September 27,2026– Hana now has a pegboard, with thing like a timer, a zipper, an abacus, a gear board and some coloured fruits. She has taken happily to it and posed for a picture, while playing with the gears. When I left for Baha’i Feast, this evening, she was still busily at work, sorting things out in the large toy basket.

Earlier this afternoon, we went on a walk, for the first time in P.M., since June. I took her by a yard that already has a full Halloween display, mostly various skeletons, from an armadillo to a 20-foot human, along with Elphaba, from the “Wizard of Oz” and a few little goblins. She regarded them mildly, then went back into her own thoughts.

HANA’S NOTE– I am so happy with my new toys, that are on a board with holes in it. I especially like the wheels that fit into each other.

EXPANDING CIRCLES- Nevada The Silver State has often been called “The Big Empty”, but not so much in the last 15-20 years. Las Vegas is now a major metropolitan area. Reno- Sparks-Carson City and Lake Tahoe are becoming a second major metro. The area in between is no longer “The Loneliest Road in America”. I would not be surprised if places like Beatty and Tonopah start to fill in and grow,

The Turf- Nevada has regions that are close to sea level, not far from mountains that rise to over 13,000 feet. The bulk of the state is in the Great Basin, but there are small mountain ranges: Toiyabe, Ruby and Panamint. The Sierra Nevada edge into their namesake state, near Lake Tahoe, which, along with Pyramid Lake and Lake Lahontan, is a fresh water remnant of glaciation. Lake Mead, on the other hand, is the result of the damming of the Colorado River. That river, with its tributaries, the White and Virgin Rivers, drains the south of Nevada. The Truckee, Carson, Owyhee, Humboldt, Reese and Marys Rivers irrigate the north,

First Nations- Nevada is the ancestral home of the Northern and Southern Paiute, Goshute, Mohave, Chemehuevi, Mono, Washoe, Shoshone, Pahvant, Tsaiduka and Kuyatikka peoples, along with a dozen smaller groups. As in many other areas, Nevada’s indigenous people have had reason to regard people of European descent with suspicion. I have been received with varying degrees of guardedness, by people in First Nations areas near Las Vegas and Carson City. It is always best to show kindness and patience there, as anywhere.

Places where I feel most at home- Carson City, most certainly, as that is where my heart family lives. Reno, Austin, Fallon, Tonopah, Beatty, Valley of Fire, Pioche and Panaca are all heart homes, as well.

NEXT: Southern California