Hello friends and family,
Our trek ended on Sunday, and I'm still tired but am so glad I did it. Here are a couple of photos;
I'll write a more extensive blog about the experience sometime soon...
This large banner above was carried the entire time.
This church in Sásabe, on the Mexican side of the border, is only visited once a month. We heard a moving speech by a priest and were fed a meal by Catholic sisters and other church members, from a town two hours away.
Two women my age, sisters by the name of Natividad and Lupita, grew up in Sásabe when it was a friendly little town where the men made adobe bricks for a living, and crossed over the border to work on nearby US ranches. "They used to just wave us across," Natividad said.
Starting out:
The Walk was very well-organized, with different teams for food, logistics, safety, "environmental" (latrines) etc. The group was very inspiring, more than three quarters of them regularly participate in volunteering on border issues.
Here is a photo of me on the last day, with Ann.
Tired but happy, our smiles say it all.
Love,
Grace (Lennie)
Hi all,
We had a pizza party when our daughter Lyssa, her husband Mike and their five-month-old baby Waylon came down for a visit. Here are a few photos. (Lyssa has asked that photos of the baby be kept off of Facebook and off of blogs, but trust me, he is a cutie!)
Dale Sr. has been working on building the pizza oven and smoker for almost a month, with the help of his bricklayer friend John Ducette. The custom metal work doors and smoker lid were made by a guy who lives down the street.
Here's a photo of Mike and Dale Sr. rolling out dough:
Patting the dough into rounds:
Around 4 PM, the oven was hot enough, so they made the first trial pizza and it was pronounced delicious.
It was a great party! About 40 people attended, including all of our kids and their families.
I'll end with a photo of Dale Jr. playing guitar and singing, accompanied by his dad's best buddy, Jerry Gargalione:
Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the pizzas actually being cooked in the oven...
Love,
Lennie
Hi all,
We had the tree-trimming party last night. John and Kathy drove down mid-day from the cabin at Inverness, where they spent the night. Madelyn had originally volunteered to bring dinner for the party, but stayed home to care for Ben's wife Melissa, and their very new baby. Rebecca stepped in, bringing (in addition to her two little boys) a whole lot of delicious food. Sandy contributed one of his delicious salads. Mariah brought her friend Nick, they had just returned from an adventure-travel trip in the Phillipines. Greg and Alex and Joe arrived a little later. It was a really fun evening.
Nancy and Wendell and their kids and grandkids were attending holiday gathering at one of the kids' houses. They will come down to join us all on Christmas Day.
Smile, Joe...
Love, Lennie
Written December 23rd, 2015
I'm at Campus Dr., enjoying a completely lazy morning. Still in my pajamas at almost noon! The only family here so far are Mom, Sandy, and I.
Huge news, Mom has a new great-grandchild! Joe's son Ben and his wife Melissa have recently had their first child!
Madelyn and Joseph will stay home tonight, of course, to help care for the baby and new mother. Rebecca has volunteered to bring the food which Madelyn had planned to bring for the annual tree-trimming tonight. Greg brought the Christmas tree, on his way to meet friends last night.
I don't really blame myself for my laziness, because it's been quite a hectic week! This year has been so busy that I have really let the dust, dirt and clutter accumulate in my house. I spent at least 30 hours cleaning, this past week,before I felt I could put up the tree, a 3/4 size fir which I bought at Home Depot. There were presents to buy for our own grandkids, and of course wrapping and Christmas card writing and posting. And all of the plants on both lots, except the well-established trees, had to be watered, a couple of hours doing that.
The van was coming for me at 3AM yesterday morning. so I had very little sleep the night before. For warmth while I waited outside for the van, I wrapped the Christmas present I'd bought for my mom around me: a holiday-themed shawl.
I got to Oakland International Airport at 7:00 or so California time
foggy, darkish and damp.
This photo is from the BART-Airport SkyTrain:
On the wind-blown Coliseum BART station, I was glad to have my rain jacket and hood.
I got to Oscar's at 10:00 AM, as arranged, and we played some music. I was charmed by this photo of him as a child with the mandolin orchestra at the Brooklyn Cooperative where he was raised (in the 1930's), his parents were communist by persuasion, Jewish by heritage, but, as communists, decidedly secular. Oscar is on the far right.
(Almost every time I come to Berkeley, I have lunch with Oscar and Paulette at their charming little home in El Cerrito, only fifteen minutes walk from the BART station.)
The next thing I had to do was write and mail a bunch of bills.
I stopped at the "Paris Bistro"
which is a Vietnamese-owned coffee/pastry place right next to the BART station. It's very clean and they have a spotless restroom, so I often stop there.
The homeless are very prevalent right around that BART station. The "Paris Bistro" is zealously protective of its restroom key!
I called Sandy and he said he'd not been able to leave Campus Dr. to go shopping for two days. Marisa had already been on vacation that long. I headed up the hill on the bus, as soon as my bills were mailed, so he could leave to go to the grocery store.
After dinner, Mom and I watched an episode of Hamish Macbeth.
We started a second one but my head kept jerking backward with fatigue!
Love, Lennie
Hi all,
Here are a few photos from Mom and Sandy's monthly "tea" held last night because the end of the month conflicts with the usual "tea" date.
Mom sends you all warm wishes for the holidays! We are sitting in the kitchen, and she is reading the newspapers.
1) Sandy with Mom as she practices walking with the walker 2) Betsey Tabraham 3) Danielle with the Chinese exchange student who is staying with her this year 3) Marcia, who was with Mom in the Library School at UC Berkeley 4) Paulette and Anna Jarnagin at the buffet table.
I always forget to take photos of some who attended, and last night was no exception. Benter's husband was there with his brother-in-law Alfred, both of their wives are down with the flu. (But Benter still cooked something to send along.) Danielle is very excited that for her last year of teaching French, her daughter will be sharing her office!
I mostly conversed with Benter's husband, Kaluoch, and his brother-in-law Alfred who were asking me if Donald Trump had any chance of winning.
I was so pleased that Kaluoch's sister and her husband have both moved on to better jobs than they had at Brennan's restaurant and bar. They are here fairly recently from Kenya, just since May.
Hi family,
Thanks for all of your Thanksgiving wishes!
My son Lawson and his wife Marie cooked most of the dinner, when we went to his parents' home for Thanksgiving. Her mom Marie has been under treatment for cancer all year, but is now in remission. Photos in order: Lawson cooking, Marie cooking,
Marie's mom, Diana, and Marie, Dale Sr. and Lawson.
Love to all,
Lennie
Hi all,
The midwife is here, nice strong baby heartbeat broadcast over the room.The baby is still within normal range of lateness. Lyssa's midwife, who is from Holland, has recommended some gentle methods to encourage labor if things haven't happened by Friday. (At 42 weeks, the baby will be delivered in the hospital, probably by the midwife and the obstetrician working together.)
All signs are encouraging that things will happen on their own before then.
Yesterday Lyssa and I had lunch at a place over the water in Sechelt.
This man and dog were sitting out on the bench outside, just across the sidewalk from our table by the window. People kept walking their dogs back and forth.
Then we had a really great walk by the sea. The area along the walk was a city park, and there were many benches such the one above.
Love, Lennie
