February 27 - john and joyce were in the spa when john looked up to see tens of hundreds of geese flying North and slightly West in a very high altitude "V" formation. Also, john and joyce's best friends, jerry and gail, have yellow daffodils blooming in their garden. It won't be long now!!!

Also, on several occasions over the last few weeks, a male and female Mallard couple have made zenpond more or less their permanent home. They sometimes land in the cover of a neighbor's swimming pool and then fly up to our fence where they just stand looking around. When was the last time you ever saw a duck standing on a fence? Here are several pictures of them on the fence:

March 11- john and joyce talk to a friend in Benin, West Africa by email. Here is his latest email to them:

Hi John, Joyce and Tucky,

In Benin, malaria is a common disease we use to deal with. Though I was hardly shaken by it for weeks, it was not so alarmfull. I only spend 5000 Cfa francs (almost 10 dollars) to healing from it. I should say that out from medecine from pharmacy, I took some traditionnal plants to fight the disease. By this time I am free from medecine and other plants. I can live freely.

About the weather here in Benin, we dont have Winter, Spring, Easter and Fall. In the southern part of the country we have four seasons : Raining season from March to July; then, a small dry season from August to the end of September. The small raining season comes from October to the midst of December, and the long dry season closes the year from that period to the beginning of the new rain season. In the northern part of the country there are only one rain season from July to December; and a dry season for the rest of the year.

About finding nothing from you when I come to the Cyber Cafe, I can understand at each time that happens that you where so busy you did not arrive to send a message to me. I can be a little sad, but I understand it and deal with it.

I am glad that Joyce kept with water aerobics: sport is a good thing for keeping one's form and health. I can say that my real sport in this period is marching, walking and trecking. It helps me also keeping my thinness.

I dont know what you thought about the travel Georges W Bush took to Europ to built back the links between the two sides of Atlantic Ocean. I was glad and hopped that the links wont never break down again.

I begin to speak too much, so, I will stop here and tell you : soon on the waves.

Bye Bye
Honoré from Benin

March 12 - Here is a poem john wrote a "few" years ago he would like to share with you now:

FROM THE WINTER'S MIRROR

The view of Spring is bright and clear;

It comes and goes with ease of flight

From gleam of snow, a winter's mirror,

To scene of summer's dry parched night.

In windy March the kites fly high,

The grass comes green and buds probe through,

And warm the winds against the cold to die

Does push the season northward too.

In early April the rains do fall

To wet the eyes of flowers anew,

So they might see the lovely mall

And enjoy Spring as much as you.

March 12 - Here is john's reply to Basso in Benin, West Africa:

In the Midwest I like to say we have two seasons:

Too hot
Too cold
Too wet
Too dry

We are so glad to hear you are feeling better and have beaten Malaria. What plants did you take for Malaria? Would we even know their names here? I doubt it.

Actually we had a wonderful day today here. I started the morning in long sleeves and a sweater, but by noon I had to change into a short sleeved shirt. That is the way March is here. We have a saying: "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." By Wednesday we are suppose to have snow and the temperature only in the 20's! Today the temperature was somewhere in the 70's. Joyce says it is the rapid change in temperature that is so hard on people. I guess I would have to agree.

The two Mallard ducks are still making zenpond their home. They are here most of the day and we are afraid to go into the backyard to clean up leaves because we might scare them. Sometimes we just have to say that "we live here too" and we go out anyway. They watch us closely, but do not fly away.

I am going to help a neighbor build a new fence before April 9th. We have a "large item trash pickup" every other year and this is our year, so we have to have the old fence tied up and put out at the curb and they will pick it up on that date. I don't want zenpond without a fence, so I'm beginning to build sections of the fence now. My pond helper will dig new holes for the posts and we will set the new 4" x 4" posts in concrete and then put up the new sections.

We are going to St. Louis early tomorrow morning (Sunday). Joyce's sister and brother-in-law live there. One of their two sons just got married in December. Now his company has asked him to take a new job in Minneapolis, Minnesota. So it may be a long time before we see them again unless we drive up there. It is a nice place to visit in the summer, but very cold in the winter. They say that Minnesota is the land of ten thousand lakes. I know they have mosquitos the size of houses up there!

Joyce is tutoring a freshman student who lives across the street and down two houses. His assignment in World Geography was to study Botswana. He had to have a separate page for each letter of the alphabet. For example, for "A" he had a page on "Annual Rainfall". His write-up for that was: "Annual Rainfall - the annual rainfall in the peak months is 650 mm over in the NE area of the Hobe District. Most of the rainfall occurs during the summer months." He had a color photo of a storm cloud. I'm sure he will get an "A" for a grade. It was very well done. I had so wished he had been assigned Benin instead, but no such luck.

We wish you the best of life and hope you are enjoying every moment!

Your friends,
John, Joyce and Tucky (sometimes we call him "Tah Tah" for just for fun. He seems to enjoy the nickname)

March 19 - joyce's sister, Carol, invited john and joyce to go with her to feed the fish in the new $40,000 saltwater aquaium at the law firm where Carol works. Here are a few pictures of several of the fish:

March 30 - Here is this week's email from Basso (Benin, West Africa):

Good morning John, Joyce and Tucky,

About beating malaria, there are so many plants in Africa. It depends on the ethnic people to telling about this or that plant to cure the disease. In my ethnic group, the plants I know against malaria, are in our language, Gninsikin (a kind of anti-biotic), acacia (you may know about one variety), hinlinwoué (an anti-biotic too), akaya (the white variety, because, there is a yellow one against ''ulcer''), etc. They are efficient according to many people and I experienced them many times. You cannot know their names in my language. Even in French I cannot say them. I will need to find out a qualified herborist to tell me about their french names.

During my stay in Kansas-Missouri I dont think we had snow in March. Is'nt a surprise or is it usual? Here too, the weather can change quickly, but it is from sunshine to rain during the raining season.

Sometimes animals are good beings and act better than humans. As you dont want harm to your Mallard ducks, they feel at home and enjoy your company. I try to make the same atmospher with my doves, but they only fly away when I go too close to them. So I use to feed them by putting grains on the groung for them.


About mosquitos the size of houses in Minnesota, in Africa we have very small ones but the are more bitter and more sickness holder. It is the main reason many people suffer from malaria.

O.K. I am going to leave now. I will navigate a bit on internet and go back home after. So, take care, and good wishes to '' Tah Tah '' .

Bye Bye from
Honoré.