Gardening in Unfamiliar Territory

I have to admit, it was kind of humbling moving to the East where I didn't recognize all the trees, couldn't name all the plants, and mostly, didn't know how the gardening would be. Actually, I didn't even think I would get to garden, so I was really grateful to find out that the church had an empty plot where anyone could garden. Summer and I started a 20'x20' plot together and the guys and kids helped out too; Sam especially being the hard-working hoe-wielding weeder (and raker).

Working in the garden became a lot more doable and enjoyable (less back-breaking) once Ked could walk and was happy on his own either in the garden or on the lawn nearby. He especially loved sharpening his teeth on rocks he'd pick up, eating dirt, and playing with the leftover bamboo sticks.

I love this little man! And he loves sticks.

Having Ked free in the garden also provided it's own set of challenges. . . (besides keeping him from eating everything he shouldn't)--keeping him from picking the produce, whacking a plant with his stick, or getting really dirty and muddy. Actually, I gave up on trying to keep him from getting dirty. . . and from some of the other stuff as well. That's the fun of it, right?

eating dirt clods. . .

(Yup, that is pretty much pure clay you see. Adding organic material was another thing I never got to.)

getting muddy. . .

I'm not sure what was happening in this picture, but apparently I was attempting to keep something drastic from happening. . . Ked beating a plant with his stick?

I'm still debating which I'd prefer: so much rain that you never have to water (especially when the spigot is 100 yards away and you have to pull out and put back five hoses to reach the plants) but always have to weed, or so little rain that you always have to water but rarely have to weed. Of course, if the garden were just in the back yard and I could work on it anytime the baby was sleeping, either would be fine. This summer here has had both.

Ked (11 months) apparently likes 'em green. He actually did bite into a green tomato or two.

The harvest so far has been alright--by the end of July we had plenteous tomatoes, way too many green beans (and not the best--I'll try a different variety next time, but the young ones are good), and decent green peppers--some even red and orange in July.

The broccoli which grew so easily (and yummy) in Utah was totally worm-eaten in the beginning, but is getting better. The squash which grows much too easily in the west (so you have so much you don't know what to do with it) gave us about two zucchini and three yellow crook-neck before all three plants succumbed to the squash bugs. So much for gardening so you don't have to use pesticides. The lettuce was eaten by rabbits (which I expected and didn't care too much about), and the cilantro and a few other things never made it to the ground before it was too late--it was kind of hard getting out there with the kids. The onions are growing well (besides several that have been stepped on by kids and adults alike--including me), but were planted way too late, so we'll see.

All in all, it's been a rewarding experience as always, and we're enjoying the harvest. (Although Sam is probably ready to be done with green beans at every meal. And I'm kind of relieved the squash are gone--I was getting sick of eating them after the week they were producing. Then again. . . neither of us would mind more zucchini bread.)

Haitians

(Sam) The Haitians in the city sometimes scared me. If they thought you had food or money, they would come and beg it from you. Since us white guys didn't look like we belonged, we often heard "hey, give me money" (mostly from kids but some adolescents and some women). A lot of the kids couldn't speak any English except for a few begging-phases. Most adults were okay unless they saw you give something to someone else; you would suddenly find a crowd around you. (I discovered this the hard way when I tried to be kind to the bellhops who took our luggage away from us when we first arrived at the airport.) I guess too many foreigners have "helped" the poor of the country with handouts, rather than helping them help themselves. Although just giving food and other goods is very charitable and necessary in some cases, it seemed that many of the people now felt entitled to aid, not trying to take care of themselves or having the understanding of the empowerment of self reliance. I think it is a hard mentality to break. Coincidentally, my evenings in Haiti were spent reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. From my observations and the book, I had a lot to reflect on how we treat the poor.

Anyway, while those in the city were sometimes intimidating, the people in the country were awesome. They were very kind and helpful (not asking for anything in return--even refusing payment) and pleasant. They even seemed happy, although they suffered from perhaps even greater poverty than their city-countrymen. Below are some pictures of the nice people we met at different sites throughout the week.

This kid, below, was super helpful. Somehow he understood what we were looking for and took us to another lateral spread about one half mile up the river. Then he stayed with us as we hiked another mile or so up the river to more lateral spreading.

I wish I had caught a picture of this kid's face. He cracked us up. He was driving the cattle to the river, I guess. Man, was he about his business. All business. I can't even describe it.

Just like in Africa, the people (mostly the women, but a few men) carry huge loads balanced on their heads. Sometimes I wondered if I could even lift the load to my head, let alone balance it or carry it.

Haiti

(Sam) Another picture of Francois, our bodyguard/translator/guide. He was a pretty cool guy. He lost his mom and one or two siblings in the earthquake. His dad lost his job after the earthquake because his place of employment didn't survive the quake. Now Francois is the sole breadwinner for his family.

This is the site of liquefaction/lateral spreading. We came here on our first full day in Haiti. It felt hotter that day, it had just rained, we couldn't feel the wind down in the stream bed, we underestimated the amount of water we would need, and we were still getting used to everything. To top it off, the mud was super sticky, and I used all my strength trying to pull my leg out of knee deep mud, more than once. I think we all suffered from heat exhaustion that day.

This picture was taken on maybe the penultimate full day we were there. It is at a site right on the coast near the port. Some lateral spreading occurred here since the soil used here was more like a landfill and it is right on the coast. There are several large grain bins here that were under construction at the time the earthquake occurred. No construction has occurred since the quake, but guards were still there to protect the investment. (Anything of worth has to be guarded. All the wireless towers have security guards at them. Can you imagine how much your cell phone bill would be if the companies had to pay for a guard at every cell tower, 24/7?)

Anyway, I was taking notes in the logbook while the other guys were trying to measure the height of the bins. They told me how tall some bracing on the bins was, so I backed up so I could scale the height like the way we learned in boy scouts. I backed up and disappeared into this crack which was probably 2 feet wide and about 5 feet deep. You should have heard the panic in my advisor's voice as he saw me go a la Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! I got some bumps and bruises and scratches and hurt my pride, but I was alright.

Haiti after the Earthquake

(Sam) As you probably saw on the news, Haiti was a mess after the earthquake. (Sadly, I think it was probably a mess before the earthquake, too.) This is a camp about five or ten miles north of Port-au-Prince, relatively in the middle of nowhere. (Behind is a mine--not a result of the quake.) Lots of people just live in these tents, and aid people bring them food on a regular basis. I don't know the exact number, but it seems like nearly everyone lived in a tent.

This is a routine scene for a roadside in Greater P.a.P. Garbage, people, dirt, merchandise, potholes, poverty, everywhere.

A friend of a colleague of one of the professors has a house in this neighborhood. He said that we should check a house that sunk 10 feet into the ground (from liquefaction). We were dubious, because our teammates informed us of the stiff soils in the area, and 10 feet would be a lot. Behind a fence, we found this house where the first floor collapsed (not sunk). The top of the house was still standing, barely.

More garbage and an outdoor market (they are pretty common).

Instead of taxis or buses, the mass transit of Haiti is composed of these tap-taps. They are usually small pickups with benches and a roof welded to the back, although some are actual buses or vans. Apparently, the more fantastic the painting, the better the tap-tap. The tap-taps are everywhere, so to show you are the better owner/operator, you have to class it up a little. A lot of the tap-taps say something religious like "Thank You, Jesus" or "Merciful God."

Haiti's President's Palace

(Sam) Here we are on the front lawn of the Presidential Palace in Haiti. That's me kneeling on the ground, center. We didn't intend to do any tests there, but when we tried to visit the port, it was closing so we didn't have time to do anything. So as not to waste time, we went to the palace because it is near the port. The palace, as you can see, was completely ruined.

More testing on the lawn of the palace, with my advisor manning the dynamic cone penetration test (DCP).
Because the palace is part of the government complex, we had to go through some security to get there. One lady took our papers and IDs and checked us in, then we had to go through a metal detector. It was kind of a joke, though. My advisor was afraid they wouldn't like his knife, so he stealthily put it into his hat with the rest of the contents of his pockets, and slid them to the side of the metal detector as he walked through. My steel-toed boots set off the alarm a couple of times, but instead of making me take them off, they just waved me on. After we got through the metal detector, we explained to the head security guard that we needed our tools to run tests. We had left them all in our cars. So he let us get our cars and drive them right past the checkpoint and metal detectors.

Sam's Trip to Haiti--Liquefaction Research

(Sam) In late April, I had the opportunity to go to Haiti for one week with my advisor. We went as part of a team from several universities (sponsored by the National Science Foundation) to conduct research post-earthquake. My advisor actually went a week or two after the earthquake, but the team got additional funds to answer questions they had from the first time.

The second team was composed entirely of earthquake/geotechnical engineers with the exception of a geologist. One part of the team ran all around Port-au-Prince trying to create a map of the geology in the region. The USGS had created a map from incomplete data, but our team made a lot of changes and had a lot to add. It turns out that most of the surface soils are a lot stiffer than anyone thought, something that has a big effect on how the earthquake affects the buildings.

Another part of the team went to lots of sites and performed SASW tests all over the place. SASW stands for spectral analysis of surface waves. Basically, to perform SASW, you stretch microphones out in a line for about 100 or so feet (maybe longer, if you can get it). Then you hit the ground in different spots with a sledge hammer. With all sorts of mathematics and computers, you can use the data collected to create a profile of the soil according to the speed of the waves in the ground. The faster the waves move, the stiffer the ground. Basically, this is one more way to do what geotechs do: figure out what it is like underground. Incidentally, this team was led by a young geotech prof. at the University of Arkansas. He is a returned missionary from our church and originally from Helper, Utah. It was nice that I wasn't the only one not having a cold beer in the evenings.

The final team was my team, and it was composed of two professors (one was my advisor), and two grad students. We wanted to get information about liquefaction that occurred during the earthquake. Liquefaction occurs when loose, wet sands are shaken so hard that they go into a denser formation. (If you have ever tapped the measuring cup full of sugar or flour, you have probably seen it settle; it is basically the same.) Since the sand is wet, the water in the sand tries to get out of the way of the sand grains. But the densification occurs quickly and the water can't get out quickly enough. Instead, the water is compressed and the pressure of the water builds. If the pressure is enough to push the sand grains apart, liquefaction has occurred. What it means is that the sand loses its strength. If it is a hill of sand, it might slump, leaving big cracks behind. If it is a flat surface, like a field, you might only notice little sand volcanoes forming with with sandy water coming out (search for "niigata liqefaction" on youtube).

Anyway, with coordinates from Google Earth, we went to sites that had experienced liquefaction. We would pound a cone into the ground and measure the number of blows with the hammer to go a certain distance. This would tell us the density of the soil. We also used a hand auger to drill holes and take samples. The samples will be analysed by me (probably) back at the lab, and we will run our own tests using the samples, trying to recreate the liquefaction.

In the picture above, we are running tests at one site of liquefaction. I am crouching, counting the number of hammer drops, and my friend in the red shirt is doing the hard work lifting and dropping the hammer (the disc on the bar). We took turns, so don't think less of me.

In the black is our body guard- his regular job is with the national police. (Haiti doesn't really have a military; this national police force is the closest thing.) He also doubled as our interpreter and guide, which was probably even more important than the heat he was packing.

About the site: This was at a man-made jetty at a cement company. The soil liquefied because whoever made the jetty didn't compact it well enough. The cement company had the best security I saw anywhere (probably better than the UN), and since the company had a private port and was own by the Colombians, we were almost certain it is a port of entry for much of the country's narcotics.

This picture is also at the port of the cement company. I am acting as a human scale for the crack that can be seen under the conveyor.

Here is a group shot of our entire team, including our guards.

This is an example of lateral spreading. A lot of the sites we visited were at the banks of rivers. At these locations, the weakening of the soils allows huge slabs of earth to move or slump (spread) into the rivers. As a result, you find huge cracks that run parallel to the river. You should note the banana trees around here.

(Many of the photos courtesy of Sam's advisor.)

Sundays

I was pretty excited to finally find a white shirt and tie for Ked. I can't get over how cute he looks in it, especially next to his good-lookin' Dad!

The Best Reward

I'm pretty sure this is one of the best parts of being a parent so far--Ked's wobbly run with his arms outstretched towards you (or bouncing his arms up and down when he's really excited, like in this video), big smiles, excited noises, then collapsing into an embrace.

In this video, I started recording right when I heard Sam's footsteps in the apartment stairwell coming home from work. I love Sam's and Ked's smile at the end. I didn't get as much of Ked's excited face as I'd planned (and this is more grainy than the original), but I still LOVE this video.

July 27, 2010; Ked almost 11 months

At Work

Every once in a while, Ked and I visit Sam at work/research. This is a new machine Sam runs tests on.

Outside the lab.

(Cutting a piece of wood to stabilize the table the machine is on.)

Ked loves all things mechanical (and to do anything his dad is doing).

mid-June 2010, Ked 9 1/2 months

Path of Destruction

Ked is an active little fellow. He likes to explore anything new and typically leaves a path of destruction. He likes to pull things out and move things to new places. We find his blocks everywhere (including in the laundry, found after the wash).

He also likes to drop things into his crib. I've watched him put a couple of things in the trash and wonder if that's where the missing blocks have gone (and who knows what else?). The trash is now hidden, especially since he was taking things like pieces of tomato and orange peels out and eating them. Our desk drawers are completely in disarray. Haven't figured out what to do about those yet. The lower shelves of our bookcase are currently covered with cardboard. I am constantly putting away his and my clothes that he pulls out. I admit, I let him do a lot of these things because he enjoys it so much and it keeps him happy. There are some things he does without my permission, however. The other day I couldn't find my cell phone anywhere! After listening for it with numerous calls, I finally found it in the back room in a closed cardboard box where the extra packages of wipes are. . . Stay tuned for more adventures of parenthood!

Surfing Lessons

Sam caught me teaching Ked to surf. This was the paddling out part. He's a little slow getting upright, but he's totally a natural otherwise.

Ginger

This last week marked two years since Ginger passed away. I think I miss her even more now than before. It happened just three weeks after Sam's and my wedding, and there's a lot of fun and joy and challenges and uncertainties in family life that you want to talk to your sisters about! Recipes; remedies; financial challenges; pregnancy and labor; dates with the husband and fun activities with the kids; making the habits of family prayer, scripture study and family home evening meaningful; and a million other things. . . I wish I could hear her stories, learn from her experiences, get her suggestions and expert advice.

This had been in Erin's emergency comfort kit at school. (The teachers ask the parents to make one.) I love Ginger's message, and I wanted it recorded somewhere.

Roseola Boy

Somewhere amongst our travels through several states and six different beds (four homes, two hotels) Ked picked up Roseola--a few days of fever and then a few days of rash. My typically very active boy just wanted to be held all day, poor little guy. It made me so happy several days later when suddenly he was his happy, active, exploratory, mischief-maker self.

With the rash. 10 1/2 months

Portion of a roll of toilet paper: Pennies

20+ minutes of contentedness from an otherwise upset little boy: Priceless!

My aching back couldn't take holding him any longer, so I let him do what he's always wanted to do. He loved it! Unfortunately he also liked eating it. And I let him play with it a little too long, and it was all over the house in tiny pieces. But the quick cleanup was totally worth it.

S.S.

Nightly family scripture study. (My mom used to call it "S.S.", but we always did it in the morning.) It was fun to see how the kids were really into it and participated in reading and answering questions.

If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see the following:

-Caleb reading his imaginary scriptures (looks like it, anyway)

-Ginger demonstrating how warm it is with her personal fan

-Ethan using his Book of Mormon as a telescope

-Rod showing Jenna how to find the scriptures on the Internet

-All the kids wearing "silly bandz"

Deep in the Heat of Texas

After Iowa, we drove to Texas to see my sister Heidi and her family. Turns out we came the same time as my brother Rod's family, my sister Wendy, and Ginger and Jason's kids.

Ryan, Jenna, Gabe, Sam, Ked, Holly. They never saw me jumping on the trampoline. It was way too hot. Never had such an easy time getting into a pool, though!

Brady and Holly watch Ked climbed the stairs. Ked LOVES stairs. I'm glad we don't have any!

The kids loved Ked, even though he was Mr. Grouch a good portion of the time, due to a fever.

Ked was sick with a fever most of the time we were in Texas, so we weren't as active as we would have liked to be, but it was still great being able to hang out with my siblings and their families. As usual, I regret not getting better pictures of my siblings!

The Iowa Way

We had a lot of fun with the family the week of the wedding. We were in Sam's home town four or five days, then stayed two nights with Sam's brother Morgan and his family a few hours away.

Morgan, still in his work clothes, shows us his new bike. And tricks!

We missed Guy, but the kids loved the wagon he bought before he left.

Eli, Henry, Ked, Josh

Sam struts his stuff. Gordon's other truck is a semi. Emily, Ked, and Henry

Once Ked figured out he could stand in the wagon, it made things a little more difficult. I think he was just practicing surfing.

I still can't get over the idea that 18 year old Gordon is driving a semi (this one). Eli thinks it's cool too.

Dan (Gordon) and Sam, launching Eli in a friend's pool.

Ked's still uncertain about swimming pools.

Sam and Ked. Dan and Eli and Morgan and Josh in the background.

I love to see how much fun Sam has with his family. And I love when he laughs like this! (Outside at the end of the reception.)

Sam an' Shan

"Hey guys!" Dan impersonating his big bro.

After the bouquet toss. The plan was this: Amy and Ginny block out, Shannon swoop in and grab the flowers. Didn't quite work (flowers were thrown a little to the side--to the girl that was already engaged), but it was fun to watch.