Stimulating the Economy

I usually have some sort of culture clash when I come back to the United States and this time was no exception. All was going well; I got the rent-a-car and drove, zipping about on freeways faster than I’ve driven in over a year. All that was good and seemed normal enough. Then I picked

Grandmother Always Loved You Best~

To avoid having two grandchildren grow up with a Smothers Brothers’ complex, I am heading off to Japan next week to visit the older of my two new–well not so new now– grandchildren. This is my second attempt at the visit. Last time I had to cancel due to our neighbors and their shenanigans here

Touring France

We are on Tour again this summer. All is on hold for four hours every morning while Alan and I watch the Tour de France (also known more recently as the Dope de France) live on ESPN. I love the cat-and-mouse of the race itself, and the wide pans of the camera to the chateaus

Chirm, Wiggly, Penholder~

Alan and I are on vacation, traveling Costa Rica for a week. Alan says he loves traveling with me because I journey by my nose like a hound on the hunt. He swears by my ability to pick a good restaurant as we drive along. We left home yesterday and spent the night in the

Mother’s Day Quotes~

Hello Mothers of the world. I don’t know about Spain or Costa Rica or Australia or Japan, but in the United States it is Mother’s Day on Sunday. I am sending every mother I know, and love, a greeting and a few quotes about mothers which I thought were nice (I particularly liked Aristotle’s take

Lost Souls & Infant Potty Training

I am home in the jungles of Costa Rica and I returned with a cold. I think two 15-hour flights inside of a week is not healthy for a person’s health. My soul, if I have one, is probably still flapping its wings somewhere over the Pacific, trying to catch up with my body. But

Stress: My Former Constant Companion~

I suppose this has been written about ad nauseam, but it really is true. I am referring to the absence of stress after living under its constant grip for a long period of time. As Richard Selzer says about starving to death, no one who is doing it can tell you what it feels like;

A Big, Big Thinker~

This morning I was reading the NY Times online, as I do every morning, and I ran across an article about Barack Obama’s mother. I think by now we have all heard about his father and how he came from Kenya and died young, about his pastor and the outrageous things he has said, and

Me, Obaachan~

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swfOn February 20, 2008 I became a grandmother– or obaachan in Japanese– for the first time. Little Hannah Foley Oba was born after six hours of labor to her proud parents, Sam Foley and Yuka Oba in Gifu, Japan. She weighed in at 8 pounds 4 ounces. I have never wanted the title “grandmother,” feeling

Into the Ears of Cleaning Ladies~

Our lawyer’s assistant, Eugenio, came yesterday to meet with a new topographer who came to measure the land and our boundaries… again. I swear to the real estate gods this property will be worn out before we ever get this case settled. Our lawyer is in Florida for the weekend talking to someone about another