Today is the anniversary of the death of my father, Paul Nicholas Luvera Sr. Born on March 25, 1898, he died in Anacortes, Washington on November 4, 1990 at the age of 92. I've published several accounts of his memories from his youth over the past couple of weeks. My sister Phyllis is the historian of our family and has written a book about this extraordinary man which will be published soon. This is a brief outline of dad's accomplishments…
Our law office is on the 67th floor of the Columbia Center (formerly Bank of America Tower and Columbia Sea First Center). The building has 76 floors and is the tallest building in the Pacific Northwest region. It is 932 feet in height. Yet,it is dwarfed by the ten tallest buildings in the world. In Dubai the tallest skyscraper is 2717 feet. In Saudi Arabia the tallest building is 1,971 feet. Malaysia has two twin skyscrapers both 1,483 feet high. Number nine on…
As a cradle Catholic born before World War II I am greatly disturbed by the changes in my church since Vatican II and John 23rd. I am chiefly bothered by the positions taken by Church leadership starting with Rome and the apparent effort to return the Church to the pre Vatican II status. Here are some examples of leadership action which is very troubling. In some European countries like Germany, traditionally there is no separation between church and state. In these countries, in addition to paying a…
I have written about vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and Republican hypocrisy before https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2012/09/cbs-news-norah-odonnell-put-paul-ryans-feet-to-the-fire-for-criticizing-president-obama-for-defensespending-cuts-after-he-sup.html The debate between the vice presidential candidates the other night only confirmed my negative viewpoint of Congressman Ryan. What strikes me is the reluctance of Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan to acknowledge the truth about the Republican agenda, particularly the budget plan of Mr. Ryan. They distance themselves from the truth in that regard and instead are claiming a moderate, cooperative, plan if elected. The truth is that…
On Monday October 1st, the feast day of St Theresa, one of the best known saints, we arrive in Venice. The sky is black as we enter the harbor and there is a light rain. By the time we dock there is some blue trying to make it's way through, but it is cool outside. Now for the hard work of packing. We spend the night here and leave the ship in the morning so today we have to pack. We…
On Saturday September 29th, We sailed from our last stop, after an overnight trip, into a huge water area with many islands. Except for the lack of trees and vegetation the islands look like the San Juans with no beaches and rocky shores. After traveling into the bay some distance, trees and green vegetation appear and the islands look like the San Juans. There are small, flat round islands, without vegetation as well. We anchor in Triluke Bay which is…
We arrived at the port in Split, Croatia around 8:00 am. We have arranged a car and driver to take us by ferry to the small island of Brac (pronounced "bra-ch") and the tiny village of Splitska. This is where my mother's father and mother were born. It is also where several of her older brothers and sisters were born before the family immigrated to Sinclair Island in Washington state. One of her brothers, John, was born on Sinclair and…
Last night was the dinner with the captain. He is a very tall and large man who looks like he should be a tackle on the Seahawks. He appears to be in his mid or late 40's. A very friendly person with an easy smile, he was born in Norway. He lives in Istanbul because he married a woman from Turkey. The other guests consisted of a man and wife from London. He was knighted and therefore is "sir" and she is "lady"…
We sailed from Mongtenegro at 4:00 pm. The captain took a sight seeing detour to the two islands on the way out. When he announced the "detour" I thought of the ill fated Italian captain who put his ship on rocks in Italy, but this detour was without incident. He circled the two islands with the church and monestary which gave us a great view. Afterwards he headed out the fjord towards the Greek island of Corfu. The seas were calm…
Sunday September 24th After we departed Venice, past the cruise ships, gondolas and other variety of boats out of the harbor we cruised at a slow 10 knots.We sailed the Adriatic towards Kotor Montenegro, our first port of call. The seas were virtually flat calm and the weather warm. There was nothing to do except, nap, read and eat. The food on this ship is superb so I've been eating twice as much as I usually do or so it seems….
