Made It!

The fam-Damn and I made it from the East Coast to L.A., L.A. to Sydney, and Sydney to Wollongong. The kids traveled better than I expected, though we are all tired and adjusting to the time change (16 hours ahead of EST). We've been busy setting up house, swimming in the Pacific and finding our way around town. This coming week I'll get settled into the university I'm visiting (The University of Wollongong). My students won't be here for two weeks, so I should be able to get the family and I all settled in before things get insane with student needs.

I'm almost missing EMS, but with the sun, surf, etc., I'm OK so far :-). Oh, get this... A decent (by my ugly standards) bottle of wine is between 6 and 10 U.S. dollars a bottle, but a case of beer of similar quality is over $30 U.S. Shiraz and Cabernet it is...

DJ

Travis and My Mom

So Travis the wonder dog, whose picture gracies this blog somewhere, and the last remaining K-9 in our home, had to be put down. Worse, for me, is that this happened remotely as Travis was staying with my mom as we are headed for Australia this week (to return in June). Travis was special. All dogs are, I suppose. But I've been around a LOT of dogs in my life, and Travis was one of three that my wife and I owned... He was just SPECIAL. Travis was ALIVE. He lived life to the fullest. If Travis were human, he'd own a Harley, never get married, have lots of suitors, sky dive, get in bar fights, drink Bud, Guiness and Cabernet (being an expert in all of them), stop to smell the roses, etc. That dog LIVED. He lived long, and he lived hard. I'll miss him, but I'm OK with his death. He was old and sick, and it was time.

Did I mention my Mom is sick? Indeed. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. She agreed to take care of Travis before she was diagnosed. I never would have asked her post-diagnosis. My mom is going to die. So are the rest of us. But my mom is going to die sooner that I expected. Certainly sooner than I wanted. Travis going, while in her care, brought it all to reality. That and going home and seeing her. I knew she was sick this fall, but haven't seen syptoms until I went home over break. A woman who has ridden her bike across many states now gets out of breath getting out of a chair. My mom's bike riding slowed with age, but she could ride ALL day. Never again for her.

I haven't posted for a while because the above has been hard for me. I'm taking a break from blogging for a while. I may touch base from Australia, but if I don't, I'll be back in June. I've really enjoyed the emergi-blogs group and the rest of you folks I've made contact with through this blog, and still read a lot of your blogs - Sorry if I don't comment enough. I'm not going away, just taking a break.

Sorry for the depressing post. The above are all part of the cycle of life, and I'll be ok with them. I am privileged beyond belief, and know I have more to be thankful for than I have to complain about (by a LONG shot). But my mom getting sick SUCKS.

Stay out of trouble, and most importantly, stay safe and spend time with those you love.

DJ