The Mallard Is Back

Our little feather tenant came back last week. On Tuesday we noticed that there were 12 eggs tucked neatly under a layer of down feathers in the rosemary bush, but the mama was not there. She started with the incubation the next morning, so around Aug. 18th there should be another dozen little ducklings.

I thought it was soon for the duck to lay the eggs again, but, hey, it's the duck business. :)

Closed on Sundays

I usually try not to go to any stores or restaurants on Sundays. I respect it to be a holy day meant for rest and worship, and me going to those places would encourage people to work on Sunday. I understand though, that someone may have another day of the week off, and thus get their needed rest on that day.

This Sunday, however, I decided to pick up something from Hobby Lobby on the way back from the church. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw they are not open on Sundays and especially when I read the sign explaining why: "We are closed on Sundays to allow our employees time for family and worship"

Kudos to Hobby Lobby management for not only giving their people time to rest with their families, but also recognizing it as a day for worship.

A Dead Opossum

How to dispose of a dead opossum?

My brother just told me we had one in our backyard couple of days before I came back. He's not sure for how long it has been there, because by the time he saw it, it was already hard as a stone. But, in this Texas heat, it could have lost all moisture in a day.

He picked it up with a shovel, stuck it in two plastic bags, and then threw the bags in our garbage can. This was on Saturday. The smell was still horrible when I arrived Monday evening and we had to close the garage doors as soon as we park in so that the smell doesn't get into the house. Finally the trash was collected yesterday.

Is there some agency that deals with dead wild animals we could call if something like this happens again?

Almost Like Beach

I ate lunch again in the courtyard between the two buildings at NI. I was in the deep shade and there was quite a bit of breeze, enough to blow away pieces of my salad. It felt good to be outside. I wasn't hot at all, with that breeze and the shade, even though it was 104 F that day. I was by myself and just enjoyed the nature and the quiet. I could hear the crickets chirping and with the stone and vegetation around, it reminded me of the beach. The crickets were loud, just like they are on the hot summer days on the coast. I could almost replace in my mind the noise from the highway for the wave crashing sound.....

Back Home

Four flights and 21 hours later, I am back in Austin. This time there were no delays in flights, and all connections went the best way they can (I had to stand in line for hour and a half for passport control in Chicago with all other foreigners, but I expected that drill). The only casualty was my suitcase that now has both locks broken, and arrived covered with duck tape to hold it together.

It is good to be home. I thought about it before I left Sarajevo, how traveling both directions I have something to look forward to and do not feel sad or anxious to go. When going to Sarajevo, I am excited about going on vacation and spending time with mom. When going to Austin, I am looking forward to arriving into my home and seeing friends.

Today I feel a bit tired, still. I didn't have enough sleep with the jet leg, and woke up with a head ache. I am catching up with all the emails at work, but decided to try something new. I rarely go to lunch in our cafeteria, maybe 10 times in these 9 years I've been here, but today I decided to have a salad and eat it in the courtyard between the two buildings. I enjoyed being outside, even though it was hot even in the shade. I already miss the possibility of walking to places like I had in Europe and people watching. I'd like to find some ways of being around more people in Austin....

The Nudist Beach

Nudist beaches are fairly common in Europe, and there are few on the Adriatic coast. On most beaches in Croatia, it is common to find few women topless. Still, many men, and women, observers find this phenomena fascinating.

On one of our excursions in Istra, our boat was passing by the largest nudist camp in Europe, Vrsar, that can hold up to 12,000 people. It is not just a beach, but a little village of campers. I've never heard of it, but it was advertised in the travel agency bulletin, by our bus tour guide, and by the boat sailors. People from our bus were talking about it during the trip and were looking forward to this boat excursion. I don't condemn the style of the campers, but I cannot justify the behavior of the onlookers.

I am not often around people who would want to sit on a boat and peep at naked people on the shore. After getting to know some of the people on the long bus ride from Sarajevo, I was not really surprised by this behavior. Still, I was uncomfortable and appalled.

During this travel, I carried with me a binoculars, so I can see distant nature, islands and buildings that we couldn't visit. I had it with me during this excursion, but I certainly didn't want it to be passed from hand to hand while sailing by the nudist beach. Mom was using it when we first left the port to look at hotels in the distance. I asked her not to share it, but when couple of people asked her about it, she gave it into their hands. I then had to put it back in my bag before we got to the beach. But people started asking me for it.

I am rarely the one who argues ideas and preach by words, and I certainly didn't want to make a scene and teach the people, some twice my age, that what they are doing is wrong. Few of them started pleading for the binoculars, telling me not to spoil the fun and similar phrases, but I didn't give in. I just told one man that he should be ashamed to ask for something like it when he is married and came on this trip with a pre-teen daughter. Another couple, who could have children my age, also asked for the binoculars, and I just shook my head.

I was probably ridiculed later in their conversations as a 'moralist', but I was glad I stood out in the crowd. This country is sinking fast when it comes to values, and I am thankful for any mockery if it can help preserve the dignity of a human person.

Pula and Brijuni

The last day of our trip started with a presentation of Global Tours products right after breakfast. It is the same company that organized this trip and they sell wool and similar type mattresses and buddings. It is way too pricey, but people were still buying. They were selling some pillows for 30 EUR, that have special fibers, magnets threads....yadi, yadi, yada. The entire set, that included a mattress, mattress cover, some boards for under the mattress, two pillows and a cover were 1400 EUR. Someone still bought it. Other things were travel pillows, some Indian nuts for laundry washing, a creme for joints and all sorts of cures... Mom and I just sat there and listened as we had to.

Then we boarded the bus, with our lovely tour guide from Istra, Petra. Entire way to Paula, she was telling us of the places we were passing by; the 'Y' main road through Istra, an ancient double-town Dvograd with only stone walls left; The smallest town in the world Hum, with only 14 people for as long as it exists.... The one hour ride went by in no time.

The main land mark of Pula is the arena, where the gladiators fought with lions in the ancient Rome. Some stone walls around the city are from the first century.




After the walking tour, we went to the boat tour around the island of Brijuni. The former president Tito had his summer residences there, and it was covered with a veil of mystery during the communist time. It was closed for public until the 80s. This tourist organization offers tours of Brijuni during the winter months, but they canceled it for us because it is too crowded and expensive this time of year. However, since most of us complained we were not informed of the change, they arranged it for us to go on a boat tour around the island. The lunch, fish on the grill, with drinks and wine was also included. The boat owner even took the accordion and played and sang few Bosnian songs. Everyone relaxed down after the wine, started singing and clapping. It was a great ending of this trip. We boarded the bus and were on our way to Sarajevo, only 12 hours more. Sarajevo welcomed us with a downpour like I've never seen before here.