Robert and I had a wonderful, and enlightening, cruise in December to Barcelona, Rome, Crete, Alexandria (plus an inland trip to Cairo and the Pyramids), and Malta.

If you are interested to see some scenes, we have posted a slide show--it's 9 minutes.  Enjoy!

The viewable cruise video of the trip....

  Well, tragedy struck on Wednesday night.  Our two darling fish in the back pond, Willy and  Wonka fell prey to the raccoon during the night.  We had inadvertently left the hose on, which raised the water level.  We suspect that the fish couldn't hide fast enough under the screen.  Wonka disappeared, and we found Willy dead in the grotto.  He probably got injured in escaping the raccoon, and died alone from his wounds.  We really loved to watch these little fish swim so quickly in and out.  

Auggie and Anders happened to be here when we discovered Willy.  Auggie took this picture of him in an incense box, just before we buried him in our fish graveyard.  We were all surprised at how large Willy had grown (about 4 1/2 inches long!)  We almost didn't think it was him. They died on November 17th, which is Robert's and my 10th anniversary of meeting each other.

Anders and Auggie came over for a sleepover on Friday evening.  We had planned to do a "campout" on my deck.  Which amounted to grilling hotdogs, pineapple kabobs, and marshmallows on the hibachi. They were way clear that they didn't intend to actually sleep outside.

First I set Auggie up to peel a cucumber (which took about 20 minutes) and then slice it.  He loves to make a sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic dressing for the cucumbers. 

Anders put together the pineapple kabobs.  He also went off on a tangent, pureeing some pineapple and mixing it with Splenda and trying to insert it into straws.  He had some idea about making a sweet straw snack.  Didn't really work, but it kept him busy for awhile.

Around six o'clock, we decided to start our cooking.  Robert had set up the hibachi with briquets on the deck table for me before he left in the afternoon.  The boys settled in on the loveseat with blankets, and we watched the hibachi coals begin to glow red and turn gray. 

While they tended their hotdogs on sticks, I read them a picture book about endangered animals, who create an event with a dinosaur to bring attention to their plight.  It involves making a big fake dinosaur, with instructions on how to make a paper dinosaur.  You leave holes on the dinosaur and put your fingers through the holes to make the legs. 

Anders was immediately excited about the idea of making one.  The next morning, he showed his mom, Eliza, the instructions.  This pure enthusiasm so warms my heart.  Anders, Auggie, and probably Chloe are all still young enough to get excited about making a paper dinosaur with finger holes. My guess is that Trevor-- being all grown-up at nine-- may not have gone for the finger-hole thing.

A lovely week of Indian Summer days.

I was so pleased on Thursday afternoon to witness Auggie (6 years, first grade) reading a library book, Bark, George by Jules Feiffer, all the way through.  He sounded out every word!  How thrilling to watch someone begin to read--and like doing it!  

A week ago, after school on Thursday, I took Anders and Auggie to the Berkeley Public Library, Central branch.  We were hoping to meet Mrs. Susa, who is the mother of Anders' third grade teacher, but she was out that day! 

I sat with Anders as he did his homework--first time doing it in a library--full of distractions.  It was so much fun just to spend some time there.  Since their after-school program of Junior Detectives was not happening that day, we checked out books with a detective theme.  The librarian searched them out for us.  What a lovely service!

Today is the Harding School Carnival, which my son, Gunther Rohrer, has been actively involved in.  I'll go down with Eliza and the boys at noon, and see the stilt-walker, uni-cyclist, magician, games, and other stuff! It's going to be hot!

Confession time.

For the past few weeks I've become addicted to reading crime thriller/action/mystery/espionage/assassin novels.  My friend, Candice Fuhrman turned me on to Lee Child.  His writing really "reaches" me! I am bent on reading through every one of his books.

Child's character, Jack Reacher, is an ex-military policeman.  He somehow always falls into nefarious adventures, in which he must use his natural physical strength, feral wits, and military know-how to bring the bad guys to a just dessert.  He shows restraint and a qualified compassion by sometimes only smashing the arm and hand of some bad guy to disengage their trigger finger instead of killing them. Reacher wanders without a settled place to live; owns no possessions beyond a fold-up toothbrush. Manages to operate without a cell phone or credit card or driver's license.  Keeps him under the radar. Always a useful position for a guy prone to deep cover living.

What I love about Lee Child's writing is his attention to detail (noting, for examle, that the drug dealer he just conked out dropped to the floor with a thud. "Conscious people always try to break their fall.") Persuader is particularly riveting.  He's undercover in a remote stone mansion on the edge of the Atlantic ocean, tracking a maniacal psychopath.  Child's observations put you right in the middle of the action and you never get out. 

"The cop climbed out of his car exactly four minutes before he got shot.  He moved like he knew his fate in advance.  He pushed the door against the resistance of a stiff hinge and swiveled slowly on the worn vinyl seat and planted both feet flat on the road.  Then he grasped the foor frame with both hands and heaved himself up and out.  He stood in the cold clear air for a second and then turned and pushed the door shut again behind him.  Held still for a second longer.  Then he stepped forward and leaned against the side of the hood up near the headlight.  

The car was a seven-year-old Chevy Caprice.  It was black and had no police markings.  But it had three radio antennas and plain chrome hubs.  Most cops you talk to swear the Caprice is the best police vehicle ever built.  This guy looked like he agreed with them."

You have to love this almost cinematic immediacy!(Child used to work in television.)

I checked Wikipedia to get a list of book titles for Lee Child, and found that his real name is James Grant.  Not only that but I discovered that he has a brother who also writes mystery novels under the name Lincoln Child.  I wondered why I kept seeing this author's name next to the Lee Child section on the shelf!  They are brothers--wow, I guess I'll have to start reading some of Lincoln's books as well.  It's fun finding out surprising facts about favorite authors.

I guess genres create a thirst for more.

Yesterday, Robert and I went to an afternoon matinee of George Clooney's new movie, The American.  Here's another sub-rosa character character, an assassin, with a troubled conscience. His love interest with the beautiful name, Violante Placido, is unbelievably gorgeous (so Italian!) It's worth seeing. The sometimes silent, moody photography evokes constant tension.  I had questions about how it ended, so maybe I missed something in the plot!  I often do.  I might read the book next by Martin Booth, A Very Private Gentleman.