Sylvia's Journal

It’s dreary and drizzly outside and the sky is too low for flying out of Beverly even though New Hampshire and Vermont are clear. Instead I will go with Axel on a guided tour of the Gloucester Town Hall murals this morning. Indoors sounds like a good idea.

Jim has left us to play in California with some friends so we are no longer complete. Sita is using the time to catch up with bills that accumulated during her one month absence, following all her twitters as they stream in and combining them into new ideas and new connections. Steve and Tessa went to work in Boston and Chicha approached anyone entering or leaving the house with a ball or a Frisbee on the off chance they would be picked up and thrown (and then repeat); we sometimes did.

All of us had a low energy day yesterday, that is those of us working at/from home; we appear to be stricken by something in the air – maybe the hesitant start of spring – and suffering from headaches and allergic reactions. In addition my day was interrupted by a long visit to the dentist to replace a crumbling crown. He used laser and caulking guns with bright purple and pink goo without explaining much so I kept wondering, guessing about their use, while not being in a position to ask most of the time.

I asked him to use extra strong adhesive for the temporary crown since I will be in Afghanistan and Ethiopia before the new crown is put in. I’d rather not have to deal with dentists in those places. He did, and assured me that there was no need to worry even if the whole thing came loose because there was nothing alive under the crown anyways. The whole operation cost a little over one thousand dollars. I hope that the dental insurance premium that is deducted from my paycheck every two weeks will prove its value now and pay at least a good chunk of this.

In the evening we had a wonderful dinner with friends who live on the Ipswich marshes. We arrived at dusk and went outside to enjoy the last of daylight; coming out from under long nights, this is the biggest treat at this time of the year: breakfast and dinner in daylight.

Between all of us we live in the most beautiful places in Essex County: some on the ocean (we), others in the woods (the St. Johns) and our hosts Roger and Sook on the edge of the marshes. We admired the view and the garden that is already full of seed potatoes. The wide open and undulating landscape, with its photogenic clusters of trees here and there, tapering off in the distance to ocean and islands called for water coloring. I hope to do that there one day when the mosquitoes are asleep.

I got to relive my Cambodia experience with Roger who knows a thing or two about Cambodia. I realized how badly I would like to go back there, not in the least to see how the team that I created in January has evolved into a confident bunch of Khmer leadership developers.