PureNewZealand

For those of you who haven't been to New Zealand, this link will take you to a brief and only slightly romanticized glimpse of the look and feel of NZ. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/user/PureNewZealand

Yank 'n Kiwi ???

There may those reading these narratives that don’t know that Marie is a native of New Zealand. How, you may ask, did we meet? This is the condensed Reader’s Digest version. In 1968, I was in a US Air Force unit that had small detachments in remote, out of the way places. I was stationed in CA in a support unit and was assigned to go with 3 others to install new equipment in our detachment in Alice Springs, Australia (you can’t get much more out of the way than Alice Springs…have a look at a map).
This was seriously hazardous duty. We had to wear “civilian” clothes and live in a civilian apartment and eat at restaurants. After several weeks, I met a young woman (Marie) at a local swimming pool…and so our journey began. She was a lovely New Zealand nurse working in the local hospital. My stay in Alice Springs lasted for 5 months and when I returned to Sacramento, I did my best to get sent back to Alice Springs for a permanent tour of duty. The Air Force did their best and I sent me to Chang Mai, Thailand…not exactly close. Soon after I left Alice Springs, Marie severely injured her back while lifting a patient and spent the next 7 months in the hospital recuperating from multiple surgeries.
When she was well enough to travel, she came to visit me in Chang Mai. She has often said that she needed to find out if our long-range relationship was “going anywhere”. We spent about 6 weeks together in Chang Mai until Marie’s tourist visa ran out and she received a notice to be out of the country in 24 hours. Her escape from Thailand is truly another story. However, before her sudden departure, we became engaged.
I was discharged in 1970 and returned to college at Humboldt State in Arcata, CA. Marie arrived in the USA (my parents met Marie at LAX on Feb 8, 1971). She was awakened the next morning in Ventura, CA to one of the largest earthquakes in LA history. This brought to mind the warnings of friends in Australia that she should not go to California because, "it was going to fall into the ocean" during the next earthquake. She survived and in about 6 weeks, we were married.
All that is to say, Marie is the most courageous woman I have ever known. Marie had the courage to commit to a Yankee Air Force dude in the middle of Australia. She had the courage to travel to Chang Mai, Thailand, soon after surgery, to find out about a relationship that was important to her. She demonstrated tremendous courage in leaving family, friends and country to travel to America and marry a man she had know for 4 months...with no support and significant opposition from family.
It is now 37 years later and we have been blessed by God with two Godly daughters, two Godly son-in-laws and 5 grandchildren, soon to be 6. To what to I attribute these blessings? Our Lord's grace and Marie's courage.

Nine Days but Who's Counting?

Nine days...we received an email from Sandra (NZ) that included a fairly lengthy intinerary of events planned by family and friends for our stay. Marie and my birthdays both occur while we are in NZ. We were blessed to have an early birthday/going away party hosted by daughter Kelly. Since Sandra's birthday is in the same time-frame as ours, she is planning a barbecue to celebrate the fact that we are rapidly drifting from senior citizens toward the elderly (during the past year, we read an article in the paper describing a 61 year old woman as elderly)...probably written by some 19 year old "reporter".

The temperature hasn't been above 45 F for some time so we are looking forward to a 12 hour flight into summer, shorts and sandals. Above is a recent photo of the Rogue River, which runs just outside of Medford, Oregon.

Kiwi Bound Threesome

Unknown and forgotten by most family members is Rocco. Rocco was adopted into the family when Kristen was two and admitted into the hospital. Her doctor felt that Kristen would recovery more quickly with a furry hospital companion. Rocco volunteered to remain with Kristen and after her recovery, moved in with the the family. During the years that followed, Rocco was at times forgotten and neglected, sometimes living in closets, storage containers, garages...forgotten, but always faithful and ready to continue as the faithful companion he had always been. In appreciation for his many years as a faithful family member, Rocco will be a part of New Zealand 2008 entourage. Stage left, we see Rocco in his celebratory traveling duds. In this blogly documentation of NZ 2008, Rocco will be seen at various scenic sites in New Zealand.

Where in the world is Oregon?

For those who may not know, Oregon is very close to the North Pole. This little known fact is part of the phenomenon related to being in close proximity to the Oregon Vortex, located just outside of Gold Hill, Oregon. The adjacent photo documents a native Medfordite during Sunday's blizzard. The person in the photo was trying communicate with photographer through the howling blizzard but little could be heard. We believe that it she was asking, "is it time to leave yet?" But it could have been, "Haven't you left yet?".

Christmas 2008 ++

I intended to have some pictures with my last post and forgot. So here is another attempt. A group picture of very handsome people...three generations + the fourth generation (Doris) with greatgranddaughter Sarah.

Packed and Ready

19 days until lift-off. The weather has been pretty cold and we are looking forward to being in a warmer place for a few weeks, visiting family & friends, catching some fish, digging some tui tuis and making fritters...we're almost there. Had a message from Air New Zealand the other day about "a change in flight times". Fearing the worst, we called and were told that our connecting flights (UAL) had shifted an hour or less both coming and returning. It had no effect on our arrival in Aukland or our return to SFO. As I have previously mentioned, we have been packed (and repacked) for some time. We have only to pick up some last minute contraband for the care and feeding of the NZ natives (Carey's Toffee, Maple Syrple, etc.). More and more as the days tick by.