Kate, Matt, Nick and Joy (April 2011) — Images by kenne
In April of 2011, Grandson Nick, and parents Kate and Matt visited us here in Tucson. At that time Nick was five. Tomorrow, Nick and mom Kate return with Jaxon, grandson number two who will be five in May. Matt will be taking care of things back in Ft. Collins. Last time we saw the boys was two years ago in Ft. Collins. We are looking forward to a great week in the desert.
Granddad and Nick at The Pima Air & Space Museum (April 2011)
I have a daughter and two grandsons
who live in the beautiful city of Ft.Collins.
I have a son and a beautiful granddaughter
who live in Atascocita, a sea level village in Texas.
Grandsons Jax & Nick — Image by kenne from Kate’s Mobile Phone
Song of Childhood
By Peter Handke
When the child was a child
It walked with its arms swinging,
wanted the brook to be a river,
the river to be a torrent,
and this puddle to be the sea.
When the child was a child,
it didn’t know that it was a child,
everything was soulful,
and all souls were one.
When the child was a child,
it had no opinion about anything,
had no habits,
it often sat cross-legged,
took off running,
had a cowlick in its hair,
and made no faces when photographed.
When the child was a child,
It was the time for these questions:
Why am I me, and why not you?
Why am I here, and why not there?
When did time begin, and where does space end?
Is life under the sun not just a dream?
Is what I see and hear and smell
not just an illusion of a world before the world?
Given the facts of evil and people.
does evil really exist?
How can it be that I, who I am,
didn’t exist before I came to be,
and that, someday, I, who I am,
will no longer be who I am?
When the child was a child,
It choked on spinach, on peas, on rice pudding,
and on steamed cauliflower,
and eats all of those now, and not just because it has to.
When the child was a child,
it awoke once in a strange bed,
and now does so again and again.
Many people, then, seemed beautiful,
and now only a few do, by sheer luck.
It had visualized a clear image of Paradise,
and now can at most guess,
could not conceive of nothingness,
and shudders today at the thought.
When the child was a child,
It played with enthusiasm,
and, now, has just as much excitement as then,
but only when it concerns its work.
When the child was a child,
It was enough for it to eat an apple, … bread,
And so it is even now.
When the child was a child,
Berries filled its hand as only berries do,
and do even now,
Fresh walnuts made its tongue raw,
and do even now,
it had, on every mountaintop,
the longing for a higher mountain yet,
and in every city,
the longing for an even greater city,
and that is still so,
It reached for cherries in topmost branches of trees
with an elation it still has today,
has a shyness in front of strangers,
and has that even now.
It awaited the first snow,
And waits that way even now.
When the child was a child,
It threw a stick like a lance against a tree,
And it quivers there still today.
Kenne Jaxon (September 13, 2014) — Image by kenne
Kate and Jaxon Bailey
Kate and Jaxon Bailey
Kate Bailey, Jaxon Bailey, Katelyn Turner and Nick Bailey
Kate, Jaxon and Katelyn — Images by kenne
View From Colossal Cave: Vail, Arizona (Children and Grandchildren: Dave, Katelyn, Jaxon, Kate, and Nick) — Image by kenne
Kate, Matt, Nick and Joy (April 2011) — Images by kenne
Granddad and Nick at The Pima Air & Space Museum (April 2011)
How much longer before we will be there?
I’m not having fun! I’m tired! I’m hunger! Let’s stop now!
This is not where I wanted to eat! I don’t like the food! 
I will disrupt others trying to eat. Time for a selfie.
Grandchildren Katelyn and James — Image by kenne
