48 Years Later ...

In early June of 1964, despite flooding from heavy May rains and a heavy snow melt from the Rockies that had burst dams, carried off bridges and chunks of the paved highway and other roads in the north-central part of my birth state of Montana, my intrepid father drove me in the family car to the "Big City," aka Great Falls, where I would board an airplane for the first time in my life. This journey would take me to a truly large city, Philadelphia, PA.  There I would meet with several other groups of prospective Peace Corps Volunteers to be physically and mentally assessed beyond our initial qualifying physical and mental assessments and have our teeth and eyes checked. Providing that no previously indiscernible disqualifying tendency had emerged in the meantime, I would join the Morocco III group. Together, we would go on to Princeton University for a couple months of training in languages, pedagogical methods, Middle Eastern and North African cultural studies, contemporary American issues and a bunch of miscellaneous other skills deemed necessary for our survival in North Africa for the next two years.

There were generally two routes to get us to Great Falls. One was the highway, which had not suffered the flooding with grace, and was also the longer route - 120 miles. The other was a gravel road, which had the advantage of being shorter (90 miles) and from all accounts, was less damaged. According to local lore, it had once served as a bootlegging route dating from the days of Prohibition. We took the bootlegger route that day and had little trouble. But in many respects, there has been a lot of water under a lot of bridges since that day in 1964.

Morocco III turned out to be an exceptionally close-knit group - and so most of us have remained these many, many years later, in large part due to the driving force of one member, our beloved "J-J," aka "Jean-Jacques." This is not at all his real name, of course, but he chose it "back in the day" and it is how we all remember him best.

Since 2004, J-J has tirelessly worked with other members of the group to organize Morocco III reunions every four years, with the location generally being determined by the hosts. Thus we have met in Saint-Paul, MN, in Sacramento, CA and this year, in beautiful Martha's Vineyard. Today, I received some photos from the reunion, which I was unfortunately unable to attend.

We are not an "exclusive" group. If other returned Morocco PCVs happen to be in the area, occasionally they also show up and are welcome. Generally we like to do whatever is most done, thus some attendees tried their hand at fishing, reminiscent of the fishing some did on the North African side of The Pond.

But the real draw this year was something that the New England coast is well-known for: lobster with roasted ears of corn!

Everyone clearly had a wonderful time! 

The Difference a Year Makes

May Day 2012.  It's an official holiday (Labor Day, aka International Workers' Day) for much of the world. Given that industrialized nations with the strongest labor unions also have the highest standards of living and are booming economically for the most part, I have never understood why so many people in my home country seem to have swallowed the myth that labor unions are bad. As union strength and membership there have dwindled since the 1950s, many worker protections have either diminished significantly or have become entirely non-existent. Back to the future indeed. And not in a good way.

But the weather this morning has put me into an introspective mood. In the mornings, I have been sidestepping the April showers that seem to be continuing into May this year in order to get some needed exercise on my trusty Trek. Today was no exception. This morning, the clouds actually came down to perch on the lake or to sit so close to its surface that it seemed like the same thing.

Something about this put me in a nostalgic mood. One year ago, for example, I was completing my final preparations for the journey to Italy where I would join HWMBO and several fellow travelers for our exceptionally beautiful walking tour of the northern Italian lakes. This year, HWMBO is in the final stages of his preparation for a visit to China with a community college group. It will be a wonderful experience for him and I have only myself to blame - if blame should be assigned at all - for not being able to accompany him on what would have been a "first" for us both.

After the visit to Italy, he returned with me to my lovely Swiss haven by the lake and stayed here until my niece and her friend joined me here while they attended summer courses in French at the University of Geneva. This year, I will not see him in person before early July. Thank heavens for Skype. As for my niece, she is spending this college term on an internship in Amman, Jordan. She is becoming a fine young woman, a real credit to her mother and dad as well as to herself.

But along with the positive, this year finds the world short of a few people who have made positive differences in the world and who represented milestones in contemporary culture. These are always difficult ones to lose when there are too many left behind who do not contribute at all to humankind's well-being. But this year is also significant because two people, both of whom made significant positive differences in my own life, have left this world.

One was a former boyfriend, who may involuntarily have played a role in my ultimate career choice. After once believing that we would marry, we went our separate ways. His led him to the Orient, mine led me to North Africa and from there our destinies took their separate courses. As happens with so many who were close when they were younger, we reconnected in later years, in our case, the mid-80s. As with me, he had left an unfortunate marital situation behind. He had raised his daughter essentially as a single parent, as I had my sons in the years before I met and married HWMBO. At a turning point in his life when he contacted me,  he later informed me that my response - and especially the success of my remarriage - had heartened him to the point where he reached out, met and married someone new who turned out to be the love of his life. Together they made their first visit to Europe last summer. He looked forward to returning.

Unfortunately, their happy years together were tragically interrupted earlier this year when he, during a routine workout at his health club, collapsed suddenly with a cerebral hemorrhage so massive that the doctors could do nothing. He died a week later, without ever regaining consciousness.

In mid-April, another very significant person, my Aunt L, passed away. She had earlier this year been diagnosed with esophageal cancer. As a former medical professional, she understood all too well the death sentence that awaited her. Being very strongly of the opinion that too many medical procedures are used unduly to prolong the lives of the elderly, she refused to undergo any medical treatment other than painkillers at the end. Finally, as my Cousin N described it, the chariot swung low enough to pick her up. By then it was a mercy. But that doesn't mean that we miss her any less.

She spent her last few days in the hospice where both of my parents died, several years back. The hospice was new then; by now it has hosted many - too many - people I have known well, all of whom have moved beyond this world since. I consider that my Aunt L, also my godmother, literally saved my life. I was well on the road to adolescent alienation and rebellion when Aunt L and Uncle A opened their home to me, thus opening my mind to new experiences, new possibilities and new horizons - exactly what was needed to keep me on track. I have always considered the two years that I spent living with them and my Cousins N and B among the happiest in my life. I also appreciated my parents' understanding in letting me go, which was exactly what I needed then.

But I miss them both. The world is a colder place without them.

More Travel Shots

This morning, I received lots of news from Montana.  Lately, the news from my home state has brought more lumps in the throat than joy.  Some of my long-time friends and acquaintances have had the misfortune to lose spouses just in the past couple weeks.  Unfortunately, beginning in December 2011, the past couple months have seen more people of my generation depart from this life than has formerly been the case.  I want this to STOP!  Given the time of our lives, the pace will likely accentuate over the coming months and years, but not yet, please! To add to the general gloom, one of my dearest aunts, who was like a second mother to me, particularly during my very trying adolescent years, has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer.

So, along with the very bad and the sad news, it was refreshing also to receive news of my visitors' safe return to the US after their time in Italy, which they also enjoyed.  Because Friend K kindly sent some shots of our outing to Gruyeres and Montreux, I am taking the liberty to post some of them here as well.

First, here's a snap of the signs along the highway as we turned up towards Fribourg canton to visit Gruyeres,

followed by a typical "tourist-y" shot outside the cheese museum.

Next, there's a glimpse of me with Friend T, posing in front of the small chapel in the center of Gruyeres,

followed by Friends T & K perched on the ledge of the small walkway around the castle.  I'm not sure how I managed to catch the streak of light.  My photoshop "skills" aren't up to "disappearing" it.

Here's the entrance to the H. R. Giger Museum, unfortunately closed during this "off" season period.  It's quite a surreal place, just as one would expect from the Oscar-winning designer of Special Effects for the film Alien.

This is the Montreux lakefront we spent time sauntering along,

and Friend K takes her turn with Freddie Mercury!

Nice memories!  Good friends!

No Excuses

No, I don't have any.  It's simply as if I can't get up any gumption whatsoever these days and there is absolutely no reason for it.  I could mention that my laptop hasn't been in its usual spot for a couple weeks and this fact allows me to forget about it unless I am parked right in front of it.  There is also something about hot lazy summer days with no air conditioning that tend to sap one's will to work, to ruminate - indeed, to do just about anything - when there is no need to.  But that isn't really a reason, or even an excuse.  Heck, it's not even that hot here and my apartment has such good air circulation that, apart from about ten days every year when heat is not a friend, I really do not need and could not justify using air conditioning, even if I did have it.

My summer guests were somewhat shocked a couple weeks back when we had our hottest day so far (34 C = 93.2 F) to realize that my abode is not air conditioned.  Fortunately, HWMBO reminded me that I had a couple fans in my basement storage area that have helped out since.  We hadn't spent much summer time here since August 2007 and I literally had forgotten that I had them.  For the hottest day so far, we kept the shutters down with the windows open and the fans on, thereby generating enough air circulation to make things tolerable, at least for those of us "oldsters" who, like I, remember routine 100+ F summer temperatures on the high plains of North Central Montana before we had even heard of the luxury of air conditioning.  But the younger generation has been much more sheltered, less used to heat discomfort and doesn't like being uncomfortably hot unless that heat is coupled with a beach and they are lying on it.  Still, my guests took things in stride.  Having the temperatures drop almost immediately to more tolerable ranges helped immensely in retaining equanimity and they now have a fan to help out when it begins to get sticky.  Right now, the weather is quite pleasant, although today has certainly been a day of microclimates, to be sure.  After a dark and overcast early morning that developed into impressive thunderstorms and torrential rains by mid-morning, the sun came out in the early afternoon.  Now, in mid-afternoon, it's clouding over once again.

HWMBO departed several days ago for the more humid clime of Maryland - where air conditioning is a necessary fact of life - and misses no opportunity to remind me of what I'm missing insofar as climate control is concerned.  All things considered, I would rather take my chances with an environment where I can be almost as comfortable outside as inside in the summer.  And I certainly do not miss the myriad and various bugs of Maryland, especially the awful recent invaders from China, stink bugs, of all things!   Ugh!  Or the noxious plants, especially after my painful brush with poison ivy - or one of its close relatives - last summer.

My visitors did have a scare last week when an large insect flew past them one evening while we were indoors watching television.  The insect - I had at first feared that it was a bat because it was so large and a bat would have freaked them out even more - turned out to be an exceptionally large green grasshopper.  I managed to trap it and free it outdoors, but not before it had made one desperate dash in their direction, obviously even more frightened of us.  This caused both girls to scream bloody murder at the top of their lungs!  It was quite amusing in retrospect, although none of us found it amusing at the time.  Needless to say, the evening's television viewing was a casualty of this event.

An event that occupied quite a lot of my time and energy in June, especially while HWMBO was here, was the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.  Because I so love to watch Roger Federer play and because I would love to see him win a couple more Grand Slam titles before his inevitable retirement now that he is an "old man" of 30 this year, I really hoped that Wimbledon would be one of them.  I'm sure that he himself would also have liked to win and this year the odds seemed good.  He had played superbly throughout the opening rounds, while his perennial jinx, Rafael Nadal, had seemed more faltering and tentative than usual.  Of course, Rafa kept gritting it out and winning his matches.  Still, up until the quarter finals, it appeared that Roger had a good shot at making it into the semis for a finals match-up with Rafa once again.   But a French player named Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had other ideas.  Surprisingly, even after Roger had won the first two sets, Tsonga was able to pull off a real upset and that was that.  Roger was out.  Tsonga himself was beaten by the red-hot Novak Djokovic, whose only defeat this year has come at Roger's hands.  As anyone who follows tennis now knows, Novak soundly defeated Rafa in the finals to win his third Grand Slam title, his first at Wimbledon, and take over the No 1 spot in the Men's Singles ATP rankings.  Novak certainly does deserve it and has had an incredible winning streak.  Rafa admitted afterwards to having the same sort of mental block when he's playing Djokovic as Roger seems to have when he plays Rafa.  Ah well!

In any event, this weekend Roger, together with his Olympics Gold Medal doubles partner, fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, played for Switzerland in its Davis Cup match against Portugal.  Both Roger and Stan won their singles matches Friday, although neither played top form tennis.   At least, Stan won in three sets.  Roger, almost unbelievably and to the shock of the hometown crowd in Bern, lost his first set.  Then he settled down and got back to the business of winning.  The pair also won their doubles competition yesterday so Roger sat back while replacement Marco Chiudinelli and Stan played out the singles match-ups scheduled for today.   Anyway, it was good to see Roger in action again so soon, even if not at his best.  The Davis Cup play reminded me of when HMWBO and I saw Roger play in Geneva for Switzerland against Serbia in 2006 (I believe).  We were privileged to watch him play a then 19-year-old Novak Djokovic - who nearly stole the show!  Novak has certainly lived up to the promise that he showed then.

Anyway, I haven't forgotten SD.  In case of any concern, the e coli outbreak elsewhere in Europe has - fortunately - not affected us here at all, so there has been no reason for concern.  I've not been writing for many reasons, but primarily out of sheer laziness!  Sorry about that!

35+ Years to Mature - Mere Hours to Destroy

The aftermath of last weekend's tree drama was very sad.  In order to ensure that no property damage or injury would result, the sad consensus was that our beautiful blue spruce, planted in days of yore when my sons and I were all much younger, would have to come down.  And so, with a great gulp, many sighs and general mourning, arrangements were made for the dastardly, but necessary, deed.

This was how matters stood as of last Sunday.  Branches and chunks of wood were piled high, remnants of the half that had fallen, badly frightening the neighborhood on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, what was left standing after Saturday's freakish windstorms was much too likely to fall victim to other such occurrences.

The serious cutting down began Tuesday morning. 

In a mere couple hours, only a trunk surrounded by many branches remained.

The sad demise of a proud monarch didn't take long.

The removal work began in earnest on Tuesday afternoon.

Heavy machinery made lifting chunks of the thick trunk look like child's play.

The debris disappeared altogether - literally in moments.

The house literally looks naked without the tree.  My renter says that she almost needs sunglasses when she goes into the living room.

The next day, even the stump was removed and ground up.  Now there is nothing but bare earth in its place.

And that was that.  It took no small amount of time for my tree to grow to the size that it was when we planted it in 1976.  Add to that the 35 years since we planted it.  Since that time, whole lifetimes for my ex, my sons and I have occurred, just as they have for the various renters who have occupied the house since our departure.  My country also seems in many ways to be an entirely different country than I remember it to be.  What a history our tree lived through and what stories it could have told!

It was there with us in 1976 when we celebrated the US Centennial.  It was a witness to 1978, when my ex and I decided to go our separate ways.  It was a solace to my sons and me in 1980 when we were confined inside for a week after Mount Saint Helens blew up in May.  Later that same year, we said good-bye as we returned to Morocco again, there to begin whole new lives none of us had even imagined.  Our tree continued growing just as we ourselves grew and matured in those lives.

It takes such a long time to build something great and beautiful.  It takes only moments to destroy it.  That is a very sober fact of life that unfortunately happens too often.  But I am very happy to say that, where this story is concerned, the destruction of our beautiful tree is not the end.  It will be a new beginning.  More on that in due course ....

Not Royal, But Still a Very Nice Wedding

Last weekend, HWMBO flew to Austin, TX to attend the second wedding ceremony of our granddaughter, Princess A.  The first ceremony, which was apparently the "official" ceremony, actually occurred in Las Vegas, NV over a month ago.  This second ceremony was for the benefit of family and friends who were not able to attend the first event.

After a rollicking Friday dinner at a local restaurant, the wedding events on Saturday and a post-wedding barbecue on Sunday were held at the home of the groom's parents, outside Austin.  Like the high plains of Montana where I was raised, Texas is also subject to impressive wind.  The wind graced the wedding festivities as well, such as here where the bride and groom are restating their vows

and exchanging rings.

After the ceremony, Princess A celebrated with some friends.

Other guests mulled about, getting ready for food that had been

cooked and served from an authentic Texas chuck wagon.

The groom had once been part of a bluegrass band.  After taking off his jacket, he joined with his old combo friends and formed part of the entertainment.

OK, so it didn't have quite the same splendor and pagentry of the Royal Wedding in London.  But a very good time was had by all. Most importantly, the happy young couple have now officially begun their lives together.   Well done, indeed!

Bargaining Versus Begging

Last Sunday afternoon, I took the train to nearby Nyon to attend a meeting with a group of expatriate Americans who are greatly concerned, among other things, about the radical right-wing's well-funded and concerted onslaughts on public employees in various states in the United States.

If you live in the United States and have not heard much about these occurrences, you are not alone.  What passes for mainstream media in the US has largely been deafeningly silent about them.  For the most part, good factual coverage of the Wisconsin demonstrations in support of bargaining and other human rights, as well as similar events around the nation, can be found on-line on sites such as Daily Kos and The Huffington Post.  Some regular columnists at mainstream print media sources such as the New York Times and the Washington Post have also published excellent opinion pieces. 

Among events that have received a tiny bit of exposure in the US press - the news has been covered much better abroad by the Guardian and the Independent than by US newspapers generally, I'm sorry to note - have been the ongoing demonstrations, at times numbering well over 100,000 participants, in the state of Wisconsin throughout the month of February.  What is fascinating is that these events have attracted a worldwide audience and a feeling of global solidarity that surely were not intended by the radical righties!

Because anti-union (public employees' unions are the current targets) and anti-collective bargaining actions have been taken by legislators and governors in thrall to radical ideologues who were voted into office in November 2010 and these disturbing actions have seemed to be so well organized, William Kronon, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, prepared an interesting and well-researched historical context for these actions and published them here.  For performing this true public service, the Republican Party of Wisconsin has literally launched a modern-day witch hunt against Professor Kronon.  The historical context must have hit too close to home, methinks.

Some in our expatriate group have connections to UNI (Union Network International), the global union for skills and services that represents 900 trade unions and 20 million workers worldwide, including those in the United States.  UNI is headquartered in Nyon and occupies a modern building there with well-appointed conference rooms.

The meeting had many - of all ages - in attendance.  Discussion was lively and it was a very interesting afternoon.  The gentleman seated in front of me proudly sported a sweatshirt with the logo, "United We Bargain, Divided We Beg."  These are sobering sentiments indeed.  More sobering is the fact that we Americans should have to be standing firm for such  - again - and in the 21st century! 

Among other actions, to show our own solidarity with and support of Wisconsin's public sector employees, we approved a resolution that denounces the unprecedented attacks against public sector workers.   The text of the resolution, entitled "We Are All Wisconsin," can be found here.  On 4 April, we, together with other like-minded Americans and supporters, will rally at the Place des Nations in Geneva in support of collective bargaining rights.

The 4th April timing is significant, as it represents the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had traveled to stand in solidarity with striking sanitation workers demanding their chance to attain the American Dream.  We keep having to fight the same battles - over and over again.  As the saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Enjoying Alfresco Dining

One thing that is so enjoyable once the weather turns warm enough is to enjoy one of the many alfresco dining possibilities in this area.  Thus it was that six adults, accompanied by two small ones - one tiny! - met for luncheon on Thursday at the Domaine du Château de Penthes in Geneva.

It was an absolutely splendid day and I was delighted to see that tables, ours included, were set up to take advantage of the brilliant weather.

The Domaine du Château de Penthes is a wonderful sprawling area that dates from the 14th century.  The site comprises six buildings, including the Museum of Swiss Abroad (first photo above), the Geneva Military Museum (last photo below) and the Restaurant des Cent-Suisses where we had a very enjoyable lunch.

It was a great day to be out and about.  Tiny Princess C, just three weeks old, mostly slept or munched throughout our visit.  We hardly heard a peep out of her.  She looked very content.

We all selected the plat du jour, a delicious veal with vegetables, for CHF 19.50.  Some of us were unable to resist the additional temptation of a tarte au citron avec pignons.

After our very pleasant meal, I wandered about the premises with the two young mamas.  It was simply too nice outside not to.  Sweet Momma E braided a coronet of tiny spring daisies for her own Princess C

who was not excited about posing for the photographer.

We were happy that we could take advantage of this lovely site at such a beautiful moment.  In fact, such moments, at least in this spot, may be numbered.  The problem, as described more fully here, is that the Domaine du Château de Penthes occupies a prize location in Geneva, where good real estate is scarce, real estate values have soared and zoning laws are strict.   It is located between the Palais des Nations, the headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, the US and Italian diplomatic missions to the UN and the city's Botanical Gardens.  The foundation that has been managing the site and museum for decades has a lease with the Geneva regional government that expires early in 2012. The problem is that the canton will not disclose its plans, although it favors developing the site as a retreat and conference area for the international organizations.  The foundation is unsure whether it should stay and invest, try to relocate or close down altogether.

Until the matter is sorted, those of us who are able will try to enjoy this lovely location for as long as we can.

Relearning the Network

It's been a long time since I've been a regular customer on the truly excellent public transit systems there are in Switzerland.  I used the system in Geneva quite a lot during our first year here.  Since that time, however, we moved outside Geneva City.  It has become too convenient to hop into my vehicle to run errands.  For some errands, that convenience will not change.  But, now that my life is no longer delineated by the routines, schedules and deadlines of the workplace, I am determined to relearn and use the system.  Even if for no reason other than that I must be able to explain it to others.

After all, my young niece and a friend - both university students - will be staying with me this summer while they attend French courses at the University of Geneva.  In order for them to get the full benefit of their summer abroad, as well as to gain self-confidence and earn themselves some autonomy, they should use the public transit system.  I'll help to get them oriented, of course, and we can make a couple "dry runs" (HWMBO's tried and true techniques) before they begin to take classes.  But the experience will ultimately be most meaningful for them when they can use the system themselves without having an older person constantly watching over their shoulders, however well-intentioned that person may be.

So today, on the occasion of a visit to a friend and former colleague while she was recuperating at a local clinic, I took the train from my little village into Geneva's main train station, Cornavin.   Here's the little local gare:

I was delighted to discover that I was not the only train neophyte today.  Several others who have gotten more dependent on their vehicles over the years were also taking the train to visit the Motor Show.  We all had exactly the same questions but we had only ourselves to learn from.  It was somewhat like the blind leading the blind.  But ultimately all of us did manage to buy tickets and board the train.  Our train is just coming into view around the bend.  There is another train already stopped at the station, and it's also a train to Geneva.  But the train I took was the Express: nine minutes versus 29!

And, as predicted, nine minutes later, we disembarked at Cornavin.

Here is Cornavin's main entrance.

There are - almost - as many bicycles here as I remember seeing in Amsterdam.

From Cornavin, I went in search of the tram that would get me to my destination.

 
The system worked marvelously! I avoided the troublesome traffic attendant on the Motor Show.  I also avoided parking fees.  I enjoyed the ride, got to my visit in good time, and even returned home in a relaxed state.

I look forward to the next experience!