2015 Books I Listened To

My annual list of books listened, mostly kept by me because I’m curious of the trends across time (see books label).

Awards

Hound of the Baskervilles: Can’t Help Myself (listened to yet again)

The Reckoning - Rennie Airth: Outperformed Expectations (random selection that totally paid off)

PANIC! The Story of Modern Financial Insanity: Underperformed Expectations (needed lengthy editing)

1. Summer of the Danes - Ellis Peters
2. Heretic's Apprentice - Ellis Peters
3. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax - Dorothy Gilman
4. American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms - Chris Kyle
5. A Serpent's Tooth - Craig Johnson
6. Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish - Dorothy Gilman
7. The Reckoning - Rennie Airth
8. PANIC! The Story of Modern Financial Insanity - Edited Michael Lewis
9. Calico Joe - John Grisham
10. The Monuments Men - Robert Edsel
11. Hound of the Baskervilles - Conan Doyle
12. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Conan Doyle
13. The ABC Murders - Agatha Christie

2015 Books I Read

My annual list of books read, mostly kept by me because I’m curious of the trends across time (see books label).

Awards

I am the Messanger: Fan Favorite

A Yellow Raft in Blue Water: Outperformed Expectations

Silas Marner: Classic all should read

not a clear one here, unfortunately: Most likely affected me

1. Silas Marner - George Eliot
2. The Jeeves Omnibus, Vol 3 - P.G. Wodehouse
3. Flashman - George MacDonald Fraser
4. Reaching Out - Henri Nouwen
5. This Immortal - Roger Zelazny
6. Boomerang - Michael Lewis
7. The Prince and the Pauper - Mark Twain
8. Last Bus to Woodstock - Colin Dexter
9. The Native Americans: Illustrated History - David Thomas
10. Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact - Vine Deloria
11. I am the Messanger - Markus Zusak
12. Track of the Cat - Nevada Barr
13. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
14. Rumpole of the Bailey - John Mortimer
15. The Eagle Catcher - Margaret Coel
16. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water - Michael Dorris
17. ABC Murders - Agatha Christie
18. Life Together - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
19. The Mating Season - P.G. Wodehouse
20. History of Africa - Kevin Shillington
21. Ring for Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse
22. Surprising Lands Down Under - Mary Ann Harrell
23. James Madison - Garry Willis
24. Africa: The Struggle for Independence - Dennis Wepman
25. A Short History of Australia - Ernest Scott (written in 1916)

Greece, Photos from Mytilene

The Harbor
The boat to the right is a ferry that runs each night to Athens, 8 hour overnight.
Once refugees are ‘registered’…
not actually sure what that means, but I know if involves determining whether you are a refugee (with a protected status), or a migrant (with less protections/opportunities).
Anyway, once you are registered, you can buy a ticket on the ferry and go to the mainland.
This is not a lock-down situation. People are free to roam around, and many did. The camps that people stayed in while waiting to register were a few miles away, but people would walk or take a taxi into the city, and meander through the shops the same as I would, excepting that they carried on their persons the limits of their physical possessions.

Chapel

I tried buying a European made blazer. Very sharp looking. Was feeling the vibe, and wanted to put something slick over my Carhartts. But nothing I could find had sleeves long enough. I am not Greek-sized.

Hotel Loriet

The UNHCR (High Commissioner of Refugees) stayed at the Loriet. The actual hotel is behind this old house, which is facing the Aegean Sea. The house serves as the entry foyer, and ornate sitting rooms.
I was dropped off here 10 minutes after arriving, to meet my predecessor and other WASH actors. I was 90 minutes early for the meeting, so I walked in, asked where breakfast was being served, and made myself comfortable.
I pay my taxes. The U.S. funds most of the UN budget. I feel no guilt.
In the end, I had multiple meetings here with UNHCR to coordinate WASH work throughout the island, and plan for the 2016 response. I had no other free meals.

Greece, Photos from Athens

I had no idea when I took this photo how much this premise would be challenged in the coming weeks.
By and large, we are a nation of immigrants. My ancestors left somewhere to get here. Yours very likely did so as well.

United States	% of Pop’n
First Nations	1.6%
Kidnapped	13.2%
Immigrants	85.2%

Platia Monastirokiou (7th century) in the foreground.

Acropolis of Athens (5th century BC) in the background.

 

 

Hadrian’s Library (132 AD)

The steps up to Mars Hill, and Paul’s speech to the crowd from Acts chapter 17.

 

Sunset from Mars Hill

Acropolis at night

Greece, Day 21: When is the Time

I am on the flight from Athens to Paris,
after 5 hours sleep the previous two nights,
and I just wish for quiet.

She asks me if I was in Athens, my neighbor does.
and I want to deflect, to end, to head off….
I know that my honest answer will fail to do so.

"I was in Lesvos",
prompting an immediate and vague understanding of why I was in Greece.

And we talked, reluctantly talked…
of my time in Greece, her adult children in Paris,
"we were so scared... It could have been them."

Acknowledging that the world is seeing the best and the worst of humanity. Acknowledging that no one is quite sure of the answers,
of how to handle the events we face,
events beyond our choosing.

My mind wanders to the mass of young children who came across the waters these past few days.
Toddlers and 6 year-olds who cannot swim,
being led by parents who cannot swim,
what would bring me to this state, this point of risk with my family?
A risk I don’t begin to comprehend, one I have never faced.

I take my first steps of processing what I was a part of,
what I saw.

When in the midst of my work, I am a taskmaster.
A problem solving engineer focused on
providing the background music,
helping with the setting…
around the refugees,
but not often directly engaged with them.
Focusing on the immediate needs rather than the situation.

But now I am here,
seeing the refugees in my mind's eye more clearly than when I was in their midst.

I don't want to think about this.
I am not ready to be an ambassador when I return home.
I have no more answers than you.

Maybe my experience helps me understand better;
maybe it blinds me in return.

I made it through the conversation with the lovely Parisian,
resolved to talk and listen with empathy.

Now is the time for me to be home,
to bring this experience home with me,
to let it be a part of who I am becoming,
as we are all becoming who we will be.