We left Kayenta, Arizona on the 17th of May and took 7 days to drive across the nation to Durham, North Carolina to visit our oldest son, Junzo (and his family - his wife Emma, and children Maeda (age 6) and Rowan (age 3)) and our youngest daughter Fumiko. They are both at Duke University. Junzo is the head of the GYN radiation oncology section and Fumiko is just finishing her "internship/transitional year" and about to begin her residency in Radiation Oncology.
Irene is a retired radiation oncologist (I guess I should make sure you know that a radiation oncologist is a Medical Doctor that treats cancer with differing types of radiation). She has had 3 of our 7 children "follow in her footsteps." Kazumi (our next to oldest daughter) is also a radiation oncologist. In fact after she finished her residency she moved to Lafayette, Indiana and joined Irene's practice there. After Irene retired and we started full-time RVing, Kazumi became Co-Director of the department there.
On the way to Durham we stopped for one afternoon in North Wilkesboro, NC to visit Irene's sister, Carolyn Marion. She got hold of her son Doug and wife Rebecca near Winston-Salem, NC and they came up, so we had the pleasure of seeing them for the first time in quite a few years. That was nice.
We got to Durham on Friday, May 23rd and stayed until the 28th of May. We had a great time visiting with the grandkids (yea, ok, with the parents too! LOL). Since it was Memorial Day weekend, Maeda didn't have school on Monday (She is a kindergartener now). We played in the back yard with them and Irene did some crafting with them. It was just a good, relaxing time.
After we left Durham, we stopped in North Wilkesboro to spend the day with Carolyn again. It just so happened that her other son Mike and his wife Becky and their 2 children Joey and Reagan were there. HOT DOG!! It was great to spend some time with them also.
We left that evening (the 28th) to head north to our next sojourns both of which are near Cincinnati, OH. We got to Mid-Western Children's Home on Friday the 29th in the afternoon. We got set up and ready for our Sojourn here which began on June 9th.
On Sunday the 31st we drove over to the Grosbeak church of Christ in Northwest Cincinnati to go to church there. Our next sojourn, which begins on the 22nd of June is at this church. They are having us hold a Vacation Bible School (VBS) for them. Since the church has never had a sojourn before we wanted to go over and meet with them to assess what they need to do to prepare the way for us. I think we accomplished a great deal. We've given them a list of suggestions which will (hopefully) make for a more successful VBS.
We had the week off from the 1st-6th of June. We were parked at Mid-Western already so we wouldn't have to move until at least the 18th of June. Time for some Scrabble tournaments.
The couple that converted me to Jesus while I was in the Air Force and stationed in Minot, North Dakota, Larry and Jan Long, now live in Centerville, Ohio just south of Dayton, Ohio. Larry was actually the one that talked me into signing up to lead the sojourn at Mid-Western. They had applied for sojourns for a couple years in a row and no one signed up to lead them, so they couldn't be done. Larry mentioned this to me when we visited them last year and I told him I'd lead it if they would apply for one, so........ here we are.
One of the things they have here at Mid-western is a pretty large lake on the property. There are about 4 or 5 pairs of Canadian Geese that have decided to make this their home too. From 1918 Canadian Geese have been covered by the Migratory Bird act as an endangered species. About 10 years ago Irene's department had a pair of honkers decide that they wanted to make one of their department's parking lot dividers that had a tree and some bushes and grass in it their nesting area. They called the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and were told that they were a protected species and the nest could NOT be moved; the geese could NOT be bothered in any way and the area had to be left untouched until the goslings were grown and the whole family flew away. Well, the conservation efforts in behalf of the geese were effective. This led to them finally being removed from the protected species list in 2011. So, the next time you see one of these avian beauties and think "I wonder if those birds taste good." Just go over and TRY to grab it (Geese are M-E-A-N!!!) and wring its neck and cook 'er up for dinner. You won't be committing a Federal crime anymore (though you will be committing a State crime if it isn't Goose Hunting season!
Here's a pic of one set of proud parents and their brood:
We also have a Grey Heron that has visited the lake 3 or 4 times in the last couple of weeks. I managed to snap some pictures of it was taking off one day:
On a different note - I once had a skunk as a pet. It was a descented skunk purchased from a "skunk farm" in Illinois. Skunks are a cross between dogs and cats in their behavior. They are VERY clean (like cats) yet they are very friendly (like dogs). It is reallllllly important to get the skunk before they are weaned by their mother so they "imprint" on YOU instead of on her. In many states it is illegal to have non-domesticated animals (skunks, racoons, etc.) as pets.
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