A BAILEY 2022 (PART 2 )

There really is a lot to tell you about 2022, beyond even going to Cabo with good friends, being taken off my initial cancer drug, and going to England with Alden. But coming back from England, we quickly settled back into home life for a short time, as the end of school approached.  That entailed: 

Attending Alden's rec league soccer games, as we have every spring.

I am forever grateful for these local rec soccer leagues and those who organize and enable them, as these team colleagues have become good friends to Alden, and have adopted him and helped him find a larger friend group that has meant so much to him.  I am also grateful to all their parents, for raising such good kids that have surrounded my son with great influences and helped him feel at home at Viewmont.

We also went to the kids Orchestra and Band concerts.  This may have been Keegan's last year playing the base Clarinet, but tell me he doesn't look like a total Jazz Dude here.

His group of band friends was also a fun group, and Katie Bailey (being lifted here) has been a fun friend for a long time, and also would be helpful in Keegan eventually meeting someone important (more on that later).  

We hosted Alden's Junior prom festivities:

And spent time eating on our deck with Grace, 

as well as enjoying our yard and its weather and sunset views.

But that was not all, of course.  Other events were brewing.  Just before going to England, my energy had gotten so low that I had made the decision to retire this year, and I told Crystal about the decision in March, just before I left for England.  That was a scary moment, but I told her it was taking all my energy just to work, and I needed to use that energy to fight my condition and be with my family.  She was so good about it, and simply said, "you should."   I actually got teary (which is not something she would ever do) and told her how deeply grateful I was, how she had changed my life so much for the better, and that my family would never forget hers. To this day there are simply no words sufficient to express how grateful I am for the opportunities she gave me.   

We talked about dates, and decided fall would be a good time to do that.  She immediately shifted most of my responsibilities to my chosen successor, Tom Schofield (a good friend and very good lawyer who I had been training and who I knew would do a good job).  Appropriately, she wanted Tom in all of the meetings, and of course wanted to see his decision making in action before I left, so it did not leave a lot for me to do.  I started to feel irrelevant almost immediately, which after being an integral part of the management team at the top level was really hard to get used to, and is by far the hardest thing about retiring.  On the bright side, it left me a lot freer to be with my family and to work on finding ways to fight my condition.

On the cancer front, my energy  had improved while being off the treating medication, and Bill had put me on a new one, Bosutanib, that he thought might be better about maintaining my red blood cells at an acceptable level.  It caused some muscle cramping, as the immatinib had, but not as severely, and definitely contributed to neuropathy in my feet, both known side effects of the drug. It also hit my skin with some rashes, and ever since I have struggled with folliculitis on my head, causing a lot of zit-like bumps at the follicle which hurt or itch and which bleed a lot when touched. I am losing a lot of hair as a result, and suspect I may not have any before it is through.  Apart from that though, the drug seemed good, and we are hoping it will control my cancer. 

As spring came to a close we prepared for what I was most excited about:  a return trip to Peru!!! I had not been back since 1983, and as the kids wanted to see Machu Picchu, we made that our summer trip. We used a local member of the church that Ian knew and had used, Rigoberto (Betho) Rojas, to arrange our trip, which would begin in Lima, then head to the amazon for a few days, before returning to Lima and going from there to Cusco and the sacred valley, with two days in Machu Picchu, with a final trip up to Piura where I had served most of my mission.  To say I was excited is such an understatement, and now you know why I opened this post with the photo that is there. 

We flew down on July 6 on a red eye flight that arrived in Lima on July 7, Rigoberto had a guide meet us at the airport, and after dropping our bags at the hotel (we could not check in for some much needed sleep until late afternoon), we headed straight for Pachacamac, an impressive ruin just south of Lima that I remember visiting while I was on my mission, because it had a temple of the sun, a temple of the moon, and a temple of the stars, that made me think of the degrees of glory. It also had something that looked an awful lot like a baptismal font to me at that time, so I was excited to see it again.  

What I was not excited about was the mask requirements in Peru. They had been hit so hard by Covid, and were still requiring double or n-95 type masks at official sites, and this ruin was no exception.  

We started in the museum, which had a few really cool pieces and some massive pots. 

Then we moved to the actual ruin, which sits on the coast, largely buried in sand, and still only partially excavated.  

I can't remember which temple this was that was more fully excavated, but it was the first one you see as  you enter the park -- I think temple of the moon, but don't quote me on that. 

But tell me those square holes in the ground don't look like baptismal fonts -- just sayin' . . . .

This is us heading up to the temple of the Sun, I believe, and standing in one of the better excavated hallways/roads.

You could see that in their original form, the walls had been plastered in red, yellow and other colors.

How little we know about the site, and how hard it might be to find out more, is pretty clear from the stuff they have just left lying around exposed, like bones and pieces of cloth, as seen in the photos below. 

Which they let us pick up and touch, by the way.  Figure the archeologists might have a tough time, given how many people may have done that through so many years.  

From there, we headed to the Museo Larco, a small museum that pound for pound is, I believe, Peru's best collection of artifacts.  Here are photos from the entrance and inside.

Pretty cool stuff.  Looks like they had the concept of breastplates down, no?  And how is this for a shield?

There were also great pots and incredibly detailed tapestries. 

But perhaps even better, they had a really awesome museum cafe that had great food, and INCA COLA!

The ceviche was to die for, as were the scallops, and not pictured here, a very good Lomo Saltado at my seat.  And of course the Inca Cola was magnificent.

From there it was bedtime for a bunch of very tired travelers.  Not a bad intro to Peru though!

We started the next morning with a tour of downtown Lima, which just happened to drive by the Sheraton hotel, which was there when I was a missionary in 1982-83, and had a legendary buffet that every Lima missionary tried at least once, and I was no exception. 

I was in the office as financial clerk at the time (worst, most uninspired call in the history of the church, by the way) and I remember Elder Haynes, Secretary to the President, carefully explaining to me that you had to eat absolutely as much as possible in the first 20 minutes, because at that point your stomach would signal your brain that it was full.  Still makes me laugh -- only a 19 year old missionary would think that way.  

From there it was off to the famous/infamous Catacombs--no photos allowed :-( --and then the Plaza De Armas, complete with soldiers in riot gear (just another day in Peru).  

From there we were off to a viewpoint over Miraflores, masked as required, 

and then went to see the craziest reenactment I have ever seen, in Lima's Chorrillos district, known as El Salto del Fraille, or jump of the friar.  It lies along a very picturesque part of the Lima coast, as seen in the picture that opened this post.  Here are a few more.

The story behind the Leaping Friar is one worthy of Jane Austen, though it was written by Ricardo Rossel in the late 1800s.  Francisco and Clara grew up together in 18th century Lima, more than best friends — They were soulmates. In the strict racial caste hierarchy of the Viceroyal City of Kings, her father was a blue-blooded Spanish Marqués; Francisco’s mother was a beautiful woman of mixed African and Mestizo descent. When their love was discovered, Clara's father force Francisco into the Franciscan order, and placed Clara on a frigate headed for Spain.  Francisco snuck a note to Clara, telling her "to look for me with the telescope atop the cliff of Morro Solar, the headland that juts into the sea. There I will be to bid you my final farewell … Goodbye, soul of my soul!”  As her ship passed by he, clothed in Franciscan garb, waived and jumped into the sea, perishing rather than living without her.  Clara, seeing this, jumped from the ship, never to be seen again.  

Here are the photos I have of the crazy guy who reenacts this scene. The water is COLD here and he is nuts; but I have a lot of respect for his bravery, and it makes for some beautiful pictures. 

Thanks to the attached rope he makes it out ok, but he does have to time his jump just right to make sure there is sufficient water to avoid hitting rocks.  Craziness notwithstanding, it was fun to talk to him after, and a very beautiful evening. 

From there, it was off to see some of the very best people I have ever met, Alfredo and Rosa Maza, and some of their beautiful family.  My heart fills every time I think of this moment.  I have so much love and respect for them, and with the distance, we do not get to see them very often.  I baptized Alfredo in 1982, and here we are, 40 years later, dear and fast friends.  Life is beautiful that way, and I am so grateful for the church and my mission experience that it enabled.  Peruvians, especially member of the church here, are some of the best people on the planet, and it is such a privilege to associate with them. 

We had a lovely meal with them and their daughter Katt and son in law Pepe and their adorable little boy.  From there, we went to bed for an early flight to Puerto Maldonado and the Peruvian Amazon.  More on that in the next post.