Musings by the Rotte

2008-10-12T19:54:00.009+02:00

Some pictures from West Potomac's Homecoming... taking pictures is almost as big an event as the dance itself...

2008-08-31T00:56:00.007+02:00

Some pictures from our trip to Sky Meadows State Park... the first time all four of us did something together this summer... Note the praying mantis on the left, above. He's hard to see.

2008-08-14T20:24:00.017+02:00

We've been back in the States for nearly a year and a month; sad to say, we've hardly traveled, and so my blog has suffered. Not much to blog about when life is ordinary: work, driving the girls here and there, walking the dogs, and so forth. Still, in the summer of '08, we managed to get out and about some.

In late July, after an absence of 5 years, the girls and I returned to my old stomping grounds in the Narrows section of Lake Champlain in Ferrisburg, VT. Along the way we spent the night in Bennington at the Four Chimneys Inn, owned by the sister and brother-in-law of Eric L., a former colleague in R'dam. Did a little college-shopping as well, checking out both Bennington College and Williams, which was just down the road.

Then we headed up to the Lake, one of the girls' favorite places on earth. I had bad luck, or more accurately, no luck, getting outboard motors to run, but a neighbor offered take the girls water-skiing.

When in VT, we always stop and get maple candy and "Dakin bacon" at Dakin Farm.

After four nights on the Lake, we headed down to Middlebury where we met up with our friends from Seattle, Tim and KT-C. From there we drove over to Indian Lake in the heart of New York State's Adirondack Park. Even though I grew up just a couple of miles from the park's boundaries, I hardly ever visited the place, save for a skiing trip or two to Whiteface. It's an impressive wilderness (and indeed a wilderness... on the day we left, a black bear crossed the road in front of us).

Did a moderately strenuous 7 mile hike up Mt Snowy. The last 500' or so was the most taxing, as there were no switchbacks, you just went straight up. I've included pictures from the fire tower & summit.

Hope to return again next summer...

2008-08-14T18:43:00.020+02:00

In late June, I traveled to Northern Arizona where I attended a week-long wilderness survival/primitive skills course taught by Tony Nester of Ancient Pathways. I've never done an Outward Bound program, but it's probably fair to say that this was quite similar to that. I did it because the Thoreau in me wanted to try a little bit of "living deliberately," i.e. I wanted to get off the grid - if only for a few days - and connect with the wilderness. I'm glad I did it and would highly recommend any of his programs. As I indicated, the course is a mix learning survival skills and primitive technologies, e.g. friction fire-making (something I have yet to master... word to the wise, bring several methods of fire-making with you when you venture into the woods, unless you're Al Cornell, who paid us a visit... he's a master of the craft and a scholar of primitive fire-making... have a look at this video).

I've included photographs of my reasonably comfortable lean-to (pine needle bedding... works for a couple of nights then needs to be refreshed as it starts to compress...), the Sycamore Canyon (much smaller than the GC, but still breath-taking, and devoid of people) and the view from Tony's property in the high desert outside of Flagstaff.

I first heard about Tony and AP in this NYT article. If any of this has piqued your interest, check out the sites for Rabbitstick and Winter Count. See also these sites for similar schools in Montana and Maine.

Spent the nights before and after the course at the Hotel Monte Vista in 7,000' Flagstaff, a neat little town.

2008-02-10T20:19:00.000+01:00

Well reality arrived and the time for the fun things - like blog updates - just evaporated. Life is some sleep, dog-walking, full-time employment for L and I, traveling to and from swim practice & meets, trying to help with homework... lather, rinse repeat. I'm really not complaining... Hardly travel at all now that we're stateside, though we did make it to Sallie's over Christmas. On the left are the girls and Sallie standing on the Buffalo Soldier Monument on Ft. Leavenworth. And there was snow!

Linda went on a "field trip" to the Panama Canal. Here's a shot of what I think are the Miraflores Locks. I was there way back in the Fall of 88, I think it was... Not sure who the guy with the beer is. He is rather tall... In the Fall we drove up to Harper's Ferry, a gorgeous place. Hard to not take a great picture... in the near-background (right) is the Shenandoah River. A bit past the steeple, it joins with and becomes the Potomac which continues on its way to the Chesapeake.

An old friend, and sometime JetBlue pilot, Tim, was in town the other day. He has several sons, near in age to our two, hence the this picture... (note the State of the Union address going on in the background)

Not really a coherent narrative, but in the absence of a unifying theme, it's as good as it gets...

2007-09-02T22:30:00.000+02:00

Reality is looming... school starts for the girls on Tuesday. In the meantime, we'll have Labor Day off... our first in 3 years. I've been working for the past 2 weeks... lots of new librarian/teacher orientation. FCPS is not so much a school district as it is a nation unto itself...
A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I flew up to visit L's folks and the girls' cousins in Boston. South Bay area actually... It had been awhile since I had been there. It's a very cool city with bit of a European feel. Visited Harvard, and the Harvard Co-op, possibly the best book store in the world. Walked some of the Freedom Trail, visited the N. England Aquarium, the Peabody and the Natural Hist. museums. Wandered along a the Charles. A good time... That's the Harvard Boathouse behind the girls... Mom rowed there some decades ago.

2007-08-05T20:43:00.000+02:00

Been a long time, but we've been busy. Although I see no reason to change the name - and probably couldn't anyway - I'm no longer "musing by the Rotte," but rather thinking things over by the Potomac, not far from George Washington's home, Mt. Vernon. In fact I sit on land that used to be one of his farms.

About mid-May, KHZ Movers - who I would highly recommend - packed us up. School ended on 9 June and that marked the beginning of our last look at Europe. Before we boarded planes on the 15 and 22 July, one or all of us had been to Germany (Bavaria), Austria, Poland, Hungary and France. Our first stop was in Garmisch where we reprised a trip we had made a the previous year. Just me, the girls, and their Finnish sister, R. A neat trip, even if it meant a long drive on the autobahn. And speaking of -bahns, we made it back to our favorite rodelbahn, just outside of Salzburg. On the right is Rosa nearing the end of her run... it's a 20 min. or so chairlift ride to the top...

We returned from Bavaria, and chilled for about a week. I began what was ultimately a successful search for a librarian position with FCPS. Took a short trip up the road to Madurodam with the V's. it's Holland in miniature, and a place one should go when newly arrived in the NL. Still, it was worthwhile & fun

The CG Activities Europe change of command was up next. Of course this was an opportunity for the girls to buy new outfits. It was a very moving ceremony, but bittersweet as were a number of things that we did in the closing weeks of our time in Europe. It was a odd departure for us... not only were we leaving, but a number of people we knew were also departing, meaning that the community we knew was slowly ceasing to exist. This is not to say that we do not have good friends who remained, it's just my observation that things were irrevocably changing. So it goes...

The day after the change of command, we flew to Krakow where we stayed for 4 nights. A neat city, probably one of my top three in Europe, the others being Edinburgh, and, of course, Helsinki. Has one of the best squares in Europe, along with some of the finest beer...

Not all the sights were as pleasant as those shown above. We took a day and visited one of history's searing reminders of man's capacity for evil, and what remains a great open sore upon the earth, Auschwitz. It's hard to know what to think about the place... the day we visited was a very pleasant one, with the birds singing, and no immediate sense of what the place was. After awhile, after seeing the vastness of Auschwitz II, seeing the human hair and the pictures of the victims, the evil begins to seep in. It's a good place to leave. It's not a place where you take pictures of your family, just shots like this one (you'll please forgive the jarring juxtaposition of images...).

From Krakow, we flew on to - via Warsaw - Budapest. A fun city, but hard to classify or categorize... With some notable exceptions, such as the '56 Revolution, it has remained on the fringes of history, even European history. Here are the girls above the Danube with the Chain Bridge and the Parliament in the background. And in the far, far distance, there is Slovakia. Alas, someday...

After 3 nights in Hungary we returned to Rotterdam. Moira was the first to say her goodbyes as she ventured off for 2 weeks of French language - and culture and cuisine, for better or worse - immersion. She and I walked the dogs together for the last time in Holland the night before she left. I'll leave you with the images she captured... Tot ziens...

2007-05-08T20:25:00.000+02:00

Some recent events and milestones. On the same weekend that Aileen and I went to Luxembourg for a mini-track meet, Moi attended her first prom (dress by Jessica McClintock with many, many thanks to Mrs. W...). A week later she and I were in Paris with the high school French classes. I was along as a chaperone, and because I can say "Bonjour" with such an ironic tone. Gotta love Paris though... Have a great story about the 2 pickpockets and 3 undercover cops, and how I almost lost my iPod on the Metro, but I'll save that for later. Enjoy... By the way, Moi is 2nd from the right in the group picture at Versailles.

2007-04-08T14:29:00.000+02:00

Spring in Holland means that one really should make a pilgrimage to the Keukenhof, and, after nearly 3 years, we finally did. I'll let these photos do the remainder of the talking. Enjoy...

2007-03-25T17:10:00.000+02:00

Back from the 2007 NECIS Swim Meet in Uppsala, Sweden. Moi came home with bronze in the U16 200 IM and 100 free, and silver in the 50 and 100 fly. AI missed medaling in the 50 breast by less than .5 sec., as the competition among the U14 girls was brutal; she also placed a very respectable 5th in the 200 IM - for being at the bottom of her age group, AI did very well. Both girls swam - Aileen swam "up" - on the U16 4x50 medley (below left) and freestyle (below right) relays, and brought home the bronze.

If you are interested in times, take a look at Sigtuna's meet site. Under news click on results.

2007-03-11T18:16:00.000+01:00

Meet the 2007 NECIS U14 Girls Basketball Silver Medalists... They just could not prevail against a very powerful - and very worthy - ASH team, but their previous game was truly amazing. Against a Luxembourg team that was twice their number, they hung on to win by 2 points in spite of only having 4 girls on the court for the final two minutes (our bench is all of three girls, and 2 had fouled out while the other 2 - Moi was one - had already played three quarters (under NECIS rules, a player has to sit for at least a quarter...). Sue has been a amazing coach and it's been a one-of-a-kind season...

2007-03-04T14:25:00.000+01:00

From the heart of Virginia to... Tunisia and a whole new continent for all of us except Linda who had previously visited Nigeria. We booked an adventure holiday of sorts through the UK-based - and appropriately named - Adventure Company. Based on our experience, we would highly recommend them. Ended up with a great group: three other English families (one of whom builds yurts, see Albion Canvas); between us we had one child for each year from 8 to 14, though truth to tell, the 14 year old, Moi, tended to hang with the adults. All got along splendidly... adults and children as evidenced by the endless games of Uno - thanks, Thomas... Also had a terrific guide, Sahnoun, pictured here with Moi at a hilltop Berber village (yes, it can be quite cold in Tunisia in February...). Fluent in at least three languages, possessed of a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of Tunisian history and a keen sense of humor, he was as close to perfect as a tour guide could be. Then there is Tunisia... lush olive groves and palmeraies, barren salt flats, Roman ruins, and sparkling Mediterranean beaches, among other things... But what struck me the most was seeing the moderate face of Islam in a country where a great premium is placed on the education of both boys and girls. A nice antidote to the daily news fare of suicide bombers, IED's, and the like...

But I don't mean to wax political other than to suggest that the Tunisians might be on to something... If you want to read further in this vein, try Georgie Anne Geyer's, Tunisia The Story of a Country that Works.

On to pictures... Movie producers have often used Tunisia as a stand-in for Jerusalem and the Holy Lands. Monty Python buffs might recognize this fortress as the setting for Pontius Pilate's introduction of his friend Biggus Dickus,to a crowd of jeering Tunisian extras in Life of Brian. In real life, it is the 9th century ribat in the seaside town of Monastir.

Many scenes in the Star Wars films were shot in Tunisia at several locations. Here are the girls in a "village" that is out in what is truly the middle of nowhere... it takes about a hour in a Land Cruiser to get here.

I'm going in no particular order... A couple of other sites included the Roman Amphitheatre of El Djem, the 3rd largest Colosseum in the world, and the Great Mosque of Kairouan, North Africa's holiest Islamic site.

When in Tunisia, one should give the "ships of the desert" a try, and we did. For that additional Sahara experience, we set out into the teeth of what was, if not a full-blown sandstorm, a lot of blowing sand - note the yellow hue. One comes to better understand the whole headscarf thing which is why my blue headscarf is less fashion statement (though it is a lovely blue, yes?), but more of an effort to keep sand out of my eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Were in the city of Douz on market day, by the way...

It wasn't all cold and blowing sand as these pictures will attest. One is from a hike we took near the mountain oasis of Chebika near the Algerian border, and the other two are from the beach on the island of Djerba, Homer's Island of the Lotus-Eaters.

Anyway... that's just a few of our 600+ pictures. I just want to give you an idea of what Tunisia is all about. A whole new experience certainly... try it for yourself sometime... As my English friends say, Cheers... and Why Aye Man...

2007-01-14T13:32:00.000+01:00

Middle of January already, and here in Holland - and the rest of the N. Hemisphere - the days are almost imperceptibly getting longer.

From 27 December - 7 January, the girls & I were back in Virginia visiting family, friends, and taking a look at high schools. Spent a few days with my Mom in Hot Springs. The first few pictures are from some familiar stops along the road, i.e. the top of Warm Springs Mountain (looking E. towards the Blue Ridge, note the fog), and, further east, the beloved Maury River. Many of you will know the third daughter in the pictures, for those who don't, she is Sarah, AI's best bud, who accompanied us.

Since Moi is currently taking U.S. history, I thought I would use one of the days - 3 January - to visit a couple of Virginia's plethora of historical sites, namely Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and James Madison's Montpelier. I have a tenuous family connection to the latter, as my maternal grandmother was a friend of Marion duPont Scott, the house's previous owner, and I can recall driving up to the house sometime in the latter half of the 70's. It's in the midst of a massive restoration project which will return it to what it was when James Madison lived there. For more information follow the link.

Believe it or not, the girls didn't mind their educational day. It was a gorgeous, unseasonably warm January day (global warming or El Nino?), and the route down and up the Wilderness Road (so named for the adjacent Civil War battleground) enabled us to stop twice at the Sheetz gas station at the intersection of Hwy. 20 and Route 3. It's "MTO" - made to order - sandwiches, etc. are a subject for another time. We were also able to finish listening to Alex Berenson's The Faithful Spy, a terrific latter-day espionage novel.

Anyway... enjoy the view - looking west this time - of the Blue Ridge from Mr. Madison's front porch.

2006-12-24T16:31:00.000+01:00

Back from a lap around Central Germany - and a brief incursion into Poland to liberate some pottery. A variety of shots here starting with a view of the site of Hitler's Bunker. Nothing there but a parking lot for an apartment complex, and the sign was only put up prior to the start of the World Cup.

Just a stone's throw - as Moira loves to hear me say - is the Brandenburg Gate. All 5 of the former (Russia, France, Great Britain, and the United States) and current (Starbucks) occupying powers have their embassies, well, a stone's throw, from the Gate.

Just around the corner - another of Moi's favorite phrases - is the Reichstag. It's crowned by a glass dome inside of which is a flared column of mirrors which allows, so the theory goes, the members of parliament to see the people who they represent.

I'll put in a plug here for original berlin walks, and our guide, Fabian, who as it turns out is a Stanford alum. He took us on a nearly 5 hour walking tour (roughly from Museum Island, down the Unter den Linden, thence over to remains of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie), and kept our attention - and the girls' - the whole way. If you go to Berlin, give them a try...

Our next stop was Dresden, home of several fabulous Christmas markets and the newly restored Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady). The city and its famous cathedral were reduced to rubble - and ash - by the British and American bombing raids of February 1945. After a painstaking reconstruction, it reopened in October 2005. Pictured are the girls standing in front of a dome "fragment." Look carefully at the fragment and you will see a plaque showing its original location. Also note in the background the blackened stones (note the checkerboard effect) of the church. These are original stones... in their original positions.

For me the cathedral was a profound living symbol of hope. From utter devastation, it rose again...

The remaining shots are of the Christmas market. Moira has a particular fondness for homemade pretzels.

2006-12-15T20:47:00.000+01:00

The AISR Seasonal Program... the dreaded AISR Seasonal Program. It's always good, but good Lord is it a time sink... Here are some photos. Moira on the timpani (remember the Audrey Hepburn movie?). Tania and I in front of last year's decorations, but modified a bit... this one's for you Monte, we still miss you... And of course Aileen who was the best of the MCs. Enjoy...

2006-12-10T13:18:00.000+01:00

Just a few pictures from the U14 mini-tournament up at Amsterdam (ISA) this weekend. Both Moi and Aileen are on the same team which is kinda cool.

2006-11-29T17:59:00.000+01:00

These need little introduction or description... just the Grady girls on their first trip to Paris. Finally included a picture of Linda. Enjoy...

2006-11-05T15:42:00.000+01:00

Another country added to our list, or at least 1/2 of of a country, for a total of 18.5: Scotland. Fabulous place... Edinburgh/Scotland, may even eclipse Helsinki/Finland as my favorite places in Europe. Stayed in a lovely B&B, the Kenvie Guest House (another solid Rick Steves' recommendation) and sallied forth from there. Took a day-long bus trip that took us up and around Loch Ness. It included a short cruise on Loch Ness. The first of these photos shows the girls touring Urquhart Castle.

Took the train up to Stirling, a place rich in history as it was quite a strategic locale. William "Braveheart" Wallace defeated the English here, though that was just one of several notable battles which took place over the centuries. You can see his monument in the far distance to the left of the girls.
(Might be hard to believe that we had such gorgeous weather in Oct. in Scotland, but the pictures don't lie...)

Probably our favorite place in Edinburgh itself (other than Mr. Wood's Fossils of course, a magical place...) is Holyrood Park, a massive city park that is the remains of a long-extinct volcano, and the birthplace of modern geology. Once you're in, it's hard to believe that you are still in the center of a bustling, modern city. From bottom to top, St. Leonard's Entrance; Arthur's Seat, the summit at 251m, and handstands on a beautiful afternoon.
Also did one of the mandatory tourist things and took a bus down to Rosslyn Chapel. The girls are pictured in front of, if my recollection is correct, the "Apprentice Pillar." There's a story there, but for another time.

2006-08-20T16:26:00.000+02:00

Just a few shots from what was primarily the girls' endless summer. It began seemingly eons ago during the World Cup. We all turned out in our best orange clothing, but it was to no avail as the NL fell to Portugal, 1-0, in what was at least a wild, entertaining game.

Then in a blink of an eye, we were transported to the wilds of western Virginia to Moi's most favorite place on Earth, the Maury River near Rockbridge Baths.

Just down the road from this spot is the Buffalo Springs Herb Farm (see the link I've provided), a gem of a place which has, among others, a soul-soothing medieval garden, complete with Gregorian chanting. The girls have considered getting married on this very spot.

Fast forward a few weeks and here they are again cruising in Boston Harbor on Pilgrim, Grandpa K's Grand Banks Trawler.

A tough life, eh?

2006-06-29T15:58:00.000+02:00

But who knew how fatal... Just ask Mr. Skull, who happens to adorn one of the Hapsburg tombs (Maria Theresa's and her husband's, if I recall correctly...). These are just a few of our pictures from our recent jaunt through Bavaria, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Two weeks and just over 2,000 miles, with short side trips to Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Italy. Here are the girls at an overlook near the Flüelapass in Switzerland. Discovered - with Rick Steves' help - a gem of a medieval town, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic (see the links I've added). It's not far over the Austrian border near Linz, though the contrast between the West and the former Eastern Bloc is still striking... From Cesky Krumlov, it's about a 3 hour drive to Prague. As you can see, the view from our apartment was breathtaking. One of the other highlights was our discovery of the rodelbahns. Don't recall what the literal translation is, but we kept referring to them as "summer luges." In all it was a nice balance between city and country as we went from high passes in the Alps to centuries-old city squares. Moi - for the second birthday in a row - found herself in another European capital. Last year Helsinki, this year Prague. Poor thing...

2006-05-21T16:22:00.000+02:00

One more thing... given this blog's name, I should include a few shots of the Rotte.

2006-05-21T14:55:00.000+02:00

Hard to keep this current, but I finally have some time. Going waaay back to early April finds us at the NECIS swim tournament in The Hague. One of my favorite pictures is of my U16 medley relay team which featured AI swimming as a U12 and Moi as a U14. They managed a bronze medal in the face of some very stiff competition. Also couldn't resist a picture of Moi receiving her gold for the 100m fly.

Later in April, we drove over to visit our friends in Bochum, Germany. There AI was reunited with Alexandra, her friend from back in the days of kindergarten at Bryant E.S. in 1999. Pictured are Moi, Alexandra's youngest sister (she has another younger sister and a brother), AI, and Alexandra.

In early May, I hosted noted folklorist, librarian, storyteller and author Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald. Had a barbeque more or less in her honor at our place. Kinda cool mix of folks: Finns, a Kiwi, a Slovak, a Dutchman, and a smattering of Yanks (by the way, another Dutchman told me that the term "Yankee" is Dutch in derivation, but I'll save that story for another posting...)

More sports rounded out the month as our varisty and JV coed softball teams headed over to Dusseldorf for the NECIS Tournament. Varsity managed a silver while my JV's brought home the bronze. Not at all bad for our little school. (The Dutchman who related the story of the origin of "Yankee" was our bus driver for the trip. He's at the far right in a shirt & tie standing by the wall...)

2006-03-26T17:12:00.000+02:00

Swimming & Global Issues - Not related concepts, but it does describe the weekend. Moi returned yesterday from 3 nights in Luxembourg City with AISR's Global Issues Network group. She and about 10 others joined like-minded groups from various International - and other - schools from across the globe. Students from Bangkok and Nevada traveled the furthest, though Moi was most intrigued by the boys from Milan (even if they all smoked like chimneys... it was their accents...) The keynote speaker was Jean-Francois Rischard author of High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. Moi's favorite speaker was the Anglo-Swiss nurse, Claire Bertschinger, author of Moving Mountains, which recounts, among other events, her time in Ethiopia during the 1984 famine.

Those of you reading this and smiling smugly at the thought of my raising a liberal - and you know who you are - should just knock it off...

One can only do so much to save the world, so they did, of course, go shopping, hence the Euro-shades.

Meanwhile back at the city on the Rotte... AI recovered from a week of something akin to a low-grade flu just in time to swim a 100 back and 200 free (or as we say in nederlands, the rugslag and vrijeslag). Needless to say it wasn't pretty - especially given that she put up 2 pb's in last week's meet - but she showed a lot of heart in just grinding away.

So it goes... a busy week ahead...

2006-03-23T17:04:00.000+01:00

I suppose that I will look back at this day as some sort of technological milestone. For now, I'd just like to play around and see how this works. So, first, some pictures from recent events: our ski trip to Garmisch, Germany in late Feb., and the girls in the NECIS (NE European Council of Int'l Schools) U14 & U12 basketball tournament.