Vacation Time

I won't write about glitches. Every vacation has them and it's no use getting upset. Everything's replaceable but life itself, and we are healthy, happy, and here in Washington with Walter. We saw some interesting sights along the way. The rolling forests of Oregon and Washington are to die for. Too bad that when you're flying by at 55mph, you just can't catch a good view. We did get a little of Portland.

And of course Dad, with little Austin in arms so he could be the ultimate grandpa. Taken at Walter's house, it shows how relaxed he is after the long drive north.

The clan is always busy. Prior to vacation we attended Terry's graduation. She is now a BS.

Flowers

A super happy couple

The graduate

Celebrating with a special sister

Augustine Grass Front Yard

There's a plus to gophers. They do a marvelous job of aerating the soil. The piles of loose dirt they leave behind are great for planting new grass.
Still, who needs holes and tunnels that collapse under your feet as you walk across the yard? That's why gophers don't belong on the manicured ranchette.
We are now four gophers down but probably have ten more to wipe out. Our little black box trap (Viktor) is doing its job. Yes, it's cruel. Yes it kills 'em dead. And--Yes, the holes are slowly disappearing. Sooner or later, all the gophers will go away. We hope.
Uphill, we're using the loose tunneled ground to plant more Augustine grass. Gophers seem not to like the stuff. Maybe it has a funny taste? Or maybe it has a too thick packed root system? Only once did a little hole open in our Augustine lawn, but it quickly disappeared. The gophers just didn't want to stay there. They prefer the dry hard as rock dirt area full of prickly dandelion type weeds.
The trap has now been duly moved to the horse area.

The smart weeds are up again. They are particularly virulent because we gave them water. The real problem, though is the gophers. Just yesterday they took down our avocado tree. It was already five feet tall with a three inch trunk and in full leaf. Like beavers, the animal underground managed to sever the tree at the root. Duh. Off we went to purchase a gopher trap, not the cheap wire ones. We got the heavy duty black box. Yes, it worked! One gopher down, and probably ten more to go. There are holes all over the yard.
Of course no photos of the deceased are available. The beast is in the trash can already.

Pocket Gophers

Request for Family History

When family gets together, questions about ancestral heritage bounce around. Hanging on to family history isn’t easy. By the time young people get old enough to take interest in their past, the old timers are getting too old to remember it. Memories get muddled, not only because of their age, the elders that remember things speak from a personal perspective. That’s why stories sometimes conflict.

Oma told many stories about growing up in Indonesia. It doesn’t matter how each of you children heard her stories, please comment on this posted website. That way we can all preserve our ancestral memories.  One member of Oma’s family has already provided some information along with names. Tante Vonny can also fill in some questions any of you may have.

Oma (Bertha Breuer) with Armand, Vonny and Wally

Indonesia, as you all know, had been settled by Dutch colonists who began to marry the native population. That’s why, Opa was Dutch and Indonesian. Oma was a mix of German, Dutch, and Indonesian. The German name, Breuer, stuck.  

Damien of Molokai

Images for damien the leper

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http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2817

Hello Friends,
Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Damien the Leper. He was born Jozef ("Jef") De Veuster in Belgium, and was later ordained priest in Honolulu, Oahu for missionary work there. He volunteered to aid the leper colony on Molokai, immediately building the church of St. Philomena. He also built homes for the lepers, dug graves for those who had died, and nursed the sick tending to their ulcerous wounds. His presence was a turning point in the lives of the demoralized colonists.
In the course of his sixteen years of labor Damien too contracted Hansen's disease (leprosy), dying a "martyr of charity" among his parishioners.  Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday October 11, 2009. 
You can find his full story, along with photos, at the above link. You will also find his life story and photos on Wikipedia. 
For those who wish to help people who continue to suffer from Hansen's Disease, the following link offers opportunities.  
http://www.damientheleper.org/

Commentary

The Bogaardts are a far flung family. Isn’t the internet wonderful. We are finding more and more Bogaardts. A thank you to all who are following our Jack of All Writer’s blog. We will search for additional photos.

From Gerard:

One of the Bogaardt's, Dolly Gerarda Bogaardt, was my father's first wife. He married first in Soerabaja on 6th February 1929 (divorced Batavia Indonesia on 17th September 1929) to Dolly Gerarda Bogaardt,born Modjokerto (near Surabaya) 3 apr. 1904 , dr.of Ernest Theodoor Bogaardt and the native woman Kassirah . He later married in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, on 7th November 1929 Gertruda Catharina Geutjes. They returned shortly thereafter to Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies now Indonesia, where three children were born; Karin, Jan and me, Gerard. When I was born in 1940 the family moved to Malang from where we were in 1942 interned by the Japanese, but we as a unit all dsurvived, although other family members lost their lives. Silenced Voices by Inez Hollander portriats our war experiences. 
See also :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrianus_Johannes_Lemmens#References

The Centurion

Monday Morning

There was a knock on the door. The men looked at one another fearfully, not knowing if they should answer. "Perhaps it's Him," Thomas said?

"No," answered Peter. "He came through the walls last time."

"Shall I answer it?" asked James.

"No, please! What if it's a Roman come to arrest us too," said Matthew, still terribly frightened from all the events of the past days.

"But He's risen. We've already seen Him," countered James.  "Don't you think He'd protect us?”

"Listen, God helps those who help themselves," Matt said, being practical despite the stress.

The knock was repeated, and everyone seemed to want to duck out the back door. 

"Open it," said Peter, "We can't lock ourselves away forever."

Gingerly, James opened the door a crack. His face blanched.

"Who is it," the others asked ready to run.

"It's, it's..." he opened the door wider to give the others a look.  How could he shut out a Roman Officer who already knew their whereabouts? 

Everybody backed off aghast.

"Please, don't be frightened," said the Centurion taking a halting step in.  "I'm not here to arrest you.  I...  I want to join your company."

The men bristled with suspicion. Even Peter was unsure, although all eyes turned to him for directions.

"He's one of us," said a youthful voice from the back of the room. Still, they all looked at Peter, and back at the Centurion. The air was electric.

Peter turned around to look at John. "How do you know," he asked?

John staring past Peter into the hopeful eyes of the soldier answered matter of factly, "He was at the crucifixion."

"Please," the soldier knelt down begging, "I've brought you something," he said. He unwound the leather strap wrapped around a purple cloth. Peter nodded assent, and the disciples began to gather closer to see what the soldier held.

In his hand lay the head of a spear. "I thought you'd want it," the Centurion mumbled, tears in his eyes.