BACK IN NAIROBI

        Well, I just made it back to Nairobi after 7 wonderful and eventful months at home in Kansas City. I hope to be here until late January before returning to KC via a short stop in Zurich.

       My brother’s health is pretty stable now and I’m so glad I was able to spend these last few months with him as he started dialysis. We had a great 70^th birthday party on Memorial Day week-end with lots of family and old friends in my backyard. I flew out two days later. Our sisters and nieces did a wonderful job in organizing everything and our two elderly aunts even made it; Francis is 90 and Mary is 100. My sons from Texas and Atlanta were also there with their families. We had about 70 in attendance.

      I got some of my hardwood floors finished in May and three rooms painted so I feel like I got a little accomplished this time. We also replaced the liner in the pool just in time for the party week-end. I had a wonderful 10 day trip to three National Parks in Utah (Arches, Canyonlands & Capitol Reef) with my close friends David and Jim in early May. I was amazed at the number of tourists from Europe & Japan.  We got lots of exercise on those trails. It was a perfect time to catch the cactus in bloom. I then introduced David and Jim to my friends Jeanne and Henry in Salt Lake, who so generously allowed us to use their condo in Moab for the week. We got a nice tour of Salt Lake and met a few of their friends after there parish mass at the University. One was a young lady from Ghana who had just graduated in sociology.

      As always I really enjoyed my weekly visits with out contemplative group at the Catholic church in Westport. I made closer friendships with several and even made a few new friends through that group. It continues to be very popular and has grown to over 50 members now. I will miss them and all the activities they have planned; esp. the retreat and speaker (Fr Meniger) coming on June 6. I did get to see my friends Tom Chitta and Dr Getha from India at a church dinner in early May and that was a pleasant surprise. They run the FCN group that I visited in India in 2011. It seems to be doing very well now.

     This will be a hard year to beat. Yes, I even enjoyed the little snow we had, and I especially enjoyed the many baseball games which Jim and watched nearly every night. At least the World Cup is just around the corner (June 12) and you know that will be on all TV’s here. I will also miss the weekly golf with the Johnson brothers. That was fun.