Saturday, March 26, 2016

Monday, March 21, 2016

03.21.16 Happy Spring!

Today is the first day of Spring, Shorty's birthday see: (mydogShorty.blogspot.com), and a snowstorm in the Northeast! Not as bad as some predictions, we had several inches of white powdery snow just in time for work this morning. It was fun, easy to shovel, and melted fast from the road and the driveway.

It is time for Spring. Took advantage of a couple of warmer, sunny days to finish yard work, change the Winter wreath to a Spring wreath, put the melting salt, boots and gloves away. Of course it would snow! The dogs, Fionnegan and Gunnarr, loved the fresh snow and ran and chased each other for a long time. When they came in, they were covered in snowballs and I had to put them in the kitchen to melt the snow from their hair. 

Also took the time this weekend  for "Spring cleaning" in the house and must have done a thousand loads of laundry. Trying to get everything spruced up for Easter, which is this coming Sunday. It feels good to have the house all straightened out. I had ordered a new bookcase several months ago and it arrived Friday, so a friend and I had to carry it inside the house. But now that it is in place, my study has finally pulled together.

Hope you all enjoyed a good day. No new word about our refugees, but I will keep you posted whenever I hear anything.

Enjoy this first day of Spring. The sun has peeked through the clouds, and tomorrow we should have bright blue skies!

Shorty is 2 years old today. Sorry that I cannot be with there with him. I heard he is sad again since I left, but he has treats with various friends around Colonia, so he won't be hungry! I sent Daniel a note to remind him of his birthday and hope he gets a special dinner and treats.

Here are a few Spring snow pictures.

It is snowing hard this morning.


Birdbath.


Snow covered mountain laurel.



Hope springs eternal. It will be bright and warm soon!

 

Saturday, March 12, 2016

03.12.16 It's Spring!

Weather has been beautiful this week with warm temperatures in the 50's and 60's and one day up to 70.. First flowers in bloom behind the house!

It is a good day for yard clean-up. Many branches down from all of the winter storms, including one 100ft pine that missed the house by a few feet. Am sawing branches, cutting down dean branches and pruning bushes and carrying everything into the woods. Good exercise.

Fionnegan and Gunnarr are watching from the porch as I work. They also get an doggy ice cream treat to keep them cool in the sun. They are waiting for me to get done so they can take a nap.




Pups got a haircut. Looking pretty sharap!



Fionnegan.



Gunnarr.


Out cold. Its hard work watching me do yard clean-up!

 

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Returned to Boston

After a long journey home, I went to pick up my pups Fionnegan and Gunnarr. They were well taken care of by Don, Kathy and Tess, but somehow Gunnarr did not  warm up to Don. They also saw a coyote - one reason I keep them on a leash and/or closely watched in the woods by my house, too. Good thing they were on a leash then as Don said they were barking at the coyote and probably would have chased it.


 
 
 
 
The dogs were resting while I was getting ready for work. I decided they look like doggy hippies with the long hair so I took them to the groomer today.  These are the "before" pictures. Top is Fionn and bottom is Gunnarr.
 
 
 
 
Gunnarr after his haircut.
 
 
 
Fionnegan sleeping after his day at the groomers. She said they both were very good - no accidents and well behaved! And they look great.

A few more pictures of Yap.



Men from the green boat.

 
 



Hard at work guarding my door.



But he will wake up for a treat!



AA - Julie's granddaughter. She is a delightful child with a beautiful smile. I really like her and it was good to see how big she is getting!


Cid - the dog at Oceania Hotel - and she is only a pup but a pregnant pup. Hope it all goes well. Shorty and I both took a liking to her.  She would wander up to my room looking for him and they would give each other nose bumps!


A model outrigger canoe sail boat, without the sail.


An artisan at the Living Museum in Colonia.

Jennifer, proprietor of the Oceania Hotel.




 

Denitha and Angie preparing the potluck lunch they held for me. It was really nice to see everyone again. I really missed them.


Naty in Public Health.


Look who is so happy sitting on my bed!


Cid is also a great pal.


Connie, who helps feed Shorty when I am off-island.



Home made roti by the Indian and Nepalese  refugees.


This is the fishing boat John Beady chartered to take the eclipse chasers to Woleai. They have my very best wishes for a safe journey and calm seas and blue skies to view the eclipse.


Shorty and I walked the old stone path one last time before I left. First we went to Mass then we headed to see Heidi and the children for dinner before departing Yap.



 

Review of my visit in Yap 03.2016

Had hoped to write in real time to let you all know about the progress of the trip. But the internet connection was so slow that I could not open the link.

This was a really good trip. It started with a layover in Honolulu - which was a really nice break to have time to get a good night sleep after a long night of packing and taking my two dogs Fionnegan and Gunnarr to stay with Don, Kathy and Tess.

It was a very emotional return - I did not expect that. Had a good visit with Heidi and Amos and the kids, fellow Peace Corps Response volunteers, my Public Health colleagues, many friends, and of course Shorty. Shorty will discuss things from his point of view on his blog. It was great to see him again - he is as beautiful and loving as he was when I left. Just a bit dustier. So since he does not like a brush a used my hand to brush him off until  there was no more dirt on his hair. He stayed with me all week, only not at my side when I had to take a taxi or ride in a car. Otherwise, we were best buds again. Also had found Buddy and the three of us walked around like old times, including an ice cream cone for each dog. Buddy, who is very aggressive at meal time, could not wait to get the ice cream. He grabbed it as soon as I broke off a piece for Shorty and I was funny to see him with the cold food. He quickly spit it out, then licked it. Shorty knows how to eat ice cream!

Had seen Father John, who continues to see the men when he is allowed. Agnes also looks well and I had a couple of nice visits with Julie, the previous Chief of Public Health, and her granddaughter AA. Stayed at Oceania - a beautiful hotel with gorgeous views of the lagoon. Jennifer is a really nice person - she owns the hotel with her partner Mark, a character indeed. It was fun to catch up with both of them.

Also met John Beady, a dedicated solar eclipse chaser who along with his friend Timothy, were working very hard to finalize travel plans to take a group of adventurers to Woleai to few the total eclipse - all four minutes of the spectacular event to come next week.

Here are a few pictures of the trip.

 
Here is my dog Shorty. After finding him he stayed with me the entire trip. It was great to see him and he just agreed to return to Boston. It was sad to leave him again. The last night he knew I was leaving and there were a lot of different emotions he displayed. When we got into the car he just stood there and watched looking very, very sad - he already gave  me a million puppy kisses and in return he received a million tummy rubs. After we got in the car, he laid down in the driveway so the car could not pass. Then Shorty and Buddy followed the car to the end of the driveway and they both had such sad looks on their faces as we pulled away. No one could make up a story that would have had a better reunion and then departure as Shorty and I had. O how I miss that dog. I miss Buddy, too. And he clearly missed me, too.
 
 

My room at Oceania Hotel - many steps up to the front door. It was also a bit steep for Shorty.



 

Buddy. He was so excited to see me - he jumps on me and gave lots of kisses. And he followed me all around town, too. He gets along well with Shorty - except at meal time. Then I separate them and all is right with their world.


White has gotten taller but thinner.


Amos flying over the park by the hospital.


We all went for a walk to the park behind the hospital just like the old days. But Shorty was not interested in a lagoon bath. Too bad, he would benefit from a sea dipping!
 

 
Shorty and Buddy getting a drink of water on my balcony.

02.20.16 Refuges