Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve day trip from Playa del Carmen was our first day trip since moving to our apartment here in Playa. Though we had other places in mind as well, the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve topped our list. Up until recently, the comfy buses were great for travel between cities and withing cities, but we knew we would see more if we rented a car. The car we rented was a Nissan March, a smallish simple 4 door hatchback. Robert did all the driving.
From Playa del Carmen, we headed south to Tulum. The main beach road in Tulum, Avenida Coba, is also the highway that heads south into the biosphere reserve. Robert’s goal for our day trip was to get as far as the Boca Paila bridge.
Sian Kaan road sign
The unpaved road was a bit rough. Since the car was small, Robert drove slowly and very carefully. That way, he managed to avoid bottoming out in holes, ridges or gullies on the road’s surface. The road obviously had endured some rainstorms since the last grading, but recent days had been dry, so it was a perfect time to explore. Although it isn’t that far from Tulum, it took about two hours of driving on the unpaved road to get to the bridge. The foliage of the reserve is beautifully green, deep and dark. I would have loved to walk a bit in the forest. It appeared to me that the plants were bigger there, the fan palms had enormous fans, the pinnate palms were tall with deep green fronds.
The fan palms seem enormous in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve!
Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve is not exactly as I expected, but lovely nonetheless!
I expected a park where we could get out and walk among the trees along the road and access the beach. But through most of the zone, at least as far as the Boca Paila bridge, there was fencing near the road. The fencing demarcated private or off-limit property, so that we could not access the beach on the one side nor the lagoon on the other. Some of the properties had signs indicating they were lodges or guest houses of some sort. There is a rustic restaurant in the reserve a few kilometers from the entrance. We did go there. At the restaurant, though we didn’t access the beach, it appeared that we could have walked down to it. The picture below is of the beach from the dining area.
A simple restaurant near the entrance overlooks the ocean
Since we had planned only a day trip, I hadn’t done research on staying in the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve. We do plan to visit Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve from Playa del Carmen again, but not for a day trip. We will stay at Punta Allen, the end of the road settlement that offers various levels of lodging to visitors. Next time, to get there, we will take public transportation, a tour, or rent a much sturdier vehicle.
View from the Puente Boca Paila (Boca Paila bridge)
The PuenteBoca Paila was the turnaround point of our day trip. We stood on the bridge and took some photos. It was a very hot afternoon. Although Robert would have gladly walked to the ocean on the nearby path, it was too hot for me to attempt it and waiting in the car would have even been hotter. Next time we hope to choose a cooler day for our visit!
Traveling when old has similarities and differences to traveling when young. Two years ago, Robert and I uprooted ourselves to travel in Mexico. But we didn’t settle in one place. We’ve traveled around. The ease of using the buses, planes, hotel and Airbnb sites made short term stays in different areas fun and affordable.
We have more luggage now!
There’s a big difference between the kind of traveling we do now and the kind that we did in the ’60s ’70 and even the ’80s. For one thing, we use suitcases now, while we preferred backpacks back then. Everything we need for our everyday lives fits in two suitcases, each, but they aren’t little suitcases. Dragging them through a bus depot or airport is embarrassing. I used to travel lightly and proudly, without encumbrances other than a small backpack.
Things that we didn’t need before when traveling include things that didn’t exist in the 60s, 70’s and 80’s, like our laptops, cell phones and their associated cables and chargers, keyboards and my 21 inch monitor.
I have a lot of vitamins, a neck massager, a “ma roller”, wraps for knees, wrists and elbows, a heating pad, ice pack and more. Even though I don’t have any aches and pains at this moment, I carry these tools. And though seldom, I have used each and every one at least once on this journey. In reality, it’s a lot easier to pull something out of my suitcase than try to find an open store in some tiny unfamiliar town at ten o’clock at night or 5 in the morning.
Mail
As a grownup and elder, I don’t have a mom or dad to take care of my mail and things back home. Thankfully, with cell phone and laptop, I take care of most of my mail (digital), order supplies that I need and pay taxes online. Infrequently, we order physical mail to be sent from our physical mail center, when we can’t get back to pick it up in person.
When we left for Mexico, I had only clothes for moderate and warm weather. After a few months in the tropical lowlands, we went to Mexico City in mid-January. The cold was impressive and we immediately went shopping for sweaters, jackets and warm pants. These items added to what I carry. I replaced my small suitcase with a larger size. Now, my several changes of clothes include items both for the cool highland climates and tropical lowlands. I only buy clothes that wash and wear easily. Though I wash some things by hand, most often we take our clothes to a nearby lavanderia. Here in Mexico, do-it-yourself coin-op laundromats exist in some cities. We prefer those.
Good health is vital when traveling!
Since my first serious encounter with tropical illness in 1965, I don’t take good health for granted.. Therefore, I have vitamins and herb supplements that I would have never dreamed of carrying in my youth. Supplements that are reputed to build the immune system are part of my daily regimen. For my mental and physical well being, I think this two year journey has been very beneficial.
We pay attention to the body’s need for exercise and fresh air, so we travel slower.
A big change between now and when we were young is that our bodies rebel when confined to a bus or airplane seat for hours. While we used to cover lots of ground by traveling long distances at night, we avoid overnight rides now. We plan our trips so that we are on a bus or plane for no more than four to six hours, preferably two or three. We then stay no less than two days at the destination. This gives us a chance to stretch out, walk, rest, and see a bit of of a new place. Even if not a preferred destination, we have found there is going to be something interesting to see or do everywhere.
Photos are easier to take and store now!
In the past, photos taken by my camera required developing into prints before I could see them. It seemed costly to take too many and I was never sure if they would turn out right. Some of the places we have visited lately are places we visited 30, 40 or even 60 years before. I wish I had more of my old pictures to use as comparison photos, but I only have a few of each place, some not in focus or with good lighting.
Of course, my cell phone takes great photos. I can take as many as I want and discard the failures! And keep them in the cloud for future viewing. It’s great to not have to lug slide projectors and slide trays around. Fortunately, I scanned all my old slides, converting them into digital jpgs in 2006. All my old slides are in the cloud now, too.
Carolyn 1966 on Cousin Inez’s deck overlooking the harbor of Genoa, Italy
Selfies are not very flattering!
Daily in social media I see photos of young beautiful women who pose so gracefully in front of every monument, beach or festive crowd. That is not us at this time of our lives. I wish I had more photos of a photogenic me, but, alas, the photos reveal me as I really am.
Traveling when old is just as fun and exciting as it was when we were younger, but we cover less ground than we did before!
Language Fluency
I’ve traveled in Mexico since the 1960s. In the 60s, I had just come out of high school and college where I spent four years studying Spanish. In subsequent trips, I never was at a loss for words. But when we came to Mexico in 2021, I would open my mouth, rapidly speak a few words and then a deafening silence. Somehow, in the past twenty years, I had forgotten most all the Spanish I used to know. Limited to only remembering some words and phrases and verbs only in the present tense. I would have feared for my memory, in general, but in the past twenty years, I had no problems with remembering other things that seemed important. Passing the real estate exam, substitute teaching, running a small online business, mastering the art of horoscope interpretation, and more occupied the past two decades, so it must have been just a matter of attention and practice.
Language Apps to the Rescue
Language apps are wonderful for filling in the memory gaps. Google Translate helps when I read articles or even a menu in Spanish. I downloaded the Language Transfer app and use it sometimes. It helps with understanding the structure and origins of Spanish.
I use Duolingo daily. I love how the lessons are short and easy to do at various times during the day. At first Duolingo was frustrating, because it took me through beginner’s, present tense lessons, for almost a year before “introducing” me the past tenses. But obviously, I needed the review, or the app would have moved me on faster. I’m still not fluent, but I am heading there. And in addition to learning the language, it feels like there are other learning benefits. All in all, travel has been good for my brain!
Relocation astrology is a relatively recent branch of astrology. It isn’t one of my specialties, but I am aware of it and calculate relocation charts from time to time. Astrology software quickly calculates relocation charts, so I often look at them to see how different places might affect me. But I haven’t actually made any serious choices using them.
Since leaving California, Robert and I have been traveling through Mexico. It’s been an exciting journey for us – a journey of connection to each other and exploration of the greater world. We have not yet integrated into a community anywhere, as we’ve been moving a little too fast for that. At the same time, we haven’t had a sense of social isolation.
Relocating to Playa del Carmen
Shortly after arriving in Playa del Carmen, we signed a 6 month lease for an apartment. All of a sudden, after signing that lease, I felt very very lonely. I felt like I was in a trap. The sense of isolation surprised me. After a few days went by with no change of mood, I remembered to create a relocation chart for this area.
All of a sudden I could see it quite plainly, my Moon is in the 8th House here. Saturn is in my 1st. My friendly natal Venus in Gemini is in the 12th in this location. A big chunk of my depressive feelings lifted as I saw that it was locational and situational. It wasn’t Robert isolating me, it was a locational choice and I am free to move, albeit with a loss of money. Interestingly, moving here coincides with transit Saturn conjoining my natal Moon. So it is as if I moved to a place, unknowingly, where the energy of the Saturn conjoined Natal Moon transit would be actualized.
A lesson I’ve learned is that traveling with the concept of just visiting is totally different than committing to stay, in the same way that dating is different from marriage. Astrology speaks to all these conditions, and the next time I get ready to sign a lease I’m going to be sure to check my locational astrology chart.
Besides that we love the beaches, we chose Playa del Carmen for a long stay because of the warm, year-round ocean temperatures, familiar stores and services, good restaurants, and the Cancun airport, which is less than an hour away.
The full moon was ethereal rising over the water. It is easy to imagine staying a long time in a place as beautiful as Playa del Carmen.
My first visit to Playa was in 1992, when Playa had sand streets and a few one story guest houses or small hotels. At that time, Playa’s claim to fame was its ferry service to Cozumel. Since then, the city has elevated its position into a destination in its own right. When we visited in 2021, we decided it would be a good choice for a longer term stay. At the time, though, we opted to continue our journey through Mexico.
Street near the ferry dock.
I found the comparison photo, below, on the web. The top photo shows Playa as it was in 1974 while the photo below it is from 2010. When we visited in 1992, it’s size was still similar to the 1974 view
Playa del Carmen 1974 and 2010.
We visited many places in Mexico between 2021 and 2023.
Between 2021 and 2023, we visited Merida, Mazatlan, San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, Tlacapaque, Mexicali, Tijuana, La Paz, Progreso, Ajijic, Campeche, Tulum, Orizaba, Cordoba, Villahermosa, Coatzalcoalcos, Palenque, Chetumal, Bacalar, Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico City, and more. We stayed from a few days to several weeks in each locale, returning to Playa del Carmen this past June.
When we chose Playa del Carmen for a six month stay, we rented an apartment in an eclectic gated community called Tohoku. The location is about a half mile walk from the beach. There are supermarkets close by and a Walmart, a bit further away.
Our first apartment had a lovely view from the roof.
Within walking distance in every direction, there are restaurants. The mariscos restaurants have all manner of fish and seafood dishes. We like Nativo Restaurant and the natural food store nearby, where we get freshly made blender drinks and juices to go with our meal. There is a lot more we want to explore here. Playa del Carmen is big and spread out.
View of Playa del Carmen, to the west, from our rooftop.
One of the reasons for the spread of Playa del Carmen is that, by law, no building can be more than five stories of living quarters with a sixth floor deck. So there are no high rises. I think this five-story rule is a good rule for a town, although it does add to the width and length of housing developments.
Something that we have enjoyed on previous visits is Playa’s proximity to the archaeological sites in the Yucatan. We haven’t visited any yet on this leg of our journey. That will be the subject of another post.
Palenque is a beautiful archaeological site in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, which we visited last week.
The Temple of the Inscriptions, also known as Pakal’s tomb, is one of many pyramids in the beautiful Mayan archaeological site of Palenque.
It’s been over 30 years, but last week we visited Palenque, a beautiful Mayan archaeological site in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, for the second time. The slippery steps of the pyramids and the tree and vine covered mounds which are un-excavated structures were fun to climb years ago. The falls I’ve taken in recent years, just walking on dry sidewalks, gave me doubt that I would be agile enough to do much more than take a photo from below. Using the zigzag method that Robert showed me, I did slowly make it to the top, as you can see in the photo.
Carolyn and Robert at Palenque
We hired a guide to show us the pyramids and to walk us through the forest.
Ricardo, pictured below, guided us at the site for the official two hour pyramid and selva (woods) tour. The selva tour takes the path through the forest behind the temple complex of Pacal and the Red Queen. The path weaves among structures which appear to be tall mounds, much larger than the restored pyramids. Lianas and gigantic trees whose roots penetrate the mounds conceal most of the walls and ceilings.
Ricardo is an official guide at Palenque
Ricardo showed us one of Palenque’s many springs.
In the selva, he guided us to a natural spring. Our guide claimed that fifty-six springs provided life-giving water to Palenque’s inhabitants. As we stood in the forest at the spring, we could easily imagine the sacred energy that the ancient Maya perceived there.
Ricardo, our guide, showed us one of Palenque’s many springs
He also showed us the canals and explained how the Maya of Palenque made straight sided canals, lined them with a type of smooth stucco coating and roofed them with stone. In places, the roofed part is still intact and we walked on top of it.
The Maya built straight sided aqueducts.
We were quite impressed with the size of the freshwater canal. In ancient times, it had smooth plastered sides and a stone roof covering . Can you see, in the photo below, the remains of the solid top in the distance?
Aqueduct at Palenque
After our visit to the ruins and woods, we visited the site museum. The displays showcase the artifacts found in the pyramids. The large incense burners have faces of gods or a shaman. There are also the delicately modeled reliefs which were carefully removed from the pyramids’ walls.
The site museum was interesting, as it houses many artifacts from the site.
Orizaba is a Pueblo Magico southeast of Mexico City.
Visiting Orizaba was the highlight of our journey , in no small part because of the the tram that takes visitors up from the city of Orizaba to a mountain above the city.
View from the tram.
Visiting Orizaba was the highlight of our journey. Orizaba is southeast of Mexico City and is a designated Pueblo Mágico in the state of Veracruz. The city boasts a tram, a river walk alongside a river-flanking zoo, a planetarium, a Palacio de Hierro (Iron Palace) designed by Eiffel, the architect who designed the Eiffel Tower, good food (which to me is seafood), friendly people, lovely vistas of hills in all sides, fresh air, lots of green plants everywhere, graceful arches and ancient walls that have weathered for hundreds of years, and a botanical garden with tropical plants and various species of orchids, many of which are native to the area.
A city park
The city park, with beautiful trees, flanks one of the main streets
Walking to our Airbnb from the Palacio de Hierro we passed the park above. The variety and lushness of the foliage amazed me. We walked into the park, then through it, we admired the plants while children played nearby and families and couples strolled past.
The zoo in Orizaba flanks the river.
The river that runs through Orizaba is flanked by a zoo that extends along the sides of the river. The weathered arches from bygone days create animal enclosures by the clever use of chain link fencing across the face of each arch. There are jaguars, parrots, and other animals, most indigenous to the area.
The river walk reveals arches
One of several solitary jaguars.
There is a Planetarium in Orizaba
We went to the Planetarium, but it wasn’t open when we were there and it wasn’t clear to us when the next planetarium viewing would be. But it was worth the attempt, anyway, as the planetarium dome and its surroundings are picturesque. In the same complex as the planetarium there is Disneyesque medieval castle which, when we were there, seemed to be the destination for young people, perhaps a school field trip.
The planetarium dome is picturesque as is the surrounding scenery
Use an astrology app to find your current or past astrology transits and read about their effects.
The moon has phases – so do our lives.
Looking at your astrology transits with the Time Passages astrology app will enable you to find your current or past astrology transits and read about their effects. You can then compare the descriptions of the transit effects with the actual events or feelings in your life. What if more than one transit aspect is going on in your life? In reality, that is usually the case. Consequently, you will want to identify which of the transits seems to be most potent for you. Was it a type of aspect, such as the square, sesquiquadrate, semisquare or opposition, or was it the trine? Or, were several several aspects to a particular planet giving more emphasis to its energies? An app can help you learn more about astrology, in general, and about your own reactions to planetary energies.
Astrologers pay close attention to transits, the daily motion of the planets in relation to the natal chart.
Use an astrology app like Time Passages to track transit effects
I look at transits daily, either by viewing the planetary positions using a sophisticated computer program, an ephemeris, or an app. For a newbie, I recommend Time Passages app for your phone. For a solo user, it is free and available on Google Play. I don’t have any “interest” in the app, but I suggest it to my students and other learners because I like the way it shows the dates that each transit will be in effect.
I made a short video to show how to read about the transiting aspects once you download the app and put in your own birth data. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66cxaaUXzxM&t=12s
Want to see your astrological transits for a full year ahead?
Order a PDF that I will send to you via email. Learning about the transits on a daily basis, really noting and feeling them is very convincing. The first yearly transit report that I read was way back in 1975. By reading it daily and observing myself, it became apparent to me that I reacted strongly whenever a transiting sesquiquadrate was happening. Most astrologers focus on major aspects, such squares and oppositions. Yet, by self-observation I noted a correlation of my reactions to the transiting minor aspects. This helped me to feel, observe, reflect, and choose to react or not, rather than go with the, often negative, emotional flow.
You can order a full year transit report that includes the minor aspects from me here: https://py.pl/2IKUVK
Have a one-on-one conversation!
Carolyn Relei – 50 years in astrology
For the caring and deep personal look at your astrological transits for the year ahead, schedule a conversation which only a human can give. I’ve done readings for years in person and for the last five years I do them by phone. I genuinely help people in a way that changes lives! Schedule here: https://carolynrelei.bookafy.com
Looking at transits in a personal forecast differs in many ways from the generalized forecasts in magazines.
Full moon over water reminds us that the tides are affected by the moon’s phases.
When I look at transits, I compare of the planets’ positions in the sky at a given moment to the planets’ positions in a person’s natal chart.
I’ve explored astrology for over 50 years, so I am well aware that we are all born with very different charts. The planets today affect each of us differently based on our natal chart.
Since many people happily follow astrology weekly prediction articles, I wanted to find out what the popular astrology column authors used as the basis of their weekly predictions. I wanted to know how the writers generalize their predictions to cover a large group of people with different natal charts
The moon has phases – so do our lives.
Comparing several columns by different astrologers revealed that not every astrologer focuses on the same transiting degrees. With many aspects at play during any one week or month, the weekly column astrologers appear to pick and choose among them.
Surely, using positive directed thoughts can mitigate fear and open the mind to avenues of response which provide a more favorable outcome to a temporary condition.
The common thread in all the astrology columns was not the aspect and the type of outcome that the aspect would cause. The common thread was actually advice or suggestions of the need to respond to all changes by using one’s own positive directed thoughts to guide one’s own life.
Positive thinking is a valuable tool!
The suggestion to develop a positive outlook solution for dealing with each possible scenario is a feature common to all columns I read. Because the nature of newspaper or magazine forecasts is to generalize by looking at transits for an entire group (all Leos or all Scorpios or all Geminis and so forth), positive thinking advice gives the reader a generally useful mental strategy for disarming fear, which can apply to everyone.
Unlike a generalized horoscope forecast, the transit forecast reading applies only and accurately to you.
An astrology forecast reading reveals the cycles of time in your life.
The transit forecast specifically for you is based on your birth time, place and date – your natal chart, that applies to you and you alone. Because of its accuracy and specificity, it will show opportunities, reveal challenges to be aware of, and describes emotional or psychological states that you are encountering. In addition, by calculating the transits for several years in the past, we can, with almost uncanny accuracy, describe conditions in a person’s life in a time in the past.
A professional personal astrology forecast is based on information in the current skies as it specifically relates to your own natal chart.
Your natal chart, or personal horoscope, is based on the exact time, date, and place of your birth. Astrologers compare the information coded in your natal chart to the current sky positions. We call this “looking at transits” or doing the transits. Interpreting it is called a “transit forecast”.
Time is the realm of astrologers. This chart represents the times of day and 12 divisions of a year as well as the symbols and names of the twelve signs of the zodiac.
Time is the realm of astrologers. Time is ordered by the circling of the planets, the rotation of the earth, the phases of the moon. Astrologers kept track of these cycles of time in ancient societies. To mark the cycles, ancient peoples built temples and pyramids, erected stone altars or inscribed rocks.
Because time is the realm of astrologers, astrology has been called the “clock of destiny”.
As beginning astrologer, I was fascinated by the connections of the astrological transits to things that happened in my life. In addition, I easily saw astrological correlations in the lives of family members. Whether real or not, the correlation between celestial events and human ones is the basis for predictive astrology. At times, the practice of astrology has been forbidden, based on a belief that astrologers could predict when a ruler would be vulnerable to harm by enemies. Dating back to at least Roman times, royal astrologers served the ruler and not the general public.
One role for astrologers in India is to pinpoint auspicious (favorable) times for certain activities. Astrologers assist people who want to marry by helping in the selection of a suitable marriage partner. People seek their advice for the correct amulet, prayer or gem that can ward off danger during inauspicious times. In the West, however, though Christianity acknowledges that astrologers from the “east” came to honor the baby Jesus by following his star, detractors have often vilified astrology through the uneven course of its history.
The gods of the “Hindu” pantheon are visible everywhere in Bangalore, a city in the southern part of India. I am reminded of the verse of the Bhagavad Gita, wherein Krishna states his amazing attributes, among them: “Time I am…”. India held to ancient traditions which, in most parts of the world, were overwhelmed by the “scientific” views of the modern era centuries ago. But time has cycles and what was once old is now new. Interest in astrology is waxing like moon!
Visits to Egypt in 1961 and 1965 inspired this blog post. It’s been many years since those visits. I am sure that Egypt has changed a lot in the past 55 years, just as everywhere has changed. Though I’ve spent most of my travel time in other locations, I would love to go to Egypt again. Because I love to travel, visit museums, read history and prehistory, and admire beautiful buildings, Egypt is a choice destination. Egypt has all that and much much more.
Egyptian people forged their identity long ago, long before the Arabs swept through to disseminate the religion of Islam and the Arabic language. While Arabic is the main language of Egypt, our Egyptian friends explained that they consider themselves to be “Egyptian” rather than Arab.
The annual flood cycle enabled agriculture in a rainless desert. During my visits to Egypt, farmers still used the shaduf – a human-powered device that transfers water from the river to the fields. The beautiful green along the Nile contrasted greatly with the beige desert beyond. Away from the Nile River, the land was extremely dry. You can see how barren and dry the ground is in the picture of barefooted young men, taken at Luxor, 1961.
Cairo is a gigantic city
Cairo had over 4 million inhabitants in the 1960s when I was there. Because I stayed in a hotel above Midan El Tahrir (Tahrir Square), I was close to the Egyptian museum and a short walk from Nile.
You must visit the Egyptian Museum
When you go to Cairo, visit the Egyptian museum! The museum houses thousands of years of artifacts – statues, jewelry, and the fascinating small models of everyday life that were placed in the tombs to accompany the deceased and serve them in the afterlife. Although styles somewhat changed over the millennia, the elements of design remained recognizably and consistently “Egyptian”.
Hire a Guide!
We had a wonderful guide in Luxor and Thebes in 1961. I scanned this photo, and others, from slides in 2006.
To get the most out of your visit to the monuments, it’s a good idea to hire a guide. We found that the guides in Egypt take great pride in their work and are knowledgeable in explaining the monuments and the rich history of Egypt. During our time in Luxor, my mom and I had an amazing guide who spoke seven languages and captivated us with his extensive knowledge and fascinating stories about each monument and their builders.
Cairo has an impressive university
Cairo is the home of what has been claimed to be the biggest university in all of Africa, the Al-Ahzar University and Mosque complex. Students from all parts of Africa and the Muslim world study there. We met students there from countries south of the Sahara, including South Africa.
During Ramadan, in the winter of 1965-66, we found the streets alive after sunset. I remember going out for food at 3am. Everything was alive with color and sound and people were everywhere. That night we ate fatira, a kind of thin pancake with a sweet sauce. From the hotel room windows we had a view of Midan el Tahrir square (which is really a circle) right below. Buses, cars and carts passed by day and night. The sounds of the clip clop of horses, harnessed to the their flat bed carts, were common. One day, walking along the street near the square, we were offered a ride and we accepted. This was my first and only ride on the slow moving horse drawn cart. It is but one example of the kind and open generosity that we experienced there.
Looking in a different direction from El Tahrir square we could see the extent of the city. The view below is of the closely packed buildings as they were in 1965.
Cairo in 1965 was a lively and densely populated city. Memories brought by looking through my photos of my visits to Egypt in 1961 and 1965 inspired this blog post
