Spring Cycles

Last week a strain of flu hit our little town so hard that the elementary school was closed for two days. In our home we've experienced sickness for over a week. First it hit Michael quite hard, the full-blown sinus head cold and cough. Several days later I succumbed to a head cold that kept me in this weekend.

First blooms of spring

As memories of years gone by popped up on Facebook, I recognized the recurrence of illness this time of year.

Other occurrences are cyclical. This is robotics competition season. Team 1720, the PhyXTGears out of Muncie, participated in its second district event and ended up in second place!
Our cute little robot performed its role consistently, placing hatch panels, loading cargo, and especially climbing to the third level during the end game. (See game animation: Destination : Deep Space.)

Space Walrus

Michael, heavily invested in the process, was well enough by then to participate fully. I had planned to join him at the Tippecanoe event, but those were the worst two days of my bout with the spring cold, so I watched the live stream, kept score, and yelled or cheered at the right times. (If no one can hear, does that still count?)

Left:Fans in the stands; the pit.                                         Right: Lead mentor being interviewed
Can you find 5 Kochs in the stands???

A different view of success was offered in a note by the winning team:

In the after the ending of the semi-finals matches, our team was ecstatic to be going to the finals at our FIRST ever competition. We continued to enter into our first match, place two hatches, then the right side of our drive failed, we were dead in the water. We won the match off a red card which is in no way the way I want to win a match. At the end of said match we called our timeout, we assumed it was a small problem but the E-clip and flanged bearing on AM toughbox mini broke. So we thought we could fix it in time for the second match. We were wrong. The second match ended and then because of 1720, 461, and 6498’s gracious professionalism they called a timeout for us to finish the repairs. We went on to win the third match and thus the event. These 3 teams demonstrated the great aspects of FIRST and we cannot appreciate it more. I would be more than happy to work with any of these teams in the future. Thank you once more.

Between matches I was immersed in reading letters and taking notes (blowing my nose and drinking water). I may have come to a gap in the archival resources--no correspondence for years 1947-1949. Hmmmmm. . . What next?

Meanwhile I came upon a treasure from 50 years later. March 1, 1996, my parents began to write daily notes in a fancy diary somone must have gifted them. The quote at the bottom of each page says:

Without anything special but write it down is better than with something special but never write it down. Sweet and tender memories are also the trace of past time. 

The entries remained faithful for over a year and even covered a return trip to Argentina in December of 1997, Dad and Mother's last time back. I was privileged to go along with Ivan's family.
I do look forward to continue gleaning from this diary. But for now, in the early March entries, I learned (or was reminded) that Dad had his heart check-up almost two years after a heart attack in June 1994.
 

Another event this week that brought Argentina-memories to the forefront--the arrival of M/V LOGOS HOPE in Bahía Blanca on the 19th. Feel the excitement of the crowds waiting on the quayside in this video, and notice the strong wind, common in ports. Many of them, like us, would have memories of when the M/V Doulos was there.

Wednesday, the 20th, was my friend Femia's birthday. I call her my Mayan twin. I met her for the first time fourteen years ago when I traveled to Yucatán with The King's Academy on their Servant Safari trip. (Can you find us in the group photo?)
I was privileged to go back to her village, Xocenpich,  four more times. The last time was to attend her son Ted's wedding. A couple weeks ago he called to say that his family was moving to Argentina!

Mid week I needed to visit Mother, attend a care plan conference and accompany her to the dermatologist. I prayed that I would be well enough and not have to postpone the appointments, so I was grateful indeed to be there. Wish I had captured her first big surprised-to-see-me smile.
All reports are good. They appreciate her sweet spirit, her smile, and wish there were more Kathryns! She remains active, involved in whatever they have going on there as well as faithfully going to the Art Studio.

The bonus that day was the Spring Fling, a musical program for the residents featuring "The Singing Cowboy"-- John Bahler, the son-in-law of our very good friends the Cratons! What a delightful time listening to old music so skillfully performed.

Those are my week's memories and memorable moments. What about your week?