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The Scent of Wild Thyme

This photo was taken probably in 1990, when my husband was assigned to the US Embassy in Addis Ababa and we lived there for three years. It was taken at the Blue Nile Gorge at the escarpment near what is known as the Portuguese Bridge. I'm on the left, and my friend Judith, whom I had known at our previous post in Jakarta, Indonesia, is with me. I just spoke with Judith yesterday, who has remained a friend all these years, and who currently lives in Anchorage.

The Proust memory is the scent of wild thyme.

Loved those red Minnetonka moccasins.

This Time Next Week

This time next week we will be in the air, flying to Addis Ababa. I've been packing and re-packing, putting in and taking out. Wondering how I'll get all the books there. How are the students doing with their packing and final preparations? Are everyone's papers in order? I'll be glad to be on the other side of these concerns, on the ground and meeting our partners at ILAE.

I've kept a lot of travel journals. They've evolved over the years. Once I got into the DIY/Maker frame of mind I started becoming a little more creative with them. Inspired by my long-time friend and colleague, Lindi, I made this little scrapbook for a trip to the east coast one spring.

Then, a purchased notebook with lots of 2-D memorabilia for a Burma trip in 2012 with two of my kids.

After I took a book making class, I made my own coptic stitch journal for last summer's trip to Japan. Stuffed like a tamale. So many paper tschotchkes in Japan...



















I made one for this trip using printed photos I took about 25 years ago for the covers. I have to review the directions for coptic stitch every time I make a journal, they just don't stick in my head. I can't wait to stuff it full!

The Library Project, Part 2

A library is more than a pile of books. Even if the books are carefully selected, catalogued, labeled, organized on shelves and circulated. Library users have to have access to the much larger world of information provided by electronic, online resources. So I have also created a Google site, ILAE Digital Resources, that provides links to free web resources in many subject areas.

It's not fancy, and the URLs are not neatly concealed under links, but I'm calling it a decent start on a collection of reasonably authoritative sites. I have tried to include resources beyond North American and European sites, but they needed to be in English, and I was using Google to search, so I know there's work left to be done in providing a greater variety of perspectives. Suggestions for additions to the resources are welcome.

The biggest challenge to access to these and other resources is the unreliability of the Internet in Ethiopia. There is only one service provider (the government) and electricity is inconsistent, with frequent power outages. Not to mention a lack of computers. But when the stars align, the resource is there.