I’ve always appreciated city living, but, after this weekend, I appreciate it a little bit more. I spent the weekend on Long Island with my parents and experienced the first Nor’Easter I have in a long time.

It was a weekend I wasn’t traveling and thought it would be a good idea to head out to the land of suburbia. I drove out Saturday looking forward to some overdue rest and relaxation, but that idea quickly disappeared on the Meadowbrook Parkway. The drive from the city was routine enough, with a lot of rain and extra strong winds, but that was to be expected from the weather report.

However, around Exit 16, traffic stopped abruptly and I saw a tree topple over. I didn’t see any major damage to the cars nearby, but as traffic merged to go around it, another tree fell onto the highway. I couldn’t wait to get home and out of the car.

The next morning the neighborhood had an astounding number of trees down. Many of them blocked the entire street and residents had to feel lucky the trees didn’t topple the opposite way and into the homes instead of the street. After seeing all the damage from the rain and wind, I realized I could not even begin to imagine what the recent natural disasters in Chile, Haiti and Turkey were like. I know I won’t take New York City living for granted again. Even when there is natural damage, apartment buildings rarely get affected and the residents are not responsible for the clean up. We can also get around town without a car and keep all of our basic needs at an arm’s reach. Our tax dollars may be out in use for the clean up and I’m happy to see them put to good use!

-Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher

Over the weekend, I was invited by Tourism Ireland to attend the kick-off dinner and private preview of the Philadelphia Flower Show. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society heads up the event and festivities, and the show is the largest indoor flower show in the world. It is a wonderful touch of spring, particularly here in the Northeast where we have been pummeled with significant snowfall.

Countries from all over the world show off their best — Brazil, South Africa, Singapore and, of course, Ireland. Tourism Ireland had the area painstakingly planted and decorated with award-winning style. Each year there is a specific theme to the show; this year it was Passport to the World, very fitting for the readers of Global Traveler. In 1997, the theme was Ireland, which was the catalyst for stepping up Tourism Ireland’s involvement.

In attendance was Dara Calleary, minister of labour affairs, who linked the flower show to Ireland’s tourism industry. Tourism represents so much of Ireland’s job market that it is important to focus on anything like the flower show to drive travelers to Ireland. The flower show attracts the right type of individuals, who are interested in history and gardens, which are associated with Ireland, its castles and manor homes.

The Philadelphia Flower Show is deeply rooted in the 183-year history of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). Over the years, members brought their plants to show other members and, eventually, to share with the public. In the 1960s, PHS took over management of the show, also encouraging participation by amateurs, individuals and garden clubs.

With the help of hundreds of volunteers, the show raises significant funds to support PHS’s community greening programs and other civic initiatives in Philadelphia. Philadelphians have more gardens than other cities because the PHS encourages open spaces to be created and turned into places to plant. Additionally, the city hosts the largest in-city park, Fairmount Park, with 9,200 acres.

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

Having grown up in Oregon just a few hours’ drive from the coast, a trip to the beach at least three or four times a year was something to which I grew accustomed, though never weary. My siblings and I spent the days building forts among the driftwood logs, hunting for washed-up treasures, building sand castles and sculptures, playing in the (cold!) waves and warming ourselves by a fire as we munched on s’mores. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love to sit and watch the waves rolling into the shore or crashing dramatically against the rocks, and I’ve never slept better than within the sound of the breakers and the scent of the ocean air.

There were a few times in my adult life when I found myself living far from the sea and unable to just hop in the car for a quick drive to enjoy its soothing presence. How I missed the long walks on the sand and the calm I felt with nothing but the sound of the waves and the wind in my ears! My girls seem to feel that same pull of the tides. Their favorite family vacations include our many trips to the beach; and even now, when Jenny comes home from college in Chicago, she always requests that we squeeze in a day or two at the coast.

Having just returned from a few days by the sea, I’m feeling the benefit of my brief stay there and reminded how good it is for me to make the time for those interludes of quiet. Although the weather can often be stormy and extremely wet at this time of year, this time there was barely a breeze, the temperatures were in the 50s, and the sun even peeped through the high, thin overcast on occasion. It gave me the chance to take  comfortable, long walks up the sand and pause for some lengthy stretches to just sit and watch the breakers rolling in. I’m never bored seeing how the water swells up and builds into a curling, green glass wall and then tumbles over in seeming slow motion into foaming, pounding surf. It offers an opportunity to empty the mind and think of nothing at all or a background against which to tackle some knotty problem without the interference of any other distraction.

So I’ve returned home to a week full of deadlines, appointments and obligations, but renewed in spirit, body and soul. And when life gets hectic, I’ll recall those peaceful moments by the sea until I can visit there again.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader 

It seems to be something one can count on at this time of year: a news story of individuals getting lost and/or stuck in a remote area after relying on their GPS system to navigate their way in unfamiliar territory. I’m guessing part of that may be due to a whole bunch of folks getting a Christmas gift of one of those nifty gadgets, and before they fully understand its shortcomings as well as its benefits, they head out to visit the relatives and then go astray.

Within just a few days of each other around December 25, two local incidents became national news stories, and both centered around GPS navigation systems. In the first, a couple traveling from Portland to Reno became stuck in snow on a remote Forest Service road in the mountains here in Southern Oregon. Their system had directed them onto the unmaintained road from a state highway, and by the time they got stuck, weather had closed in and made calling for help impossible. They were stuck for at least two days before the weather lifted and the same instrument that led them astray was able to send a weak signal containing its coordinates to 911. Luckily, the pair had proper clothing and extra food and water with them and were no worse for the experience.

The second story involved a young couple who had, indeed, just received a GPS system for Christmas. They left the Willamette Valley and headed over the Cascade Range on Christmas Eve to visit family in Eastern Oregon. Jeramie Griffin decided to follow the “shortest route” option the device offered him, which would supposedly cut 40 miles off the route he usually took. After spending a cold and frightening night stuck on a remote, snow-covered road with his girlfriend and their baby daughter, running low on formula and with no survival gear, they filmed a farewell video, thinking they would die before they were found. Luckily, a family member used a similar GPS device that duplicated the route Jeramie used, which led rescuers right to the stranded family less than a day after they were stuck.

Reading of such incidents, one has to wonder: What happened to common sense? Sheriff Tim Evinger, involved in the search for the first couple, said it quite plainly: “If there’s any lesson, it’s to understand what the GPS is telling you and not to follow it blindly.” It reminds me of an episode of The Office, where Michael returns to the office soaking wet after unquestioningly obeying the directions of his GPS system and driving right into a lake. Why take an unknown route in the dead of winter in the mountains, especially when it appears to be unmaintained or off the beaten track?

Law enforcement and travel experts offer sound and logical advice: use a paper map in addition to GPS, keep your gas tank full, check the weather forecast and your cell phone charge, keep a survival kit in the car in winter, configure your system for “highways only” or a similar setting. I note on my good old (free) AAA maps that they include notations for roads that are closed in winter, and one can readily see the entire area and detect which routes are “scenic” (meaning narrow and winding) and which are more heavily traveled. Unfortunately, GPS technology doesn’t contain information about seasonal roads or weather conditions. 

Happily, the two stories I mentioned here ended on a positive note, and the technology that got those folks lost also helped them be found. It doesn’t change the fact that a little common sense (and, maybe, a plain old paper map) would likely have kept both parties and their loved ones from enduring a very scary, uncomfortable experience.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

Yesterday my colleague, Alex Young, wrote about the first snowfall. She wrote that she’s a winter girl at heart. Well, I’m no Beach Boy (although I like their music), but I would be very willing to send all of Chicago’s snow this winter to Alex in New York.

I approach snowfall with this usual question, “What good can come of this?” For me, the answer is always, “None!”

We got our first snowfall of the season on Monday night. We all heard it was coming. The weatherpeople put up all of the nasty stats and bad graphics warning us of impending doom. Yet, Tuesday morning, the streets were a mess everywhere. City and suburban officials stated that they hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

This bad? We got about an inch. How could they not be ready? With no snow yet, and already this late in the year, I’d think they would have been more than capable of handling this apparent surprise dusting.

And, of course, we got all the silly shots of reporters standing by the expressways and freezing as wind and snow attacked them from all sides. Do we really need them out there for us to understand it is cold and nasty?

Lastly, don’t get me started on the Bears-loving, tough Chicagoans, who completely lose all of their driving skills the minute the pavement gets moist. We’re tough. We’re gritty. Blah, blah, blah . . . we need to learn how to drive!

Don’t worry about me, though. I will not let snow get me down. It is only about 12 short weeks until March 1, which I always declare is the beginning of spring. I can almost hear the sound of lawnmowers happily slicing through the grass (or maybe that is the salt trucks finally making their rounds).

– John Wroblewski, distribution specialist