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Published: December 12th 2015
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This is just a brief recap of our year in photos, mostly of people. If you want to see more of our travels in southern Africa June-September 2015, check out our particular blogs:
http://www.travelblog.org/fred.php?id=889274 - South Africa
http://www.travelblog.org/fred.php?id=890976 - Botswana
http://www.travelblog.org/fred.php?id=896760 - Namibia
You can also just click on the 'Previous Entry' button at the top, left corner of page; each click takes you back chronologically through our blogs.
Happy Holidays to Everyone,
I know I'm a bit late for
**Hanukah (Dec. 6 - 14), but I certainly hope all of our Jewish friends are enjoying a lovely holiday. Completely missed Bodhi Day (Buddhist; Dec. 8) and Diwali Day (Nov. 11; Hindu, Jain & Sikh) - hope it was fun for you all. Kwanzaa is Dec. 26 - January 1, so Happy Kwanzaa!!. Mawlid an Nabi (Islam; Dec. 23) is coming soon, so Happy Holidays to all of our Muslim friends. Dec. 26 is Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathustra) for our Zarathothian friends - hope it is fun celebration for you. Guru Nanak Dev Sahib birthday (Sikh) and the Ascension of Abdu'l-Baha (Baha'i) both begin on Dec. 26 - enjoy!!
**I heard on the radio the other day the story of Hanukah and the Festival of Lights. At the end the commentator said: "For those of you who like to ask the question 'What would Jesus do?' Well, he'd be celebrating Hanukah - he was Jewish." LOVE it.
Have I made my point? There is no "war on Christmas." There is NOTHING wrong with saying Happy
Stuart & Susan
Good friends from Seattle came for a visit; stayed thru the Super Bowl Holidays; it is more inclusive than "Merry Christmas," and as a throw-away line in a store, for example, it works better. Nothing wrong with wishing people a Merry Christmas either. Just saying, if the world were more inclusive and stopped looking for silly things to fight about . . . .
I've put captions with all the photos that pretty much tell you about our year in a nutshell.
In addition to a
Chicago trip in association with the American Red Cross, in October Bernard participated in a seminar in
Phoenix at Arizona State University that was sponsored by the ARC.
I didn't take any photos at
Thanksgiving this year, but it was a beautiful day - had appetizers and then after dinner drinks on the patio and I didn't even have a sweater on. As soon as the sun started to set, however, the temperatures plummeted as they are wont to do in the desert. There were eight of us for dinner; no
**family this year and everybody brought a dish, so an easy-peasy day for me.
**We are taking older daughter
Christina and grandson
Evan to
Heike & Bernard in CO Springs
In Feb. B met a colleague from Germany, Heike, at the Air Force Academy to work with the AF team going to the Pictet competition in international humanitarian law. South Africa this June-July. I know, weren't we just in South Africa?? I would have waited a year or two, but Bernard, who is turning 70 in 2016, is feeling the need to tick things off of his Bucket List; taking Evan to Africa is high on the list. We talked about how much Evan would enjoy such a trip there the whole time we were in Africa (June - Sept. 2015).
**JJ will be with us on the
Reunion Cruise to the Caribbean in April. Every now and again we arrange an **Exchange Student/Family Reunion, this year it is going to be on a ship sailing from Ft. Lauderdale and stopping in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Haiti. Didn't work for Christina, et al., to join us on that cruise, but we have the trip to Africa with them, so I'm happy.
**Looks like Jaqueline (Guatemala), Vicky & Marcela (Argentina), Camie (Brazil), et al., are going to be on the cruise. Marysia (Poland) is busy finishing a new music CD and planning a tour, so she isn't going to make it. For more history on these young ladies and how we met them
Leonard Pitts, Jr., Author/Tucson Festival of Books
While B was in CO I worked at the TFOB. I was an escort for nationally syndicated columnist and author Leonard Pitts, Jr. all and subsequently invited them to Alaska, see: http://www.travelblog.org/fred.php?id=163298 Exchange Daughter Reunion/April 14 - 21, 2007
In addition to the 2007 reunion mentioned above and a 2011 Costa Rica reunion (http://www.travelblog.org/fred.php?id=586060 - Costa Rica, January 2011), we've had reunions in Mexico (1994) and Arizona (1999). And in addition to the reunions, we’ve seen all the girls in other places as well.
Something that was a big part of my year and for which I have no photos was my being a
reading coach to two 4th graders. We met weekly for an hour per student. I had a girl and a boy - we aren't allowed to give names or take photos, which makes total sense. I enjoyed the experience immensely. Unfortunately this school year's schedule and our travel plans didn't mesh; I would have missed too many weeks of coaching, so I'm not doing it this year. Plus the school I was working in dropped its participation in the program (through the Reading Seed initiative in connection with the local Literacy Project). I choose to believe it wasn't because of me . . . . Just kidding, had heard rumors of such a
Bernard as Judge/Juror for ARC in Chicago
In March Bernard participated in an international humanitarian law competition the the American Red Cross sponsors: The Clara Barton Competition. This year it was in Chicago. move from the beginning of my year at that school - admin. stuff.
I'm still working at the
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I've been a captain for the past two years, so haven't been out on the grounds as much as I'd like. Plus we were gone for 3 1/2 months to southern Africa; that was during the summer and the Desert Museum has few visitors that time of year, so no guilt there.
We hope everyone enjoys whatever they are celebrating this time of year. For us it is Christmas, so Merry Christmas to all and may the new year bring better understanding between all the the world's cultures and religions, and unity in working toward a more stable and tolerant world.
BE SURE TO LOOK BELOW FOR THE REST OF THE PHOTOS (23 TOTAL). THE CAPTIONS ON THE PHOTOS TELL THE STORY OF OUR YEAR.
If you can't read all of the caption, click on the title (JJ in Thailand for example) and the photo and caption will be enlarged for your viewing/ reading pleasure.
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Jill Sare
non-member comment
Happy & Healthy New Year!
As always, your year was filled with fun, travel, family, friends, aventure & joy! Thanks for sharing!!