Irma - Part One

BAD TIMING

Many if not most of you think of Mrs. T as a 'woman of adventure'.  And she does have a streak of doing things a bit out of the norm.  But much of this stems from her lack of sitzfleich - she just cannot sit still sometimes.  And she is working her 'bucket list' - my bucket has a hole in it.  There is also her need to get away from the mundane, i.e., the editor.  So occasionally she goes on a solo vacation or maybe with a small group of women friends.  Sometimes she has a great time and sometimes things end up with a bit of tragedy.  Remember the broken leg at the end of the whale shark adventure?  Well, she felt the urge recently and she erred.  Here is the first part of a long essay about her recent trip.

Well I had been under a lot of stress. (Probably caused by the editor  -dt) One of my friends suggested a vacation.  I talked to Dan about it.  He was not going to take a - rude word - vacation. ('Darn' is a rude word for R.  -dt)  So I decided to go by myself.  One of my favorite things is SCUBA diving. (The real reason I did not go  -dt)  I looked on the internet the best places for diving in the Caribbean were Saba, the British Virgin Islands and some others.  The safest  (Low crime  -dt) places to visit included the British Virgin Islands (BVI)  whose language was English and money was the US dollar.  Well I signed up for a week for a nice little hotel on the beach. (Her travel agent made the arrangements.  -dt) There was a little storm developing out by Africa but it would probably not go near the BVI.

The next week as he drove me to the airport Dan remarked, "I'm not sure you should go the way that storm is growing."  "Oh I'll be fine I replied ," confidently.  If you ever want me to do something tell me I shouldn't.  (Amen to that -dt) Besides I was still a little grumpy that he wouldn't go.  By the time I landed the storm had a name, Irma, and was headed towards the BVI.

Several hours later when I arrived at Sebastian's on the Beach  preparations were under way.  The owners suggested I have a good meal before the hurricane came.  Although I wasn't very hungry I had a burger and fries.  Victor the chef, a huge soft-spoken bronze man, was busy packing his pans and utensils.  The meal he made for me was simple and delicious.  In fact it was very life sustaining although I did not know it at the time.  All the people at Sebastian's said I was a very brave lady.  In fact  you might substitute the word silly for brave; oh well.  Everyone else except two tall Americans had cancelled their bookings.

The things is, to get to BVI I had to take 3 different airplanes with waiting in between as the prognosis of the storm got worse for BVI and I was unaware.  When I arrived Irma was already rated as a number 4 and the revised storm path had the eye coming right over Tortola where I was staying.  OOPS!!  As far as my plans for SCUBA diving, I could forget about that because all the dive boats filled up some extra cans of gas and motored away as far and as fast as possible.  Boats that didn't leave mostly ended up in the middle of the island upside down.  There was one place that was called hurricane bay where it was supposed to be safe to anchor to ride out a storm.  Alas not so.  Several boats that tested this theory  disappeared completely and have not been seen since.

After my supper Wanda and James,the proprietors of Sebastian's, told me they had moved me from a first floor room to a second floor room.  My new room had a concrete roof so it should not fly off.  Well that was good.  They failed to explain that the second floor room was good because the storm surge, the wave of high water, was expected to be over 20 feet.  In this case a second floor room was a very good idea.  Also the room had stormproof windows.  I was all set.  As I started unpacking I decided not to put anything in the bottom drawers of the dresser just in case.  

When I unpacked I found a necklace that Dan had slipped into my bag.  This day was my 67th birthday.  I called to thank him and to report that I had arrived safely.  I wandered downstairs and a lady asked me if I wanted to buy any hurricane supplies from their little store. I thought about it.  After Irma arrived there might be no electricity.  And no water!!!

I bought a lot of packets of crackers and cookies, called biscuits for some reason (It is the British Virgin Islands  -dt), maybe 8 packets each holding 8 to 10 biskies.  I bought a jar of peanut butter.  I bought a large plastic jar, about a quart, of tiny ginger snaps. I bought three candy bars.  And to drink I bought a large size bottle of water - two liter;  it was the last water they had except 20 liter bottles.  I bought 4 cans of PEPSI and two plastic 1-liter plastic bottles of COKE.  I bought 4 glass bottles of a grapefruit drink.  I had no can opener for these.  I bought four 12 oz bottles of juice drink - two of carrot orange, one of carrot mango, one of pear Hawaiian punch.  I was pretty sure I would not like these - I would be wrong.  I figured I was prepared for a couple of days - how long could it be - wrong again.    These supplies cost over $40.   

I was settling in when Victor and some other guy came up with two 5-gallon buckets of seawater for flushing.  They also brought up 3 plastic gallons of drinking water.  I think this is when the birthday flowers from Dan arrived.  It was a large bowl of yellow roses and some tropical pink flowers.  Everyone was impressed.  I put them on my dresser.  I felt loved.  I knew I would be okay now.  I arranged my small bag with my passport, my money, my credit cards, and my medicine around my neck.  I got my two books to read.  Wanda came up to give me my instructions and my key.

First of all I was perfectly safe.  The roofs never came off when they were made of concrete.  This turned out to be untrue but my roof stayed on.  Irma had been upgraded to a level 5, the highest intensity hurricane.  It had 190 mph winds.  The eye was supposed to come right over where we were.  When it did it would seem like the hurricane was over but it was not.  I was not to come out until  Wanda or James or Victor came for me.  I would be all right.  Wanda gave me the key and told me to lock the door when she left and not to let in anyone but her or James or Victor.

No one told me why this was but I knew.  After the hurricane came LOOTING.  I moved the food close to the bed opened a can of PEPSI and a candy bar.  I peered out the window, which was clearly labeled storm proof.  The wind had picked up but there was not much rain.  I kept my shoes on as I lay down and tried to read.  I could not pay attention to the book and I kept getting up to peer out the window.  I decided this hurricane was not going to amount to much.  I hoped it at least had an eye; I was wrong again.  I decided to use the potty while it was still flushable.  I peeked out the tiny bathroom window and saw there was no surge under us yet.  This was good.

I tried to read but that proved difficult as the wind noise kept getting louder.  Suddenly there was a huge crash and I saw a large tree fly by.  A couple seconds later a big flat blue thing that I thought was a roof sailed by. "We are not in Kansas anymore," I thought.  The rain suddenly fell in sheets which the wind swirled in patterns like curtains blowing.  CRACK!!  CRASH!!  BANG!!! The two large stormproof windows, broke out shattered and were gone.  A sheet of rain washed over me.  The wind blew my breath away.  "Oh SH_T!" I thought.  I frantically grabbed all my crackers and  drinks and retreated to the bathroom.  I yanked shut the door which was resisting until the latch caught.  I peered cautiously out the small window which was intact.  The water was rising rapidly. Every few seconds there was a clear view and each time this happened there were fewer houses and trees in sight. What had been a beautiful tropical neighborhood with flowers and trees and gayly colored houses was turning into a rocky moonscape littered with broken houses and trees.  The Sebastian trembled as each wave crashed against the lower floor.  Thank goodness I was on the second floor.  Then slowly the winds quieted and the rain stopped.  The water drained away.  We were in the eye.  I noticed that I was breathing fast as if I had been running.  So much for being a brave lady I thought as I tried to concentrate on breathing slowly.  I probably should do something but I couldn't think what.  Don't go out I remembered.

"Rebecca are you OK?" Wanda called."Yes," I replied.  "We are going to move you to the room next door.  Its windows did not break," Wanda explained. I emerged from the bathroom.  The mattress was torn from the bed and lay twisted on the floor waterlogged and covered with shattered glass.  The bedspread was stretched across one side of the room.  My flower arrangement was still beautiful and intact.  My phone was damp and did not work.  The book I had been reading was in soaked clumps of pages.  As I poured water and glass from my duffle bag I noticed that there was an inch or two of water on the floor.  It came in the windows I thought.  The waves did not get that high.  Wanda and I stuffed all my undamaged stuff in the duffle.  We brought in my dive equipment and my flowers too.  Victor arranged all my food and drink with a large pile already on the desk in one corner.  Victor's window had broken too.  The roof had blown off Wanda and James's place so the four of us were holed up in the one undamaged room.  Also there was Ally who was Wanda's cat.  James was carting up buckets of flushing water.  Victor was bringing food and water.  Wanda was bringing dry pillows and blankets  I sat on the bed trying to breathe slowly.  Ally, every few minutes would let loose one very grumpy meow.  She did not like this hurricane one bit and she expected us to make it stop.  It was beginning to get darker and the wind was picking up when a lady whose house had blown completely away showed up asking for shelter.  In the next few minutes three more refugees appeared.  The eye had passed and the second half of Irma was upon us.

Thus ends the first part of Mrs.T's essay on the Irma adventure.  Still more harrowing things to come.  And I was concerned that Irma was headed towards Rachel's in north-central Florida.  Plus Harvey had recently paid a visit to our friend JT land her family just west of Houston; she seems to have gotten through that relatively unscathed thankfully.  And Mexico had deadly earthquakes; nothing untoward in Bucerias.

To see pictures and other stories of Irma in Tortola check out the BBC, The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/17/tortola-hurricane-irma-british-virgin-islands  , or other British news services.

As you can guess Rebecca eventually made it back to Philo.  But that is for the next parts of the story.; I will be encouraging her to write more while things are still fresh in her memory.  Stay tuned and feel free to share.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Outlook

FULL CALENDAR

SPRINGING ON DOCTORS

 

Over the last year your editor had been hit with a spate of health issues, some minor and some of concern.  Many of you know about the March hospitalization for a bleeding ulcer; I did not even know I had an ulcer.  And let me tell you that the health care in Mexico is excellent.  I lost about 20 pounds and have reduced my medications considerably, particularly no NSAIDs which probably caused the ulcer problem.  Since our return I have had lots of followups with physicians here in the US.  Quite a bit of our time has been consumed going from one appointment or test to the next.  And there are still more on the schedule.  But we have done fun things as well.  The Muse has not been up to writing, preferring to work on her many outside garden projects.  But finally I cajoled her into providing a bit of an update.

 

 

 

This summer has been a summer of doctors. (Actually the spring -dt) Dan had seven doctors last count.  It may be six because his pain doctor gave up on him.  ('Gave up' is not quite correct; he said I was doing fine and could just call if I became worse.  -dt) He refuses to take opioids, for which I have to admire him, but the groaning is getting on my nerves. (R exaggerates -dt)  Perhaps he is improving but slowly.  I used to take a nice pain medicine called Vioxx for my arthritis but they stopped making it.  I think you can still get something like it in Mexico.  We both fear his next arthritis attack.  Dan has therapy which seems to make him more mobile.  Of course his heart doctor is waiting on his tummy doctor.  You can't get an appointment with his eye doctor (No problem with the optometrist -dt) for months. And for his myasthenia gravis it took months even to locate a doctor and then you wait more months to see a nurse.  We have been  watching on the news about the healthcare bill.  I don't pretend to know the answer but I will swear there is a problem.  I'm thinking maybe we should use the pocketbook solution:

 

Doctor:  How much money is in your pocketbook?

Patient:  This much.

Doctor:  Hand it over.

 

That way we might not eat for a day or two but it would be a national weight loss program too.  This would be a good thing as most of us are a little tubby.  Just kidding -- I think.

 

Dan and I went to visit Nick - our son - in Wisconsin.  We enjoyed seeing where he lives and works.  Nick took us to an outdoor production of Midsummer Night's Dream.  It was really magical to watch the play on a warm June evening under the open sky.  We also visited the University of Wisconsin Arboretum.  I was pleased to find how many of the trees and flowers I remembered after so many years; it was like meeting old friends.  We toured part of the UW Chazen Museum of Art.  There was a traveling exhibit about the Samurai I especially enjoyed.  Of course I was at my usual slow pace because I stopped to read most of the signs.  Dan was limping along much faster but we each enjoyed it in our own way.  Since we were visiting Wisconsin we stopped to buy some cheese.  As a certified cheese addict I bought three large hunks to bring home with me.  Two of them are gone already.  Dan bought some for himself.  He is safe because he bought stinky old cheese which I don't like. (Mrs.T does not appreciate the fine taste of a good blue cheese. -dt)  I did catch him sneaking a bite of my cheddar. We visited the ceramic studio Nick works at in his spare time.  We had a good time.

 

After visiting Nick Dan and I went to an art workshop at Touchstone Center for Crafts. ( http://www.touchstonecrafts.org/ -dt) This workshop was about printmaking.  Dan and I were taking the same class.  This is usually a very bad idea because Dan spends too much time and effort telling me what I am doing wrong.  This not only annoys me a great deal but also slows him down on his own paltry (Hmmphf!  - not sure about that assessment.  -dt) efforts.  This class was different.  Roger started us off doing monoprints. (Using Gelli printing plates - dt)  I knew how to do this.  And Dan was immediately successful so spent most of his time on his own work. (Our instructor was Roger Hyndman - www.solarprintmaking.com  -dt)

Solarprintmaking.com - Dates, Times & Locations www.solarprintmaking.com NANOART Solarplate and Monotype Printmaking - A Microscopic Perspective Description - Science has rapidly progressed into sub-atomic space. It is now possible for ...

Touchstone Center for Crafts - Home www.touchstonecrafts.org Offers classes in pioneer arts. Includes descriptions, schedule, registration, hours, calendar of events, local attractions and directions.

 

The second day we made metal plates for printing off a press.  The process was a little complicated.  Select and edit a print;.45 seconds exposure for this gel; 25 seconds for the metal plate.  Scrub with cool water for one minute.  Rinse scrub for 30 seconds.  Rinse and dry.  Set in the sun for 20 minutes. Then hopefully you have your plate, and are ready to ink and print. (There were actually a few more steps, but that is the general idea. -dt)  Here's the thing: Dan was too busy doing all this that he did not have time to annoy me.  If and when I needed help Roger was glad to help.  I did have to kind of shout at him because Roger is a little deaf.  So picture this: the other two students are busy, one editing a print the other timing a light, and I am bawling pathetically "ROGER! ROGER!" When that doesn't work Dan shouts in stentorian tones "Roger, Please help Rebecca"  Roger immediately trots over to help me.  Perhaps I should mention that Roger is 80 years old but very fit and competent. (Think of the Walter Huston character, Howard, in Treasure of the Sierra Madre  -dt)  He might occasionally be forgetful but...what was I saying.  Anyway, in spite of all this we all made gorgeous prints.  Of course mine were the best.  I was so excited I felt like hugging Roger.  So I did.  Over the next few days we all made several more prints and metal plates.  We printed in three different colors of ink: black, brown, and green.  Dan even made prints with two colors on the same print.  We had a great time but after five days we were tired and ready to go home.  (We hope to get to Phoenix Rising - phoenixrisingprintmaking.org - to do some followup.  -dt)

 

I did have a complaint about accommodations.  Our house is not palatial but it suits us and when I wake up in the middle of the night I know where the bathroom is.  I had a problem with this in our hotel. (Mrs.T confused it with our house at first and then with the condo.  She does not adjust to travel quickly.  -dt)  Our hotel in Pennsylvania, selected on the basis of economy (And location -dt) was basic.  Next time we are moving up a star or two.  (It was not that bad -dt)

 

A few weeks ago I was going on a road ride with my dear Jewel, the Belgian horse I usually ride, and a couple of other riders.  Jewel was behaving nicely but she was letting me know that she would like to go a bit faster.  These horses are trained to respond to three different kinds of commands.  They respond to your legs and seat knowing by the way you sit whether to go faster or slower or stop.  They respond to little clucking noises. And they respond to verbal commands.  For instance 'TROT' means trot.  Considering Jewels impatience I turned to the rider next to me and said,  "Jewel would like to go faster. Do you think it would be okay if we trot?"  And we were off!  

 

Jewel heard the trot command and hastened to obey.  I understood what had happened and did not have the heart to slow her down.So we trotted a little way and then slowed to wait for the others to catch up.  They were of course wondering why we suddenly took off.  I alas am a slow learner.  " Well," I explained, "Jewel heard the word trot…"   And we were off!  Again. When the others caught up a second time I explained more carefully, "When I say the word T   R   O   T",  I spelled carefully, "Jewel is going to do it."  My friends examined me thoughtfully.  In fact Jewel gazed at me back over her shoulder, probably wishing she could spell.  "So that's your story," one said.  "Well the other replied this is a nice straight place, why don't you let her do it?"

 

"Jewel!  TROT", I said.  And we were off.

 

 

Here are some photos - no doctors:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/X578JA

 

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Casa de Terrible - blogspot.com www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com I have been around the block. I'm a veteran in this market. I was making my subscribers profits through both Bush, Obama and now Trump. Back in the Bush Sr. days, I ...

 

 

 

Sent from Outlook

MORE ON PERU

PERU

You should forgive Mrs.T if this is her second story about Peru although it sounds as if maybe is should have been first.  I think that she was so enthralled about the trip to Machu Picchu that she had to get that out right away.  She had a very nice vacation with her sisters and other family.

This story has been somewhat delayed due to some significant health issues suffered by the editor.  He is on the mend now.  I heartedly thank family and members of the Jacarandas community for all their support and well wishes during that time.  Perhaps the next issue of the newsletter will have a description.

Well, onto Rebecca's account of other aspects of her trip:

Rita and I flew to Peru to visit our niece Alana and her family.  Her husband Charlie works for the state department at the American Embassy in Lima. They have two little girls, the eldest is Mia and the youngest one is Madeline.  I couldn't resist!  (You try to decode that statement.  -dt)

Alana was the perfect hostess she had lined up all different kinds of things for us to see and do.  Charlie was funny and charming.  Having three sexagenarians as guests - Ruth was already staying with the family - might have challenged many but we all got along well.  We always felt welcome.

Alana's helper Miss Flor had just taken a month off.  This left the girls in the situation of having to get their own breakfasts.  They did not miss being waited on so much as just the attention.  As I was the earliest riser among the old ladies I ate with them.  I entertained them and they me.

"Why do old people take so many pills?" one of the girls asked as she watched me sort my pill bottles.

"Maybe because they hurt so much," I replied

"They hurt soo much!," Madeline, who is going through a parrot phase replied sympathetically.

Of course with parrot children you have to be very cautious what you say because it will be spouted back at you often at unfortunate times.  

"What are the pills for?" they asked.

"Well, these are for my tummy, these are for arthritis, these are for anxiety, these are for being sad, these ---"  I was interrupted.

"Why are you sad, Aunt Rebecca?" Mia asked'

"Because she hurts soo much," Madeline replied.

The causes of depression are many and complicated so I just nodded in agreement and continued with the list.

"These are for when old ladies feel too hot, these are for my heart, and these are vitamins," I concluded.

The girls helped me pick out a purple vitamin out of my jar of over the counter medicines.  It is sometimes hard for me to pick one out because of my shaky hands.

"Why are your hands so shaky, Aunt Rebecca?" Mia asked.

"Well I don't know," I replied.  "Why do you suppose that is?"   I almost never refuse to answer questions from children; if I don't know I admit it.  Sometimes their insights are quite amazing.  However in this case not so.

"Because you hurt soo much," Madeline replied.

The girls helped me get my breakfast.  They brought me a banana.  Mia very carefully poured me some lemonade.  They helped me pick out my cereal.

"This kind is really good," Mia explained, "this kind is OK, and this kind tastes bad, only Madeline will eat it!"

"I really don't like it either," Madeline confessed. (!)

I chose the really good kind. And it was really good.  We were ready to start our day.  Most of my days started this way except by the third day the girls were telling me "that pill is for your tummy; that one is for anxiety, etc."

Rita, Ruth, and I ate our way around Peru.  The food was excellent and exotic.  We ate local fruits  that we had never seen.  Some we liked a lot; some was barely palatable.  I had somehow expected that being another Spanish speaking country the food would be similar to Mexican but it was not.  I did however refuse to eat guinea pig.  They are just too cute and fuzzy.

I did try the pink beer.  It was okay if you like beer.  They make it from purple corn. The corn in Peru is in short fat ears with very large kernels. It comes in a lot of different colors.  The amazing thing is the size of it when they pop it like popcorn.

We went to a horse show of a special breed of Peruvian horses.  These horses have only one gait. They lift each leg one at a time. To go faster they do it faster.  It is beautiful to see them.  This gait is very smooth.  These horses are born knowing to walk and run this way.  They do not trot or gallop.  They brought out a colt and sure enough he pranced around the same way.  While we were watching they brought us French fried yucca leaves with a yellow fruit sauce.  We loved it!  We had a feast at the hacienda after the show.  

The feast had all different kinds of food.  We sampled as many as we could.  There were many potato appetizers.  They featured little squares of mashed potatoes of different colors with little shrimp, veggies, meats on top.  We thought it was a little odd that they would color their potatoes bright purple, bright pink, bright green, and bright yellow.  But we were wrong.  They have over three hundred kinds of potatoes of all different colors.  I think this was where I had a pink lemonade smoothie which was made with cooked purple corn.  It was delicious.

Every day was a different adventure.  We visited a really neat museum,  Larco or something like that.  It had signs in lots of different languages; to find one in English we looked for one beside the Union Jack.  As a visually challenged old person I wished the printing was a little larger.  We visited different sites of native peoples.  We rode on the top of open air tour bus.  Charlie took us on a tour of the embassy which was interesting as well as inspiring.  Rita and I took a pottery class.  And everywhere we went we shopped.  We felt it was our duty to support the local economy.  And we were enthusiastically dutiful.  (She certainly was, including duties on the item she had shipped to the condo.  -dt)

In the evenings we entertained the younger generations with stories of our youth.  I soon noticed a disturbing pattern in these reminiscences.  They all seemed to feature "Aunt Rebecca" doing strange or embarrassing things when she was very young.  (She is still at it.  -dt) Well!  I had some memories of my own.  I then related the sad tale of my childhood.  I was the youngest of three girls.  Before the advent of video games we had to amuse ourselves.  I always got the short end of the stick.  When we played house Ruth was the mother, Rita was the father, and I was the child.  When we played school Ruth was the teacher, Rita was the principal, and I was the bad child.  When we played church Ruth was the song leader, Rita was the preacher, and I was the congregation.  When we played doctor Ruth was the nurse, Rita was the doctor, and I was the sick child.  When we played Christmas Ruth was Mary, Rita was Joseph, and I was Baby Jesus.  Unfortunately this did not work out too well because Ruth and Rita somehow managed to stuff me into the manger where we fed our cows but they could not get me out.  They went away and left me!!  Although I can't recall, I imagine our Mother was not pleased.  Charlie said I should be thankful we did not play funeral because I would certainly have been the corpse.  At any rate these stories had a rapt audience with the girls.  Whether we will regret it remains to be seen.

Subsequent to Mrs.T's departure the remainder of the clan went on to explore the Amazon River jungle area of Peru.  I have included just a few pictures from that part because there are better pictures of the girls, Alana, and Charlie:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/WJ8SJ2

We will be seeing you folks up north before too long.  It looks like rain is in the forecast.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Casa de Terrible www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com Rebecca thought she would write another story about our recent travels in England. (Please visit our blog space www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com if you did not see ...

Sent from Outlook

Working on her list

Mrs. T's Southern Adventure

As most of you know we are currently in residence at our Mexican home.  We will return north in time for Rebecca to see her flowers begin to bloom and to file our taxes.  But while here Rebecca decided to make a trek to Peru to scratch an item off her bucket list.

The genesis of this trip is a bit convoluted.  Mrs.T's sister Ruth - she has not appeared in our newsletter often - has a son-in-law who works for the U.S. State Department and is currently posted in Peru.  Rita, the third sister, was already visiting here and the three sisters decided they would gather in Peru for a get together.  (Your editor decided the stress would be too much and stayed at home. -dt)  The trip was greatly aided by Charlie and Alana who did a splendid job and much of the heavy lifting to coordinate things.  Many thanks.

Here is the story:

The Three R's (Readin' Ruth, 'Ritin' Rita and little 'Rithmetic Sue - that's me - ride again.  My sisters and I journeyed to and around Peru visiting family, seeing the sights, and enjoying the different culture.  The people were very friendly and seemed to enjoy us also.  

Ruth and I climbed the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu.  (Rita was unable to make that part of the trip.  -dt)  First you ride this small train.  Then you come to a village that exists solely to prey upon the tourists.  Note the picture of Ruth and I wearing Inca crowns.  You may imagine that with age comes a sense of dignity.  Wrong!  Adam who is Ruth's son and a fireman came along.  He was really sweet about carrying our bags, took lots of pictures of us, and helped us up and down steep places.  (He is the tall bald guy in several photos.  -dt)

There were lots of steep places around Machu Picchu which is in the Andes Mountains.  Ruth and I were worried about altitude sickness.  So we took altitude pills, and oxygen pills which our niece gave us.  We also drank vile tasting coca tea which was supposed to give us more energy. And finally whenever we felt a little tired or out of breath we sucked coca candies.  The coca tea and candy are made from the same plant as cocaine.  I know nothing about cocaine, but if it tastes as bad as the tea I don't see how anyone could become addicted.  Something in all of our pharmacopeia must have worked because Ruth and I climbed up and down approximately two million, seven hundred eighty-two thousand, three hundred and nine very tall steps.  Here is a question.  If the Inca were a short people - and we know they were because they made short doors in their buildings - why did they make such tall steps?

Ruth and I, after a light breakfast and several cups of coca tea rode the bus up the mountain.  Adam had risen at some ridiculous hour and skipped up the mountain to view the sunrise from the top!  We, however, wended our stately way, propped up by two canes apiece.  Ruth carried a small backpack with two bottles of water.  I had my pockets stuffed with coca candies and soles, Peruvian money.  (R might be in the hoosegow if she brought those coca leaves and candies back with her.  -dt)

As we approached  the gate we were accosted by several guides.  "I am the perfect guide for you ladies," one claimed.  We viewed him suspiciously.  He looked very young and fit; perhaps we needed someone older and slower.  "I know lots of shortcuts so you can go to the important temples without climbing so many steps," he claimed.  "I know lots of flat stones you can sit on if you get tired."  "I will go very slowly and stop so you can rest and take pictures," he promised.  This was the guide for us!  After some brief dickering as to the price we took off.

The air was thin and cool.  The tall mountains touched the sky.  The great stone wings of the Condor sky god pointed from his temple to his lofty realms.  People of many tribes and races come to Machu Picchu.  What do they seek: a new experience, a different sight?   Ruth and I slowly made our way across the terraces, stopping now and then to rest on flat stones.  We climbed the tall steps to to see the temples.  The stone walls remained with empty windows facing down over the terraces to the valley.  Llamas grazed contentedly as the passing of centuries did not concern them.  We breathed the clear cool air.  Then we went down.

Rebecca did not take any pictures but other members of the party did - 1500+ in all.  I culled through them and picked a representative handful:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/C687H5

And yes the local folks know tourists when they see them; the three R's dropped a few soles during their visit.

See some of you in the spring.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Windows Mail

HOLIDAYS 2016

THIS AND THAT - CHRISTMAS 2016

After being here for several winters we have adjusted to having Christmas here is Mexico.  No, there is no snow.  And no pine trees.  But we have our very nice little table-top artificial tree.  And our beautiful nascimento.  {New ornaments this year included a very nice crystal heart from Judy and a beaded scorpion (!?) Mrs.T bought.}

Of course we very much miss family, but everyone has become more far flung and are rarely going to gather at one place at the same time.  We telephone everyone and may even do video calls in the near future.  And Nick and Rita will be here for separate visits after the first of the year.  J&J from Zanesville are in town now.

Mrs.T has a few comments about recent events.  We hope you enjoy her observations.  No pictures.

Judy and I were feeling festive so we got our toenails painted Red with golden sparkles.   Oh Christmas toes! Oh Christmas toes!  How lovely are your sparkles!  I was warbling happily to the tune of  "Oh Christmas Tree".  Dan, who has no musical appreciation, made a rather derogatory comment.  Oh well.  (Judy is our Dr. Puzzle and Mrs.T's frequent shopping companion.  -dt)

The community Christmas Pasada was held again this year after missing a year, so that was good.  This is kind of a block party with Christmas carols, pinatas, a clown, and lots of free food.  We especially enjoy it because it is an event that both the Mexicans and the gringos share with joyful enthusiasm.  (The pasada is really for the neighbor children; Rebecca fits right in.  -dt)

I was entering the bathroom one day when EEK!! A little gecko jumped right in front of my face.  I am not afraid of geckos but it startled me.  Since then I have seen him quite often, usually hiding behind the waste basket.  Whenever I see him I admonish him, "Eat ants!"  He must be listening because the ant population, which had been a problem, is way down.  Dan claims to have seen him clutching a teeny, tiny GEICO insurance policy.

Judy was going to make Christmas ornaments with the orphans.  Brenda and I went along to help.  As my hands are pretty shaky my help consisted of mostly translation and hugs.  The orphans were mostly enthusiastic and liked hugs.

The spring tide reinforced by a close moon has reconfigured the beach yet again; you can walk in and not be stuck in a trough.  Scuba diving has been good for me and last week I saw a tractor crab for the first time.  He was round, instead of flat.  When I first saw him rolling across the ocean floor i thought he was a hermit crab.  Alex picked him up so that I could see him.  When I set him down on the ocean floor he started digging frantically to bury himself,  Once he got a nice hole he splashed sand furiously on top of himself.  He waited a moment and then he cautiously poked up his two eyes to see if we were still there.  Overall however diving has been pretty slow this year. I heard Alex tell another divemaster all he had going for him was two boats and Rebecca.  Dan was speculating if I was worth as much as a boat or half a boat or what.

I put away the Christmas puzzle and tomorrow I will start on a new one.  On Christmas morning we followed our shadows down the road and over the bridge to Church.  It was not well attended, probably everyone went the night before.  (That was verified to us by VCW who said the Advent Wreath fell during the procession and created excitement with the candles going everywhere.  -dt) And I missed the absent choir.  Still it touched my heart to hear the two-thousand-year-old story of the Christmas miracle.  And what baby is not a miracle whatever else you do or do not believe.

EEK the gecko sends you all lots of kisses. (They are called kissing gekos because they call to each other making smoochie sounds.   And God bless us every one!

Happy New Year!

Go Bucks!

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Windows Mail

Jolly Good Time

GOOD TIME IN ENGLAND

As many of you know we are now at our winter residence in Bucerias.  Sunshine and warm - hot according to R.  We have been here three weeks and life is back to normal.  We can effectively switch residences in less than a week.  We both are much happier here rather than gloomy Ohio.  Puzzles have already been worked on, even a castle in Germany.

Rebecca thought she would write another story about our recent travels in England. (Please visit our blog space www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com if you did not see our first story, Mind the Gap! -dt) The people there were really quite nice to us.  They routinely yielded seats to us on the tube.  They were helpful with directions. Things ran on time.  We received good recommendations from P&J to take smaller vans for tours rather than large busses.  That worked out quite well as for example our trip to Stonehenge and environs that R rhapsodizes about.

England was great fun.  London was full of skinny people from every nation in the world.  They rushed around like crazy but they almost never bumped into one another.  They reminded me of schools of fish.  How do they do that?

We went to the Tate Modern Museum.  It  was full of some very strange art.  Some of it I liked.  A lot of it was social commentary and while I found it interesting, insightful, and clever, it was also rather depressing.  I can be depressed without any help.  This art was in dark and dull colors.  One thing I found fascinating was the artists' use of non-traditional materials.  Some of these included barbed wire, egg shells, dirt, cement blocks, unfinished wood and yarn to name a few.  (The ferrymen did not care much for the Tate Modern -dt)

To get to the Tate we rode a ferry.  I loved riding the ferries up and down the Thames.  We rode past many famous sights.  We recognized some:  Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the Tower.  Others the ferrymen pointed out to us: the school that Winston Churchill got thrown out of for fighting, a private school where they filmed Harry Potter movies, etc. (Harry Potter and Downton Abbey tours are very popular.  -dt)  I also saw a store where Kate buys her frocks; Dan showed no interest.  Looking over the boat rail I could also pick out other famous sites from our map.  As an avid reader of historical  novels, it seemed so familiar as we glided past the reconstruction of the Globe Theater and under some of the famous bridges.

We did not visit just London but went further afield.  Salisbury Plain is a series of lush pastures that reach from horizon to horizon to the southeast of London.  Dark spots mark cows or small groups of cattle grazing slowly up and down the low hills.  But one dark spot on a far hilltop does not seem to move.  As we slowly approach the stones separate and there it is - Stonehenge.  It was a long walk from the parking to Stonehenge.  (It was a long walk to the gift shop and ticket concession.  And another long walk from the drop off point to the stones.  -dt) Dan rested on a bench, talking to strangers.  But I went on.  It seemed right to approach it on foot.  There was a little pamphlet and a few small signs.  But mostly it was only these massive stones reaching to the sky, and me.  There were quite a few extraneous people wandering around, littering the landscape but I ignored them.  Alas, vandals being what they are, you  cannot  approach too closely.  Dan and I support capital punishment for defacing cultural landmarks.  (I probably would shoot them on the spot.  -dt) There was a low rope barrier.  I did not mind it too much, it was not intrusive, but still the Stones drew me.  What did it mean?  I cannot say.  But it meant something.   

We spent a day and a night in Amberley Castle.  (Mrs.T insisted we stay at least one night in a castle; this was our own adventure. -dt) I was in bliss!!  It had walls, turrets, towers, and a great hall.  We read the history of who owned the castle, who burned it down, who rebuilt it.  At one point it was given to a queen - it might have been Charlotte = as a wedding present.  It was all very satisfactory.  The moat was now a croquet court.  The rooms were decorated in different historical styles.  It even had an oubliette - a hole where you dump prisoners and throw them a loaf every now and then.  We could amble around the grounds admiring the flowers, great tea roses, and statues or sit in a nook in  the wall and have a drink or a cup of tea.  White doves nested in the eaves.  I floated around imagining that I was Royal, or upper class, or at least English.  I told another guest - English - that I thought the castle was wonderful.  "Yes, it is quite nice," she replied.  (Typical understatement.  -dt)

In the evening we ascended the grand staircase to the Great Hall.  Passing suits of armour and battle standards we threaded our way under portraits of someone's ancestors to our supper table.  The narrow window was open and I wondered if the white doves ever got in.  (We later learned that the portraits were of no one in particular but just plucked from a gallery on the continent.  -dt) I wished I had brought a full skirted, low cut, floor length, satin gown and a chestful of jewels.  I asked Dan if he felt grand.  He didn't.  Sigh!  (I did like the pictures. -dt)

Supper consisted of seven courses.  Each one more ornate that the next.  Our waiter proudly announced in French what we were eating.  Mostly I had no idea what we were eating although every now and then I caught a familiar word.  The  food was all beautifully presented it had a combination different flavours and textures.  All of it was good and some of it was fabulous.  My favorite was a glistening white ball with a semi-sweet liqueur with a pomegranate flavour in the center.  The main course was braised pork.  Dan felt the portion was quite small for a main course.  I suppose it was, but after eating all seven courses I was quite full.

At night I climbed under our feather coverlet and dreamed of King Arthur.

Here are a few photos:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/cFKW14

Amberley Castle Hotel is one in a chain throughout the UK.  This chain in turn is a member of a larger consortium that has castle hotels throughout Europe.  If one has the money you can stay in luxury wherever you travel.  One night was more than sufficient for our limited budget.

Stay warm and dry.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Dan and Rebecca

Sent from Windows Mail

MIND THE GAP!

As many of you know Mrs.T and I are on vacation in the UK - a big item on Rebecca's bucket list.  Quite frankly we are getting a bit long in the tooth - tiredness sets in a bit more quickly than we hope. But all-in-all things are going quite nicely.  Rebecca has been able to see some gardens and other sites on her list.  We spent a night in a castle.  We cruised the Thames.  And visited the Tate Modern.  We still have a couple of tours left.  We did cut back some but have a full plate of things to do.

We started off with the usual annoyances, particularly in Toronto. We nearly missed our connection there despite leaving about three hours between flights.  And the security folks there confiscated the 1 ½  inch letter opener from my do-everything credit-card-sized pocket toolkit; they must have thought it would be a deadly weapon on the plane.  And then the first things we lost were our walking sticks which we left on the taxi from Gatwick to our flat.  Most of you know how we depend upon them to get around.  Fortunately I looked in an odd looking second-hand shop near our Kew tube station and the lady just happened to have two used canes that have worked perfectly.  Mrs. T has an initial vignette of our travels thus far:

As many of you know we are traveling in Merry Ole England.  We have noticed that the locals are very friendly.  They are also very skinny.  And they walk very fast.  Nonetheless they seem well disposed to Dan and I, toddling along with canes from tourist site to tourist site,  We have pretty much mastered (That may be a bit strong; at least we have the basics. -dt) traveling by the Tube, except for 'The Gap'.  (The 'gap' is the opening between the door and the platform.  -dt) At every stop the train's recorded message says, 'Mind the gap.'  I certainly mind the gap. In fact sometimes I mind it quite a lot.  It can be only a couple of inches and level.  Or it can  be 6 or 8 inches across and the same amount up or down.   One day as I teetered on the edge of a large gap two hands grasped my right arm, two hands grasped my left arm, and two hands grasped my waist. Very quickly I was gently deposited on the platform.  As I turned to thank the gentlemen another handed me my bag and a moment later they quietly disappeared.    

All of London is simply dripping with history in little details.  'Watermen' took us across the Thames from Westminster Pier to Bankside Pier right in front of the Globe where we queued until we were able to get tickets. (A gentleman had some extras that he needed to sell -dt) We went to the Globe Theatre to see the 'Scottish Play' - aka Macbeth.  It was a superb production.  The original had been modified here and there with modern references as when one of the witches spoke of the devil and one of the lesser demons - a superb liar called Trump.  One character, I think it was McDuff called, "On to England!" and another replied, "Mind the gap!"  The entire audience convulsed.  I really enjoyed being part of the 500 year old reproduction theater.  We did rent pillows, which I understand you could have done five centuries back also.  We did not want to be realistic enough to stand in the pit for 2 ½ hours.  This is the only building in London allowed to have a thatched roof, this construction method having contributed to the great fire of London 350 years ago.  

What Mrs.T has neglected to mention is the other attentive assistance she has received.  As you know she has some sort of aura about her that gives out "I am a nice person" rays.  Once we were going home and walking down the steps of the passage under the trains at the Kew station.  A young man who had just walked up the stairs said, "May I help you Madam?" and proceeded to help Rebecca with her load down the steps.  Not only that, at the other end another young man helped her carry her load up the other stairs.  Humpf!  I would let some young female help me, should one offer, but someone would object vociferously I am sure.

And the weather is a far cry from either Philo or Bucerias.  When we arrived it was humid mid-80s (30c) and now it is cool, less than 70 (20c), overcast and a bit damp.

Here are a few pictures:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/QWG602

Back in Philo in a couple of weeks.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Sent from Windows Mail