion, I would play solitaire. Best wishes for a full recovery with that hand! Sounds painful!

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Suzanne Fluhr July 19, 2016 at 10:47 am

I read too and play solitaire on my phone.

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ria matheussen July 19, 2016 at 7:43 am

Nice tiles and especially the one you have made from N.Y to Johannisburg is very pretty. I like your way of writing and I always read your blog very well (good for my English too)
I’m not on the Diva’s site this week because I cannot draw in the car, the plain, the train… It makes me sick. I prefer to draw at home in a nice quiet neighbourhood!

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Suzanne Fluhr July 20, 2016 at 4:49 pm

Thanks for stopping by Ria even though you aren’t participating in this week’s challenge. BTW, your English is excellent. I am always so impressed by the capacity of Scandanavians, the Dutch, Belgians and Germans to be so conversant in English. So many of us in the United States are monolinguists.

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Roz Warren July 19, 2016 at 9:56 am

How do I keep myself entertained on a plane? I nosh! It is a scientific fact that food consumed in the air contains no calories.

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Suzanne Fluhr July 20, 2016 at 4:50 pm

For some reason, I crave licorice All Sorts as soon as I get about 32,000 feet. I’ll settle for Good and Plenty if I have to.

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cheryl stocks July 19, 2016 at 10:53 am

Dear Suzanne, so sorry to hear about your hand. Mine is healing pretty well and I’m glad that it was my non-drawing hand as I’ve spent many a waiting hour drawing away. Not something I do while a passenger. I can crochet with my eyes closed and that is a productive use of time. We do a lot of driving/car trips so our go-to activity is geocaching to help break up the miles. (And sometimes the geocaching IS the trip). Have you ever done that?
But I digress. I like what you did with Yuma for that last tile. Really lovely. Cheryl

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Suzanne Fluhr July 20, 2016 at 4:58 pm

Thank you, Cheryl. I never have done geocaching, but I have several travel blogger friends who are big time geo cachers. The latest Pokemon Go craze seems to be a digital/virtual form of geo-caching. I think humans are probably hard-wired to like to explore and to enjoy collecting, so it’s not that odd that they are both so popular. I’m impressed that you can crochet with your eyes closed. I had an aunt who did amazingly complex knitting without looking. Apparently, I did not inherit the needlework gene.

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Yorkshire Tortoise July 19, 2016 at 1:22 pm

Lovely tiles Suzanne, amazing that you have so many up your sleeve, or actually not so surprising considering you have a travel blog 🙂

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Suzanne Fluhr July 20, 2016 at 5:07 pm

I’ve never done the calculation, but a pretty good percentage of my tiles have some travel connection since “waiting” is such a great time to tangle. The other big chunk is done watching TV—or rather — listening to TV.

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LezliB July 19, 2016 at 3:54 pm

Beautiful tiles Suzanne. I know what you mean about not being able to hold a pen and I can feel your frustration at not being able to draw, but good for you for hiding your drawing supplies. You really do need to rest it or try building up your strength with your other hand. Your tangles from your travels are beautiful. I’m glad you found a way to participate in spite of your current setback. They are ALL beautiful!

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Dorita July 19, 2016 at 8:14 pm

Great tiles! I can feel the movement of your cruise 😉 Glad you found a way to participate while resting that hand.

Peace!

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Annemarie July 20, 2016 at 1:48 am

You are quite good in this; probably because you can practice a lot with all your travelling 🙂 I once tried to tangle in a train, but that was no succes at all. I like you tiles.

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Suzanne Fluhr July 20, 2016 at 5:14 pm

Tangling on a train in the US would be impossible. Unlike many of the high speed trains in Europe, our train infrastructure is beyond old and not maintained so there is a lot of bumping along and swaying.

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Pat Mathes Czt July 20, 2016 at 8:28 am

Great group of tiles. I knew you would have a stash of pieces for this challenge.

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michele wynne July 21, 2016 at 6:23 pm

Lovely work! I’m sorry about your hand and hope you’re healing well. It’s a fortunate challenge this week that allows you to show off your work at sea. How lovely that sounds to me.

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Annie July 22, 2016 at 2:15 pm

You are a great traveller, Suzanne and so I am not at all surprised that you can produce a wonderful selection of travel tangles. Really beautiful! I do hope you have managed to rest that hand now and that you are feeling some relief. Axxx

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nan @ lbddiaries July 24, 2016 at 5:39 pm

I LOVE that statue! Of course I am a wee bit biased because yours is the only Zentangle I know and I always love your beautiful ones – they are ALL beautiful in different ways.

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