HOMECOMING

All my wandering family are home as of yesterday.

Tim, my son, and his friend, Amelia, had been to Peru. They had quite an experience. He says that the Peruvian economy is mostly tourist-based: that most people come in, do Machu Picchu and the Nazca overflight and leave. He and Amelia spent some time wandering around in the non-tourist areas. Tim promises to send me a link to his photos.

The down side of Tim's trip was being sunburned during two days of nearly constant rain. The Andean air is so thin that UV easily gets through the cloud cover. Tourists who don't use sun blocker get burned. Also, both of them picked up viral infections, which in Amelia's case, appears to be developing into a serious bronchial problem. Tim's has manifested as an Incan form of Montezuma's revenge. He claims, though, that the experience was worth the suffering.

My sister, Jo, and her friend, Mary, got back yesterday from a month in Australia. Besides touring Tasmania, the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru and Kangaroo Island, they stayed for a couple of weeks with our cousin, Kathy, who emigrated to Oz about 30 years ago. Jo said that, although we saw little of Kathy as children (her parents lived in California, ours in Iowa) and less after her removal to Australia, staying with her was just like being with someone you had just seen last week and still had plenty to discuss.

The accompanying photo of Mary and Jo on Loopy the camel (with their guide in the background) is posted to pre-empt any attempts to use it as a Christmas card.

Jo promises to send me a link to their photos as soon as they get them sorted out. Although, I solemnly promise not to post any more of her photos before looking at all of them, I'm hoping to get the video of the koala who took a walk when my sister actually had the camera ready.


The word of the day for October 26, 2008 is "homecoming" — Pronunciation: \ˈhōm-ˌkə-miŋ\
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1: a return home. 2: the return of a group of people usually on a special occasion to a place formerly frequented or regarded as home ; especially : an annual celebration for alumni at a college or university.

Our quote for the day is from Herbert Hoover (1874–1964), U.S. president. The New Day: Campaign Speeches of Herbert Hoover, 1928, p. 48, Stanford University (1928):

The swimming hole is still in use. It has the same mudbank. It is still impossible to dress without carrying mud home in one’s inner garments. As an engineer I could devise improvements for that swimming hole. But I doubt if the decrease in mother’s grief at the homecoming of muddy boys would compensate the inherent joys of getting muddy.

;^) Jan