Michael Turns 9

The day started out nice, low key; Carolyn scrambled eggs - fresh egg taste! - and Michael ate a rare treat of bacon, which he devoured.

Jack's school project graced the table - one of those unfortunate cats which lost its tail.

After sharing some email greetings, M opened Grammy & Papa's gift from NYC...

- always books. This time a beautiful old edition of "The 5 Little Peppers" and another about growing up on a British canal.

Carolyn baked a WONDERFUL double-layer chocolate cake to feed over 70 and, with Philadelphia readily available now, I made an easy cream cheese icing.

The Swiss, however, excel in pyrotechnics, a "9" sparkler in the center

with FUEL-CARTRIDGED, COLORED CANDLES emitting COLORED flames. 70 students singing Happy Birthday! No longer low key.

That's TinTin, btw, with his dog, Milou. We are going full circle, since Herge's comic strip inspired Indiana Jones (M's 8th birthday theme); we will eventually stage a TinTin school party to coincide with the movie premier this week. (This Financial Times article ("TinTin and the War") is worth reading).

The owl hoot by Elle, which perfectly matches Michael's whistling nature. And binoculars.

We then hopped in the car and drove to Beaune in the Burgundy region of France - 3 hours away, just northwest of Geneva - so had a birthday dinner in a wine cellar.

France is absolutely CHEAP compared to Switzerland and many Swiss cross the border to do grocery shopping.

We broke out this great board game based on Switzerland - a group gift from the house,
along with a lovely handmade card signed by the students -

while in Beaune, the heart of wine country (the bottles to the right),

but I leave you with this amazing cake recipe.

1 1/2 cups butter, softened, 3 cups white sugar, 5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1 cup buttermilk, 2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the dissolved coffee and buttermilk. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes.

This time out, we have become firm believers in parchment paper! A big difference and makes serving easy.

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Can't believe Michael will be a double digit next year. There is so much yet to learn and it's easy to feel we're running out of time & opportunity. But the indulgence of birthdays is a reset occasion, reminding us (and him) "We're so glad you're here."

EFT Normandy

We landed in Paris and boarded a double-decker bus, which the boys were really excited about,

being seated up front & on top!

Once a semester, the program undertakes an Educational Field Trip (EFT); this fall was Normandy, a French region renowned for food (a climate akin to the Willamette Valley, OR) and a varied history.

We stayed in Caen, almost entirely destroyed during WWII, taking day trips to the surrounding attractions, such as Mont St Michel...

an absolutely surreal sight: a beautiful abbey arising out of the sea - due to its 20 ft tide - becoming an island.

We climbed through its 365 steps,

some of us getting help,

and discovered the stonework,

a striking cloister and scriptorium (library), where the scriptures were transcribed.

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But for the majority of us, Americans, we were anticipating the American Cemetary & Omaha Beach, where the Allies gained a beachhead.

Cone-shaped trees cut at the top form a landscape motif, signifying the young lives buried below.

Grave markers form a Latin cross, structuring our mourning along a Christian framework; the memorial itself a monument to a bygone era, linking national sacrifice with God. This pivotal statue was encircled at the base with the words:

"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Many of us were moved by the number of unknown soldiers, as well as the only father & son burial site in US military history. We placed roses, but everywhere were

red poppies - a traditional symbol of death.

In stark contrast to neutral Switzerland, the French countryside is dotted with national cemetaries holding American, Canadian, & British bodies; every village anchored by a memorial for the slain locals of both wars.

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The rest of the trip focused upon idyllic coastal ports, such as Honfleurs,

its countryside an inspiration for Impressionist painters,

such as Monet, whose garden estate outside Paris we visited, as well as the cathedral in Rouen

that he painted.

En route, we passed tiny French villages which produced early missionaries to Japan, as well as famed varieties of apples, appearing daily as desserts, aperitifs, and after dinner liqueur.

Our trip was 5 days (2 travel) and the terrible currency exchange trimmed our excesses, but the trip was great; the normal logistics of mobilizing 70+ persons in one direction, several times a day, is trying on the staff, which I am, thankfully, not a part.

KNIE

Knie is the unofficial Swiss national circus, running over a 200 year dynasty.
It's an intense, one ring spectacle, unlike anything you usually experience back in the States: intimate, live band - a classy affair entirely lacking in media gimmickry.

They run a fall circuit throughout CH, training the rest of the year, preparing next year's show. It was a high-octane series of acrobats, comedians, clowns, and impressive animals in a tight setting; this year featuring llamas, as well as the standard elephants and teams of horses.

The elephants bathe in Lake Geneva!

A deeply human performance, showcasing tremendous feats of physical training and timing, defying gravity, space. This year even featured Chinese acrobats echoing a Kung Fu Panda theme, picked up by KNIE - as well as VBS - curricula around the world.

Church Weekend Away

That's not me. We were sitting on a mountaintop during All Saints Vevey's annual fall retreat -

"Weekend Away" in British vernacular; meeting in a hotel in Leysin, the next valley over from L'Abri in Huemoz - a startlingly similar vista.

I always forget the beauty of a mountain feel - the way a sharply contoured landscape brings everything into sharp focus, regarding your standing in the world. Different but similar to being "perched" on a beach facing the Pacific, say - poetically the sky often signified the divine; the ocean, death; ie, the other side. We rode the telecabin

to the top to take in at the spectacular view

watching mountain bikers and mountain scooters race downward, or the guy above.

An Anglican Bishop of Ireland delivered a series of studies on Elijah, interspersed with meals and fellowship. Lots of children now at All Saints, resulting in a strong response to teach and provide a sense of community - a key element for survival in a secular culture entirely indifferent to belief.

The woman above flew in from England, using Scripture Union materials (the main press for Bible curriculum in the UK), integrating children's teaching with the adult course.

A presentation of the Baal gods versus the one true God, followed by communion. "Family Service" (a UK concept introduced last visit) is usually a good-intentioned disaster, making church fun in a Sesame Street kind of way, but Clive, the rector, has struck a great balance now, delivering a service that children access and adults appreciate. As any educator knows, no small task teaching multi-levels.

On a side note, I'm always impressed by how much Europeans drink, the Weekend Away no exception: drink before dinner, throughout a long meal, and afterwards, following dessert.

Doraemon

A few years ago, Michael & Jack got introduced to Doraemon, a robotic cat loved by millions of Japanese children.

I paired the cat with Astro Boy, created by the grandfather of anime, Osamu Tezuka, as two Japanese cartoons to color their animated world, while linking to my childhood; although due to marketing and DVD archival work,

M & J know far more about the flying do-gooder than I ever did.

Robots figure in the Japanese cultural psyche in a sometimes charming, sometimes disturbing, manner; exploring the line between man & machine, nature & science, in its constant obsession with technology, gadgets, the phantasmal overcoming of limits via transformative power. Perhaps medical technology has forced these issues; when a person ceases to be human.

The only nation to have experienced atomic warfare - allegorized by Gozilla's Cold War, enemy-turn-friend, about-face status (of course, compounded now by Fukushima) - trauma and the harnessing of power dominates the imagination:

Gigantor

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However, the comic figure of the day is a rediscovery of the beloved Belgian series, Tintin,

the second most beloved European strip, next to Asterix. Spielberg is premiering his trilogy in a joint-showing in Brussels and Paris, flying to both capitals for competing premiers October 26th - almost 2 months before opening State-side December 23rd.

Tintin at The Grand Rex, Paris, Oct 26th!

Hopefully, this trilogy will introduce the original comic series and lovely animated cartoon to American audiences.

Tintin was carefully researched with historical and geographical details by Herge, whose centennial birth was celebrated in 2007.

An inspiration for Indiana Jones, Tintin & dog, Milou (Snowy) traveled around the world as a reporter, in the jet-setty style of James Bond; a wonderful chronicle of 20th century Cold War and cultural politics.

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The nearby city of Nyon, where one of the adventures is set, has created a Tintin trail with large staging scenes that mirror the story.

Exact spots

Vintage 1953 auto