Busy August AND September

It has been over one month since my last blog entry. I am truly sorry about that. August remained busy and so was September. We did many things and were involved with many activities.


Our motorcycle weekend during August 19-21, with our kids was a great success! We stayed in the same B&B as last year, and only used this one for two nights. Then, on the day we were there we really checked out the local area. Riding most of the day, with stops in rustic and eclectic places.

While we were riding I noticed some worse oscillation of the tires during our rides, but I had been assured that due to some “cupping” in the tires this was not all that uncommon. Yet because of these oscillations we decided to get new tires anyway, to ensure a better ride on future excursions. When I took the bike in to have the mechanic look at it I got a really big surprise: there was a large defect on my rear tire. Apparently the thread had separated from the tire lining and wore about a three inch (7 cm) hole in the tread. Miraculously we were still holding air. We had gone over 70 mph (115 km/h) on the previous weekend on the way home. We truly believe that the hand of God kept the tire intact until we could replace it. We had planned to ride to Minnesota during the following week, to see our children and grandchildren there. But it was way to windy to ride all that way, so we went by car. We only went for two overnights because they were planning to visit us over Labor Day weekend. We gave them some belated birth-day gifts. Arn made a NASCAR of his favorite driver and Will made a movable wooden lion.

The week leading up to their visit we were once again active with helping to package meals, for “Meals from the Heartland.” This is an annual event, which is patterned after “Feed the Children.” Started as a local church project, the community adopted it and for the past few years about 10.000 volunteers package over 4 million meals during Labor Day weekend. They are shipped to areas of need and all the materials are paid for prior to the event.


After that we were busy entertaining our grandchildren, while their parents took time to relax. I had finished my N-Gage railroad layout and the boys were happy to take time to run some trains. We had also scheduled some time for crafts with them. They made a bill-fold and a coin purse.
We had planned it so that they would make each others’ project. They had a lot of fun making each others special money carriers.


September started with beautiful cool weather, but we were not able to ride our motor bike because of a defect in the ignition switch. The part took a week to get here but all is well gain now. Fortunately it was covered under our warranty! The bike was ready or me to ride as an escort bringing the Dignity Wall into Des Moines. I’ll do my next blog on that event.

SPRING?

I have been lax in keeping up with my blog. I could make excuses, but that does not alter the fact that it has been over one month since the last post. Some sickness, unexpected travel, an a funeral do take up a lot of time. While looking for spring we found more snow and after the funeral of my mother-in-law in Michigan Iowa welcomed us with summer-like weather.

Needless to say, we found a winery to ride to with our local children. As the dust of the last several weeks settles, we are preparing to go to Glen Eyrie again. We are looking forward to work there for the month of May.


Our trip to CEF in Missouri was cut short because of the passing of Mom Kasper. She reached the ripe old age of 94 years and three days. The farewell ceremony was officiated by the oldest grandson and was attended by a majority of the family which consists of 38 grandchildren and 86 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren. All eight of the still living children were there. These numbers do not include the spouses, just the blood-relatives. Life goes on. The youngest family member there was just 2 months old and another great-great-grandchild was expected “any day.”

JULY CAME & WENT

It has been nearly a month since my last entry. July has been a busy month. We celebrated Independence Day with all our friends, in our local community. Rain put a bit of a damper on most of the fire-works displays, but because of the long weekend some of the celebrations were on Thursday, already. We watched the downtown fireworks from a high point near our home. We were not quite in the spirit yet on July 1...



We came home from Glen Eyrie on June 2. We did the family camp the weekend of June 12, we attended one wedding, in Orange City, Iowa on June 19 and visited with friends in the Sioux City area. On June 25 we were in Mt. Sterling, Illinois for another wedding. Coming home on Sunday we were looking for a relatively quiet week, but the Independence day weekend started on Thursday already.

Although June may be for weddings, we also did some great family stuff. A weekend camp-out near Pella at Red Rock lake. The grand-children got washed in their sleeping bags by rain the first night, but we had a great time in spite of some not so perfect weather. Being together is so precious, even on rainy days. We rode our bikes on the beautiful lake side trails. We cooked most of our food over open fire and sometimes got smoked in the process. We ate smores and roasted marsh-mellows. We took shelter under a great tarp when the drops fell. We slept in comfort in the pop-up camper. Others were in nice tents, keeping dry most of the time. Families that accomplish things together in spite of some short comings, are special! We really appreciate our special family.













We celebrated a week with our two grand-sons. We did crafts on rainy days, we rode our bicycles all over Johnston, enjoyed ice cream, and rode the motor scooter too. The visit to the zoo on a beautiful sunshiny day, was a high-point of their visit.

Between volunteering at the local VA, these visits and trips we also needed to shop for groceries, wash and clean house. Oh, yeah, we continued to provide hospitality as a stop over for travelers using “Mennonite Your Way,” a great way to travel and enjoy Christian Fellowship as you go, or as you provide a room and hospitality for “total strangers.” Some of these strangers become new friends, and these friendships grow and grow.


Then the preparation for our wine-motorcycle tour started taking shape, but I plan to highlight that in the next blog.

MISSION NAVAJO 2009 (2)

Our week at Rehoboth New Mexico is done. Rehoboth is a settlement just east of Gallup. There is a large Christian School here, founded and supported by the CRC. This were we had our dorm and also our breakfasts and most evening meals.














In my previous blog I mentioned our trip to this place; this time I’ll share some of the week’s activities. After breakfast every morning, we met together in two groups to have morning devotions, this focused primarily on God’s interaction with our lives and thus became sharing of individual faith stories. In the evening we would discuss the days’ accomplishments and the tasks for the next day. One of our evening activities involved making Navajo jewelry for ourselves. We also visited the code-talkers museum and we had a Bible study on Wednesday night; the men at Rehoboth, the women at Churchrock.

Our daily tasks involved some general repair work around some of the homes and churches in the vicinity. If there was a need we tried to help, without any regard to church membership or attendance. Monday was a big day at Verna’s place. She has a dilapidated home in Churchrock. Corrie and I were part of the team working there. We tore out damaged and hanging dry-wall in the ceiling and a wall around a window. This had been wet and was really bad looking. The ceiling pieces were hanging down, the insulation was damaged and had been wet.
The wall piece had large holes and was very brittle. Last year the roof had been replaced but the occupants are totally indigent, and battle alcoholism as well. So they could not get the inside repaired without assistance. Supplies were available and we supplied the labor. We also worked there to finish hanging the last ceiling pieces on Tuesday and did some general clean up. This is very hard if there is no electricity or running water. During the afternoon we worked at the Fort Wingate parsonage. On Wednesday we hung a new door at Verna’s. (When does a 32 inch door not fit a 32 inch frame???) With limited tools and the capable assistance of Corrie and Jeni, we got it done. The women also fixed the entry way, so it had a firm footing. In the afternoon we again went to Fort Wingate to help finish the job at the parsonage.

On Thursday we visited Grandma Pablo. What a contrast her house was to the one we repaired on Monday! She needed some fixing of the roof and replacing some dirt around the base of the house to keep the winter cold at bay.
She prepared some fry-bread for us!
A delicious mid-morning snack.

She was also very pleased to pray with us, both in Navajo and English. For lunch we went to the church at Tohlakai. I had some one on one with Darryl who is really struggling with staying “dry.” He takes care of his 90+ year old grandmother, who speaks no English at all. On Thursday night we had a cookout - potluck barbeque, Navajo style, at Pastor Ted’s hogan. Everyone was invited to try their hand at making fry-bread. From a ball of dough to a tasty treat. After we all shared the bounty and tasted the rich variety of food, we celebrated communion. While we were there we met with a couple having the same last name as us. To our pleasant surprise, we found that we were related. Chris Huizinga’s great-grandfather was my uncle. I stayed with him and his wife when I first came to the United States in 1964. As a matter of fact, Chris’ father played his trumpet at our wedding. We had a really fun time sharing our memories. We might just have to come back to this place in the future, to help with needed maintenance, help on the reservation, and to enjoy the hospitality and beauty of the place.

Celebrating Traditions (5)

Canals in the Netherlands no longer freeze every winter, so the chance to ice skate outdoors created a frenzy in Kinderdijk and elsewhere in the south. (Michael Kooren/Reuters)




For the first time in 12 years, the Netherlands' canals froze this month. Which brought the Dutch out onto the ice in a heady mix of pandemonium and euphoria. Thousands of skaters, their cheeks as red as apples in the freezing temperatures, took to the ice, and hospital wards were filled with dozens of people with broken arms and legs as well as sprained ankles. In the 19th century, during the days of Hans Brinker, the hero of the novel in which he tries to win a pair of silver skates, the canals froze almost every year. But water pollution and climate change have made this rare today. With an influx of immigrants, the country has been struggling to maintain what it considers its Dutch soul, one of many here who thought the skating experience enabled the Dutch to reconnect with their identity. Water is our friend, a lot of our area is water.










Above: My skates...

Right "it is just not the same on a skating Rink"




From days of old, people could skate to each other in different villages. Others spent a lot of time just skating meditatively alone, leaning slightly forward, arms crossed on the back. A 6-year-old was on the ice pushing a chair to avoid falling, the traditional Dutch way for a child to learn to skate. Later, the rain and clouds of the usual Dutch winter came back. Weather experts said that the cold snap that brought the ice earlier in the month had been caused by cold air that came rolling in from the east, across Germany and into the Netherlands. Oddly, though, the cold swept across only the southern Netherlands and not the north. This mattered because this year is the 100th anniversary of the first race across frozen canals through 11 cities in Friesland, the “Elf-Steden Tocht; and this race has been held every year in the past century when there has been adequate ice.
(Freely borrowed from the “International Herald Tribune” edited by me.)

Celebrating Traditions 4

It is the third day of 2009.
Our grandchildren woke us up on new years day: “Wake up, wake up, and enjoy the first day of the new year.” We have a tradition with them: the may come in at seven thirty, or later, to wake us and crawl under the covers with us for a while. I can tell you that it never is “later...”

As I eluded to in my previous blog, we celebrate family gift giving and “stockings” during the time we spend together at the new years’ celebration. This is a tradition we started as a very young family during our first year in Ettlingen, Germany.
Because back in the sixties it was still customary in most of Western Europe to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ during the time of the winter solstice, Christmas was celebrated as a high-holiday, at least two days. First Christmas day was like any Sunday, a day of rest, attending church and having family quiet time. Second Christmas day was more for celebrating with family and acquaintances. Still we focused on the birth of the Savior. In contrast, especially in Germany, it was a grand celebration to let go of the old year and to bring in the new year with a bang, – literally.


We kept this European tradition to celebrate the passing of the old to the new year by gathering family and friends in out home to reflect, play games, and snack on many of the goodies prepared for this celebration. In the Netherlands where we grew up, we always had olie-bollen on new year’s eve (oude jaars dag). We still do, at our house, on new year’s eve. Our children now participate in the annual family tradition of baking this delicacy, which used to be know as “the Dad duty.”


As is our custom, we have a toast at the hour of midnight, after which we pray to our God for a blessing over the coming year. Then it is hugs all around! We dispense with the “bang.” The neighbors, as well as local law enforcement officers, would frown on the use of fireworks primary the very loud explosive kind...

Another Place to Enjoy

Last Saturday came and went; no "hike" this time. But we did arrive in San Antonio early afternoon. After a fabulous 4 weeks’ stay in Glen Eyrie, we are now on vacation in the beautiful city of San Antonio. The walks along the Paseo del Rio are wonderful too.

Rick and Jena, our children from Missouri, are here with us. The weather is very mild and we have been blessed with overcast skies. The River-walk is addictive and our condo is just south of downtown on the walk. Easy access to all the beauty of “paseo del rio” here in San Antonio, Texas. We usually do some of the “touristy” things, but this is also a time for relaxing and recovery for all of us.

On Sunday we were visited by nephew Jesse Kasper and his wife Laura. Jesse is in fighter-jet training in southern Texas, so they were reasonably close to us and came up to San Antonio to spend the day.