Category Archives: collaborating

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 27

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Entertainment, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

September 17, 2026- Hana went with me to my chiropractic appointment, this afternoon. She is quiet and observant, around people she doesn’t know-especially if it is a medical facility. So, my granddaughter watched me on the massage chair and while I was being adjusted. She was not bothered by any of it, she was just taking everything in.

She does hate red lights, though. They are among the things to which she will need to get accustomed. I make silly noises from the front, to get her mind off the stopping. (She is still rear-facing in the car seat, so not being able to see the light is part of the deal.)

Hana is also getting more particular about her foods. She, understandably, will stop eating bell peppers and mushrooms, if they get soggy. Chicken and beef need to be warm, or she will push the spoon away. She also doesn’t like to overeat.

HANA’S NOTE– I am careful about what I eat. It has to taste good and not be slimy.

EXPANDING CIRCLES: South Texas- I’ve been down the Texas coast, as far as Brownsville and Boca Chica (before it became Space X Headquarters) and along the Rio Grande, as far as Laredo and in El Paso, on a few other trips. South Texas basically covers anything south of San Antonio and from Uvalde and Eagle Pass on eastward to the Gulf of Mexico. The turf- South Texas is coastal plain,in the east, with riparian plain from Brownsville to Eagle Pass. Foothills of the Balcones Escarpment extend nearly to Uvalde. The Brazos and Nueces Rivers, as well as Rio Grande/Rio Bravo, drain the region.

FIRST NATIONS- South Texas is the ancestral homeland of the Coahuiltecan, Lipan Apache and Carrizo Comecrudo peoples, all of whom claim the neighbouring Mexican states as their homeland as well. Karankawa people lived along the coast, in pre-colonial times. They have either vanished or have intermarried with other groups.

Among the coastal cities, I am most familiar with Corpus Christi. Blucher Park and the near downtown occupied me on a visit in 2012. I would also focus on Texas State Aquarium, Suter Park, the Selena memorial and USS Lexington, if I went to Corpus with Hana. South Padre Island and Port Isabel were my favourite places along the Coast, south of Corpus. Hana might be interested in the Lighthouse and Museum at Port Isabel, especially the classic doll collection. She already loves colourful dolls. The Nature Center and Boardwalk at South Padre might also prove interesting. I love the beaches there, also.
Laredo and Victoria are interesting from a historical perspective and architecturally. King Ranch is on my list, as it is one of the largest cattle and horse raising operations in Texas, and does a good job of wildland restoration, Hana would have to be 10 for the Nature Walk, though, so the King will be on the back burner for a while.

Where I feel most at home: Port Isabel, South Padre, downtown Laredo

Where I feel most at peace: South Padre’s channel side

NEXT: West Texas

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 25

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Entertainment, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 15, 2026- The practice continued today, for two stretches of 2 hours each. Hana would call out “Hah!”, when she was ready to have me keep time while she stood without support. She worked very hard at it-with several sets of 5-6 seconds without falling and the longest stretch being 16 seconds. I am following her lead on this. She has the routine down. In between, she either scooted along the playpen fence or played with her toys, while I watched. After each session, she napped soundly.

Hana is also feeding herself, more and more. She did so at breakfast and dinner today. Of course, it’s a messy affair, but as I told her, I am glad to clean up after her, the way someone cleaned up for me, back in the day. I was mostly a Gerber baby. She has food prepared from scratch by her mother.

HANA’S NOTE- I am getting closer to walking. I made my own game for standing up.

EXPANDING CIRCLES- Houston and the Texas Bayous The turf: The area between Big Thicket and the Brazos River has become home to the fourth largest metropolitan area in the country. Houston and its suburbs weather fairly regular tropical storms and have seen some rising tides. The area is low-lying coastal plain, with several bayous in and around the city. Buffalo Bayou is the best known of these. The region fronts on the Gulf of Mexico, with Galveston Bay and Trinity Bay as the Gulf’s main inlets. The Sabine, Neches and Brazos Rivers are the Bayou Region’s major drainage.

First Nations- The Texas Bayou region is the ancestral home of the Atakapa people. The Bidai, Akokisa and Karankawa people also lived in the area. They were either killed off or intermarried with surrounding nations.

I have been in the Houston area four times. I haven’t familiarized myself with the city, as most of the time was spent meeting up with friends in small city parks or staying with other friends in the comunity of Spring, a northwestern suburb. If I did visit with Hana and her parents, I’d focus on the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, and take in the Museum and Theater Districts. Then Buffalo Bayou and Hermann Parks would also be high on my list.

Galveston and Beaumont are other cities which I’ve visited in the area. Galveston, which I visited with Hana’s grandmother, in 1984, is a seaside town, famous for its having been hit by a major hurricane (1900), and before that, as the place which inspired Juneteenth. It was here that General Gordon Granger, of the Union Army, informed enslaved people that they were now free, by Proclamation of President Lincoln, This was on June 19, 1865, two months after the War had ended and three years after the Proclamation had been issued. I would focus on both elements of Galveston’s history, if I returned here. My visits to Beaumont have been Red Cross-related. I would like to check out Old Town, and the area along the Neches, if we come by here. Sabine Lake and Pass, near Port Arthur, would also be of interest.

Where I feel most at home- Arts District Houston, East End, Buffalo Bayou, Galveston

Where I feel most at peace: Buffalo Bayou

NEXT: Central Texas

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 23

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Entertainment, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

September 13, 2026- Hana interacted with other children, this morning, as her grownups enjoyed a fine breakfast at Fairview Farmers, which is Collin County’s equivalent of Zeke’s Eatin’ Place, with a Swedish twist. She smiled and called out to a couple of girls, one of whom gave up her doll’s high chair, so that Hana could have a place to sit. Yes, to a three-year-old, Dolly needs to feel included. The little girl “explained”to her doll that “they could share a spot on the bench, so the baby could have seat”. Hana had a harder time, when a man about her Dad’s age smiled at her, from another table. At first, she was scared, but studied him carefully for a bit, and felt okay afterward.

She is continuously practicing taking steps, either by scooting or by taking my hands and following me, almost as if we are dancing. She is also able to stand up on her own, for slightly longer periods of time. Her “talking” also has more context and is accompanied by clear body language. She also understands when her parents correct her and does not seem at all sensitive at being admonished. The love we have given her has been a good foundation.

HANA’S NOTE– I made my way halfway around the play pen, just holding onto the fence. I will be walking soon.

EXPANDING CIRCLES- Texas is the second largest state, in area, and second largest, in population. So, besides being Hana’s home state, it has the pride of place in certain areas. “Texas-sized” has come to mean huge. There is a 64-ounce steak, with trimmings, on offer, in at least one establishment in Amarillo. I have been to all parts of Texas, so let’s take the regions, as they might unfold for my granddaughter.

North Texas- The Turf: Hana’s home region is watered by the Red and Trinity Rivers, with several large reservoirs that double as recreation sites. This is prairie, with some rolling hills and numerous small deciduous forests. Ranches and nut farms used to dominate the region, and still may be found, here and there-primarily in the western part of North Texas.

First Nation- North Texas is the ancestral home of the Wichita people.

Hana’s world, so far, is mostly Plano, with Frisco, Prospect, Carrollton, Grapevine, Coppell, Allen and Richardson rounding out the mix-mostly for medical appointments, and a few family meals. Her only visits to Dallas and Fort Worth have been for doctors’ appointments.

Fort Worth was my first large North Texas city (2012). Log Cabin Village was most interesting to me, as a history buff. I met the Winters family, at Log Cabin Village. Their younger daughter was fascinated by the preserved heritage of LCV. Perhaps my granddaughter will be, too. She is certainly interested in how things are put together. Interesting, too, were The Stockyards, from a cultural point of view. The Botanical Garden is likely the first place I would want to take Hana, as a place of natural beauty, and the most impactful spot in town.

Dallas was a focus, a couple of years later. Pioneer Park, with its cattle and cowboy sculptures, was the most interesting place I went, and is the first place I’d bring Hana, I would also take in Dallas’ Botanical Garden, and we’d want to go to the zoo. Dealy Plaza gave me pause, being the site of the first great tragedy of my youth: The assassination of John F. Kennedy. The iconic red sandstone Courthouse, aka “The Red Museum” is still a place I’d like to spend time.

Cleburne, south of DFW, and Sherman, north of us, are smaller cities that I found interesting for their local history. Sherman figures in the gradual unfolding of the Civil Rights of Black Americans. Denison, on the Oklahoma border, has the boyhood home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. That was interesting to me. We’ll have to see whether Hana is a history buff.

Where I feel most at home: Plano, McKinney, Grapevine, Cleburne

Where I feel most at peace- The lounge at 1418 Coffee House

NEXT UP: East Texas

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 22

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Family, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

September 12, 2026- Hana didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, being amuse dby my making funny faces, while feeling sad that she couldn’t enjoy the spicy food we were having for dinner. She had eaten a full meal, earlier, but still wants to be included in whatever we are eating in our grown-up meals. Yunhee usually will cut up small bits of fruit. Tonight, it was bits of strawberry, then there were bits of a spongy peach and yogurt bread that Yunhee had made, especially for her girl. Those hit the spot, and Hana was again all smiles.

She shows a lot of the same resolute behaviour that Aram showed as a toddler. Yet, Hana is just shy of nine months, so “toddlerhood” is a bit down the road-or so we think now. She is on a mission, though, and is going to be walking earlier than her father did (13 months). She is also a lot more vocal than he was as a baby. Still, when we called her grand-uncle, David, as today is his birthday, Hana had nothing to say. She just looked at me, and then her father, talking into the phone. So, we sent him a birthday message, with her smiling countenance.

HANA’S NOTE– I was looking for a piece of strawberry I had dropped. Daddy told me to check my bib, and so I did-and there was the missing fruit. I’m glad I know more words now.

I REMEMBER: “Pete and Gladys”;” Mighty Mouse”; Pinky Lee; Captain Bob and Herkimer the Kiwi; the first girl I liked, named Katie, who moved out of our neighbourhood, when I was six years old and she was five; Kickball; acorn fights; the old oil drums in the marsh, and how Eddie and I pretended they were our boats; Consumer Reports; my handwritten newsletter; Mom’s lessons in cursive writing; helping dad put a blanket over the car engine, on a bitter January day; “The Thing” and “The Tingler”, in movie theaters in downtown Lynn; “Perry Mason”; my Book of Nations; my friends Mario Mattei, Mike Putnam, Joe Discolo, Charlie Landrigan, Joan Madden and my conscience, Jim Blanchard; the Harrisons; the Murphys; “Feep”; Brigham’s Ice Cream Parlor;my Nana’s parlour; my Grama’s porch; Pal, her dog; Winky, the Dows’ dog; Smoky, the Blanchards’ dog;

I remember Patsio’s Snack and Soda; Katie Walsh, my first real love, after my mother;Harvard Square, in the Summer of Love; the rotometer shop at G.E.; National Geographic, before the cover had photographs; Mad Magazine; Basic Training; Dave L. Cummings; Mack Gray; Brad Watts; Rufus Roper; Lisa Kifer; New Times; the New University, in Georgetown of D.C,; Uncle George’s science projects; George Boyce; FDR Hurst; Bill Bullock; Don Moore; Gary Oakley; Arnie Price; Lenny Covarrubias; the Henderson girls, of Woolahra, AU; the Tours and Travel Committee at NSCC; Joe Latino; Cindy Jacques; Mickey Berry; the Library Tower at UMass-Amherst; Roz Williamson; Jim Crepeau; Quisisana; Sally and Bill; Kathy Hughes and Annette Kuderka; the moose at Lake Kezar; the Bizortinator; Sophie, who told me to not wallow in self-pity, after I was fired on my 25th birthday.

I think that was the day that I tarted to grow up, I didn’t finish the process, until about ten years ago. Then again, maybe I’m still growing.

EXPANDING CIRCLES– Starting tomorrow, I will be looking at places, especially where I’ve been, talking about my favourite aspects of each: Where I went ; who I encountered; what was most enjoyable; what was impactful; where I might visit in the years ahead. I will begin with Texas, then proceed gradually outward, as Hana might, when she comes of age.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 21

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 11, 2026- Hana has no idea about the events of 25 years ago. Her parents were in Middle School, back then, I was making an effort to become fully employed. Her paternal grandmother was fully employed, and made a a concerted effort to explain the events to her Second Graders, before all were dismissed early.

I hope, against hope, that my granddaughter will not have to endure anything like what thousands of people experienced, on that turbulent day. She has had a safe and stable life, thus far. While I want to see her face challenges, and develop strengths, I also want these to be of her own choosing.

Hana has been more vocal and a bit feistier today, than heretofore. While I was feeding her oatmeal, this morning, she engaged me, just a bit, in a game of “keep away”, with her spoon. I pretended to be shocked and covered my eyes for a few seconds, then “pop”, I gently took the spoon back. This evening, while I was putting her high chair straps in place, she took one of the straps and began babbling about how she wanted it put over her shoulder, just so. I followed the “instructions”, to her delight.

HANA’S NOTE- I am almost ready to say words in Papa’s and Daddy’s language. I am also almost ready to start walking. Today, I scooted halfway around the play pen.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2025 This was another year of almost constant motion. I made it back to the Philippines, in February, and was actively contemplating moving there. I knew there was no guarantee that Kathy and I would be together in marriage, but I wanted to make the effort. Besides, the country and its people had made me that much more a part of a larger community.

I hosted a couple from Metro Manila, for a week or so, in April, taking in the South Rim of Grand Canyon, Seligman, Williams, Sedona, Flagstaff, the Verde Valley and Desert Rose Baha’i School, as well as Prescott. They got to experience the Farmers Market, Bearizona, Sno Cap, Bell Rock and Montezuma Well. I became more familiar with the Filipino communities in Las Vegas, where I met up with Babo and Thelma, and Phoenix, where I left them off.

For much of the year, I focused on acts of service. taking on a remote administrative position with the Red Cross, particularly focusing on the disastrous wildfire that destroyed the complex at the North Rim of Grand Canyon. I kept on with volunteering at Prescott Farmers Market and appeared at some Slow Food events as well. Social gatherings at the American Legion Post remained important.

In May, I drove back to the East Coast, with stops in Kansas, Wilmette, Mishawaka and northern Pennysylvania, before,visiting my parents’ and youngest brother’s graves, in Saugus,. I took in Mystery Hill, “America’s Stonehenge, in Salem, NH. The return included stops in Downingtown and Oley, in Harrisonburg and in Crossville. Grapevine was a weekend visit, and the question came forth. A baby was coming, in December. Would I be willing to move into a house that Aram and Yunhee planned to buy, for the sake of the child? In a few short minutes, my plans regarding the Philippines were, at the very least, put on hold. I had dreamed of a granddaughter, and this child was going to become a reality. Kathy, and other Baha’i friends, see this as a confirmation of my worth, not as a disappointment over the change in plans.

In 2014, I spent about a month in western Europe. For several years, I had promised myself and others that I would return to Europe and expand upon the earlier itinerary. This year, I was able to spend six weeks, spending quality time in eleven countries and transiting through three others. Iceland was the first stop, for four days in Reykjavik and the Reykjanes Peninsula. Sweden was next, with Stockholm, Gotland, and Nynashamn (the home of a delightful young family, who are my friends of several years) filling my days. In Denmark, the magical city of Helsingor, Copenhagen and Arhus won my heart. Germany focused on Berlin, Heidelberg and Frankfurt-am-Main. Austria, with sweet days in Vienna and Salzburg, was the midpoint of the journey. Poland presented the heritage of Krakow and the dark legacy of Auschwitz, with the town of Oswiecim as its gentle counterpoint. Croatia showcased bustling Zagreb and lively Split, where I met up with another online friend. Bosnia & Hercegovina presented the joy of Old Town Sarajevo and the grim heritage of Srebrenica, I transited through Czechia, Hungary and Slovenia, getting a brief taste of those beautiful countries. I returned to France, focusing on opposite ends of one of my ancestral homelands-Strasbourg and Metz, in the east; Le Havre and Dieppe, in the west, with a bus rid across Paris as the link. England was a revelation, at Portsmouth and Salisbury, the latter with its magnificent cathedral. Wales gave me a chance to connect with another online friend-at Fishguard. In Ireland, another ancestral homeland, I passed through Wexford, from where my maternal forbears are believed to have left for Germany, in the days of the Hanseatic League. I spent three days in Dublin, taking in the heritage of the waves of Celts, Vikings and English who built that grand city. Scotland, and a visit with another online friend, plus two happy days in Edinburgh, capped the journey. I was able to connect, albeit fleetingly, with Baha’is in Iceland, Germany, Austria and Ireland, the last being for the Twin Birthdays of al-Bab and Baha’u’llah.

Once back in Prescott, a scant month separated time in Europe from an increased focus on my Texas family. I spent Thanksgiving, and my 75th birthday in Grapevine with Aram, Yunhee and soon-to-be born Hana. Christmas brought me back there, and the last several days of the year were focused on wrapping up thirty-four years of Arizona living. On December 30, with the Pensky moving van loaded and my apartment clean, I bid farewell to one Home Base, and headed towards another: Prescott to Plano.

One lifestyle drew to a close, and another began; but I’m still a Sagittarian Seeker.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 20

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 10,2026- My mother would have been 98, today. Aram said, this evening that he sees something of her in Hana. I definitely have seen the same for quite some time. It’s in the intensity of her gaze.

Hana has been quite effervescent, all day. When I turned on the lights in the dining room, this morning, her word was “Light”. She has been in a fun-loving mood, crawling on me and giving me hugs, She has also been very busy standing, a couple of times hands-free, and has been practicing walking, in the playpen, with my help. Daytime naps in the crib have been rather short, but today, when Yunhee came back from an errand, just as I had Hana ready to sleep, the little girl greeted her mother happily, then let Yunhee put her in the crib. She slept for nearly two hours. The top lateral incisors continue to poke through, a bit at a time,

HANA’S NOTE- I was just glad that my Papa was with me for much of the day, even though Mommy is also home.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2024- This was the year that my mother said goodbye- right in the midpoint of it all, June 30. She had lived an astonishing life, and was the last of nine siblings. She had the most profound influence of anyone on my life. I will be ever grateful to have been there for her, at the end of hers.

I was at her side three times, once in mid-Spring, en route to Newfoundland and once on the way back to Arizona. The third time, which had me sitting with her constantly, over a three-day period, came at end of watch. She would shake her head, at all my travels, over the years, but the last five days of her earthly life saw me travel solely between Bedford and Lynnfield. Ditto for the days up until her interment. Aram joined me for the time leading up to the funeral, and Independence Day, which followed.

The year was otherwise one of constant motion: San Diego and Orange County in February; Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, plus St. Pierre, by way of my usual route, in April and May; homage also paid to Emmett Till and to Fannie Lou Hamer, on the way back to Prescott; flying back to Mother’s side in late June and seeing her off on her timeless journey; northward to Vancouver Island and B.C’s Sunshine Coast, in July; the Philippines, including Baguio, Palawan and Dumaguete, in late September and much of October. My time with a lady I still very much treasure was the finest part of that last journey.

I ended the year pondering whether my Home Base would change, either to Texas or to Metro Manila. The answer would come within a year.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 18

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 8, 2026- We told Hana that it was important for us all to keep quiet, while a workman was doing a sonic test, in different parts of the downstairs. She was very careful to stay quiet, until she knew he was finished. Then she had all kinds of things to say about her lunch, of which she ate every bite.

Hana was surprisingly attentive to what he was saying. Most infants don’t attend very well to adults, other than their closest family members. She wants to at least hear what people are saying. It may stay in the back of her mind, until some day in the future, when she will recall hearing it somewhere. and put it to use. I’ve had that happen. She is also very much attached to certain books, my Baha’i prayer books among them. We spent about fifteen minutes, this morning, with my turning to random pages of “Baha’i Prayers”, and her looking at them with a fair intensity.

HANA’S NOTE- I feel happy when I hear Papa saying prayers. I also want to make it easier for my Mommy and Daddy, so I don’t get into mischief, even when it seems like it would be fun.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2022 I got less than a year with the Saturn Vue. It took me north and east to Massachusetts, and two visits with my mother, then to coastal Maine, and on to North Sydney, NS, and then from Channel-Port aux Basques, NL,on up to L’Anse aux Meadows, at Newfoundland’s northern tip, south and east to St. John’s, and back across to Nova Scotia, then clear to Mountaintop, PA. That is a town where my brother and his family once lived, and I felt a bit of nostalgia, having visited them there in the mid-1990s. When I was on my way out of Mountaintop, passing through its nearest southern neighbour, on the way to visit my niece and her family, I was stopped at a traffic light. BAM! A lady had fallen asleep at the wheel and rammed into the jeep behind me, which was then pushed into the Saturn. The light turned green and I led the way to a safe place for the three of us to stop and wait for the police. The jeep and the rearmost vehicle were attached at the bumper. The police officer looked at Saturn and said there was no damage to the exhaust or gas line, so I was free to go.

I continued on, to Exton, where my niece and her husband grilled some burgers and I relaxed for a time. I then went to Oley, where it was Dave Glick’s birthday (as well as Aram’s) and enjoyed a cake, coffee and conversation, then spent the night, as I often have. Next came a two-day stay in Crossville, TN at the home of friends Laureen and Chuck, followed by the State Capitol and Parthenon, in Nashville, a segment of Natchez Trace, from Nashville to Hohenwald, Once there, I found a pizza place open on that Sunday night, had a decent meal and went on to Florence and Muscle Shoals, AL. Mississippi, Louisiana and east Texas followed, without any indication of trouble. I spent three days with Aram and Yunhee, in Grapevine, and made the rest of my way to Prescott. Then I took Saturn to my regular auto body shop. It was pronounced totaled. Maybe it was the initial collision, or the wear and tear of a seemingly uneventful drive homeward-or maybe both. I turned the warhorse over to my insurance company, got a settlement with the PA woman’s insurance agent and bought KIA Sportage.

Some presences in life are rich, but fleeting. So it has been with all three of the Saturns I’ve owned.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 17

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 7, 2026- Neither Hana or I are working paid jobs, but we did our share around the house. Hana likes to put her own tray on the high chair-and she knows how to do it. Of course, some adult dexterity is needed to fasten it securely, but she likes to start the process. She also wants, very badly, to climb up and out of the playpen. There are no footholds, though, and we’re not providing her with any.

Labor Day, for the family, was very productive. We finally got a foundation and drywall specialist who was a straight talker and was not interested in selling us his services, on the spot. He recommended a holistic course of action, which addressed the matter of water-sucking shrubs and small trees. We had three of them removed, this afternoon.

HANA’S NOTE- I am so glad that my grownups listen to me, when I need my diaper changed. I also like getting bits of cut fruit, when they have their lunch or dinner-after I’ve had my big meal. I like being part of their gathering.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2021 Year Two of the Pandemic saw more in-person classes resume, as the danger of infection abated, somewhat. Masks and physical distancing were still big things, as were virtual meetings. Our Baha’i gatherings were still largely on Zoom, as there were too many people with compromised immune systems, and we lost one elder in the summer of 2020.

This was the year that my mother moved out of our childhood home- a place in which she had lived for 66 years. I made two journeys across country this year- first, to ascertain Mom’s state of mind, at her new place of residence and to help clean out the old house, once it had been sold. So, in May, I went back to Saugus, and spent five days helping to with the process. The road east was still COVID protocol-led, from New Mexico to Connecticut. Once in Massachusetts, things had abated somewhat, though for obvious reasons, I went into Mom’s residence masked up and wearing gloves. She made me remove my mask and gloves, when I entered her room. The place was taking care of her, to the extent she let anyone do so.

I went back to Prescott, stopping in Carmel, NY; Oley (for a home-style dinner); Bedford, PA; Terre Haute; Jefferson City, Wheatland and Lamar, MO; and Grants, NM. The COVID protocol was less stringent already.

July brought me eastward again, through Grapevine, TX, so that I could celebrate Aram’s birthday with him and Yunhee. The route then took me to the Greenwood section of Tulsa, where a mob massacred large numbers of Black people, a hundred years ago; then came Memphis, and a visit to the Museum of Civil Rights and Beale Street. In Crossville, TN, I visited with friends and hiked to Fall Creek Falls, in the rain. Harrisonburg did not have Artful Cafe, any longer, but it had Duke’s, a similar place of welcome, in the same location. I made a stopover at Oley, on the way up to Saugus. I had a fine visit with maternal cousin, John and his wife, as well as spending time with Mom and my MA siblings. In Maine, I paid respects to paternal cousin John, and his parents, now all interred in a National Cemetery in Augusta.

Going back was a northern route: Concord, NH; Albany; Du Bois, PA; Mishawaka; Wilmette; Madison and Hudson, WI; Minneapolis-St.Paul, (where I met up with a first cousin, once removed and her family; Fairmont, MN and Sioux Falls (where I made a boo-boo and needed some radiator repair, as a result). Nebraska and Colorado saw me safely back into Home Base.

Late September brought the end of Elantra. As I was headed to work, on a country road, I stopped for 5 seconds and proceeded, A landscape vehicle, going twenty miles over the speed limit, came over the hill and hit the Hyundai exactly between me and the gas tank. I was cited for not having waited 10 seconds at the stop sign. The landscaper was taken into custody. The Hyundai was replaced by a 2007 Saturn Vue, for which I paid cash. While I waited to take possession of the Saturn, whose owner was getting ready to move and just needed the vehicle until her moving date, I had a rental car, paid by the landscape company’s insurance. With that rental car, I made a trip to Chaco Culture National Historic Park and to Ghost Ranch, spending a day in each place.

In December, the Vue and I drove to Santa Fe and Taos. A Christmas visit to Santa Fe had become my self-indulgence for two years, before COVID and it seemed like a good time to jump start things. I visited the Georgia O’Keefffe Museum, having been inspired by the October visit to Ghost Ranch.

Life was becoming normal, and full, again.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 16

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

September 6, 2026- I spent much of the day at a Red Cross Donation Center in Irving, about 40 minutes west of Plano. When I got back, Hana was waiting and wanted me to play with her for a while. So, we focused on a new set of colour-coded cloth baskets, which each hold three cloth vegetables and fruits. The green basket holds a watermelon, an avocado and a pear. The yellow basket holds an ear of corn, a banana and a pineapple. The red basket holds an apple, a tomato and a strawberry. The orange basket holds a pumpkin, a carrot and-an orange. The items are lined up on a Velcro strip, on one of the walls of the playpen. Hana has started to associate the vegetable or fruit with its coloured basket. She is especially fond of the red items.

She went with her Mom and Dad to a Japanese market, while I was at the Red Cross center. She seemed to like the place better than she did the first time we all went there, for Mother’s Day. Of course, then she was four months old. Being “twice as old” changes one’s perspective. Having had a full day, at any rate, she went to sleep before 7 p.m.

HANA’S NOTE- I like the colour game. I can even put some of the pieces in the right baskets.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2020 The meteor streaked past my home, as i arrived back from a drumming session in Sedona, around midnight. Meteors and comets often portend something momentous. Little did any of us who saw the fireball know just how impactful the event would be. Coronavirus disease 2019 was not World War III. In a way, it was far worse. COVID 19 could have easily wiped out a huge percentage of the world’s population. As it was, the number of victims, in all but six of the world’s countries and territories, was, by the pandemic’s ebb, a horrendous toll. There were a lot of deaths, and a significant number of people suffered from lingering effects of the disease. Vaccinations became available, and once school resumed, in the Fall of the year, we substitutes had to be vaccinated with two doses, two months apart. Many people distrusted the vaccines, and tried their own remedies. For the healthiest of those folks, the DIY stuff had a placebo effect. For others, like Herman Cain, a conservative podcaster, it was lethal.

I, like most people, was largely confined to home during the worst months of the pandemic. We had meetings on Zoom, an online network, which actually allowed people to communicate across the nation and the globe, visually as well as audibly.

I took hikes, around Prescott and in Sedona. I visited restaurants whose owners either were not cowed by the pandemic or who had people who were unrelated sit apart. In grocery stores-and most other places, like the post Office, masks were required and distances of 12 ft. were required. Semantics became a battleground- “physical distance” vs. “social distance” being one of the bones of contention.

Hurricanes did not take notice of the pandemic. In August, I spent two weeks with the victims of Hurricane Laura, as part of a team responding in Alexandria and Baton Rouge, Louisiana during the brunt of the storm. I was daytime floor supervisor, tending to the needs of some 86 displaced souls.

A month later, I went to Dallas, and helped many of the same people, who were now living in a hotel provided by the Red Cross. I was “bumped up” to assistant shelter supervisor, by an appreciative manager. Each family had their own room, and meals were taken in a large dining area with long tables. FEMA was present, and I was able to establish a good working relationship with that team. The two weeks passed with few serious issues. A laundry snafu, which resulted in a person’s clothes being mislabeled by the laundry service, and thus delivered to the wrong room, required some detective work on my part. Fortunately, after I had arranged for some shopping funds for the aggrieved party, her clothes were brought to us by the person who had been given them by mistake. All was thus made right. The ladies even gave each other “air hugs”.

The year ended, while the pandemic lingered. I was okay, even celebrating my 70th birthday at the family apartment in Plano-their first Texas home. We all survived.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 15

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 5, 2026- Hana carefully observed two visitors today. One was a fast-talking salesman, trying to drum up business for his pest control company. She smiled wanly at him, but didn’t offer her customary “Hi”. The second, a plumber, was here to look at an area of our concern. She smiled a lot more at him, and said “Hi”. My grandchild already has a sense of people.

She again talked a lot, and was glad that I sat down with her, while Mom and Dad were fixing dinner. I told her that I was glad she was using her teething ring, and she showed me the toy. Her top lateral incisors (canines) are coming in, and so she is chewing on a lot of teething rings-and a few things that aren’t.

HANA’S NOTE- I like to be able to choose my own activities. Papa lets me do that, so it’s fun to have him in the playpen.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2019 The day after the family wedding, last June, Aram asked Yunhee to marry him and she said “Yes”. They had a civil wedding in November of last year, on the island of Guam. On March 10, they had a Baha’i wedding, in Kwangju, South Korea. I was there, a few days early. The journey from Phoenix to Los Angeles was a lesson in patience (United left Phoenix two hours behind schedule), and I arrived at LAX, 90 minutes late, the result being that I was the last passenger to get on the plane for Seoul.

The wedding itself was small, by Korean standards, yet it was dignified and happy. The reception hall was full afterwards, and why not? The food was plentiful and tasty. Our family had now officially spanned the Pacific. I joined a family outing to Cheonju, a city with an interesting historic district and went with Aram and Yunhee’s father to a men’s spa. Gender-separate bath houses are very common in Korea. A day or two later, I flew back to the U.S. and my Korean family continued their Naval life.

I had cut ties with the unsettled woman, last October, after she threatened to see that I lost my job.. She nonetheless parked her RV at the park across the road from our little Quad. She never directly tried to pester me, but I knew I was being watched. That aside, I was starting to be affected by mold in my workspace; all of us-staff and students, were. It was affecting my judgment and my energy level. In late March, I threw my left knee out, taking a step down on stairs I had walked down dozens of times. It was a mild sprain, but after treatment and two weeks of P/T, I was okay again. In mid-April, though, a misunderstanding with another staff member led to my deciding to leave the Autism Program. The day that I resigned, the RV lady drove off and I have not seen her since.

In summer, I set out again on a cross-country journey- starting with a visit to an old friend in Coal Mine, AZ, then camping at Canyon de Chelly, before taking the customary northern route, through Albuquerque, Amarillo and Oklahoma, visiting with Xanga friends there. This time, though, I drove across Arkansas and Tennessee, visiting my friends in Crossville, then stopping in Chattanooga and Knoxville. I had Elantra serviced in Knoxville, then headed over to Asheville, NC, taking in that city’s elegant downtown. The road then took me to Tryon, NC, a town that I had briefly considered as a Home Base, sight unseen, in 2011. I might have been happy there, had Prescott not captivated me.

South Carolina brought satisfying visits to Columbia, Aiken, Hilton Head Island and Charleston. I took in Fort Sumter, another spot on Penny’s 2007 virtual field trip itinerary that we had not fulfilled. Back in North Carolina, I visited a Baha’i friend in Salisbury and stopped in Raleigh, to do laundry and spend time in the Capitol District. Another visit with dear Xanga friend in Virginia Beach, was followed by a drive across Chesapeake Bay to Cape Charles and Virginia’s Eastern Shore. It was fascinating top watch the ponies at Assateague, frolicking in the surf. Then came a stop in Dover, DE-the compact and delightful capital of the First State. My Oley stop followed, then up through PA to New York, and a visit to West Point-the last of the three Service Academies I’ve visited. My Dad had always wanted to go there, so I fulfilled his wish for him. Popeye Doyle (“The French Connection”) never went to Poughkeepsie-the foil in one of his throwaway lines in that movie. I spent a day or so in the town and in nearby Newburgh. Lovely area, along the Hudson River, though both cities were a tad rundown.

Going north, I decided to drive through Massachusetts’ southwest corner, stopping in the southern Berkshires, at Egremont. In Saugus, for Independence Day, saw fireworks and had quality time with Mom and my siblings. I made a return visit to Amherst, and my alma mater-University of Massachusetts, then toured Mt. Holyoke, a women’s university, south of town. Across Connecticut, I sopped in Danbury and spent time with that city’s Revolutionary War sites. The next main stops were Pittsburgh, for a Baha’i Holy Day gathering, Mishawaka, Chicago-for a night in Wrigleyville, near the Cubs Stadium, Wilmette, Wapello, IA, Kansas City and a small town named Satanta,KS. I paid respects to the fallen at Silver Creek, CO, a solemn cap to my sojourn.

Fall brought me back into substitute teaching, with a more connected sense of mission. I chose my assignments more discerningly, going forward.