December 1984

Greetings,

Christmas again?  The years seem to fly by now, one fading into another as we are one fourth finished with our fourth contract here in Africa.  It has been another good year for us, despite the ravages of incipient middle-age:  heaps of grey hair around the barber's chair (hey! Whose hair are you cutting anyway?) and even a few silver follicles peeking out of Sharon's golden locks.  But we can't complain since we can still do most of the things we want to do, including a slow game of tennis, a SCUBA dive here and there and huffing and puffing down the basketball court at school.

It's been a year of change for us too.  We got rid of our VW camper and our small Suzuki jeep and purchased a new, long wheel based Suzuki with a fiberglass top in the rear through which an observation trap door has been cut to allow us to peek through and see animals even more intimately.  It's a beautiful car, gets good mileage, has plenty of room for camping equipment, and speeds along quite nicely on the highways.  We've taken it on some fairly rough safaris -- to the Aberdare Mountains, for instance, where we traversed hill and dale in search of the nastiest lions in Kenya. The Aberdares are an incongruous place in Kenya -- a series of lofty hills, some reaching 14,000 feet in altitude, covered with trees and surrounded by moorlands straight out of Scotland, yet also containing Cape buffalo, herds of elephants, and a couple of prides of transplanted lions who have made hiking in the area a rather dangerous pastime. A few months ago, a Danish woman was jumped and mauled horribly by one of the lions as she was walking to see one of the wonderful waterfalls which abound up there. Well, we were fortunate and didn't see any lions, but we did manage to taste of the cool, clean mountain air while checking out the trout choked streams and pristine landscape.

Subsequent to that safari, we took a Suzuki safari with two other couples and their jeeps to the Chyulu Hills, an area half way between Nairobi and the coast.  This time we camped down below and hiked up to the ridge of the hills through a rain forest hardly ever visited by man and on paths worn deep with the hooves of Cape buffalo, the most feared and unpredictable of all animals in Africa.  We hiked in the shade of giant trees with Tarzan vines hanging from them, searching for more birds to add to our checklist of identified species, but always with the knowledge that around that next bend might be lurking several thousand pounds of nasty-tempered horns.  Needless to say, we made it back with only a few scratches from the brambles and the mosquitoes.

Last summer we spent in the U.S., for a change, instead of going to school in Europe as we have done for the past five summers.  We visited the East Coast, using Ken's folks' Lavallette, NJ, house as a base and striking out for a trip from Maine to Florida.  We discovered the beautiful town of Castine on the Maine coast, a town steeped in history and charm, and managed to visit Sharon's brother, Dale, whom we haven't seen for years.  We also visited the Chesapeake Bay towns on the way to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to see Kitty Hawk and the lovely beaches of our soon to be adopted state.  Then we hopped down to Florida to check on the progress of an apartment that we purchased with Ken's parents, an apartment we will have the first opportunity to live in when we visit Florida again this Christmas season.  Finally, we returned to NJ via the mountains of North Carolina to visit Sharon's other brothers, Gene and Gary, and to tramp around our acreage in Otto, NC.  A very restful and refreshing summer.

In addition to the new car and new apartment, we have added a cat and a dog to the household.  The dog, only seven weeks old at this writing, is a white Siberian Samoyed puppy, looking more like a fluffy sheep than a dog and with the disposition of an angel.  The cat, in contrast, is jet black and sleek and finds life difficult as it gets constantly slobbered on by the puppy.

To make things even better, Ken will be occupying a new position at school next year -- that of the school's guidance counselor.  After 12 years in the classroom, it will be a welcome change of pace to deal with kids on an individual basis -- not to mention not having to plan lessons and correct papers.  An added bonus to the less demanding work load will be more money -- an interesting paradox and in keeping with this year of Orwell, 1984.

And as Cronkite used to say, "That's the way it is" this year, folks.  We'll be home for Christmas in NJ and Florida and will be going to school in the U.S. this summer, possibly in Colorado or North Carolina (or Florida, for that matter!).  We expect to remain in Kenya for another three years or so, barring unforeseen calamities or opportunities.  Do not hesitate to visit (planned well in advance, by the way) for Kenya is a never-to-be-forgotten feast for the senses and the spirit.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 1985!