Tues. S.R.

  Happy Khmer New Year!  It's tomorrow, Fri., so I have off for a week.  Also I have to mention how pleasant the weather has been comparatively speaking.  Mornings especially seem to be so.  April is known to be oppressively hot and humid.  This April so far has been actually like last April which was uncharacteristically pleasant also. Who knows what's up!?

  On Tuesdays I wake at 615 or so, have my usual breakfast: toast w/ peanut butter, bananas and tea.  I say bananaS because of the many varieties of them here I like the sweet like candy, very small ones.  A Khmer called them "monkey bananas".  They are delicious!  Another kind of banana I like are green yet ripe and also delicious, these are regular size.  So after reading my email, facebook and checking a variety of news sources on the internet I leave for work around 730.  Tuesdays begins 3 days of work at my main job.   Oh and Tuesday mornings I make playdough for the week for the Lotus Kids' Club (LKC) preschool.  I have taught the teachers how to make it but for now I am the designated maker.

  At LKC I am the consultant for the programs.  I've helped set up the space and have been teaching the teachers about early childhood development/education.  I originally wasn't the main consultant for the afternoon all ages program but I am now.  I'm learning more and more about school-age kids.  I've talked previously about how great and dedicated the teachers are and willing to learn from this crazy old barang (term for foreigners) with his unusual ideas about children.  The main teacher, Chantheurn, is on maternity leave, a govt. mandated 3 months off.  Her husband, Ratha, is the teacher/social worker and there are 3 young woman, 24, 20 and 15, who are the other teachers.  Teachers and social workers are terms used loosely.  Some get some formal training and the quality of that is often questionable.  In any case I am impressed by what I see and hear considering the circumstances.  None of the teachers speaks good English, the director translates and his English is good but not great.  I have to say though that their English is improving much more rapidly than my Khmer.  Ratha of late is 'feeding' me Khmer words.  There is a lot of gesturing and 'sign' language.  I communicate with the kids in the same way.  I imagine it would be pretty amusing to watch our interactions.

  I certainly interact with the children, there are 21 in the PS program.  I make a point though of not being in the role as the primary teacher.  I act more as the manager of the program, somewhat similar to my role at the Family Room when I worked in Vermont.  The program is from 730-11 M-F.  Of course the children are wonderful.  I've watched so many of the children grow and learn.  On her 1st day one girl just stood by the door and sobbed.  The next couple of days she gradually moved closer observing the action.  By week's end she was cautiously participating.  In the next several weeks she would mostly play alone, eventually she joined others in play.  She didn't seem to talk or smile though.  This gradually changed after a few months and now she's made friends, she'll sing songs, and often will flash smiles.  She's bloomed.  She reminded me of Jaz a bit, as Jaz was a stone faced observer when she attended pre-school.

  There's one little guy who was a challenge not wanting to participate in activities, starting conflicts with other kids and generally vying for attention with negative behavior.  He seemed to have a face of anger and sadness.      It took a little time but this is the kid now who is the 1st to help clean up at program's end.  And I love his boisterous laugh.  He's still a bit of a wiseguy though now it's not mean spirted but joyful.  It reinforced my beliefs about young children and how they gain confidence and make appropriate choices if they are in the right environment with caring support.

  I think about the 2 little guys who were in conflict it seemed constantly.  After weeks of appropriate support and intervention these 2 guys are the best of buddies, of course with occasional conflicts but usually easily resolved.  They are the 2 kids that are constantly on the move and together find ways to use materials and equipment creatively.  I wish I knew what they talk to each other about, they seem to be always jabbering about something as they play.  These kids have shown me that my ideas may be ok but they have their own agenda.  I brought in pieces of hose and funnels for the water table thinking they'd be great to pour the water through.  They used them as a telephone line talking and listening to each other through the hoses and funnels and laughing hysterically.  They both can be focused on an activity for long periods also, one prefers building w/ legos, the other likes puzzles.  They are fun to watch.

  At 11 after the program ends we talk about the kids, child development/education and plan.  I leave at around 1145 for lunch and a nap.  This is typical here for schools and some businesses to take a 2-3 hour break.  Our landlord downstairs usually comes home for lunch with his family and will often nap in a hammock before returning to work.  Needless to say it's hot mid-day.  Lunch for me is leftovers or food from one of the many stands.  There is grilled fish/meat, soups, stir-frys, and various pots of food.  I often get fish.  And lunch can cost a dollar or two and I'll be quite full.  Lunch will sometimes include a beer, helps with the nap-taking.  Sometimes Jess is home for lunch.

  I return on Tuesdays to LKC for the Afternoon Program at 2.  All children are welcome to attend, so we have kids from under 2 to teens, anywhere from 15-30+ kids.  It has taken a while but we seem to have a good system now.  Mon and Tues arts and crafts is the focus, Wed is sports and games, Fri is music and movement (Ratha plays guitar).  Thurs is staff mtg. and once a month rice/food giveaway and a parent's meeting. In this program I've discovered the joys of working with school age kids.  My former workmates in Vermont will laugh as I resisted efforts to include older kids in programs at the FR.  Oh you guys would be shocked to see what I have to let slide and how tolerant and flexible I am here out of necessity.

  I am truly impressed with the older kids.  Their creativity, intelligence and talents are a wonderful surprise.  There are several kids that show real artistic abilities.  We've recruited a few of those kids to help lead activities for the kids.  One young girl around 12 or 13 has lead a craft project bringing in her own idea.  We are trying our best to support and encourage these children as they all live in challenging conditions and live hand to mouth with the real possibility of not having enough to eat.  Yet these kids are thoughtful, caring and still have a zest for life.  I think and hope we are providing a way to express themselves or at the very least learn about who they are and what potential they have.  I'm talking about all the kids not just the artistically talented ones but the kid who masters the hula hoop or completes a complicated puzzle.  I hope we provide experiences that boost self confidence and lead children on a path to success in whatever they endeavor to accomplish.  In any case big kids are fun.

  I head home around 4 and usually don't play tennis on Tuesdays, gotta take at least one day off especially considering I've probably played Fri-Mon.  If I didn't get to nap at lunchtime I may try for  a snooze.  Sometimes Tues I make dinner and it's usually Western type food.  You can get good Asian food here so it's what I make the least I think, perhaps the opposite of my cooking in Vt.  All kinds of Western food is available here but not a huge variety and sometimes more expensive.  Or we'll get take out or eat out on Tues.
A couple of Tuesdays ago we attended a event called Nerd Night.  It's a fun get together at a different restaurant/bar every month.  There are 6-8 speakers, each talking about a passion or interest for 6min 40sec with 20 slides changing every 20 seconds (00:06:40).  It's always an informative and fun evening attended by mostly Westerners but also Khmers and usually one Khmer will present.  It's been happening for several months now and I presented at the 1st one.  I had a weak and slightly drunk moment when asked to present and said yes.  My talk was on my passion/obsession with food.  A mostly 'tongue in cheek' talk.  I hit the sack anywhere between 9 and midnight, reading or watching some show on the computer.

  I hope my next blog entry is more exciting regarding my Wednesdays.
 

 

 

No April Fool....

  ........this is a blog entry after a long absence.  Why that is I'm not sure.
 
  Perhaps just laziness or maybe all the days just seem so routine so what's there to write about other than myself and who the hell wants to hear about the mundane pace of my life.  I'll try then to focus on Cambodia and the Khmers, remember I said "try".

 It's Monday early afternoon and I just finished teaching at an orphanage/school.  I started there a few weeks ago teaching the teachers about child development etc....  It's a well respected Italian NGO in Siem Reap, been here 10 years.  So every Monday I bike out there, a 40 minute easy ride.  I have been enjoying the sessions there, it's a wonderful setting.  Lots of space and well maintained.  And the teachers have been great.  Most do not speak English, so I apologize to them for not being able to speak Khmer.  The translator is very good.  I invite them to ask questions at any point during the teaching.  I also tell them they can ask me anything about the USA.  They surprise me with their level of participation and their questions.

  The questions concerning children and their development were very similar to what I've heard asked in the US.  I guess shouldn't be surprising as all parents face the same challenges worldwide.  The questions about life in America are more challenging.  I was asked if people who live in the countryside all have cars.  I said  that most do have a vehicle. One of the teachers stated that her belief was that a every family in the US has at least one car.  I had to explain that there is a level of poverty in the US.  Not comparable to Cambodia of course but that there are homeless people.  I was asked if children have to beg for food in order to eat.  How does one explain the disparity between the very wealthy, the middle/working class and the very poor.  It's true  that it's a rarity for a child to die of starvation.  I explained that there are places that the poor can get food (food shelves, soup kitchens etc...).  Then to explain our healthcare system, this has been a challenge to explain to anyone outside the US.  So I explained: "Well let's see if you are rich you can pay, if you're very poor the govt. pays, but if you work you have to pay and it is very expensive and sometimes working people can not afford to go to the doctor".  Yes challenging questions but I look forward to more.  The teachers truly want to learn and do a good job with the children and are willing to listen to the old barang and his crazy ideas about kids.

  After I leave there I bike to the hotel where I play tennis, about a 30 minute ride.  However I have made it a habit to stop at a little Khmer place for lunch on the way.  The place has very limited choices, usually a fish soup and maybe a meat and greens dish, sometimes grilled or dried fish.  Oh and of course steamed rice.  All quite tasty and free tea.  I usually have a beer also.  Hey it's almost noon, it's hot and I don't play tennis for at least 2 hours.  Total bill is 6000 riel (1.5 dollars).   I met a guy there who's from Myanmar (Burma) and we've chatted a few times.  He's been coming to Cambodia for a few years helping in the construction of a golf course (a Nick Faldo design).  They just had a tournament and a Korean- American from Calif. won.  We've had some interesting talks on a variety of topics including the "slow changes" happening in his country, Myanmar.  Very nice guy and he gave me some tips on where to go and what one can do in Myanmar.  I would like to visit there especially now as the country moves through a transition to hopefully more openness and freedom.

  After lunch I head off to the hotel for tennis.  It's usually a couple of hours till court time.  So I take a dip in the pool and grab a lounge chair and often get in a few winks.  Most often I will nap but I'll read or prepare lessons also.  After a few hours of tennis and a shower I head home around 530-600.  Mondays we'll either eat in or go grab dinner somewhere as is the case of course most nights.  This particular Monday is a monthly meeting called Casual Collaboration.  CC is a time for NGO workers to get together network and share experiences and eat, drink and be merry.  The event rotates between restaurants for meetings.  It's fun and a great way to meet folks.

  That's a typical Monday.  So next entry will be my Tuesday day.  Enjoy.

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November coolness

   That "coolness" means it's in the low 70's in the morning, low humidity and pleasant nights.  Halloween came and went and we did not do anything related to it.  We talked about going to Pub St. to see folks in costumes but we did not.  It seems like lately we've become more homebodies.  I think partly because we really have settled into routines and we are working more.  So after a workday and sometimes a 2+ hour tennis match we're content to stay in.  Of course when Marissa was here we ate out  a lot but didn't take in too much nightlife.  And I took more tuk tuk rides with her than i have a year probably.  It was great to have my oldest daughter here ( at least someone has paid us a visit).

  It was mostly the evenings we tuk tuk'd,  Otherwise Marissa really enjoyed going bike riding all over and getting lost then finding our way back home.  It was a blast, it was something Jess and I did till she got her evil moto and that was the end of bike riding for her and me.  Marissa caught on quick to the unwrittten biking rules of the road here.  They can be tricky and I was getting a little concerned as she was getting a bit cocky in traffic.  But all went very well.

   We did celebrate Thanksgiving this year, totally ignored it last year here. It was just another day.  But this year we got together with a lovely American family on our road.  We each cooked a turkey, and divided up the rest of the meal.  We invited a few other American folks and even a few Brits showed up.  It was at the family's home.  It felt so good to have the gathering and we're still eating leftovers.   A great time.

  I do miss being home for the holiday season.  It's of course family and friends I miss, sharing meals, having drinks together, conversations.  I am not missing however the unending in your face crass commercialization of the season.  They will be some Xmas trees put up here and there in Siem Reap but we are far from being overwhelmed by all of it.  I believe we have plans for a Xmas party this year, we did so last year and it was fun mix of Westerners and Khmers.  This year should be interesting as we know many more folks and will invite all.

   I'm missing home in general, missing friends and family.  I miss talking to all the good folks back in Vt. And I miss all the things we can't get here.  Certainly not a hardship at all being here.  In fact it's pretty easy to live here and there is not too much that we can't get.  It's just that occasionally some things here will drive you up a wall.  And then you think well that could happen at home too and certainly there were things back home that drives one up a wall also.  So not going anywhere soon and we're still trying to figure out how can we divide our time between Vt. and SR?

  Well still playing a lot of tennis and still very much liking the work I'm doing here, challenging as it is.  And I have to say thanks to all my former work mates at the FR, I am forever saying to myself what would Nell think about this?, how would Sarah react to that?, what would Anne do? how would Linda change this?  They and others I haven't mentioned come to mind often as well as the families.  I wish they were here to help me.

  I barely got my monthly blog in for November not too exciting but here it is.  

 

October Floods- still here!

  Well I ended my last post with "the rains will pass", hasn't happened.  Perhaps gotten worse.  Out and about today I saw and rode my bike through many roads that had not flooded previously but are now.  On the last stretch of the road to work, now flooded, the main road Rt. 6 on the way to where I play tennis now many parts flooded, the tennis courts under 6 inches of water, never happened before. No I didn't play.  It appears to be getting worse.  I almost lost my shoes in the mud a few times when I had to get off my bike to walk through the muddy water.  How many times can I wash my feet/legs in one day?  Hearing from folks it's the worst in at least a dozen years perhaps much longer.  Countrywide I believe it's approaching 300 dead, almost 15% of rice crop lost maybe more.

flooded streets

  We went to Phnom Penh over the weekend and the ride there was a bit surreal.  It at times felt like we were riding through a lake.  Water on each side of us, vast areas.  Animals and people on the edges of the road, their houses flooded and surrounded by hip deep water or deeper.  Shades of 'Waterworld'.  And just read that PM Hun Sen just cancelled the celebrations for the annual 'Water Festival'.  How ironic.  It's normally a huge national celebration.  He said resources are needed for the flood victims, perhaps he and his cronies could sell off a few of their mansions.  I'm sure they each could let go of a few of the many they have.  Won't happen.  Kinda like in the States where the burden is on the working class and poor.  Only here many people will go hungry, starve and die.  It's not a pretty picture.

  Of course we personally are fortunate, we are not flooded out. Though many ex-pats along with Khmers are in fact flooded out of their abodes.  For us it's just a pain to ride through the flooded streets, minimal inconvenience compared to what some folks have to endure.  Life goes on however, another struggle for the Cambodian people.

 I celebrated my birthday (Oct. 1) by staying overnight with Jess at the fancy hotel where I play tennis.  With tennis membership I got a night's stay, massages and breakfast.  We went the the night of  Sept 30th.  We had a halfway decent dinner, wonderful massages and a great breakfast buffet.  And we just had a relaxing time.  Jess even got to languish in a bathtub.

http://www.angkorpalaceresort.com/

  And I am continuing the tradition of getting sick on my birthday, started last year with pink eyes and flu type ills.  That lasted the month of Oct.  This year just a stye in one eye and weak/achey for just a week or so.  I should be thankful because otherwise I've been healthy.  Turning 60 I was beginning to feel old, mostly because I was sick.  But then I lost a tennis match badly and thought 'alright I am old.'  The next week I beat handily my most fearsome and talented young (34) opponent.  So after that I felt perhaps I've got a few years and matches in me.  Sad how my emotional state and ego are tied to my tennis matches.

  I do in fact feel I'm in good shape, though I've lost 5-10 pounds in the last year.  It shouldn't be surprising, I ride my bike everywhere, play as much tennis as I can and most likely eat less in general (the heat) and less junk food.  Sixty did however feel like a big b'day year, similar to when I turned 30, which seemed like yesterday in some ways.  For the past year I thought I was 60 anyway but when Oct. 1 rolled around I felt the full impact.  I hope I'm not going anywhere soon and I have another 30 in me.

poolside lunch

  Many schools have not opened because of the floods.  The place I'm at is accessible so we started on Oct 3 with 14 new kids and six returnees.  I was surprised how almost all the kids had a smooth transition to the class.  Only one girl cried the 1st day and by week's end she was comfortable being part of the class.  The teachers are doing a good, a very good job with the new class.  And the teacher training session went well.  There are challenges , quite expected, yet I'm feeling good about my work.

'Ooblick' play, a 1st

  Well the rains have stopped for now, I certainly hope it's the beginning of the end of rainy season.

Sept rains

   I heard and saw footage of the floods in Vt.  It sounded pretty rough for some folks and I know there is still a big recovery effort underway and fundraising to help communities.  We have been getting lots of rain in SR, that's an understatement, many streets are flooded.  I don't want to minimize the devastation in Vt. yet I can't help but think of the folks here who are affected by the flooding and the comparison with Vt.  This happens almost every year here to some degree though this year seems particularly bad and early.  There have been several deaths related to the flooding.  Unfortunately here there is no FEMA, no emergency relief, no food shelves, no Phish to raise a million bucks. The people with dirt floors who get flooded out I can't imagine where and how they get help.  Yet life goes on, folks ride their bikes and motos through ankle to almost hip deep water, outdoor markets open in spite of streams running thru them.  It's impossible to avoid flooded streets if you want to go anywhere.

  And we are lucky, our place has only a bit of water in our yard, many ex-pats along with Khmers have been flooded out of their homes.  We squegee our balcony, put on rain gear and venture out.  We wash our feet/legs when we return, don't want to think of what's in the street water. And with all the rain tennis gets cancelled, not so much a hardship.  So we are fairly comfortable.

 Lately I've been missing home, Vt.  Maybe it's the time of year, Fall in Vt. is the best.  Crisp apples, the Fall leaves, Octoberfest micro-brews, the cool evenings.  And of course really missing our good friends and family back home.  Though at this point not in a hurry to return, just a bit of homesickness.  Perhaps a cheeseburger will help.

  And in spite of the rains I have been playing some tennis.  I've been having some great matches, sometime winning and sometimes not.  I finally took 2 of 3 sets from a guy I play who's very good.  I didn't think it was possible for me to accomplish that.  But I feel my game has improved and feel I'm in great shape for an old fart.  Watch out when I do return  to Vt.

  And work has been very satisfying.  I am having fun and being challenged in my work of teaching the teachers.  Not only is the language a factor as one of the teachers has very limited English and the other is only slightly better.  So when we do the training their supervisor has to translate for the most part and his English is good but not great.  In any case we are all committed to having the program work so it's been good and interesting.  I am still looking forward to teaching several teachers at another place so this is good practice.  I was also approached by a woman wanting help setting up a PS program, virtually from scratch.  Sounds like it could be exciting, we'll see what develops.

  All is well and wet.  The rains shall pass as all things do.  "All things must pass."  -G. H.



 

One Year

  Yes we're approaching one year of living in Cambodia.  I believed we arrived the 27 or 29 of August last year. Our thought last year before we left was that 'a year will go by fast and it may take us that long to figure out what we'll do here' proved to be true.  And that 'we would most likely know by year's end if we were happy about being here' also was accurate.  We have found what we can do here and we are happy to be living in Cambodia.

   Which makes me think why do I like being here?  I am going to list those reasons that come to mind.

•  I like the warm weather, I even somewhat like the high temps.  I even like playing tennis under the blazing sun with high humidity.  Though it is nice to have cloud cover at times.  
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• I like no rather love that I am riding my bike everyday and don't have a car.  It is an adventure every time I get on my bike and have to negotiate the traffic.  It's a game it's a dance it's hard to explain. There are rules but not comparable to our traffic/biking ones at home.  And it's not just the traffic that needs negotiating the roads too, both paved and dirt/rock.  Staying alert is key.
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• I like that I can play tennis outside year round.  I absolutely think I have improved my game, I've been playing some very good players here.  I'd be kicking ass back home, ha ha.  
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• I like that I am meeting and talking to and making friends with Khmers as well as folks from all over the world.

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• I like that it's a young crowd here, both Khmers and ex-pats.  The vitality and energy of the young is wonderful.  There are certainly some of my cohorts here and I do miss at times that dynamic.
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•    I do like the beauty of the Khmers, ok I'm talking about the beautiful women here.  'Nuff said.
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• I like being able to go out to eat whenever because it can be so inexpensive AND good.
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• I love the open air food markets.  The fresh produce. The fruit. The fish.  I could go on but let just say it's been great trying new and delicious fruits, greens, fish, vegetables. I eat so much better here, fish often.
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• I like my big kitchen, our balcony, being outside almost all the time, as we 'live' on the balcony.
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• I like seeing the fruit bats in the night sky off our balcony, hundreds of them pass by.
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• I love seeing so many kids here and being able to work with some of them and seeing them learn and discover.

      I'm sure there are other factors contributing to being comfortable here, perhaps some that are difficult to articulate.  For example I feel that my brain is being challenged in new and different ways: figuring out Khmer culture, trying to understand accents (around the world accents) is a challenge for me, the language, and more. Gotta keep that brain active as a way to avoid 'oldtimers' disease (Alz.) as my kids used to say.  .

  I just discovered how delicious passion fruit is, it's got that sweet/sour mix I love. And they are @ 6 for a buck.   How could I have been here a year and not found this out sooner?  Well many new fruits here is my excuse.  How many more out there?!

  So a year has indeed come and gone and it's been fabulous.  No thoughts yet about returning to the States, though lately I'm missing and thinking about friends and family back home, just looking forward to the 2nd year.

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Happy Indy Day

   I hope folks back in Vermont are enjoying the Summer months, a great time to be in the Green Mountain state.  People are going to be crowding Waterfront Park and the shores of Lake Champlain for the fireworks in Burlington on the 3rd.  I'll miss them, they are great.  I remember some years wondering 'how much longer can they go on?'  (Yes I started the entry a few days back, but I liked my opening)  Going to try to at least write a blog a month, so far so good.

  We've been back here just over a month after our trip back to the States in May.  And it seems like a lot has happened.  I am much clearer about how I can help here.   I mentioned 2 places in my last entry that work with children.  I've been going to the preschool that has @ 15 3-5 year olds.  The 2 Khmer teachers there seem very caring and I've been impressed by their skills in working with the kids, especially the male teacher, it's a husband and wife team.  I've brought materials ( I still make the best playdough) offered suggestions, and advice.  I spend a bit of time with the kids but make sure the primary caregivers are the teachers.  Hardly any English teaching.  Which is how it is set up at this school.  Half the kids are actually Vietnamese, all poor and so the Khmer language and culture is emphasized.

  There of course are challenges. The husband has almost no English and the wife's is ok.  The director speaks pretty good English, it's me that has such a hard time with accents.  Not surprisingly children spending their time playing is not seen as learning.  Fortunately 2 Australians involved are both educators.  A young woman, 25, oversees the program but is busy with other programs within the organization.  That's why the other Australian and I have been recruited.  The young woman is very bright with such a great way about her.  The org is well run and respected.  So this is such a welcome change from the mismanaged (to put it mildly) NGO I was at previously with 50-100 kids.

  I've only been here there a few weeks and have been involved in the room design and will be doing a weekly training.  I've already talked a bit with the teachers (with a translator) about the importance of kids playing and moving when they are 3-5 years old.  They looked a bit like they thought I was crazy.  This should be very interesting.  I'll also be doing some teacher training at the orphanage I mentioned in the previous post, the woman in charge of that program is returning this week.  Looking forward to working there, the woman is  actually an Early Childhood Educator.  Both places also seemed interested that I'm a Social Worker indicating a possibility for me to contribute some of that knowledge down the line.  I most likely will get a stipend from the school!  Enough I hope to pay for my tennis obsession, more on that later.

   And I've been trying to help the children's hospital here get in place a Social Work program.  They have a Home Care program at the hospital mostly with medical folks, though similar to the VNA's home visitors they do some 'social work'.  Yet no trained Social Workers are on staff.  They only recently graduated the 1st class of Social Workers from a university in Phnom Phen.  Some question their skill levels.  In any case I was able to go on a home visit, an hour's drive out in the country to a poor village.  And actually considering, NGO network,  the situation of families here and the challenges I thought they did well.  There are so many NGO's here that it's hard to get a handle on who offers what.  So I've been meeting with some and trying to get a feel for where the hospital can refer: and give info on   Time consuming.

  So I've been a bit busy but still have time for tennis and social gatherings.  There seems to be an explosion of social and other activity here among expats.  New facebook pages: including classified ads, book swap, NGO network, happenings.   Just a general vibrancy and we're making some good friends and connections.  Tennis has been great.  Iwas rained out a couple of times but the rain has been holding off for the most and I've been getting to play 3-4 times a week and have a standing 6am time weekly.
 
  Still loving it here and if I was asked the best time of year to visit I'd be hard pressed to give an answer.  It seems to be just good weather and hard to predict when it would be most pleasant.  However there are less t tourists certain times of the year.  And we are moving towards being here a year.

  Some folks may have heard but my son Skyler is moving back to Burlington, and most likely will start work at the Trat.  He has plans to open a place of his own with a chef buddy.  He'll need all the luck he can get on that endeavor.  He's traveling this week, driving with his girlfriend, Jenny.   Safe travels guys.