To any who are following my meanderings, my apologies for "wandering away" without giving due notice. It has been a bit hectic here on South Xeric Way.  

Prospective changes. The Abells are tentatively in the process of making arrangements for hosting a Swedish high school student for this coming fall semester. Here is the short version.
     In 1984, we hosted Ted, one of Christine's second cousins from Helsingborg, Sweden. He spent a year and, based on his Swedish transcript, received a  graduation diploma from Denver's Thomas Jefferson high school. Then, in 1986, Anja, another cousin came for a year. She, too, graduated from TJ. Time flies! Now we are in the process of deciding /making arrangements for Anja's 15 year-old  daughter, Sanna, to spend a semester with us.
     Needless to say, making the arrangements for Sanna are vastly more complicated than for her mother. As you might imagine, the major complications relate mostly to September 9, 2011, the immigration debates here at home, and all that's followed.
     Another difference is Sanna's plans beyond her semester with us. Ted and Anja, both of whom are now successful small business entrepreneurs, came with no plans of going on to college. Sanna, on the other hand, has applied for the Swedish gymnasium, a preparatory requirement for college entrance. This means closer attention has to be given to the high school courses she will take if she stays with us. It will also involve a certain amount of academic telecommuting with her home school in Rydebäck. This is not a problem; she has already done this when her family comes for their ski vacations with us.
     So, as they say, the beat -- and the paper work -- go on.

Reading, non-fiction. A fellow blogger (and former colleague) recently recommended Andrew Levy's Huck Finn's America: Mark Twain and the Era that Shaped His Masterpiece (Simon and Schuster, 2015). I, too, heartily recommend this book.
     From Levy's preface: "For anyone who wants to try to unravel the tangled knot that ties modern Americans to their past, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) remains essential." Indeed! Loved, disparaged, certainly much debated, Huck has remained controversial since he was introduced to Americans and the world. Levy examines Twain and his work as a window of the past that continues to resonate with modern day America.
     The literati will no doubt continue their debate as to which is the great American novel, Huckleberry or Moby Dick. I think it certain, though, that for a fair majority of future young readers, Huck will carry the day.

Jeb. On Monday Jeb Bush is in, finally; he is, perhaps, the last biggie to throw a hat in the ring and the eleventh Republican. Earlier, last Saturday, Hillary officially jumped in. Why do candidates wait so long? One reason is that once you are officially in, there are sorts of those "sticky" new rules that impinge on a candidate's ability to raise money willy-nilly. Such a pain have to now have to require your donors to reveal themselves. That is, of course, why those super-pacs exist.
     Monday afternoon, a NPR "All Things Considered" segment talked about Bernie Sander who is actually drawing huge crowds. Thousands drawn to several not so large venues. Ever the odd one, he tweeted  the Clinton campaign that "objects in their rear view mirror might be larger than they appear!"

Monsoon rains. The so-called monsoons, afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms, that normally come in late July/early August, have continued unabated here in CO. The roadsides, meadows, and forest floors are spectacularly green this year. It is amazing how different it is on our trips to clean the condos in Breckenridge.

I hope your week ahead is untroubled weather-wise. Thank for reading.