From the Author" Happy 4th

This weekend we celebrate the 4th of July, Independence Day.
Many of our ancestors came to this country to escape intolerance. My grandparents immigrated fro Germany/Austria and Hungry to escape politically sanctioned riots against their beliefs.
My hope is we as a nation may remember why our ancestors came to this country and we may learn to be tolerant of others beliefs.

Spectacular Nature Photos of the Year

Happy New Year!  Lets celebrate by looking at the best nature had to offer 2015

The Inaugural Royal Society Publishing photography competition released their results in November but, this gorgeous photo might be a bit more powerful if you are fighting the winter snows, dreaming of a fertile green world. I like New England weather. The changing seasons always remind me of the cycle of life and that slight longing when something is not there. Hope springs eternal for a healthy world.

From the Chagall family to yours,
have a safe and happy New Year.

The winning photo stood out from over 1,000 entries for giving a tadpole’s glimpse of the world beyond the water — a surprising perspective of an everyday biological phenomenon.
Winner Bert Willaert, who is a biologist of amphibian evolution and an environmental advisor, said:
“Clear water is hard to come across in the part of Belgium where I live, as a consequence of eutrophication. When I noticed these common toad tadpoles in the crystal clear canal I wanted to capture the chance encounter from their perspective.
“To conserve the natural world I think drawing attention to the beauty of these ordinary moments in our own neighbourhoods, including our own backyards, is particularly important.
"I believe people will only conserve things when they know it exists — and how often will people have had snorkelled in their own garden pond?”

From the Author: first holiday season in the States since returning from South Africa

We have been blessed to share this festive season with friends and family, both in person, by exchanging cards and Emails.

Thanks giving was in Squaw Valley with family and a week of snow shoeing and looking at over priced items in the shops. We enjoyed ourselves and relaxed. Did not worry about the snow since we were not going anywhere.

It has been fun promoting "Chagall, the Recycling  Dragon" and sharing the story.

We have enjoyed seeing our Granddaughter in Auburn and her parents. Friends and family have given us a warm welcome and heart felt greetings.

Soon we return to North Carolina where we will share more with other friends and family in that area. And the rest will be over as we continue to work on our home in the woods.

Take Care and May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Great New Year.

Marty

From the Author: Holiday update

Dear Family and Friends:
This Holiday Season is special for Suzanne and me because we celebrate it with family and friends. We have lots to be grateful for and celebrate this last year.
Since becoming grandparents last December we decided to spend time closer to family in California so we can get to know our new granddaughter, Chloe born December 2, 2014.
Our return from South Africa was May 12, 2015. We landed in Bangor, Maine and spent a week with Suzanne’s family.. We enjoyed visiting family.
After a week we started our journey down the East Coast to North Carolina to our home in the mountains and woods. On the way we visited friends and family. Memorial Day weekend Marty’s nephew, Simon Strauss got married in New Hampshire. We celebrated their wedding and enjoyed dancing for the first time in a long while.  Marty caught up with his older cousin and wife at the wedding.
We arrived in North  Carolina early June and worked with the house sitters on a schedule for us to move back into the house. We made contact with Suzanne’s nephew and niece and welcomed them to their new home in South Carolina. We visited Suzanne’s niece and our adopted granddaughter in Wilmington, NC and saw her cousin in High Point, NC.
We prepared for our move to Nevada and returned to Maine to celebrate Suzanne’s, mother’s 95th birthday. Now we are in Carson City, Nevada and enjoying the time to reflect and play. Snow has fallen and more is predicted, breaking the draught. Thanksgiving week was in Squaw Valley with family coming from both sides of the mountains to celebrate and visit. We played in the snow and enjoyed the time.
It has been family and friends that made our re-entry easy. The gift this season is family and friends that celebrated our safe return and joined us in life celebrations.
We will be in  Carson City, NV for the holidays and returning to North Carolina early January.
Suzanne and I wish all everyone a joyous and healthy Holiday Season. We send you our prayers for safe travels in these troubling times and thank all of you for your support and love.
Seasons Greetings
Marty and Suzanne

our one year anniversary in South Africa

Marty's and Suzanne's

As we celebrate our one year anniversary in South Africa we reflect on the year here.

Peace Corps has provided a Family and Friends Face Book link for those who want to stay in contact Book. Here it is:

 Family and Friends group

We have been tested mentally and emotionally. Suzanne  has been the strong one and support for me. I thank her for the presence she brings.

This country is a divergent mix of people and politics. The people are struggling toward their second twenty years of being out of apartied. There is distrust among many those of the same race and different races. As the only whites in a village of all blacks and coloreds we are obvious and approached often out of curiosity. The first thought is we are lost and need help finding where are going. Then surprise, when discovering we live here and are simply taking a walk (Si Hamba) after dinner.

From our perspective we look cautiously at all who approaches whom we have not met before, and make a mental note to change our route if suspect or given a look that is not good. So, there is distrust on both sides and caution.

We have ;learned to get inside by dark and if out after dark visiting friends we take a route known to us and often are escorted to our gate.This is how life is and we have learned to except it, not like it necessarily.

Still, we have made friends on the bus we ride everyday to and from Nelspruit. If we are missing for  few days one lady calls Suzanne to make sure we are al right. The people at the church we attend ask about us and how we are.

 

We visited Pretoria to see medical last week. We will be moving with the help of our org on the advice of the Peace Corps doctor. The garage we live in is damp and has too much mold. It has caused breathing problems for both of us. With the help of our org we will find a place to move after the first of the year.

The rainy season is upon us.Almost everyday there is rain, sometimes a thunder storm. When it rains hard we cannot hear anything above the sound of the rain hitting the metal roof of the garage. We find a flash light and sit to wait to see if the electricity goes out or not. Not much different in many other places. The rain has made our garden grow.

Church services are free concerts for the enjoyment. They are a mix of Ella Fritzgerald, Duke Ellington and Jimmy Buffet, a delight to the ears and a beat that makes your feet want to dance. We have enjoyed the people we have met through the church and are being invited to work with them more. Like anywhere, this took time for them to know us and us them.

We plan to get out  for the New Year and stay in town for a week. This is both for relaxation and the ability to do some day trips around the area. And yes, a regular shower where water flows over your whole body.

In a conversation about our trips we came to the realization we have seen the big five. It is important to get away and relax, play and not take life too seriously at times. The serious parts will wait for our return.

The holidays are different here. Our close friends are not here and Thanksgiving is not a holiday here. Christmas starts later which is nice. But the poverty in the communities make New Years more important to the people here, hoping for a better year, maybe a job or pay increase at one they already have. It is lonely not celebrating with our close friends and family, but a joy to share with the friends we have made here.

This coming year promises to start with projects we have been working to get started since August. In perspective this is not so long, but we are anxious due to we will soon be counting our second and last year of service. I feel the year 2015 will bring Suzanne and I closer. We hope success will mark our progress as we continue to work with the people we know.

That is all for now.  Stay Safe and Have A Blessed New Year

Suzanne and Marty

 

From the Author Thanksgiving

We had a quiet Thanksgiving in our small home in Khumbula and were thankful for our blessings and each other.

Suzanne describes our trip to Sabie and Taxi Ride Story,,so I will not repeat it.

We had a wonderful weekend seeing many of the sights we hoped to see; God's Window, the Potholes and many wonderful waterfalls. We looked down into Blyde Canyon and learned the story of the River of Tears and River Joy where the women and men found one another after thinking both were lost to one another. The tour took the morning and part of the afternoon, afterwards we stopped in Graskop for lunch.

We visited a Shongan Village and were told about traditional marriage and wives of the chief. We were introduced to a Shamgoma,Traditional healer.

We did a night drive through Kruger National Park where the highlight of the day happened toward the end of the ride.After seeing many Waterbuck and Impalas we saw  two male lion walking along the road marking their area. They stayedwith us for about ten minutes.It was quite thrilling and scary too. We were in an open vehicle that if they were startled they could have easily jumped into. The driver instructed to not talk and be quiet for this reason. The pictures we took of them we have yet to see if they turned out.

Happy Holidays to all and Bless Everyone

This is Suzanne's Tahnksgiving update:

We take the bus to work every day, it is crowded and usually we stand for an hour, of the hour and a half we travel to work.  I have come to know many of the ladies on the bus by face recognition but I have a hard time remembering thier names.  They tell me it is summer now, her in Nelspruit, but the weather has been dool and rainy.  The ladies tell me this is unusual.  It is usually sticky, hot and muggy.  I am grateful it is usually cool and rainy, but it is starting to get hot.  It will get very hot and sticky as this is the sub tropics.  

Today was a lovely day, and we spent most of it in a taxi.  It was bright and very hot, but we climbed into the mountains at top speed.  However, it took all mornng to fill the taxi with people.

The ride today on the taxi from Nelspruit to Sabe had the flavor of many taxi rides we have been on before.  We boarded the Sabe bound taxi at 9:10AM and there was a slender black man and his wife, a tall over weight black lady already in the taxi.  She had many large vegetable and fruit packages she directed him to put under the seat.  She told us in broken English that the bus had to fill up and it takes a long time.  In about 15 mins a young black man with a large speaker, entered an agreement with the taxi rank chief.  The taxi rank chief told the elderly couple they had to sit in the back of the taxi.  So the young man with the speaker took two seats with his speaker, towards the front of the 15 seated Quantum van they call a taxi here and the elderly couple left the taxi.  The older man of the couple came back with two more beers.  He grumbled about not having a choice and went to sit at the back of the bus. About 10:00am a young black lady boarded the taxi.  I asked her if she might know  how long this taxi might take to fill and if she thought of taking the bus.  She told me that this was her first time taking the taxi to Sabe.  She thought it would leave at about11:30am.  She told me that she had heard if you take the bus to White River then you had to transfer to Hazy View.  Even if the bus left at 9:30 AM she would get there faster taking this taxi.  So, we sat and waited, practicing bladder control and getting out of the taxi to stretch every hour or so. 

A young very good looking black lady came into the taxi and we invited her to sit with us, and she did for the entire ride.  A young  slender black couple entered the taxi and took two seats in the back of the taxi.  They were very friendly and talked to everyone on the taxi.  The older black man brought another beer and went on and off the bus.  About 11:30 an elderly black gentleman and an younger healthy looking black lady approached the taxi.  She had a huge canvas suitcase.  This couple got into a verbal argument with the young man and the speaker.  She said she had purchased the extra  seat, and he needed to move.  The taxi rank chief came and told her she could put her suitcase on her lap, as the young man had already made arrangements.  At 12:30pm  The taxi rank chief collected our $35 Rand apiece.  The young man with the speaker told him he didn’t have enough rand to pay for 2 seats.  The chief told him no extra rand no trip to Sabe.  The young man came up with the extra rand.

Doors shut and we were underway with the full taxi of 15 people.  We rode through the mountains.  The older lady from the couple had not returned and her husband called her several times, and was speaking very loudly.  While under way the couple in the back and the older man sang about going to Sabe.  The trip itself was about an hour but the older man in the back seat apparently could not hold his beer.  We had to stop so he could relieve himself.  The taxi driver honked all the time he was waiting.  The couple in the back seat laughed all the time we waited for him.

We got off in the central taxi rank in town.  The older man took off the produce.  We asked directions to Merry Pebbles, the guest house where Marty made arrangements for us.  We found the town was maybe ¼ of a mile up the street and the guest house was about 2 miles from the town and a wonderful walk after sitting all morning.  Sabe itself, is a beautiful small town set in the mountains of South Africa.  It is south og Hoespruit and very close to Kruger.  After our trip, we had dinner, explored the shops and swam under ¼ of a moon under African skies.  It was a beautiful and restful day.

May goodness and mercy follow you all wherever you go!  Love, Suzanne

Holiday card

Happy Holidays Everyone 

From The Author: Thanksgivukkah

Suzanne and I feel blessed by the support and prayers from both old and new friends for our safety and well being as we prepare for our departure to South Africa as Peace Corps Volunteers.

Our prayers have been answered by helping to provide our needs as we purchase supplies, complete medical exams and continue to study language and online courses related to what we believe will be our assignment.


On January 21st we are scheduled to leave for staging some where in the USA. Then two days later we leave for South Africa and if all goes well we will be there 27 months.

Meanwhile, Suzanne has her jewelry at the Pickett Fence/Corner Story in Etowah on Highway 64 and Brickyard Road in front of the Etowah Public Library. Her jewlery will be there until the end of December. So if you go that way stop by and at the same time discover great fresh vegetables and eggs. And yes, "Chagall, The Recycling Dragon" is now available on Amazon.

And like most of you, we have been busy in the yard doing fall clean up.
To all of you, we thank you and wish all a blessed holiday season starting this Thursday as we celebrate Thanksgiving. By the way, for those who want to know, Chanukkah and Thanksgiving arrive at the same time this year, and not again for another 80,000 years. So for those who want here is a chance to combine the foods of both holidays.

Marty