Home again

We made the trip back in two days, pretty much driving straight through each day, and reached Cortez in plenty of time to liberate Scooby Doo from the animal B&B where she stayed while we were gone.

'Twas a good trip. The Friends Bulletin board meeting (my next-to-last) was productive ... we agreed on Western Friend as the new name, approved a job description for the editor position (which we can now advertise ... six people have already indicated an interest) and we hope to fill it at the May meeting. We decided to meet in Portland OR in May, for ease of access, and then come to Durango for the September meeting. So, even though I aim to be off the board by then, I'll still help host that meeting.

The air is thick a mile and a quarter lower ... and damp. I wound up wearing my parka, which I never bother to wear around here, during our deliberations Saturday. Saturday night we heard a presentation by two of the co-founders of Combatants for Peace. Elik Elhanan (at the left in the top picture) was in the Israeli Defense Force, and his sister died in a suicide bombing. Bassam Aranin, center, was a Palestinian fighter against the Israeli occupation (don't know which group he was with); his one-year-old daughter was killed by Israeli soldiers and he spent several years in an Israeli jail. Donna Baranski-Walker (at right), of the Rebuilding Alliance, facilitated their presentation and introduced them.

Their message is that talks and cooperation have to take place between both parties at all levels ... the existing situation dehumanizes both sides and cannot succeed for either side. On an immediate level, they are working to raise money for a garden at Anata Girl's School, in Anata Village, Jerusalem, in memory of Bassam's daughter. On the larger level, they are recruiting and mobilizing combatants from both sides in several conflicts to build bridges and find other means to peace.

The farm boy successfully negotiated his way back out of the Bay Area to Stockton, and enjoyed another evening with Sandy's son and his family. On the way south Monday, we got directions to an area with fruit stands about 10 miles east of Tulare and splurged on fresh oranges, grapefruit, onions and tomatoes. The fresh oranges are SO sweet and juicy, they remind me of a navel orange tree near an old Hawaiian home above the stream in Kipahulu. I used to hike up there, find the orange tree amid the coffee trees, and the oranges were so sweet and juicy it was like a sweet bath!

Our luck held and we hit the weather window again. Mancos schools were closed Monday, but it was bright and beautiful on Tuesday ... the second picture is the driveway scene when we got home. Lots of snow for the Mush, and we heard last night that we may have 15 or 16 mushers this year, almost double last year's turnout. We'll have a yippin' good time in the Rockies!

Sure is nice to be home and sleep in your own bed! 

(A note: We're reducing the size of the picture files for easier loading, so they are not as high quality on the blog as the original.) TV