Dear Friends and Family,
For me, 2018 has been full of visitors. The word is out that I am
leaving Belize, at least Caye Caulker, in 2020, so visitors are lining
up to visit before it is too late.
My sister Becky
comes every year.
This year we explored
the north of Belize:
Corozal, Sarteneja,
and Shipstern. I had
done this trip with
my friend Bea Petito
the November before,
except this time we
slept in Shipstern
Conservation and
Management Area,
too. We visited Maya sites Santa Rita and Cerros. To get to Cerros,
we crossed the New River on a hand-cranked ferry.
In March Dorothy Beveridge (my friend and publishing partner)
and I had a wonderful trip, celebrating our 70th and 75th birthdays
with my friends Geeta and Bob McGahey from North Carolina, who
asked for a “super birding trip.” So we hired Roni Martinez, our
favorite birding guide, a great opportunity for birding in La Milpa,
Lamanai, and Crooked Tree.
Merry Christmas 2018
In April Ellen Armstrong
came back for a visit and I
was still in Cockscomb after
the March trip, so she and I
met in Hopkins, a great visit.
The rst week of August
I had a wonderful visit from
the three families of my son
Je, and Mark and Andrew
Cummings. Those three
had been to Caye Caulker
together 30 years before
when they were teenagers
and now they have
children, mostly teenagers.
It was the 20th anniversary
of my healing, so it was a
grand celebration.
From the left are my two
grandsons Arlo and Ollie,
then Laura, Ricardo, Amo,
Mark, Branson, Je, Aracely,
me, and Glee. Andrew was
taking the photo.
Here I am snorkeling
with Ollie and Arlo.
We nished an important QIF Focus Book
(Quaker Institute for the Future) called
Energy Choices and launched it at Friends
General Conference. I also went to Friends
Association for Higher Education and gave a
presentation on the QIF Focus Books. Energy
Choices is by Bob Bruninga, an aerospace
engineer. He argues that every year or
two homeowners have to make an energy
choice—when their water heater or furnace
need repairs, they buy a car, etc. He shows
how all these choices can now be made
with renewable sources that are cheaper in
the long run and much easier.
We are about to nish the second
edition of the Cockscomb book, which
I published in 1997 and has been out of
print since 2002.
I took a second trip to the U.S. West
Coast in October for a Quaker Earthcare
Witness meeting in Washington, was in
Portland for Ollie’s 12th birthday party,
and visited friends in San Francisco—Bill
Prince and Christopher Jones who are in
the midst of producing the documentary
lm, “The Boys Who Said No” about those
who went to jail to protest the Vietnam
War. I saw a rough cut—it is wonderful! I spent time with Rolene
Walker, my dear friend whom I accompanied in 2008 in Ecuador
during her Walk for the Earth from San Diego CA to Santiago, Chili.
I nished in Iowa with my sister Becky for the election.
Laura Ward Holliday
and her friend Sundra
Spears came to Belize for
the 19th of November,
Garifuna Settlement
Day. Here we are at
Thanksgiving dinner,
Laura on the right and
Sundra next to me on the
other side of the table.
When I was visiting
my son Tim and his
family in Minneapolis,
my grand-daughter
Frankie and I went to
the Prince Musium. It is
a great museum, gives
a real understanding
of his talent and
contributions.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
