California Livin'

Life has picked up speed and we are yet to settle down in a house of our own. Still staying with a friend in Rincon Valley. Started a conversational french class which is great fun. I do have a slight advantage, but am surprised at the number of people who know some french before taking french class. I'm not sure anyone takes french without a little prior knowledge. The language is a bit intimidating in that one cannot just pick up a book and read it aloud correctly without quite a lot of training.
Had to attend Jury duty a couple of weeks ago, but was dismissed due to my lack of respect for authority which was OK by me, but I wonder if I shouldn't be permanently dismissed from jury duty. It seems I am called more often than other people. I think they have me on two lists, Department of Motor Vehicles and voter registration lists. They say if you are called more than once in a year to make sure you are not on two lists. I am not called that often, but much more often than anyone I know, and never can get past the point of trying to imagine myself extending credibility to people in uniform. I have a really strong prejudice there and am well aware of it. However, I did feel bad because someone stopped me in the hallway on the way out who happened to be a friend of the defendant who was very disappointed I had been dismissed probably because they could sense this bias in me, or perhaps because I stated that I was an herbalist. I wasn't in attendance long enough to hear the details of the case, but got a strong feeling that it involved the infamous herb that is still illegal in many ways. The man in the hall said he thought I'd be understanding, well, probably not really, as I do know the case involved someone driving a motor vehicle, and I have very little tolerance for bad driving. The whole issue of bias came up because another jury member said he would have trouble doubting anything stated by a police officer, and he remained on the jury for the simple reason that he said he would put his bias aside whereas I said I probably could not. At one point one of the people, maybe the defendant herself gave me a big smile which I thought to be extremely inappropriate. This is in fact one of the reasons I felt uncomfortable sitting on the jury besides the basic fact that I really don't belong on any jury. Well, I do hope everything came out as it should have in the end in any case, or in all cases for that matter.
It is difficult living in transition as we are. I am quite anxious to get into our garage before too many rodents move in for the winter. The children are really happy with their school situation. They both love Orchard View public homeschooling program. It is ideal for our family. They have and are making more friends by the minute. Keeping up with their social calenders seems challenging but not out of hand like it can be. Everything is just right. They are both doing well, learning fast, and getting compliments from their teachers which I just love because I am so proud of them and happy for them. Yesterday Karen and Laura's families had us over to Neva St. for dinner and little Lily gave Sofie about fifteen beautiful hand me down dresses, one of them used to be Anja's, so we are all feeling loved. The six girls were very cute playing together. My mom is coming to visit the 21st of October. I do hope I have a place for her to stay.

Hot!

We are back in Sonoma County now, well, most of us. Caleb took off to go back-packing almost immediately upon our arrival here. The girls have started their school. They are taking Gymnastics, Music, Spanish, Science, and Gardening, as well as some Language Arts outside of the home. In the home we are working on Math, Chemistry, Language Arts, Californian studies (complete with book) and Sofie's making a large replica of herself in the cardboard medium. So the year is off to a rip roaring start. We tried to go Roller blading this afternoon, but almost melted, so we will try again later this evening when the heat rolls out. Visiting with family and friends is really fun and exciting. Looking for housing so far is not. Kristin very kindly has allowed us to fill her empty nest as her boys took off for boarding school, she has three rooms available to us until December. With persistence we will have found a place to live by then. We are all eager, in some way, to see what we packed that garage full of before we left over a year ago now. It's Hot!

Some Views from the Back Seat

This is our car by the Canso Causeway in Canada

So if you see a dark green Volvo coming down the street loaded with not one, but two car top carriers, one hard, one soft you know we're back. Our Volvo may be spotted in Wyoming today and further west each day thereafter. We hope it doesn't rain too hard on the Playmobil, who are in the soft carrier. Looks stormy.

On The Road Again

Thus far we have been in five states and we are bordering on a sixth. We are three days out and almost half way to our destination in California. Started in Michigan, progressed through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, and are settling down for the night at the Days Inn in Sidney, Nebraska which is almost to Wyoming. We are staying the route on I-80 instead of diverging through the mountains of Colorado as we did last time. We believe it will be faster, meaning less time in the car, which is always an issue when travelling 2200 miles. We managed to pick up a nifty coupon for the hotel at the Chinese buffet which convinced us to call it a night despite gaining another hour today. By far the best road food ever was at a CSA / Organic restaurant just west of Des Moines called L.T.'s Organic Restaurant. The L.T. stands for "leisure time." It is run by a family. Both the parents were health care professionals who came to realize through their work that the reason people get ill is because of their diets. They believe strongly in the importance of pesticide free food as well as vine ripened food. A plate of food at their farm restaurant was $17.50 but easily fed two people and was well worth it. On top of a great meal full of vine ripened veggies and very fresh farm chicken, we were able to wander about the farm and appreciate all the work that went into our meal. The hens were completely free range and the girls loved following them around the farm. We noticed the rooster had its legs tied together. Sofie was able to ask our server why the rooster's legs were tied together, so we learned that the naughty rooster wouldn't stay otherwise. We have yet to learn why that rooster wouldn't want to stay with twenty or thirty hens and a farm full of veg. They also had a really nice outdoor seating area in the shade which was made with Gourd plants. The only drawback was the giant gourds hanging down everywhere this time of year. Boz's Kiwis seem more practical and delicious, but it was a great way to make shade in any case.

ACTION PACKED

I just had the most fabulous time at my mom and Mac daddy's lake this past weekend. We went sailing and swimming and tubing. We roasted marshmallows for S'mores and the moon fairy came with pennies for our shoes. My step-brother and his wife and four boys were there for almost two days, and we had a little birthday, complete with balloons for Landon, who is four. Caleb and I managed to see Batman and Pineapple Express and go to the Danish festival / used book sale in Greenville. We soaked up some of the culture, carrying a DVD on Islam my mom forgot to watch, that was overdue at the library, we wended our way between the Catholics and the Baptists and their galoopa (flattened marbles) crafts on Main St. We saw a garden stone for sale at one booth that had the words, " If I ain't home, try WalMart" etched in it. I really appreciated the way the guy at the booth explained his Danish pastry, the Apelkiver ( I think), as "just like a pancake, dude." I don't know if I really learned much about Denmark there, but Greenville was out in full force. So we took in a little piece of America, as we prepare to take in a bigger piece on our way across it. We are leaving Thursday or Friday for California. This should take us a little while if we are kind to ourselves and the children. The intention is to be at Boz and Kathrin's house by August 30th.

gardens

The girls and I planted some herbs in Lynne's yard that are perennials in Michigan. We planted Thyme, Oregano, Lavender, and Echinacea. We also intend to scatter some Mullein seeds before we leave. Lemon Verbena and Rosemary are said not to winter well, though they are doing great at the Matthei Botanical gardens in Ann Arbor. They might cover them, or move them? We saw a Massauga rattle snake on the trail there last week. We read on line that they are not nearly as deadly as the diamond back rattlers as you have more time to get the anti-venom. There were also pictures of rattle snake bites. Yikes. The Massauga rattled at us three times. It began rattling before we even saw it. It saw us first. We are maybe not the quietest people on the trail. Woop- Woop. Oh speaking of wooping, I had a glass of wine at Melange in downtown Ann Arbor called Woop-Woop wine, with sushi at happy hour. Yum!

Children at the lake

Picked up the children from my mom who had them at her lake for the last three nights, and went shopping at the outlet mall. I guess Sofie missed me a little, but I don't know how she found time. Grandma Janet took them to see the new American Girl movie and swam with them and boated with them and did multiple art projects. I stayed with Caleb and Lynne at Lynne's parents lake. One might wonder how it is that everyone's mom has a lake. Well, that's just Michigan for ya. A lot of lakes to go around and we're all quick to claim ownership I guess.
Caleb and I got to meet Lynne's new nephew, Joey who is adorable. He lives with his mom Kristin on the lake in their own house so perhaps maybe it's Joey's lake. He was born a bit early so he is very tiny and cute. He is healthy, five weeks old and hasn't reached his due date yet which was August 28th. Amazingly enough, he didn't spend much time in the hospital and hasn't needed any ventilators and learned how to nurse pretty darn quickly. His family is receiving vaccinations instead of him at this point cause he's too little. He's not allowed to go out much yet, or be held by people other than parents and grandparents, though aunties must be allowed too cause I caught Lynne holding him. Kristin says they don't know anything about his cognitive level yet. I thought this was funny. Because who knows anything about anyone's cognitive level anyway, well, especially that of a newborn. She also says she's gotten a bit obsessive about the numbers concerned with how much milk he's getting and such. This is quite typical with premature babies she says because of the hospital beginning and concern with size and having to start with formula. Also concern with the numbers comes with a certain kind of mind. The hospital staff say the engineer moms are the most into it. Kristin is a French teacher at the middle school. I am sure no one who knows Kristin, friends or family has any doubts about Joey's cognitive level.

Pedophilia and Facebook

Blogging from your homeland is more difficult than blogging from afar. It is said that a good Anthropologist writes about their own land and experience. But I can see why it is so tempting to write about someone else's home and your own outsider experience. In many ways, it is easier with all its obvious inaccuracy and prejudice. And probably less telling of who you really are, other than, a foreigner. The things one notices in their own land are more specific to who they are. The knowledge that one is privy to in their own land is abundant. There are basically far more things to be thought about and decided upon besides soaking up the climate and trying to understand the language. Perhaps once you do in fact understand the language and other less obvious differences, then you could begin to attempt to analyze a second culture, but it's basically more PC to just record and analyze your own.

My friend Tami's neighbor friend was recently arrested for sending naked pictures of himself to what he thought was a thirteen year old female on Myspace. Members of my family even have called Obama 'arrogant'. I made sure they understood the historical term would be 'uppity' and that they better check themselves fast.

Speaking of family and little girl fetishes:
When I was five I remember my father molesting me. I don't remember it happening before that ripe old age, and he didn't correct me when we reviewed the matter together, but wouldn't doubt it if it started much earlier. Whenever I have to tell another member of the family or an outsider to avoid someone else having to suffer through the same indignity, the person I tell, whether it be his wife, an authority, a friend, always wants to know, "What exactly did he do?" So I will put it in words here and forever refer them here, or not, but I'll let ya all know anyhow.
My father used to touch me everywhere, and move my hands over his body the way he liked to be touched. He licked me everywhere and made me perform fellatio on him. Thank god for these technical terms. It makes my writing so much classier. I don't think he ever penetrated me in anyway, which is why I say molested, not raped. He did this pretty much on weekends and Wednesdays when he had us over to his place or was watching us at our place. He stopped when I was about eleven. I was probably beginning to mature. He said to me some time around then that I would never be as pretty as my mother. Later he said he believes his motivation was anger at my mother. In any case, he's a pervert. Then a year later my now ex-step-dad, George starts sneaking into my room to fondle my genitals while I am sleeping in the wee hours of the morn. I react as I usually did before by freezing up and shutting up. But eventually, when I am thirteen, it all comes out. At this point the story only gets more sordid. Dad/ Buzz blackmails George for money, or he's going to the authorities. Uncle Bill the lawyer who is George's friend sends dad/ buzz a threat saying in legalese to drop the blackmail thing cause we all know you are equally sleazy, and that's bound to come out too.

Then later, fourteen years old, we go to Texas for Christmas break and uncle Tom who is married in to the family like Bill and George, apparently wants to get some too, so he gets me high, probably drugs his wife and tries to get up on me after much pestering. Bizarrely, people who are skilled at this sort of thing have a way of coming on to children right in front of other people without anyone calling them on it or stopping it, making the children think they are the only one with a problem. He then again, years later jumps in bed with me in California, and when rejected, kicks me out of his house. Don't know what made me think it was a safe place to be then anyway. I was twenty. Who really needs safe from the likes of these guys after this much experience anyway? That is the big question now. How much of the family would one still be able to communicate with? Go ahead and factor in the two lovely female children and get back to me. I wouldn't mind hearing everyone's opinion on this.

Mom divorced George, not after she knew he molested me, but after Sean caught him outside my window masturbating when I was fifteen. My step-sister Laura warned me about George as he had apparently raped his own daughter Vicki years earlier, but it was all covered up, as it usually is, and the warning came late. Beth is still married to Tom, though she now knows about many of his infractions. They are having grand children now. More people to inform. My dad is very sorry and would like to be as much a part of my life, or my children's as I will allow, or condone, depending on your opinion of the matter.

I haven't seen my dad this summer except to use him for a ride in his van from the airport to Lynne's house. Part of me still likes the guy. He is my dad. But I can't figure out a single way to justify being around him with or without the children. Being around Beth who is still married to Tom is very sad. And she will likely still bring the man to family functions. In fact she wanted the whole family to go on Facebook, so I did and then was confronted with Tom's face as a potential Facebook friend as we have friends in common. So we've come full circle from Myspace to Facebook.

My friend Aviva says being invited to a family function is equivalent to being asked to sit and smile with the people you care about while they sit and smile with the man who raped you. She is one hundred percent accurate. It is truly upsetting to know that that man is more welcome in their lives than I am when I refuse to attend because of him and he is still welcome. These guys can come and go as they please without their lives being hindered or noticeably changed even.
By the way, all three of the perpetrators are or have been teachers at some time in their life. Dad taught English and Shakespeare at Manchester high school. George was a professor of Engineering at Ferris State University. Tom taught at a middle school, his favorite age group I think, for a short while but was called into question for hitting on a young girl so had to quit.
More irony still: My step-dad George went on to re-marry a woman who is a social worker working with pedophiles who she believes are incurable. When I wrote to her to tell her my experience with George, she refused to believe it and said my mother wrote it out of jealousy and somehow got it postmarked 'California' and there would never be anymore communication between either of the two families.

Curiously she has a spinal degeneration problem that she needed George to help her because of. My aunt Beth has a very similar condition and remains with her pedophile husband. My mother does have a little Osteo-arthritis, but had enough back bone to leave both of her losers and find someone who only wants her.

Upper West Side

In New York, an old friend of mine, Elana treated the whole family to brunch and we caught up on old times. She's gotten her Master's degree in education, took up teaching at a middle school (loves her job), and managed to survive a really nasty form of cancer that she watched her mother die of at fifty. I am so impressed with her story, and the way she's handled herself through this ordeal, I haven't stopped thinking about her. She refused Chemo, but is tumor free and just an all around amazingly good humored, and super strong person, who happens to have a slight glitch in the DNA which has wreaked some serious havoc in the past couple years. Many people don't understand why she would refuse Chemo. She's even had to explain it to the Psych ward at the hospital. I am just so proud of her for knowing herself so well, and making her own strong decisions throughout. She's just beautiful!
I wanted to stay in Manhattan on the upper west side for much longer. Both my friend Elana and Cynthia, Caleb's cousin offered to put us up at that time, but we had to move on. We were only in NY for three nights in Tarrytown. Anja is like a flower who droops, not quite a wilt, when she is in the city too long and blossoms when left near water and grass and woods. I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't witnessed it so many times. I think she might get this from her grandpa? Well, he's not a city person either, I hear. Perhaps, I will have to go without the children next time. It's a good excuse at the very least.

Some boating pics from Baddeck. One from the Amoeba, two from the canoe. We are now boating in Michigan, but a little slow with the pictures, not to mention the writing.

New York

Caleb and I were both impressed approaching New York city from the north how few houses or suburbs there are. Very green looking all around until you are really in Westchester, and then it's still fairly green with trees and parks and the beautiful Hudson river which is a short walk from Jo and Sean's (my brother) house and can be seen from their tri-level backyard. Dobb's Ferry is a really great little town. They have a sweet location on Main street too. Visited Cynthia (Caleb's cousin) and David down by Harlem, which is no longer a bad locale either. Being in Manhattan doesn't hurt. Today was the first time we've awoken in the same bed two mornings in a row in a while having been on the road from Nova Scotia which was rather intense, through a hurricane, which had lost its real force, and narrowly escaping the tornado warning behind us in New Hampshire. We stayed in St. John in New Brunswick and Portsmouth in New Hampshire which both appeared to be amazing towns by water, St. John's being by the Bay of Fundy with the huge tides, and the reversing river, but we didn't stay long enough to really appreciate their finer points. Tomorrow, I believe we will head for Michigan unless we need an extra night of New York in which case we will go stay with Cynthia. This is yet to be determined. The children are currently catching up on much needed sleep. They are busy this summer growing mostly and were able to play with their cousins Lina and Susan yesterday which was a real treat, while we dined on delivered Peruvian, Chinese, Carribean food with those yummy Plantains that I love so much, thanks to Cynthia and David.
I think what they say about the bald eagles coming back must be true because I saw more of them this year even than in the past in Canada. I even saw one in New Brunswick really close to the border so maybe it is true that they have them in the U.S. too?? I have friends that swear it's so, but their eagles are attracted to ceremony, for spiritual reasons. Does anyone see them here just hanging out? I have seen more owls since Sofie was born than I've seen in my entire life. The first one I ever saw in nature was at Peaks Pike when I was pregnant with her, and since then I've seen them everywhere. Maybe I'm just looking up more. My chiropractor has been telling me I ought to for years.

Baddeck!

In Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada currently waiting for my tour of the lake on the Amoeba sailboat. There were no dead animals found in the cistern this year though still heavily chlorinating. The jelly fish population is very low which I have enjoyed immensely though the few that are out there seem to have it in for Caleb and his brother Jesse, who are enjoying a wind surfer they borrowed from the O'Brien's. The flowers are gorgeous, many lupines, Irises, and Roses. There was a cold spring though it has really heated up here now. I have gathered some Red Clover, and would love to get someone out here to help me identify more plants. I am working on this but have yet to reach the herbalists I am trying to contact. The absence of a phone this year makes it much more challenging and our cell is not functioning here either. C'est la vie. Jim O'Brien came over by boat yesterday to explain how to get the acreage here covered under a land preservation act to avoid miners coming in though it may not be an issue if there is no clause on the deed. I am not sure why this came up other than what is currently taking place in Alberta. Besides, I doubt there is oil, only Gypsum. Is that in high demand? But a visit from Jim and or Heather is especially pleasant and breaks up the long day of relaxing in the shade healing from the bite of a Horse fly. You may laugh, but you have not been limping for four days. On the second or third day post bite, I was in town and asked the pharmacist what they use around here for horse fly bites. They recommended antibiotics and directed me to the clinic. This is when I added Red root to the regimen. I had already been using Plantain, Echinacea, Lavender essential oil and ice. It cleared up soon thereafter, but was swollen horribly before that and still aches when I walk on it. OUCH! What is it with us and bugs! I suppose it is our sensitive nature because other people get bitten, they just don't react so fiercely. Mel even had a tick bite here this visit. They must subside as it warms up, again, it was a cold, extended spring. The children with dads in town headed for crystal cave today. I hope they find much magic. Yesterday Mel and Jesse took all three girls to Louisville to visit a place that is a year round re-creation of a french colonial town from the mid 1700s. They saw a blacksmith work and ate at a restaurant with only spoons for utensils. Pewter serving dishes. This goes well with the year long theme of chipping lead paint, which also could be dealt with here, if we all got so organized as to hire someone. Maybe I should call them from the pay phone with my card whilst I am here in town. We also think each year we will stop and pick up some new mattresses from Ikea on the way. We are enjoying the tents on the porch though. For all the complaining, I'm sure you all understand how worth it it is to drive for three eight hour days to get here. Just Gorgeous!

Sofie suited for summer

Anja communing with the butterflies at Pickerel lake

Lynne's bird gets a lot of attention!!!!!

Hieronymus or Jheronimus !!!!

It's looking like we're going to be driving a tank to Nova Scotia. It is a 2000 Volvo with AWD, airbags front and side in the front seat of the car and reinforced sides in back for the kiddies. Has a rack and plenty of room for cross country travel. The Vibe was cute, with better gas mileage, and likely more fun to drive, but seemed to be made of plastic or something lighter which couldn't compete in an accident with the largesse of the American motor vehicles. Sofie's recovering from her illness and may venture out into the wide world today. Yesterday she got a little carried away with Hulu and Woody Woodpecker for my liking. She stayed home with Lynne, who was then forced to watch Woody as Sofie likes a watching partner while the three of us went to the Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor. There have been a lot of nice changes there. Someone built a Willow frame hut that could act as a sweat lodge and they have a labelled herb garden in the woods as well as the sun now. We saw many beautiful butterflies and dragonflies and there was a light wind that kept the mosquitos away.

Been car shopping for two weeks here in the land of large. We are now debating between a Pontiac Vibe and a Saab. The Saab I think is safer in an accident and larger, but the Vibe has better gas mileage. We heard so many differing opinions about the Passat from owners that we finally gave up as it seems to lack consistency sounding like too much of a gamble for us play it safe types, though I will always have a soft spot for VW's and if a great deal on one turns up today, we may not turn it down. Most of all we were looking for a diesel one, but they are few and far between in this part of the world. It's hot and humid. Where is the promised rain? Someone stole our returnables off the porch yesterday morning waking me up in the process. They didn't even take many. Maybe they left before they got what they wanted? Very unprofessional. Made way to much noise. Sofie's sweating off a fever and recovering from a rash. Anja's very well and they are both enjoying delicious popsicles they made themselves with juice and berries.

Ciao Europe, Hello America!

This is the view from the restaurant in Prague where we went for our last hurrah in Europe, for awhile anyway. It's all set up for children there other than the sixty foot drop staight down just over the very short hedge if you slip. Heard a rumor that a drunk guy jumped the hedge looking for a place to pee last year. Noone is quite sure what happened to him. We are back in the U.S. after three planes, three security checks, one complete with frisking, two times through customs, British and U.S., and having to fetch and re-check our bags at each stop. Four time zones in four major cities. Amsterdam, London, Chicago, Detroit. Voila, Nous sommes ici. The girls have new roller blades so it's smooth skating from here. Ou ainsi nous esperons....

Opa!!

We went to one last fringe festival event on Sunday. It was called "Karagiozis Exposed" and it was a puppet show with live traditional Greek music which was really the best part. The show was about a puppet who got a taste of human life and escaped the puppet theater. When the puppet finally escaped, he spoke Francais which we all appreciated. Both children recognized the language immediately, understood quite a few words, and were quite pleased with that part of the show. Most of the show was in Greek. The guy even said, "Opa!" a few times which is a Greek word expressing joy, approval or encouragement according to Wikipedia. For years friends and I have been speculating about that word being something that was made up in Detroit to be yelled when the server sets something, usually cheese, on fire in Greek town. Seriously, I've been to Greece, Athens and two islands, and never heard that word. I heard that word here in Prague and turned around to realize the people yelling it were speaking English with distinctly Michiganian accents. But finally I have heard, "Opa" exclaimed by a Greek man, if only in a play. The word is real. Ya learn something new everyday... above left --picture from gypsy parade

Yesterday we went to two Fringe events, a walk by the river, a nasty pub for lunch, and a lovely old castle spot with a gorgeous view for dinner. The events were a play called Silkworm, which was short but very well done. It was about war and mysticism. Peoples ways of dealing or not dealing with the reality around them. Historical fiction, which is mainly what Anja and I have been reading recently as well. Her current book is about witch trials in Europe and a girl who fled her grandmother's hanging to travel to America where she herself was run out of town. The play had some similarities in its theme(s). My book is about the queen of Bohemia and a Yoruba prince who had a "mulatto" son who is next in line for the throne. Mine is a trilogy so it just left me hanging. Stupid to read the second book of a trilogy without access to the other two. The nasty pub was mainly nasty due to the locals gearing up for the tourist season as the reality hits them around the same time the heat does. The pub guy was just plain rude. Not everyone can be super kind though we have certainly seen our share of kindness with people giving up their seats on the tram to Sofie and our landlord loaning Caleb an emergency phone for his bike trip to Vienna.
The other Fringe event of yesterday was Scottish highland kilt wearing bag piper and back up drummers, Trybe they were called. They were loud and projected the traditional Scottish Machismo in a fun and congenial way with two of the drummers being women, one Punjabi even. They had a few items of traditional attire like a kilt with a big lock of hair from the last English man that admitted to being in their audience the wearer claimed, but mainly they wore modern dress. They were intensely loud and super sweaty putting out a ton of energy. I was ashamed to being sitting delicately clapping and tapping my foot sipping my sparkling water while they sweated buckets before us. It's always enlivening to watch people doing what they love whether its loud and energetic or not and this was all three. Admittedly though, I liked the play better.
Vysherhad (sp?) was where we went for dinner which is a place we had been before, and enjoyed where you sit outside above a huge wall over looking the city and there is some playground equipment to occupy the kids and you have to fight for your food, with gads of Czech people who actually know what their orders should look like. Caleb put in the order, I went to pick it up and had to basically just find out from the Croatian cooks what was available, as in cooked. He allowed me to name my own price after making a hodge-podge of dinner which tasted far superior to the swill served us for lunch at the pub with the nasty man who gave me a warm iced tea with no ice. We had grilled eggplant, mushrooms with pesto, a pork chop, some grilled peppers, couscous, bread, and two bananas.
Anja overheard someone in the back of the line saying I was rude, while I was ordering around the Croatians. Perhaps much time spent placing orders with an Albanian allows me this fantastic ability to get what I want when I want it, the kids were starving, Caleb's order had been basically ignored, I did walk straight to the front to find out what happened to our food, the Croatians just liked listening to me, so kept me talking for everyone's entertainment, ignoring everyone else's needs. I, of course, not being much of an entertainer tried to keep it short and sweet. Besides, if Anja could understand what they were saying about me, then they were English speakers themselves, and like myself assume most other English speakers, especially the ones with an American accent, are rude. Americans are loud and appear obnoxious everywhere they go in Europe. It's a cultural thing. One just has to get used to it. And I am fully confident in knowing I am one of the quietest of all of us. It is not only the Americans either. It is all English speakers really. It's a loud language which can be whispered. I know as I've been doing it most of my life. The french and the Czechs keep their tones fairly low, the french more so even. I sometimes wished they would be louder so I could learn more of their language with out engaging. It is considered rude to talk to someone with someone else between you I am told. This is also a cultural difference. Even Caleb has become much quieter in Europe, and most of you know he has a very resonant voice that can travel without intent.
Another nice thing about this particular outdoor restaurant is that you sit with other people and the people at our table were very fun and talkative which made the evening extra lovely. We spoke much with a young man who was in advertising so reminded me of my cousin Patrick in the same profession. Very sociable and fun. Probably a Gemini, like Pat. Happy Birthday Patrick! This guy said he lives on the border of Germany and the CR, he speaks three languages fluently and loves both countries he borders but is disturbed with the new German word for "cool" amongst young men which literally means pervert. So one is cool if they are a pervert. Sounds a bit gangsta to me. This brings me back to witch hunts which I believe were often a form of extreme sexism. Though sometimes men were accused of withcraft too. I wonder if they were not gay??
In any case, we had a beautiful dinner with a beautiful view and walked / trammed home in a beautiful thunderstorm with very light rain.

Last night we went to a concert of four bands with the queen of the gypsies headlining. Esma Redzepova is the queen. Her and her husband fostered many children. She works for equality and recognition of Roma culture which is what this gypsy festival is all about. She was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. And that woman can wail!! Last Thanksgiving we spent with friends in France where we met Uri, who is making documentary films of gypsies. He was on his way to Switzerland the next day to interview Esma. Now we know who she is. The gypsy festival has not had much of a turnout overall, though the concert was quite full. Music is the most important thing to the Romas. It is most desirable to be a musician, better than the doctors or lawyers that are esteemed in the mainstream culture. The Roma people do not have an easy time in the Czech Republic, like much of Europe. They have segregated housing and schools. The Romas have trouble getting jobs and are not always served at restaurants. We have been to two exhibit openings at museums this week in which their art work and culture is finally being recognized here. We also went to the traditional dress parade downtown which was nice, but incredibly small with both very few paraders and very few spectators.

Yesterday we went swimming. The outdoor pool is huge. It must be what people call Olympic size, or else I've never seen Olympic size which is entirely possible. Yesterday there were many more people than usual as the weather was finally hot. Still way less crowded than Ives in Sebastopol even in the winter. There is also a huge kiddie pool which Sofie has a great appreciation for even though she swims. It's nice to be able to stand occasionally. Even I cannot stand anywhere in the big pool except on the little ledges around the edge of the pool. The pool is about twelve feet deep everywhere. People swim slow, large strokes, not unlike myself. The women wear a scanty bottom or even a thong, and put their tops back on and their cigarettes out to enter the water. It is quite a relaxed scene. Though something to behold. I've noticed Caleb has taken to swimming with his glasses on. We all enjoy the pool. Our friend from Duluth, Chris says he gets dirty looks at the pool for swimming the crawl. Too splashy for the mellow meandering swimmers who merely want to cool off from their sunbathing. The pool is completely set up for a more athletic swim, but it seems the four hour swim experience wins out over the one hour workout.
After swimming, the girls went to their pottery class where they are trying to finish glazing their many works of art to get them re-fired before we leave this country. We go to Amsterdam by night train on the seventh for two days and then to Detroit on the tenth. Caleb and I had a walk in the park over looking the river and the city. We went to the Metronome where stalin's statue used to stand and beyond to a pricey little lookout restaurant for a cup of caj for me and a Kava for him.
After class we returned to the restaurant that forgot to put in our order last time behind the bowling alley. They really do have great food. Not what an American would expect from a bowling alley. Then we went to another fringe festival show. This time Andi Neat from the Scottish highlands was the evening's performer. She has a great voice and played guitar to accompany herself. I think Anja really enjoyed the show. Sofie had to be bribed with pop and a foot rub, but she did OK once she got her Fanta Orange. Speaking of relaxed, Sofie was even able to go topless to the bar, as she refused to wear her shirt, having spilt strawberry something- or- other from her dessert at the restaurant.
Today we're having a slow, play in the sand box kind of morning whilst we decide which performance to take in this evening. There is a magic show that Anja is rooting for, but the Queen of the Gypsies, Esma, is to play tonight as well I think though she plays again on the weekend so we shall see.

We just got back from the opening of the 'Paradise Lost' exhibit. It is an exhibit of Roma art and is considered a big event, gypsies being recognized for their art and culture here in a European museum. The event was really something with Flamenco musicians and a dancer followed by Roma musicians, free wine, sparkling water, and juice. To top it all off we previewed the exhibit. Anja was really impressed with the art that appeared to be painting until you approached it and realized it was millions of beads stuck together to form a picture. There was also photography and I really liked a painting of a gypsy caravan being carried in the air by doves.

Yesterday was the opening day of two huge festivals which include amazing cultural events and spectacles all over the city, the Fringe festival, and the Gypsy festival. We started off the festivities with a group called the, "Yellow Sisters." They are four young Czech women who have been touring Africa and writing new music along the way. They sing acapello. I can't even spell it and they can sing it. They reminded me of "Sweet Honey in the Rock" though they had no bass, there were less of them, and they were white, but they sang a song about that too, "Teu-Bah," what the children yell in Africa when they see a white woman. Also they did not sing any songs with even any innuendo of organized religion, atleast in the English songs that they were mostly singing (others were African). After quizzing the audience, they stuck with their Anglicky repertoire, as none of the English speakers knew Czesky and all of the Czech speakers knew English. Oh well, what more can I say, they're smarter than us... oh, and great singers.

Top Secret Greenpeace Demonstration

The girls requested a stay at home day yesterday, and had to re-request it about thirty times with Caleb home and itching to go out with them. In the end, they lost. We dragged them out at nine at night to the Charles Bridge to see a top secret Green Peace demonstration in which people took out a boat to project images on to river side buildings. The images turned out to be mostly English words with an anti-nuke message addressing the United Nations. The demonstration was top secret in order to avoid a police presence but I think they avoided a presence all together because there were very few people watching from the bridge. It wasn't exactly spectacular or eye catching unless you already happened to be looking off that particular side of the bridge. Maybe they did the other side after we left? There were quite a few tourists on the bridge still at that time, but most of them were busy viewing the singing wine glasses put on by the one guy still workin' the bridge at that hour. You may wonder how we would know about a "top secret" peace demonstration in Prague having lived here for about a month. Our landlords are well connected. He's a journalist. She's a medical doctor. So he's very well informed as part of the press committee covering the demonstration. Good Greenpeace didn't keep it top secret from the press.

Caleb's been back from his bicycle trip to Vienna for a few days now. He had a great time. We found out the root of Sofie's tooth was infected so it's good it was removed. Sofie had her birthday yesterday. We went to Beckiland, an indoor place to play in Prague with another family. She's an Aussi, He's from Duluth, Minnesota and they have two boys, one six and the other just under one. Afterwards, we all went out to eat some Italian food. The restaurant also had an indoor place to play in it and they have a great baby, so it was a very relaxing meal. The older boy, Walter is in Sofie and Anja's art class and they used to live in Bundeena (sp?) where Kathrin (Caleb's mum) lived as a little girl in Australia. So it's a small world after all. Today, the girls are in recovery from their all day intensive play session. Anja's writing a story and Sofie's in her imaginary world outside in the garden. Caleb went to Shakespeare and Sons for a cup of great coffee and the Herald Tribune. Last weekend, while Caleb was gone on his bike trip the girls attended Greek Mythology day which was a six hour Saturday class at the art studio. They made mythological creatures. Sofie made a Kook, which is the mythological creature that seems to be following us around on all of our travels. We learn more about it on an almost daily basis mostly from Caleb and his studies on the giant sea squid?? The Kook fit in nicely with the other creatures which ended up as a mural on the wall of the studio. Most of the children made Medusa as the story was about her. Kook resembles an upside down Medusa. That day was nice for me too as I was able to go to the Narodnie Gallerie modern and contemporary art museum. They had a very impressive collection of French artists works. It strikes me just how many pieces these famous artists have painted or sculpted. Not only the quality, but the quantity is quite amazing. The Czech art was really something to see. It was great and quite different! Darker art mostly though there was some on the lighter side in the deco category especially. There was also an exhibit of Japanese art while I was there, so that really filled up my day off though I was still able to have a lovely lunch and a cup of tea with myself before picking up the children and viewing Kook. The three of us also attended Greek day the following day at Muddum, the art studio where we saw a good movie, ate delicious homemade Greek food and listened to a long but interesting lecture on Greek art by a Greek woman art lover.

J.K. Rowlingova

In the Czech Republic, the family name of a woman has three extra letters. They are O-V-A, meaning egg in Latin. I knew this to be true before visiting, but was surprised to see the name of a British authorova changed in the Knihy (book) section at Tesco. C'est tres bizarre!

Today, Sofie had a tooth pulled at the dentist. She somehow managed to get a mercury filling at Dr. Hodges' office in Santa Rosa and had a growth on her gums, which we only just discovered a week ago. Caleb took her to the dentist this morning and they thought the growth was a reaction to the very deep filling, so they extracted the tooth. We hope the growth goes away now... It just looks like her gums only is growing outward. Hopefully it is nothing more than a reaction to the filling as assumed by the dentist. Now we don't have to worry about the mercury in her mouth anymore either.
Afterwards her and Anja met at pottery class to paint their pieces for a couple of hours and after that we went out to eat at a restaurant without an English menu where we received free beer and desserts because the waiter didn't put our order in and we sat there patiently for hours. The food tasted great. I don't know if it was a really good restaurant or if it was the wait, or the free beer. The waiter was very nice and said, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," when he realized his mistake even though he really didn't speak English.
Sofie was a hyper spaz all the way home, so I think Caleb was the only one traumatized by the extraction. He passed out and felt bad for taking the attention of the nurses away from Sofie, as they moved him to the couch. He's not sure if he's going to leave on his bike tour for Austria in the morning now.

Gypsies

Caleb spoke to his grandmother yesterday and she said her father was Roma so I guess we really are Gypsies, well, most of us, and my geneology isn't completely clear so who knows? There's a week long Roma festival happening in Prague in the end of May. We will definitely go to see the traditional dress day and hopefully catch some music. We went to an art museum yesterday complete with many gory paintings of saints being murdered in various ways. We caught a lot of free day museums this past week, it being the first week of the month. That's really the way to go with children because if it's really not working out, you don't feel so bad about leaving after a short time, and not seeing every painting or every floor even. Caleb found the perfect Cappucino today at 'Shakespeare and Sons,' an English used book store / cafe / bar not too far away. The only draw backs being the price of books is higher than the new ones in the 'New Town'-"Palace of books" -city almost center, and they don't open till ten A.M. which isn't prime coffee time for Caleb, but will have to do. The cafe is a really nice place though- reminds me of 'The Pub' in Albany, CA. Sofie's stroller broke down a few times and we are once again in search of a bolt for it. Caleb finally admits that we really can't survive the next month without it. See Sofie's blog- post about Walking. Exploring today was limited due to need for stroller reparations. We did go swimming and feel like we should do that everyday it was so much fun. Dogs around here don't usually wear leashes and are very well behaved and cute. They do all wear muzzles when traveling on the metro or the trams. Prague reminds me of what I expected from Paris, the romantic view you get from movies and books with the dogs running free and the people being tolerant but judgmental, or at least opinionated. One big difference between here and France is that they pick up the exkrementy here after their dogs like in the U.S. That's just another example of the just add a "y" language learning technique that works around here for so many words, it never fails to amuse me. We still do miss France. Anja has big plans to live in Cluny again in her not too distant future. Sofie on the other hand is going to buy a house in Florida next to grandma Janet. We are looking for a place to rent in Sebastopol in September if anyone know of anything, with or without the kids.

All the crucifiction scenes

In our travels, we have seen many a martyr up on a cross being slowly, left to die in this hideous fashion, usually Hay-Seuss (Is he related to the Dr. who wrote Horton?), but I hear there were plenty of others. We see them at the churches as statues, and stained glass. We see them at the museums as paintings. This has lead to many a discussion about the mythology of Christianity. It's not any uglier than some other fairy tales but it's really in your face and graphic, Everywhere we go. You don't notice it so much by the time you are 37 or so, until you have to start explaining it to the children.
We went to the protest against RADARU yesterday. Sofie and Caleb almost acquired a PRO RADARU balloon, but I stopped them. It had a peace sign hand on it, but the fingers on the hand had missiles on the ends of them so I worked it out and poor Sofie didn't get a balloon. We also went back to the National Museum, free day, and saw some fossils and rocks that were pretty cool. Today is pottery day. Sofie and Caleb are swimming right now. It's storming here.

Some Photos in Praha!

Fun playground equipment, it's a bicycle merry-go-round. Nature
in the city contrast or Lilacs in bondage. And an example of my natural
instinctive mothering style, or Headlock.

Stay at Home

Yesterday we had a stay at home day which was extremely challenging for Caleb so he went out, twice. The rest of us sewed little presents for stuffed animals, video taped each other dancing, and played in the yard. After the kids went to sleep, Caleb and I were finally able to watch the last of our 5 Euro Intermarche movies, N'AYEZ PAS PEUR, which is about the life of Karol Wojtyla, who was pope for many years. As it turned out, it was also about Communism and its battle with the Church, particularly in Poland as that is where Wojtyla was from. I remember reading Lenin and Marx in one of my Sociology classes and Communism not sounding so bad, in theory, especially from the perspective of someone living in a Capitalist society, and seeing the way people suffer under this system. This is becoming much more prevalent in the U.S. as the jobs move out, and the people become more hungry. I don't have any connection with organized religion so that part wouldn't have offended me. In fact I am offended by much of organized religion so I might appreciate a society in which there was less of a Patriarchy and more morals for the sake of humanity rather than just to save one's own ass from a bad after-life. Of course if it takes a Totalitarian Regime to end the patriarchy, then it's not worth it. There was one part in the movie where a leader of a church in America comes before the pope and is chastened for his Communist like attitudes, and instructed to go back to more traditional work in his parish rather than trying to help the poor, (by spouting communist-like ideals and concerning himself with the poverty and suffering.) Then he returns to America, follows the advise of the Pope, and is shot and killed in his church. The Pope is very sorry, but then he himself is shot too, not long after and has other things to think about here in Europe.
I, myself, no pope, but still thinking a lot about the people suffering in the U.S. from lack of jobs, etc.... especially in Michigan. Reports from home suggest the reality of the situation, economy-wise has hit California now too with food prices on the rise and house prices taking a dive. For us the reality is all in the exchange at every purchase. Anja is using a calculator at the Playmobil store and dividing by 15 from Czech Koruna to US dollars. She does enjoy getting 100 Koruna a week here, but her allowance is going down to five bucks when she touches down in her homeland. Things are a lot cheaper here than they were in France, except for Playmobil. We have enjoyed some delicious Goulash out and some great Italian food that we wouldn't want to purchase in Italy, though I am sorry we didn't make it there this trip. Still Prague is beautiful, though the Lilacs continue to imbibe me with the sweet sensation that I am a child on a swing in my backyard and then I am rudely awoken to the need to buy another bottle of hair dye, to at least disguise this ugly business called aging. Anja has a grey hair too. She got it when she was eight about a year ago, and I instinctively grabbed it and yanked it out like any good mother would. But it's growing back and she says she will never dye her hair, not that I'd want her to, Yuck! She also will never have her head frozen and thinks the whole idea is creepy, and won't let me do it either because she wouldn't want to have anything to do with me as a thawed head in a dish. Where does she get these ideas. I didn't let her read that particular Roald Dahl book.

We went to the Botanical Garden, Fata Morgana exhibit and WITCH day at the gardens yesterday. The girls acquired some seedlings and prizes, notebooks, stickers, and everything was free which was nice. My favorite part was the music. There was a band playing with people singing. Sofie and I were the only dancers. She was really the dancer. I was like the guy - I stood there, held her hands, and admired her as she swung about me in circles. These new seedlings are not the only plants the girls have. They are sprouting peas and radishes, the fastest growing things we could think of, but I'm afraid they won't be fast enough for truly satisfying results. The girls are also some of the most productive children in their pottery class. They work non-stop for the entire two hours each week and have a lot to show for only two classes so far. All I can think, is Natalie our friend upstairs may get more birthday presents than she wants. hmmm...
We also swung by the zoo to see the elephants, big cats, playground, lemurs, and to pet some goats. I was stiff from all the walking this morning, but Caleb was gone when I got up, walking by the river in town, and checking out his old favorite haunt, Starbucks. He found that Starbucks here is closer in price to California, so if he can convince the rest of us to go with him some day, it won't cost him forty dollars like France. His new 30-day transport pass was burning a hole in his pocket. For days Caleb was wondering why there are no cafes around our area before we went to the Prague museum and learned about the destruction of cafes during the communist era. This would be a great place to start a Cafe. It would be really cool if someone started one in the old style that we saw at the museum. There are enough Saunas and Solariums to go around already. Northerners like heat too. We know that to be true when we go to Calistoga, CA and the hot tubs are full of Russian people. Could use some more saunas and hot tubs in Michigan maybe.

Praha

Yesterday we went to the Communism Museum. I don't feel much more educated by it, though I learned and re-learned a little history. The Communism Museum is a for-profit business run by Americans and you can get directions to it on its website that tell you it is right above the McDonalds. I suppose this is not really ironic as it is a museum and educating you about a thing of the past. Still I like calling it the capitalist museum.
Today we went to the Prague museum which I really enjoyed. It had a very nice model of Prague's old town. Much of it is still intact as Prague was not hit as hard during WWII as many other European cities. We learned at the Prague museum that during the totalitarian regime many of the Kava (coffee) houses were destroyed because they encouraged intellectual ferment and were filled with the bourgeoisie. I am still unclear about why churches weren't allowed under the communist government. In the museum they had lovely old coffee bean holders and cash registers and glassware used for various kava drinks.
There are many very tall people in Prague. Quite different from France, where there were less tall people. I am told the people are of mixed euro-ethnicity here not unlike many Americans.
On May fifth, Condoleeza Rice is coming to Prague representing the U.S. and their weapons. There will be a demonstration / protest. I read that the majority of the people in the Czech Republic are against the U.S. putting their missile launcher just outside of Prague but it is likely to happen anyway. Does this sound familiar? We are both republics now. There is no longer a totalitarian regime, or so they say... I have also read that the majority of Americans are against the war(s) that continue in Iraq et al. I'm sure things truly were really ugly during the Stalin days and I am really happy for the Czech Republic and I hope things turn out better here than they have in the United States thus far. The change must be very dramatic. I was hoping to get more a feel for what it was like to live here before from the Communism Museum. Our landlord who kindly picked us up at the station, confronted me with the notion that I was likely to get first hand experience in limited freedom the way things are going in the U.S. as I got off the night train from Switzerland. I think he was curious to know how it feels to be on the fliip side -descending toward totalitarianism, whilst they have left it behind. I remember hearing stories of neighbors spying on one another from a young Hungarian woman who visited us at the lake in the late eighties.
Praha is a beautiful and safe city filled with gorgeous architecture and blooming flowers (at the moment.) I've been a little home sick as Praha smells like Michigan spring time. Lilacs galore. Also the intermittent rain showers and sunshine, hockey, cigarette smoke, and techno music contribute to the Michigan air. Not very Californian seeming, other than the many health food shops and one smoothie bar. That doesn't stop me from missing Brutus.

monument in Prague

Today Anja is nine and a half. Caleb and I just watched a good movie, 'Zeitgeist The Movie,' about the U.S. and the world, the Amero, the future North American currency, the chips we will have inserted in our bodies to pay for things and be identified, similar to the chip in Lynne's passport, and maybe yours if you've obtained it recently. It begins with a lesson about world religion, its similar myths and their common base in astronomy, with Jesus et al being the sun. I keep hearing of this movie referred to as a conspiracy theory movie. I would classify it under non-fiction myself. You can enjoy it on U TUBE. Some intense very real imagery in the beginning. Be warned, but don't be stopped. The other day I wrote a rather superficial view of Prague about the casinos and bars, and how the Czech people must like to smoke and drink and gamble and I wanted to make sure you all know this is an extremely superficial view and if you really know me, you know it's not an insult of any kind as I do not frown upon leisure activities and have been found at various times in various places to enjoy leisure myself. I've also been thinking that if I were in Oakland for example looking around and not understanding the language but only seeing what the businesses have to offer, I would assume that Americans like to drink a lot of booze, and attend a lot of church. hmmm.... I don't see churches here. Caleb says they were not allowed. I intend to go to the Communism museum to understand this and more. I feel so uneducated, but I really enjoy having the opportunity to become more educated along with my children.

A cup of caj at Detsky Ostrov

Yesterday we went to Detsky Ostrov- Children's island. Detsky are children. Damsky are women. I can't remember what men are. I guess I don't have them on the mind, just Caleb in particular because it is our eight year wedding anniversary, and we get two hours in the park alone together as it is Sofie and Anja's pottery class day. Woo- hooo!!! That was in all seriousness. Ya gotta take what you can get- every minute counts!! Back to Detsky Ostrov- It is a lovely island dedicated to children. It has all kinds of fun play structures starting with a ship for toddlers and slowly progressing to things for big kids like skate ramps at the far end. It also has a restaurant / cafe/ bar where you ought to order beer as it is cheaper, bigger, and probably far tastier than the black tea I continue to order for some inane reason. The beer here comes with a very large head, foam about one fifth of your glass. They say its their tradition, or trademark in the not so very accurate Prague guide we bought in England. But that is the way the beer comes, every time. The Budweiser, the original Budweiser is from here and was obviously the original or the American Budweiser would have run it out of existence by now as corporations/ businesses in the land of lawsuit tend to do. This is a big city with much fine culture and something for everyone. I love that about cities. Still, don't order the black tea. I think one reason I would like to have a tea shop is simply to put out a decent cup of tea, as it so rare.

Cluny in Prague

Anja and Sofie made a model of Cluny in the sandbox here. This is it. If you've been there, or live there, maybe you recognize some of the buildings. They are looking forward to returning there some day.

Springing into Prague!!!!!!

Went to the Prague Zoo today. It was quite beautiful. They have the animals who like mountains way up a hill that one takes a ski lift to climb. Beautiful view of the city from there. We found that to be true from the park near Anja and Sofie's pottery class as well. It over looks the river and the old town, new town, and real new town. One can also see a miniature Eiffel tower from everywhere. Haven't been there yet though. The National Museum was a natural history museum of which we saw Zoology and 'Pre-History to Walking on the Moon.' That museum had a lot of shoes. Really gorgeous shoes from Morocco. I find that the Moroccan style is one of my favorites. Often when I am struck by the beauty of something, it turns out to be Moroccan. I am sorry I missed the Moroccan spring herb tour but the timing did not work for me at all. The shoes Anja was most struck by were the ones put on women whose feet were bound in China in the past. Ouch! Everywhere we go, we see so much, yet we always inevitably leave something to come back for. We want to go to the National museum for the two more floors of exploration and back to the zoo for some pretty large animals -the elephants- that we somehow missed. The zoo is 62 hectares which didn't really mean anything to me before going there, but I now realize is pretty large. There was a big flood in 2002 that wiped out a good part of the zoo. They received a lot of money for re-building and the zoo is beautifully done. All the animals seemed quite content. We've really made a tour of Europe by zoos and natural history museums. Anja counted the steps in the church tower we climbed. The sign said 286 or 7. But she said there were only 280. You gotta keep on top of these things. I think the people climbing as she counted on the way down appreciated knowing how many more steps were ahead of them. Atleast the ones near the top appreciated it anyway. Today we had chicken stir fry for dinner thanks to Caleb. Anything but sausage would be good at this point. Prague, like Germany, is filled with sausage on the streets, at the subway stations, everywhere. The butcher has I-don't-know-how-many kinds of sausage and then if you buy something else, it somehow tastes like sausage. Caleb thought he was buying a small loaf of bread and it turned out to be sausage. We are not even trying to learn the language this time. Just gonna stick with the francais as far as language acquisition goes for this year. You can't help but pick up some fun words though like Brambury are potatoes. Practically everything ends in "y", well especially words that would otherwise be English like cigarettey. Though casinos are Herna of which there are many everywhere. The Czech people must like to gamble, drink a lot of beer, and smoke a lot of cigarettys. The Marionettes are quite popular especially in the touristy areas. They are fun, though mostly not as nice as the ones Simon and Mary sent us. We have yet to go out for some goulash, and there are enough museums in this town to keep us busy for twice our stay or more, but we've really been enjoying the local pool in walking distance. We also really enjoyed our two hour walk alone together during pottery class so we signed them up for six more Tuesdays. The Horse Chestnut trees are about to bloom as are the Lilacs which are huge like Michigan lilacs. There are so many fruit trees and tulips in full bloom now. It is gorgeous. I really want to make it to the botanical gardens (there are two). One is said to have twenty something varieties of cherry trees which should be spectacular right now, though if we wait, there is said to be a great Rhododendron garden as well. Either way should suit us just fine.

On the left is the farmer's market in Basel, Switzerland. In the middle is a dinosaur skeleton at the National Museum in Prague. On the right is Sofie in our backyard in Prague.

round robin

Today our fabulous hosts took us on a round robin starting with a boat down the Dart river from Totnes to Dartmouth, then a ferry across to Kingswear, then a steam train to Paignton where we caught a the top of a double decker bus with no roof back to Totnes. The views were incredible, the river, the Ocean, the rolling, very green hills. The cappucino in Dartmouth was delicious. Mary's exclamations of joy and awe always add a lot to every day with her.
Happy late Birthday to Mel if she reads this. Been thinking of Mel since she's from this beautiful land we are enjoying so much, though we will not make it to London this trip.

Easter in Totnes!!

Anja saw a real brown bunny in the garden first thing in the morning. Then we had Easter dinner for 27, with ham and fruit salad. There was much chocolate for everyone. I received a giant chocolate egg as well as a delicious bar of dark chocolate. The girls had a great time playing with children that actually spoke English. How odd that felt. Beautiful day with much mud and only light intermittent showers.

Vacation from Vacation

Paris with Lynne for a week!!! Fabulous!!!

Rare Breeds, Totnes, Devon, England

Don't read comments by Gardagami

Gardagami has left a couple of comments on my blog, saying only here or here, with here being highlighted for clicking. Don't because then that will lead you to another place to try to give you a virus. I tried to report it to blogspot, but they were asking for an url and I don't know Gardagami's url and already deleted said comments off my blog? So it goes... In England now. Strange to be amongst the English speaking. They seem not at all different from us after being in France for six months, though they instantly know we don't belong here when we open our mouths. My aunt Mary and Simon have been showing us a fabulous time. They are fantastic hosts and fantastic cooks. Anja is writing a recipe book to remember our stay here. So far we have a delicious Easter ham, Pears and Custard, Bananas Simon, a Seafood Pasta, and Tortilla Soup ( which is the one meal Caleb and I have prepared so far.) Yesterday we saw a steam train and maybe seven kinds of owls, and a bunch of farm animals including baby guinea pigs which we were allowed to hold. Absolutely Fabulous in Merry old England.

Dali musee (Dolly Moo-zay)

Went to the Dali museum today which is conveniently located in our neighborhood.

Le Louvre Troisieme

Au jour dui etait mon troisieme fois en Le Louvre. Lynne and I went to the Louvre today. We went to the Italian Renaissance paintings which I'd seen before but this time it was more exciting because the alarm sounded telling us to evacuate the building tout suite- immediately. So like cows we all headed for the nearest exits which were blocked by staff directing us to some other exit we never found. We were pretty sure there was a reason -bomb threat- or something that made them sound the alarm repetitively and drive us toward the exit, but then we went to ask an employee of the museum, another English speaker had beat us to it so we just stood there and listened to their conversation. First the museum employee acted like she was completely unaware of the incessant alarm and announcements directing us to evacuate without going to coat check to pick up belongings along the way. Then she said it must have been a test. hmmm... Anyhow, we were very happy to continue our Louvre visit which was much more expansive, involving the Denon and Richelieu wings, than last time. That building is huge. We also exited through the pyramid this time which was fun. I of course was sure the bomb threat was due to Lynne's new passport which contains a chip so the terrorists can track her down from afar and the U.S. government can keep tabs on her. Because she lives on the wild side, she chose not to buy the protective cover to prevent terrorists from using their American-detection-devices to determine how many Americans are in a place and more importantly whether or not Lynne is there. This is my second exciting moment in my de-stressing vacation from my vacation. The first was when the bus at the Macon TGV station drove off with my suitcase. I of course hollered like a Banshee and the driver stopped, backed up, and I got my suit case out of the side compartment of the bus. Phew!!!

Points in Dying

Yesterday at the park we found a bone. Anja, nine years old, evaluated it and tried to figure out what kind of animal it was. Sofie, four years old, sat back on a bench in quiet reflection and then declared, "I don't see the point in dying." I tried to explain the circle of life and how the bone was going to decay into the ground and give back to the plants that feed and shelter us animals. Though my heart wasn't completely in it, I controlled myself by not going off on a tangent and talking about the atrocities of embalming. So I simply ended the conversation bluntly referring her to uncle Sean if she really wanted to know her options. I remember being afraid of dying when I was ten and I remember discussing the subject with ten year olds at the group home I worked at as they had so many questions at that age about evolution, death, and religion. When I was ten I would have liked to be encased in glass like an image of snow white I had in my head. I wanted there to be air in case I wasn't really dead and a lovely bed to lie on until I awoke again, by whatever means. Now I just don't want to be embalmed. I have heard of people being left out to be eaten by the vultures in certain areas or the more costly option like on "six feet under" of being buried in the ground without the box and the chemicals. Partly for the environmentally obvious reasons, but I don't want to have people handling my body after death especially in such grotesque ways, except of course for donated parts which I expect to be re-used if there's anything of value left when I'm done with them. I have to wonder what people will really do in the future with my brother's frozen head? I'm not afraid to refer Sofie to Sean though because that girl will always make up her own mind.

The Lighter Side of Paris

The boat in back is ours. We got this boat more than once. One receives a stick to shove it off and runs around the pond sending it in the direction you want it to go. Of course the wind has it's way in the end as is expected.


But it is fun to chase it about the garden or around the pond atleast. To the right is Anja in front of a display of delicious delicacies which I'm sure there will be even more of when I return to Paris just before Easter with Lynne and Kristin. To the right of that is a lovely statue that helped me get my bearings and find my way back to our place in the Marais more than once on this trip. Also on the light side, Sofie got a bit carried away riding the ponies in the jardin outside the louvre. She had two rides on ponies and one in a cart. On the hilarious side, we went looking for an actual money gram store of which there are five in Paris to cash the Money Gram-International Money Order I received from my father for Christmas which no bank in Cluny would cash. We found one and then were sent to the main office where we were informed that one can only cash an International Money Order in Les Etats Unis. They told me to send it back to my dad and have him forward me money via MoneyGram of course. I assured them that if I knew my father, he would never use MoneyGram again for anything, and thanked them kindly laughing all the while. This was funny to us, but could have been serious in other circumstances. And quite a run-around in which we were able to practice our francais skills asking for directions repetitively from many different people.