Joyeaux Noel! -Christmas is masculine- duh!

Every noun has a gender. They don't necessarily make any sense. It's Christmas eve eve. Had our last francais lessons till January 7th when life resumes at it's normal pace for the Clunysois. Thinking about travel for January. Anja has doctor appointments in Macon, lyme-literate doctor January 2nd, and eye doctor January 11th. My lovely translator, Caroline will accompany us to the first appointment, and we're on our own for the second I believe, though the office has been forewarned as I was the one that made that appointment and explained that the doctor that would work best for us is the one with the most knowledge of Anglais, assuming they all know about eyes. We had the most lovely time skating in Macon by the Saone river the other day. Sofie and I are at about the same level. We both improved greatly in the hour we were skating. Anja and Caleb are far more skilled and were able to skate longer as Sofie's stamina dwindled and her and I took off for the health food store where we purchased gluten free- cookies, pasta, flours, crackers, and beer. I especially liked the beer brewed with Millet in Germany. It's called Schnitzer Brau. I hope they sell it in the U.S. also. Perhaps the brew pubs make a gluten-free beer. Perhaps I should contact Ace in preparation for our home-coming? Wine is gluten-free anyway. I noticed the french put warning labels on things too. There's a cork on our kitchen table that says, "Mis en Botteille," which I took to mean, "put in bottle," (different priorities) though upon reflection it might mean bottled by as it was followed up with,"a la propriete." So you know what I've been busy doing here in the land of booze and food. Caleb's off walking in the woods. I'm making home movies with the kids. It'll be a wonder if I don't weigh an extra ten pounds when I return to the land of sunshine. This is sounding way too much like a diary. Will try to wait till I have something to write about next time.

la reine de neige et l'arbre de souhaite

We watched the snow queen create snow with her magique wand in Macon today. We lit our candles at the tree of hope last weekend in Cluny. Joyeuse fetes, not just Noel, but fetes galore. We intended to skate but the very small outdoor rink alongside the immense Saone river was very crowded as it is Sunday, the girls got cold waiting in line to get to the rink, so we decided to try again on a weekday. Don't know if this will be any better as the local children will probably be out of school then anyhow. Though it will be fun to try. I finally tried the Vin Chaud and it was delicious. I decided it is the reason the French live longer. Warm wine with a slice of lemon in it on a cold, wintery day is delicieux and doesn't even make one sleepy.

Eurwoes

This unsuspecting, happy tourist who doesn't believe in pick-pocketers despite the signs everywhere in three or four languages warning all tourists, had his wallet slipped from his pocket by a savvy, Parisian, femme in the subway station, Abbesses atop Montmartre just before his long descent into the depths of the deepest Metro station in all of Paris, where he discovered the atrocity, a missing wallet. No more Euros!!!!! And it's been one thing after another since, financially speaking. I forgot my pin number, having not used it in months, then my credit card was canceled by the bank, due to irregular activity. I called to ask why it wasn't working. Apparently someone used it in a grocery store in France. Never mind the fact that it was the same grocery store in France that it has been being used in since September. I had another that did work, and they're sending me a new pin number. We've had more occasions for the use of cash in the past two weeks than we could ever imagine though. Luckily Caroline and Tom have loaned us plenty. Just last night we went out to eat for dinner at a restaurant here in Cluny knowing my credit card was working again, and having a back up one we felt safe in ordering plenty of food and drinks, and dessert for the children while we drank even more. I managed to correct an error on the bill and the server, said, "Oh, excuse-moi" and ran off to correct it, then returned to inform us that my card didn't work. They tried both. Neither worked. Caleb left me to beg more money off Caroline and Tom who luckily were home with cash. I stayed to speak drunk French to the server all the while, and believe me I didn't shut up the whole time, How Embarrassing, small town, will have to see these people again , and again. At night as I fall asleep, I have French running through my head. I have these great conversations with myself. In the day I think every thing I say to the kids over again in French, usually muttering it to them as they don't usually want to hear it, though Sofie can count to ten in French now which is close to how high she can count in English. But then when I have an opportunity to speak to someone, it comes out so pathetically, maybe partly to do with the embarrassing nature of the situation already, maybe due to the half a bottle of Bourgogne. Who's to say really? Looking for more people to talk to. In Paris people often meet to speak French half time and Onglais the other half so they can both improve their skills. I need to find a place to hang a sign around here for this purpose.

Shannon et Caleb apprennent le francais

Caleb and I are studiously studying Martine. Caleb is reading "Martine fait de la bicyclette" and I am reading "Martine apprend a nager." Our books are above Sofie's reading level but way below Anja's. Anja's not even entertained when we are able to translate rapidly, as rare as that is. But we keep reading. 501 French verbs is good reading when one needs a break from the vigor of Martine. Caleb is impressed that I can even look at the verb book, but Anja and I just finished Anne Frank and she was studying and learning five irregular French verbs a day while in hiding so I figure it can't hurt to try anyway.

Cluny for Christmas!!

This is our new living Christmas tree. We got it today. We all went to the Intermarche and picked it out. Then Caleb was a sight to behold riding it home on his bicycle. He says it is the first Sapin de Noel that he has ever bought because he always cuts them down, or his dad does from their own yard. I never bought a tree either because we didn't have to buy a tree each year due to the fact that we put the same tree together each December with color coded branch ends sliding neatly into the metal trunk. Anyway, however the tree is done, it is always magical. We have to find lights for it tomorrow and make decorations. But it is nice as is too. That's Dora, the advent calender hanging on the wall in the background, and a leaf Anja pressed before we left for Paris. The leaves have fallen now. We returned home from Paris last night to a delicious dinner prepared by Tom, and Caroline made dessert too. Also we have new lighting all over our house, and there was a jar of Miso Caroline had bought me at the health food store in Macon when she went. Felt like Christmas. Speaking of which, there is a festival of Lumiere this weekend with much singing and dancing. I thought the festivals would slow down as we entered the winter months, but they keep on coming here in Cluny.

Photography Musee

Yesterday we went to the photography museum. There was a temporary exhibit from Harlem which was very popular. There were a few permanent exhibits that were quite intense. One was Larry Clarke who did the movie "Kids" with Gus Van Sant. He got started in photography when he was a teenager as a way of dealing with his increasing awareness of the sad realities around him and the hypocrisy of the society around him in denying these sad truths. There were many pictures of his age mates, pregnant, shooting speed, holding guns... It wasn't exactly appropriate for children especially ours since it was all in English. Then there was an exhibit of art / photos by a young schizophrenic man who believed religion was the root of all evil, not crazy in and of itself (have you all purchased, "God Wants You Dead" yet?) He died in his twenties due to malnutrition as he failed to feed himself after his mother died, who he buried under the stairs as he was unwilling to give up her body. He did get permission to do this. His father hanged himself, and I guess he didn't fall to far from the tree. There was another all nude exhibit which was very tasteful and elegant. After the girls and I were finished with our educational cultural experience we went on to the Red Wheelbarrow bookstore, one of my favorites so far of the english bookstores we've toured, though it was entirely new books. Caleb went on to the Picasso museum where his less delicate psyche (we hope) was bombarded with exhibits on both Bosnia and Rwanda. I thought perhaps they could put a sign at the exit, Coming Soon - Iraq and Darfur!!! Sounds like a heavy day, but we had a great time. Interesting to look at the problems of the U.S. from afar surrounded by this more pro-active climate. Was fun to go to a museum a little off the tourist track, atleast this time of year.

Musee des Herbes

This picture is from a children's exhibit of art by Matisse, at the Musee des Herbes. I thought there might be herbs at the museum of herbs but it turns out an Herbe is a french expression for someone, of any age, developing their talent, according to the man working there. I was again impressed in my own very limited ability to read French that allowed us to understand the exhibits and perform the activities designated for each. The guy who sold us the tickets and explained the word herbe thought it would be more of a problem, probably due to the fact that we didn't even try our limited French with him. Sometimes it gets exhausting attempting to speak French and then having people reply in perfect English, only in Paris, so you start in English on these occasions, and often they speak only French, but in this instance, we got lucky, bon chance! The musee was lovely. Art is more highly respected here, and consequently many people are very creative. It is great how they teach art history and style to children.

Palais de la Decouverte

Today we went to the Palais de la Decouverte. It's a hands on museum, they say the first, first where I do not know. It is similar to the Exploratorium in San Francisco except you have to read French or know what you're learning when you press the button. I can read a little French and Caleb seems to know what we're learning when we press the buttons, so we passed.

for paying customers only

Today we went to Cookie's for lunch. Cookie is a friend of the family. He made us a delicious salad, and gave us more ideas of things to do and places to see. After lunch we went to another English bookstore, Tea and Tattered Pages, where I may not be welcome again. Gotta love the anonymity of the city. Anja had to use the bathroom soon after leaving the bookstore and went back as we knew they had one for customers and we had just purchased four books. The woman was giving her a lecture when I walked in, "not a public restroom, blah blah blah" so I gave her a lecture of my own, and she then used the bathroom. I was much better behaved in this instance than I was at a restaurant near the Saint Michel the other day where she was not allowed to use the bathroom. Luckily everyone understands English swear words so there was no problem communicating with him. It is tres difficile to be a tourist with stomach issues. But with a mother like me I guess she doesn't have to worry about defending herself. Luckily, She does not yet get embarrassed of us. That's gonna be tough. I vaguely remember a poem or saying on Jane Flood's fridge that said something about being nice to people or not judging them as you really don't know their story. I believe in this in most instances. Though sometimes when they are clearly not living by this rule, it becomes too difficult to stretch your imagination to think what ailment or sadness they have in their life causing them to be such pricks. Though for the most part, people have been very nice, and the bathroom issue is true in all cities, annoying for some, agonizing for anyone with stomach or bladder problems. I prefer a business that will re-direct than one that will just say, "No" or "Only for paying customers."

Herboristeries and Churches

Learning the names of some herbs. I managed to find some Gattilier (vitex) today as well as some Bardane (burdock) at the Herboristerie. My french teacher says I am very good at pronunciation, but sometimes when I try to talk to people at stores, I end up having to write down what I am looking for, luckily I am also good at spelling, or I'd be SOL. L' francais est tres difficile. C'est plus facile ecrire et lire que c'est parle et comprand. Undoubtedly I spelled something wrong after bragging about my limited abilitiy, but you get the idea, je quai. Anja is improving. She is taking mushrooms and Spirulina currently. Back in Cluny, we were on a big Chai binge made with Dandelion and Burdock as well as the usual Cardamom, sometimes black pepper, Anise, Ginger. Then we ran out of Dandelion root. But Caroline kindly dug some up for us at her country house in Lys. We haven't yet had time to process it yet, and I haven't found any Dandelion here in the city at the Herboristeries. I was happy to find the Burdock today. I did not know how to say root in French when she brought me leaf so I had to act it out. Many people at stores in Paris speak a little English, unlike Cluny where most people do not speak any Onglais at all. This morning I was trying to learn the names of various herbs in French to prepare for shopping and was marveling at how different they were, when Caleb came along and said, "yeah, It's almost like it's another language." Odd how one expects some things to be the same, or similar for no particular reason. I tried asking by latin name and got nowhere even pronouncing things with my best French accent. They were strictly by common name. One thing that is very nice about France is they do have a good many whole dried herbs one can obtain at any Pharmacy / Herboristerie.
Anja was able to do a great deal of walking today with out pain until the evening, despite the fact that we had to drag her out of the house this morning. We went to the flea market today and two English bookstores. We got kicked out of both. They both closed early, one due to Jeanette Winterston ( I think that's her name?),, the "Sexing the Cherry" woman was doing a reading at Shakespeare and Company. She said, " Hi" to us, our big brush with fame just before we were asked to leave, or go downstairs and wait for the reading to begin. We had to exit so she could hide upstairs properly. The children's books are upstairs where we spend most of our time at that store, so we went to the Abbey bookstore where they offered us coffee and Anja was able to use a bathroom behind a movable bookcase rather Harry Potter style, the man said. The Abbey bookstore had way too many books for it's size so was rather cozy. We also went to Notre Dame today which has some nice Gargoyles on the outside and some beautiful stained glass. Caleb marvelled at how it was all built out of stone, very intricate. People were less quiet there than they were at the Sacre Coure, though there was a husher at the door of each. Interesting job, telling people to shut up all day. Caleb read that Notre Dame is still a working church (with congregation I imagine that means) whereas the Sacre Cour, even though it is much younger is mainly a tourist destination. Though you can pay money to light candles at either one and they are both beautiful, never ceases to amaze me the creative / destructive force that religion is / has been. Well perhaps my children won't have to be ruled by religion. Sofie declared today that she wants to go to 'robber school.' Perhaps she takes after uncle Sean. Have you all bought his book yet, 'God Wants you Dead.' Anja likes everything to do with magic, and nature herself. I do hope they are motivated by something, in any case...

Paris!!!!!!

That's the Eiffel Tower between Caleb and myself, and then again from the top of the Ferris Wheel. Below that is the louvre in the background. Today, we did laundry at the laundry mat, walked around window shopping, and generally laid low at the apartment / gite here in Montmartre. We are supposed to see friend of the family, Cookie on Tuesday, the girls want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower tomorrow and Caleb and I want to find one of the flea markets, so we will again busy ourselves dumain (tomorrow- pronounced Doo-mah). Scoping out more good ethnic food. In Cluny, they have French food, french fries, etc... Here in Paris, they have everything, Brazillian, African, Asian, etc... I write this as I eat Lay's potato chips in front of the television. We are watching Pirates of the Caribbean again.

Bolero Variations

Last night at the Pompidou Centre, we saw Raimund Hoghe's Bolero Variations. We only saw the first half, thanks to Sofie who impressively sat through forty five minutes of slower than slow movements when she expected to watch a dance performance. The choreographer's interpretation evidently included some of the slowest, probably difficult, manipulations of the human body, very subtle, fingers bending. Arms slapping around their bodies in the fashion of a hug were some of the most sensational of the moves in that first forty-five minutes. The first ten minutes taken up with an old hunchback (possibly Hoghe) walking slowly at an odd slant around the stage forming a large square.
Because we had just viewed a huge amount of Modern Art at the Pompidou previous to this event, it all melded together to make for a most amusing day. Anja walked around the museum exclaiming loudly in English things like, "Do you think they painted that canvas white or just hung it up as is?" The girls did their own version of Bolero at intermission before we left for good. Many an amused expression was cast in our direction. The usher asked if Sofie was suffering from ennui - boredom when her and I were the first to exit the theater. It was all a bit too artsy for me. Made me want to don my black, and go to a cafe to consume coffee and cigarettes all night, but we uneventfully came back to our apartment and turned on the TV, yes we have TV for two weeks, to view another interpretation of Bolero which was at a much quicker pace though admittedly we still didn't view it in it's entirety.

Paris -the first couple days

Been in Paris for a few days now. It is a wonderful city. It reminds me a bit of San Francisco because we are staying on Montmartre by the Sacre Cour, but has the metropolitain which is a fabulously convenient subway not unlike New York, but feels safer, perhaps more civilized, being Europe. Though Caleb assures me it's probably a false sense of security being a tourist, and that if I lived here, I would be more aware of the less obvious dangers. But I think my 'false sense of security' comes from the media assuring me that the U.S. has more violent crime, murder, rape, etc... I just love cities though regardless of their crime rates, pollution, over-population. I enjoy the stimulation, the people watching, the endless things to do, the ability to see, get most things you want. We've been to the Louvre once, but will probably go again. It is massive. We focused mainly on Italian Renaissance the first time. We went to the Centre Pompidou yesterday and looked at the modern art. Picasso and Monet were fun to show Anja. She really enjoyed areas in which she could view working artists: In the museum there was an exhibit with working painters, and on the streets people doing portraits and caricatures. She was inspired to sketch the Sacre Cour herself, while we sat on the train waiting for it to take us around the hill on our little touristy ride down to Pigalle, where we got off and had a walkabout, before finding some Sushi to tide us over till the one flop of a meal we've had at the Americanized "Flunch." We rode a giant ferris wheel to get another view of the city, outside the Louvre. We keep seeing the Eiffel Tower from afar, perhaps we'll end up there at some point. We have also been to the Jardin Aux Plants, with it's medicinal herb garden and Natural History Museum, which was a site to behold with an amazing collection of bones, dinosaurs, primates, bears, human fetuses, baby rhinos, now we know how the snake swallowed the Rhino (a bizarre headline in the news we read a couple weeks back- we still don't why?) This probably sounds like a lot of for a few days, especially with Anja having a spell of the lyme. Now that she's done with her Bartonella treatment, she has a week each month, in which she is clearly ill with knee and hip pain, different from the Bart. calf pain. Started on the 18th this month. She has actually been spotted on Paris streets riding in a Marigold Maclaren. I suppose some action will have to be taken, again, so as to prevent purchasing a wheel chair. She's a trooper though, and a great traveler. Sofie is very generous with the stroller I might add and is traveling much better, now that she's in the swing of things. She really makes sure she gets everything she needs, and more. Anja also has an agenda. We've been to Shakespeare and Company once and will surely have to return at the rate she reads.

Tomorrow we go to Paris if the trains are running. The SNCF is on strike. The railroad workers want to protect their right to retire at fifty with full pay. Some say this should change due to the fact that the job is no longer hazardous as it was in the past. The public is apparently against the strike, though their are many supporters still. The public opinion is what matters here in France. That opinion influences the governments actions greatly. This concept is very foreign to Americans who feel controlled by the government / corporations. So the strike may not go on too long. I do hope the older workers atleast get what was promised them years ago and all along unlike so many Americans who are losing their pensions now. It is refreshing and relaxing to be in a country that is run this way full of people who are well rested and seemingly happy. The french have a seven hour work day. The children have long days though. They get out of school at four thirty. They have Wednesdays off, but attend on Saturday. The late hour of release is partly due to the two hour lunch though most of them stay at school for this I am told. I thought we'd see more children. I think we'll have to make a point of spending Wednesdays in the park or at children's lessons so the kids can see more kids. They had lovely pseudo- Thanksgiving here on Saturday. Caroline and Tom got a Turkey and their friends Haigai (sp?-HI GUY) and Annabelle with children came as well as higuy's brother Uri and an american woman who lives nearby with two little brilliant english speaking boys. Was very fun. I also learned from Caroline today that if you have three children like Haigigh and Annabelle do, you receive huge discounts on travel in France. You can pay half fare on trains even when not traveling with the children. They want more french people around I guess, and are willing to pay to make that happen. Seeing as there are no benefits and we don't have residency here, I think I'll just stick with my two filles (girls). Because we are not residents, it costs 25 euros to see a doctor without insurance, which is almost as much as it would cost at home- 40 dollar co-pay with insurance. Medicine is cheaper, though we are currently paying three insurance companies. Two back home that don't do anything for us here except secure our ability to retain insurance in the good ole USA especially for Anja and Caleb since they were denied other insurance. And insurance here for hospitalization or emergency medical care, though I'm not sure either of these are necessary. It's all very confusing and I doubt if either company would do much for us if we were in need especially after seeing, "Sicko" recently. Happy to be here. I think the french live longer because they have less to worry about and get more sleep.

Yesterday, Samedi was the biggest market day of the year. I awoke to vendors setting up outside our house which is above Caroline and Tom's art gallery on the main street here in Cluny. Up the road a bit there was a sort of horse parking lot with many horses to pet and talk to. Some children were climbing on them and laying on them. They were extremely docile and some of them very large. Sofie asked at one point why the horses were so droopy. Some of them were just that, droopy. They may have been slightly medicated even, as I had the great misfortune to witness one of them being branded. A man twisted the lips of the horse with a tool which kept it from moving I think while another man branded a symbol which looked like a dollar sign, not a Euro sign or a franc, but a dollar sign just by it's mane behing the ear a bit. There were vendors up and down the street with an interesting selection of items, fleece, sausage, fromage, four wheelers, sheets, mattresses, sweaters, and of course crepes with sucre or Nutella. Andouille sausage was another possible purchase which is a specialty from around here. I believe it contains tripe and liver and other exciting parts of a pig. We are not that advanced, even foregoing the Escargot pizza thus far. We have certainly had our share of the fromage though. Last time we ate lunch out I did successfully manage to even order an item not on the menu. Les Nouilles for Anja who hardly eats anything but. I'm very pleased with myself. I had Choucroute Poisson, which is saurkraut with cream and seafood in it and fish on top. Delicious! Would have never thought to combine Saurkraut with anything but Sausage. Eating out has been hilarious starting in Montreal and ever since as we all wait expectantly to see what the server understood or misunderstood. We may have finally overcome that barrier or perhaps it was just a spell of bon chance. Remains to be seen if we can successfully make the transaction at La Poste tomorrow to pay the gite deposit in Paris. We are going on November twentieth for two weeks staying near the Sacre Cour, an area I hear that is up a hill with a lot going on and most importantly to the children, plenty of Chinese food. They want to go to China. For the food and the pandas. We are considering the Canary islands as the weather cools, or atleast Barcelona. Tom and Caroline are looking forward to an event in their art gallery in December. I hope to be here for that. One of their lovely friends brought flowers and lollipops for the girls this morning. You must excuse me. I have a fairy ball to attend now.

Happy Halloween!

Your Money or Your Life, was what the nice (and English speaking) German homeschooling family told us how to say in French rather than trick or treat. We assumed they were joking and continued with "Trick or Treat." "Plus de Bonbons," was what the signs said when the stores ran out of bonbons. We assumed it meant more candy, until we learned it meant no more candy. Still, we had a decent haul especially for Europe, as Halloween is frowned upon by some. Most of the children were rather scary unlike our cuties. The other children were probably working to be authentic. We were able to unabashedly speak English saying, "Happy Halloween," and "Trick or Treat" as it is an American holiday, we knew we weren't doing it incorrectly, for once.

Anja is Nine

We followed tradition and spent what felt like the entire day making a cake. Anja, Sofie, and I baked a chocolate thunder bunny cake for Anja' birthday. The candles were magique and re-lit and sparkled like the fourth of July. Anja was quite pleased with the beaucoup cadeaux. She thought it better than last year's Christmas. Her dad got her a model of the Orianna, a cruise ship he rode from San Francisco to Australia when he was five. They are excited to get started on it. He was very surprised to find it in a model shop in Macon complete with directions in Onglais. She got a book, "Charmed Life" from Caroline and Tom. She is already reading the seventh Harry Potter book for the sixth time, "Wise Child" which I read to her once, "The Book of Three" that my friend Angela gave her and I am reading her Anne Frank's diary to top it all off. We had a really lovely birthday party for her with all of her favorite foods, latkes, noodles, salmon, peas, and nachos. She loves the carbs. We followed it up with the cake and two kinds of sorbet, Raspberry and Mango. Happy Birthday, Anja!!

What's for Lunch?

The time difference between Europe and the U.S. has been reduced for one week only so get your communication while the getting is good. I wonder if this disturbs the business world. Is this another thing we can thank the Bush-man for? Is he still speaking in clicks, not to insult the Kalahari, they are far less primitive and primitive isn't a bad thing so long as you're not trying to run a corporation, oh I mean a country.
I can laugh from afar, living under Sarkozy I hear is not much better, but the people here are not in a frenzy with code orange and Al-Quaeda breathing down their TV sets. They have different worries like, "How am I going to get to dejeuner (lunch) at precisely twelve so there will be a table left in the restaurant for me and they will be serving food. You may laugh, but this is a very real concern, maybe not for the Natives, but we find it quite challenging as foreigners. Things are quite different. I hear the unemployed are paid. I imagine taxes are very high though there is no noticeable sales tax added on at the time of purchase. Servers are paid, one does not tip, I have been told by three or four people. I keep asking to make sure this is widely believed.
I don't know how the restaurants stay in business. They serve lunch filling all their tables once. The people sit for a full two hours at lunch time. And lunch is served, then the restaurant does not serve anything for a spell. The customers clear out, the staff will sit down at a table and smoke and send you away if you say anything about eating (mange). Then some restaurants will serve ham and cheese sandwiches or waffles until 7 pm when dinner begins.
We have not been so daring as to attempt dinner yet. I'm sure we will give it a shot in Paris, if not before. Most of the businesses in Cluny are closed Saturday afternoon through Tuesday morning. Though the Inter Marche is open most of the time, even during dejeuner which is a particularly quiet time to shop. Now that we are card carrying members, we could tour all of France by InterMarche, though being loyalists the card is good for only one.

Concert in Cluny

Yesterday we went to see Yvan Rebroff Cournee de prestige-- in Cluny at the Eglise Notre-Dame, one of the churches right by us. It was a big event, hundreds of people packed in to the church. Sofie had to leave in the middle of the first set. The rest of us enjoyed it, Caleb and I taking turns with Sofie of course. This is one of many lovely things about having a place to stay right in town. Very easy on the children and in turn, on us. I really enjoyed listening to Yvan Rebroff speak because I was pleasantly surprised that I could understand him so well. He is a Russian man so his French is not fluent, and he spoke very slowly. I of course didn't understand everything he said, but my vocabulary is growing and when French is spoken this slowly, it becomes much more clear and obvious. I should take Rebecca's advise and go to Geneva where they speak slow French. My teacher says in Marseille, they pronounce every syllable also. In Paris, it is the opposite. I equate this to the North and South United States, though I don't know if they are said to have a drawl in the south of France (Marseille).
We are still enjoying the delicious Walnuts. Everyone in France harvests their own from the many trees. Rather refreshing, as in California, I felt we had to be sly about harvesting fruit that would otherwise be left to rot on the tree. We asked permission of course at many places, but still felt odd about it, whereas here it is the norm. An American mind like my own would think this would only increase the competition, but there is plenty to go round as always.

Taking it slow in Cluny. We did go to Macon the other day, half hour by bus, it's where the TGV (the fast train) station and the regular gare (train station) are located. There was an incredible museum there with ancient roman items from an archaelogical dig in Macon as well as old French historical items, and beautiful art from various periods. It was very impressive for a museum in a town the size of Santa Rosa. There is a major river- the SAONE running through there that they had crew races on and there was a display about the regattas and the making of the bateaux (boats). I feel bad I haven't yet learned how to type some of the lovely accents I've learned, to go with my few French words. We ate at an irregular hour in Macon as the last bus was leaving for Cluny at 7:30. The only restaurant open was Turkish. The Turks present - owner and a couple customers were highly entertained with My few Turkish words. They were perhaps a little homesick and very nice. I may have spoke more Turkish than French there as one of them spoke English and wanted to talk about his latest visit to Marmaris where I went with my dad in '95 so I am of course an expert on the location. When we left they all sat down together to discuss the finer points of Turkey and their longings for home, I imagine. We foreigners brought them all together at the same table at any rate. Before this they were sitting separately and watching CNN Turk.
Macon was quite lively compared to Cluny. We spent most of our time in the tourist area which is a nice little place for relaxed shopping where the voitures don't drive so the personnes do not have to worry about their spastic four year olds getting run over. We may have to go back there to shop before October 30th as it is someone's birthday coming up and we haven't bought her a single item, possibly due to the not so long ago haul of too much stuff from the Netherlands to Cluny, France which was no easy feat and not soon to be forgotten. I am missing California finally. Last but not least in the missing department here. Sofie was first to miss California or perhaps Caleb was, but Sofie was first to admit it. Anja is a regular traveller / gypsy. She and I could travel indefinitely, I think. Of course we would have to return to some places over and over again i.e. California, Michigan, etc...
The business hours are very regular and consistent here. All the stores are closed for a two hour lunch 12-2 every day. This is when the restaurants are serving lunch. Before or after this time the restaurants serve mainly drinks and little snacks or sandwiches. You can only eat the Plat du Jour and other entrees during Lunch and then again at 7 pm or later for dinner. It is amazing how long it takes to get used to their schedule when you are a spoiled convenience- addictted, regular American citizen. We are planning a trip to Paris next, we think.

au'jour 'dui or something like that....

All is well in Cluny. It was a rather gray, cool day but still a happy one. Sofie and Caleb went for a bike ride to the skate park where she went roller blading and then they watched the horses jump near the Voie Vert where we ride bikes. Anja and I worked on math and cooking. I discovered many delicious grains that even I can eat at the farmer's market this morning like Millet, Amaranth, Quinoa, and Brown rice (first time I've seen it here). I bought beaucoup vegetables including squash and Chard which we ate with the delicious brown rice for dinner. I walked the old woman and her sacs home this morning and she was extremely concerned about the plant she gave Caroline which as far as I can tell looks the same as it did when Caroline left. I was forewarned by Caroline that this woman has specific instructions for the plant which may be why I was able to understand her goings on about the plant- le fleur. I don't know this woman's name, but appreciate her in that she talks and talks to me about things like le fleur until I fully understand, which of course most people wouldn't have the patience or shall I say, motivation to do so. I certainly checked to make sure the plant had water still when I got back from delivering her and her bags safely home. I don't know this woman's name. I don't know the French Madame's name either. I call her Madame if anything. I guess this works for her as she didn't reply when I asked her name. She may have thought I was practicing from the list of phrases she gave me. Or perhaps Madame is her preference. She does know my name, but never asked for it. I volunteered the information so she could write something other than an "X" on her calender. She is a very interesting woman and a nice person. I would enjoy her company even if she wasn't teaching me French. She shows me her artwork - gravures- prints she makes from engravings on metal that she makes. She shows me both and tells me about the process and shows the different tools involved in the job. She looks up birds and insects to show me from her many books that line the shelves of the small very full room we work in. She shows me maps and tells me about Les Alpes which I have only been to in Switzerland when I was seventeen, but are quite near here. I feel a little guilty that I am not getting more contact with people speaking French than this as I may not improve at a very rapid rate, but I am having a great time and she could start charging me any time now. I think she is waiting until I can really converse with her. Then she will feel she's done her job...

This is what the main street of Cluny looked like Samedi morning. L'Association Maloquino- a Brazilian word meaning -"petit fou" which means little crazy one, I think. The parade and festival was - Regarde citoyens sur la sante mentale- Citizens looking at mental health. The friends and family of a young, schizophrenic man who was a street performance artist started the association that put on the festival. To help the suffering of persons with troubled psyches, victimes de tabous et d'exclusion, and people with physical and mental infirment. I loved how Orange and out about mental health (and taboo) the parade and festival was! I'm sure it's a great association though I hardly understood a word of the comedian that Sofie and I went to see at the theater or the play they put on a Narthex during the Spectacle de feu that we witnessed in the evening. OK that's not true, but it takes a lot more than a word here and there to understand why everyone's laughing, or standing, or clapping. But I felt the whole thing was for me, as well as others, complete with African music and dancing in the streets. I couldn't have done it better myself.

HiGuy- whose Israeli name I do not know how to spell dropped a bike off for Anja this morning which Caleb fixed and tomorrow we will go for a ride. He is a very nice, English speaking, friend of Caroline's with wife Annabelle and three kids. One of the children speaks English as well and is very sweet and helpful. We ran into them at the Cluny farmer's market on Sunday and went to lunch together. Higuy's son Gabrielle helped us read the menu. Anja is borrowing a bike they are not currently using as it is between children. We are very appreciative as a new one would cost about 100.00 Euro. I just returned from my French lesson, had one yesterday and one tomorrow too. I hope it is helping. HiGuy and Annabelle were meeting other friend for lunch that day one of them was Swiss with an American parent like Caleb. He lives in Loussanne, Switzerland in Co-Housing and invited us to visit when we go to Switzerland. My new massage table arrived today. It was only 119.00 Euro and was supposed to have a tear in the upholstery, but I haven't found one, which is great!
I've decided to quit eating all gluten rather than just wheat as I think it might help me. I decided this in the throes of a flu I came down with Saturday night, while trying to figure out if wheat is Ble or Froment in French. It may be both. This, of course, will be more challenging, but I think I will feel better so it will be worth it. We've been mostly eating vegetarian lately. We bought a chicken (we think) at the butcher. It may have been a wild bird? Or some other kind? It was scrawny and had very chewy dark meat. Perhaps it was meant to have been souped rather than roasted? However Sofie ordered a hamburger at lunch on Saturday and said it was the first thing that was not different to her taste. This is a compliment to Fircrest / Fiesta / whole Foods beef as the beef in this region is said to be very fine.
Saturday morning I also did Caroline's job of carrying a woman's bags back to her house from the market. This was enjoyable as she spoke simple French to me that I could understand unlike any I've heard really. It is a tourist town in which there is very little English spoken. Even my French teacher speaks quickly, and doesn't speak English. She has quite a few students from Laos, I've noticed. I
do not feel confident that the children will learn French as they are not in school, but they are certainly becoming more computer savvy by the day.

BACK ONLINE

We were only off for a short while, but we were a bit worried. It's amazing how much we use this little machine. I ordered my massage table today from Germany by phone of all ways before we got back online. Actually it wasn't working via the computer due to an American address on my credit card. So I called to order a damaged one for 119.00 Euro. It has a centimeter size tear in the upholstery according to the dealer. Good deal anyway. Our transformer was the cause of our computer distress. It burnt up, or blew a fuse. Very smelly. I suspect it was more than the fuse. Caleb bought an adaptor this time as our computer works with 220 as well. I had my first formal French lesson today. The instructor wouldn't accept any money. She will trade massage though which is great. So I have my first client before my table arrives. Unfortunately Tom and Caroline are leaving tomorrow for almost a month. They are going to Ireland to visit friends and family. They are traveling by boat and train. It should give us a chance to try out our French wings so to speak. People here have been fabulously friendly. I get big smiles when I use two simple words, "Madame and Monsuier." Tres facile to please! Everyone thinks the children should be in school here. We are going to look into it for Sofie. Anja out right refuses as usual. It would be great for them to learn a second language so I'm all for it. Another generation of monolingual Americans seems unnecessary at best. Sofie is interested. We will check it out soon. I have another French lesson tomorrow. The teacher is very nice. She is an artist as well. She makes engravings and prints out of them. She is also I think a naturalist and a pacifist. Her husband leads a group of pacifists that act as witnesses to violence in other countries. I forgot what they are called. Tom told us a bit about it. In any case, everyone here is very friendly.

Settling in to Cluny

Here are some photos from our walk to the Abbey yesterday evening with Caroline and Tom. Anja was with us but is often the photographer these day. We met our french teacher this morning and will meet for a lesson on Tuesday. There was a lovely farmer's market which happens every Saturday here in Cluny very close to our apartment which is right in town just above the photo gallery Tom and Caroline run downstairs. We are very grateful to them for renting us this lovely place and giving us so many opportunities to get to know this community.

Along with the theme of confessing the sins of our forefathers, I found out today the name of our street here in Cluny, Rue de L' Ecartelee means a woman drawn and quartered. Noone seems to know if it is because this happened here, but one would assume.... Went for a walk about led by Caroline and Tom by the Abby which has a long history of which we have only begun to learn. Sofie and Anja discovered a play structure and a grassy hill to run up and down. Tomorrow we have big plans thanks to Caroline and Tom. French lesson at eleven, market day, and dinner with some of their friends who have children also. Time for some much awaited rest now.

France/ journey from Netherlands

We are in our new lovely three bedroom apartment above Caroline and Tom's art gallery. The building / maybe the whole town is medieval from the 13th Century. I haven't been out yet. Sofie is feeling ill. But Caleb says there is a bakery or two and stores very near and it is a lovely village. There are lovely giant ancient keys in the doors. and Caroline and Tom have filled the place with new Ikea linens and cooking pots, silver ware, etc... It is a fabulous mixture of old and new. Our journey via train was comical at best as we had way too much baggage. Anja had a stroller piled high with bags that would flip backwards if she failed to hold it up for a minute which happened at least a few times. Caleb had way too many bags and a car seat and couldn't manage them up or down stairs all together, so he had to make multiple trips. I had two giant rolling bags and bags on my back and hanging on my shoulders with Sofie tagging at my side whimpering as she fell asleep at the end of each leg of the journey. We took a ride on the subway in Paris to transfer stations from Paris Nord to Paris Gare Lyon, where we caught our next train, which we managed to get on three minutes before departure time, Phew!!! We are never doing that again! Even Anja swore off extra baggage! She was a real life saver with her ability to navigate stations with a stroller piled above her line of vision!

We saw a little street theater on some plein in the center. He showed us the world's rarest form of juggling, squeezed his body through a tennis racket and played with fire. The girls gave him a couple Euros. They were highly entertained. Sofie bought herself a tiny tea set for five euros today and Anja got a bowl with some bulbs set up to bloom soon. They told her she couldn't bring it back to the states, but it's OK to go to France so she's glad to be going to France now. Anja is a great traveler. Both of the girls really enjoyed playing on Rembrandtplein with the 3-D sculpture re-creation of Rembrandt's painting, Nightwatch. Rembrandt painted it in a church we saw today. He couldn't do it in his little house that we also saw today, because it was too large an undertaking. We went on a canal ride today which was beautiful despite the rain, and very informative. We looked at the fabulous gables on the very old 17th century architecture of the canal houses. We learned that the little shabby houseboats go for a quarter of a million Euros (one Euro is a dollar forty one today, I think). Then the houseboat people have to pay for their spot on the water as well. And they don't have any sewer so their waste goes through the canal and sent off into the sea near to England. YUK! well, we've heard that story before. There are some grandfathered in non-sewer folks on lakes and rivers in the U.S. too. The people living in houses from the 17th century have to get government assistance to maintain them as it is an expensive undertaking keeping them up like the historical society wants one to. There are many bicycle thieves here and a huge number of bikes end up in the canals and are occasionally dredged up. Bike joy riders will just dump them over the side of a canal to hide evidence after their one ride. I think he said there are sixteen lochs to maintain water levels and 57 percent of the buildings are leaning as because they are sinking a bit. Amsterdam is below sea level like New Orleans so a lot of work goes into keeping the water levels low enough. Amsterdam and New Orleans are not completely different in character either. They are both known for their live and let live, smoke, drink, sex, etc... attitudes. Haven't been to the Red Lights District this trip and have only briefly entered coffee shops to gaze at the menu as children are not allowed. They are however allowed to go to bars / pubs / cafes. We haven't eaten out more than once a day and not at all today, as a few days ago we discovered Albertijne (sp?) the Dutch equivalent of Albertsons supermarket with plenty of Biologisch / organic food.

Amsterdam

We are staying in a little hostel in a great location across from a lovely Italian / Turkish restaurant which is a common combo around here as Italian food is desirable and Turkish people are many. We are near the Dutch Theater which is where the Jewish people were rounded up in WWII. Today we went to the Van Gogh museum which also had a wonderful exhibit on Barcelona 1900 including Picasso, amazing furniture, incredible frocks of the bougoise(sp?), and more. I spoke to one of many kind Dutch people today to find out how much to tip. Ten percent he said. He also told me to go on a canal ride, see the Amsterdam museum, the Nemo museum (hands on) for children, and go to a Brown bar to chat with any old man to learn the history of Amsterdam. What is a Brown bar one may ask, and I did. Apparently it is a bar that is brown rather than painted a gaudy color to attract out of towners. Our only concerns are how much baggage can we drag on to a train or three to make it to France, and how are we going to get the children, and myself out of bed before noon? It is ten thirty and we are back from dinner now. The children are doing quite well. What my mother says is true, "They know how to make sure their needs are met!" Still can't say anything in Dutch other than Dankuvell. Caleb and I are both Dutch in ancestry. I think he's from the onderdanks (sp?) and I, the Vanderlips. If we don't open our mouths, noone knows we're not Dutch, though the children give us up all time. Nice to see so many tall women like myself! Sofie blends well with the blond children too.

Rijkt museum

I don't know if I spelled that right. It was Rembrandt and other Dutch Masters. Sofie and I enjoyed the paintings of misbehaving children in the presence of their misbehaving adults. We will have to see the Van Gogh another day. We went to the Anne Frank House yesterday, and will likely visit the zoo tomorrow.

The Personal Is Political

It seems there is often a lot of worry about giving a victim anonymity which I respect, but don't fully understand. Why does one need anonymity from a crime you did not commit? What are you protecting yourself / others from, awareness? Some people, or possibly most people who read my blog may not understand why I mention having been molested as a child. Of course a blog is the perfect place to increase awareness, thus weakening the impact of this crime on all the people still suffering from it. I would also like to put it out there that I was raised by upper middle class educators in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I attended the best public schools in a liberal, college town. Perhaps my father, step- father, uncle, and all the other molestors of this league or should I say Ivy League believe they are too intellectually superior for mundane morals. In any case, my father very admirably apologized and we have found ground on which we can continue relating. My ex-step-father ran to England with his new wife who is a social worker specializing in Molestors so he's in good enough hands though she's in permanent denial. My uncle is still undisclosed unfortunately, unless his family reads my blog. This is the unfortunate side and could be a hard price to pay for family secrets. It is likely that I will not dwell further on any of this, but if you comment or email, I can answer any questions. Blogging makes my life less complicated because now I have put out my political message. Awareness decreases crimes against women. I believe in speaking openly about my history to help others who may be victims themselves. It is not only withing boundaries of intimate relationship that you will find me discussing crimes against women and children. Admittedly, I'd rather talk herbs... or Amsterdam, which is fabulous!

In Amsterdam

All the commands are in Dutch. Blogging is easy enough anyway. We have arrived. Caleb and I arose at ten A.M. The time change is six hours I believe. So it was then 4. It is now 12:30 and the children are still sleeping. Caleb and I were half an hour late for breakfast, but kindly still offered a mountain of white bread and tea / coffee / orange juice. Oh, and I forgot, chocolate spread. A European favorite. Planning on a museum today if we can wake the children.

CAT SCRATCH FEVER

There is one health care provider who has an herbal formula for Bartonella. He refuses to tell anyone what is in it. Judging from the antibiotics alone that are also good for Tuberculosis and Staph, I suspect there is some Usnea in it and other herbs that are good for staph, strep, TB.... Because I am an herbalist and a control freak, I have trouble with this idea and haven't given it to my child. If I make someone an herbal formula, I'm going to tell them what is in it. Though if this herbalist / health care practitioner wants to compare himself to the pharmaceutical company's he will still look good. Unless someone has an allergic reaction, goes to the hospital and is asked what they are on? In any case Anja is getting much better on the antibiotics which are a much shorter course than the mystery herb formula would be. She was experiencing some bad pains but not so much lately. Huge improvement. She still has till the beginning of October on the medication. She had a lot of calf / shin and hip pains as well as neck and head aches, among other less definitive symptoms. So far she hasn't had any of the problems considered side effects of antibiotics. Maybe thanks to the fact that she is using herbs, including Pau D' Arco, Terri and Karen's trishrooms, Milky Oats, Cherry concentrate regularly and others sporadically or as needed / wanted. Her favorite being watermelon. Which was recommended by one of her doctors. She will never forget him. Oh yeah... Anja is almost done with Harry Potter and if we'd give her more time to read she would have been a long time ago, but we've had so many opportunities to swim and be outside this summer. It appears to be over here already. Forty degrees last night, might freeze tonight. Brrrr!

Health Insurance Rant

The girls and I have health Insurance through one company and Caleb another as he failed to pay a bill on time and was dropped due to a heart problem probably left over from Lyme. It would seem they are trying to drop the rest of us now as we tried to pay one bill by three different credit cards -all good- and they entered the expiration date incorrectly each time and then tried to charge us an extra fifty for there troubles. They may only hire dyslexics and I'm being paranoid? They told me they won't cover us in Europe and recommended another company who has denied Anja for Lyme with on-going treatment despite the fact that she is almost done with her Bartonella treatment and uses doctors who won't accept insurance. I appealed the denial but process is too slow. Lyme doctors no longer use insurance. It allows them to keep their license. Some Lyme doctors have lost their license for continuing to treat their patients when the patients were declared cured by the insurance companies. So the Lyme specialists do not take insurance of any kind. And if there is a break in insurance, you (the patient) lose. All this may not be news to those of you who have seen "Sicko" already. I don't know. I haven't seen it yet.

Whose got Baggage?!

These are the animals my eldest daughter Anja intends to bring to Europe with her. Luckily the Europeans are relaxed about nudity as Anja won't have room in her baggage for clothing, though I am sure these important stuffed people will have to be carried on. Today my mother took the family to Olan Mills portrait studios. There was much turmoil about how Super looked in the final choice. Anja was deeply dissatisfied that we chose the picture in which her fingers were covering Super Jim panda bear's neck. She thought my hair was inconsequential compared to Super's neck. I'm so vain. I do however spend more time fixing Super's neck than my hair. When we got back here to the lake, Anja took about fifty pictures of Super and friends to console herself.

God Wants You Dead!

This is my brother and I discussing life ever-lasting. He plans on being frozen. He wears a medic alert bracelet to ensure his body's safe arrival at the cryogenics lab. His new book, "God Wants You Dead," just came out. It is about thought control. Organized regligion, government, corporations controlling your minds, even making you believe in death as an inevitability. I haven't finished reading it yet. I figure I have plenty of time....

Preston's show

We went to see the State at a dive bar in Detroit last Saturday. It was the second day of this fundraising event for a guy with Cancer. The guy later said he didn't really have Cancer but really he is just an old junkie who has decided to self-medicate, as he would only know how. Seems logical to me. This second show was giving all money directly to Cancer treatments for all, rather than the junkie who took the money and ran. The second show had a lesser turn-out, but we were there. I won second price in the raffle, a thirty dollar gift certificate toward a piercing at New School Tatoos in Detroit. Caleb won a CD, which he hasn't played yet. I doubt if I will make time to get pierced, but we had a great time. We stayed with Aviva and Preston last week for three nights and are now at my mom's at the lake in the rain. We finally purchased tickets to Europe flying in and out of Amsterdam, training it to France and everywhere else. Our dates are September 18th through June 10th. We intend to stay in Amsterdam for a week before going to Cluny, but are waiting to hear from people in France first.

Big Windy Wild Nurturing Nest

Beautiful, bountiful land. The fields were full of blooming herbs. It was high season for the Red Clover, St. John's Wort, Yarrow, Blueberries and more while we were walking in the woods. Oh also enough Chanterelles for the whole group to live off of. They were delicious. Anja even plucked a couple of Oysters for our last meal before we returned home. When your at this place in July/ August, I imagine one gets a false sense of being able to live easily off the land in a lot of ways much like California goes easy on us all, but the winters are real in Nova Scotia. I'm a believer just from witnessing the thunderstorms in the area. I wonder if Hurricanes make it up that way occasionally. Caleb used the wind to his advantage and sailed to Baddeck one day and back the next. Very cool. He sailed into town just in time to meet us for a lobster dinner at the Lynnwood. Big Windy Wild!

BALD EAGLES

The tree jutting out is a favorite perch, used to be nesting spot where one pair of bald eagles is often spotted. We look there for them or canoe around the corner and see them in the trees past little shore on the way to surprise cove. I am always careful not to disturb them. Then we took a tour on the Amoeba which has a new captain since the man who built the boat passed away five years ago, his son and son's wife have taken over. The new captains call to the eagles and throw dead, frozen fish in the water. The Eagles soar over, make a U-turn, then swoop in for the fish right by the boat. Best views I've ever had of these majestic creatures. Though it made them seem so domestic that they were doing tricks for this man. Could shatter one's image of the wild-ness of the Eagle. I doubt it will make them dependent on dead frozen fish dinners in front of the TV. It must not be a crime to feed the eagles as this is a high profile big business boat, Everybody knows.
We also learned a little more about the Bells and viewed their homes from the boat. Mabel, Alexander Graham Bell's granddaughter and our connection to Nova Scotia, passed away this past spring at 101 years of age.

laundry for Laura of linedry.com

I had a full line of lovely laundry but forgot to photograph it and then had to stage one (top)
Then I decided next time I would have to invite Laura and family to visit Nova Scotia on business of course. She can not leave a laundry line like this unrecorded.

Canada -loving it!

The thunder has continued. Great storms here on Cape Breton Island way out on the East coast of the continent. An hour later than the east coast of the U.S. the exchange rate no longer exists. a dollar is a dollar is a dollar. So things are pricey here compared to back home. A bit of a warm up for Europe I guess. Went canoeing this morning on the beautiful Bra D'or lake we stay on. Saw bald eagles and beautiful waters. Ate at the Hiwheeler Cafe. Delicious turkey sandwich on fresh baked Spelt bread and French Onion soup. Studying my Pimsler's french and sitting on the beach. loving it!

SHANNON WILLIAMS

My name is Shannon Williams, not ANJA- she is my daughter. Because we set up our blogs together with the same email address originally, her name appears on all of my posts thus far. Regardless of what it says, they are all written by Shannon Williams. This has been a public service announcement.

GRIEF

Big beautiful thunderstorms yesterday and this morning. Loving it. We are leaving for (driving) Nova Scotia tomorrow. Listening to Karyn Saunders herbal highway as i write to you. yesterdays topic - grief. Soothing just to listen her talk about. I spent many years in grief as a child as I was molested by my dad for years - 5-11 years of age. I saw him yesterday. And I've seen him quite a bit in recent years. We've discussed it. He's been reported to social services. His wife knows. His mother doesn't. It was her I was going to visit. I still don't feel right with that(her not knowing)- awkward for me. But as a mother, I just don't know that it would do her any good to know. Anyhow, mainly thinking of Karen- her mother died recently. I think that mom's group was causing me too much grief when I was involved- perhaps due to that under-mothered feeling we all live with. To be mothered is too high and too suppressed an expectation of your friends though. Perhaps spending a small amount of time with the same people for years and years can make you feel cherished, nourished, held by the other. But I've always leaned toward a smaller number of friends that I spend more time with. I also equate the group with the feeling of being silenced because whenever I spoke about the near and dear someone would either be so affected that I would then disallow myself, or occasionally I was blatantly told not to discuss my topics, which was outrageous and being less than alpha or more cat like in reality (according to my homeopath at least), I couldn't hack it.

Visiting in Michigan

In Michigan now and visiting. Stayed at Lynne's the first couple of days, visited Aviva and Preston and their five children, visited my father, his girlfriend and my grandmother, then came up to the cottage on the lake to visit my mom and mac daddy dick. My aunt Karen and her boyfriend Curt came up to visit too. We also went to the Nielsen family reunion where I didn't know anyone, but there was plenty of good food and games. Driving by my grandfather's house is sad since his death. Mourning from afar is different, maybe slower as it doesn't hit you full force everyday. Will always miss him and grandma despite the fact that there are still plenty of people to visit. Will see my brother on Tuesday, Angela and Clay soon, and then to Nova Scotia we will go...

We were headed for Pacific Grove. But it's so beautiful here at the mountain, we have been unable to venture further. Clearly, we are not sticking to the itinerary thus far. We've already changed the plan twice, missing Oregon and Pacific Grove. The animals surely appreciate our presence here however short. Kathrin, Boz, Nisha and Lium are the most gracious hosts happy to prepare fabulous home grown meals and chat with us to no end. Built in child care and animal boarding. Makes you feel loved. Lium is especially good at sharing his space with Sofie and the two of them have developed a true friendship which keeps them very busy and is too cute to watch. Lium will be three on the fifteenth, so we will be busy with party preparation. We are entering the world of papier maiche pinatas today which is tres international!