July 27,2026- Hana has two new skill projects: Reaching for everything and standing up, with assistance. The first one has us doing our due diligence on child-proofing. The second one is something I am more than glad to assist, She can stand, with my support, for about 15 seconds at a time. Then, she has to sit down, but will want to stand again, a few minutes later. She did the same with crawling and sitting, so I can see what our agenda for the next several weeks will be.

My granddaughter has a keen sense of humour and of mischief. While I was scuttering about, making dinner, this evening, she would reach up from her bouncy chair and grab the hem of my shorts, with a huge grin on her face. She also likes to take the cover of one of the recliner’s arms and cover her face with it. She does take correction, though, when her antics might present a problem. It is not necessary to raise my voice; I just explain to her why it is not a good idea. There will betimes, when she is a toddler, when reason will take a holiday, but even then, a firm “No” will hold.

Hana is slowly taking to the mimicking crab, talking to it and giggling at its copying her. Of course, it mimics the giggling, too. I will make silly noises or speak a detailed message. It copies those, also, which amuses Hana as well.

HANA’S NOTE- I woke up very early today. Mommy and Papa both came to my crib. Mommy took care of me. She always does. Then, we all went back to sleep, but I woke up for good, an hour later (what Mommy said). I sure took long naps today. Papa makes sure that I get a nap when I get cranky.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1979 My Dad asked me, at the end of my month-long visit in June, “Are you going to be traveling the rest of the summer?” My answer was “Not all summer. Just a bit.” I caught a few Greyhounds. The first was to Frankfort, Kentucky. I looked around that capital city a bit, then visited Hodgenville, Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace,and Mammoth Cave National Park. After that, came a stop in Nashville, and a hitchhike westward, as far as North Little Rock, where I slept behind a gas station. The next day, a couple of sisters headed towards Las Vegas picked me up, stinking laundry bag and all, and let me have the spare bed in their hotel room, in Albuquerque. The next morning’s shower never felt so good. I went south, after doing my laundry in the hotel’s coin-op. A couple of rides later, I was in Las Cruces, where I caught another Greyhound to Casa Grande, AZ and from there hitched to Toltec. The rest of the summer was spent doing my Buildings and Grounds chores at Villa School. Evaporative coolers take a fair amount of maintenance.

My work year, both the Spring of Year One and Fall of Year Two, saw me carry on a bit more structurally in my teaching. I was better able to teach multiple skill levels and actually conveyed Algebra and trigonometry, in a coherent manner. There were a number of Iranian students who attended this school, especially after the Revolution. I made my first visit to San Diego, in March, as I had no Spring Trip assignment from the school. I ran into the Villa group at San Diego Zoo, but otherwise kept my own schedule. A couple of visits to Mexico also took place this year-Hermosillo and Puerto Penasco. The latter, under Villa auspices, was called the “Penasco Fisaco”, as a student and I were set adrift in the Headmaster’s boat. We weren’t far offshore, and managed to get back to the dock, but it incensed the boss, and i was never invited to go back to his cabana again.

In December, I hitched a couple of rides. the longest of which was from Kansas City to Syracuse. During that long drive, I found myself taking over for a toddler’s frazzled mother, rocking and calming the little girl until she wanted her mother again. That was about the longest drive without taking a room, or a campsite, that I have ever taken.

The long decade of personal struggle drew to a close, and the next ten years would bring one sea change after another.