A Year of Blogs

I wrote my first blog a year ago, after meeting the Stanford students who would be in Cape Town from January to March 2010. On Monday we'll be back at Stanford to meet another group of students on their way to Cape Town in early January for their academic quarter. So this blog wraps up the year.

A brief update since my stint on the jury. In September Tim was in Cape Town for two weeks of Stanfod work during which time I broke my brand new computer all of 5 weeks old.  It wasn't bad enough having my computers stolen in July, I took a month deciding on what type/model/price range I could afford as a replacemnt. Loving my new Sony so much I carelessly caught my foot in the power cable and yanked it onto the floor as I got up (in too much of a rush, as always!) Ouch. It didn't break then, clever computer, but one of the hinges popped and I couldn't close the lid so I took it to Sony last week for repair.

The weekend after Tim got back we drove to the Sierra Foothills to stay at Fitzpatrick wine farm for two nights. Fabulous weather, lovely countryside and lots of delicious wines to taste at Fitzpatrick and neighboring wineries. Here we are taking a break on a walk in the woods along Indian Diggings lane, in part of the Eldorado National Forest.

Our local baseball team, The San Francisco Giants, surprised us all by winning their division, the best of five games against the Atlanta Braves. Yesterday they beat Philadelphia 3-2, their 4th win in the best of 7 to take the National League title. So it's on to the World Series against the Texas Rangers next. The last time the Giants were in a World Series was 2002 against the Anaheim Angels. They lost after being 3-2 up. Not again, Giants! Watching these games is more nervewracking than any other sport I know.

Books -
I've been reading Tony Horwitz: A Voyage Long and Strange, about the years between Columbus's so called discovery of America (he didn't set foot on the continent) and the 1620 Pilgrims arrival at Plymouth. And now I'm reading Blue Latitudes, about Captain Cook's three voyages. Horwitz travels the routes of these early explorers, taking the reader along too. Fascinating and a lot of fun and a fabulous way to learn history!

Prior to that, I read The Devil's Highway and Francisco Jiminez's three memoirs about Mexicans crossing the border illegally, desperate to earn money to take back home. All four books were a shocking reminder of the inequality of these two countries. Jimenez tells his story in three short books. He and his brothers worked before school and after school and at weekends to earn money to help the family survive. And he managed to get good enough grades to go to college and do so well he went on to graduate school. He is now a professor at Santa Clara University.

Inbetween these non-fictions, I've devoured some good thrillers!

Winter is here, the rain has come. Soon we'll be heading to the southern hemisphere for long warm days. I hate to leave Inverness, but can't wait to be back in summer!