Look out my window: it's snowing!

A few days ago we got some beautiful big snowflakes falling here in Seoul.  The colorful leaves were all still on the trees and the view out our window reminded me that God loves to create beautiful scenes for us to enjoy.

This blog is moving

Did you miss me for the past fortnight or so? I missed you! So here's the deal: I'm bidding this dear old blog goodbye and am making my move to a new location, where you can keep up with us... although it is taking me awhile to figure out how to navigate the new site.

Here's my new address:
http://joieburchell.wordpress.com/

WHY?!
Because some dear people who would sometimes like to view my blog are not able to (due to certain internet restrictions that block blogspot.com) unless I move it.
So I am moving it.

Beside the River

This morning we strolled with some friends down to the playground that's located beneath the highway, by the railroad tracks, beside the river, and between the gymnastic/work-out equipment spaces. It was lovely.

Here's the biking/walking/jogging path that runs along the river. If I wake up early enough in the morning, I can run on it... but so far, only managed that once. It's really a great place to run, but ... we're talking EARLY.

It seems like every playground area is also equipped with work-out equipment. These spaces always have Koreans getting their stretching and exercising done. It's one of the neat things about this culture or city (I'm not sure yet which it is. maybe both.) I've never before seen so much work-out equipment placed everywhere for public use. It's great!

No More Night

This is a recording that my family did this summer of the song "No More Night." It will be played tomorrow during the memorial service for my Uncle who went to Heaven this past week.

No_More_Night.mp3

Lyrics to No More Night :
Words & music by Walt Harrah

The timeless theme, Earth and Heaven will pass away.
It’s not a dream, God will make all things new that day.
Gone is the curse from which I stumbled and fell.
Evil is banished to eternal hell.

Chorus: No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.
And praises to the great "I AM."
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

See all around, now the nations bow down to sing.
The only sound is the praises to Christ, our King.
Slowly the names from the book are read.
I know the King, so there’s no need to dread.

Chorus: No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.
And praises to the great "I AM."
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

Bridge:
See over there, there’s a mansion, oh, that’s prepared just for me,
Where I will live with my savior eternally.

Chorus: No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.
And praises to the great "I AM."
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

All praises to the great "I AM."
We’re gonna live in the light of the risen Lamb

Pleased as Punch

Will and Annie admiring Annie's new animal curtains.

I showed Annie the fabric after I had bought it, and then she wouldn't stop begging me: "Can you please put my animal curtains up, Mamma?" So I had to explain to her that I still had to make them, and it would be awhile. But she persisted over several days and finally I just sat down and sewed them for her. She LOVES them!
A new friend for Will to play with! This boy lives a couple of floors above us and Will has really enjoyed the many occasions they've had to play together.

joys of life

Ok, you do the math: a brother+ a sister
+ lots of vehicles

+ baby dolls + a stroller
= our happy kids

*Correction: This is obviously bad math! We are well aware that toys are not what makes people truly happy, but just for fun, we wanted to share some things our kids have been enjoying lately. :)

Snacks and a view

Snack time- the kids are loving Korean yogurt-drinks, pretzels, string-cheese, and cherry-tomatoes these days. Snacks are better in Seoul and they beg me for snack-time or snacks all day long.

The kids have continued their creative playing together. Here they've built a pile of pillows. Or rather Will built the pile of pillows...
...on top of Annie.

They sure have a lot of fun together.

Tonight I went to our neighboring apartment building up to the 10th floor where some of our friends live and took this picture.

It's hard to see - sorry, but we live really close to a couple of landmarks in the city:

Seoul tower and the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon which you can see a little better in the picture below.

That's it. Maybe someday we'll hike up to the tower, but for now... we're enjoying only hiking when we feel like it. :)

Where's the camera when you need it?!

Once a month, the stay-at-home moms group (mostly wives of teachers at YISS) goes on an outing to a park or a plaground to just get together and let the kids play while we socialize. Today was our get-together for August and I wish I had brought my camera! I've never been to such a fancy, expensive indoor kids' play area before - and my kids enjoyed it thoroughly. We would have gone to a free outdoor park, but the weather was a bit rainy, so we went to the "Children's Museum" - which is nothing like a museum. Just a big room with an area to jump around in balls and another space to play with baloons that are blowing around and another place to climb around with slides and trampoline areas and even plastic cars to drive! There was a little train that gave rides once each hour in a tiny circle to all the daring kids (Annie was NOT among them, although Will rode twice on it!), and an area that looked like a plastic pond... something... I'm out of words to explain it. Another part had a plastic kitchen area and dishes and food things for kids to play house with and Will busied himself serving up plastic containers labeled "oregano" and "dill" and passing them out to anyone who would accept him as a waiter. Annie found the short bathroom sink with an 18-month-old friend, and just soaked herself playing in the water, but had a blast. We moms spread ourselves out, some watching kids- just to be a little responsible, others of us sitting at nice tables, ignoring our kids for a couple of precious hours bought with $7.00/kid. It was very nice and I will try to bring my camera next time to show you the fancy places this city has for us to go, even if they're pricey. It's ok, it was quality time with new friends and I'll take it.

Velly Appy

[This ended up longer than I intended, but it is an update on our kids' health for those who are interested]
Last week I took the kids to the doctor for checkups since Will needs a checkup anyway due to his epilepsy, and Annie has never really had a checkup. ever.
We got to the doctor and I didn't know what to expect or to tell the kids we were going to do, so I just said the doctor would check that they were healthy. We talked with him for a few minutes and I told him about each kid's health (rather- lack thereof) and he promptly prescribed a bunch of blood tests and a couple of x-rays. He told me what each blood test/x-ray was for and how it related to each kid's health, and I felt confident that he knew what he was doing. So we trotted along behind a Korean translator who took us place to place in the hospital to get all the tests done. It took about an hour and a half before we were finally finished. Both kids had bandaids on their arms and had stood very still for x-rays, and we were told that one of Annie's bandaids had to stay on for the next THREE DAYS (!!!YEAH RIGHT!!!), and we should come in this week for results.

So we did. We managed to keep Annie band-aided most of the time, and when we got back to the doctor's office, he announced that he was "Velly Appy!" He explained all the results to me and showed me that Will's epilepsy is being controlled perfectly and we don't need to change his medicine at all. His body is handling the medication just fine and the only thing that he needs is more RED MEAT. go figure. Thank you very much, Indian diet.
Then he showed me Annie's tests and explained that possible things that might be causing her delayed growth or development can be ruled out (i.e. thyroid is fine and she doesn't have TB). He said that her development is fine and she seems to be a smart girl. When he mentioned the x-ray she had of her hand, he again expressed that he was "Velly Appy!" because her bone density matched her age exactly. So, I guess she must really be 2 1/2, even though almost all the 1 1/2 year-olds we know here are bigger than her. :) The doctor's only requirement for her is to eat more red meat too. :)

I wanted to share this on here because it is an answer to our prayers and to the prayers of many people who read this blog. Two years ago we were overwhelmed with concern for our little boy who kept having seizures and we didn't have any idea what the future would look like for him and for us. It was a hard season. Then we realized later that year that our little girl was tiny and not really growing. She seemed frail, often refused to eat the food we tried to feed her, and passed out in our arms several times, so we were concerned about her lungs and heart. She hardly talked at all until she was two and we prayed that she was developing ok. We lifted all of these concerns back up to our Father in Heaven, who knows our needs before we even ask for them, and who promises:
"Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." (Isaiah 46:4)

And another promise that we clung to during the past 2-year season is that "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."(Isaiah 40:11)

We have felt gently led, sustained, and carried. We have felt God tending to our needs and drawing us close to His heart and He has given us peace about our kids' health. Their lives are in His good Shepherd hands. Thank you for praying and praising God with us. We are, as you can imagine, "Velly Appy!"

partial house tour

This is Annie. She'll be our tour guide for the moment. She's just walked in the front door of our apartment. To her right is her bedroom door which you can see partially open, and to her left is the white door frame of Will's bedroom. The bathroom is across from Annie's room, but really, my camera doesn't have a wide-enough angle to take very good pictures of our apartment. So you'll have to just make do with what I managed.

Above is the dining room table and Annie on a newly inherited scooter. She's also claimed Will's dog as her very own, but he didn't mind because he's just that perfect child... ahhemm.... I mean he has lots of other things to play with and he doesn't even notice that she has permanently swiped it.

The Kitchen.

The view through my bedroom door into my bedroom, which is very large, but my camera can't really capture it, so you'll just have to come and visit and see it for yourself. In this picture you can see our bed, and by the window is a desk where I am sitting right now. We have windows that look into our screened/glass-windowed-in 'balcony', which is where we hang our laundry to dry.

I wanted to get a picture of all the green that I see when I sit at my computer and look out my window. So here it is:This picture also shows how the apartment buildings look right here - ours is similar to the ones you can see across from us.

Ahhh! Yes, Pappa's home from his first day of work! Annie found him as soon as he walked through the door. Where's Will all this time? Very busy playing with hand-me-down toys. :) Maybe you'll catch him next time you visit. Bye for now.

Settling in

We're getting settled into life here... slowly, but surely. Tomorrow Nate starts teaching, so today is his last day of prep before another school year. In our past couple of weeks being here, we have managed to figure out how to use the subway and bus systems fairly well, how to shop for groceries and whatever else we've needed for our home, and we've explored a few different stores and market areas. We're figuring out the garbage recycling here and I've figured out a system for getting laundry, dishes and floors done.

We were blessed to have some of our past students from India meet up with us and show us a bit of our new city that we hadn't seen yet and take us out to eat. Another student took me shopping and taught me how to cook a couple of Korean dishes for a meal... that was a HUGE gift! We've bought a Korean silverware set (which only contains long-handled big spoons and chopsticks), and Will is eager to eat his food with chopsticks like everyone does around here. Annie will stick with her small spoon for the moment, but she's soaking up the culture too, little by little. The other night she was praying and her prayer went something like this:

"Jesus, sank you I say 'Anyanghaseo' and bow my head and Anyanghaseo means 'hi' in Korean. Amen." So overall, we feel like we're getting settled into life here and are enjoying learning as we go.

today... and 'a time to mourn'

To be honest, I did not manage to leave the house today until tonight when we went to our neighbor's apartment for dinner... but YESTERDAY we managed a 'play date' with another mom and her baby and 'almost-two-year-old'. The three older kids got lots of energy out on the nice playground by our apartment. You can see nearly the whole thing in the picture above. It's really nice, but busy in the afternoons. Let's see... today I kept busy with starting to write some emails to friends (I'm SO far behind in writing to people... -sad!), starting to iron Nate's clothes (which need to be ironed for the start of school on Tuesday), washing dishes, doing laundry, lanolizing Will's diaper covers (because they're leaking like crazy, but this should solve that problem), watching my kids (and all that entails!), and listening to music.

["There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: ... a time to mourn..." -Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 4]

I have to say more about the music, because it wasn't just any music... it was my family's music I was listening to. This summer we had a chance to sing together again, and I recorded our singing and today was the first time I took time to listen to it. I suppose it sounds like any other choir group/chamber music group, but when I listened to it I just started crying. I've been thinking about mourning lately, and about how much of the mourning I need to do is because of wonderful things that have passed. I realized that the music brought back so much sweetness of growing up with a family that sang together and did so much together. I haven't lost that family, but I do miss the times that are so infrequent now. I haven't sung with my brothers/sister/parents in two years, and it was just sweet to my soul to get to do that this summer. So today I mourned living close enough to make music together more often. It was time for me to mourn that and to find joy in knowing that our music has always been a special gift to our family from our Father in Heaven. In my mourning I am so thankful.

One of the songs I recorded us singing is a song that we prepared for our Uncle who is dying of cancer. It's a neat song with rich words full of hope. My Uncle has lived a very full, rich life in so many ways, and I am already mourning the loss of probably not getting to spend time with him again. The realization struck me today that it's ok for me to mourn already, because it is healing to remember the excellent times I've had with my Uncle. I have usually felt that I'm not supposed to mourn the things/people/experiences that I miss, and so this was just a neat feeling - like God was assuring me that there is, indeed, a time to mourn.

And He reminds me that there will be more times ahead to dance.

I don't think I'm done mourning many things. At the moment, I'm sure that I will mourn India and all that our life there entailed for awhile. But intertwined in my mourning, I am so thankful that we have had such precious friendships and rich experiences - that there is reason to mourn the losses. So for now, I'll keep mourning with great joy and peace that these things are right and good.

home life

Welcome to our new home! Here you can see some make-shift drumming going on. It's a noisy place to be sure!
Annie has three huge floor-to-ceiling closets taking up about half of her room. Her bed just fits in the other half. It's snug, but she's happy because in one closet she has a shelf with her clothes on it and with the clothes down at her height, she can dress herself. Here's a picture of her sitting in her closet in front of her clothes shelf. We have a lot of windows in our apartment. Will loves to stare down at all that's happening below us. Often he shouts: "What's that, Mamma?!" and I have to go and tell him that it's a cement mixer or a garbage truck. He's enjoying watching city life.

Annie spends a lot of time re-packing her backpack with legos and other assorted toys. Then she wanders around telling me, "I'm ready to go on an airplane, Mamma." That's what she was doing in the picture below - check out how she's dressed for her next airplane ride. :)

A New Chapter

I think I can look at this purple page for awhile, and I'm hoping that the change of look will be inspiration for me to add to this blog more often than I have in awhile.

It's 1:00 pm here in Seoul and I am watching some men collect the garbage below our window. Looks like we missed the trash pick-up yet again. Sigh. We have yet to figure out how to do the intense recyling that they do in this city. There must be about 15 different things we have to separate out! Not only that, but the separating bins are very often packed away, so the times we've tried to go and separate our trash, there's nowhere to put it. Thankfully our American neighbors have just arrived and I think they'll be able to explain what we're supposed to do!

This is a new season for us, and we are enjoying getting acquainted with life in South Korea. The city is big, traffic is busy, the weather is hot, humid and gray, everything is very expensive (!) and the people we've met are kind and friendly. We've unpacked, grocery-shopped, used public transportation and eaten a variety of non-Korean foods (Thai, Middle Eastern, Japanese, American)... but of course even non-Korean foods taste somewhat Korean when served in Seoul. I think I have enough ingredients in my cupboards to bake banana bread... except I still haven't found cloves - hmmm.

Nate is busy with getting ready for school to start - it promises to be a very busy year for him with a very full load of classes. The school is amazing - as are the people working there. We are so thankful to be in this place at this time and we are eager to see how God uses us and works within us during this new chapter of our lives.

A Southern Greeting

Hello from Southern US! We've spent the past couple of weeks at an orientation program for our upcoming work in Korea. Now we're nearly done with it and tomorrow we get to head up to be with Nate's family for a week. We've enjoyed great southern cooking, although I shied away from trying grits this morning... maybe tomorrow.

I don't have pictures to post or much time to write, but I thought I'd put a quick note on here that we are well and have soaked up quite a bit of info on cross-cultural adjustments and the TCK experience. It's been tiring and we're looking forward to the next couple of weeks with family and just resting. Sorry I'm so quiet on here... we're just soaking up our short time in America!

We're Off!

It's 6:53 am and I'm packing up the computer. The past few days have flown by as we have packed up our Indian lives and the time has now come to leave our mountain cottage. We'll miss so much from here... especially the people we have come to know and love in this place.
Now for a loooooonnnng taxi ride straight to the airport (we hope to get there within 12 hours!), and then our flight leaves tonight: 15 hours followed by 3 more hours. We are so thankful for how God has kept us healthy the past few days and provided for all our needs so that we are starting this journey somewhat rested. We're very excited to see some of our family in about 38 hours!! Thank you for your prayers as we travel.

10

10 days until we leave this home of ours - most likely not to return.
It's been too long since I wrote on here, and I have noticed that I tend to let the blogging go when I get busy with moving and packing and traveling. This summer will likely be similar, but most people have probably quit reading my blog by now, so my upcoming 'lack of blogging' probably will just slip by unnoticed.

Here, the monsoon has just arrived today! Thunder-less, lightning-less, ongoing drizzle beneath a cloud-covered sky. I hung my laundry outside this morning and peered up at the sun, which was visible through the clouds, but seemed so small and far, far away. The laundry dried a little bit, and I've already sold my dryer, so I will probably hang it out again tomorrow, even if the weather is overcast. I like this season, but especially when I will only be here for 10 days of it, not 3 months like everyone else who lives here. I won't miss wiping mold off my walls, wishing I could escape the damp-damp-damp, and smashing scorpions and spiders this time around... and that's nice.

Will and I have been feeling a bit sick - probably from eating something in the bazaar. we'll never know what exactly causes each bout of sickness, but it's not fun and I won't miss all the sickness we've had in 4 years here, either. Unfortunately, this brings back memories of 2 years ago when Will got very sick just hours before we were leaving our mountain going back to the US, and both kids covered the plane floor with vomit - not from motion sickness, but because they were sick before we even got on the plane. We're praying that this won't be the case this time - it was miserable.

Packing is coming along. I am enjoying getting rid of many things. I am sad to leave some things, but it helps if I find a good home for my favorite green, wool, army blanket - and my living room rug, which I will miss very much. Most photos are off the walls and books are stacked in our packing room. We're passing along piles of things to the needy people around us, and it's a joy to give things to them and to see their faces light up at the treasures they are receiving - our excess. I feel very blessed to be in a place where getting rid of things means passing it to the next person who will certainly put it to good use.

Well, I'd better go and get some more things done. This week and next will be full of the "Last...." as well as many, many goodbyes, and we will leave sad, I am sure. National friends have said to me several times, "Don't leave!" and I wish we could stay. But mostly, I am glad to leave yet another place where our final sorrow testifies of our investment here. We have lived quite fully in this place and we will miss much, but that is a rich life in my opinion.

From Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem: In Memoriam
"I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all."

Silly kids and keeping busy

We have so many pictures of this funny girl sleeping in such funny positions and places. In the picture above, she has her baby-doll tucked under her shirt... that's how we found her sleeping a few nights ago. Guess we've got too many pregnant friends! Below you can see evidence that she did, indeed, fall asleep while hanging half-way off her bed a few days later. How would she fall asleep like that? Her feet are dangling a few inches off the floor and she's just fast asleep. Seems like it'd be more comfy to just put your head on your pillow and lay flat, but you're right, I haven't tried sleeping this way!

The kids entertain themselves all day every day, although Annie is delighted if I offer to do a craft with them and both kids are thrilled if I read to them or play a game with them. But I'm pretty busy these days.
Here's what I found them doing not long ago. Annie often rides in this backpack when Nate or I are carrying her, but this time, she had gotten in it herself and Will was trying to carry her on his little back. It didn't quite work out - both because I found them rigging this up and because Annie is too heavy for Will to carry like this. Oh well, it was a good try. Who needs toys when there are real, every-day, useful items around to make use of?
So I have finally returned from too many days away from my blog. My mother will be after me sometime soon if I don't hurry up and post some pictures of the grand kids and fill her in on life at our house. In one month we'll be at her house, and we're all looking forward to that! I am realizing that with only 4 weeks left, I have TONS to do! I am working on all the hidden places - the closets and cupboards and storage areas - to clean and sort and figure out what's coming with us and what we can pass on to others - while leaving the house feeling like we can still live here. It has been really fun to be able to give to people who need and want our things. I am blessed to be able to fill other people's needs in such an immediate way - and I pray often that I will be able to be generous with our things as God would want me to be. I find it hard to know how much to 'provide' for our own family (esp. the kids) with toys and clothes and things, and how much to let go, knowing that God will always provide for us. I pray for a generous, considerate, and attentive heart. So far the kids have been incredibly generous and understanding as they watch friends and strangers walk away with their treasures. I am thankful.

I have also been quilting. quilting to no end, it seems. A group of us women has been making quilts for the past few months. We just gave one we made to our friend who will be returning 'home' to have a baby in less than two weeks! Here she is with the quilt for her baby:


Annie's quilt still sits mostly finished... I've got to get working on that. There are SO many things to do right now that sometimes I just wander around wondering what to work on next.

Some fun things we've done recently:

1. Crafts telling the creation story from Genesis 1.
2. The kids and I attended a concert together today.
3. Will is learning to ride a 2-wheel bike... sort of (but he's REALLY excited about it!)
4. Nate finished yet another university course toward his MA. (GO NATE!)
5. Nate took Annie on a date (hike up to the top of the mountain), while I took Will on a 'date' to a birthday party.
6. God gave us RAIN! - more on this in my next post hopefully!
7. The kids and I had a 'play date' with another neighboring mom and kindergartner, which was enjoyed by all of us.
8. I am LOVING being back to normal-sized laundry loads as Annie no longer wets her pants all day long! Yippee! It's been a VERY long potty-training season with her!
9. I made iron-on-Dora shirts with the kids
10. We've made numerous trips to the library to stock up on books - it's especially nice since our own things are finding their way to other people's homes.

Well, that's it for now. We are certainly staying occupied!

P.S. Thanks for all the kind notes about my music. I really don't deserve credit for the songs... they are songs that God has given to me and helped me to write over the years, and I feel that I am meant to share them so that they can be a blessing to you and others. But thank you for letting me know that you appreciated them... I am encouraged to continue writing when I hear that people appreciate my efforts- smile. Thank you.

NEW MUSIC!

Well, one of my major projects is drawing to a close:
recording some songs I've written as a music album:
Heart-Spoken Lines

You are welcome to listen to it and download it - just don't try to sell it, please (by the way, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't sell.)

Where is it???
On the "MUSIC" page of this blog - just click on the word MUSIC (above) and it should take you there.

Let me know if you REALLY want a CD (which, I am realizing are growing obsolete) and for the making and mailing costs, I can get you one.

Enjoy! :-)

rain!

It has been pouring rain for the past two days after months and months with nothing but dry thunder from time to time. I love the rain and I will soon miss the sound of it on our tin roof and the way we can hear it through our big, tall windows. I love to watch it splash on the ground for hours on end and see the tree leaves bent under the weight of cease-less rain pounding them down. I love the way the sky turns dark- as dark as night this morning at 8 am. We couldn't even see the path that's about 10 metres from our house - everything was so dark and the fog was so thick. I love the rain. Thank you, God, for sending so much rain. Thank you, God, for allowing a long stretch of dryness during the wheat harvest in the plains.

updates

What HAS been keeping me busy?

1. Dishes, laundry, sweeping, scrubbing floors, tending my children, getting booster shots... who knows what else?!
2. Baking and cooking re-discovered and new recipes - I've recently been making Paneer (cottage cheese), and I tried my hand at hummus (though I was missing most of the ingredients, but still people ate it!) and I even managed to make donuts for my man!

3. AP CALCULUS PARTY!!!

The cake! (Thanks to my creative neighbor who decorated it!)

The AP Calc AB and BC classes were offered to take a practice AP exam after school on Tuesday followed by dinner at our house. 9 students took the teachers up on the offer, so we had a Calculus party!

"What does one do at a Calculus party?", you may ask...

This.

And this.

And hang out eating and talking about all sorts of things... including what certain calculators can and can't do, how impressive their physics teacher is to be able to do any calculation in his head, and has Mr. Burchell ever challenged that physics teacher to a "math duel"?!

It was a fun get-together all around.

------------

Then we've had some rain recently that has cleared the air a bit and I asked my photographer husband to go and take a picture of our valley - because I'll miss this view:

We're about 5000 feet above the city below us and we can see it from our bedroom window, although there are trees in the way. So Nate took the camera to a clearer spot and got a nice picture for me.

In 7 weeks we'll be on the other side of the world missing the view of this valley.

Good days

Baby Dechen (and her mom) came for a visit and my kids were just thrilled!
We've gotten to play at the playground several times recently.

Will is learning how to 'pump' his legs on the swing.

Hiking all over. So many steps and the kids do so well climbing up and down them.

This is the kids' favorite 'rest-stop' on our hike home from school.

Will - taking a few minutes to lay in the brush and relax before the last 5 minute-hike home.

Annie LOVES baby dolls and spends most of her time wandering around with one under her arm or in a backpack on her back.

A date!

Our neighbors (who are like family to us!) called last night to say that they would take our kids after church today and we could have a date afternoon. WOW! So we decided to take a hike away from town because we can't usually go very far that way when we have our kids in tow. We walked/hiked for about 3 hours, I think and had a really nice time being together and talking and enjoying the scenery (which is very dry right now). I took a couple of pictures of my handsome man and the surroundings. In the left hand corner of the picture above you can see the tall radio tower in the distance behind Nate. That's where we left our kids with our neighbors a few hours earlier.

Dry land. Those terraced fields are longing for rain.

Mountain Dew from a bottle! So refreshing after a long walk on such a hot, dry day.

We had such a lovely date together.