April 2 - john and joyce just received a new email from Basso in Benin, West Africa they would like to share with you:

"Good morning Joyce, John and Tucky,

Really electricity shortage is a major problem for Benin. It is a long term effect of global warming as well as a seasonal event. Each year, during the dry season in West Africa, all the dams in the countries come at a very low level. And the population falls in power shortage. The dam Togo and Benin built on their border is the first to dry. It was the reason we turned toward Ghana Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Nigeria is the last to sell electricity power to Benin and Togo at the beginning of the year. It was in order to avoid the problem of dried dams, for Nigerian electricity is from gaze turbine. But Nigeria is not able to sell all the quantity we need. We hope that the Government will buy a oil turbine to solve the problem, partially.

With the power shortage, television watching has shot down in the houses. If you don’t have a regulator and the power is set back, your devices can get shock and go off. So, we don’t watch very often television. It is the reason I did not hear about the pet food scare in USA. I hope it has passed off, and that you are quiet now.

As I said it will be at the end of the power shortage that I will watch the files you put on zenpond site. Right now, I go to the CiberCafé just for my mails. The said that the shortage could be over by the end of May.
Out of the power shortage I may tell you that I have another death in my big family. It is the death of the daughter my father got before going fighting in France in1939. She was at least 72 years old. She was very sick before my father died. I will travel to the village to know how she will be buried. I think she will not stay in the icy room as long as my father. In her case we have to plan the burial with her husband‘s family. The husband died three years ago.

How did you bear the sleeping with electrodes on the head? I hope that the electrodes did not induce electricity in your head and that you did not have anything major as wrong.


On last Saturday in Benin we vote for representative elections. They were 26 parties or groups of parties to run for 83 places. That makes 2158 candidates from about 6. 5 Millions Beings in Benin. We will get the results by the midst of April.
Hello to everybody, and Take care.

Basso

PS. I have written the email in the morning of Saturday. And in the evening, due to a release in power shortage (because we were holding representatives elections, a France channel some people arrive to catch in Benin talked fairly about pet food in America. It did not develop the matter in a clear understanding way.
Bye Bye. "

April 11 - You are probably wondering why there hasn't been any entries to this journal in a few days. It is because john and joyce are quite busy.

john has been busy learning to paint acrylic paintings, and he is just now finishing the second one. The third one will either be a portrait of a niece (or at least a stab at john painting a portrait. Good luck!), or it will be a not-so-still life called "After the Play". It will include a captain's decantur with some red wine, an empty bottle of wine, an empty wine glass on the man's side, a half-empty, slightly lipsticked wine glass on the woman's side, a playbill and car keys on the man's side, and an orange rose neatly placed on the woman's side. There will be one piece of eaten rasberry/chocolate dessert (more eaten on the man's side with crumbs) and two forks. The reflections will show a couple silhouetted in front of the fire.

joyce is also busy teaching water aerobics, and she has just been asked to do five more classes a week.

john and joyce went to the New Theatre Guild briefing of "Busybodies", and they got to meet Jamie Farr. They will see him again at a run through, and yet again for the dress rehearsal of the play.

There was a terrible cold snap over the weekend. All the blooms were out on the trees and plants when the temperature suddenly dropped to 23 degrees. That drop may have cost john and joyce several thousands of dollars in plantings. They will wait and see what recovers. Global warming comes with more extremes in weather.

john has also been judging the Greater Kansas City Science Fair, and he attended a banquet for the 50th Anniversary of Science Pioneers, the organization that puts on the Science Fair. While there, he got to meet Don and Adele Hall (Hallmark Cards). Joyce Hall, Don's dad, and president Eisenhower started People to People International in 1956. Don and Adele are the nicest people alive. john talked to Adele about how the local chapter of People to People has gone down in membership since john was president in 1979 - 1980. The membership used to be 500 people strong. Now it has more like 200 members. john thought he was just making idle conversation until Don and Adele joined the local chapter the next day.

john is also working to computer-assist the matching process of sponsors and international officers in People to People. He also has been asked to serve on the membership committee of People to People. john also is treasurer of The New Theatre Guild.

April 20 - john met the most interesting people today. Only their first names will be used here, in keeping with security of the website. john and his friend Gene drove to the home of Dean, Pat, and Mike, to help them clean out their water garden. Gene and john were the winners of a large number of lotus. Dean, Pat, and Mike are perhaps the most intelligent people john has ever met. They reminded john of the family in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" when Phaedrus stopped in Montana for the evening sunset and a glass of wine.

April 24 (10:30 AM) - About 15 minutes ago, Mom duck brought her 12 brand-new baby ducklings into zenpond. They are swimming around in the small pond. Dad spotted the new family, and joined them peacefully. It will be a tough go for the babies for the next week or so until they are big enough not to be meals for predators. Usually their numbers shrink to 4 by the end of their stay. They have now gone into the big pond for their first real swim of their young lives. Mom nested across busy 99th Street on a nest of 12 eggs. The nest was in a brick planter several feet off the ground. How the ducklings got onto the ground john can only guess (by falling?). Anyway, all is well at zenpond today.

john has just started painting. Here is his first attempt:

john took his second acrylic painting in to be framed this morning. Both paintings are 20" x 24", on canvas.