A country, a family, a year
A page that contains high-res versions and a detailed description of the best photos of the year.
It was a slow day. I had two teleconferences this evening.
An exception to the slowness was a bit of excitement generated by one of Catherine's peers who has had scabies since last Thursday. We'll see if Catherine comes down with it in a few weeks. The entire facility has been fumigated and cleaned from top to bottom. We certainly hope Catherine doesn't get "The Itch".
So, I've posted another campaign sign.
--Matt
Catherine has been getting into games lately. Tonight she asked me to play Memory with her. We also play Old Maid together. She doesn't care at all about winning and losing, and she patiently waits her turn.
On a sad note, our cat Sam died today. Tracy's brother, Mike, who was watching him while we are in South Africa, brought him to the vet today. The vet discovered a stomach tumor, and Sam had to be put to sleep.
Sam has lived in Michigan, Massachusetts, and Michigan again. He began life as a stray who was taken in by Mike and LeRae. Tracy took ownership when she was teaching at Gordon College for a semester while I was still living in California. He survived a summer with much less care than he deserved, a terribly busy street in Beverly, MA, and various neighborhood dogs, cats, and skunks throughout his 14 years.
He was much loved by Tracy. We're all sad to know he's gone.
--Matt
We celebrated Mark's birthday this afternoon at Let's Go Bowling. Mark invited school friends Matt, Guiliano, and Gareth (l-r). After bowling, they played video games. Tracy stayed with the boys at the lanes while Catherine and I looked for candles in the mall. (We participated in Earth Hour at night).
--Matt
I had a really late teleconference last night, I mean this morning (I was up until 2 AM). So, I chose to have a slow day. I brought Mark and Catherine to school and daycare and went back home to sleep. Tracy did some reading and went grocery shopping.
Late this afternoon, we had some rain showers for the first time in about five weeks. The residual cloudiness provided a stunning sunset. I took a few photos from our side porch. The one at right turned out the best.
--Matt
I brought our red Kombi to Danie Winterbach at Bach Motors today. The purpose was an oil change and to check the right rear brake. The brake was scraping and grinding a bit. Turns out that the cylinder was leaking. R1100 later, everything is fixed.
I also took some pictures of campaign signs today. I'll post them in a separate gallery, maybe one at a time on slow days. The first poster photo has been uploaded here.
--Matt
Not much happening today. The kids went to school and daycare. Tracy did research. I went to a "green faculty" meeting at Stellenbosch University's Tygerberg campus. I was invited to speak at a department chair's meeting about Calvin's sustainability activities later this autumn (date to be determined).
--Matt
Catherine was at daycare today. Mondays are "playball" days, which she loves. Mark and Tracy went to a friend's house for tea after school.
I had a meeting at the Sustainability Institute on the topic of how to integrate sustainability into undergraduate teaching. Thereafter, I went to CPUT to have research meetings, meet with students about projects, and teach my refrigeration class. The refrigeration students were very anxious about the results from their recent test. They didn't need to be. On the whole, they did quite well.
--Matt
We went to Wellington today. Click the photo for more information and several pictures.
Today was the second round of the Boland chess trials. Click the photo for details.
I went to a meeting today at the Milnerton Medi-Clinic. They're looking at options for reducing their electricity usage in the face of a steeper pricing structure being considered by Eskom, the national utility monopoly in South Africa.
We went to dinner this evening at De Akker restaurant. Nothing but burgers and chips (I mean, French Fries), but it was good.
Mark has the second half of his chess trials tomorrow. We played a practice game this evening.
--Matt
Not much of interest happening today. We all went our separate ways.
Maybe it is important to say that Catherine is recovering nicely from her sickness(es). Tracy is also nearly fully recovered from the car crash. Her tailbone hurts only occasionally, and her ribs are almost back to normal.
Cool stuff coming tomorrow, though: Mark's first cricket match, Catherine's daycare outing to a fruit and veg place.
--Matt
Catherine is recovering nicely from her illnesses. After three doses of the antibiotic, the fever is gone and she seems very happy to be feeling better.
Mark has been selected to play in a cricket match on Thursday. He's pretty excited.
I attended the first day of a Complexity Theory and Systems Thinking class today at the Sustainability Institute.
As I write this, the temperature outside is about 16 °C. This is a record low for us. Today was nice and cool all day long. A welcome change from the heat to which we're almost acclimated.
--Matt
Mark gave his oral speech on Bones today at Rhenish. He said it went well.
I held a review session for my refrigeration class this afternoon. They're pretty nervous about Monday's upcoming test.
This evening we went to Game to get a UHF antenna to add to our TV. (There is a VHF antenna in the attic already.) I'll try to install it in the attic later this weekend. This will allow us to receive SABC3 and SABC4.
Tomorrow Mark and I will go to his chess tournament in Paarl. We have no idea what to expect, so it will be interesting.
--Matt
Catherine's daycare went for a field trip and picnic today at the Helderberg Nature Reserve. She was a bit confused by it, as three-year-olds can be. Early this morning, she thought that Tracy was coming with her to the "field". Then, when I dropped her off at daycare at a little before 8 AM, she was mystified that I brought her to daycare and not to a picnic. We were told by the daycare providers that she had fun. But we didn't get much description from her. All know is that they played Jack and Jill on a mountain.
Mark had his last day of swim lessons today. He came home and practiced his first oral report ever. The subject is "bones". His class will give the reports tomorrow.
--Matt
Today, we had a pretty normal day. Catherine played in the back yard with her "parmesan cheese". You and I would know it as mud. Mark went to cricket. Tracy did research and purchased a toner cartridge replacement. I was a Stellenbosch and had lots of teleconferences. I also met with my co-teacher for the Conventional Energy Systems module I'll be teaching in August.
-Matt
Tonight, I attended a talk by our friend Amanda about the "high road" for the South African political situation. The talk was a complement to last week's "low road" discussion. Turns out that the high road is a lot shorter than the low road: Amanda had much less to say tonight. But that left more time for interesting questions.
Besides the "high road," today was pretty uneventful. Tracy researched, Mark was at school, Catherine went to daycare, and I taught in Cape Town.
Tracy called her mom to wish a happy birthday today. Happy Birthday Mrs. K!
--Matt
Mark had the best plan today. In the intense heat, he was in the Rhenish pool twice: once for a "splash-in" gala in the morning and again for swim practice in the afternoon.
We learned that a "splash-in" gala is focused on participation rather than performance. So, the Grade 3 students had a sunglasses relay and a helmet relay. For the sunglasses relay, they had to swim across the short side of the poll wearing sunglasses and pass the shades to the next swimmer. Same thing with bike helmets. The kids all had a blast.
It still is very hot here. This article summarizes the situation nicely. (Scroll down to where the article discusses the situation in Stellenbosch.)
The heat of the last few days has led to continued fires in Jonkershoek. When I was running this morning before dawn, I could see the orange glow of the Jonkershoek fires through the hazy smoke they were spewing. It sure would be nice to have some rain to douse both the fires and the heat.
The other day, the Epperly's asked (in the blog comments) what the "T" on Catherine's swimming costume (I mean swimsuit) stands for? Catherine's answer: "T is for 'Tracy'." Real answer: probably Tommy Hilfiger.
--Matt
Today was a pretty normal day. Catherine was at daycare and made a face out of a paper plate. Mark had cricket after school. Tracy did some of her research and homework with Mark. And, I went to Stellenbosch and the grocery store after work.
After dinner, Catherine and I went to the park where she rode the merry-go-round. At one point, her hands got a bit dusty, and the centrifugal force threw her off the merry-go-round and into the dirt. Her tears made a bit of mud out of the dust on her face, and she got some gravel in her mouth. Not much fun, but the only thing that came of it was a small raspberry on her left leg.
--Matt
Today, we received two interesting packages by post.
Haley and Cindy sent birthday gifts for Catherine and Mark. Thanks! The Winnie the Pooh kite was really interesting for Catherine. She insisted that there was "really a lot of wind today." But, of course, there wasn't hardly a breath of a breeze. We went across the street to the park to try it anyway.
Mark received an envelope full of letters from his classmates back in America. Thanks everyone! He enjoyed reading each one.
This evening, I went to a discussion, led by our friend Amanda, about South Africa's political "low road" following the upcoming election. It was pretty depressing. Next week is the "high road," that is if Amanda can find it. That was Amanda's joke, not mine. She was pretty pessimistic tonight. I'm hoping for a bit more optimism next week.
--Matt
(c) 2008-2009 Matthew Kuperus Heun
