Holland's Graduation from High School

8AM

May 31, 2013 - High School Graduation Day for Holland Isley Duane, my third granddaughter, in El Dorado Hills, California, about 20 miles from my house.  Yeah!  No big travel day for this celebration!

Holland is kind, loving, giving, spiritual.  She's also very beautiful outside - to match her wonderful interior self.  Last Summer she visited me in Guatemala; what a fantastic time we had and I enjoyed every minute of special time with Holland alone.  It's sometimes difficult to get one on one time with my grandchildren as there are so many of them!  I will always remember the week we had in Antigua.

Here are some photos ....

One of the main reasons I spent so much time in Guatemala was volunteering in several venues involving children.  Holland and I spent a day at Nuestros Ahijados, The God Child Project, in their hospital for malnourished infants and children.  Just like all who meet her, these patients fell madly in love with Holland.  To give you an idea of the severity of the conditions of poverty in this central American country, the little boy in her right arm (red sleeves) is 7-years old!  He's been a patient in the hospital for almost a year at the time of the photo.  The other little guy is four. 

This little girl is almost three years old.  Unfortunately many of these disastrously ill children will have residual developmental issues throughout their lives.  However, they are happy, loved and loving.  Most, if not all, do NOT come from uncaring families.  With extreme poverty comes malnutrition and most of these children are brought to Casa Jackson (hospital) by their own families for help.  They remain as inpatients until they've achieved a certain percentile of the Guatemalan infant / child growth  chart.  Holland is wearing a face mask to protect the kids' compromised immune systems; they are used to the 'masked' visitors and flock to them for play and loving.

Go to my facebook page for more pictures of Holland as she is today on HER day.  I will share more about Guatemala and my experiences there.  For now, 'cause I'm busy preparing Holland's Graduation Dinner, I'll direct those who may be interested to

http://www.godschild.org/about-us/

Here are a couple more photos of Holland in Guatemala:

Holland loved the tuk-tuks and our driver asked if she'd like a picture - he took it!  It's a bumpy ride on the cobblestone streets, but fun and a lot easier than walking long distances

Two little girls at one of the God-Child Project schools fell head over heels in love with Holland - and she with them too.  Through safety, education, healthcare, protection and love these children are the hope for the future.

I LOVE YOU, HOLLAND; YOU ARE MY HERO!

Netflix Finds.....

I just watched an incredible Netflix documentary, "Somewhere Between."  I had watched a National Geographic documentary, "China's Lost Girls" with Lisa LIng about the gender imbalance problem being caused in China, the most populous country on Earth, due to the "1 Family, 1 Child" rule [directive] that was put into place in 1979 in China.  Because the centuries-old cultural bias for a male child, hundreds of thousands of girl infants and children are abandoned in orphanages or even on the streets.  The gender imbalance at this time is striking; it will become staggering in a few short years.  The average size of a grammar school class in China is 39 students, 28 of whom are male.  What will happen when these young men become ready to take a wife and there aren't enough females to go around?  The  negative possibilities are so frightening.

Both the National Geographic, "China's Lost Girls" and the "Somewhere Between" are very worthwhile and thought-provoking documentaries.

Wisdom from my Granddaughter

I was catching up on all the excitement in my granddaughter, Addison's, life right now.  Her blog is www.addisonduane.blogspot.com if you'd like to take a look.  Anyway, she's just completed her graduation trip to Madrid, Rome, Paris and London - her photos are incredible.  But earlier this Spring she blogged about saying 'bye-bye' to her lovely little cottage she and three girlfriends rented this past school year.

I picked up some pretty important advice and am repeating it here:

A wall decoration for all to see:

Be Bold
Be thankful
Be quiet
Be original
Be spontaneous
Be punctual
Be a star
Be young
Be loving
Be crazy
Be loud
Be random
Be adorable
Be unique
Be daring
Be obnoxious
Be yourself

Well, I'm not sure about the 'be loud' and 'be obnoxious' but I certainly know I have been both of those at times in my life.  But the other instructions can't hurt any one of us!

Another sign:  Life's Short - Eat Cookies!!!  Gotta' love that!  Cookies may just be my FAVORITE FOOD group!

Memorial Day

Once again, thank you all if you've served in our country's military service - or that of any country in the free world.  I believe we don't give enough thought and caring for those who have, do or will risk their lives so that we can be free - to write blogs, travel freely, enjoy all the benefits of our modern society.  As I travel more and more I'm more and more thankful for what we have been given in the US and Canada. We are blessed.

I've been house and dog-sitting for my son, Jeff, and his family for the last three days - living in my RV right outside and enjoying the quiet serenity of the countryside outside the little town of Cottonwood, CA ... about 25 miles south of Redding.  Jeff, Alice and their twin daughters, Malia and Samantha, traveled to Medford, Oregon for a soccer tournament.  My 13-year old twin granddaughters are very competitive and competent soccer players; their parents sacrifice a lot to make it possible for the girls to play on a traveling team - for most of each year.  And, they're GOOD, if I do say so myself!

The tournament this holiday weekend was not their finest hour; unfortunately they didn't make the finals - an unusual occurrence for them.  The positives still outweigh the negatives for the weekend.  They set up, I believe, 10 tents in a KOA campground - and did a lot of having fun with their soccer-buddies and their families during their stay.

Malia and Samantha, in 7th grade, are the youngest of my 8 grandchildren; they're great girls - and becoming very lovely young ladies.  I fished out a couple of photos taken last Summer when they and their mom, Alice, visited me in Guatemala.  I swear, in the last 8 or 9 months they've matured 5 years.  Oh, but it goes by so quickly .....

 This is Malia - named after me!  Malia is 'Mary' in Hawaiian.  She is kind, helpful, thoughtful, smart, agile, Pogo Champ of the family, swims like a fish and a joy to be around.  Two relatively recent changes for Malia:  She's wearing braces on those beautiful teeth and she loves all things cosmetic.

And this is Samantha.  She's intelligent, sweet, loves to learn all kinds of things, competitive, fast, has a memory of steel, petite, loving, Rubik's Cube champ of the family.  This girl is going places.  I expect Sam will conquer whatever world she decides to enter.

Achilles Deatheridge

Another Military bit:

This is a poem I was required to memorize in high school American Literature.  Achilles Deatheridge is responding to his commanding officer .......

A Poem by Edgar Lee Masters – An Incident in the Civil War ……

Achilles Deatheridge

“Your name is Achilles Deatheridge?

How old are you, my boy?”

“I’m sixteen past and I went to the war

From Athens, Illinois.”

“Achilles Deatheridge,

You have done a deed of dreadful note.

It comes of his wearing a battered hat,

And a rusty, wrinkled coat.”

“Why didn’t you know how plain he is?

And didn’t you ever hear,

He goes through the lines by day or night,

Like a sooty cannoneer?

”

“You must have been half dead for sleep,

For the dawn was growing bright.”

“Well, Captain, I had stood right there

Since six o’clock last night.”

“I cocked my gun at the swish of the grass

And how am I at fault?

When a dangerous looking man won’t stop

When a sentry hollers, ‘Halt?’ ”

“I cried out, ‘halt,’ and he only smiled

And waved his hand like that.

Why any Johnnie could wear that coat

And any fellow the hat.”

“I hollered, ‘halt’ again and he stopped

And lighted a fresh cigar.

I never noticed his shoulder badge,

                                                                                       And I never noticed a star.”

                 

“So you arrested him?  Well, Achilles Deatheridge,

When you hear the swish of the grass

If it’s General Grant inspecting the lines

Hereafter let him pass!”

Memorial Sunday

5/26/13

10:30AM

Yes, I am remembering lots of things about my military upbringing this Memorial Sunday.
First of all, THANK YOU to all our military people, present and past - and future too.

My dad (Grandpa Leo) would have been 108 on April 11th this year.  And, although he's been gone a very long time, I remember so many stories he told about his career in the military.  It all started when he lied about his age (not a good idea!) and joined the Navy when he was 16.  When he'd 'served' his time, at age 20, he turned around and enlisted in the Army where he spent over thirty years, retiring as a Colonel.  He was almost 40 when I was born, so he'd already had quite an adventurous life.

I was born smack dab in the middle of WWII and Dad first retired in 1948.  Believe it or not, he reenlisted for the Korean War and finally took full retirement when I was only about 9 years old.  He was still young and, in the civilian world, he worked as Post Master in Campbell, CA; then Director of Parks and Recreation in Santa Clara, CA for several years.

I loved my dad although I also feared him - mostly his voice!  His nickname was "Leo, the Lion Ryan," for his deep booming voice, built in to a fairly small man - 5'8" and probably 145 pounds, sopping wet!
I only remember getting one spanking in my life - and that was for misbehaving during Mass at the age of about 7 - a real no-no in our family.  Dad told me he was going to spank me when we got home from church - I suffered a lot waiting - I remember tears in his eyes after he 'spanked' me with about 4 easy slaps on my behind.  Then he hugged me and said, "Don't misbehave in church again!"  I don't think I ever did.

He talked like the military man he was during all of my childhood.  Instructions and requests were given as an 'order.'  "Patsy, clean your room.  That's an order!"  Each evening before dinner, served promptly at 5:30, I stood behind my chair at the table until my dad was seated; then gave my vocabulary word of the day, spelled it, defined it and used it in a sentence.  Then I was seated for dinner.  Sounds terribly hard on a kid; but I'm thankful to him for his determination in educating his children - in so many ways.

I spent many years thinking he didn't love me enough; but I know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he loved me as much as he actually always told me - "I love you more than all the fish in the sea, stars in the sky, kids in the World, etc."

No matter what our political bent let's remember all the men and women, past, present and future who give their lives for us.  This freedom we live in our lives is at times, unfortunately, due to the struggles and lives of our militaries - all the 'free' World.

Wednesday Wiles ...

5:30PM

Spent a good part of the day working on TurboTax - filing my 2012 return.  I'd filed for an extension while I was in Mexico to give myself time to return home, collect documentation for filing  and get started.  I've not used TurboTax previously but it appears to be fairly simple and straight forward.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that, even though I have an MBA, I've not done my own tax return since about 1965!!!

Along with the tax filing I'm also investigating refinance of my home - simply to lower monthly payments.  I'm in process of using my kids as sounding boards for possible changes in my home living situation.  I'm still letting the disappointing news about my Toyota Dolphin improvement impossibilities rumble around in my head.  I guess I could say I'm in a grand information-gathering mode of operation.  I'm even enjoying the process!!!  During all my career years my free time was so fractured I never felt I could sit on decisions; now I can.

Last evening I did some online research about possible replacements for Daphne Dolphin and even sent a few emails for more info.  Any comments about negatives and positives regarding not-too-big, probably, Class C motorhomes will be appreciated.  I really don't want or need a big rig - I'd say 25 feet in the max I'd be interested in.  Any input re:  Ford vs Chevy engines?