Surgeries

Jon found out last week that he will need surgery on his hand. He has a hereditary condition which is unique to older men of northern European ancestry. I guess that Dutch blood has come back to haunt him. No one else in his family has had this thing, so I have been teasing Jon about being switched in the hospital. It is the second hereditary disease he has which no one else has had, so if he didn't look so much like his parents, he might just wonder if it were true. :-) Yes, I am bad! This condition causes a growth on his tendons or ligaments in his hand. It is most often found on the last two fingers of the hand, but also the thumb, which is where Jon's is growing. As this thing grows, it contracts and pulls the digits inward toward the palm. Jon's was diagnosed about eight years ago, but the doctor did not recommend treatment at that time. The only treatment is surgery and it is not a cure. Because of the risks of losing the use of his thumb, if there should be a problem in surgery, it was not recommended as long as he had the use of his thumb. Jon can barely extend his thumb now and so surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29th. (This is a photo of the condition, but not of Jon's actual hand. But you can see what it does.) It will be done outpatient in a surgical clinic and he will not be put under general anesthesia which is a good thing for Jon who gets quite nauseous from general anesthesia, but kind of weird to him to think about being awake while they are operating on him. We will keep you posted. As to my major surgery, I have found, with the help of my brother-in-law, Martin, a doctor who can perform the procedure laparoscopically. Normally this cannot be done in this manner, but there is now a robotic assistant which will enable me to be a candidate for this far less severe and invasive procedure. Rather than making a large incision to open up the abdomen for the surgery, this method only requires a few small holes to be made for the insertion of instruments. Therefore the muscles are not cut wide open and retracted for a length of time with its ensuing pain and long recovery time. With this method the recovery time is considerably shorter. In fact I will go home by the next morning or even the same evening if I am feeling up to it. This is a huge answer to prayer and I am so glad for modern technology that makes this possible for me! My surgery is scheduled for November 25th, the day before Thanksgiving, but I should be home in time for turkey and dressing. Hooray for modern medical care! We'll keep you posted on this as well.

Furlough

I don't know why they call it furlough any more. The original idea was that a missionary would come back to their home country for a year of rest after every 7 to 10 years on the field. We now come home for a shorter length of time, but more often, but their t'aint a lot of rest in furlough. (You can see I just finished a few days in Ken-tuck-y.) In our first two weeks of furlough we worked for 130 hours and visited three different states. We only had one day off in that time. We also had to deal with our things in storage, sorting and organizing them then in their new space since my sister, the keeper of our stuff, had moved herself. We visited dentists and optometrists and doctors. Jon is now scheduled for hand surgery the middle of next week. He still has some follow-up appointments with specialists as well and we are heading out this morning to our home office in Cary for the remainder of this week. This has literally been the first time in about a month that I have had the time to update my blog. So our schedule for now is to fly out this morning to Cary. Fly back on Saturday. Speak in a church on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday have doctors appointments for Jon and meeting with supporters for Susan. Wednesday Jon has his hand surgery and we will hang out here a day or two until he can travel, then we drive to Michigan to visit supporters there and hopefully arrange for my surgery in November. Good news there I will be able to have a type of laparoscopic surgery assisted by a robot which should save me considerable pain and recovery time. I am really happy about that. After a week or so in Michigan I will head to Fort Wayne for a few days, then back to Kentucky for a few days and then back north again, trying to see supporters along the way then heading into my surgery that week if we can get it scheduled for then. That would give me time to recover a few days before Thanksgiving which would be nice for me. So that is our general schedule for the next few weeks. I am kinda looking forward to surgery since it will mean that I will have to take at least a couple of weeks of rest all in the same place! Now that is just sad.

Miniature Stained Glass

Adventure at the Vets

How can sleeping like this possibly be comfortable?!

Our little cat had a visit to the vets last week. It was time to begin her vaccinations and also to find out what it will take to get a health certificate so she can travel with us on furlough. We were able to find an airline that would let us take her as carry-on which saves more than $400. each way, which is wonderful and makes the trip with us possible. The funny thing is that she counts as one of our carry-on bags, but we also have to pay for her and the airline doesn't have to do a thing with or for her. Hmmmm, wonder what we are paying for? But I digress in my story. After our experience with the difficulties of having our physician's front office staff not speak any English, I decided to choose the vet according to how much English the person spoke who answered the phone. Doctors and vets all speak English, but if I cant make an appointment, it makes it difficult. I was determined to call every vet in the local area until someone answered the phone who could understand me. I hit pay dirt on the first try. The assistant spoke a bit of English, but was not fluent, but it was plenty to get by with. I made the appointment and showed up with young Mittens at our appointed time. The assistant was asking me some questions about the cat for the records. First she asked if it was a "lady" and I said yes. Then she said something which I didn't understand. I thought it was a Dutch word, so she struggled for another word to use, then finally said, " Is she half a lady ?" with a cutting motion in the air. That I understood! Turns out the word she was saying earlier was castration. So her words were often wrong, but the meaning got through anyway. I chuckled inside because I know that is how I sound to the Dutch when I speak Dutch to them. To travel to the States Mittens had to have a rabies vaccination. Apparently they don't routinely give them here - they were on the phone checking what was required - but they do have the vaccine readily on hand. She also had to be chipped so they could verify she was the cat that belonged to the vaccination records. She even received her own little passport that she will need to travel with us. Fortunately or maybe unfortunately no photo was required.

Chasing her evil tail. Almost got it! Bathtime. Well, that is one way to clean your tail. Keeping the house safe from attacking dust motes. What's down here? Apparently a very silly kitty! I didn't do it!

Yet Another 50th!

Turning fifty years old has become one of the more popular things to do at our office. I think everyone saw how much fun it was when Jon hit the half century mark and decided to jump on board. I know I did! The latest and last for a few years in our office to hit this milestone, was Ted. This party actually happened a few months ago and I have probably forgotten some of the details, but here is what I remember. Ted is the producer of my radio programs and he also does training as well as a whole bunch of other things. He is a great guy with a wonderful wife and four kids. He also has a ...hmmm.....would I call it a hobby .....or a passion..... or something else entirely. Let's just say, he really likes fire engines. He has lots of models of Lego firemen and fire engines scattered around his office. So finding a theme for his party was easy! The hard part was trying to surprise the fourth person in about eighteen months. We decided to try a different tactic this time around. We didnt plan a party on his birthday. His wife planned a typical Dutch party which is an open house in their home. Those from the office who could stop by, did so to help keep up the illusion that this was THE party. A couple more days went by before we mostly surprised him with his party. One of our co-workers knows a fireman, so she arranged to borrow an actual fireman's uniform for Ted to wear during the festivities. All who had something red to wear, wore it that day. I made Ted a fire engine birthday cake from some patterns I had seen online. I had to make my own fondant and it was a bit soft, so some of the parts didn't come out exactly as I hoped, but it was a big hit and was delicious and we all enjoyed it immensely. And the no-taste red food coloring really is no-taste. I must admit I was afraid it wouldn't be. We had red balloons and Ted got several fire-themed gifts. We found the perfect thing in a small 'woonen" store in town. Home decor would be the closest translation. It was a lighter that looks like a small fire extinguisher. It was too cute and just perfect! We also had a song for Ted, because it wouldn't be a Dutch party without a song! We also played a fireman game where the participants had to fill their mouths with water from a bowl without using their hands, then run a short distance and spit the water out to try to extinguish a candle flame. It was a bit wet and messy, but lots of fun!

Invaded Again!

Some time ago I wrote about an animal invader in our home. Turned out to be the neighbor's cat. We have stymied her incursions with trim molding around the screening material so she cant push her way in. Problem solved. Then there were the mice we kept getting in the attic/zolder. We kept killing them and it would get cold and more would come in. We bought some what-we-thought was mice killer. For all we know it was mouse attractant. It consisted of a little box and some seeds. The mice made their home in the box and ate the seeds and seemed to be living quite happily in our house. Finally got rid of them with some American bait and glue traps. Unpleasant to do, but can't have those critters in the house. Got more mice, used more stuff. Finally figured they were crawling up the pipes and we found some expanding foam to seal up the areas around the pipes (one hole around a pipe a small cat could have come in through) and we have been joyfully mouseless ever since. This summer we got yet another invader. Weesps ( pronounced vaysps) or wasps. I began to see a few dead ones in the guest room. They were dead or dying and thought maybe the insect screening we had put up wasn't working completely. Kept finding wasps; kept vacuuming them up. There began to be more and more of them. Then I got near a slanted area of the roof and I could hear a whole lot of buzzing in there! I can't imagine the size of the nest if this many wasps are just the ones getting lost on their way into the outside world who happened to end up inside our guest room! Before it was over I had vacuumed up hundreds of wasps within a few weeks. We went to the local garden store and bought a can of wasp spray. It wasn't until we got home that we realized we paid a whopping $14 for that can of insecticide! We could see where the wasps were chewing their way through the wall board of the access panel in the guest room, so we knew where to spray. So we did. With some success. We went outside and saw the wasps escaping out a hole in the roof. This is apparently where they were entering in. We mentioned our wasp problem to a coworker, Ilona, and she said we should call the town hall. They would deal with the problem. Hmmm, interesting, so we call the townhall. Or more accurately we have our Dutch friend, Elly, call them. They are apparently out of the extermination business, but they give her references. We presume the landlord has to handle this problem, but they tell us that the problem is ours and we have to pay to have an exterminator come and rid us of this nest. Then to top it off we find out we are responsible to fix the hole in the roof. What? Seems like a normal maintenance problem to us and in the States when we rented out our home we had to pay for anything and everything that needed fixing, mending, killing, or maintaining. After all we owned the home. That is partly what the rent was for. At this point we take a deep breath and remind ourselves that we are not in Kansas any more. So of course, it isn't going to be the same. It doesn't have to make sense to us, it makes sense to the people here. We cant imagine how much fixing a roof is going to cost. It was about $50.00 for a ten minute job to kill the wasps. Labor costs are high. Then we find there is a reprieve if the hole was pre-existing. Fortunately further exploration of the situation reveals that the hole was there already and the wasps just exploited it, so the landlord is responsible to have it fixed. I suspect it is a costly repair because the landlord did want to argue the point. What shape was the hole, what size was it, etc. ? The treatment seems to have worked and we have been wasp free, but we still have a hole in our roof. I sure hope they fix it soon before somebody else decides to move into it.

Building Completed

Quite a long time ago, perhaps as long as two years ago, I wrote a blog about a new building that was going up near where we lived. The foundation sat for a very long time - over a year. We would see some supports for what looked like they might be stairs. We would wonder at its unusual shape. We made guesses as to what it would be when it was finished. As time went by we made guesses as to whether it would be finished at all. Suddenly work began in earnest on the foundation and the new building began to take shape. A large picture was erected on the property and we could see that it was going to be a theater. Hmmmm, but what kind. In the Netherlands a cinema is called a "bioscoop" and that is not what the sign said. So we wondered. Then when the building was nearly finished they put posters in the windows and it looked like it was going to be a cinema. Closer inspection revealed that no one was going to watch movies in this theater, but that it would be for the performance of plays. It struck me as strange that our town, which is relatively small, would play host to an actual theater. Something more commonly associated with cities, and often cities of some size and especially in light of the fact that there is no movie theater within 10 or 15 miles of here. We wondered whether the government decided the theater should be here or whether it was done to help bring in business to the town. Seems to me more people would go see movies, than would watch plays, but perhaps here that isn't the case. Anyway, I thought those of you who read that original post all that time ago, might like to see what it finally became. For those of you who missed the original blog, I have copied it below. NEW BUILDING They are putting in a new building near our home. We heard about it before we saw it. No, we didn't hear about it via the grapevine. We woke one morning to hear the steady drum of a pile driver in the distance and from this we knew a new building was going up. We think it may be a school since the other buildings in this area are all schools, but we are only guessing. It does provide the opportunity to show you what a Dutch foundation looks like. Holland is basically an extensive delta for several major rivers of Europe. So the soil is very sandy. Most of the country is at or below sea level which has been reclaimed through dikes and other engineering projects. We live in the high country at the lofty altitude of 3 1/2 feet above sea level. A high water table and the sandy soil make traditional foundations impossible, so buildings from our little home to the Queen's palace are built on pilings. I once read how many pilings the Queen's house sits on, but cant remember. I think it was over 70,000. They've been driving pilings for a couple of weeks and they also have a pump working to get the water out, although from where and into what I don't have a clue. It would seem as futile as trying to empty the ocean.

We went to the Naar Buiten again this year. Many things were the same.

The tent city of stores..... ....all kinds of things for the kids to play on. And some of the activities in the ring were the same as well, but there were some suprises as well. This year they had a parade of old tractors. This isn't particularly old, but it is so typically Dutch to see a vehicle decorated for a special event - a parade or a wedding - with a bouquet of flowers. It is especially charming when it is on utilitarian vehicles like semi-trailer trucks and this tractor. We enjoyed watching the falconry demonstration in the ring again this year. They added some new birds to the show . This South African bird with enormously long legs which normally hunt snakes and some turkey vultures which hopped along the ground looking for bits of food they had dropped for it. The snake is a fake, but when the bird pecked at it, they would drop a bite of food as a reward. They let these birds get up and close and personal with the crowd. This owl was just a few feet away from us. Often the birds take a slight detour before coming back to their handlers. This one liked the view from the top of one of the tents. They even let the kids wear falconers gloves then lured a small owl from glove to glove around the whole ring. They also invited the children into the ring so they could take turns having a very small falcon land on their heads. The highlight or what should have been was a very large eagle. I had been waiting the whole show to see what this beauty could do. I heard the announcer say that this eagle is found all over Europe, but not in the Netherlands. He was let loose and he flew off out of sight. The falconer calling did not bring it back. Dont know if it is gone for good. Mabye now there is at least one living in the Netherlands. They also did a demonstration of police dogs in the ring. The dogs are amazing and their ability to react in an intelligent manner is amazing. I wondered if they would show the dog attacking a person. I wasn't sure how the Dutch would view such a thing. As you can see they had no compunction about showing all that these incredible dogs can do. They had the "bad guy" try several things. He had a stick and the dog attacked, but when the man dropped the stick, the dog stopped. They chased him on a bicycle. They attacked him when he shot off a pop gun. They chased and attacked him when he tried to flee after being in custody and also when he turned to attack the police officer. I couldnt understand all that was said, but at least one of the dogs was from America, perhaps both since they both wore a kerchief with the stars and strips on it.

There were some aesthetic changes this time -

Interesting topiaries A marvelous sand sculpture of the "castle" on the grounds.

We also got to see some old-fashioned crafts being done with a slightly modern twist.

This is a booth where the man is using machines to rough out the shape for wooden shoes. This booth had elaborate wickerware for sale. Yes that is a motorcyle made entirely of wicker. Here is where they boiled the switches and then used this machine to strip off the bark. There are some traditional things demonstrated too. Like winnowing wheat by beating the stalks with flails. Looked like a whole lot of work. And doing laundry with a tub of soapy water and a high-tech ringer to get the excess water from the clothes. That was a real laborsaving device in its day. And there was a parade of fancy farm wagons. I wonder if these are the ones the farmers drove to church on Sunday. This was new too - the kiddies had the chance to try their hand at milking an inflatable cow. We watched and the milk did squirt out like a real udder. Got to get those kids started early. The next generation is going to need cheese too!

A Dutch Wedding

We had the opportunity to attend a Dutch wedding this weekend, although to be perfectly accurate we actually attended a church service to commemorate the wedding of a young couple. I think for them it was the actual wedding, but as far as the state is concerned, the wedding took place the day before at the local courthouse or town hall. Like so many countries now the official marriages are conducted as civil ceremonies. In many ways the ceremony was like an American wedding and in some ways it diverged. I will share how it was different. The first thing I noticed was that there were no groomsmen at all, not even a best man. The wedding procession began with four bridesmaids coming down the aisle in pairs to beautiful classical music. Behind them were the bride and groom walking together. Apparently father's do not give the bride away in Holland. The wedding party then sat down in the chairs in the front row. The wedding couple would periodically stand and sit throughout the ceremony. The guests were welcomed, then we all sang a song together. In many ways the service was like a regular church service with prayers and the singing of hymns with scriptures read and a short sermon. There was, of course, the difference in the theme which was love and marriage and there was the exchange of vows and rings in the midst of it. Oh, yea, there was some kissing too. There isn't usually too much of that in the middle of ordinary church services. :-) The bride was born in the Netherlands to Dutch parents, but they immigrated to England when she was five years old. She is naturally fluent in English. To accommodate some of her international guests - they came from Serbia, the Ukraine, America, Canada, England and Germany/Austria - they had an English translator for the service and the program came in both languages as well. Here is the wedding ceremony and vows: "We have come together as God's people to witness Dave and Johanna's marriage in God's presence and to ask for His blessing with them and for them. The church of Jesus Christ professes that marriage is a God-given opportunity: a life-long companionship between two people, in which they are given the chance to make each other happy, serve each other, and give each other love and loyalty, in good times and bad times. When a man and woman make this commitment to each other in the name of the Lord, they promise together that they want to belong to each other completely in love and faithfully stand at each other's side in all situations. Together they shall search for God's will in their life; together they shall carry out their task and care for their family. Together they shall accept their roles in society as man and woman, as people on their way to God's planned future. Their unity with each other is a symbol of the unity between Christ and the Church. Therefore, bride and groom, you shall love each other like Christ loved his Church. As Christ gave Himself to His Church, so you shall serve each other, guide and help each other in wisdom, and treat each other with patience and forgiveness. You shall share everything with each other, without denying the other their freedom. In all circumstances, you shall stand at each other's side without dominating the other or following the other blindly. You shall form a close companionship, but at the same time you should realize that your family is part of a bigger picture. Therefore you shall be open to responsibilities outside your own home. You shall carry out your tasks and help each other do this, but you should also make sure that rest and joy have their place and that life is experienced as a gift. In this way, you shall encourage and keep each other in the service of the Lord, who has joined Himself with us and called us to the great wedding feast. Vows: I (name), promise you, (name) To love you and be faithful to you, In good time and bad times, For richer , for poorer, In sicknes and in health, So long as we both shall live. As a sign of my love for you, I give you this ring." Then the pastor blessed the couple and what was unique to me was that among many things, she also blessed their sexuality together. The closest I had ever heard in America was a pastor who prays for the people he marries to be filled with passion - for life, for love, for each other. The couple was presented to the church as man and woman - there is no Dutch word for husband and wife. He is now her man and she is now his woman. Everyone clapped with joy for them. We sang another song together, had another prayer and blessing, then sang together once more before the bride and groom proceeded from the church. We met in the church hall for the reception where several kinds of cakes were served including "wedding cake" which is the decorated kind. The couple cut the wedding cake while photos were taken, then the buffet was open. After eating their cake, the bridal couple and their parents formed a receiving line so the guests could offer their good wishes and love. An interesting thing the bridesmaids did at the reception was to pass out colorful pieces of paper to each guest to write something to David and Johanna and as we left the reception our photo was taken. These photos and notes would then be put together to form a guest book for the new couple. The bride and groom have both worked for TWR as salaried employees, but they will soon begin fund-raising to return as missionaries. We have come to know the bride, Johanna, over the past several months as she has been working out of our offices while she and David planned their wedding and future life together. Though they are both Dutch, they will likely be working in Austria because that is where their previous jobs were located.

Closed on Sundays

I have said before that we live in a very religious area of the Netherlands. And, yes, there is such a thing! You would not know that this area and Amsterdam were in the same country from the local cultures. Amsterdam is known around the world for its anything-goes philosophy of life. Around here it is a different matter,for better and for worse. There are many folks with a deep relationship with the Lord, but this is also the home for what is referred to here as The Black Stocking Church. For them life is all about hard work and The Rules. Think, Amish, with electricity and buttons. The church is heavy-handed with its members. One man had a large family and he bought a duplex and tore down walls to make a larger dwelling for his family. The church decided the house was too large (it was not modest) so he had to sell it. Sunday wear for the men is a dark suit and tie. The women wear dark dresses and a particular kind of hat that is unique to the Netherlands. They all wear the same style hat. I tried to Google a photo, but couldn't find it. Also dark. Everyday dress for women includes a long skirt ( never pants) in dark colors and their hair pulled back in a bun. It is a lifestyle that can best be described as no laughter, no color, no joy. Life is hard and if it isn't , we will be sure to make it so. A large part of our local population belongs to this church and it affects a lot of things. They very strictly keep the Sabbath - they don't even ride their bicycles to church, but must walk. I must confess I don't see how riding a bicycle is more work than walking, I sort of thought it was the other way around. But I digress. This means that all the stores are closed on Sunday, even the gas stations in town. I think it is nice for the stores to be closed so folks can spend the day in church and with their families. A day a rest is a good idea, after all it was the All-Wise God's idea. Though I must confess my surprise to discover yesterday just how far they have taken keeping the Sabbath. They are getting ready to have the Naar Buiten fair on the grounds of the building where TWR has its offices. I have written about it before and may very well again this year. I had been directed to a website for the activites so I could find out when the special events were to be held. I always enjoy these - one year it was border collies doing a shepherding demonstration and the firing of old artillery. Another year it was a display of falconry and a type of dressage on horseback. This year there will be police dogs going through their paces, among others. I had left their website open so I could make notes of the events I wanted to see and when I looked at it yesterday, Sunday, the following message was on my screen. "Thank you for your interest www.naarbuiten.nu. Today is Sunday. We dedicate this day in particular to the service of God. We regard Sunday as a day of rest, a command from God and a gift, which we may be grateful for. For that reason, this site is now closed. Tomorrow you are warmly welcome to this site." Apparently even websites have to observe the Sabbath.

Cat's Claws Update

Jon went on the web looking into neighboring countries laws on declawing cats with the hopes that we could get little Mittens fixed up on this side of the pond. What he found was that declawing had been legal in the Netherlands a little while back (couldnt find the year of the change), but had since been banned as cruelty to animals. He also found out that it is illegal in the entire European Union and that to join the EU a country must make declawing illegal. I never realized how far-reaching the EU laws extended into the sovereignty of each country.

Cat's Claws

It is illegal to declaw a cat in the Netherlands. It is considered cruelty to animals. Apparently they haven't heard of the new laser treatment which is virtually pain free. Our new kitten will be an indoor-only cat and to save her and us a lot of hassle trying to curb her natural instincts to claw at things we want to get those pesky things removed. This actually seems the kinder thing to us and a prime example of how basic values shape culture and the kinds of things which can make cultures clash. Our original plan was to take her back on furlough and get her spayed and declawed during that time. When we checked the airline fees to take her, we found what had once been reasonable has become more than the ticket for a human being to fly! So we were thinking of alternate ideas. Our first thought was to drive to Germany one day and get her declawed there, if it was possible to do so. Our conversation around the lunch table yesterday makes me think it is unlikely. Yesterday our coworkers gathered together for lunch to celebrate a birthday among us. Some of the conversation steered around to our new kitten. As we talked about various things - like what will you do with her in furlough, we mentioned our original plans and our desire to get her declawed. Only the Americans at the table had even heard of this procedure. Even the gal from New Zealand was shocked at the concept. Hmmmm, we shall have to fall back and regroup.

Flying - Patooty

Jon just returned from a business trip to the States. He flies enough and with the conglomeration of airlines he can get a frequent flyer status which affords him some privileges. The most significant one and the one we are most grateful for is the two bags of seventy pounds he is allowed to check in. What is amazing about this is that when we arrived less than four years ago that was the standard baggage allotment for all airline passengers. Right after we arrived it was reduced to two bags of no more than fifty pounds. Now it is one bag of fifty pounds. From the increasing levels of undress needed to go through security to the decreasing amount of luggage we are allowed to carry. I figure before long we will all be required to fly naked without any luggage at all. I think the airlines are run by closet nudists.

New Baby in the Family

Jon and I have been looking to add a pet to our little empty-nesting family. We've always had pets since the early years of our marriage. Our last pet, a dog, died a year or so before we moved to the Netherlands. It didn't seem like a good idea to get another pet before making the transition with all its busyness and turmoil, so we waited. Then we were making adjustments and we were assessing our new lifestyle. We have furloughs now and we travel on a regular basis. It took a while to decide that we would still like a pet and that we could work around these things. We've looked for dogs and cats for about two years now. Wouldn't think it would be that hard, but the language barrier and high costs here both delayed the process. If we looked on the Internet the animals were very high priced, sometimes even ordinary cats were for sale. I have never seen that before. Sure, pedigree show cats (yes, they actually have those) I understand, but what I would call "mutt" cats selling for fifty euros? Anyway, we did find some gratis - free - but when we wrote the folks, they usually didn't write back. Probably didn't understand our Dutch or our request to converse in English. We went to the pounds in local cities and all we could find were older cats. We even went back to get one very friendly half-grown cat, but the Keeper of the Cats told us a bit about her and she had been found out of doors and would not be happy as a solely indoor cat, which is what we wanted to have. We knew we were going to have to get a very young cat so that it hadn't had the chance to acclimate to the outdoors. It was winter when we began to pursue this avenue. Here, cats are not born year round, they are mostly born in the spring/summer months. This is a strange phenomenon, because cats are somewhat unique in that mating stimulates ovulation, so normally they can get pregnant any time. Maybe they are outdoors less in the cold months. Don't know. It is also said that the kittens that are born in the winter aren't as strong and healthy and we were discouraged from trying to adopt or find one during the winter. So we waited. Spring came and our dear colleagues began to check the newspaper ads for us and listen to information from friends. We were looking for a girl, a young kitten, one that had been raised in a family so that it was handled by humans and acclimated. The latter was extremely important or the cat would never bond with us. Finally we heard of a litter of kittens born on a farm to some friends of our colleagues, Ted and Dawn. Dawn took me out to see them when they were about three weeks old. There were four of them. I had in my mind that I would really love a gray tabby cat with white on its chest and face. For some reason they didn't have that exact model :-) They did have a beautiful kitten that was white all over with blue eyes, a black and white kitten and two brown tabbies. I immediately sparked to the white one. After seeing the kittens, who were too young to take home at that time and even too small to accurately sex them, Jon and I headed home to wait. In the meantime we had a two week trip to Turkey, Croatia and some southern European countries. We enjoyed our time away and came back eager to see the kittens. It turns out the beautiful white one was the only male in the bunch. All the kittens were a bit skiddish, but one seemed to warm up a bit more than the others, so we chose her. We are still working on a name as none comes to mind immediately. She is now beginning her third day with us. She has adapted amazingly from a box of straw in the barn to our home and to us. She was litter-boxed trained within a couple of hours. Within an hour and half she went from being not too sure about me to sleeping in my lap. She cried the first night when we put her in the bathroom to sleep, even though we left a nice box with a towel, a little stuffed animal for a friend and a ticking clock. Last night - nary a peep. By the morning of her second day with us she had given me some head-lovin' and I'd heard her purr, so I knew she was settling in very well. She eats well, but misses her Momma. Every so often, usually when she is getting sleepy, she cuddles up to some soft fleshy part of me (not hard to find) and starts nuzzling around. Sometimes she licks and "tastes" my fingertips. It is a little pitiful. She is still just a tiny little baby. She can sit in the palm of my hand. (She looks bigger in this photo than she actually is.) She is very energetic and playful when she's awake, but like any young baby she also sleeps a lot. She enjoys having her tummy rubbed and she lets me handle her feet (important for claw clipping later). She seems to have decided Jon and I are safe and she likes to interact with us. I think she is going to be a very sweet cat. It has been nearly five years since we have had a pet in our home. I didn't realize it had been so long until I actually calculated it. What is more amazing is that an indoor cat lives an average of twenty years. I could very well be seventy before this cat leaves us. Hard to comprehend!

A while back we had the opportunity to drive to Berlin. That is where we had one of our traveling misadventures - the one where our computer miraculously stayed working without any power until it got us safely back to our computer. Anyway, while we were there we stood in a very long line on a very cold night to go inside the new Reichstad to go inside the dome. They rebuilt the Reichstad after WWII, but since it was on the East Berlin side, the government was not allowed to meet in it until after the reunification of Germany. The old Reichstad had a traditional dome on it, but when it was rebuilt they put this very modern glass dome in its place. When we finally entered we started climbing up and up this ramp which wrapped around the inside of the dome. It was just as cold inside as outside because the dome was not solid, but instead had open areas to the weather outside. I wonder if they did this because they felt visitors needed fresh air - it is a strong European value - or for some other aesthetic or practical reason. I do know we could have used less fresh air ourselves on this bitterly cold night. The spiraling walkway wraps around this mirrored central column. It is really a double helix with one walkway spiraling upward and the other spiraling downwards. The views are magnificent but not for those who are afraid of heights. You very much feel you are walking on the heights with very little to protect you from a dizzying fall. As you spiral upwards you can look down on their parliamentary meeting room. I wonder if visitors wandering around overhead ever gets distracting to the lawmakers. The Europeans love contemporary style and it is just about all that can be found in home decor here in the Netherlands. We, Americans, come to Europe to enjoy the old, the magnificent, the grand. Europeans live with it and I wonder if they appreciate it as much as we do. It is human nature to take for granted whatever is commonplace. I say this because they also seem to enjoy juxtaposing the very modern with the centuries old buildings. The Louvre is another example of this with the main body of the building being a palace which housed the government and personal apartments of Napoleon Bonaparte the III, but the modern entrance is through a glass pyramid inserted in its courtyard in the 1980's Napoleon the III is nephew to the famous Bonaparte. The imperial apartments are still in a wing of the Louvre and you can tour them. Pretty fancy digs. I can't say I enjoy the unified styles. It jars the eye and interferes with the fluidity and, I think, majesty of these grand old buildings. To me it adds nothing and detracts much. I have to confess there is a little girl inside me that loves the idea of castles and palaces. I am one of those who loves the old, the magnificent, the grand. This phenomenon makes me think of America around the 1950's and 60's when the Victorian houses in the cities were considered old, out of date and passe. Many of them were torn down; others were turned into apartments. Only in the last decade or two have we rediscovered their beauty and elegance and many are working hard and investing much money to restore them to their former glory. My theory is that there is a window in the life of an object, almost any object, where it is old enough to be undesirable, old-fashioned, out of date. If it can survive this time, then it gets old enough to be seen with fresh eyes and appreciated for what it is. Then it becomes an antique and is valuable again! I wonder if one day, the Europeans will do the same for some of the modern additions they have added to their beautiful old buildings. I think this is why Americans flock to European cities - all the grand old architecture with the romance of another age. We don't have old. We have new and improved, just ask our advertisers. Maybe that is why I don't like the modern buildings in Europe. They are passe to me and boring. In America we have cities full of them. I also wonder if Europeans would enjoy our cities full of shiny modern buildings and find them beautiful and exotic and grand in their own way?