Mudakiller – Get rid of waste!

All packed and ready to go!!  It seems like it has been sooooo long (too long) without change!  Although, being here for this long has also been a blessing – we’ve learned a lot more about family, about life here, met some increeeeedible friends and kept up some just as incredible relationships, found many business opportunities, learned the language, taken karate and swimming lessons, gained weight….lost weight (and gained some again now on the final day hahaha!), learned about the system, applied for citizenship, learned more and more about history, and much much much more!

We are 8 days away from our 1 year nomadaversary!  And what better way to celebrate than to uproot and take off again!

We will write much more once we have reached our next generation!  We are getting on a bus in 2 hours and will see you again once we are settled in Crete!

Ves

I love honesty.  Like raw…from the heart…true to yourself and others…honesty.  I love it because it forces you to be honest with yourself about your intentions.  And it forces you to be true to others about your intentions.  And most importantly, it’s easy to remember.  I’ve tried to tell white lies many years ago.  I suck. I can’t remember what I did an hour ago on most days, so remembering lies is inefficient, a waste of my life and a waste of my energy.  It’s also a waste of other peoples time to try and decipher lies.

Why do people lie?  My opinion is that it is out of insecurity, fear and the need to be accepted.  Not just accepted by others, but accepted by themselves.  People lie so as not to hurt peoples feelings (supposedly), yet in the long run, their feelings end up being hurt far more by the lie than the truth would have hurt in the first place.

My assessment is that lies are a complete waste of time and life.  How invigorating is it to actually accomplish your goals with TRUTH?  It’s truly incredible!!  Even if it was difficult to tell the truth and express your true heart felt intentions.  The accomplishment of getting the truth across, getting it accepted (or at least understood) and reaching your goal…just wow.  Nothing beats that.  Nothing.  Those ‘athletes’ that use drugs to get further ahead….I bet deep inside, they are not satisfied with themselves because they know it was not the real them that met those goals.  That must feel like crap.  Regardless of the recognition or materialistic outcome of it all.  *They* are not the ones who accomplished that goal.  And that must hurt.

So, in all the years I’ve spent realizing that, even though I don’t (and can’t) lie to others, I still tended to lie to myself.  We’ve worked very hard on ourselves over the last 3 years and I can hear that voice in my head bullshitting me quite blatantly on a daily basis. “Come on!!! Three more scoops of ice cream won’t kill you!”.  It also tries to tell me that people have cruel intentions and wants me to react with anger, etc.  I spend a lot of time telling that voice to shut up.  I’m at the point where I can laugh at it and recognize it almost instantly.

Today, for a split second, the voice came up again.  I recognized it very quickly, calmed myself down and told it to shut up.  In fact, what the voice suggested to me was so rediculous that I almost laughed out loud.

So, trying to figure out the rules around here has been rather interesting.  It’s a whole different set of rules than in North America, yet somehow very similar.  I have sent in papers for my citizenship.  They have not arrived yet.  We were told at the police station, earlier this year, that we have to cross the border and then come back again in order to get a stamp on entry back to Serbia.  This will grant us another 90 days (since there is no visa requirement for here). We have done this once and it went well.  I was hoping the citizenship thing would be completed by this point and we would not have to do it a second time.  Our second 90 period is expiring on December 20.  Even with an extra letter sent to Beograd, and asking them to speed up the process, the citizenship has not arrived (and frankly, I would have been surprised if it had shown up).

So, today, we have rented a car.  We were going to drive down to visit Skopje (350 km away), and toggled back and forth between visiting there or going to the nearest sleepy border crossing to Romania and jump over and back again.  We were slightly nervous that we might not be let back in again.  After jumping back and forth on where we were going to cross, the car rental place made it an easy decision.

They charged us 10 euros more than the last time we rented.  Raising the price during the off season?? REALLY?  And lowered the alloted daily kilometres from 300 to 250.  Um….what?  So when Mike brought the car back home, I called them up with both receipts in my hands.  He explained that they had raised the prices and lowered the kilometres of all the cars.  1.  thanks for telling us and 2. wtf??  We’ve rented from them all summer and had a pretty decent business relationship built up.  So I thought.

So, I hung up and decided we would only go to Romania and not give him an extra 70 euros on kilometres.  He called back and told us he was going to dump the price by 10 euros.  I said ok because at the first price, we can’t go to Skopje.  Then he dumped it another 5 euros.

Interesting.  We decided to just head to the Romanian border.  When we got to the Serbian exit stop, they asked for the ownership, passports, etc.  Check, check, check.  Then they asked for the receipt from the rental.  Gulp!  I’d left it on the table at home beside the phone when I called about the price change.

After a bit of a wait, he looked at me and said “you only came here for the passport stamp?”.  That little voice jumped up in my head yelling NO NO!!!  It told me to say we’re going to visit some town (there’s nothing but farm field for 10′s of kilometres across the border).  Really?  Really voice?  THIS is your advice?  Shut up!!!  You are not only annoying, but also a complete idiot!  And who invited you to this party anyway?  I’ve told you before that I have no use for you, so piss off!  You are not truth and you are not love, so get out of my head!

So, I nearly laughed out loud, but instead I smiled  I told him that yes, we need the stamp.  I explained my citizenship status and our plans for staying for the holidays and going to Greece after the new year.  I told him that everything should arrive by the time we get back in the spring.  I laid out all the cards in my Tarzan-like Serbian…..pausing for help with proper words.  I also told him we are in the process of shipping our car over so we don’t have to worry about this rental thing any more.

He spoke to a few of his buddies higher up.  There were some loud words exchanged in the office.  They came back and told us the car could be stolen and they don’t know that it’s not because we don’t have the receipt.  So, they cannot let us out of the country.  I told him where the receipt is and if he can call the owner.  They said they can’t.  They asked what we were going to do in Romania.  I told them we were going to have lunch or something and then come back.  He told us to have lunch in their town.  I said yes, but we still need the stamp.  He said….no problem about the stamp, but we have better food here  Everyone was smiling and friendly and wonderful!  They stamped us all and sent us on our way via U-turn.

Thank you kind border police!  Now we just need to stop by the police station in town again and we should be good until we head to Greece.  This will be the last time we have to do this, and I’ll be happy once the citizenship papers show up  I do appreciate how awesome everyone was! Thank you thank you!

Ves

Hi all!  I haven’t written in a while.  We have been stationary in Serbia getting a lot of things in order, and it has been most fabulous!  I will summarize it at some point and throw out some detail for everyone.

For now, I’d like to share a post I came across today.  There are many reasons why we are doing what we are doing.  The reasons in this blog post are the main core reasons why we are doing this.  We have been riding along unconsciously far too long.

We did not start this life style living fully conscious of what we were doing and why.  We were pretty conscious, but it didn’t really hit home until we started traveling.  I have already written a blog about all the retired people we had met in the trailer parks through the States.  Most of them had started their trip and life change because one of them had become very ill – heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc.  This illness caused them and their spouses to wake up.  It caused them to face reality and re-consider what is truly important in their lives.  Even in their final years/months, they decided – finally! – to live their lives authentically.

These wonderful people gave me inspiration, strength and deep understanding that what we are doing is very right for us.  Not necessarily the nomadic thing, but waking up and living an honest and authentic life.  Honest with ourselves about what we want.  Honest in not hiding our feelings or walking on egg shells to make others happy (this is NOT our responsibility).  Living, speaking and loving truthfully and *always* keeping in mind what is important: Relationships and Experiences.

That’s IT – that is ALL that is important in this life.  Relationships and Experiences.  Everything else is noise.  I am thankful that we see this now.  Even though we’d missed it for 40 years, I am thankful that it did not take a near death experience to get to this conclusion.

So, here is a wonderful blog post that pretty much nails it.  I’ve copied and pasted below.  If you would like the original link, please click:  here

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

By Bronnie Ware

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.
People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learned never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.
When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honor at least some of your dreams along the way.

From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship.

Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier
This is a surprisingly common one.

Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice.

They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.
When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

It has been a busy, whirlwind month.  The weather has made the days feel like they are extra long and dragging out, and the busyness has made them feel like they’re flying by, so I’m getting both worlds and loving it.  We have had some incredible weather (the only thing missing is sand and surf!!) with a long run of high heat and non stop sun.  And when I say sun, I mean not a cloud in the sky.  This run has now been approximately 7 weeks long. The other day we had a temp drop and a few clouds for the first time, but we’re back up again and so very thankful (especially after a spring that consisted of a solid 8 weeks of rain!).

Blood and Steel – the 12 part mini-series about the building of the Titanic, has ended.  The Irish actors were so much fun whenever we ran into them in town.  We never did get a call, but we hung out there a few times a week and got to watch them in action.  I didn’t take pix while they were filming since Chris Noth sounds like he’s a little prone to tantrums and doesn’t want pix taken. I didn’t want to risk getting kicked out because I wanted the kids to be able to still get glimpses of the set.  Here’s a link and some pix:

http://perezhilton.com/2011-09-01-titanic-blood-and-steel-miniseries-in-development

Beograd and my Parents: We went to pick up my parents in Beograd and stayed over night in a hostel for the first time.  It was beautiful!  And empty!  Very impressed and will definitely look into this again.  I had quite a different vision of what a hostel was.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pix because we had a fun filled evening visiting the Beograd hospital where Torrin received a shot after having an allergic reaction to something.  Here is one of the only two or three pictures I could muster to take.  The pic was at the very beginning of the reaction.  By the end, it covered his entire body and he was very swollen and scary looking and I was not in a picture mood.

My parents arrived and we have spent every day with them. Hanging out in the park, walks in town, day trips to Vrnjacka Banja, Arandjelovac, and Zdrelo http://www.ruczdrelo.rs/sr/naslovna (nice!!!).  I also had the amazing opportunity to finally meet two half uncles and a half aunt – three children from my mother’s father’s second marriage.  For some reason our family has never connected with them!  Very thankful to have met them and their families and will now be visiting them often.  This picture only shows a few of them.

My dad and Caelin having a blast:

We also had a few broken teeth.  Torrin’s filling fell out and took with it a chunk of tooth. We will be making a dental appointment next week for him.  Also, Caelin attempted to eat the back of a swing as he swung Devlin. Poor little monkey took a small chunk out of his front tooth.  He’s good now, but was very sad about it initially.

We are still on the hunt for land and we’re starting to get a handle on the real estate protocol around here (i.e.: none lol).  We have quite a few that we’re interested in and quite a few that we have left to see. My new uncles and aunt will be showing me land in my moms village next week as well, so we’ll see what we find there.

I’m pretty close to gathering all the documents I need to submit for citizenship.  There has been a lot of running around to villages for my parents birth and marriage certificates, certificates stating that I am not registered anywhere, birth and marriage certificates from Canada, etc.  I just need to make two more photocopies and have some Canadian documents translated (I’m doing this today) and I can submit next week.  After that, I will submit for the children and we’ll get Mike started.  When I was at my mom’s village the other day, the man at the police station actually *typed* out the document on a manual type writer. Apparently Torrin has never seen one and was in great amazement.  He stared silently for quite some time with a grin on his face and finally asked in a whisper ‘mom….what is that?? What’s he doing?’.  It was just as classic as when he asked me what a phone booth was back in Toronto a few months ago.  We talked about it and in the end, the man gave us a type writer he had laying around.  He put a new ribbon in it and we’ve brought it home.  The boys have been fighting over who gets to use it for the past 24 hours.  Too funny!

Mike and the boys have now started Serbian lessons with an English professor here in town.  Mike goes three times a week and the kids will be going once, as well as learning from their friends on the street.  Mike is kicking my butt in grammar with padezi

My brother is arriving tonight with his girlfriend from Norway.  They are only here until Tuesday and we won’t have much time with him, but I am thankful for the time we will have.  My parents leave on Wednesday, but both my parents and my brother will be heading out on Monday for Beograd.  It’s been wonderful having them here and I will miss them.  We have our friend Alex from Toronto visiting us in October and we are looking forward to having him here!

Next week or the week after, we will be taking a day trip to Bulgaria, possibly Croatia in order to extend our stay past the 90 days.  Some planning needs to be done here yet.

One of the girls that hangs out with the boys lives just a couple of houses down.  They invited us over one night a little while ago and we hit it off with them.  They are so sweet and so funny. We do evening walks or just hang out in their yard after the boys go to bed.  They have three girls (in their teens!) and run Rock Star which is like a game room in the summer for kids to hang out in, a birthday party place (kind of like Chuck E Cheese with out the cheesy-ness of it and on a smaller more intimate scale).  In the winter, they also do fitness classes in the studio.  The girls are also involved in the business with their mom, Bilja.  Toma is in a band and we had the privilege of watching them practice one night.  It’s very old school ethnic Serb music from a few hundred years ago.  Really kind of neat.  Check it out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Iq4RuwTQI  Toma is the guy in the middle with the black vest.  He also makes the instruments.

Tomorrow evening we are having a huge family reunion at the restaurant in the park.  Looking very much forward to seeing everyone in one place

So, that’s it for now.  More updates to come!

Ves

p.s. I’ve heard stories from local people who were called to work as actors and extras how they are working 12 hour days in 40 degree weather and not even being water to drink!  I’m actually now relieved the boys weren’t called.

Things here have been plugging along.  We’ve been hanging with family, meeting tons of locals and foreigners, working our passions, enjoying the hot, then cool, then hot weather, and looking for property.

The boys have really started to get experimental.  Torrin (our Leonardo) started building a boat a few weeks back.  It started when we were in a toy store and he bought himself a model of the Titanic.  Then, they watched the movie every day for a week and researched a ton on the Titanic and events around it.  Then, Torrin started collecting empty water bottle jugs and bottles…..and cardboard boxes…..and packing tape.  LOTS of it.  We *thought* he was just building a little boat to float in the tub.  After about a weeks worth of work between him and his bothers, he asked us to call a cab and take him to the lake.  We realized he wanted to *ride* in the boat!  He’d put together an oar and an anchor even!  Mike and I, full of panic and doubt….and still getting used to the unschooling and not allowing our fears to stop them from learning….followed along.  When we arrived at the lake, Torrin put it in the water and tried to get in.  He was surprised when the water started going in, but I quickly stepped in when I saw there was hope and that all he had to do was balance a little.  So I coached him with some breathing – yoga/meditation-ish style and told him to concentrate on feeling the balance and that he would get it.  He contorted his legs and found the balance and off he went!  He rode on it for 20 minutes coming in and out of shore and grinning from ear to ear!  It was fantastic!  And we were pleased also with ourselves for learning to help him rather to hinder – he surprised us both and it was truly amazing

Then, the boys have also been interested in movie making.  They even made a movie called Zombie Hunters with Mike and Mike put together part 1.  The boys had a blast and it was quite funny.

Since then, we’ve been checking out the country-side around town and have finally started seeing things that interest us!  Very pleased.  We’ve also been looking at abandoned land on my mom’s side of the family and the 90 ar’s that is my dads (and by extension mine).  We hope to have something purchased soon.  It is definitely getting close and we are very excited.  The prices are about 20 – 25 euros per ar which puts 1 hectar at a couple of thousand dollars.  We just need to make sure there’s electricity, water, and we are able to build on it.  The other big thing is to make sure we can get internet.  The land here is so amazing for agriculture, but everyone has abandoned the villages. Certainly when and if Serbia ends up joining the EU, some Monsanto-like company will take notice of the agricultural possibilities.   We are in awe of the land.  It is really incredible.

This past weekend, we went to visit a waterfall yesterday and the water was so incredibly clean as we walked the entire length of the river to it’s very beginning at the top of the mountain.  I found it so hard to believe we were looking at a river – the water was amazing.  And freezing!  We drank from the many little waterfalls along the way, and filled our bottles in some of the mini caves as the water dripped from the ceilings.  At the very top where the water began flowing down the mountain, we stopped again and drank right from the source.  I was near tears.  It’s incredible.  I cannot believe how amazing it is to feel so close to the land.  I want to feel closer. I want to see places like this all over the world….just as amazing as Carlsbad caverns. I want to drink in everything this planet has to offer.  Nature is really incredible!

My parents have decided to come and visit and are leaving on August 22 through to September 14.  I cannot wait!  It will be great to have them here!  We also have a friend from a clients coming to visit us in October!  I am thrilled and thankful for the visits!

Funny how the universe works.  With all this Titanic and how-to-make-a-movie stuff and boat building going on, today was quite an interesting chain of events.  We went to De Vinci’s (one of our favourite restaurants due to the fact that you can actually get a salad there!).  Whilst sitting there, we noticed a group of 9 men who were very obviously not Serbian, sitting at the table behind us.  Then I started hearing English with accents…Irish, British, etc.  Of course we stared over and spoke English loudly and I finally asked them where they are from.  Turns out they’re from Ireland and don’t speak a stitch of Serbian.  Also turns out, they are on the set of a movie that is being filmed just down the street in a portion of Zastava across the river!  Also turns out that the film is about the building of the Titanic!!!!  Serendipity or WHAT?!  :)  So…I gave these guys our number/email since they’re here for 6 weeks and would like to see some stuff, but don’t speak the language.  Hopefully we can help them out.

So….out of curiosity, we took a walk down to the set after lunch.  And low and behold, they are building a mock up of parts of the ship right there behind a Zastava building across the bridge.  As we freely walked around the set and peaked into a big warehouse-sh building, some guy approached us.  I was sure he was going to ask us to leave, but instead he asked about casting Caelin as an extra due to his blond hair and blue/green eyes!  Then, he noticed Torrin and asked the same.  And then Devlin!  And then he saw Mike’s blue eyes and threw him in there too!  I can’t be cast because of my short hair – and I just happened to chop off my long hair not two months or so ago!!  ARG!  Well, I guess I can be the stage mom haha!  Anyway, I filled in the forms for all of my boys, they were all photographed, etc. and we are awaiting the call.  Mike already has grandiose plans for his stardom, and is thinking of getting baseball caps, sunglasses and various disguises so he is not recognized on the street.  hahaha

Seriously though – very exciting and I am thrilled for my boys!  I hope the call comes and they get to have some fun!  Also, if they are cast, they get 20 euros each for every day they’re on set!  Although, we would all do it for free ’cause this is pretty kewl I must say!

That’s about it for now dear reader!  Thanks for reading and following our journey.  Please remember to interact – we love hearing from you!

Ves

Not much to report on travel or new adventures these days, but we’re very happy in the current space we’re in both mentally and physically.

We’re getting back on track with our health and I’m reluctant to get back on the move until that’s flowing again naturally.  But, so far so good. No where near as difficult as I made the food issue out to be last year.  This is good because it means I’ve paradigm shifted again, and I love that!

We’ve been busy working and visiting family.  We’re also moving forward with a land purchase and have been viewing plots with agents, but they’re not what we want.

We finally rented a car and I drove for the first time in Europe ever.  Driving is definitely crazy around here and super aggressive.  For those of you who have ever driven with me, you’d think I’d feel at home amongst fellow aggressive drivers, but this is completely different.  Everyone in ON is always poo-pooing driving here and warning against it, saying they would never drive here again.  It’s a bit like people who live outside the GTA.  Everyone outside the GTA knows *one* person who is willing to drive within the city. No one else will even attempt it, but they make sure their GTA driver comes along with them on road trips to Tdot.  So….after renting the car and having that mental block in our heads (even though we knew it was silly), Mike hit the road first.  After the initial few minutes, it was nothing! We cruised around the countryside getting a good idea of what everything looks like around here.  We then went to visit my dad’s self-sustaining farm that his cousin still lives on.  It truly is the best place on earth for me! So many happy childhood memories.  We have a large family on that side, and all the kids in their 20′s/30′s now have little ones running around….all boys!  It’s so awesome to see!

Swimming is going great!  It’s not like swim classes in ON where it’s a 1/2 hour of singing and fun lol.  I mean it’s fun, but they are in there working their butts off. They are super serious about sports around here. The instructors are amazing and talk to me like ‘they’re not ready for the olympics yet’ and I’m all about ‘hey I just don’t want them to fall into a puddle and drown’.  Either way, both boys seem to really love this style.  Today, no one else showed up to their classes, so both boys had 1 hour private lessons because it was pretty cold outside.

We also saw a man have the cr*p kicked out of him a week or so back.  It was about 9:00pm and we were walking back home (the kids were at the house with the teen sitters) and saw a man laying under a table. At first we thought seizure or heart attack, but when another man started kicking his head, we decided it was time to cross the street. Thankfully the boys were not with us.  I’ve never seen a bar fight that bad.  I’ve been in many fights as a kid, but that’s a whole other calibre.  We had some pretty interesting insights after that.  I love finding lessons in everything we experience.  I’m not sure the man on the ground felt the same though…

We saw my cousin Kaca again yesterday.  It’s crazy really.  This year we’ve seen her in three different countries in almost as many months.  We saw her in April in NYC. She was there for a talk at the university, and we were being tourists.  Then, we visited her and her family in Leipzig, Germany in June for a week.  And yesterday, here in Kragujevac. Love it!

It’s been crazy hot here.  Between 35 and 40 for nearly 3 weeks straight. No rain in sight. It finally broke about two days ago, and I actually miss it!  It’s been funny because there was two days of ‘heat’ in Ontario and all I’ve heard from friends and family is about how hot it is.  Granted, they had the humidity to contend with, but the perspective is funny.

On a toddler note: We have started Caelin on the no-diaper path.  So far it’s been going well!  Just waiting for the habit to kick in.  We never really did much for the other two, but I figure since we’re stationary for a bit, we should encourage it before we’re on the move again.

On a parental note: It looks like my parents might be coming to visit!  I’m very excited and can’t wait!!

On a sibling note: My brother has been in Norway since May, house-sitting for a year with his girlfriend.  They had a day off the other day and decided to head down to Oslo for a bit.  They ended up not too far away from where the bomb went off and were taking cover from falling glass.  Very glad they’re ok.  You can check out some of his pix on his site: http://www.vexedart.com/photo9.html

That’s about it for now. No crazy stuff, no crazy pix, just hummin’ along and feeling very mellow.  I’m taking in my family, the streets my parents walked, and the towns they grew up in. The longest I’ve ever been here is 6 weeks as a full on visitor.  I’ll be breaking that record in the next week or so.  We’re both starting to forget where we are.  I walked out to take the garbage to the street the other night and it was like I’d forgotten where we were for a second.  We’re also running into many people from France, Germany, Montreal, Italy, etc.  It’s neat to see people here from other areas.

That’s about it!  I am full of thanks for a lot of things today (and every day).  I hope you’re all in an amazing space as well!

Ves