Surprises

Some weeks back I found a long-forgotten bulb in a paper bag, so I planted it. A beautiful surprise awaited us. Daily we watched it grow, first a long stalk, then one by one these nameless beauties.

Memories from years ago also surprised me. I'd been going through Mother's diary and came across a detailed account of their travels when my parents were the age I am now. It was the last time they visited the places where they'd lived and served for most of their lives. That in itself is interesting, but there is more. I was on that trip along with my brother Ivan and his family. I located the buried photo album to revisit that pilgrimage. Since then I've been scanning, enhancing and digitizing the old photos. Here are a couple favorites.

Reunited with my BFF Mirtha, January 1997

Enough for this week's Memory Monday.

Tuesday, I met with an Upland friend who helped me adjust to life in America thirty six years ago. We enjoyed a vegan lunch at the new Rabbit Food Café in a neighboring town.

My friend Darlene

I keep plodding on with writing goals, bringing back the stories of my early years in Argentina. This week I focused on finishing the chapter about the locust invasion we experienced when I was a toddler. 

Tuesday and Thursday evenings and all day Saturdays, the robotics shop is a buzzing busy place. You can glimpse some of the activity in this video--Kicking-off the 2020 build-season.

Thursday I joined the Upland/Matthews Working group of Thriving Families/Thriving Grant County in their meeting to talk about how they could support the PhyXTGears team and then we had a tour of the shop.

I spied a grandson among the busy robot-builders! He can always sense when I am about to take a picture. 

Fridays I look forward to the lunch hour with fellow-writers. Our hostess showed us these small musical instruments she used to play. Do you know what they are?

Saturday I ventured far to visit and celebrate with a young mother, her son's first birthday. The bad weather forecast held off, and I made it there late but safe.

Life is different this month: Moriah gone all month; Michael totally absorbed designing, building, mentoring;  I have more time for household chores, cooking, and writing. Sorry to say, I have failed to walk and exercise. How has winter affected your routines?

2017 Week 34: Still rearranging

Adjusting to new circumstances is probably a constant in life, felt more strongly at times.
This was a week of new beginnings for many of us. I started teaching Monday morning, 8:00 a.m., and it was the best "first day" ever!

Sunrise when I left early morning

Early afternoon, I tried to catch a glimpse of the eclipse without looking directly at the sun, by taking a selfie. The sunlight overpowered, though mostly blocked. However, I know the partial eclipse was happening because I saw it through Michael's welding helmet.

Trying to catch a glimpse of the eclipse

The last couple weeks I've been learning about a once-in-a-lifetime type event that happened when I was only two and a half. I always knew that we'd lived through a locust invasion and recalled some old photos. Then I came across my parent's description in their letters.Wow!

La Carlota, Córdoba, Argentina

January 6, 1947

"Now the grashopper plague. It has come to Carlota. I took a picture of it yesterday and hope to take more so that you folds will believe what we say. [wish I could find that one old photo]They cover the trees, ground, houses and all so that there is standing room only. There is a river just at the edge of our pueblo, but that did not bother them at all. They came right across the river. They march just like an army and keep coming without end. They eat and eat and never stop--people must stand at their doors all day to keep them from entering and eating their clothes and food. The poor people in Santa Eufemia are pretty well tired out fighting them. The fight against them is certainly a good example of what a war must be like. If you want to win a war all you must do is have plenty of men so that no matter how many are killed they still keep marching on. They fight these with fire throwers and kill thousands but there is no diminishing of their numbers. They cover your doors so that it is very hard to enter the houses without letting them in and getting some on you also. There are so many on the railroad tracks that the oil they have in them greases the track to such an extent that they must use sand and they can only carry enough sand to last for a few miles. Trains come in 6 and 12 hours late."

I probably will not experience that again in my lifetime.

We continue to move things around, rearrange, clean.
I like the new location in the living room of one of Mike's masterpieces.

The Harpist

I washed rugs, and had help with floors, and windows. We even opened up the oven doors to get at the inside of the double panels. 

Thursday was my least favorite. I spent the entire day trying to figure out Ivy Learn a new program where we are required to post syllabi, activities, deadlines, grades. Because I signed on so late, I did not go through the training.

By Friday it was time to get out a bit. Our town is celebrating their 150th anniversary with two full weedends of events. I met Kayla and Rebecca at the Farmer's Market where the festivities began.

And today, Saturday, Nanna Leah was at the festival with our favorite little girl.

Both days Rebecca was sporting new sundresses from her birthday gifts. How do you like her favorite pose?

Say Cheese

She was especially interested in the parade of dogs and got to pet one. This is my favorite photo of the day. Thanks, Leah!

Meanwhile Welcome Weekend is going at our neighboring university, all kinds of activities. Tonight, as I write, I can hear the festive music. And our young friend is over there enjoying herself. Tonight will be her first night to sleep here and call this her home-away-from-home. She hasn't had much time to unpack. Hopefully she will be able to find the bed and get some rest.

Michael is back to his regular routine--robotics Tuesday and Thursday, and pottery at the Red Barn on Wednesday--as well as feeding his many birds, looking after his bees, and house maintainance and yard upkeep. And always extras on our calendar. Today he is at a family fair promoting the robotics team with a few of the team members and two of the robots. Even with a full schedule, he does not miss a long bike ride almost daily.