Nancy back home in Honduras

Dear blog readers,
    Just a brief message to tell you I got home safely on Tuesday (Sept. 6). What a joy to be reunited with my family here!   On Wednesday and Thursday I went to school.   As the first hours in the mornings are taken over with marching practice right now, preparing for the Independence Day on Sept. 15, I had a very light schedule.   A nice way to ease back into the school routine.  Friday was Children's Day, so there was only a half day with activities, games, piñatas and other treats.  (I opted out, in favor of a chance to continue my unpacking.)  On Friday evening, I shared with the family some of the many things I brought home in my fully loaded suitcases.  Little remembrances from the house at 609 Bross (our Ashbaugh family home, now being readied for sale) and many other stops along the way. 

    I will add in here one last photo, of the Fort Collins Pipe Band.  It seems a bit thematic of my last days there, as I also took in a local performance of the musical "Brigadoon", performed by the Jester's Theater in Longmont.  There were several Scottish events going on in Northern Colorado.

    The three day  high school reunion in Longmont was a lot of fun.  Thank God for name tags!!  We had to look at each other's tags to help jar the memory, as many of us had not seen each other for 50 years!  And sometimes that didn't help us, as some of the attendees were spouses, not classmates, often someone we had never met before.  Several people brought food treats from their various home locations or their hunting trips, ranging from elk, buffalo, venison, salmon (just caught and smoked that week) to Hawaiian macadamia nuts and applets-and-cotlets from the northwest.  This fancy fare was enjoyed on Sunday at the Breckenridge home of Gene and Mary Pflum, where our family was fortunate to visit way back on July 17.  So it was like closing a circle in my circuitous itinerary. 

    My brother Alan came to take me and the many suitcases to the airport on Monday.  We, and his wife Mary, had a really good time getting reacquainted during this vacation. I am hoping he will be able to come visit us in Honduras in February when there will be a Rotary meeting regarding their Central American water projects in Tegucigalpa.   I even packed one extra suitcase for him to bring me, in the event he is able to come.   If not,  well, I guess it will stay in Colorado till the next time, whenever that might be. 

      We love hearing back from you readers.  We hope to stay in touch, though daily tasks our consuming most of our time.  We are extremely thankful for having this wonderful vacation, full of rich experiences, connections with family and friends and treasured memories.   Thank you to everyone who helped us along the way.   Love, Nancy

More news from Longmont

Hi blog readers.  This will probably be my last entry before returning to Honduras, as the library will be closed for the Labor Day weekend. 
This past week I attended another rehearsal of the Ft. Collins Pipe Band and they sent me a photo which I will attempt to pass on to you.  See below.
On Monday, I visited the 100 year old mother of my high school friend Linda, who is in a senior retirement center very close to our house.   I will see Linda and many other friends at our reunion which begins today.   Then I hopped on a bus and went to Boulder where I had another nice visit with Wally and Mary (overnight).   Tuesday evening, before returning to Longmont, they took me to one of the many cultural opporunities that Boulder residents enjoy, a free concert by faculty members of the UC Music Department.  The concert featured a flute professor, in collaboration with a piano professor and later with a small ensemble of French horns, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons.   The music was marvelous.

On Wednesday, my classmate Ron Grooters picked me up and we drove to Estes Park where we had lunch with his brother Jay.  We went to the local Catholic church to view the stained glass windows that Jay made and installed in the church--three large ones and about 20 smaller ones.   Quite beautiful and the result of many months of labor on Jay's part.   I have some photos, but none digital.  Maybe Jay can send me one.   I'll ask. 

Ron drove me up over Trail Ridge Road for a real treat--how incredibly beautiful that area is!   Then back to FortCollins where we had dinner with my brother Alan and sister-in-law Mary, aamidst lots of laughter about various memories Ron had to share with us --various pranks he remembered from Boy Scouts, life growing up  in the parsonage, etc.   The previous pastor's son at that Methodist Church of our childhood had been a good friend of Alan's, and Ron and Alan had a lot of other connections despite a few years difference in age.
I spent the night with Al and Mary, then hopped another bus to complete  that travel back to Longmont.  I managed to introduce Al and Mary to the public transportation opportunities they had not known about.

My time here is about up, so, besides visiting with these classmates from 50 years ago, I will be primarily trying to fit all the gleaned gems into a couple of suitcases, weigh it all and get it ready for the trip to Honduras on Monday-Tuesday.  It has been a rich time, full of memories.  All from Longmont, Nancy