Monday, September 26, 2005

Meeting the past

On Saturday, one of my oldest friends was married. I have known her since 1983. We were the town wierdos then, and we probably still are now. It was a very nice wedding, and a good time was had by all.

Sunday was spent at the always fun Knobels Grove. What a wonderful thing to be able to do--to bring your child to a place you loved as a child. It is a wonderful family amusement park, where things are still affordable and fun.We all had a great time.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Day out with Thomas



Hey, look at what we did today! Wendall had a wonderful day, and so did we. This was just after we had a 20 min. ride with Thomas actually pulling our train.

Wendall's face when he first saw Thomas was truly magnificent. He was soooo happy. He stayed happy all day long, and it was a really really long day.



Oh, and for my own pleasure we went to Waffle House.
Mmmmmm, Waffle House....

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Esther Baby Cat


What can I say, I love my Esther cat. Pay no attention to me, though. It was 5am.

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Oktoberfest


Goodness! Public drunkenness to an amazing degree. As one of our busmates said on the way home, "German's take their Oktoberfest seriously!"

This picture shows a beer tent. Notice that it has two stories, and that people are pressed up against the window. Notice also that people are clustered in front of the door, waiting for space inside. The beers were a litre eash, and cost $10. One of the people on our bus claimed to have downed 8 of them in a 7 hour period. He was finishing the last one as we drove home.

It's not something we need to do again, but we are glad we got the chance to see it.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Go West, young man....

That's right, it is time to head west. Master Wendall and I shall spend our usual way too long traveling to the lovely Newark airport. We plan to get going before the sun rises on the 19th, and we will be in PA that evening. Woo-hoo!

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Weekend Events




On Saturday we traveled to Garmisch-Partenkichen , in the Bavarian Alps. We stayed at the Edelweiss Resort, and had a few days of fun. We were there to attend a marriage retreat, where we "discovered" that we have a healthy relationship. Who knew? The retreat paid for our rooms, our meals, and child care for the boy, so we did not complain. Hey, they even gave me a book!

We took the train to the top of the highest peak in Germany, and had lunch in a cafe on the Austrian side of the mountain (we get to add another country to our maps!). We had a wonderful weekend, and we look forward to going back soon. Wendall had a great time, going to the top of his first mountain, touching snow for the first time. Riding on a real train for the first time, playing with lots of new friends, swimming in an indoor pool, and having a great time.

It was unfortunately a cloudy day on top of the mountain, but we took lots of pictures anyway. Next weekend we are off to Oktoberfest, and then it is off to the States!

Sunday, September 11, 2005


Wendall with his first snowball. We are in the Alps until tomorrow. We had lunch in Austria. Posted by Picasa

Friday, September 09, 2005

Too much to ignore

Take a look at the links at The All Spin Zone. Take a look at the entire blog while you are there, but look at these links first.

The three stories tell of the things happening off camera. Hundreds of people are being rounded up and sent to camps surrounded by fences and patrolled by federal authorities.

My friend Ann had a post last week which made me think. This past week has made me think. I've discovered that I'm not terribly fond of thinking. Most people aren't. I don't want her post to be true, but I'm finding it very difficult to ignore what is so plainly before me.

Take a look at this photo gallery. It is one woman's account of the storm. She has some amazing pictures.

Ain't that the truth.... Posted by Picasa

Thursday, September 08, 2005


Wendall and Nulu. She looks so happy. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Aaron Broussard on Meet The Press

Monetary contributions are needed. It does not have to be the Red Cross. Pick the charity or orginization which makes the most sense to you. Donate as much and as often as you are able, and don't forget them later in the year when the media has gone away.

Please also rememember that the government of this country abandoned the poeple in New Orleans. This week has shown me how little the poor are cared for in our wealthy nation. Crooks and Liars has video of one of the most heartwrenching interviews I've seen this week. It will take some time to load. The transcript is below.

Transcript, via MSNBC

MR. RUSSERT: And we are back.
Jefferson Parish President Broussard, let me start with you. You just heard the director of Homeland Security's explanation of what has happened this last week. What is your reaction?

MR. AARON BROUSSARD: We have been abandoned by our own country. Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms ever to hit an American coast, but the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history. I am personally asking our bipartisan congressional delegation here in Louisiana to immediately begin congressional hearings to find out just what happened here. Why did it happen? Who needs to be fired? And believe me, they need to be fired right away, because we still have weeks to go in this tragedy. We have months to go. We have years to go. And whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chain-sawed off and we've got to start with some new leadership.
It's not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here. Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now. It's so obvious. FEMA needs more congressional funding. It needs more presidential support. It needs to be a Cabinet-level director. It needs to be an independent agency that will be able to fulfill its mission to work in partnership with state and local governments around America. FEMA needs to be empowered to do the things it was created to do. It needs to come somewhere, like New Orleans, with all of its force immediately, without red tape, without bureaucracy, act immediately with common sense and leadership, and save lives. Forget about the property. We can rebuild the property. It's got to be able to come in and save lives.
We need strong leadership at the top of America right now in order to accomplish this and to-- reconstructing FEMA.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Broussard, let me ask--I want to ask--should...

MR. BROUSSARD: You know, just some quick examples...

MR. RUSSERT: Hold on. Hold on, sir. Shouldn't the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of New Orleans bear some responsibility? Couldn't they have been much more forceful, much more effective and much more organized in evacuating the area?

MR. BROUSSARD: Sir, they were told like me, every single day, "The cavalry's coming," on a federal level, "The cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming, the cavalry's coming." I have just begun to hear the hoofs of the cavalry. The cavalry's still not here yet, but I've begun to hear the hoofs, and we're almost a week out.
Let me give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don't give you the fuel." Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, "No one is getting near these lines." Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America--American government would have responded like Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn't be in this crisis.
But I want to thank Governor Blanco for all she's done and all her leadership. She sent in the National Guard. I just repaired a breach on my side of the 17th Street canal that the secretary didn't foresee, a 300-foot breach. I just completed it yesterday with convoys of National Guard and local parish workers and levee board people. It took us two and a half days working 24/7. I just closed it.

MR. RUSSERT: All right.

MR. BROUSSARD: I'm telling you most importantly I want to thank my public employees...

MR. RUSSERT: All right.

MR. BROUSSARD: ...that have worked 24/7. They're burned out, the doctors, the nurses. And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. President...

MR. BROUSSARD: Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody.

MR. RUSSERT: Just take a pause, Mr. President. While you gather yourself in your very emotional times, I understand, let me go to Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Birthday Party


Today we went to a birthday party. Wendall was the oldest preschooler there, but he had a wonderful time. The three year old birthday boy had a train theme, can you imagine?

After the party, Wendall asked if we could go play at the boy's house someday soon. We have no playmates in the neighborhood, and the nearest playground is a long enough walk to tire us out before we could play. I have to start arranging actual playdates if the boy is to play with anyone. I had not realized how easy it was in Wahiawa. All we had to do was open a door, ad playmates swarmed. I think that this may be one of the big reasons people enjoy living on base. It was easier to just go out and play while we were in the apartment, even if the kids in the building were not terribly nice, at least there were kids!

On Friday, there was a bomb scare at the front gate of the base. Traffic was backed up for a mile, and it was impossible for me to get the boy to school. (The entrance to the town is just outside the gate to the base. The town was created when the farmers who owned the land that is now Rose Barracks were evacuated by Hitler. It is a reall small town, with two roads in and out. When traffic is backed up going on base, the tow of Sorghof becomes inaccessable.) It amazed me that after only four days of going to school, we were both upset that he could not go. We spent the morning trying to figure out what to do with ourselves, as it was raining. The afternoon was better, and we went for a nice walk. I am hoping that we don't have many days like that!

The boy up a tree. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, September 01, 2005

"How do you make this unhappen?"

Chris Rose, a Morning Edition correspondent asks this simple but amazing question.

I feel no real need to talk about the hurricane.
My spirit is heavy. I can not imagine.


I hope.