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A beautiful day, and we're waiting for Seraph...
November 29, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
A beautiful day, and we're waiting for Seraph and Robbie to bring Isa. Through sheer dint of agressive behavior, we got first dibs on babysitting while they go down to Ashland for a little birthday trip for Robbie. The Martha Stewart room and the hall are finished. If I just didn't have a job, I could have a decor.
Thanksgiving was very fun - missing Adam, Jamie and Sam, but the food was great and the kids had so much fun together. It wasn't until about 8:30 that they all started melting into small weepy piles, but they played cheerfully all evening. Thankful for whatever good I did in my previous
life to deserve so much in this one.
My cousin Linda is coming out next summer. Maybe we need to have a west coast family reunion.
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Poor Dick has spent the day sanding the floor...
November 19, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Poor Dick has spent the day sanding the floor in the hall and the Martha Stewart room. I suppose it keeps him out of the pool hall, and he is really good at it, but it has been a big job.
I had a wonderful weekend with Seraph, Robbie and Isa at the Family Law conference at Salishan. They graciously came back on Saturday so I could go to the game... it rained like crazy and the Ducks lost.
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Dick and I had a lovely trip to Seaside on Fr...
November 12, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Dick and I had a lovely trip to Seaside on Friday, when I had a settlement conference in a case there. We came home part way along the coast, with giant waves crashing over the
seawalls all along the trip.
We had fun with all the fam Sunday evening except Adam, Jamie and Sam, celebrating Seraph's birthday. How could she be 26?
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I feel a little guilty being so happy about t...
November 04, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
I feel a little guilty being so happy about the new baby when I know Jamie is not feeling very good. In fact, everyone seems to be a bit under the weather except me. Dick has a terrible cold, and sounds as though someone has inserted that aerosol foam insulation into his head.
We had a delightful time babysitting Isa last night. She peed and pooped in the potty, after telling me she had to go. Now that's a perfect child!
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I've been a poor communicator recently, mostl...
October 25, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
I've been a poor communicator recently, mostly because I have completely lost the ability to multi-task, and all my energy has gone into getting the back yard fixed up. We took out the huge laurel hedge and are planting some more easily managed shrubs. You all know my theory that space aliens are already here in the guise of blackberries, zucinni, and laurel hedges.
Seraph is off with a work crew from El Centro getting the big rocks hauled out of the back yard and down to the farm. Our plan is to take out one of the rock gardens, which required a lot of weeding, and put it in grass. We also want to get some drainage in the area.
Good news from the heart guy. The meds seem to be resulting in some improvement, and he seemed quite pleased. Said there was virtually no chance of needing heart surgery in the next year, and maybe 20% over the next five years. I think they will do EKG's or whatevery they are called about every six months, and just stay in the monitoring mode. So
mostly I'm trying to make plans to keep life simple.
We went to Dez' Cub Scout meeting last night. It was Hallowe'en party night, and Dez was very cute as Dracula.
Needless to say, we are all excited about new baby.
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Just a small note of thanks that I have such ...
October 11, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Just a small note of thanks that I have such a wonderful family and everyone is safe and well. I talked to Sadie last night about her chest pains. Apparently they suggested she cut out coffee for awhile. How can she lead a happy life?
Happy anniversary to Seraph and Robbie!
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Just a little note on a lovely day
September 25, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Just a little note on a lovely day. I talked with Sadie last night. She sounded absolutely happy - enjoying being in her woodblock class, even if she doesn't like the teacher. She likes the woman who runs the Religious Life program; I personally think Sadie belongs in Divinity School. She otherwise sounded cheerful. I think Anna is good for her.
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Sadie called this morning to say that they ...
August 30, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Sadie called this morning to say that they were in Minnesota
and making good time. Hoped to reach Detroit this evening.
I think Smith must be a couple day drive from Detroit.
We had fun watching Sam last night. Hope to have some time
with the other grandkids soon. Love to all, Mom
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Well, this has been an eventful few days
August 28, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, this has been an eventful few days. Dick and I went up to Portland an hour or so early on Friday, so I could stop at Daisy Kingdom and another store which sells fabric. Sadie's plane arrived right on time, but traffic coming south was bumper to bumper even after we hit I-5.
Saturday was a flurry of activity, including Dick and me scurrying out to buy a dryer while we still had the pickup. Finally got a pretty snazzy model at Costco. The kids next door in Reardon's old house helped us unload it. (Read- they unloaded it in the time it took Dick and me to get our shoes on. They were headed to the Burning Man get together - hope their "classic" VW van makes it!)
Sadie's friend Anna came in by plane Saturday night - they were up bright and early Sunday, and with a little help from our friends - and family- we had a good brunch on Sunday morning. The kids were all cute and fun, and a good time was
had by all. Everyone needs to ask Yayoe to bring her famous
Faux Pate sometime again in the future.
Monday had its share of stresses, although Sam certainly sailed through his medical drama in great good humor. Adam, Jamie, Sam and I were waiting in the Stage Two waiting room, when a nurse came in with a "knock-out" cocktail for Sam. She
told Adam and Jamie that he would get "a little loopy". They
both looked at her, and, as one, asked, "And how will we know?" He was so funny - someday this kid is going to be the poster boy for legalizing mood altering drugs.
The rest of the day, from an attorney point of view, was pretty weird. I represent a sweet 70 year old trying to divorce her loud, overbearing husband. He alleged she was daffy and filed a Petition to be appointed her guardian. We
started our hearing on Monday afternoon.
At about 2:30, I looked around to see Anna and Sadie sitting morosely in the back of the courtroom. Since I thought they were long gone, I asked the judge for a recess so I could say
good bye. Bless her heart, she has kids too, so she didn't even holler a little.
Well, Sadie and Anna looked so morose because my pickup guru, who was just back from vacation on Monday morning, and who promised to give the truck a going over before the kids hit the road, had told them that the clutch might give them trouble. His kid graduated from one of the back east schools, Harvard, I think, and when I talked to him just before he left for vacation I told him Sadie was driving back and I wanted him to let me know if he would have let his daughter drive the truck 3,000 miles. He sent the message, via the girls, that he wouldn't. I trust his judgment, and I didn't really want them broken down in the middle of Indiana, so the girls and I did a quick key switch.
And so it's another winter of us driving either the truck or the really ratty Subaru to the symphony,while Sadie tootles around Noha in my 2K2 Honda.Anyhow, Sadie promised they would call today, and sure enough, they called from Butte, Montana. Apparently the driving is going well and they are making good time. Sadie said that they camped last night, but because it was a time zone change, an hour later, they were staying at Ed's Motel, at $38 a night. Probably no mints on the pillow.
I had to be in court this morning, but came home to change clothes and have lunch. Jamie had Sam out for a ride in his cart, Sam wearing nothing but a shirt and Chanel No 5 (old person joke) He and I started a game of checkers. I want to retire. Soon.
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Well, I'm embarrassed to say that I'm posting...
August 14, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, I'm embarrassed to say that I'm posting because the computer is in the basement bedroom/study, which is the only cool room in the house. It was hot at the office, and miserable in the courthouse. I wore a short loose fitting dress which buttoned down the front to trial this morning, with the minimum legally required underwear (read that as no petticoat). Fortunately, the dress waited until I was back at the office to
lose a strategic button. Ingenuity being a reasonable substitute for advance planning, I found a spring clip and guyed myself together.
We had an e-mail from Sadie - she and another girl in the program were mugged, but the other girl kicked and screamed and the would-be mugger walked away. They were not hurt, fortunately! I want Sadie home. Now.
I'm looking forward to Jordan's birthday tomorrow evening. Cute cute kid.
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Generic Heading
August 08, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
So what's a "cheese park", anyhow?
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This has been a difficult summer so far
August 04, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
This has been a difficult summer so far. Just received news that Uncle Phil died last week. Us older Jones grandkids can remember the five kids and their spouses when they were young - a more witty, educated, boisterous lot would be hard to find. I
certainly learned my love of poetry from my mother, grandmother, and aunts. Phil was, I think, 95 when he died. His letters were so funny that when Meg was helping mom or Betsy clean up old correspondence, they decided Phil's letters, though scatological, were too good to throw out.
On the brighter side, we are nearly moved in. We put in five or six hours of gardening and cleaning up, with no chest pains for me. The beta blocker meds must be working.
Dick and I are thinking about going to Kowloon's (the bar part has a different name - Tsunami's, I think) tonight. They have a comedy night, and I think one of the people is a guy I
went to law school with. It would be fun to see him.
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This is a belated posting
June 19, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
This is a belated posting.
Sad family news, that Sue Stohl died late Monday night. I
need to call Peg, Dad and Meg, which I will do.
Sadie is off camping with Luke and a bunch of high school buds. Dick and I sat around looking at and packing photo albums yesterday evening. Quiet fun...
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Hi there,
Well, Dick is off at woodworking c...
June 05, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi there,
Well, Dick is off at woodworking class, Dad and Sadie are on their way out to dinnner, and I'm off to do my volunteer stint at Legal Aid.
Dad has had such a nice time seeing all the cute great grandkids. Jenny had a really nice barbeque on Sunday evening for the gang, and Seraph and Robbie had a Harry Potter viewing. He's got to get together with his friend Ann, after some false starts.
He leaves on Thursday morning. Alas!
Love to all, om
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Hi, Grandpa gets in Saturday night at 9:00 pm...
May 08, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, Grandpa gets in Saturday night at 9:00 pm, and Sadie gets in Friday night at 9:10. What I want for Mothers Day is for everyone to go on the Million Mom March with us at 2:30 on Sunday. Maybe a pot luck afterward - or Sunday morning potluck brunch? What do you think, Hanni and Yayoe?
I went to Portland today to see the oral surgeon about my jaws. It seems to be more complicated than I thought, but I
don't think I have gobs of choice in the matter. I'll probably schedule the surgery after we move. It sounds as though it takes a while to get over.
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One of those days I spent in trial, with the ...
May 02, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
One of those days I spent in trial, with the classic Mom stayed home and took care of kids while Dad got his journeyman's liscense - he now makes 4400 per month and she makes 400 per month. The reason this issue is so hard is that the judge spent 10 minutes apologizing to the Dad before making him pay $500 in spousal support - giving him an income of 3700 per month and her, 900 per month. Why would I ever suggest to a client that he or she stay home and take care of the kids, even though I personally think it is so good for kids to have a stay home parent, when it may mean poverty for him or her if the marriage ends? This attorney stuff is still a pain.
Love from the cranky mom-
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Sunday afternoon
April 29, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Sunday afternoon. What a lovely weekend! We puttered around Saturday morning, then picked up Isa while Seraph and Robbie went to tea. Dick, Isa and I went out to the farm to see the horses, definitely one of her favorite trips. It was so pretty that we sat out in the sun rolling an old basketball around after we exhausted our supply of sugar cubes. Isa is definitely
fearless. For some reason she is at a stage when she looks a lot like my kid brother Dick and Meg's middle daughter, Julie.
We came back into town to meet Seraph and Robbie at their house, while Dick ran the manly man weedeater around the edge of their yard - the big gas one rather than my wussy electric one.
Then Dick and I picked up some tortilla chips, salsa, some Pacifico beer, a couple of lemons and Training Day, and settled in to get a head start on Cinco de Mayo next weekend.
We have such a big Latino/Mexican population that our Cinco celebration has been renamed Fiesta Latina. For the first time, the League of Women Voters will have a table there; our state organization is now printing our Voters Guide in Spanish as well as English.
A quick movie review..I'm not sure that Training Day is exactly a funny lighthearted movie, but Denzel Washington definitely earned his Oscar.
Adam and Jamie brought Sam over, and we made another trip to the farm. Sam watched someone burning garbage, and told me that he wanted to be a "Burner" when he grows up. Well, a Burner and a Cowboy. It was kind of fun for him to meet our tenant, Jerry, and see his rodeo belt buckle. A good time was had by all!
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Hi, just the quickest note to all from mom th...
April 18, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, just the quickest note to all from mom the attorney, who is right in the middle of a custody case. I truly think that after this batch, I'm going to stop taking custody cases. They are emotionally wrenching, and generally hard on people, and kids.
Other than that, life is fine. Sadie wants to take a car back to school next year. I wonder if the old Nissan can make the trip. Of course, that means that Seraph and Robbie won't have an extra car. We'll have to work on this issue.
We had a nice, albeit form, letter from Smith, saying that
Sadie was part of some event for outstanding scholars this Saturday, and we were welcome to drop in. For more details, call me....
Hugs to all, om
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Oh, I forgot to say that when we took Sam out...
April 12, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Oh, I forgot to say that when we took Sam out for pizza, he discovered centrifugal force while spinning the pizza pan with a piece of pizza on it. Science. It's great.
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Well, the Great Zimbabwe is pretty great! If ...
April 12, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, the Great Zimbabwe is pretty great! If you like African history, you've seen pictures of it - an elaborate complex/village of beautifully fitted stone walls and a huge conical tower. It was built about 600 or 700 years ago, and in spite of white explorers trying to tear down the tower, which is solid, in search of gold, the tower still stands.
While we were on our way, the most amazing thunderstorm came on. The clouds looked as though they were a solid black ceiling, about 30 feet above us, and I expected space aliens momentarily.
This part of Zim is home to the opposition party, and road blocks and searches seemed more frequent. Even though we appeared unlikely terrorists, at one roadblock we had to open the trunk of the car while they patted it down for guns. We didn't have any trouble, and got adept at hauling out our passports and the car rental papers.
This, our last night in Zim, was spent at a motel/resort which must have been new and quite fashionable in about 1960. We had a rondeval, and the dining room had a roof but was otherwise open. Actually, it was lovely, even if a bit down at the heels. The tree in front had obviously been a home for weaver-birds for many years, and was hung with all their nests, looking like large Christmas ornaments waiting for Martha Stewart to come alone with a little gold spray and some tasteful lighting.
And so, the next morning we regretfully said goodbye to Zim
and headed back to the Johannesburg airport, aiming to be there in time to put Sadie on the night plane to Amsterdam.
Dick and I stayed at a hotel near the airport, and spent (aargh!) the next day hanging out at the Johannesburg Airport. The trip back, which is more or less one continuous
flight, punctuated only by the mayhem of transferring from Gatwick to Heathrow, is pretty mind numbing. I did learn from my last trip; wear comfortable underwear.
And so a year of adventures ended, and we spent a lovely New Years Day with the family at Lohring and Yayoe's, celebrating a belated Christmas.
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Well, we had a delightful Easter weekend
April 08, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, we had a delightful Easter weekend. Seraph and Robbie planned a short spring vacation trip to Kahneeta, a resort on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. It was beautiful and warm, and although there is a casino there, the resort is fmaily oriented. There are literally warm springs on the reservation, and two big swimming pools, open year round. Apparently the water is so hot when it comes to the surface that they have to mix in cold water before it goes into the swimming pools. Seraph, Robbie and Isa went over on Thursday, and Dick, Hunni and I drove over on Saturday morning. We went into town to the Indian Museum, which was really interesting. On Sunday, there was an Easter egg hunt.
One part of the resort has a huge public swimming pool, playgrounds, a spa, and so forth, and this part must be open to all the Native people who live on the rez, since
the Easter egg hunt was crowded with lots of kids. I can't help but wonder if Native people from other Oregon tribes don't go to Kahneeta because it would be so nice to be surrounded by people who look the same, even if only for a
weekend.
I want to finish up our travelog. We left you, dear reader,
just as we were going into Harare to meet Brian and his family. In spite of some worries about whether we would be
imposing, we had a wonderful time. Brian is a banker, and Irene is a pharmacist. They have a five year old, Holly, who is amazingly cute. Brian has two older children, Ashley and Warick. Ashley lives in London, but she and her boyfriend were home for Christmas. They have a lovely home, with a pool and I actually went swimming on Christmas Day.
I had fun with Irene; they took us shopping at both a shopping mall very much like any shopping mall in the US, and a market which is quite a lot like Saturday Market in Eugene without the tie-dye and aging hippies.
While we were there, Dick, Sadie and I drove to a site north of Harare with cave drawings. These were huge hills which looked as though each hill was one continuous rock,
with water apparently flowing up out of the rock. Signs at the little museum at the site explained that the area had been a religious site for centuries. I don't know if I saw anything else in Africa which was so moving.
With great reluctance, we left the next morning, facing a hard drive from Harare to Johannesburg. We had trouble finding gas, but after some delay, headed southwest.
Next report: the Great Zimbabwe.
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Fun weekend! Hunni invited us over yesterday ...
March 26, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Fun weekend! Hunni invited us over yesterday evening for a wonderful dinner, along with Robbie, Seraph, and Isa, and to watch the Oscars. Very fun...
Also a very fun weekend to be a grandparent. We had Jordan overnight on Saturday, and he has to be the most easy kid in the world. Jenny said he would cry only when he's hungry, and she was right.
Took Sam to a railroad show at the fairgrounds. What a goofball!
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Well, how about them Ducks! Now, it's on to t...
March 23, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, how about them Ducks! Now, it's on to the Elite Eight. I think that will probably be the end of them, but it's been a great ride.
Tomorrow I'm going to a luncheon (older ladies have luncheons, not lunch) for the Daughters of the American Colonists. There's nothing to make me feel young like belonging to these organizations with old ladies. I'm a mere youth among those of the League of Women Voters.
The family cold/ flu has finally caught up with me - my third cold sore in as many weeks, a cough straight out of Moulin Rouge, and a jaundiced view of reality.
Got an e-mail today from Sadie in New York. She said she and Luke were visiting Sarah and having lots of fun. I'm getting frustrated with Sadie's never ending stream of sweeties. I still vote for Marshall or Luke. Why don't we just take a poll and present the results to Sadie as a fait accompli - We'd could certainly start marriage negotiations with their respective parents before someone else snaps them up, and Dick and I would even spring for a cow or two, like dowries in Botswana. (Although Uncle Douglas in Botswana is certainly the one we need to have conduct negotiations for a dowry.)
This has been a sad time at work - one of my favorite clients has cancer, and another, a 91 year old woman who has always been so bright and funny, is starting to go senile.
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Abit more travelog - we went south from Victo...
March 22, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Abit more travelog - we went south from Victoria Falls to Bulawayo, the second largest city in Zim. We stayed at a backpackers' hostel (Don't go anywhere but the bathroom without a Lonely Planet guidebook). We were the only ones there. The young woman running the place fixed us dinner; standard South Africa fare of a maize (Best way to describe it is that it's like a very stiff Cream of Wheat)
with a beef/beef gravy topping. I actually was still feeling a bit shaky, so Sadie and Dick put me to bed and I slept a couple of hours before dinner. Dick and I sat outside on a little patio in the evening. I love summer evenings in the residental parts of big cities, and this
was particularly pleasant. The British influence in Zim is
very pronounced - no pun intended. English is the common language, but it's used in a way that I can best describe as flamboyant... My favorite was a bar named the Linger LOnger Lounge.
Next- on to Harare, feeling a little nervous about spending three days with folks we had never met before.
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Dick and I rented an old movie, Gallipoli, wh...
March 19, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Dick and I rented an old movie, Gallipoli, which I'd never
seen before. This has been a busy, busy time at work, and I'm not sure why. Heavens knows, people in Oregon are even more poor than ususal.
We had fun over the weekend. We wemt to the annual St. Patrick Day party on Friday evening. The old gang is grayer and grayer. On Sunday afternoon, we took Isa down to the farm to see the horses. She is quite fearless, and patted away with great vigor.
We have been dismayed to see how the Zimbabwe elections turned out, and worried about my cousin and his family there.
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I have to say that this soggy weather has bee...
March 12, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
I have to say that this soggy weather has been tough to keep chugging through.
While we were in Kasane, Dick went on an afternoon game drive while Sadie napped and I sat by the pool. He came back with great stories and photos. While in many places wild animals were not in the wild, but rather on game farms,
Dick and the tour ran into a bunch of elephants on the edge of town.
From the north boundary of Botswana, we went due East to Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was the closest I've ever come to a police state, and as close as I ever want to get. Throughout Zim, we were regularly stopped at police roadblocks and asked for identification. The thoroughness with which we were questioned/searched was totally inconsistent. Most of the time, we were stopped because we were driving a rental car - there was a small red sticker on the front bumper, and we assumed that car jackings are common and they wanted to make sure that we were the people who had rented the car. But at least one place, they asked us to open the trunk, and patted it all down, presumably looking for weapons. However, at only one roadblock did we see any conflict - the police questioning someone who was not enthusiastic about being questioned. The police and Army are controlled by Mugabwe, the current President. At least, through the last day of the elections, which are going on as I'm writing this.
There is no way to avoid feeling the tragedy of Africa. If South Africa was bad, Zimbabwe was terrible, because it is such a beautiful, vibrant country. The art, music and something ineffable which I can only describe as "spirit"
were amazing in Zimbabwe. Unlike Botswana, which is dry and desert like, most of Zimbabwe was green and lush. Particularly lovely was Victoria Falls. Sadie and I walked all along the southern edge, which is so misty from all the falling water that it was jungle like. We were seeing it during the rainy summer season, so there was a lot of water in the falls. It was almost a mile from one edge to the other. If I ever go back, I want to go back at full moon -
it's reputed to be beautiful, or I guess, even more beautiful.
We were there at the hottest time of the year -I think we were the closest to the Equator on December 21st, the longest day in the year in the Southern Hemisphere. In fact, this was the only time I didn't feel well - I think I got dehydrated. From Victoria Falls, we went south to Bulawayo, past huge farms and game farms.
As you probably know, at least some of the conflict in Zim
is related to issues over the ownership of the large farms, nearly all white owned. I have to say that I came away from Africa thinking that it was hard to see much of anything good that had happened to Africa and Africans as a result of white people. The life they had developed, over the last 100,000 years was compatible with the environment and the climate.
More sober thoughts later.
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Oh, funny note about Sam
March 05, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Oh, funny note about Sam. We had him a weekend ago, and went to New Day, sitting so we could look out the window. Sam was wearing blue jeans. A guy with a motorcycle drove up and parked the motorcycle. Sam watched with great interest. Finally he said, "He's wearing blue jeans. " Then he added, rather sadly, "But they're cooler than mine."
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On to our last stop in Botswana, Kasane
March 05, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
On to our last stop in Botswana, Kasane. This was on the river which makes up the northern border of Botswana. As we drove into the lodge, I looked out the window, right into the eyes of a warthog. There were signs all along the dock, "Beware of crocodiles." We had a pretty rondeval, near the river (No crocodiles appeared), with monkeys playing all around the trees near us. Some of them had babies, and it was fun to watch them. We stayed a couple of nights here - it had a wonderful restaurant, overlooking the river. Restaurants nearly always had a breakfast bar with an amazing array of native fruit combined with "British Cooked Breakfast" foods, plus good old German pastries - an unbeatable culinary combination. Ah, stomachs across the sea -much better than hands across the sea.
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By the time we got to the Rhino Sanctuary, I ...
March 04, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
By the time we got to the Rhino Sanctuary, I began to feel as though we were in Africa the way I imagined it, with vast empty spaces, monkeys everywhere, like squirrels are here, and colorful birds.
The next camping spot, Nata Lodge, was even more lovely. We had a huge (maybe 20'x30') tent up on a platform,with a front porch, and permanenet bathroom, shower, and bedroom.
The lodge had a swimming pool, and we all had gin and tonics
by the pool before dinner.
By this time on the trip we were really enjoying ourselves, other than the fact that it got hotter and hotter as we got farther north, toward the Equator. Since it was close to December 21, the longest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, we expected it to get hot, and understood why all the women, and younger children, carried umbrellas against the sun. Also, nearly everyone we saw wore a hat - not necessarily a straw sun hat, but something to protect them from the sun.
A funny thing happened along in here. One day at lunch time we drove to a restaurant fairly far out in the country for lunch. After lunch, we headed back toward the main road, only to find that our way was blocked by a herd of cows. Sadie got out, and like a professional herder, clapped her hands and said, Shoo, or the equivalent, and they all ambled off. We told her that we felt much more comfortable about her getting a job after graduation.
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When I was a kid, they used to say that trave...
March 02, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
When I was a kid, they used to say that travel was so broadening, and it's true. There is something about being physically in a place which can't be duplicated by the Internet.
Finishing up- the evening game drive was amazing. I've heard descriptions of how night comes in Africa, but I wasn't quite prepared for the fact that night comes like turning out the light. The sun set, and then it was night. There wasn't a moon, and the night was so clear and bright that the stars seemed to cast shadows. We got out, with our guide, and walked down to the water hole, with frogs, who must have weighed about fifty pounds each, to judge by the sound, ribbiting, or whatever Botswanan frogs say. We could hear the wildebeests and water buffalos snuffling around. We slept well that night.
The next morning we had to go into the closest town to change travellers checks, and got a good close look at the sort of manana approach to life in Africa. The bank was supposed to open at 8:30 (everything opens early because of the heat). It opened about 9:30, and there were hordes of people, since it was the day everyone gets their Social Security check. We finally got out about 11. We had left Sadie, and thought she might be worried, she said she knew how things go in the business world.
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More travel - We returned from the village to...
March 01, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
More travel - We returned from the village to meet with the family in Gabarone with whom Sadie stayed during the latter part of her stay in Botswana. They were a truly international family - they had come from South Africa, and both spoke English with a British accent set to African music.
He had been one of the first radio news announcers in Botswana, and she operated a nursery school. Since schools are operated in English, parents try to help their kids get a head start. One of their sons had gone to the University of Michigan.
The next day we started north, toward our first up county stop, at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. Sadie had stayed there before. We had a rondeval, or round house (although ours was rectangular), thatched, with nothing around us but trees. Dick managed to generate a meal from beans and corned beef hash. As he headed back to the check in area, he ran in to a gemsbok (not literally, however). We went on an evening game drive. There is nothing quite like watching giraffes out in the wild jumping and playing.
More later.
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Here's a funny kid story
February 20, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Here's a funny kid story. An attorney friend has a son named Max, who must be about four or five. Chuck was fixing a bath for Max, who came in and announced, introspectively, "You know, Dad, my hand likes to snuggle with my penis." Ah, kids....
All's well. Hope to do some babysitting this weekend.
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You can't imagine how pissy and grumpy I feel...
February 10, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
You can't imagine how pissy and grumpy I feel right now, having just hung up from a recorded message from the Eugene Water and Electric Board which certainly didn't include our neighborhood as the places crews were working today. I do understand that it was probably the worst windstorm in forty years, and the Eugene crews, along with crews down from Washington and Portland have been working incredibly long hours. But as dirty laundry piles up, I feel none too cheerful. Fortunately, all the kids have electricity.
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A little more of the travelog
February 05, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
A little more of the travelog.
Going north through Pretoria was a genuinely trumatic experience. We finally escaped Johannesburg and the airport from Hell, and headed toward Pretoria, where we got lost for about the 100th time. Oregon was laid out by a bunch of neurotic Northern Europeans, and all roads are marked not just once but many times. Ah, did we have much to learn about letting go of the need to move from point A to point B via the roads we expected. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out what side of the trees the moss grew on - there aren't a lot of mossy trees between Johannesburg and Gabarone. But about this time on the trip, Dick got the hang of driving left handed - sort of like trying to eat in a mirror. We got lost in Pretoria in a slum which felt like
a surrealistic view into a really bad future. We saw squatter towns in South Africa - though we didn't see people begging anywhere in the three countries we visited.
Botswana was a wonderful change from South Africa. Sadie explained the difference as being based on the fact that Botswana was never colonized - because, she pointed out, diamonds hadn't been discovered there yet, so nobody wanted it. Maybe it was just that Sadie could speak enough of the language so we could say hello (Da Mel Ah) and occasionally remember the social niceties, like holding your right elbow
with your left hand when you give or take something or shake hands.
We stayed in a bed and breakfast in Gabarone. amd used it as a home base to go up to the village where Sadie had stayed with a family during part of her time in Botswana. The village was actually a town of about 10,000 people, but like towns in Mexico, there really isn't much of a Main Street. There are wide places along the main road with stores, shops and indivuals selling food and various things. The rest of the town is pretty much cinder block houses and the ubiquituous rondevals, small round houses with thatched
roofs. It is so hot that there is usually a cooking hut separate from the main house. We also met Sadie's Gabarone
family - a cosmopolitin family whose son had gone to the University of Michigan.
Moe later, Moe
We were delighted to meet Sadie's host mom in the village -
she didn't speak any English, and Sadie and one of the other girls there helped translate my thank you to her. There was going to be a wedding in the family (like Russian weddings, wedding there apparently fo on for three days) and all the family was gathering, so we met eight or nine relatives, sitting in the shade in the front yard. By about this time on the trip, we stopped feeling the awkwardness of being a different color of the vast majority of the population and being in a new culture, and just started to relax and have fun. Those common bonds among all of us are pretty amazing.
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Hi, I'm trying to see if this will work
February 05, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi, I'm trying to see if this will work.
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Well, I typed out a long addition about our t...
January 28, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Well, I typed out a long addition about our trip, but I managed to erase it before inputting it.
I'll do my best to reconstruct. Seraph, Robbie and Isa took us to Portland, and our plane left at 1:20. We were a little surprised at how full the plane from Portland to Chicago was, and how crowded the flight was from Chicago to London.
We had made arrangments to meet cousin Sandie at her office in Pimlico, and we left our stuff at Left Luggage (sounds vaguely politically, doesn't it?) and took the Heathrow Express and Underground. We were pleased and surprised to find that Mary had come in from the Isle of Wight. We had a good but all too brief visit.
It was a little eerie to be back in the London airport. Security there still seems much more thorough than here.
We had more space on the night flight to Johannesburg, and both got a little sleep. However, we both arrived a bit groggy, and were promptly set upon by hordes of people obviously not airport employees, who were anxious to direct us in the right direction, for a small gratuity.
We had reserved a hotel, called The Senator, over the Internet. We were even further non-plussed when we got there and the desk clerk said, cryptically, "We've been having Big Brother parties, and there have been complaints about the noise. We're going to move you to The Emperor". The shuttle took us a little further, to a gaudy, glittering hotel with a huge statue of four horses leaping through an enormous fountain.
At this point, it will be obvious that Dick and I don't watch enough TV to figure out that Big Brother is a reality type show, and the Africa version of the show had just ended. It will also be obvious that we don't spend much time in Las Vegas, or we would have recognized a replica of Caesar's. The place was surrounded by a wall and patroledby men with police dogs, and the only auto entry was through a security check point. Even so, the parking lot had guys offering to watch the car, and we were advised not to part in a secluded area of the lot.
Sadie was due in on Friday, so we picked up our rental car at the airport. For some reason, it was hard to find anything but manual transmission. Dick spent an hour driving around the parking lot at the hotel, trying to get a handle on left hand driving.
We weren't quite sure when Sadie was to come in by plane, so we spent yet more time in the Joburg Airport. The Johannesburg airport is one of the least lovely places on the planet. It's dirty, and the sound system blasts unintelligble Afro-pop and old 80's american hits. The food is awful, and Joburg has a higher percentage of noveau riche and white trash, all of whom seem to hang out at the airport. I did find passable coffee, but coffee went rapidly downhill from there.
Dick and I decided we might as well stay at the Emperor on Friday night, in part because everyone uniformly advised us of the dangers of travelling around Johannesburg. Sadie finally arrived, looking brown and lovely, and we all went back to the hotel. Sadie was slightly stunned by the opulence, having spent at least some of her time in Botswana
using an outdoor privy at a house with no electricity.
We had thought we would heading north to Botswana the next morning, but Sadie wanted to wait for her gentleman de jour, who was flying home through Jburg on Saturday. However, instead of spending more bonding time with Jburg International, I said I wanted to go to Sterkfontein Cave, part of a World Heritage archeology site, so we all piled in the car. Dick was still white knuckle driving, but we finally found the cave, and had a wonderful tour. We saw our first Weaverbird nests, and guinea hens, too.
We never did find Sadie's boyfriend, and learned later he got hung up in customs.
South Africa was very strange. It took me awhile to figure out that what I felt so uncomfortable about was the fact that white people did all the sitting jobs and black people did all the standing and stooping
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Hi from mom
January 25, 2002 by Sue in Wielesek
Hi from mom. Sadie should be getting into Northampton just about now. While Dick and I were at symphony last night, Sadie called, and called again just as we got in to tell us that there was some security breach in St.Louis, which meant that their flight was delayed and she missed the flight into Hartford. They put her in a Ramada Inn, and she was fine. Thank heavens we had made arrangements for her to go back a couple days early (classes start Monday).
Dick and I are going to the Coast this weekend, but hope to have some grandkid time next week or next weekend. Love to all
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