January 2013 – RectorSite

Two Guys Traveling

Eric in New York City
Brian and Natasza in Belize

Eric and Brian went traveling and made the mistake of sending me emails with pictures. I thought the juxtaposition was great, so I threw them up here. Brian is still out there, so if he sends me any more stuff, I’ll add it.

nyc_1.14_1 — Swut im tawkinuhbout… 1.14 3.06

nyc_1.15_3 — Every time I visit Bennett Midland I get a new seat (the *empty* one), and thus a new view. Today the peak of the New York Life building burns through the mist. 1.15 5.32a

Tight connexion to Belize flight in DFW turned into 30-min “security check” delay (which was originally called a “cleaning delay” when it looked like it would only be 10 min). This carried over to our arrival in Belize 30-min late, giving us one hour to get our bags, clear customs, & drive 30 minto th last water taxi to Caye Caulker, where we had prepaid for our hotel & needed 2 b at 8:30 tomorrow morning to catch our 3-day sailing trip. It was quite likely that the 30 min delay was going to screw up our first 3 days in Belize. Well, as u can c by th photo, we made it to th water taxi (of course nothing here happens on time) escorted by our warm, cheerful taxi driver Solano who didn’t even have to speed. It would’ve been completely out of character for th place (although th water taxi threw up a righteous rooster tail for 45 min straight). Got a golf-cart taxi from the pier to th hotel and was greeted by proprietor Rob, a US transplant about my age with th permanent spacey smile of one who makes a good living hanging out in a tropical Eden. We decompressed for a minute in our rustic room before changing into flip-flops & parrot-head shirts and ambling down one of the islands three dirt roads to find a grilled fish.

If yer looking for a grilled fish big enough for two that was minding its own business on a tropical reef this morning, walk ~4 blocks thru th salty, steady sea breeze down th main drag of th island (see below) & turn right across from th pier. U may decide to stop along th way at one of several mom & pop stores for some bottled water that is sold at a refreshingly sane price (50¢ for a half-liter) in a place where a) u can’t drink tap water & b) there’s absolutely nowhere else to buy clean water. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Continue reading “Two Guys Traveling” →

Dee Oh, eh?

I am a little bit hesitant to post this light-hearted take on “death” directly after Eric’s heart-felt tribute to Cos, but here goes anyway.

Since none of you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I realized this morning that you may not know…

DATELINE 1/9/13: Sully Saab threw a rod at 75 mph on Wednesday and was declared DEAD ON ARRIVAL at Sovereign Saab. Bob the mechanic gave me $250 in order to salvage it for parts. A few of its organs will live on in others. Rest in piece(s).

I am shopping for a new vehicle. Currently, these are the front-runners:

Mini Cooper
Golf (GTI if I can squeeze it out)
Hyundai Veloster
Ford Focus EcoBoost Hatchback

For those who have an need to know…

He Stopped

Dr. Costan W. Berard 1932 – 2013

In Central Africa — I learned this when I traveled to Uganda for the NIH — the Bantu people have a saying when a person passes away. They don’t say “he died,” or “he is dead.” They say “he stopped.” — Cos Berard

If he had been born in his father’s home town of Monteferrante — a little mountain village high above the Adriatic coast of Italy — his birth certificate would have read “Costantino Berardinelli” just like his dad. Instead, “Costan Berard” was born in Cranston, NJ, just outside of Newark, the last of four children. His mother, Frances Coma (changed to “Comer” when her family arrived in the US), was widowed when Cos was only three years old, and after that she was busy running the family lumberyard business and Cos was raised by his sister Claire. The family knew him as J.R. (and the “Uncle June” similarities don’t stop there…)
Continue reading “He Stopped” →

A View of Our Grill

After moving a few times, our fearless Weber Q grill found the perfect spot on our back terrace.

• Close enough to the house to plug in a lamp for night grilling,

• I grill facing east, for a nice view and the late afternoon sun is at my back,

• near the window, so if there’s a game on the TV, I can look right in.

Then Winter came.

s_g2_heaped — We snuggled the grill and rolling table together for mutual protection (Dec 26).

We realized there would be no winter grilling on the back terrace, the north side of the house.

g_back_12.27 — I shoveled a path out to the grill the next day and brushed off the snow.

What was I thinking? It’s better to have a path than not have a path.

A couple weeks passed and it did not snow, although the temperatures were very cold until 2 days ago. And we did have some afternoon sun from time to time.