Back to Baidoa

(November)

Much of the last quarter of 2022 has been spent in Somalia. It’s understandable given the unfolding severe drought. Some of these visits are normal monitoring trips, overseeing our response on the ground. Others are to accompany media. Some are to travel with internal visitors from within the organization. All of this is time consuming but necessary.

In early November I traveled back to Baidoa with on of our senior vice presidents. I had met with him nearly a year ago so we already knew each other going into the trip. But this would be his first time to Somalia and he hadn’t spent much time in Africa previously. I sensed at least some degree of apprehension going into the visit.

Admittedly, this sort of travel is unpredictable and has some risk to it. You do all the necessary preparations, contingencies, etc. and then you just hope for the best. 

 

Mogadishu

We traveled together from Somalia to Mogadishu in the normal way. The 4am taxi to the airport. Arriving in Mogadishu at the beginning of the workday. Navigating immigration (much easier for me as a resident).

navigating the streets of Mogadishu

Generally, my visits to Mogadishu are conducted in the first half of the day. Statistically, there is less insecurity. The health facilities are teaming with people, making it much easier to get an idea of the work being done. And you avoid the afternoon heat.

We went straight from the airport out to visit activities. I’ve visited hundreds of clinics in my life but when you do this with someone who hasn’t done this much, it’s important to step back and picture how this might be viewed. We’ve had visitors who have struggled a bit. One woman earlier this year had to step out of the clinic because the sight of extremely malnourished children was too upsetting. It’s not easy sometimes but I think it’s important for people to recognize the dire circumstances some people are facing.

By early afternoon, the visits were drawing to a close and it was time for lunch. I always want to go to the lido area for lunch when we have visitors, but I’m always aware that it’s subject to the prevailing security situation. On this day, we received the green light by my security guy and off we went.  

Seriously, these lunches have been some of the highlights of my time in Somalia. Not only is it a wonderful place to have lunch, it’s important for outsiders to see how beautiful the country is and tweak the narrative of “fragile state” rife with drought and violence. It’s more complicated than what usually is presented in the news. Obviously, it’s tough to circulate beach photos when there is so much suffering going on so one needs to find some balance.

The lunch was so late that we didn’t get back to the office until late afternoon. There was time for a brief meeting with staff before the end of the workday.

 

Baidoa

The next day, we would have an early start back to the airport to catch out plane for Baidoa. There was a massive delay but at least the flight happened – something that is never a certainty. We had a short 2-night/3-day window for the trip so we couldn’t afford to have any cancellations. We both had board dinner to attend in Nairobi on Wednesday evening and meetings the following day.

The Baidoa visit would proceed in a similar fashion. Straight from the airstrip out to visit activities followed by a meeting with staff. In this case, we wouldn’t even have time for a meal until dinner.

As I mentioned in the earlier blog about Baidoa, it’s the more or less the epicenter of the drought response in the country, not only for us but for the international community. It’s by far the most expansive humanitarian crisis I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve worked in massive refugee camps with tens of thousands of refugees and this is measured in hundreds of thousands. It’s hard to comprehend unless you’ve seen it. Even then, it’s still hard to comprehend.

I was able to speak with some of those who have been impacted, including a camp leader who I met previously. He was able to share with me how support we’ve been providing had made a difference and then I could see it with my own eyes. A massive area of makeshift tents now had latrines and a covered area where we were conducting nutrition screening for malnourished children. Massive bladders were set up to provide water. Things are happening, though not nearly at the pace needed to stave off famine. We’re also not sure how long the water, used to fill these bladders, is going to last.

We visited a couple of different locations before heading back to the office. We had our meeting with staff and then retreated to the hotel. I’ve never stayed in a hotel in Baidoa since we have our guesthouse. But due the surge team supporting our drought response, we were relegated to a hotel in a secure zone near the airport.

I had a headache. I generally limit my water intake while in the field so as to avoid being caught needing a men’s room with no opportunity to do so. We also hadn’t eaten which made it worse. Though I certainly can’t compare my skipping a couple of meals to those facing severe food insecurity, it does serve in sending signals of deprivation – sort of a “just imagine what these people are going through”.

The next morning, we would make our way through the layers of security to get to the tiny airport. I was able to make some acquaintances in the “VIP” room. There were four Southwest State government ministers traveling to Mogadishu on our flight which gave me a certain confidence that the flight would happen and it might be reasonably on time. The main thing for me was that, given that we would be connecting in Mogadishu to a flight taking us back to Nairobi, we just couldn’t miss our connection.

As we disembarked in Mogadishu, a couple of the ministers motioned us to follow them to the VIP section of the airport. This isn’t something I normally get to do in Mogadishu. In fact, I’ve only done this once in six years when I was traveling with a friend of mine who worked in the office of the Prime Minister. I felt a bit justified in this case given that my traveling companion on this occasion was an SVP.

I will say, there isn’t a huge advantage to being in the VIP wing. There’s no free food and the chairs aren’t any more comfortable. The one thing that’s cool is that there’s a guy that comes to retrieve your documents and returns later with your stamped passport and your boarding passes while you’re sitting and having a drink.

After a couple-hour delay, we would be on our way back to Nairobi. The 5pm landing would thrust us into rush-hour traffic. While annoying, I would take advantage of the time in the taxi to catch up on emails and a few phone calls. I would get home in time to have a cup of tea before heading out to a board dinner. As exhausted as I was, I was happy that we’d pulled off a successful trip with an important visitor and such a tight schedule. Always satisfying.

Life in Nairobi

(October-November)

With Somalia on the verge of famine, my job has never been busier and more complex. It’s placing huge demands on my time, not only traveling to, and around, the country, but I’m pulled into loads of coordination meetings, media interviews, reviewing press releases, co-drafting articles, etc. I’m helping to navigate obstacles to procurement and shipment of medical, nutrition, water and sanitation supplies. Meeting with government officials and donors. Raising funds. And so on. Thus, I feel like my every minute is measured.

a little bit of Somalia from our window in Nairobi

Time with family is nonetheless essential. Being an intentional husband and/or dad through all the years of doing this job, admittedly is tough. I don’t always get it right, obviously, but I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that no one does. You can never allocate sufficient time for everything. One thing I won’t do, when this is all said and done, is wish I’d spent more time working.

What does time with family look like these days? Well, there’s been basketball. My girls have developed a taste for the main sport of my youth. I did not push it on them. It’s sort of happened on its own.

There’s also been swimming. The pool at our building was out of commission for a while, possibly due in part to the drought, but we’ve had access to other pools, including at the coast. We’re entering the heart of summer so I suspect that when we get back from the holidays, we’ll be swimming even more.

Oreo spiders

We did sort of did the Halloween thing but less than in previous years. They also may be something that tapers a bit as the girls are getting older.

There are still the endless birthday parties. It’s not like days of old when it involved clowns and bouncy castles. But it still involves a lot of noise, pizza and running children.

There is some cycling in the nearby forest, but it’s inconsistent. The challenge is keeping up with their rapid growth. Bikes aren’t cheap (though Kiran’s old bike, purchased for $8 at Goodwill in the US several years ago, taken apart, put in a duffel and brought to Kenya, is still serving Kinaya well).

 

Brackenhurst

I’ve mentioned Brackenhurst in the past in this blog. It’s about 45 minutes outside of Nairobi. It’s different enough from where we live such that we’ve used it as a weekend getaway. With the way my work has been lately, it was just what I needed. Doesn’t require loads of travel time and preparation. Just a peaceful(ish) weekend.

We’ve been to Brackenhurst a few times. The first thing that jumps out at me is how quiet it is and cooler than Nairobi. Some people cycle there from the city, have a drink or a meal and then cycle back. I would be a bit skittish of riding on some of the roads (already having broken my arm doing such a thing). But it’s beautiful, hilly country once you get out near the tea plantations. 

 

 

 

 

 

Question marks on a meat truck? It might be meat but we're not sure?
 

Baidoa

 (Still catching up. Going back to the third week of September.)

Not long after my previous trip to Somalia, and loads of meetings in Nairobi, it was time to return again. This time I would be going to Baidoa, a place I’d never been given we just opened an office there just prior to me going on vacation in July.

Baidoa is not an easy place to work. The city is completely surrounded by non-government held territory, though the city itself is reasonably safe. But if you venture out 10-15 km. in any direction, the security situation significantly deteriorates.

the modest international airport

rare view for a foreigner - from a tower looking out over non-govt.-held territory

Unfortunately, it’s the epicenter of the drought in Somalia. It’s an historically underserved population due in large part to its inaccessibility. Though people can get in and out by road by paying tolls to militants, for the most part everything we do needs to be airlifted in as if it were an island. From a supply chain standpoint, it’s sort of a nightmare given that shipments by air (for medical supplies and nutritional feeding supplements for example) are very expensive. 

 * * *

The city has an interesting history. A colleague I was traveling with said that her parents used to go there for long weekends prior to the civil war. It is generally cooler than the coast and was very prosperous. Back then it had the largest camel population in Somalia (over 1.3 million – more camels than people). Nowadays things are obviously different. On this trip, I didn’t even see one – the first of my travels to Somalia without seeing a camel (though I did consume some).

In the early stages of the civil war (early 1990s), Baidoa was ravaged by repeated attacks and changed hands several times. Meanwhile, the situation in Mogadishu was even worse. The government temporarily established itself Baidoa which, by this time, had become more stable. By 2007, with Islamists pushed out, the capital shifted back to Mogadishu. Though Baidoa was retaken by Islamists the following year, it was eventually liberated in 2012 and has remained in government hands since. Though the three main arteries leading into the city are not controlled by the government, the city itself is.

* * *

For the work I do, Baidoa has been important. The region has notoriously been the hardest hit by the repeated droughts, including the famine in 2011 and the near-famine conditions we battled in 2017 soon after I joined the country program. I/we realized that we needed a base there and we would need to figure out a way to start up operations there (find resources). In the end, we did and we proceeded to scale up quickly. In a few busy months we had a new office, staff, partner organizations and several million dollars in funding to respond to the drought. 

 * * *

My trip involved a combination of meetings with local government officials as well as several visits to the seemingly endless encampments of those who have been displaced by drought and/or conflict. Hundreds of thousands of people are packed into a few square kilometers, most of whom are in desperate need of support.

I must say, it’s hard to fathom the magnitude of the crisis. In addition to those impacted by drought, a surprising number of those in makeshift housing are conflict displaced. Sometimes it’s a combination of drought and conflict forcing people from their homes. Most had come from long distances. Some on foot. Some on donkey carts. They congregate in places like Baidoa because they know that aid is being provided. Most are in contact with others from their communities before they come and then seek out them out when they arrive. It’s much easier to have clan/family ties in order to be received without issues and get some immediate help.

thankfully, this nutrition screening facility has been replaced by the structure below

 * * *

After a couple of days, it was time to return to Mogadishu. We drove from the office to the airport. There are multiple perimeters of security as you approach and you need to navigate each one separately. There’s always some shouting, hand gestures, etc. as each side demonstrates their authority – us making the case why we need to get through and the other side making the case why we’re not allowed. It’s the same thing at almost every checkpoint in the country. Nine times out of ten, we eventually get through successfully. One would think that with a flight booking, there ought to be a way to do this more easily. But the tug-of-war does serve a purpose. Over the course of the shouting/gesturing, it buys time for the security forces to observe us and assess the probability of risk. And with high frequency of attacks, the security forces do need to take their jobs seriously.

The first perimeter security/boom gate is the local police, followed by the national army. The inner checkpoint is the Africa Union, the international forces that are in Somalia to assist the government with security and assist in building their capacity. The team assigned to Baidoa is Ethiopian. I’ve heard stories that they can be particularly challenging but on this occasion, we didn’t have any issues.

sunset view from my room in Baidoa

After all this, there’s yet another security check as you approach the airport itself. On this occasion, the conveyor belt/x-ray thing was not operational (it was the same the next time I traveled there so it could be that it never works) so it served as a table for security to basically dump the bags’ contents and rifle though peoples’ underwear and cosmetics. Always interesting to have your stuff exposed to other travelers. Mine wasn’t nearly as interesting as some of the things I saw coming out of other people’s bags.

We walked across the dirt open space between security and the “terminal” which was basically the size of a three-bedroom house. Once inside, I was escorted to the VIP room. I’m not really a VIP (usually reserved for government officials) but I guess because I was a foreigner, I was allowed in. To be honest, the chairs were comfortable and there’s the “separation from the masses” that some enjoy, but it wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There’s no food, no internet and the loo wasn’t even operational – possibly my primary motivation for being in the lounge given the rather warlike conditions of the men’s room in the main area.

After a considerable wait, we were off to Mogadishu. The flight is less than an hour, mostly over non-government held territory. Our armored vehicle was waiting for us and the transition to the office was rather smooth. I would return to Nairobi the following day. A lot of travel these days. Not likely to slow down between now and the holidays. 

Mogadishu

It's time to begin catching up after many weeks of not writing. Time to write is a luxury.

* * *

(Sept. 19) I’m in Baidoa, in southwest Somalia as I write this. For security reasons, I am not allowed to post things in Somalia while I am currently in that specific location. So, this won’t be posted until I’m somewhere else. But before I discuss my current visit, I need to go back to my previous trip to Somalia – the one that I took at the end of August/early September.

* * *

After returning from the US, I was anxious to get back to work. Not only get back to work but get back to Somalia. That may sound odd to some but I do like what I do and I do like my team. Moreover, we are in the midst of a terrible drought that seems to be headed in the direction of a full-on famine. It’s a very serious situation and something that was in the back of my mind throughout the time that I was in the US. My team did a fantastic job while I was away but I wanted to get back to supporting them.

Within a little over a week of being back, I boarded a plane for Mogadishu (Aug. 28). One advantage of being back in Somalia, being away from family, was that I could really focus. Hanging out with family is one of the best things in life. But as the humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate, I desperately needed this time to dedicate to getting caught up and making sure our drought response was quickly scaling up.

I normally travel early Sunday. The 4am wake-up and 6:30 flight get me to the office at the beginning of the workday and workweek. It cuts my weekend in half but it’s an efficient use of my time. From the time I hit the ground, it was meeting after meeting as everyone was catching me up on what had happened while I was away, and to at least give me their take on what had transpired.

By day three, I was ready to escape the confines of the office. Not being able to duck out for a run or a cup of coffee, or do anything that involves me leaving the building without security detail can drive someone a bit crazy after a while.

My escape was to head to the “green zone” and participate in a panel discussion on reaching marginalized communities hosted by the UN. It took place in one of the container facilities (hotels) within the airport compound. As I’ve mentioned before, the airport area is more like a large military base and the airport takes up only about a third of the fortified complex. The rest is made up of armed compounds within the armed compound for private companies, UN, embassies, etc. It’s a dusty, sandy web of roads linking these compounds (most of which are collections of container buildings) and teaming with SUVs and armored personnel carriers (APCs). It’s a completely different world from what I experience on the outside. Though there are plenty of SUVs and APCs, we have noisy children playing in the dirt streets, bleating goats and an occasional meandering camel. Overall, life is better on the outside.

Mogadishu scene - camels wandering the street, kids resting from playing football, a sliver of ocean view

After the meeting, it was back to the office for a combination of face-to-face and virtual meetings. One twist this time was that one of my staff asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with a couple of colleagues. It was a bold request given that I had actually never really been out to dinner in Mogadishu. I’ve been out to dinner in Garowe (Puntland) a couple of times where it’s considerably safer, but never in the capital.

She arranged for an armored pick-up which came to pick us up around 7pm. We headed out in the darkness of the Mogadishu evening. There’s only been one other time that I was in a vehicle after dark on the streets of the city and that was after a function at the British embassy in the green zone. The event went a bit late and the VIP gate that I normally use was closed. As such, we had to make our way to another gate that was on the opposite side of the base. Somalia, being farther north than Nairobi, gets dark a half hour to forty-five minutes earlier.

from my window - camel with the owner's phone number

Fortunately, our destination was only a couple of kilometers away. We pulled up in front of the unmarked perimeter wall of the restaurant compound. This is where things are usually the sketchiest. I was told to disembark from the side nearest the wall where I would slip quickly through the metal door, past a metal detector and two armed guards and into the compound. Once inside things were calm and peaceful. No foreigners, obviously, but people sitting around having tea in the dimly lit courtyard. I was escorted to a far table in near complete darkness with only a small light barely revealing the faces of my colleagues.

I felt like a kid skipping school. Though he wasn’t with me, my head of security did indeed agree to this. That was another thing that was weird for me. He normally shadows me when I’m in country. I suppose it made me feel even more reckless. Nonetheless, it was a stunningly beautiful evening. I could see a crescent moon between the palm fronds waving in the warm evening breeze.

At one point the manager appeared through the darkness. He’s a skinny, smiley Ugandan guy that I’ve known for a few years (I’ve been to this place during the day several times) and he seemed surprised to see me. I told him I was surprised to be there myself.

We ordered (fish curry for me) and the proceeded to sip on our juices as we waited for dinner (alcohol’s illegal though it would have been a nice evening for a glass of wine). Given that there had been a hotel attack a few days prior that involved some of our staff (thankfully no one was injured or killed), much of the conversation revolved around that and other attacks that they had encountered over the years of living and working in Somalia. Sobering conversation but it wasn’t without a few laughs here and there.

After dinner we made our way back to the exit, getting a couple of double takes along the way. We entered our compound and I was relieved that we’d pulled it off without a hitch. I’m not saying I’m empowered to keep pushing that envelope because I’m not. I’m just happy for the nice experience.

* * *

The next morning, I was plowing through emails when the head of our Mogadishu office came to the guesthouse where I was working and asked if I was okay with have a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister. I said yes, of course, though it does involve a bit of risk heading to the seat of power for the Somalia Federal Government. But you can’t pass up an opportunity such as this. We need close ties with this new government and at this point I know very few of them.

With short notice, we made our way to Villa Somalia, the former home of the Italian colonial government decades ago. I’ve been before but it’s always quite the adventure getting through the innumerable layers of security, boom gates, etc. Once inside, we had the customary wait in the spacious waiting lounge. Once inside, the meeting went fairly well. I suspected that I was rather bad at these things given that perpetual look of boredom I often get when meeting with high-level officials. But a Somali guy I know who runs another international organization told me he gets the same looks. According to him, that’s what a lot of Somali people in power do. Maybe. Or we’re both boring.

* * *

Over the past several months, I’ve been quite heavily engaged in speaking to media about the drought. We have communications people that set these things up, sometimes with an idea of what they want to discuss specifically, sometimes not. It’s mostly been media outlets in the US and Europe.

me with the princess

As mentioned in a recent post, I missed out on a chance to meet the former Prince of Wales. However, I did in fact get to meet royalty. The day after the meeting with the Deputy PM, I had been asked to participate in a discussion with Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan. She is a goodwill ambassador for WFP and in her role was visiting the country. Not very often I get to meet a real princess and that afternoon I headed back into the fortified “green zone” (which, by the way, has absolutely green whatsoever) for the meeting.

Mogadishu sunset

The princess had just returned from a trip to Galkacyo (central Somalia) and I was impressed that she was authorized to do such a thing, and that she was willing to do so. After the roundtable discussion, I spoke to her separately for a few minutes and it was clearer to me why she was willing to leave the confines of the UN compound, when so many from the UN don’t (or supposedly can’t). It seems that she really has her heart in this goodwill ambassador role. I almost felt like she knew more about some of these issues than some who do this for a living. Refreshing, I must say.

Idaho

Still catching up on the vacation. A lot happened. Needs to be recorded. Stuff still happening so I need to get caught up soon.

* * *

Of all the meticulous planning that went into the six-week, multi-country, multi-state trip, Idaho was probably the most tightly planned. From the time we landed, we were immediately off to run errands, well before we saw any family or friends. Given that we intended to go backpacking the next day, we drove straight from the airport to our storage, sifted through our belongings for what we would need, particularly for camping, and then headed to shops to fill some gaps in our supplies.

My goal was to front-load all of this and be to my sister’s in time for tea. We wanted to have some time with family before heading out the next morning for the mountains.

The added constraint to our itinerary was the fact that about halfway through, my wife would be leaving us for Istanbul to attend a class reunion. As such, we needed to fit in as many activities as possible before she left. The first priority (for me), was to squeeze in a backpack trip.

 

Backpacking

Weeks before leaving, I spent some time scanning maps of the central part of the state looking for a possible alpine lake destination. Since my wife and I were married, we’ve been able to visit/backpack to over a dozen mountain lakes, taking a gap for about five years when we had babies. Now, with kids, we generally target lakes that involve a short hike and no crowds. Usually that implies a certain amount of remoteness. Deep Lake fit the bill.

The next morning we headed north. It’s about a two-and-a-half-hour drive to get to my brother’s place where, for some reason, I was thinking we had some of our gear. En route, we discovered that this wasn’t the case. At that point, I wasn’t sure where the gear was but we knew at that point we were going to be short some sleeping bags and a tent. Long story short, we were able to pull together some stuff from my brother, sister and a store to make this happen. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

After a quick stop at my brother’s place, we proceeded to the town of McCall for lunch. From there we drove a little over a half hour farther north to the trailhead. Given the scattered way in which our gear was assembled this year, it took a bit longer to put together some manageable, hikeable backpacks. By the time we were attaching them to our backs, they were a bit heavier than anticipated. I suspect we’ll do better next time when we’re better organized.

at the trailhead

I looked online and there wasn’t a lot of information about the lake. What I did read was fairly accurate though I think it was far more beautiful than the photos that I saw portrayed.

The hike begins with a fairly gradual ascent. One thing that was mentioned online was that the hike is quite exposed due to a forest fire a couple decades ago. This turned out to be the case but the hike is short enough that it’s not a big deal. About halfway, the hike gets fairly steep as you make your way up the side of the mountain before cresting at the bowl-like area where the lake is. This is similar to other hikes we’ve done. The kids felt some elation when they began to see the blue of the water, knowing that their destination was in sight.

room with a view

We had no problems identifying a campsite. There weren’t too many options but all options were good – right at the edge of the lake. Though we’d seen a couple people on the way up, there was no one at the lake and we would have it to ourselves until we were breaking camp the next morning. It probably helped that it wasn’t a weekend.

We proceeded to set up camp. To me, it’s one of the best parts of camping. We had two tents: one for the kids and the other for the grown-ups. The day had gone according to plan and we were set up in time for late afternoon tea. As the sun lowered, the air began to cool. We started a campfire as the bright yellow-ish orange sunset developed on the horizon. It was a perfect evening. The lake was still and you could see and hear fish jumping occasionally. A nearly full moon began to rise above the lake to the south. I don’t think we could have asked for a better setting.

taking a dip

Eventually we made our way into our tents. The night was calm. Around 2am I was awoken by the sound of some sort of creature not far from the tent. I immediately assume it was a deer. We turned on the flashlight and sure enough, there was a large doe standing just a few feet away. She seemed unfazed by the light and carried on nibbling at the grass. She stayed for quite some time, to the point that I fell asleep while she was still there.

Deep Lake

The next morning the air was chilly and I made a fire and started some coffee. Early morning is also one of the best parts of camping. For me.

After breakfast, we broke camp and made our way down the mountain to the car. I was sad we had to limit it to one night but, given the tight schedule, I’m glad we pulled it off at all. Next year I’ll make sure we have a two-night stay.

 

Car Camping

After stopping in McCall for lunch, we headed south to meet family for a bit of car camping. I’m okay with car camping though I do find it inferior to backpacking. But it was good to hang out with family. We were hit during the night with a massive rainstorm. Our car camping tent kept us dry but the next morning was a mess as we packed up.

We took a spin on my niece and husband’s boat. I’m not a big boat person but it was fun to be out on the lake on a beautiful day.

In keeping with our need to spend no more than a night in any location, we headed on towards my brother’s place to attend a party his neighbor was having. Apparently every year they invite some family and friends to an afternoon of food and games. We were obviously outsiders but they love my brother and he figured we (particularly my daughters) would be a nice addition since it was primarily for kids. Indeed they were.

As we parked at my brother’s house on a hillside adjacent to where the party was, I saw something move down the lane. It was a baby bear. Soon we saw a second and then a third. And then their mother. The looked to be making their way down the hill so we all jumped back in the vehicle, sped down the lane and just as we got to the road, the four of them crossed and headed down the other side.

We drove to where they crossed and we saw them scampering across the valley below heading for the mountain on the other side. Eventually we lost sight of them as they ducked into the forest. It’s so amazing to see bears in the wild.

We weren’t sure what to expect but it turned out to be a wonderful afternoon. It was good to see that my brother had such cool people in his area. And for us, given the chances that we move to the area.

One couple that was there was from French-speaking Belgium (Wallonia). It was the strangest thing to be in a rather remote part of Idaho and hear a couple arrive at a party speaking French. I obviously couldn’t resist the temptation to introduce myself, let them know that I had lived in Belgium and that my family were francophone. I think they were as shocked as we were. The woman was not as strong in English as her husband and I think she was quite happy to be able to chat with people in her native language.

Afterwards we headed to my sister’s house/cabin about twenty minutes back up the road. For everything we did, I wish we had had more time. Again, at least we were able to fit all this in.

We had a very nice evening at my sister’s wonderful home, only to wake up the next morning and move on to our next destination. Before we left, I took some time visit the property we bought just prior to the pandemic. I met the contractor who has been helping us work on the house. It’s slow, given that available contractors are hard to come by, but it’s inching along. At this point I don’t think it will be done until mid-next year.

The next stop would be my parents’ house about four and a half hours to the south. It’s a relatively easy drive and, with my three passengers, I was getting my fill of the latest in pop music.

 

Kimberly

I rather enjoy spending time in the Magic Valley where I grew. I likely enjoy it more than my siblings for some reason. I’ve mentioned this is previous blog posting but I think it has something to do with the simplicity of the place. The nostalgia. And it’s so radically different from where I live and work.

One reason for the visit was to participate in a 65^th wedding anniversary party for my parents. They’ve avoided having a single massive event but, and I think wisely, they have opted on a couple smaller gatherings. Easier to have conversations with people and I think they can get overwhelmed by larger groups.

 

Boise

Then it was back to Boise to hang out with my sister and then see my beloved wife off to Istanbul. Boise was sweltering hot and unpleasant by day. Evenings were quite nice.

One thing we were invited to do was assist in the spreading of my brother-in-law’s ashes. John passed away a few weeks prior to our trip and my eldest sister has still very much been in the grieving period. When we were with them a year ago, he knew that there was a strong chance that he didn’t have much longer to live. He mentioned to Priya while we were walking through a Boise park that after his death, he would be there. It was touching moment that Priya relayed to my sister. As a result, during our visit she invited us to the spreading of some of his ashes in the park.

One interesting additional point is that John said he always loved yellow roses, acknowledging that most people preferred the other colors. So my sister decided to begin the spreading of ashes where some yellow roses were. As we walked up to the chosen bushes, we were caught off guard by the name of the variety of these particular roses:

We had dinner with my uncle Rich (my namesake) and Aunt Charlotte for dinner. I saw them briefly last spring when I was in Idaho for wrist surgery but I haven’t been able to spend much time with them in recent years. As I kid I would go fishing every year with them, my cousins and grandparents. It was always something I looked forward to, particularly because it usually coincided with the end of the school year/beginning of summer.

The following day we bid a sad farewell to my wife as she headed to Turkey. The girls haven’t spent much time away from their mother over the years so they were quite sad. It would only be for about 5 days that I would be single dad but it would include travel back to Europe.

 

Back to Kimberly

The next day we would remain in Boise for another family gathering before heading back to see my parents again and another family gathering. My dad had injured his leg not long before we arrived in Idaho and the onset of infection caused him to be hospitalized. In addition to visiting him at the hospital, we decided to do some yard work while we were there, recognizing that they would have less ability to take care of such things during this time.

One thing we did while we were there was go to Shoshone Falls. It’s a significant tourist attraction and I always love going there when I’m in town. There’s a lake nearby that I used to go to when I was young to swim and jump off the rocks. It’s changed since then, obviously, and now they have a diving board and several docks. It’s a bit “tamer” compared to the old days which is probably good. I was surprised that Kiran was keen to join me in jumping off the cliff into the lake. One always hesitates when standing at the top and peering down at the water. It’s great that she did it.

Back to Boise

Soon we were back in Boise for the home stretch, not only of the time in Idaho but of the entire trip. We mostly ran some last-minute errands and did a bit of swimming at a local pool. By the time we were heading to the airport, I think we were all ready to go. We would reunite with Priya in London before continuing on towards Paris and then Nairobi.

It was a long journey full of so many wonderful experiences. But it was time to go home and return to our routines. And back to work.