Cactus Flower

First of all let me say that I've had some great doctors in Brazil whom I appreciated and who really work hard to treat the patients with kindness and respect.  They are few and far between, rarities in a land of public hospitals that often have no bandages or medicine.  They are fine jewels in a place where even private, paid clinics where patients get no respect. Thursday I went in to get a sonogram at a paid clinic where I have been seen before. This time was a little different.  Each of the other visits where arranged by the doctor I had seen.  My doctor called the chief of operations at the sonogram/mammogram clinic and said basically, Put this person in line.  I'm sending them over right now and I want special treatment.  This time I was on my own and oh woe was me! I know how these things work in Brazil.  I've stood in many a line and jumped places in a few - yes, when in Rome sometimes you have to know how to fight like a Greek wrestler to ...

Today's post is a video with something funny in the middle.  Watch it through to the end to see what the Videographer does.  It was filmed while William and Kerri were here in June and July this year. The little joke in the middle reminded of the man that took photos and videotaped at my and Uncle Byron's wedding years ago.  His name was Joe Chopski.  I think he got bored during the festivities.  Sometimes he would talk to the camera and made funny comments.  Once or twice he turned the camera upside down while filming.  Needless to say it was never professionally edited.  It was just pure, raw footage. Look back next week for an account about getting lost with a GPS! Here's a very short clip of the boat farther out.  Have a good week! 

Somebody's had a birthday yesterday!  Do you little cousins know who it was?  You guessed right!  It was Dalton.  Today I'm going to tell you a little bit about the days leading up your cousin's first birthday... When William was about to be born, Grandaddy and Grandma Beckner decided to come to Brazil after he was born.  Granny Atha came the next year.  Together they all decided that they would alternate and that one or the other would try to come every year  Then when we found out about Dalton's arrival, Grandaddy and Grandma thought it would be nice to come and see him be born.  Uncle Wesley came, too.  It was their turn, so to speak, so that all got ready to come. 2007 Trip Dalton was due around the end of July, so they planned their trip for that time.  There was just one problem with the big plan.  Nobody told the baby!  Grandma and Grandaddy's tickets were good for about two weeks.  Time started running out and ther...

Walnut Cove NC, 1998, Caleb's party, My weren't you cute Dear Dalton... This will be your first birthday away from your Mama.  You're there in the USA and I'm here in NE Brazil.  I can't make you some brownies or get Papa to grill some hamburgers.  We can't host a crazy party and invite gobs of friends.  We can't go to a skate park or down to the lake to ride the jet ski. It's all a part of being an TCK/MK.  We can grieve a little and bemoan the facts OR we can choose to have a great day.  We can enjoy some video phone calls and a few laughs.  You can visit your Granny and get a phone call from Grandaddy.  You can receive some cards in the mail (hope you got mine).  And get lots of happy birthday messages on social media.  Maybe even you'll get a gift or two and enjoy some brother time with good old William. Some silly ideas... Don't let the day go past unspent - do something festive, let people know at work and the gym, tell...

Some time around the spring of 2016 our lives took on a new swing.  It was a quieter, less chaotic, smoother thing.  There was no more island camp wearing us out with weekend after weekend retreat.  There was no more hurrying off to catch the bus to town for my ESL teaching job which also wore me out.  There was only one boy.  William and Dalton are both in the States now working, studying and living.  And all of a sudden, it didn't seem so odd - the quiet.  It was just new.  I didn't miss the craziness of our retreat schedule.  I did miss my two stateside boys but I was worrying over them day and night any more.  I didn't miss the bus rides one bit.   Now I should define the word "quiet" a little better.  It doesn't really mean silence, just the lack of busyness with three boys running in and out and here and there.  It means a little less laundry, a little fewer dishes in the sink, and a little less housework and...

All of our boys have gotten lost at one time or another and were always losing things when they were small.   Having William here for five weeks during June and July reminded me just how much of that losing always had something to do with him.  After he had been here for just a few days, he had stuff of his own in every room of the house and scattered outside.  He was always looking for his stuff and could rarely find any of it on his own.  Today's story is about a time that William lost or forgot his shoes!   There's a place not real far from our house with some "prehistoric drawings."  I put that in quotes because any time someone puts the word "prehistoric" with another word, the thought of billions and billions of years pop into most people's heads.  These drawings are old, most of them anyway, but probably not as old as some scientists would rate.  Anyhow, from time to time we've gone out to the spot to hike around.   One day i...