… as we are in the States on R&R.

Will find something to post soon.

In the meantime, keep kicking butt.   D.

Bodrum, Turkey.

Few weeks ago, Terese joined up with a friend and flew down to Bodrum on the southwest coast of Turkey.  They spent four comfortable days at a very nice resort.

    Below are pictures taken from the resort with the full moon.     Experimenting with my little camera.     One of the many fine meals the women ate at the resort.  Octopus.I flew down and joined them the last day, then we lounged on a sailboat for five days and four nights.  We boarded the boat about 10am and just gently motored along.  Even though it was a sail boat, the sails were unfolded only one time.  Terese and her friend Andrea, quickly changed into bathing suits, but I just wanted to sit, do nothing and decompress.  That day, while they sunned and swam at the coves we dropped anchor at, I just sat in my jeans and T-shirt doing nothing.  I needed it.

The boat was called, “Small World” and had three cabins.  The crew comprised of Captain Zafar who owns the boat and is a gourmet chef.  The 65 year old man does long distance swims as a hobby.  He is currently training for a 6 kilometer swim next year, I think in Istanbul.  So once a day, he would emerge from the cabin in swim gear, and jump off the boat and literally swim out of sight.  It was an amazing thing to see.  65 years old and he would jump into the water and swim until you could no longer determine it was a swimmer.  30 minutes later, he would return.

Along with Zafar, is his girlfriend, Bieron.  She is 51, cute with straggly hair.  I enjoyed watching her and Zafar interact.  While he steered the boat, she would come and stand next to him and talk.  He would look over at her and gently touch her cheek.  I think they kinda like each other.  Looking at the two below, I was most impressed by the faces that had seen a great many more sunrises and sunsets than I have.  Such rich faces that only the sun and sea could carve.

Then, last and certainly not least, was Gokhan.  I don’t know what you call the guy who helps the captain, but whatever it is, he is that.  He is suppose to also be a fisherman, but he did not seem to be too good at that.  He is the young man who is sitting with Terese and her friend Andrea.  These two pics were the last two I took on the boat at the end of the tour.A few pics of the boat itself.  The first one is from the tour company, and the second is the little dingy which always trailed behind, coming to get us from the dock.  These cruises are also known as the “Blue Cruises” because of the color of the water.  Most places, when the GPS/fish finder said 10 meters of water, you could still see the bottom and the fish swarming around.

To get an idea of what we ate; first lunch right after Zafar found a quiet place to drop anchor.  Incredibly tasty pasta!Here we had a strange meal of octopus and ink pasta.  Wasn’t too happy with the pasta.  The color just did not work for me, even though my mouth was happy.This was a typical breakfast.  At first they gave us a lot more, but we told them just a light breakfast only.Now a mess of pictures taken from the boat throughout the trip. The following are pictures I took one morning when only Zafar, Bieron and I were up.  There was a quiet mist floating above the water. … and as the sun came up.Various pictures throughout. Gokhan’s method of fishing was something I had never seen before.  He took a sponge imbedded in a small loaf of bread, wrapped with a string with about a dozen hooks on it.  He threw it in the water and just waited.  The fish would swarm around it and somehow would end up on the hooks.  Or were suppose to.It was a good trip. If there are any duplicates in the post, pretend you don’t notice.  Until next time, kick butt.       D.

Many years ago while working in Afghanistan, I sent writings home telling about the things I saw and the people I worked with.  One such document was titled, “I Walk Among Them”.  Many people thought it was compelling and even the small Texas town newspaper where I grew up, printed it in an edition.

The other day I happened across a version on my computer where I added other thoughts from that time period.  So I edited it to where it was readable and converted it to a PDF file and posted it.  This writing probably best describes what I saw and how I felt during my 26 months in that war zone.

To get to it, go here.

Everyone has a favorite season.  I always liked the spring with its storms and promise of warm weather.

Here in Ankara, autumn came in a heart beat.  There was only a two week defining period of change from summer to autumn.  A few weeks ago, we were enjoying weather in the upper nineties and lightly touching a 100.  Within two weeks, the weather went from the heat to the 60-70’s, and stayed there.

Below are pictures I took from our apartment during that short period. Last Friday was the start of a Turkish holiday.  The Embassy will not open back up until Wednesday.  Terese and I will not be there though, as we have a reservation for a boat ride down by Bodrum on the Mediterranean coast.  I will take my little camera with me and hopefully get some phenomenal images.

Until then, keep kicking.    D.

Yesterday was my lovely wife’s birthday, and it just happen to coincide with the Oktoberfest celebration at the German Embassy.  So, it was an easy gift to her from me.

I’m not a social dancer, so I just enjoyed sitting and watching others and spending time outside under the smoker’s tent with the rain coming down.  I will always meet interesting people while there.  Below, the people are starting to fill in.

Then comes the best part.  The food. Below is a friend of ours enjoying the feast.And here is a couple of pictures of a beer fest lady.  One, with one of the beer girls who stood for several hours doing nothing but pour beer. Below is a good friend of ours who works in the health unit at the Embassy.  I gave her one of mom’s books a few months ago.  As the night progressed, the music became louder, the beer kept flowing and people kept dancing.And below is a picture of a perfectly contented lady on her perfect birthday.Drink beer and eat well.   … and keep kicking butt.      D.

… have been at full tilt.  Time to shut down and cut loose.  And just in time for Oktoberfest at the German Embassy tomorrow night.  I’ll sneak some pictures and post them in the next few days.  I hope they turn out okay, in spite of the beer.