A voice for peace

Almost 12 years ago Saudi and Egyptian individuals boarded three planes. Using box cutters they managed to kill about 3,000 people from 82 countries.

In retaliation the US has spent trillions of dollars in attacking countries Afghanistan and Iraq. 

The death toll, theirs and the US’s is unknown but far greater than the original.

The dying goes on. Children are being born mutilated in Iraq likely caused by the uranium depleted bullets.

Soldiers are thanked by a grateful nation.

Congress refused to pass a job bills to help returning veterans showing their gratitude.

The Veterans Administration takes months or years to give veterans the help they need upping the already high suicide rate for returning veterans showing their gratitude.

Americans are told that the terrorists hate the US freedoms, but the government took away Habeas Corpus from Americans in the Patriot Act and the NDAA.

Americans now have no freedom from government spying.

Americans stand to lose things like SS, Medicare etc., but defense continues to grow. The US military budget is the largest in the world and almost larger than the rest of the world combined. The second largest military budget is Australia, obviously a great danger to the US. Maybe they should put those tanks on planes to protect Americans from box cutters.

America continues to kill civilians in drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

Here’s a list of US military interventions. http://www.wordnik.com/lists/countries-the-united-states-has-bombed-invaded

Maybe the US would be safer if they stopped terrorising others.

Maybe less mothers, sisters, brothers, children, fathers would not mourn the loss of their loved ones if the US worked as hard for peace as it does for death. Maybe the money not spent on killing others might be used to help its own citizens.

Maybe

Fantasy day

When it was hot during the summer, I fantasized today.

We woke to a wind where the trees bent over and the garden furniture took short flights. The lake is dressed in white caps.

I'm dressed in sweat pants and my Napier University sweat shirt, drinking a cup of Maine blueberry tea, a gift from visitors. More tea to come.

Plans include a Sunday brunch of eggs, bacon, roesti and coffee. There are rumours that brownies will be made.

Munchkin asked to go out but backed up when we opened the door and headed for the basement kitty litter muttering.

Fire in the fire place is also on the agenda.

Does it get better than this?

Yup...

This is also my favourite day of the year when we put the clocks back, although they all read the old time. Around five we will act surprized that today's the day and marvel we've been given an extra hour of life on this wonderful day.

The Finder strikes again

I've two pair of bunny/heart pjs. One is pink, the other is lavender. As a colour freak I've matching bed socks and I also try to colour co-ordinate any undershirts worn on cold nights. These pjs are thick flannel, perfect for snuggling under the covers.

Coming back from Edinburgh tired and with a miserable cold, I put on one pair and climbed into my preheated bed. Only in the morning did I discover I had a lavender bottom and pink top. Rainbow meltdown.

When I looked into my closet, which for once was in perfect order having arranged it before leaving for the UK, I couldn't find the match. I checked laundry, undid and redid the closet.

The only thing left to do was to call in ... wait... imagine trumpets

THE FINDER

The Finder, aka my housemate, does not wear special tights, capes, masks. Nor does she rush into telephone booths to change (what will Superman do now that mobile phones are doing away with phone boxes?). Her reputation is legend with holding up lost rings, watches, glasses, underwear, even money unable to miss her eagle search light. Dressed in her regular slacks, top and neck scarf, she went to work going through the places I'd searched.

She also has the technique of asking questions that would do a detective proud.

Then she started tearing apart my bed.

Voilà. The missing bottom that I had kicked of when I became too hot in the middle of the night and under my pillow the missing top that I had put there to wear again and had forgotten in the interim of my UK stay.

And the best part of The Finder. She only laughs about it not at me.

Edinburgh cow

No self respecting Swiss cow would ever be in this position.

Strange

Damn. There was a white line on my camera. The tour Llara and I took to the Isle of Skye stopped so we could capture the rugged landscape.

I moved the camera and the white line disappeared.

Then I moved it again and it reappeared.

I showed Llara. "A Scottish ghost."

"Nah..." I said. I snapped the photo at the white shape which was no longer a straight line but a soft wavy glow. IT did not appear.

"Weird," I said.

"A ghost," Llara said.

My kid did it

I know it is blurry, but that's my kid walking across the stage at Usher Hall in Edinburgh on her way to pick up her "parchment" that says she has a Master of Science in Human Resources. Me proud. You betcha.

Mammogram

The see-your breath temperature is a pleasure after the too hot summer as I wait for the pre-dawn bus to take me into the city. When it comes it is filled with a few businessmen trying to beat colleagues into the office and high school kids on their way to the Lycée founded by Jean Calvin 500+ years ago.

The curriculum is modernized from the old Latin, Greek, Bible and Hebrew of Calvin’s time. One sun-bleached blond teenager sits in the aisle, her notebook on her lap finishing her math homework by copying answers from long exercises onto a single sheet. I’m always impressed by the notebook system of French schools and how neat the work is.

The lake is changing colour from dark gray to light gray as the bus passes it. The Jet d’Eau is not on yet.

I’ve allowed time to try a Pumpkin Spice Latté and pumpkin muffin at Starbucks before my appointment. I read the Tribune de Genève, finding the plans to substitute train service in some areas with buses and the story of a robber who dressed as a bank employee complete with badge allowing him code access, interesting.

“24 juillet 1942” I tell the receptionist at La Maternité. I know the drill. I’m a birthdate more than a patient.

“Follow the yellow line, first floor.” She hands me a sheet of labels coded with my medical history.

I don’t have long to wait. 

“Pourquoi six mois?” The technician asks after telling me to strip to the waist.

I tell her that I’m not taking the after-cancer medication, which is why I allow my breasts to be pressed into rectangles twice a year as a compromise. I don’t regret my decision. My joints no longer ache and morning sicknesses at my age was unwelcomed. The survival stats with my type of cancer, my stage, my treatment were not that different for those that followed the plan and those that did not.

The pressing over the doctor tells me I’m clean. Although I had a thermographie last month telling me the same thing, I’m relieved. A routine worry niggles at strange times.

On the way home I get off a couple of stops before mine to walk by the vineyards and watch the pickers with their metal baskets on their backs. The vendage is far from completed with many of the vines still heavy with grapes. A truck heaped to the brim with purple fruit is parked to the side and one of the pickers adds his bounty to the pile.

The lake is now in full colour. The leaves are yellowing, not the brilliant colours of my native New England but beautiful.

It is 10:45 and each moment of my morning has been filled with tiny delights and I’m so grateful for the Swiss medical system. I’m so grateful for being alive and able to be surrounded by so many sensations.

Surprize rainbow

Both my housemate and I had what the French call a white night. She's jet lagged from her flight from California. I slept hard for an hour and woke and couldn't fall back. Thus sleep alluded both of us.

In the morning we staggered into the hall between our rooms to exchange greeting grunts rather than our usual cheery "good mornings".

We did accomplish our usual morning tasks, let the cat out, let the cat in, make breakfast. 

I was starting my writing at my work station in my bedroom and she came back upstairs to get dressed. 

She called me to come quick. I crossed the hall into her bedroom and looked out over the lake. 

The Jura were hidden in gray clouds, but breaking through in the upper left hand of the sky was a 20% piece of a rainbow.

Who needs the pot of gold at the end? 

Not us.

Colour conversation

Her dark long hair and deep brown eyes reminded me of No. 2 son's girl friend as I sat down on the bench beside her to wait for the No. 5 bus.

What I also noticed even more were her beautiful mauve boots. I couldn't help but compliment her on them. Since French was both our second language we switched to English.

"I saw them in a store and it was a done deal," she said. "In Geneva everything is so gray."

We looked around. 95% of the cars were gray or black. Almost everyone had on gray or black clothes.

We spied one little boy in a sky blue sweat shirt and a woman in a hot pink jacket. Those were the only colours on the street.

I told her my theory that Geneva, Genève, Genf, gray, gris, grau all start with "g" for a reason. She nodded.

The number 10 tram came and she hoped on and I watched her mauve boots disappear as the doors closed behind her.

If I'd seen those boots it would have been a done deal too.

from www.Stretcher.com

I love this newsletter with lots of tips on saving money. I've enjoyed 

my European Christmases with each person trying to give one thoughtful gift.

But I loved this idea.

My Story: Recycled Christmas
contributed by Lorrie
How one family changed their Christmas
 
Frugal and green living has always been important to me. An
area that used to concern me for both reasons was the
Christmas gift-giving process. The insane obsession of finding
the right gifts (and lots of them) and then watching the huge
pile of discarded Christmas wrapping paper grow made me crazy.
So, a few years back, I decided to offer a new idea to my
grown children (now with little ones of their own). Everyone
agreed to holding our first "Recycled Christmas."
 
The rules of the "Recycled Christmas" were as follows:
 
1. All gifts had to be pre-owned or made from
recycled/recyclable materials in some way. It was okay if
someone purchased a new, even unopened item from a yard or
other secondhand sale or store. Items that came from a natural
source, such as honey, jams or jellies made from wild or
homegrown sources, nuts picked from a tree, dried herbs, etc.
were all just fine. They were especially good if they were
packaged in secondhand jars or other containers. Craft items
made from recycled items were also acceptable.
 
2. Each person was required to submit a list of items that
they would be okay with receiving from pre-used sources. This
list needed to be available sometime before the end of summer
(to allow for yard/garage sale purchases). Like the entire
"Recycled Christmas" idea, gift selection is more time
consuming than the traditional "run into the store and grab
something" method, as it requires really giving thought to the
person you are giving. My feeling on the time investment is
that thinking about my loved one and their interests and likes
is an important part of the process. So, I don't mind
investing a bit of extra time (plus, I love yard sales!). I
also found that I was able to streamline my time expenditure
by using eBay, Etsy, and other such online services.
 
3. All gifts must be packaged in containers that were made
from recycled materials and/or were recyclable. Gift bags
could be made of any type of recycled fabric (pretty
pillowcases tied at the top with ribbon don't require any
sewing and are great for larger packages). Any type of jar or
tin could be used (I especially like popcorn cans because they
are pretty and stackable for storage). Wrapping paper could be
made out of decorated paper bags, newspaper, or brown packing
paper. Gallon metal cans, decorated with ribbon or paint,
could be turned into buckets and covered with recycled tissue
paper from other gifts. Even kitty litter buckets could be
decorated to serve as great wrappers.
 
4. During the holiday gift-giving gathering, we would all
share where and how we got great deals on items that were
purchased, traded for, and sometimes even found for free. Now,
I know it is not traditional to reveal such secrets, but this
part of the process helped us to realize how we can be quite
frugal and earth-friendly while still giving great gifts that
people really want. It also  allowed us each to share lots of
creative ideas.
 
As we set out on our "Recycled Christmas" idea, each family
could set a budget for how much they would spend per person
and then buy gifts accordingly (something anyone on a budget
should do anyway). The other option was to simply try to find
the best deal on a special gift for each person (and maybe
save a little money in the process). For our first "Recycled
Christmas," we all pretty much went with the first idea, which
resulted in us all (there were seven of us at the time)
spending over four hours opening gifts. Everyone got lots of
things they wanted, but it turned out to be a bit
overwhelming. The next year, we opted to go with the second
idea of just looking for a nice gift at the best price
possible. This was more fun and resulted in some really
creative thinking.
 
Creativity flourished with our "Recycled Christmas." There
have been great buys from yard sales, flea markets,
Craigslist, etc., including CDs and DVDs, an entire set of
depression glass, lots of tools (and toolbox), fishing gear, a
vintage breadbox, great clothing, Wii games and accessories, a
television wall mount, books, and lots of toys. Our families'
crafting skills rendered lovely aprons and dish towels from
recycled fabrics, functional coupon holders (with coupons
including some for free items), homemade beeswax candles in
baby food jars, and Italian-themed artwork. My daughter even
made stockings for each family member that reflected that
persons interests from recycled shirts or sweaters. Some gifts
have been traded for, resulting in no expense whatsoever, such
as an entire set of cast iron cookware (skillets for my
daughter-in-law and a Dutch oven and griddle for me from our
wish lists) for a set of DVDs. This summer, an end of the day
yard sale allowed me to get a huge lot of Thomas the Train
engines, cards, and tracks in a nice Rubbermaid bin for $5.
This allowed for me to prepare a wonderful gift for one of our
grandsons and sell the excess pieces on eBay (to help pay for
this and other gifts). Other freebies have come from "curb
alerts," including a barely used paper shredder and electric
ice cream maker.
 
Now, I know that this idea isn't for everyone, but if your
family will buy in, it can save everyone money and result in
some really enjoyable holiday experiences for all, while
caring a bit more for our planet.

Where does the time go?

The days are much too short and it doesn't have much to do with it being autumn.

Between the newsletter, wonderful guests, getting Murder in Insel Poel ready for my publisher (where did all those typos come from and shouldn't that paragraph be tightened, that sentence polished a bit more?) the days seem about an hour long.

I am thinking ahead to the next book. We have tickets to go to the UK combining the research trip with Llara's graduation and a bit more moseying around Scotland. I'm itching to start something new.

None of this is a complaint. I wouldn't change my life for anything. 

Happiness is

Hearing my daughter say, "My dissertation was accepted." Onto graduation at Napier University in Edinburgh. I was proud of her before, even prouder now...Also guilty of really, really liking my kid.

haiku

The last summer rose
drops its petals in the sink
Bright red on silver

A surprize

There is something wonderful about having the gate bell ring and finding a delivery man handing me this bouquet. I should be smiling all day and then some. Happy anniversary back at ya...

Take me, please

The road not taken

A long time ago I was talking with a non-cousin...he had my mother's maiden name and we claim kinship despite my mother's family leaving the UK around 1635 and his is still there...

The subject of Robert Frost's The Road not Taken was brought up and I said it was one of my favourite poems.

Imagine my surprise and delight is too mild a world when for my 70th birthday I was given a compass whose top had the Frost poem engraved in the cover.

Truly a mind boggling/gobsmacked present that words of appreciation do not begin to match.

France has cow statues too

The ugly hallway

The entrance in Argelès for a long time was ugly. Like most of the houses in the region unless the ground floor was heated, damp caused the walls to flake. Last year we had the walls treated and tiled. Great improvement.

But still as soon as you entered and went up the stairs there were two white doors hiding the electrical boxes.

Maybe not ugly but certainly boring.

Luckily, the British set designer Chris Floyd has a summer home down the street. The outside of his house (I'll get a photo later and post it) is alive with his murals. He agreed to paint a mural to hide the doors. The most clever part is the lamp post in this very Agelesian scen hides the wooden piece between the two doors.

Thank you Chris.

Review

Waiting for reviews is always scarey. This one is more of a summary but the last sentence is a whew moment.

Kirkus Review 9/1/12

This title publishes OCT 2012

“A young freelance writer who specializes in history must solve both a very old puzzle and a brand new murder. Multicultural Annie’s third (Murder in Argeles, 2011, etc.) presents a pretty puzzle on two levels, past and present.”

****************************************

Kirkus Reviews, www.kirkusreviews.com

MURDER IN GENEVA
Author: Nelson, D-L

Review Issue Date: September 1, 2012
Online Publish Date: August 21, 2012
Publisher:Five Star
Pages: 348
Price ( Hardcover ): $25.95
Publication Date: October 19, 2012
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-1-4328-2616-1
Category: Fiction
Classification: Mystery

A young freelance writer who specializes in history must solve both a very old puzzle and a brand new murder.

Annie Young arrives in Geneva to find her friend Mireille pregnant by Dr. Urs Stoller, her brilliant but much disliked thesis advisor. No one is terribly upset when Stoller’s body washes up on the lakeshore. His wife, a chemist, is more concerned about problems with the blood thinner she’s working on and the fact that her lover is moving his family from England. Stoller, who was not above stealing work from his graduate students, has even given Mireille false information about some old drawings she’d asked him to appraise. Annie’s in town to work on a catalog for a big sale a local auction house is hosting, but she gladly takes on the task of tracking down the artist who executed Mireille’s drawings, a woman struggling to express herself in the restrictive Calvinist society of 16th-century Geneva. Annie’s fiancé, Roger Perret, a French police chief on an exchange program in Geneva, is at odds with the local police, who arrest Stoller’s wife for his murder. Also in Geneva are Annie’s American parents, who have taken in Stoller’s teenage son, a longtime pal of Annie’s, while their determined daughter works to help find a killer and uncover the fate of the talented young woman whose story so fascinates her.

Multicultural Annie’s third (Murder in Argeles, 2011, etc.) presents a pretty puzzle on two levels, past and present.

Haiku

Rossi's toys hang out
to dry on the washing line
His little tail wags

When cards are not enough

A bird, wings outspread, flies into the clouds on the Swiss 1.90 CHF stamp, the one I use for airmail. I put it on a pink envelope to mail to my stepmom. The card has a photo of pink rose that was taken and made by my housemate. Yesterday I mailed a card with St. Bernard puppies, tomorrow it will be a grey kitten. I do this anywhere from three to five times a week.

Cards have flowers, animals, scenes of Geneva, Argelès, Valais. On them I write short messages reminding her of things in the past: her German Shepherds Duchess and Nikki, how she wiped me out at Gin Rummy, her visit to Switzerland, anything that might bring her back for a few minutes.

I don’t phone her, leaving me both guilt ridden and relieved. The last time she could not remember the word for flower. When I do call, she forgets I have telephoned or offers to come get me, forgetting she no longer has her car and it would not cross an ocean. Once she asked me to ask Donna-Lane to call if I saw her.

The cards are both a guilt-reliever and something I can still do for her.

She always loved cards, had an account at the Hallmark store near her house, found perfect messages to send for any occasion.

When her granddaughter sent her a card from Edinburgh where she’s in school, my stepmom showed it over and over to a neighbour. Her caretaker says that she carries my cards around with her.

The caretaker is now there daily but can’t be there the 24/7 as my mom needs. It has been two years since we asked the Veteran’s Administration for help and one year since we appealed their decision that her $1200 monthly income was much too high to warrant the assistance that could increase the caretaker’s hours. So far nothing.

She’s on the waiting list for three Veteran’s nursing homes. She was in the Navy, part of the Greatest Generation.

Thus I write the cheques for as much as I can afford and tell myself that she didn’t move here when I asked her ten years ago so I could take care of her in old age. At the time she understood that I’d never move to Florida and my options in helping her would be limited with an ocean between us. 

I remind myself I’ve earned my own old age. Sometimes, the guilt gets a little smaller, but the worry never does.

Geneva weather

I often thought Calvin believed in a capricious god because of the sudden changes from lovely to violent weather in Geneva. More than once I would leave the office to walk home on a drop-dead beautiful sunny day and before I finished the 20 minute walk would be soaked to the skin and praying the lightening did not put an end to my life. By the time I'd dried off the sky would be decorated with a rainbow or rainbows.

Last night was another example. Lightening split the sky, the wind caused the trees to almost bend in two and the rain was strong that at one point the lake, which can't be more than a tenth of a mile was hidden from view.

Julia's number 1 son, a great photographer in his own right was able to capture the lightening.

For more of his photos, check out his website. www.2slphotography.com/

Haiku

Black, yellow, red cows
Oversee the street below
It is a Swiss thing

the three day birthday

I was happy to turn 70. It meant I was alive.

Usually I don't pay much attention to birthdays, but decided this year to throw myself a party.

Sunday night there was a knock on the door. I opened it. In the tiny hallway was a black bag. Could it be for my neighbours?

Then a hand came around the corner followed by my Geneva housemate who decided I wasn't to celebrate my birthday without her along. The bag? Champagne, shrimp and Season two of The Good Wife. The party began.

Monday, I was slated to take a friend of more than three decades to the eye doctor. We seldom use the car (it has  taken since Feb. to use less than a half tank of gas) so the question was, "Where did we leave it?" seem totally normally.

As we walked by Barteveille, our favourite local restaurant my friend said, "Oh there's your housemate." She opened the door and my housemate was there and two other good friends. No choice for my surprise lunch...no problem...

• tapanade
• amuse bouche of gaspacho
• foix gras and salad
• fish on a bed of roasted vegetables
• Chocolate cake, icecream with happy birthday Donna written in chocolate frosting around the edge of the plate. I wish I could write as beautiful in ink
• Coffee

Then morning of my birthday a breakfast with a candle at the local hotel where my housemate was hiding out.

A trip to the beach to the see the photo exhibition but the most exciting was seeing the water planes land and pick up water for the fires in Port Bou and across the border in Spain. Our wishes went with them.

Then my party at La Noisette with about 30 friends.

Patricia the cook had put out a buffet that included gambas, salmon, chicken, cole claw, tabuli and mozarella and tomatoes. This went with sangria, a soft watermelon punch.

She'd done a beautiful cake and we added champagne.

The room has a divider and when I changed to the other side my Swiss friend and my long-time friend were sitting with their cellos. The music stand had a Swiss flag on it. They had arranged to play a combination of the Swiss national anthem along with happy birthday.

The nationalities present were

• Trinidian
• Canadian
• American
• Swiss 
• French
• Italian
• English
• German
• Danish
• Swedish

I have one more present coming in September. My daughter for eight days.

Those there were people I've known for decades, for years and recently. As I said in my toast to those present La richesse dans ma vie est les copains, les copines, life amis. The richness of my life is my friends.

Turning 70 is fun.

Grey hair

I've said I wanted to have grey hair. I don't have the patience to let it grow. After saying it to a friend he fiddled with my photo and sent me this.  If only it were that easy.

haiku

A yorkie basket
Pulled on an Argeles street
On a summer day

I ain't moving any more

The list was generated for a friend as we discussed our past lives  and I was curious how many times I'd moved. Move is a four letter word carrying with it all the obscenities of words that start with F, S, C etc. and I don't intend to do it again. If forced it will be my daughter's problem if she wants anything.

As I generated the list I kept thinking of the Phil Ochs song, I ain't marching any more.

ttp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=i+ain%27t+marching+anymore+phil+ochs&oq=I+ain%27t+march&gs_l=youtube.1.0.0l6.24434.26221.0.28918.13.11.0.2.2.0.269.1855.2j5j4.11.0...0.0.kDHxPqkfqic

1. Reading MA to Bluefield W.Va Union St.
2. Union Street to can't remember the name
3. Bluefield to Bramwell WVA
   
4. Bramwell to Reading
5. Reading to Lowell MA
   
6. Lowell to DC MA
   
7. DC to Scituate MA
   
8. Scituate to Helderinlinplatz Stuttgart Germany
   
9. Helderlinplatz to Olgastrasse
10. Olgastrasse to Reading Woburn St. MA
    
11. Woburn St to High Street MA
    
12. High Street to Main Street MA
    
13. Main Street to Pratt Street MA
    
14. Pratt St to 1085 Main Street Waltham MA
    
15. Main Street to Whitman Road MA
    
16. Whitman road to Epping NH
17. NH to North Andover MA
    
18. North Andover to 1085 Main Street Waltham
    
19. Main Street back to Whitman Road
20. WHitman Road to Tavern Rd
21. Tavern Rd to Wigglesworth Boston MA
    
22. Wigglesworth to Riverway Boston MA
    
23. Riverway to Castanet France
24. Castanet to Delle Avenue Boston
25. Delle Ave to Môtiers Switzerland
26. Môtiers to Payerne Switzerland
    
27. Payerne to Francois Lehman Geneva Switzerland
    
28. Francois Lehman to Corsier
29. Francois Lehman to Argeles France
    
    

It won't happen

I've a fantasy to fix up this deserted building around the corner in moments of complete madness. Fortunately my wallet keeps me on a saner course.

Usually I'm not mean spirited

And deaths are awful no matter how and where...

But I wonder how many people in CO, DC, VA, MD etc. don't believe in climate change.

How many are driving SUVs.

How many have fought wind turbines?

I will be more sympathetic when the death toll reaches 30,000 as it did in the European heat wave in 2003.

Okay, maybe I'm mean spirited, but sooner or later as a species we need to do something or as a species we will have self destructed, but maybe since we are such poor caretakers of the earth, we don't deserve the planet.

High tech what?????

I admit I like pretty underwear. Even my cotton underwear is in gay colours and matches. Sometimes I match my underwear to my outerwear.

Why?

It makes me feel feminine and together.

So when I watching Télémartin this morning, I saw some models wearing pretty underwear. The voice over was saying how it was high tech.

High tech...?

Does it tune into the internet?

Can it open a car door as you approach?

Does it vac as well as our robot vacuum?

No, it helps with cellulite.

Ya right...

Those of you who are older will remember way way way back when panty hose first came out they were supposed to remove the shame of panty lines when one wore slacks. I'd forgotten to be ashamed. I'm still not ashamed.

Will I rush out to buy high tech lingerie...?

I doubt it...

I've grown fond of my cellulite.

What is necessary for a trip

Two days in the mountain...the most necessary thing to pack? Two books.

The Chalet haiku

As a little girl
I did Swiss jigsaw puzzles
Now I live in them

The price of love

I didn't like the funeral home my parents chose.

Although my Dad has been gone 32 years, I still remember the tacky thank you cards they gave us that basically said, "We don't know what you did, but thanks anyway." It was a little less abrupt, but nothing I would ever send out even to a stranger. Too, too tacky.

However, my father had told me that they had prepaid their funerals so it wouldn't fall to me. And if that was the place they wanted, I would go to the same place.

I don't hold grudges.

A requirement for getting my mom into a rest home is that her funeral be arranged. She is no longer safe when the caretaker isn't there. I went to the same funeral home.

Prepayment in monthly installments after a down payment is fine with the same funeral home since they could not find the paperwork for the prepayment arranged so long ago. Although I was positive I'd seen something almost three years ago when I was helping my mom sort a major problem out, but the care taker was not able to locate it.

I was to be sent a coupon book by the funeral home but they didn't want to send it overseas. Thus it was to be sent to my wonderful nephew, who is helping so much with details concerning different American details. He was to forward to me.

What did the funeral home do?

They sent the coupon book to my mom. Fortunately, she is not capable at this point of understanding.

Today I made the first of ten payments.

It's not the money. It's a bit macabre to be arranging a funeral whose body is still alive, even if her mind isn't. I've already lost this woman who was a wonderful step mother.

I want to throw a tantrum, lie down on the floor and pound it.

I won't.

I'll do what it is necessary. Sadness is the price of love here.

Shadow haiku

            
                             Paint-by-number trees
         Cast sharp shadows on the church
                In Collonge village.

Haiku

                           Fall leaves and feathers
                           Float by on a Spanish pond
                           Forming a small duck

Edinburgh Half Marathon

 Llara approaches the finish line as they call out her name. She looks pretty good as she wears her medal and clutches her T-shirt.

What I loved about Scotland

Seeing Llara.

The feel of Edinburgh.

The train ride to Glasgow.

Seeing Llara.

Kilwinning. A half hour from Glasgow where J's ancestors came from in the mid 1800s. We found the ruins of an abbey.

Seeing Llara.

Chris, our hop on hop off guide in Glasgow.

The Religious museum in Glasgow. Felt good even for pagan me because it called attention to our human sameness.

The Grand Central Hotel with a water faucet that combined the hot AND cold water.

The Grand Central Hotel that had plug outlets for most nationality plugs.

The Glasgow train station.

Seeing Llara.

Pub grub in the beginning, salad at Llara's and Japanese dragon roll towards the end of the stay.

The major differences between the Grand Central and Guards Hotel. Pretended I was rating hotels. With all out hotel stays over the last few years we've done everything from four star to no stars and all have had some essence of fun.

The beautiful weather--Chris called it the first and maybe the last days of summer.

Seeing Llara run the half marathon. Hearing her name called as I watched her cross the finish line literally moisted my eyes. I think the joy there more than made up for the beginner violin concerts that she had that I went to in motherly support.

Quiz night at the pub even if we know diddly squat about snooker and cricket (apologies to Anil--he tried but that didn't help with team info). At least I knew the Chaucer question.

Seeing Llara's former dorm mate Marianne.

Loudon's tea room.

Did I mention one of the joys of the trip was seeing Llara?

The solution

For the holiday, J and I decided we were to go out and start photographing as many of the painted electrical boxes that we could find. Of course, lunch in a nice restaurant was in the plan.

I took things from my pocketbook to put in my backpack: wallet, camera, pen, notebook, bus pass, etc.

I went to pick it up. It was heavy. I tugged and tugged.

Why was I so weak?

Then I stepped off the strap. Voilà...the backpack was light again.

And off we went to capture 32 of the 150 electrical boxes that we are seeking. One of my favourites is above showing an event where a street car from another city ran on Geneva tracks.

We want to be alone

Granted we live a five minute walk from Lake Léman where ducks abound. This is the first time we've had any ducks on our garage roof.




We assumed that they were tired of being with a crowd and needed a little time to themselves away from all the others.

                                                             Photos by J. Schmitz-Leuffen

Haiku

Carcassonne cookies

Bin after bin to choose from

Chocolate are best

Bordeaux Haiku

                                              Coloured flower cart
                                              in an old  Bordeaux courtyard
                                              Kevin helped frame it

Corsier misc.

This is the time of year that one almost needs sunglasses to pass the fields and fields of colza. Photo by Julia Schmitz-Leuffen who also does the photos for my book covers.

I found J driving back and forth into and out of the garage. "Something's wrong," she said. We looked at the tire. One was flat. A temporary was put on but it looks a bit like a band-aid. Glad it didn't happen when we were on the road somewhere.

 
Three of us, my housemate, a British friend are LWL, ladies who lunch. We take turns experimenting with different recipes. This time S. made a Romanian curly pastry with salad. J.'s turn next.

Desert was a strawberry truffle...we also have the date for the next lunch with a different chef. Meanwhile I'm scouring recipes for my turn to produce something new.

RB2

Someone once said RB2 was the brother I always wanted. A Swiss/Dutchman, 20 years younger and I shared the company flat from 1990-93. We also shared shopping trips to France where instead of coming back immediately we'd roam the countryside, trips to Argeles (where he met and married his wife), concerts, musics, and hours and hours of talking.

In the intervening years depending on where he was living and/or working our time together might be under the same roof or close enough for many get-togethers.  Other times both our busy lives interfered and months would go by with no contact.

Thus when I got an email saying he'd meet me in Yverdon and I'd spend the night I jumped on the train. But no sooner had he served me Dutch pancakes, and I'd chatted with his wife, then he told me to get in the car.

Long ago, I learned to follow him (not a natural inclination of mine.) We ended up in the Swiss Germanic medieval village of Murten   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murten heading into a hotel that had a concert by Chi Coltrane. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJjOo9eu1Ok (totally opposite to what he is)

The next morning we watched the Eric Clapton Guitar Festival and his salute to George Harrison, before visiting his wife's brilliant children's play place.

Then off to a chalet for a fondue. I chose the one with morels. He selected a local white wine. He dropped me off at the station.

I just feel so lucky to have this brother wantabe in my life be it daily, weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, annually, whatever.

You know you will have a cold shower...

...when the repair man who installed the system says in equivalent French "I haven't the foggiest idea why you don't have hot water. The manufacturer's repairman is coming today. Yesterday we'd have paid holiday prices, today the call is free.