2010
Robert
and Lorraine visit
Barbara's Teeth - Susanne
to the Rescue
The Scharlaus go camping
Jenny and Nola arrive
to stay
Barbara in Saint Raffael
Cornelius, AC and Children go
camping
Marcus and Angel visit
Rolf's broken Wrist
Susanne
here to help Jenny move out
Tassilo and Fritz Keilmann
The
Romans visit Marga
Cornelius and Calliope here
Barbara's Cactus blooms twice a year in profusion
Robert and
Lorraine visit
30-December - 4 January
Every few years Robert
and Lorraine visit us for a few days on the way to her children in
San Diego. Robert has become old too, but his repaired heart valve is
after over 20 years still in excellent condition,: He is more mobile
than I, it seems.
Barbara's
Teeth - Susanne to her Mother's Rescue
1-7
February
Barbara's
teeth, due to the Sögjren-caused dryness of her mouth, had
deteriorated rapidly. She needed upper and lower dentures, for which
she went to the UCLA student dental clinic. UCLA offered to do the
dental work at less than half price. At this point they were to pull
all of her except for five teeth. Barbara feared not the operation
but a prolonged, painful recovery with only liquid food. Susanne
offered to come for the first week and then Barbara had hired a woman
to come as long as needed. It turned out a miraculously fast
recovery. By the end of the week she could already eat soft regular
food in addition to the excelent baby-jar meat! A temporary partial
helped. - But nobody expected that the complete healing and final
dentures would take 2 years....The treating students were often
absent during examinations and vacations and changed 3 times during
that time.
Barbara became an expert in meditation. She used Tibetan mudras and self-taught visualization exercises to raise herself again and again with great success. Fortunately her arthritic pains became less. She now lived of a much reduced regimen of methotrexate and prednisone, and was able to lift heavy objects, open the lids of jars, and handle the vacuum cleaner again. Only the numbness and the fierce shooting pains in her legs remained unchanged.
Barbara cutting material for a nightgown for Marga
One of her beloved occupations remained sewing dresses for her grandchildren, shirts for Cornelius, and nightgowns for old Marga. She would spend weeks on those.
Easter:
Christine, Rudolf, Jakob, and my godchild Hannah visit us
20
- 24 March and 2-5 April
Barbara's easter eggs 2010
As every year she painted a bowl of blown-out easter eggs with brilliant, always different designs. Some went to replace the broken shells in Rome, some hung at Easter on our old candle holder - and the surviving ones now even adorn our Christmas tree.
Christine Scharlau and Rolf at Easter Breakfast
At Easter the four Scharlaus – Christine, Rudolf, Hannah, and Jakob visited us. They had decided that their last family trip was to be a romantic Californian camping tour. Hannah had found a place in LA where they rented an old Classical VW-Camper in perfect condition. Their visit became a most cheerful time with many discussions and reminiscences - which culminated in a hunt for a guitar for Hannah and Rudolf to play at the fire-side at night... Christine and Hannah helped Barbara lovingly. They left for a slow roundtrip through the desert to San Francisco and back along the coast and stayed with us another 4 days before their flight home - A wonderful time all together.
Kelly
and Kelly
26 – 31 March
Kelly & Kelly
Another couple was granddaughter Kelly Wood and her lesbian girlfriend Kelly... They drove an old car from Denver and danced into our house arm in arm.
Peter with K & K at the Fowler Museum
To onload Barbara they spend the second half of their visit with Anneliese. Peter took them to a “fashion show” at the Fowler Museum.
Viktor
Apollonov from Moscow
16-17
April
The least expected visitor this year came from Moscow – Viktor Apollonov. It must have been in 1998 when I had last seen him briefly at LAX passing to some conference in Albuquerque. He was going to the same destination. I didn't ask why and how. We had had a sporadic exchange of e-mails since, no great revelations – and here he was much the same only older and balder.
Dinner
at Nancy Loncke's
Viktor, Ronald, Mimi a friend of theirs,
Barbara, Rolf
It happened that Nancy Loncke, my Russian teacher from Santa Monica College, was in town. She had met him and his wife on another of his visits to LA and invited us all for dinner. A great favor for Barbara, Viktor was in his element and enjoyed the evening greatly.
Barbara, Nancy, Rolf, Viktor, Mimi
Jenny
and Nola arrive to stay
23
May
Jenny had finished her Film Management course at Boulder, and had landed an unpaid internship at a small movie company in Hollywood. What was more natural than us putting her up? She would make some pocket money at Starbucks. There was one difficult condition, she was going to bring Nola, her beloved dog along. - Of course, Barbara agreed.
John, Barbara, Jenny, the truck and Jenny's VW-bug
John rented a truck and towed her VW on a trailer. Together they unloaded her furniture - two ear-chairs, a bed, bookshelves, pictures and an overwhelming number of boxes – and removed all our things from the guest room save for the desk and TV.... Soon the shack was staked high with unwanted things, ours and hers.
Barbara befriends a somewhat dazed Nola
Nola turned out an exemplary, well train dog, and pretty too. Barbara tried her best, but Jenny had to feed her. Nola slept most of the day. We did not have the time or inclination to play with her or take her for walks. She soon turned despondent and finally mildly neurotic....
Jenny's room after unloading the truck
Jenny lived with us for 6 months, getting more restless after the visit of the Romans. The people at her internship had really nothing exciting for her to do. Starbucks became a drag with night shifts and weekend work. No prince charming appeared and no better job offer. She became tired of living with her grandparents – notwithstanding, she treated me with affectionate hugs and kisses....
Marga's
97th
Birthday
4
June
Martin
Graef took these two most touching photos at Marga's ninty-seventh
birthday. They need no comment.
Barbara
in San Raffael
6 – 9
June
Eva Wald-Leveton, whom I had befriended at a lecture at Villa Aurora, had turned into an intimate friend of Barbara. Barbara had begun to translate Eva's childhood memoirs from Berlin into English, and they ahd long planned a meeting to discuss the translation. Barbara in a flight of euphoria flew to San Francisco to spend a weekend with Eva and Allen in San Raffael and also to visit Robert and Lorrain in Saint Helena.
On
this occasion this charming picture of the three was taken
Barbara,
Eva and Allen Leveton in their house in San Raffael
I
had increasingly difficulties with my balance and with hearing on my
left ear. We no longer went together to concerts, lectures, or
painting exhibitions, which Barbara craved. Unperturbed she began to
venture out on her own. A friend got her tickets for Wagner's “Ring”
cycle, which she saw with Arleen. Frequently she went to experimental
theater perfomances at the “Red Cat”, or to lectures at
the Getty Museum (“Rembrandt-the Draftsman” and several
others). Between errands she would regularly drop in at a number of
vavorite galeries with exhibitions of contemporary artists. -
Together we did consult Adriana Hubbel at Fidelity to
restructure our financial portfolio, and Barbara finally resolved to
replacse me with a professional tax accountant. We also agreed on
having our leaking roof repaired, and to fix our improperly adjusted
heating system - we both needed to have a warmer house in the cold
season. Likewise I had the louvre windows in the house replaced by
non-drafting lever-windows. Another unforseen expense - $7000 - went
into recoring our sewage line under the house. It was full of tree
roots. - Thanks to Aeropace's generous pension, social security, and
the returns from my carefully placed investments, we were able to pay
for these nontrivial expenses from our monthly income!
Cornelius,
AC and the Children visiting us
24
- 27 July and
12-14 August
Every 2 years EMBL pays Cornelius a trip for himself, his wife, and minor children to his “home town”. This year's visit had been long planned between him and Susanne. They would stay with us and then go on a four-week camping trip, partly with Susanne and John jeeping in Utah. Eventually they would return to LA to fly home.
We were longing to see them, but also realized that all of them staying with us would be too great a turmoil for both of us. Besides Jenny occupied the guest room. After discussing this situation with them, Susanne found the Romans a very cheap hotel with kitchen near the arirport. We picked them up and after some argument with the hotel clerk- who had given their larger room to another guest-unperturbed Cornelius crowded the five into one room. We saw them next day for breakfast-lunch and enjoyed them 2 whole days.
For many more pictures click on the link:. The Summer of 2010
Anne-Cecile talking to Jenny
Ulysse pouring honey on his crepes
The
Roman's Camping Trip
27
July – 12 August
After driving to Denver through the Indian Country the rented a jeep and together wit John and Susanne explored the back roads of Arches and Canyon Land in Utah.
Cornelius
with Calliope, AC with Anaïs, Susanne, Anna a Roman
friend
Ulysse and Francisco, Anna's son in Utah
From there they drove back to LA via Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Death Valley
Ulysse with parrot in Las Vegas
AC and Anaïs in Death Valley
Another few days in LA concluded their summer vacation.
Marc
and Angel's visit
7-9 August and 17-24 August
Marc and Angel
During the Romans' absence Marc brought his new love, Angel to our house. A charming, quiet and resourceful woman. They set out for a camping trip on which they met Cornelius in Las Vagas. Eventually they stayed a few more days with us before flying home.
Rolf
breaks his wrist
27 August
Clumsy and unsure on my feet I fell rolling the trashcans down the hill at night and broke my right wrist. The people at Kaiser emergency put my hand in a cast and sent me to Dr Edgerton, the hand surgeon, who had the cast taken off again and after a 3D xray scan of my wrist, decided to operate it. To keep the alignment of the bones he put a high-tech titanium fixture on the wrist, with which I lived 6 weeks. It all went fine, but after a year, the thumb and index finger are stll stiff from a displaced nerve.
Rolf's titanium fixture
Susanne
here to help Jenny move
8
– 17 October
Jenny's patience with the life at her old grandparents' house had run its course, besides Nola had turned ever more morose - Nola had to go back to Denver.. Susanne flew in, helped Jenny move into a room at Basia and Pari Kasliwal's, and transported Nola home in a cage. - It all looked like a wonderful arrangement - until Jenny began to move some of her (and Pari's) things into the Kasliwal's garage, Most of her stuff was still in our shack. Understandably but not very delicately Pari threw her out of his house. - That precipitated a new turn in her life. She found a room in an apartment in Culver City with two other girls - and in due course seduced a young man to move into the fourth room of their communal apartment. Ever since she has been blissfuly happy and in August 2011 even found a paying job on the “Mad Men” TV-show!! You wouldn't recognize the new cheerful Jenny.....
Tassilo,
later Fritz Keilmann visit us
9
-10 Oct and 1 November
Every year once Fritz Keilmann would drop by on the way to another physics conference, but Tassilo we had not seen here since their stay in Santa Barbara in the 80s. He had finished his doctorate in München summa-cum-laude and was going to a boondoggle conference in Santa Barbara. A most polite and considerate visitor for two days and a night.
The Romans
in Rome and visiting Marga
October
2010
In Monterotondo things were moving ever faster. Cornelius now had 9 students and post-doctorates - all but one women. His research during 2009/10 had produced some widely recognized results. He was given full tenure at EMBL. Nadia, the institute's director was planning to retire, and made him her Deputy Head. Way overworked he raced from one conference to another. His dedication to his children took the rest of his days.
And then they found a former ox stable in Vallecopula in the mountains east of Rome. They would refurbish its inside, put a new roof on the half-ruined stonework, and use it as a weekend hideout. Fortunately – I would say – the ownership of the place was so entangled in family feuds that they couldn't obtain the property rights to the place. By the end of the year they gave up the idea. - In 2011 Anne-Cecile would find a cheap shack on the beach and buy it....
Anaïs in Vallecopula
Ever
faithful to Marga Cornelius once a year loads his family on a cheap
flight to Stuttgart and visits Marga.
This year he took some
especially dear photos.
Anne-Cecile with the girls at Marga's in Tübingen
Marga and Anaïs
Cornelius
and Calliope stay with us
7-14 November
Every year the American Neurosciences Conference takes place in San Diego. Cornelius was asked to give an invited paper and brought Calliope along.
Calliope drawing a picture of Vallecopula
They stayed a week and Barbara devoted herself completely to her shy grandchild.
Writing poetry
Helping Barbara hang the laundry
Unfortunately Cornelius was exhausted, ran a mild temperature every evening, and needed a lot of sleep. We had a doctor look at him who did some blood tests, and found nothing definable. He recommended that Cornelius find a competent internist at the university in Rome, which he did. By Christmas he was in a seriously depleted state,
Cornelius in the hospital over Christmas
The doctors put him into the hospital and for a week did every conceivable test on him. Apart from a somewhat enlarged spleen, they found no physical or other cause. - The conclusion was that he had overworked himself. He needed a thorough vacation - but the newest, exciting research had to be published, money had to be found for his group, a new laboratory director had to be selected - his deputy-head position claimed half of his time - not to mention his children. This situation found a resolution only in the early summer of 2011.
Barbarba found a splendid tree, and we celebrated Christmas with Anneliese and Peter at our house.
Pacific
Palisades,