First Monday with Characters

Edited by Morris Dean

Chuck Smythe, on the go

My wife skied into a mogul field in whiteout conditions (at speed, of course) and broke her leg. Ever since, she’s been stuck in rehab, and I’ve spent much of the month as a gopher, bedside sitter, and general morale officer. So you haven’t heard from me much lately.
    I did get away for a few days to hike in the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness. We hiked the length of The Box, a pretty canyon with forest and a trout stream. Eight miles and fifty-six stream fords. Note the icicles hanging into the stream. It was even colder than it looks. But fun.

The Rogers, at their ease

April was been much kinder to us than March was.
    The first part of the month Janie and I took another trip to Puntarenas. We have found a very nice hotel called "La Punta," which cost us $50.00 a night. It is run by a French Canadian who has lived in Costa Rica for 12 years.

We go during the week because we get the hotel cheaper, and we have it, along with the beach and restaurants, all to ourselves. Unless there is a cruise ship in port, the Ticos don’t come out to play until the weekend.
    The last full week of April, we took a trip to Playa Garza, which is on the Pacific side of Costa Rica.

The hotel we stayed at was called Hotel Playa Garza. It cost us $60 a night. We had a wonderful time. It is a 4-hour drive, and the closer to the coast we got the worse the roads became. In that part of Costa Rica the roads are not good at all. We were on gravel the last 40 minutes of the trip. The drive was worth the time. From our hotel we could hear the waves breaking on the shore.

There was a pool at our front door and the food was all homemade and Italian. Our host was born and raised in Rome and quite the charmer.
                                            Pura Vida from Ed & Janie

Kyle Garza, in patient relationship

The 28th of this month marked the 1.5-year mark in my girlfriend’s and my relationship. Because she is on a mission trip in Thailand right now, “celebrating” wasn’t much of an option, especially with the 14-hour time difference. Still, we got to enjoy the modern age’s gift of Skype for a while when we were actually living in the same day: that doesn’t happen often when you’re 14 hours apart. We have been enjoying the electronic communication that technology affords us, but we are still huge fans of handwritten letters. It’s like a love language of its own nowadays—especially for someone like me that can hit over 100 words per minute in typing (a “labor of love” I think it’s called). It has reminded me that patience is quite a virtue in any relationship, especially when long distance becomes a factor. I think that our time apart has taught me something I wouldn’t have otherwise understood when reading 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Paul Clark, aka motomynd, still sleeping in shifts

Motomynd reports his life is now so devoid of "character" he is almost too embarrassed to respond. His big news in March was an ice storm that toppled trees on top of his North Carolina house and shoved limbs through the roof and ceiling. The warming air of April revealed that the heavy equipment used to remove the trees had damaged the septic field, which led to a couple of weeks living almost as if he was back in Africa, but without the wildlife or other fun. The really big news for April was that as new son Caelen reached age three months, he started sleeping four to five hours at a time at least a couple of nights a week. Motomynd says that after three months of sleeping in shifts of only three hours at a time (and often much shorter), being able to sleep five hours without interruption is almost as refreshing as a week's vacation.

Tom Lowe, in reflection

I've had a couple of semi-anniversaries, one for my moving where I live; the other for how I came to accept my creative vocation.

    This is Mini, she was the first creature I made friends with at Stuart Pratt Manor. She's a long-haired Chihuahua, bred by the daughter of Susan, the woman whose hands you see here. Mini's full name is Mini Monsterella, because she was the most aggressive of her litter. Now the name is ironic because Mini is sweet and loves people. It was four and a half years ago that this photo was taken and both Mini and Susan still look about the same.
    In the Spring of 1964 I had come to realize that the academic path I was following didn't lead anywhere I wished to go. What catalyzed my deciding that creative work was the only vocation I would find satisfaction with was The Daybooks of Edward Weston. They cover the years when Weston decided to stop being a commercial photographer of socialites in Pasadena, traveled to Mexico, and started making photographs that stirred his soul.

    So I quit taking Political Science classes at Fresno State and transferred to the San Francisco Art Institute, and it's been pleasantly “down hill” ever since.

Vic Midyett, in love

We are staying in a little town called Red Cliffs about 8 miles South of the Murray River at Mildura, Victoria. Yesterday we found a caravan (trailer) park on the other side of the river that is not "open" like this one, so we decided to leave here and go there because it's right on the river. But today I don't know if I want to leave this park yet. This one is so open and I love waking up to this! Just took these pics 10 min ago.

    We have decided to stay on here for at least another week. There is to be a dog show in the big field next to us. That should be entertaining.

Morris Dean, in retirement two years
     May 1 was the second anniversary of my retirement from paid employment. I wonder, however, how much has really changed?

• I'm no longer paid for my work, but then I was never paid for blogging, housework, or yardwork anyway.
• I no longer have to drive to an office, just ascend to the room above the garage when I need to use my desktop computer.
• I no longer have to complete projects set by my employer, just the ones I demand of myself, which have increased with the expansion of the blog to Moristotle & Co., now including regular weekly and monthly columns. (I'm not sure I'm working any less hard, just somewhat shorter hours. And I generally have more fun.)
• I see more of my wife, and she of me. We're both enjoying that very much.
• Also, I now work every day of the week, not just Monday through Friday. And my hours are less predictable. I still go to bed around 9 o'clock, however.

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Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean

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