Carlos Hazday

All you artistic types put my art knowledge to shame.

First thing that came to mind. Honestly. Pleiades callin' her home Seven Sisters, she hears her distant Sisters Pleiades callin' me home Seven Sisters, she hears her Seven Sisters

LMAO While the family spends Sunday sightseeing, eating, and drinking, the hung-over crew of the Flying Circus is getting the boat ready. The better be done by Monday morning!

More Barcelona sights in the next chapter. Year ago, my boyfriend and I spent a night at friends' place in Orlando. One of them collected building miniatures and displayed them on the kitchen's window sill. That was the inspiration for CJ's collection which dovetails nicely with his interest in architecture.

More than once, I've read about a place I found interesting, and crafted scenes to highlight the location. I've frequently mentioned I like Clive Cussler stories, and he's an author who frequently sent me on internet searches. CJ's my excuse to write about those discoveries the same way James Bond movies take us to incredible places in the movies.

They may not get to visit the wineries, but they'll definitely sample their product. I will reference a couple of distilleries in future chapters.

You're in Valencia, right? My ideal trip to Spain would have stops there, Sevilla, Malaga, Barcelona, Toledo, Madrid, and Ribadesella in Asturias. In case you're wondering why that last one, it's where my great-grandparents on my mother's side hailed from.

You're absolutely correct. Colored glass, and eventually colored windows, has been around for a long time. That's why I concentrated on how the architect use shades of blue to highlight soft light, and reds for the fiery afternoon light instead of focusing on the images. As much as I've traveled, particularly in the US, I've barely scratched the surface of wonders to visit. Spain, and most other European countries, occupy less real estate but have hundreds of years of history to explore. It takes me some eight hours to get out of Florida. In that same time, I could cross a couple of countries over there. Locations are close to each other but there are so many it's just as hard to see all the sights. One trip's never enough.

Except for generic narration which any of the characters could be responsible for, this chapter and the next two were written from Liebe's point-of-view. I wanted to explore how she reacts to the rest of the family.

Considering how much the fathers, grandfathers, and uncle spoil those kids, I think they're the power behind the scenes. Who cares if it's Brett paying for the trip.

I've written my share of clunkers, but they were early efforts. I think I've improved. CJ and Owen are the type who'll enjoy traveling with kids. This early in their lives, the fathers will have a chance to use their trips as educational experiences. CJ started traveling in his teens and Ozzie a bit later, but Liebe was in a plane at 8-months and the twins at five or six. Those experiences will remain with them for the rest of their lives. They'll be fun on this trip. Interesting you bring up Wingnut; there's a little scene about him in a future chapter.

I think it's a mark of greatness when an architect can design a structure that benefits from nature instead of limiting the work to what can be manufactured.

It kills me to write about places I haven't visited but would love to. Barcelona's definitely one of them. Considering CJ's personality, I could have him rant about Franco easily. Well, any dictator to be fair. Even when elected President, and aware of how he has to be careful with what he says, he conspires with Liebe to hammer Arab leaders. The only place I've been in with gun-toting people in every corner (except for Alabama) was Israel. Not sure if it's still a requirement, but back then soldiers were required to carry their Uzis even when off-duty. Sitting at an outdoor cafe in Tel Aviv, surrounded by men and women with a machine gun slung over their shoulder while having a good time was definitely different.

Gaudi can be a bit much for me, but he was definitely gifted. I chose Barcelona for many reasons, and one of them was a structure designed by another famous architect from Spain. We'll read about that one next week.

I chose one of the beta readers because he lives in Spain and I hoped he would point out any glaring errors. Now, I want any other Spaniards or residents to relate to what I write. The twins were very young when their father was our ambassador to Cuba, but I'm certain all three will also benefit from exposure to another culture. And the three will be a bit older when they move to New York after CJ heads to the UN. Living in the city will offer an education by itself. Liebe's lived in Mexico and Cuba. She's in Spain and headed back to Australia for a month after the sailing trip. I suspect CJ and Owen will take the kids along often when they travel for business. I think exposure to other cultures and people can only help turn those kids into global citizens with their feet firmly planted in the US.

I wrote this story a while back and I'm slowly remembering how much history I included. Aside from a little more sightseeing, we'll get into political consequences and some of the family=life changes brought on by CJ's election. There may be shirtless dancing at some point too. LOL

@JACC You have no idea how much seeing those pictures meant to me. You validated something I'd written without ever seeing the windows.

Thank you, but I must correct one thing. I've never served. Have had plenty of friends who did and dated a Marine or two in my life, but I was never in. My punctuation's still questionable at times, but its a hell of a lot better than it used to be. Most authors who care follow the Chicago Manual of Style guidance, and I suspect @Cia has the damn thing memorized. However, I recall her saying if we wanted to break rules, we had to first know them and understand them. When I recently sent her something to edit, I prefaced it with a couple of rules I ignore as part of my style. As far as I'm concerned, an ellipse's acceptable punctuation to end a sentence with and so are prepositions. LOL

Me too. In case I never make it there, at least I enjoyed the research and deciding what to highlight.

How did you get your hands on the next chapter? What those three want to be when they grow up might be mentioned in it. CJ's curiosity about the world we know, and he and Owen seem to encourage their kids to explore and ask questions as much as possible. They might humor their parents when they want to visit old buildings, but without realizing it, they're learning more than any kid who spends their days with a phone in their hands. Even when they focus on shiny crystals in the stone or the light coming through stained glass windows, they're lerning.I suspect their exposure to all sort of media will be regulated and limited. The crew will be either won over or drown their sorrows in alcohol.

Although kids could be a hindrance to two young men enjoying themselves, I think CJ and Owen would choose them over going out partying every weekend. They'll be the type type to include those three in as much as possible. I can imagine those three hanging out in the sidelines before Old Glory games thanks to their fathers owning the team. I can guarantee our men will be nothing like Dan Snyder. For anyone who doesn't follow sports, he's the owner of the NFL's Washington Commanders. Hopefully he'll be gone by the time CJ's elected. Once the twins are olde enough, they'll be ball boys at all home games. Rugby teams have players from multiple countires and that will help expand their world view.

Back in Ripper Christmas, we had out first glimpse of how CJ and Owen planned to raise their kids. If you remember, Owen's mother didn't approve. Our second look at her development was in CDMX and the Vail and New York trips. She speaks her mind (gee, I wonder where she gets that from) and her fathers encourage her while providing guidance. In this story, I'm trying to show how things have turned out for her and how she influences her brothers. T

Have you been peeking at my crotch again?

Thank you. Some of the places I've described in previous stories, I've visited and relied on my experience. Barcelona I've never been to. Research provided most of what I share, but the setting for next week's chapter's based on a picture of my nieces sitting at an outdoor cafe in the city.

"I can see CJ waving goodbye..." LOL First, welcome to GA. I noticed you recently joined. Second, Barcelona's one of the world's great cities and provided me the opportunity to describe some amazing locations. No more churches, but there's a bit more architectural stuff in the next chapter. And we get to hear about some people CJ and Ozzie met while living in Mexico.