Idaho...again

It’s been weird during the pandemic not to travel. Traveling for work or vacation had become second nature to me and to all of the sudden stop was strange. I thought I might get stir crazy but it didn’t really happen. It was the first time in over thirty years that I would spend more than 12 months without an international flight. It was time for my horrendous carbon footprint to have a break. I’m hoping, in all honesty, that I’ll look back at the pandemic as a turning point in my life when I began to reel in my travel and allow it to taper off. It’s not that I don’t like to travel anymore, I just think that the past 15-20 years has been a bit excessive.

Last year I had planned a trip to the US in late March. It was a rather infamous time to have a booking as international travel began its nosedive. I was still confident that I might travel as of February but by early March things were not looking good. In the end, it wasn’t possible and KLM issued me a voucher.

I’ve been sitting on that voucher ever since. However a few months ago I realized that it was scheduled to expire in December and I was at risk of losing it. At the same time we were thinking about my mother-in-law Yvonne’s upcoming return trip to the US. After not much reflection, it seemed to us that it would be best used to accompany her on her journey. It’s not that we felt that she would be unable to travel alone. She’s quite capable for an 80-year-old. But we knew that it would make it considerably easier. I have access to some travel privileges that tend to streamline the process considerably. It’s that travel is far more confusing than it was several years ago. It just seemed to make sense that I could use my ticket to travel with her and then carry on to have some bonus time with my family.

* * *

at the airport

After having spent a wonderful month with us in Kenya, my Yvonne sadly said tearful farewells to her daughter and granddaughters. We took the late-night Uber to the airport and navigated our way through security and Covid screening. Eventually we were in the business lounge with a moment to catch our breath before boarding. It’s hard to say but it’s possibly the last time she’ll see Kenya.

* * *

Towards the end of 2019, just prior to the beginning of the pandemic, we bought some property in central Idaho. The land is in a mountain valley near where some of my family live. There is a house located on the property that is unfinished. Apparently the previous owner died during construction and the family paid someone to button up the house, sealing it in to protect it from the elements while they put it up for sale. It was good that they did given that it was up for sale for a couple years before we bought it and, the combination of the pandemic and the boom in construction in the state, it has meant that it remains unfinished.  

The main reason for the ticket that I purchased in March 2020 was to see if I could get the work moving on the house. As that failed miserably, the other objective of this trip was to see if I could finally get things moving on finishing the construction. I had recently had some interested from some contractors, something that has been rather rare of late given the massive construction boom in the nation’s leading housing market.

After Yvonne and I separated, I carried on to Boise. I arrived alone with no fanfare. It’s been many years since I’ve traveled to Idaho by myself. I picked up my bags and located my rental car. I tuned it to NPR and headed to my sister’s where I would stay for a couple of days.

* * *

With the exception of occasional short trips to NY for work, this was my first fall in the US for about 17 years. I have to say, it was quite special to see the colors and feel the cool autumn air.

East Boise in the autumn

Boise’s nickname is the City of Trees. The moniker was provided by early French trappers who gave it the name which essentially means “wooded”. Given the city’s location in the northwest corner of the state’s massive desert area, this may seem odd. There are many cities in the US that possess far more trees. In fact it was more the contrast to its surrounding environment that made the wooded Boise River valley so impressive. As irrigation has enabled an enormous expansion of the city’s footprint, there are far more trees now than there was when the early settlers arrived. Thus it’s still growing into its nickname.

* * *

Within less than 24 hours of landing in the country, I was whisked off to a football game at the stadium of my alma mater. I was quite excited, actually, given that it’s been so long. It’s become a massive business as compared to when I was a student back in the late 1980s. The stadium is much larger and the team is far more competitive. In spite of the thrill of being back to a game for the first time in many years, there was the concern about attending a massive super-spreader event in the middle of a pandemic, particularly in a state that has a large percentage of the population who are fans of football more than public health. From the time we arrived I sensed that it was going to be tough to avoid the germs of my orange-clad fellow spectators. As if to anticipate a pandemic, however, my sister and brother-in-law’s season tickets were at the top row, with no one cheering/breathing in our direction. The good news is that I never contracted Covid. The bad news is that our team struggled to find the end zone.

Freak Alley

On day two I did a nice bike ride with my sister around the city. We’re pretty tight so it was fun just to hang out. The city’s changed SO much, in many ways for the better. Seeing it on a warm, colorful autumn day probably added to the beauty.

* * *

southern Idaho fall colors

Soon I was headed south to see my parents. I always enjoy the pilgrimage to the area where I was born. As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, it’s not the most fascinating place in the world but for me it’s just a really nice place to chill. I wouldn’t be there long, however, so I would do a bit less relaxing than I normally would. One thing that we did was take a wonderful drive to what we used to call the “South Hills”. In fact the area is really a part of the Sawtooth National Forest. I spent a lot of time there when I was young given how accessible it was. I think the ski area was about 25 minutes from my parents’ house.

moose sighting

This drive took us more less straight south into the hills which are located just north of the Nevada border. We then took a road angling west, up and over a pass and back down into the valley. I’d been on most of it before but not for many years. The colors were stunning. Not long after we passed the ski area, we happened upon a moose. I’ve seen moose in Idaho but never in this area. It was kind of a thrill, to be honest. Soon after we saw several deer – less of a thrill but still cool.

I did a few chores and hung out with my parents, including catching a couple of football games on TV – reminiscent of what we used to do back in the day. Otherwise, there wasn’t a lot of time for much else.

* * *

lonely, unfinished house

After my two days was up, I then headed north to McCall. Except for road construction, it was a beautiful four-hour drive. Plan A was to check out our unfinished house and meet with at least one contractor. Plan B was to hang out with family. Mission accomplished on both fronts, though the former doesn’t seem to be bearing much fruit yet.

One evening was particularly special where three of my siblings and I all had dinner together with no one else. Sadly, my oldest sister was unable to be there but having the four of us was a very rare treat. It was such a nice evening and we realize that not all families are as tight as we are. Never want to take that for granted.

That weekend we had more family come up to join us. It was a packed house and a lot of fun. One thing that I hadn’t realized is how much Halloween has become such a big event. My sister had loads of decorations, gift bags, steaks on the grill, etc. Rare that I can be a part of it but glad I was.

One other surprisingly enjoyable activity was hitting the local watering holes with my brother. I’m not much of a drinker but I enjoy getting to know the locals and hearing their stories. I suppose I was surprised how interested they were about what I do and where I live.

* * *

The final leg brought me back to Boise where I would hang out with my family there, including my sis who missed the sibling dinner in McCall. I would do my last-minute shopping, pack and bid my farewells. It was a really great trip but I was getting anxious to see my wife and daughters. Thankfully the trip went smoothly and after about 30 hours, I reached our door – and the very sweet welcome signs.

Diani

This will be short: a) because I’m way behind in blog posting and b) it was a wonderfully low-key time at the coast that didn’t engender much drama.

tuk tuk from the airstrip

As a part of my mother-in-law’s visit, we headed back to the coast. It’s become sort of a standard drill to take visitors on safari, usually Amboseli, and then to the Indian Ocean. Often it’s been Diani. There’s a lot to say for the “go with what you know” theory. When you have someone visiting on a once- or twice-in-a-lifetime excursion, you generally want as few surprises as possible. Or when you’re traveling with your children. I remember my brother visiting me in Europe many years ago and he specifically requested to do something new to me rather than show him a slew of my favorite things. It was a way we could both explore together instead of having just one of us seeing new stuff. I get that and that was probably the right thing to do in that situation. But the older you get, the less keen you are on leaving the door open to things unraveling. Especially in a foreign country. Moreover, stuff is going to happen anyway, no matter how well you plan, and my appetite for the unpredictable and inconvenient isn’t what it was when I was in my 20s and 30s. 

So Diani was the natural choice. We’ve been other places but this is the place we know the best. I have to say, the entire coast is beautiful and most places are quite nice. Occasionally I’ll hear about someone having a miserable experience here or there but overall your chances are pretty good of having an amazing time at the beach.

not my thing...

The standard drill is to put on a swimsuit, get wet, eat too much and do the same thing the next day. There are loads of possible activities but the girls are at the age where they sort of dominate the swimming pool from sunrise to sundown. We spent some time on the beach, making sandcastles and so forth, but they seem to prefer the pool.

colobus monkeys munching on flowers

For some reason I didn’t spend much time sitting and relaxing. As I think back on the trip, I’m trying to sort out why. I know that I had quite a bit of work to do so that ate up a big chunk of time. No, it’s not ideal to make a trek to the coast and “waste” a bunch of it on work, but, sadly, it needed to be done and, if you need to do it anyway, there are far worse places to bust out your laptop.

girls pulled into the act

I did spend a considerable amount of time in the pool with the girls, throwing them around and playing various games. They’re tons of fun to hang out with, plus, in the back of my mind I knew I had a few weeks away from them coming on the heels of this trip.

Too soon we would be back in Nairobi. We would have a few days in the city before my mother-in-law and I would return to the airport for her journey home.

Sad Anniversary

Today is the 4^th anniversary of one of the largest terror attacks since 9/11. On October 14, 2017, a truck bomb killed over 500 people and injured hundreds of others. Somalia declared the date a national remembrance day for the victims of terror attacks in the country.

I had been in Mogadishu the week prior to the attack. Though smaller attacks happen rather regularly, there was no indication that such a massive attack was in preparation. Reports that came out in the weeks that followed indicated that it was likely that the truck, laden with explosives, was on its way to another destination, probably some sort of government installation, when it breached a security check and detonated prematurely. The impact flattened an entire neighborhood and caused damage hundreds of meters away. Our office, about a kilometer away, received damage to windows, the entry door and other parts of the building.

In Somalia there are about two degrees of separation. Everyone seems to know everyone, or at least they know someone who knows someone. The attack was a sucker punch for the entire country. One of my staff, who was in a nearby hotel, was killed when the building he was in was razed to the ground.

Once I was given security clearance, I caught the first flight I could to Mogadishu. I think it was about two days after the bombing. I arrived to see a team still stunned by what had happened. People often say that Somalis are a resilient people, and that’s true, but such a statement can be dismissive of the personal toll these repeated attacks have on the human psyche. It wears people down.

In the staff meeting we had soon after I arrived, I did very little talking. I sat and listened to my colleagues express their pain and anger. There was a certain bewilderment that something like this could happen. You try to live in hope that the country is moving in a better direction and then the rug is pulled from underneath you. You need hope – something to hang onto to get you out of bed each morning. Mental health support is limited in Somalia. It does exist but most don’t have access to it. But people seem to find ways to cope.

Since 2017, attacks have continued to happen, though none nearly as massive. Only a few months after the October attack, another one of my staff was injured when a car bomb went off near to where he was crossing a street sending shrapnel into his leg. Two days later he was on an airplane to another one of our offices to carry on his job. It’s both sad and impressive.

I likely will always remember October 14 as the day of this horrendous attack in Mogadishu. It seems to be imprinted into my memory. On this anniversary, my thoughts and prayers go out to those who were affected by the attack. May the madness come to an end.