Month: October 2021

Moesson

is a Magazine that is celebrating 65 years. It is a Magazine for and by Indo’s, people with links to the Dutch East Indies. Because so many Indo’s emigrated to many countries all over the world, and second and third generations do not speak Dutch anymore, but rather English, Moesson came out this year with Moesson International in the English language. For the July issue, commemorating August 15, the end of World War Two in the Dutch East Indies, they asked me to write some childhood memories of our years in the camps and of our later pilgrimage to Java. I may have mentioned this here before, and if you have read the books I published based on the secret journal of my mother, you will recognize some of my story.

The full story is published in the Printed Moesson International Magazine of July 2021.

Volcanoes

Last week, the Hawai’i News reported a 6.2 earthquake off the coast of Hawai’i, the Big Island. No tsunami expected afterwards, it said. I looked it up, and sure enough, the earthquake was on the bottom of the ocean, where a new volcano is taking shape. Lo’ihi, or Lōʻihi Seamount is an active submarine volcano about 22 mi off the southeast coast of the island of Hawaii. The top of the seamount is about 3,200 ft below sea level. This seamount is on the flank of Mauna Loa, the largest shield volcano on Earth. If you are interested, look it up on Wikipedia.

It was especially interesting for us, because we learned about Lo’ihi when we lived on the Big Island twenty-five years ago. Not that we expected to see another island surface, because with a little bit of luck that will take 200,000 years. None of us will be there to watch the spectacle. What I found particularly interesting is that the hot lava erupting out of the crater immediately cools off by the surrounding ocean water and turns into balls. Can you imagine? Lava balls? I wonder how warm they still are, knowing that the temperature of lava straight from a volcano is about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature of the water at the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean is 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Reading that, it does not seem too cold down there. But I was very happy to swim and snorkel on the surface at a temperature of about 84 degrees. And that for twelve whole years! How lucky can you be?

Activities

October Fest and a Dog Parade are on the schedule this week at the Club. Last week, they had rescheduled it and I came for nothing, because we at the cottages not always get all the news in a timely manner. So this Friday, I will take Lani to the Dog Parade for the Assisted Living Residents. October Fest still conjures up unpleasant memories of the War for Mike, and besides, we don’t drink beer. Talking about memories, one of the pleasant memories that we have of visiting Mike’s Mom when we still lived in the Netherlands was that they always served a glass of Port after dinner. So this week, when I happened to be at Harris Teeter Pharmacy, I sauntered over to their huge wine department and discovered in a far corner several brands of Port. I chose a bottle of Sandeman Tawny Port, a familiar brand, and recommended by the man who was stocking the shelves. He apologized for the fact that Harris Teeter did not carry the $125/bottle Port, but I said that I would try the Tawny Port they had on the shelf first. I did, and it is delicious! Sometimes instead of dessert, sometimes with! I can highly recommend it.

Doctors visits always take time, whether they are coming to the house or we are going to see them. We had several of those, and so this week I will end by saying all the checkups were good and we’re ok until the next visit. Happy, happy.

May your days be peaceful and happy.

Until next time,

Ronny

A Watch Story

Mike has had a favorite Timex watch on a stretch gold tone band – he had it since we lived in Prescott. The band became so tight that it left an indent and that worried me. So one day, we went shopping for a new watch with a wider band. We ended up at JC Penney’s with a watch that looked the same, so Mike liked it, and the label said “wider band”. Well, the band was a tad wider, but not longer. So it was equally tight on his wrist. Then recently, our Primary Care Doctor said he shouldn’t really wear such a tight band, also because we detected a rash on his left hand. So Mike took it off, but the next day, he put it on his right wrist. It was equally tight there. So he took it off and put it on the table next to him.

I went shopping on Amazon and found a beautiful gold pocket watch, bigger than the old one, on a gold chain. Now Mike does not wear vests of course, but it said this pocket watch was especially good for jeans. The pictures looked cool, and I bought it.

Hm. It started out good, because Mike liked it. I took it to my Jeweler to set it and he explained that it was self winding, but it needed movement and the movement of walking alone was not enough. I would need to shake it vigorously twenty times twice a day. Well, Mike is not walking a lot, so we needed to shake it more often.

There was another problem: it was a pocket watch for jeans. Jeans have a pocket on the front. Mike does not wear jeans. He has deep pockets, and even though the gold chain was attached to a belt loop, it was impossible to dig the watch up to look at the time all day long, especially when he was seated. And he is seated most of the day with his leg up, because the wound is only slowly healing. So he put it on the table next to him. And said: “Why can’t I have my old watch on the table instead of this one?” Well yeah, good point, but I really liked that watch. So I shook it twenty times or more twice a day and walked around with it in my pocket for a while, but then it stopped. And after I set it again an d tried it for another day, the same thing happened. It did not keep running. I was sad to see it go, but Amazon graciously took it back. And Mike ended up very pleased with his old watch on the table next to him. the band is attached, so I can’t replace it, and I’m done looking! If he is happy, I am happy.

Halloween is just around the corner!

It is wonderful to have found another couple interested in thinking of some fun costumes and to do
something with. I sent out a text to all the kids and asked for ideas for Mike. Everyone jumped on the chance . .they sent us pictures and Amazon links.      

From Hawaiian tourist to Adventurer to Einstein to a Pumpkin. But Mike did not care for any. Until one kid sent us the link to a Maori suit with tattoos all over and a leaf skirt. Well, that one took my breath away. It is available for men and women: I wanted that one! All reviews however were from men. I decided you have to be tall and skinny to show off that costume! So I am not going to get one.

 Mike decided he would be happiest with the same  costume that he wore two years ago. And I am still vacillating friends tomorrow night over dinner.

The dining room is open again

for three nights a week, possibly five next week. There are
more servers and it was delightful to go to dinner again.
The mood was animated, the dining room was full, so full
that they ran out of apple pie for the last shift.

We have hope that eventually, Waltonwood will be restored           to its former glory. Remodeling will start in January 2022.
It will be a lengthy process, but we in the cottages will not
be in too much of a mess.

May your days be peaceful and happy.

Until next time

Ronny

New Neighbors

We have new neighbors in the second cottage across the street. They have a little white dog, Sofie, and of course we met with our dogs. After the moving truck had left, their daughter spent three days working in the cottage, to get it ready for her parents, and I thought everything was in place. To my surprise, nothing is! Boxes up to the ceiling, furniture everywhere but not in the right place, and when they came home from the supermarket this afternoon I found all the grocery bags on he floor in the kitchen. My heart goes out to them, but what they need is their Ambassador, and their daughter will not come back until next weekend. I went over to give them phone numbers for the Vet and the Ophthalmologist and other things she asked about, but too much time away from Mike is not what I want.

Balance

Management of Waltonwood leaves much to be desired these days. People rightly complain about everything, and the cause of all that is that many management associates have either been fired or have left for better jobs. And then, if replacements are hired, they have to be trained and lots of things go wrong or do not happen. Phone calls do not get returned, neither do emails. The monthly calendar has double bookings and so on. All those things are negatives. But then there are so many positives that we decided to sign on for another year.

Spelling Bee

Before Covid, the monthly Spelling Bee was always fun. Now, people still have to discover it among the many other activities. Today there were three people participating, and it was better than nothing, but I hope they will send out a flyer for the next time.

A good day!

When, halfway through the night, I couldn’t sleep anymore, I got up, wrote a long email to my best friend, added a paragraph to this Post, and at 5:00 a.m. Mike came to look where I was, thinking it was time to get up. Well, since we were both up, I made coffee, woke Lani, who was very hesitant to get out of her basket at such an early hour, and checked the mail. Then, gloriously early, I rolled out my yoga mat, did my exercises, took Lani for a walk when it was barely light, took a nice shower, got dressed and went to the Club to get breakfast.

Before the Spelling Bee, when it was already warm outside, I walked for half an hour on the first floor, inside, and at the end of the day I had reached, finally again, more than my goal of 10,000 steps: 12750 to be precise. That is 5.51 miles. I hope to be back on track after the long hot summer, vacation time and just a slower pace of life. Amazon provided me with a good pair of running shoes after I had worn out the previous pair in the spring. So…Life is good!

May your days be peaceful and happy.

Until next time,

Ronny