Day 100 of Repatriation - The Blog Ends

This is post 836 of CameronsinIndia. The final post. Sort of sad about it, in reality...

Here are my words on India, let's consider it the last word of this blog.



And now....

We

FADE


TO

BLACK

Day 99

Tara isn't crazy about the idea of having a video with her last words about India.

Let's just say she loved it. So much...

Final words

Aidan's final words on India.... with a huge wad of gum in his mouth



Liam's final words on India, with a bonus clip of his angst.

Birthday

Aidan and Jonah had a joint birthday party at one of those places that has lazer tag and bouncy houses and the like. A good time was had by all - first US birthday in a few years....

Party

We had a nice party last night, enjoyed everyone's company....

It was more or less in acknowledgment of Tara's bday.

You'll see we have a British fox on our bar that holds two shots glasses. He's the closest thing we have to domestic help now.

Below you'll see the snaps from the gathering - a fun time.











^ And the party isn't over until the Wilhelms make their way out!

Jonah's last words

Deer!!

Deer have been coming into our backyard. While charming and exciting, it's pretty sad because the last remnants of a muchlarger community of deer that have lived here for a long, long time are just waiting to get killed by cars - one at a time for a few more generations.

Anyway, here's a couple snaps. Pretty cool.

Ashoka's final statement

Copenhagen

We have put up some of our antique (or antique-like) maps back up in the den. A nice addition is the city map of Copenhagen, given to us by our friends Tørsten and Katrine.

This morning, Aidan asked Tara what the maps were. The first is Bermuda, where we went on our honeymoon. Aidan asked if that was in Virginia (?). Then, the maps in the middle are of South Africa - one of the entire country right after the Boer War, the second of the path the trekkers took into the interior, which Tara described to Aidan as ".... that's where Lawrence is from." Finally, the map of Denmark. Jonah chimed in and said, "Where Vitus is from?"

So, there you have it. Good stuff.

Day 90

Ten more days for this blog. Let the countdown begin.

Visitors

Had dinner last night with Uncle Gerry and Aunt Sharron. Gerry is among the blog's most ardent followers, so I decided to make sure he had an appearance on it.

Nice seeing you guys!

Ashoka

Ashoka is one thing that reminds us of India. And we trained him to do something that is very Indian..... have a look.

Day 87

The sun will soon set on this blog.

This is a picture I took on a business trip to India in 2006, during my side trip to Kerala.

In case you missed it.....

.... here is the pretty picture of Tara.

Happy Birthday Tara!!

Tara's birthday was today....



^ I got her a small cake with candles that made a "41". Aidan took note off the fact that from where he sat it looked like 14. Small concession, since our eldest son is older than that. But Tara got carded the other day when buying some wine... which she really liked.



^ The boys assembled for mom to come downstairs.



^ Liam holding back a smile.



^ Tara was a ravishing beauty. I took her to a place she has always wanted to go, Barrington's Restaurant. It was excellent.

Our Place

So, you've seen segments of our house..... this is a tour of the whole thing.... in about one minute flat.

Just to accentuate the back yard shot, here is a still. Note the sun on the tree - it is from Goa. Isn't new grass great?

Day 83

OK, so we're almost ready to fade to black on this blog.

So, what did it all mean?

Yeah, like I can encapsulate that in a few sentences.....

We're pretty well adjusted back. We have the house looking ok, I have new grass coming in, we've connected with many friends, work is busy as can be (wow, like you wouldn't believe!) and Tara is going through the mechanics of life as a housewife in Charlotte, NC..... a role which suits he ok, but not like it used to.

In fact, the whole gig doesn't fit like it used to. This life in Charlotte, it is indeed a fine pair of shoes.... in fact, a life like we have is the envy of perhaps > 90% of the people on the earth..... and we know how to do this kind of life, it's like riding a bike....

But the reality is that something new has been planted and there is a need for us to deliberately nurture this new thing. We believe it is planted for a reason. Time will tell what that is. And the mechanics of this life here provides challenges to nurturing it.

I think. Still figuring it out....

Additionally, there is now a bit of a restlessness that won't be satisfied by this life. It's hard to explain, but we feel more *alive* when we are on the move, out of our element, learning new things, speaking in new tongues, tasting new foods, and trying to figure out just exactly how things work in a far-flung corner of the globe.

So, we're now looking for beautiful little threads as they show themselves. One has shown up, by all appearances. Tara has apparently hooked into a trip to Cameroon in early 2010 where she would do volunteer work in an AIDS orphanage. She would go with Abong, a woman from our church, as well as a few other friends from church. Not a "church sponsored" thing, but one that arose from people in common community.

Perhaps that is the best kind.

Her trip to Guatemala years ago was a huge event for her, transformative.

Well, with just a few days to go, I wanted to thank you for staying tuned in.... whoever you may be.

Bye for now....

Someone is 8!!

Jonah turned 8 years old today. He originally requested that we have a family dinner at Kabuto, one of those Japanese places that makes the food in front of you. Now, those can be nice - but this one isn't that nice. They throw a huge lump of margarine on the grill before they start doing the tricks with the knives and prawns. Long and the short of it - the image of the slathering margarine puddle really stays with you.

Thankfully, we gently asked if we could go to Luisa's instead. He consented. It was an awesome and enjoyable meal in a place we have gone now and again for about 15 years.

I like the snap above, as it shows Jonah angry about the fact that I brought him out for juice and he thought it would be a smoothie. In the environment he was in - it was that which upset him. India all around and he had a mundane concern.

What a great thing that was, to see his so truly adapted like that to something so foreign.

Party

Montibello has a monthly "Cocktail Club" that we have been attending for years. It was a great time, as always. Some snaps below.

And so ends...

....another week.

Today is day 80 of being back. 20 days to go beforte the blog fades to black.