This was an email I received today. Tom and I miss Morgan, but it’s great to hear everyone is doing so well. Thanks to everyone who contributed to her trip. The “make a donation” link on the right is a little misleading – Morgan was only $1 short on her $2550.00 goal!
Here is a map showing her general location. If you look at Google Earth and do a search for San Antonio, Palpa, Ica, Peru – you can get a better look at the surrounding area.
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I have to admit I was choked up reading this.
Hello from Peru!
We are all well and having a fabulous time.
The flight was uneventful and MOST everyone got a good five hours of sleep. We arrived, on time, in Lima and set out on our journey to San Antonio. Once we were 40 km out of Lima, the vista changed dramatically. The Pan American Highway hugs the Pacific Ocean coast, so as we headed south the ocean was visible to our right. It was extraordinary, because if you looked to the left, there were sand dunes reaching into the sky, as we are in a desert. Who would have thought that a desert can be so close to an ocean? And, as Bruce commented, who would have thought that we could be in a country along the Pacific Ocean, yet be in the same time zone as Connecticut.
We were welcomed to our new home with a parade of locals, including a marching band, and we were escorted through the village. Midway through the parade, we took a break, the mayor addressed us- emotionally thanking us for coming- and then the band struck up a tune and there was dancing! After the completion of the parade, we unpacked, had dinner, circle and crashed.
Yesterday (Sunday) was our first day of work. It was hot, but we are obsessed with hydration. The students are learning how to dig ditches, lay pipe, lay foundations, build walls, put on roofs, install doors and toilets, and make cement and concrete.
All of the adult advisors agree, YOUR children are amazing. We have had NO complaints. There are no cliques. Everyone (!) has talked at circle both nights, sharing feelings and insights. They are all hard workers, and hard players, which makes it a gift for us to be with them.
We have the extreme privilege of working with 10 Peace Corps volunteers. These young adults are basically between 23 and 25 years old. They are extraordinary in their commitment to service, their intelligence, and their demeanor. We have so much to learn from them, and we are thrilled your children can have this experience in getting to know them.
So, our hard work continues today – Day 2….and we begin adding in late afternoon excursions. We will write again in a couple of days.
We hope all is well with all of you….and we are a bit envious of the cold weather!
XO
Lois, Marc, Mike, Carrie, Bruce and Charlie
I am back at work, after a relaxing holiday – I spent much of the time in my studio, visiting family and friends, relaxing and sleeping! The perfect way to spend the holidays!
The only thing I didn’t do, which was on my agenda, was to visit the Whitney and see the Georgia O’Keefe exhibit. It’s still open, so with any luck I’ll have time to take in the show.
My doll was one of the ones chosen for the April Issue of Cloth Paper Scissors – I’m thrilled with the way she came out. I’m keeping the final photos under wraps in case we aren’t supposed to share. I need to thanks my sister, again! for prodding me to finish up and get her submitted. Tomorrow she will be sent off to the Magazine. My very first blog post (March 2004) was about this doll!
Time to get back to work!
eirdre
I started this doll a very long time ago (I’ll look up the year later). Anyway, this doll is very slow going and to-date probably has more than 100 hours. maybe even more than 120 hours! I finally finished both sides.
My idea is to make a frame for the arms/moon/sun and have it attach to a tube which will run up to the top of the head. Then I can use a standard doll frame (or one I can make and the doll can N’Theory turn so you could look at the front or the back of the doll. The next step is to make a frame and sew the sides together. I have a deadline so I hope to have the frame made by next weekend. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Red over at Traveler’s H’art is hosting another tarot deck. This one is based on Edgar Allan Poe. Here are the 3 cards I did – I’m pretty sure they are finished, unless they need titles added. My cards were Justice, 4 of Pentacles and the 5 of Wands. I did debate if I should use the Pens as wands or if they were too sword-like. Finally I decided to use them as they worked well for this card. I did leave off the metal pens and just went with the wooden barrels.
Tom and his 96 yo grandfather left the other day to go hunting in VT. Deer season opened yesterday and when I spoke to Tom he said that he had seen a really nice buck but it wasn’t in a place where he could take a safe shot.
I was looking out my window and saw a few does and yearlings playing, then looking over the stone wall I saw a larger movement, can you see it just behind the feeder? He’s a little hard to see (don’t forget you can click for a larger image), I took another photo after he jumped over the wall, this one is easier to see.
Anyway, don’t mention him to Tom. Shhhhhh…
Susan and I took a drive to Sleepy Hollow – we were hoping to get some nice photos of the Autumn colors, but the rain had caused most of the red leaves to fall, we did see some red but mostly yellow and brown. We decided to stop at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the weather was iffy but that seemed to keep the crowds away in the morning.
The first entrance to the cemetery seemed like the main entrance and there was a line to get in, so we drove down just a little and the 2nd entrance was empty. We did not have a map and next time we will definitely bring one. Susan used her phone to pull up some info on the graves. The first one which caught our interest was Spencer Blaine, the carving was very unusual.
The carved woman on the Edwin Lister grave was really interesting, I wondered what was in her hand – there is very little information about Edwin Lister.
The day really was nice – the place was crowded but we were seldom in an area with more than 1 or 2 other people. We really had a hard time finding anyone FAMOUS, but finally we came upon the scariest mausoleum, the name was not visible from the path, and if you followed the road to the front of the building you couldn’t see anything. Walking up the hill we could see the stained glass window of the NY Skyline on the side of the building, the path continued to the right with breathtaking views, and when you were directly in front of the door you could see the name which brought fear to so many. HEMSLEY – if you peek in the front door you can see the stained glass featuring the Empire State Building . By the time we left many more people had come, there were lines waiting to come in at all the gates.
You can see the rest of the photos here
Hope you all had a safe Happy Halloween & Samhain
Brightest Blessings,
eirdre
