Finally back (I hope)

[Guest guest]

My apologies to many of you who have posted on the list or, in some cases, back-channel. My responsiveness has been sub-par for the last few weeks at least. That should get better, and I'll be working my way through old emails in the next week or so.

Santa Catarina, the state in southern brazil where I live, had an unusual spring this year--something that has come along roughly once in every 50 years. If you search on YouTube for " flood Santa Catarina " , you'll likely find some nice footage. We had 15 consecutive weeks of rain--as in almost every day for 15 weeks, and not just your nice Portland mist-rains but real solid, daylong rains. This started in early September (after a nice dry winter (summer for you guys north of the equator where the seasons are reversed) and ran through all of October and all of November. The last 7-10 days of that stretch were seriously heavy rains--downpours even! Santa Catarina is at the conjunction of two rivers that run into the sea here--one of them the entrance into the city's port--and the valleys upriver got drenched even worse that we did during the downpours, resulting in serious mudslides, flooding and loss of life. The floods came downriver, as floods will, and flooded large areas of Itajai as well, including my inlaws' home, where the water was mid-thigh indoors. (I stopped wading, trying to get there for the 3rd time in 3 days, when I was walking on invisible sidewalks in fast running water above my waist--and could see a guy a block ahead in front of the house I was aiming for with water above his armpits.)

We had scheduled a 4-day workshop at our house on the beach (which was not flooded, though I learned a LOT about where the leaks in our roof were) for 15 participants for the last 4 days in November. Things had receded enough by the morning of the day before the workshop that we had 8 participants make it. At this point I learned something else I had forgotten about Brazil: houses have water tanks on the roof or (in our case) in the attic. City water fills these, and then the water from them flows down to the faucets, toilets, etc. I was aware that others were without water and congratulated our good fortune (quietly, of course) in still having plenty for nice long hot showers, etc. Until we finished the 500+ gallons in the tanks and were ourselves without water the day the workshop was to begin. Fortunately it was still raining, so we set up every bucket, pail, garbage can, etc. we could find under places where the water ran off the roof and had a pleasant 4 days of flushing toilets with buckets of rainwater (when they REALLY needed to be flushed), heating rainwater and washing up all the paraphenalia of breaks and snacks at the end of the day, etc. I did the whole 4 days without more than a frugal sponge bath (which did hold down the number of questions as the days went by...) My teaching in Portuguese was, for the first time since I've been doing it, not the highest high point in the workshop.

When the water finally receded, which it did fairly quickly once the rain upriver slowed down, we spent some time trying to help my in-laws clean up their place. They were among the luckier floodees; many lost every single thing they owned--and some even their lives. I've attached a photo of a startling " sculpture " we passed on a local beach taking a walk the night after things finally started receding--all materials the " artist " found on the beach. He/she did not include any cows or horses or dogs or cats, though those were available on some beaches. Our little beach had at least 12 feet of flotsam and jetsam one would have had to broad-jump to actually reach the water. I have a new respect for buzzards, which took care of the " whatever-they-weres " that were included on our beach. We've had a couple nice bonfires with the neighbors cleaning up the driftwood, and there is at least one more building up. We've taken dozens of 50-gallon trashbags of plastic and metal and various manmade pieces of junk off the beach. The sea has also worked its magic, taking back or burying much of what it brought.

We settled into December with a visit from 's son, my first online workshops in Portuguese (much harder than face-to-face!) Things have finally settled down closer to normal. Trying to find someone to redo the roof on the part of the house that was worst, trying to keep the plants and grass under some semblance of control (when your dogs refuse to go up into the backyard because the grass is so tall they get lost, it's time to cut it--again?

Anyway, I'm back and will be back on the list more regularly and following up with some of you who have supervision arrangements with mi.Thanks for your patience. A wonderful holiday season to all,

Pete-- Van Deusenpvdtlc@...http://www.brain-trainer.com305/433-3160The Learning Curve, Inc.

[Guest guest]

Welcome back and Happy Holidays!

Your story telling abilities came through loud and clear!

Glad you are safe and relatively dry!

St. Clair

Finally back (I hope)

My apologies to many of you who have posted on the list or, in some cases, back-channel. My responsiveness has been sub-par for the last few weeks at least. That should get better, and I'll be working my way through old emails in the next week or so.Santa Catarina, the state in southern brazil where I live, had an unusual spring this year--something that has come along roughly once in every 50 years. If you search on YouTube for "flood Santa Catarina", you'll likely find some nice footage. We had 15 consecutive weeks of rain--as in almost every day for 15 weeks, and not just your nice Portland mist-rains but real solid, daylong rains. This started in early September (after a nice dry winter (summer for you guys north of the equator where the seasons are reversed) and ran through all of October and all of November. The last 7-10 days of that stretch were seriously heavy rains--downpours even! Santa Catarina is at the conjunction of two rivers that run into the sea here--one of them the entrance into the city's port--and the valleys upriver got drenched even worse that we did during the downpours, resulting in serious mudslides, flooding and loss of life. The floods came downriver, as floods will, and flooded large areas of Itajai as well, including my inlaws' home, where the water was mid-thigh indoors. (I stopped wading, trying to get there for the 3rd time in 3 days, when I was walking on invisible sidewalks in fast running water above my waist--and could see a guy a block ahead in front of the house I was aiming for with water above his armpits.)We had scheduled a 4-day workshop at our house on the beach (which was not flooded, though I learned a LOT about where the leaks in our roof were) for 15 participants for the last 4 days in November. Things had receded enough by the morning of the day before the workshop that we had 8 participants make it. At this point I learned something else I had forgotten about Brazil: houses have water tanks on the roof or (in our case) in the attic. City water fills these, and then the water from them flows down to the faucets, toilets, etc. I was aware that others were without water and congratulated our good fortune (quietly, of course) in still having plenty for nice long hot showers, etc. Until we finished the 500+ gallons in the tanks and were ourselves without water the day the workshop was to begin. Fortunately it was still raining, so we set up every bucket, pail, garbage can, etc. we could find under places where the water ran off the roof and had a pleasant 4 days of flushing toilets with buckets of rainwater (when they REALLY needed to be flushed), heating rainwater and washing up all the paraphenalia of breaks and snacks at the end of the day, etc. I did the whole 4 days without more than a frugal sponge bath (which did hold down the number of questions as the days went by...) My teaching in Portuguese was, for the first time since I've been doing it, not the highest high point in the workshop.When the water finally receded, which it did fairly quickly once the rain upriver slowed down, we spent some time trying to help my in-laws clean up their place. They were among the luckier floodees; many lost every single thing they owned--and some even their lives. I've attached a photo of a startling "sculpture" we passed on a local beach taking a walk the night after things finally started receding--all materials the "artist" found on the beach. He/she did not include any cows or horses or dogs or cats, though those were available on some beaches. Our little beach had at least 12 feet of flotsam and jetsam one would have had to broad-jump to actually reach the water. I have a new respect for buzzards, which took care of the "whatever-they-weres" that were included on our beach. We've had a couple nice bonfires with the neighbors cleaning up the driftwood, and there is at least one more building up. We've taken dozens of 50-gallon trashbags of plastic and metal and various manmade pieces of junk off the beach. The sea has also worked its magic, taking back or burying much of what it brought.We settled into December with a visit from 's son, my first online workshops in Portuguese (much harder than face-to-face!) Things have finally settled down closer to normal. Trying to find someone to redo the roof on the part of the house that was worst, trying to keep the plants and grass under some semblance of control (when your dogs refuse to go up into the backyard because the grass is so tall they get lost, it's time to cut it--again?Anyway, I'm back and will be back on the list more regularly and following up with some of you who have supervision arrangements with mi.Thanks for your patience. A wonderful holiday season to all,Pete-- Van Deusenpvdtlcgmailhttp://www.brain-trainer.com305/433-3160The Learning Curve, Inc.

[Guest guest]

Glad to see you're able to get back to some semblance of normalcy.

After having gone through the floods of Katrina here on the coast of

Mississippi in 2005, I can relate to your experience, humorous even

though difficult stories and what will be your ongoing effort to

help yourself, your inlaws and your community put the pieces back

together again. It is amazing how " real " life gets when basic

neccesities like clean water, electicity and mowed lawns are no

longer a given. Not a bad thing when taken in stride as you have

obviously done! It is state-wide, community tragedies like these,

which can not be prepared for, that tip even the most robust, stable

people over the stress induced deep end. It would be great if NF

were available to all who are going to need help coping with the

loss in Santa Catalina in the coming months. If you set up a

temporary stress reduction clinic for the victims in your town, let

us know!! It might not be such a far stretch to get some of us to

volunteer some time and come down and help!

I don't know why but the picture you posted is not showing up...and

I'm curious enough to want to see it! There is a place holder

showing a jpeg item...but no pic.

Best of luck to everyone on this list group during the holiday and

coming year and thanks to all for giving the gift of your knowledge

to myself and countless others! It is truly what I feel most blessed

with over this past year!

Mike

>

> My apologies to many of you who have posted on the list or, in

some cases,

> back-channel. My responsiveness has been sub-par for the last few

weeks at

> least. That should get better, and I'll be working my way through

old

> emails in the next week or so.

>

> Santa Catarina, the state in southern brazil where I live, had an

unusual

> spring this year--something that has come along roughly once in

every 50

> years. If you search on YouTube for " flood Santa Catarina " ,

you'll likely

> find some nice footage. We had 15 consecutive weeks of rain--as

in almost

> every day for 15 weeks, and not just your nice Portland mist-rains

but real

> solid, daylong rains. This started in early September (after a

nice dry

> winter (summer for you guys north of the equator where the seasons

are

> reversed) and ran through all of October and all of November. The

last 7-10

> days of that stretch were seriously heavy rains--downpours even!

Santa

> Catarina is at the conjunction of two rivers that run into the sea

here--one

> of them the entrance into the city's port--and the valleys upriver

got

> drenched even worse that we did during the downpours, resulting in

serious

> mudslides, flooding and loss of life. The floods came downriver,

as floods

> will, and flooded large areas of Itajai as well, including my

inlaws' home,

> where the water was mid-thigh indoors. (I stopped wading, trying

to get

> there for the 3rd time in 3 days, when I was walking on invisible

sidewalks

> in fast running water above my waist--and could see a guy a block

ahead in

> front of the house I was aiming for with water above his armpits.)

>

> We had scheduled a 4-day workshop at our house on the beach (which

was not

> flooded, though I learned a LOT about where the leaks in our roof

were) for

> 15 participants for the last 4 days in November. Things had

receded enough

> by the morning of the day before the workshop that we had 8

participants

> make it. At this point I learned something else I had forgotten

about

> Brazil: houses have water tanks on the roof or (in our case) in

the attic.

> City water fills these, and then the water from them flows down to

the

> faucets, toilets, etc. I was aware that others were without water

and

> congratulated our good fortune (quietly, of course) in still

having plenty

> for nice long hot showers, etc. Until we finished the 500+

gallons in the

> tanks and were ourselves without water the day the workshop was to

begin.

> Fortunately it was still raining, so we set up every bucket, pail,

garbage

> can, etc. we could find under places where the water ran off the

roof and

> had a pleasant 4 days of flushing toilets with buckets of

rainwater (when

> they REALLY needed to be flushed), heating rainwater and washing

up all the

> paraphenalia of breaks and snacks at the end of the day, etc. I

did the

> whole 4 days without more than a frugal sponge bath (which did

hold down the

> number of questions as the days went by...) My teaching in

Portuguese was,

> for the first time since I've been doing it, not the highest high

point in

> the workshop.

>

> When the water finally receded, which it did fairly quickly once

the rain

> upriver slowed down, we spent some time trying to help my in-laws

clean up

> their place. They were among the luckier floodees; many lost

every single

> thing they owned--and some even their lives. I've attached a

photo of a

> startling " sculpture " we passed on a local beach taking a walk the

night

> after things finally started receding--all materials the " artist "

found on

> the beach. He/she did not include any cows or horses or dogs or

cats,

> though those were available on some beaches. Our little beach had

at least

> 12 feet of flotsam and jetsam one would have had to broad-jump to

actually

> reach the water. I have a new respect for buzzards, which took

care of the

> " whatever-they-weres " that were included on our beach. We've had

a couple

> nice bonfires with the neighbors cleaning up the driftwood, and

there is at

> least one more building up. We've taken dozens of 50-gallon

trashbags of

> plastic and metal and various manmade pieces of junk off the

beach. The sea

> has also worked its magic, taking back or burying much of what it

brought.

>

> We settled into December with a visit from 's son, my first

online

> workshops in Portuguese (much harder than face-to-face!)

>

> Things have finally settled down closer to normal. Trying to find

someone

> to redo the roof on the part of the house that was worst, trying

to keep the

> plants and grass under some semblance of control (when your dogs

refuse to

> go up into the backyard because the grass is so tall they get

lost, it's

> time to cut it--again?

>

> Anyway, I'm back and will be back on the list more regularly and

following

> up with some of you who have supervision arrangements with mi.

>

> Thanks for your patience. A wonderful holiday season to all,

>

> Pete

>

> --

> Van Deusen

> pvdtlc@...

> http://www.brain-trainer.com

> 305/433-3160

> The Learning Curve, Inc.

>