Tag: Friends
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DROP IN IF YOU’RE IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
Just a few weeks ago I received an email from a genealogist in Switzerland. He found a 1928 photo I posted online of some distant cousins in Wisconsin and wanted some details. I sorted out his enquiries and he was most grateful. He said ‘If you’re ever in the Bernese Alps, drop in.’ I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the ‘if you’re ever in XYZ drop in’ invitation or how many times I’ve said it. I rarely take up the offer and people rarely take up my offer. But…
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GRANDPA GAUSTAD
For as long as I remember, my mother has flaunted her ‘Norwegian-ness’. Her mother, Gertrude Gaustad, was of full Norwegian stock. So mom has an appetite for lefse but when I would ask her about our Norwegian ancestors she would draw a blank. She didn’t know much except that her grandfather was named Ole, he was blind and had died before she was born. So I set out to find out where we came from in Norway. It took quite a few years but I figured it out. In 1883, a…
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OLAV OF BYNESET
I hit a brick wall once. A genealogical brick wall, that is. For five years I had been trying to find out where my great grandfather, Ole Erickson Gaustad, came from. I was getting nowhere and figured I’d never find out. But one night in 2007, I was Googling ‘Gaustad’ and the village where I thought he was born, ‘Byneset’ and I got a hit. I found a function centre with Gaustad in the name so I took a chance and wrote an email. Within a day I got an email…
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ON! ON! IN ALGARVE
After a long hiatus, the Halab Hash House Harriers re-grouped and held a run on 8 April. Regrettably it was not in our home base of Aleppo, Syria. Instead, we ran in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. Long-time ICARDA staff member and current resident of Praia da Luz, Peter ‘Beep Beep’ Eichorn, asked his new family, the Algarve Hash House Harriers to adopt the H4 for the run. The combined group numbered almost 50 Harriers. Beep Beep and John ‘Strutting’ Peacock were the hares and set a course in the…
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JOSEPH’S GUARDIAN ANGEL
Day 24. Tbilisi. Getting sick while on holidays isn’t much fun. But falling ill in a foreign land where you are language challenged is downright terrifying. So when Joseph started vomiting last night I had a far bit of cause for concern. Joseph’s body started revolting around 11 pm and he made hourly dashes to the toilet all night to spew. I suspected food poisoning but I knew I had eaten exactly the same food as Joe that day and I felt fine. In the morning, I messaged Hans in Switzerland…
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THE TREK TO USHGULI
Joseph, Hans and I embarked on a five-day trek from Mestia to Ushguli. The trek winds through Georgia’s stunning Svaneti region, revealing snow-capped peaks, medieval stone towers and remote mountain villages. Each day we discovered breathtaking alpine views, lush valleys, and rich cultural encounters, culminating in Ushguli, Europe’s highest inhabited village and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Within the first hour of our trek we met school teachers, Matt and Alba, who walked at our same pace and joined us for the entire journey. Day 1: Mestia to Chvabiani Distance: About…
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TEMPRANILLO ARGENTINE STYLE
I was out on a morning bushwalk when the ping of an incoming SMS drew me out of my forest trance. ‘Estoy llevando Tempranillo y voy a moler como a las 10.30’. It was my Argentine friend, Martin, and he had just received 600 kilos of Tempranillo grapes and was about to crush them. I had asked Martin to let me know when he was going to crush so I could watch the processing. I had hoped for more than a two-hour notice … but that’s the wine industry. You don’t…
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MARTIN KICKS OFF VINTAGE 2017
Vintage 2017 has started in the Adelaide Hills so I headed out to the vineyards to make sure my favourite bubbly, the Mordrelle Wines Blanc de Blancs, was being picked to perfection under the demanding eye of my compañero, Martin Moran. Martin and I played softball on the Hahndorf Men’s team for several years but I could tell that when he was out there in left field his mind wasn’t focussed on catching fly balls. Martin was aspiring to be a winemaker. He had immigrated to Australia from Mendoza in Argentina’s…
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MY FRIEND LEVI
This is my friend Levi. He is perhaps the most outstanding young man I have ever met. He’s been visiting me once a month for more than two years now. He comes during the day with a colleague and knows I am busy at work so he never stays for long. Levi is soft spoken and humble yet very worldly and knowledgeable about life for a man of his age. He brings me some literature and we have a very nice discussion. No matter how busy I am I always find…
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