Category Archives: children

The Road to Diamond, Day 297: Clear, with Still A Chance of Meatballs*

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 20, 2025, Nynashamn- The ferry here from Visby left bright and early. I was the first one to order breakfast on board, and chose Swedish meatballs, which were served along with a bed of beet salad on French bread. It was a cold plate, but that was okay. I am used to cold meats in warm or mild weather, and it was not cold at all on the way to the ship.

I arrived in Nynashamn at 10:30 and made my way quickly to the train, which brought me to my friends’ house. I received a hero’s welcome from the kids and warm greeting from their parents. It was easy to hang out there until mid-afternoon, watching a K-Pop video that actually had a nice life lesson for the kids-and for the rest of us: “Rather than try to hide our flaws, gear ourselves to recognize them and work to transcend them. Hiding them just opens the door for manipulation by others.”

I went back to briefly get checked into First Camp, for a short rest, then returned to my friends’ place for a delightful dinner of….Swedish meatballs. This time, though, they were hot, with flavourful gravy and boiled potatoes. I can never get too much ground meat-so this was a welcome turn of events.

*The day reminded me of a children’s story,”Cloudy, With a Chance of Meatballs”, by Judi Barrett. It, too, offers a message: “Change, even drastic change, is not the end of the world.” I have experienced both having to recognize and work on my flaws-and to embrace change and build a new way of life.” There is also a use for sameness and routine, especially for toddlers, so I bid my friends good night, after dinner, and made plans to see them tomorrow.

The Road to Diamond, Day 294: The Old Harbour of Southern Stockholm

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Travel

September 17, 2025, Nynashamn- “Where is ‘That Guy’ staying, Momma?”, the little one asked, referring to yours truly. He and I actually bonded fairly quickly, though he’s typically slow to warm up to new people-as so many first-borns are. I was fortunate to meet friend “Asassa Gal’s” husband and children, at the end of a day of looking about this small port city’s Centrum, or downtown.

She and I went first to Espresso House. A key to my Swedish experience was to enjoy kanelbulle, a cinnamon bun. Espresso’s rendition did not disappoint. Kanelbullar are served warm and are not overwhelmingly huge ‘meals in themselves’. It was just the right size for a mid-morning snack.

Next up was Nynashamn Kyrka, the Lutheran Church that is atop a small hill. It seems to be most often closed, judging from other Trip Advisor reviews, and so it was today. I got plenty of coverage of the exterior, though, both just outside and from the harbour.

Nynashamn Kyrke
Nynashamn Kyrke, from Harbourside

We walked around the harbour, along with a group of pre-schoolers, who were put for a morning of outdoor exercise. This is quite common in Sweden, (and is getting more so back in Home Base I.) The kids ran for part of the path. We opted for a slower pace.

Buoys marking shallow waters, Nynashamn Harbour

Sas was gracious throughout the day, as was her family in the evening.

In late afternoon, we five enjoyed early dinner at Pizzeria Arena. “Family” pizzas here are huge, as one might expect. My Stockholm Archipelago family will get several extra meals from this excursion-I wouldn’t have it otherwise. I look forward to hanging out with them this weekend, after a day or so in Gotland, with its walled city of Visby.

For now, here is a sunset view of Nynashamn’s west harbour.

A Swedish sunset (Nynashamn Harbour)

The Road to Diamond, Day 291-Part II: Kungsholmen and Gamla Stan

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Posted by on in children, Community, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Travel

September 14, 2025, Stockholm- Between Nomad Cave and Stockholm Palace are several interesting churches, Stockholm City Hall and the salubrious greenspace on both sides of Stockholm Strom. There are the two houses of Sweden’s Parliament and the northern end of the pedestrian mall that leads to Central Station.

So, here are ten scenes of Kungsholmen (King’s Home), the neighbourhood where I am staying, and of Gamla Stan-the island which houses the Palace, Parliament and Stockholm’s Old Town.

The stairs are just beyond the door. Be mindful!
So much of Kungsholmen is stately and well-appointed.. Anna Whitlock was a Swedish social reformer and educator, at the turn of the 20th Century. Her Gymnasium continues to offer five academic preparatory programs, with the philosophy of total mind-body engagement.
Kungsholms Kyrka’s Rector ordered a group of tourists out, just as I entered the foyer. I didn’t need to know Swedish to get his meaning!
The upper reaches of Stockholm Stadshuis (City Hall)
This is Gamla Stan, in a nutshell
Near the southern dock along Stockholm Strom
Houseboaters like bright colours
A more complete view of Stockholm Stadshuis
The two Houses of Parliament, viewed from the south.
!2 Blocks of non-stop eating and shopping- Regeringsgatan is one of two long pedestrian malls in Central Stockholm.

Stockholm is a never-a-dull-moment kind of place. I noted some parents interacting with their children, around Stadshuis. Two boys were testing their mothers, by dawdling on their bicycles, while the mothers walked on ahead. One of the boys got the hint and “showed” how fast he could catch up to Mom. The other had to be retrieved, and got to hold his mother’s hand while slowly peddling towards home. Other young parents were dealing gently, but masterfully, with tired, squawking toddlers, as I purchased two bottles of Fortified Water, at the neighbourhood market, in Kungsholmen.

NEXT UP: The ill-fated Vasa and some hard-luck Vikings

The Road to Diamond, Day 286: Recovery

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

September 9, 2025, Reykjavik- It turns out that my trusty laptop had had its screen light minimized. I walked about the north side of this bustling Icelandic capital and found the computer store that had been recommended to me by the manager of HI Dalur, where I am spending the night.

So, here we both are, giving you the skinny on the first night and day of Europe 2025. Let’s go back a bit:

Home Stretch- Yesterday morning, as I left HB 1, wearing my bush hat and sunscreen, the three neighbour kids lined up and greeted me from their yard. Dad was in the background, saying “Don’t bother him!” Those precious little ones will never be a bother.

After a short walk over to Yavapai College, I was picked up by the shuttle to Sky Harbor International Airport. Mentor: A gregarious gentleman from Saskatchewan was my seatmate, after joining the group at Hampton Inn. Turned out, he was also going to Calgary and had lived in Sweden, one of the cornerstones of my time on this side of the Atlantic. He corroborated my agenda in that country and in Denmark. He also saw me to the right counter for West Jet, a carrier well-known in Canada, but less so in the Southwest U.S. For good measure, he “talked me into” not using my TSA special access number; I wouldn’t have been able to use it,anyway, as we were there before the quick processing line opened-and few people were processing at that time.

Snags: The bugbear of modern travelers is the plethora of electrical outlets that don’t work. They are in airports and cheap motels, as well as ferry boats and some national parks (though not many people go to those for the WiFi). Trains tend not to have WiFi at all, at least in the United States (though that is supposed to change next year.) I will see, next week, how much progress European train stations and cars have made, in connectivity. We got that settled, as mentioned above.

Language: Everyone on the plane spoke English (They were Canadians, Captain O! ) Everyone here, so far, speaks English, also. Some of the hostel workers speak it better than I. All those who I encountered this afternoon, including a couple of very well-dressed ladies, took the time to corroborate the concierge’s route map.

Sights Seen: Here are a few small gems seen in the Dalur and Laugarnes precincts.

Airport sculpture
Keflavik International Airport (Okay, so not at the northern edge of Reykjavik). It was the first thing that caught my eye here.
Rainy day picnic?
Dalur’s Reykjavik Camp Ground.
Reindeer near a forest preserve, Laugardalur, Reykjavik
Seaside calm
Thermal healing venue, Nautholsvik, Reykjavik
Laughursdal Church
Laughursdal Lutheran Community

I leave you with the notion that this people, the increasingly diverse community that makes up Reykjavik is among the most dedicated to kindness and helpfulness found anywhere.

The Road to Diamond, Day 279: Heart Letter 1

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 3, 2025, Keams Canyon- The hill we used to climb,and lay on blankets under the stars, is still alluring. It seems diminished somehow, though, with the campground having been taken up for house lots and a fenced in playground . The park is a nice idea for the Keams community, though.

I could have bushwhacked a bit and gone up the hill, just to reminisce about those first fleeting days of our acquaintance, which became an enduring, if sometimes harrowing, love story. It wasn’t far from this spot that your trailer sat, and where I camped out in the snow, the first time I visited you. It was all to keep up a sense of propriety, for your Hopi and Mormon neighbours. It was worth the hassle, though, and I felt akin to the small Dineh children who were traditionally thrown out in the snow, to toughen them up.

Tonight, though, there is no snow or cold, just a light rain. I am not sleeping outside, but in the comfort of some new friends’ apartment. We had a lovely dinner of cod fillets, cauliflower over rice and steamed avocado/cucumber salad. I gave them a set of books about the Hopi and one about Dineh. They are resuming the work we did in the ’80s and ’90s, and will take it to the next level.

Hopi will always be special, even if my time here is fleeting, and only occasional. The people have shared their wisdom with the world, and deserve all our support and understanding. You knew that, back then, when you sought to calm my peripatetic self and got me to devote weekends to attending ceremonial dances, instead of going off into mountains and canyons.

That, ironically, is why I am here tonight, absorbing the gentle spiritual energy that lies within these mesa lands, just prior to my embarking on journeys of homage and transition. Soon, our first grandchild will be joining the world. I will not be surprised if she looks up and smiles at a space where no earthly being can be seen. I will know that she is looking at you.

The Road to Diamond, Day 274: Redemptions and Deferments

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 29, 2025- The two-year-old boy spotted me from his place on his grandmother’s chaise lounge and told Nana to look up. His smile could light up Grand Central Station and his enthusiasm could carry a rocket to the Moon and back. His younger and quieter sister gave a slight smile and a nod, but she is more Nana’s girl. I was at the house to tend to a small business matter, which will help two parties, while I am away.

The day was largely spent in bringing some unfinished business to fruition. Sportage has a new oil pan, so no more drips. The trade-off is that there is a countdown to the next regular oil and lube. The Beast will be spending 7 weeks in carport, though, under the watchful eyes of my neighbours, so there is no great rush to get that done.

Then, there was the above-mentioned visit, concerned with relieving another family’s food insecurity. “Nana” is a local small farmer, so she can help with that. Lastly, there is a friend elsewhere who needs assistance in getting through a medical procedure, so that needs periodic contribution. Mostly, though, I am tending to my own needs, so as not to become “a destitute hero”, who would be no hero at all.

The upcoming journey involves reaching destinations and fulfilling promises that are anywhere from seven to fifteen years old. In meditation, the answer came back to focus on these, and there would be time down the road to fulfill more recent pledges. In the interim, I have commitments to my little family and to someone else I love most dearly. Those will take precedence over anything else.

Clear as mud? Things will be explained, as they happen. For now, it is a matter of redeeming old promises and deferring those of more recent vintage.

The Road to Diamond, Day 272: Sacred Space

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 27, 2025- A House of Worship should be a sacred space; so should a school. For that matter, a family home should be sacrosanct, as should any place where the occupants are engaged in service to the community-whether paid or unpaid.

It is a tradition, in several faiths, that the human body is the throne to the temple of the spirit. This, alone, is reason enough for each of us to hold self-respect and respect every other person with whom we come in contact. Mild humour aside, casting aspersions on anyone for physical attributes or harmless personality traits, is hardly a mark of respect. Besides, a joke is a joke only if the butt of the punchline is secure enough to laugh along. (I went through a few rough patches, being somewhat humourless at some stages of my youth and young adulthood. Gaining self-confidence erased that dourness.) Intentional physical and psycho-social assaults on another person will eventually boomerang on society-at-large.

These two aspects of life, the sacredness of so much in this world and the fact that many are cast aside or subjected to ridicule or marginalization, often lead to tragedies, mass casualty events, such as today’s horrific assault on a Roman Catholic congregation, in the middle of a worship service. There is never an excuse for wanton murder. There is likewise, no excuse for bullying someone because of personality features or social status.

Sacred is sacred.

The Road to Diamond, Day 267: Needful Things

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 22, 2025- The girls were forthright in asking for help on their writing assignment, asking me to help, instead of one of the regular staff. They were crestfallen, when I told them I had to take care of other business on Monday-but that they would not be left alone. I trust that a caring soul will be on hand, and tend to their needs. I was able to meet those needs today, so it was a good day.

A friend shared memories of childhood; of witnessing lynchings-the sort described by Billie Holliday, in her song, “Strange Fruit”. This is something that no child should ever have to witness. Another friend shared the news that a young man had taken his own life, shattering her immediate community. This is something that no youth should ever need to contemplate. In my own work, keeping children safe from both external and internal trauma was a major focus of time and energy. It had to be done with regularity, and without judgment as to what the urgency level may have been.

I was not able to prevent all suicide. No one can know for certain what the turmoil is. inside another soul. The first friend has never spoken of what was seen, until now. The young man did not share his pain, even with his closest friends.

I am fortunate, in life here in Prescott and in the various places I have been honoured to visit, over the past fifteen years. Rarely has there been a closed door, and then only because of my own shortcomings or faux pas. With that good fortune has come a fair amount of responsibility. So, I don’t think of time spent anywhere as “vacation”, even though to those whose life commitment is to stay put and focus on one community or one neighbourhood, any time spent not working-or not spent “blooming where planted” is a lark.

So be it. I will wake each day, no matter where I find myself and make the same commitment to the well-being of those around me, as I did in schools and communities, across Arizona and in South Korea, for 46 years. Some of that will be in schools; other will be on the road or in communities where I might be expected to relax. It will be what appears to be needed.

The Road to Diamond, Day 264: A Primavera Day in Mid-Summer

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Hiking and Nature, Personal Values, service, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 19, 2025- There is no shortage of schools in Prescott that are in salubrious settings. One of these is Primavera School, located on the southwest side of town. It is, being in a forest community, geared towards a holistic education in an ecologically-oriented setting. The basics are well-taught, in small groups, and with room made for serendipitous moments. If a “book” lesson is underway, and one of the kindergartners, or third graders, happens to focus on a hummingbird feeding nearby, the class takes time to observe the animal and later discuss the scene-What was in the liquid that the hummingbird was drinking? Are there times of day that the birds prefer to feed? What other foods do hummingbirds take? There is realization that a book lesson is not sacrificed by a 30-minute observational activity.

“Primavera”, of course, is Spanish for “Spring”. Here were a group of us, at this school, in mid-Summer, helping to focus a new year for school gardens. The school’s name hints at an orientation towards every day being a new beginning, in some sense. With the daily awakening and enkindling of knowledge, children-any of us, actually- feel this new beginning. This afternoon, we did a poetic exercise, called “I Am From”, which looks at some of the many factors, past and present, which shape who each of us is.
Like anyone else, I could fill in the blanks in a number of ways, and shared one set of answers in the session. I will share a similar, and equally genuine, rendition of this poem below:

I am from

I am from corn on the cob

From 6 a.m. and cool, crisp air

I am from the cabin, cozy, warm, sweet-scented

I am from oak and bear,

tall and stout, strong and gentle

I am from family reunions and walks in the woods

from the beach and caves

From Kauai and wind-swept, craggy coastal bluffs

I am from Granite Mountain and holding my grandchild

and from “The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens”.

This poem is taken and slightly adapted from the website: http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

It is used at Primavera, in teaching middle school students. Its efficacy with adults is equally apparent.

The Road to Diamond, Day 261: Affirmed

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 16, 2025- The energy of the day showed its hand early. Sportage’s battery gave out, after four years of service. I had a new one purchased and installed, well in time to go to Farmers’ Market and assist in the breakdown. My co-worker also observed that the energy was a bit on the thick side and she wasn’t getting as much done, to her chagrin. I recalled that Penny was a lot about stopping and smelling the roses, where I had long been Mr. Full Speed Ahead. There is more of a mix between the two, these days, and I have my beloved departed wife to thank for that.

An old friend interrupted her braiding of her second daughter’s hair, and gave me a bear hug, letting me know that various acts of kindness over the years have been fully appreciated. I am constantly, she said, on her and her children’s minds. That the kids are furtive and shy does not mean they are any less appreciative. I will be sure to visit them over Labor Day weekend, a week before wheels up to Iceland, Sweden and other points on the European continent.

Another old friend needed my affirmation of her worth. She is a person who has suffered much and yet gets a good measure of happiness out of hard work. Facing the sometime harsh realities of capitalism has also not been very easy on her. She is facing an aggressive and not altogether ethical competitor, who seems to have the blessing of their collective landlord. I let her know that I have her back and will look for ways that she can innovate, and meet her competitor’s challenge in an honourable manner. My father taught that other people are most often well within their rights, even if they cross my path. I take that very much to heart.

In all the ups and downs of living alongside other people, it has long been my view that there is no daylight, when it comes to paying attention to those around us and helping them play to their strengths. We also, however, must take care of ourselves, not depending entirely on those around us. So my day started with car care and ended with an evening of listening to long-time friends playing a mix of 60s-00s rock and country classics. The hummus plate was fabulous, as ever.