Starmax.ro Field Session

 Our good friend Horațius Flueraș invited me to join him and his beloved Monica Z. to attend an astronomical field session at the observatory on a hill south of Cluj.  It was a partly cloudy night, but warm, and as it happened, the Moon, Venus and Saturn all appeared on cue, and delivered stunning images in the various telescopes present.

Horațius Flueraș, Ph,D,, is owner of the astronomical equipment firm found at www.starmax.ro, a leading distributor in Romania for telescopes and other equipment for amateur astronomers.  We stayed until it was dark, and saw amazing details on the moon, and a spectacular view of Saturn and its rings.  I was impressed by their clarity.

Normally the grounds of the observatory are kept locked.

A Transilvanian sunset.

Horațius Flueraș, PhD, of Cluj-Napoca, Romania

A variety of telescopes were brought to the event.

Our humble host exits the new amateur astronomers' shed that he helped to build.

Interior elescope mount.  Soon the largest telescope present was mounted here.

Mihai Boaca, a surveying engineer who takes his hobby, astronomy, quite seriously.

Florina at Sunset.

Smaller telescope, but still able to resolve the Moon's craters and mountains.

A 10-inch reflector model.

Our first views were of that half-moon.

Hey!  Who's watching whom?

That is more what we have in mind!

Components aligned in a homemade wooden frame.

The business end.

What is this I see going on?

Oh, Florina, florista frumoasa, picks wildflowers in the field.

This shot I should enter in a contest!

Skywatchers had much to admire, even here on Earth.

Shirl's and my beloved "niece," Monica Z.

 

What is it?  (Noboby was sure.)

Seara frumoasa!  (I just kept shooting.)

Finally, the bouquet was complete!  In her car, I got to hold it!

Andrea, another of Moni's friends.

Florina cu flore și apus de soare.

With flash...

and without.

With moon.

Interior Telescope on its mount.

Noapte bună, prieteni!

Cookout at Casa Rusu

Who is peekng in from the patio?

Our latest guest at Hotel New Hampshire is named Daniel Rusu, also the latest Plymouth State University MBA student to arrive from Romania.  Like most, he rented a room near the campus in Plymouth for his first year in the program, and once we got to know him and to like him, Shirl and I decided to invite him to live at Hotel New Hampshire for the summer, and for his final two quarters in the program.  Danny (aka Dani) is from Cluj.  Yesterday I was the guest of his family at their lovely home on the northern edge of the city.

O, it is Maia!  (Seen here with her mother Renata, Dani's sister, who is home for the summer from their home in Japan!)

Adjustment to the shade, as Teofil does the honors at the grill.

Dani's father and mother, with their charming trilingual granddaughter.

Mixed Grill a la Rusu: Ceafa de porc, mititei, aripioare de pui, si ciuperci cu brunza.  Fantastic!

Maia abd I both liked the flower pot.

The Family Rusu has been invited to New Hampshire to enjoy our similar patio.

Teofil reminds me of my brother-in-law, Dick Cichowski.

Though close to the city, the area is quite rural, and very pretty.

The pears are just forming in the orchard.

Maia and Baba ("Grandma") Maria.

Peek-a-boo, Maia!

Maria and Teofil, Renata and Maia, have all expressed their hope of a chance to meet Shirl soon,  At this point, it is still a definite "maybe."

Hey, Shirl-Girl, come on over!

Dar, timpul a zbarat, so after a delightful three hours at Casa Rusu and a marvelous meal, I left to go back into the city for a sip of wine with Dani's fellow PSU MBA, Raluca T!  (It sure is a tough life for me, here in Cluj.)

On Friendship and Sustainability

My plan in coming to Europe for the month of June entailed some quality time here in Romania between and around two academic conferences, one last weekend at UBB/FSEGA here in town, and the other from the 20th to the 22nd in Opole, Poland.  (Of course, visits to my friends in Fellbach, Germany, were planned at both ends of my stay.)  The conference in Poland is to be about "sustainability" in business and in development.

The Cluj conference went well last week.  I enjoyed it, and learned from it.  And, I was in the process of preparing my talk for Opole, when I received two days ago an e-mail that caused me to rethink sustainability.

One of my friends in New Hampshire wrote to report a "health issue."  He is a friend I have known for twenty years, and worked closely with all that time.  He is my age, and a fine gentleman.  He was my golf partner for five years in the local Tuesday night men's league in our part of New Hampshire, and during those years we won trophies for third, second and first places in the league.  We are buddies, we are respecting colleagues, we are friends.

My friend wrote that he has been diagnosed, just two weeks following his retirement from Plymouth State University, with stage 4 cancer, found in both lungs and his liver.

After weeping and praying for my friend, I called him and learned he is planning to fight the disease with all his might.  I am glad for that, but I also know that he is in for some very tough times.  My reaction was to rethink my own priorities.  I decided to do what I feel is most worthwhile, and avoid unnecessary stress.  I know little about sustainability, but I know one thing, and it has just been emphasized to me.

I am not sustainable.  I have a limited time to look forward to, albeit not yet with a defined limit.  But during that time, I shall cherish my friendships, and go and do what matters most to me.  Hence, I have decided to cancel my trip to Poland, and stay here in Cluj for that precious week.  I have decided to urge my beloved Shirley to come and spend the latter two weeks of my time here with me.  Shirl has responsibilities at home to rearrange, but she is trying now to make that happen.

Be well, dear friends, and love one another.  We are none of us "sustainable."  But, perhaps, the good that we do, and the love that we give, can survive us.  

Amin, Amen.

Friends (and Food) in Bucharest

Klaus parked a block from Casa Victor

The city is enjoying a lovely early summer.

Casa Victor, on Str, Emanoil Porumbaru

Today I spent in Bucharest where I had two memorable meals.  Lunch was ciorba de burta with Mihai Moroiu of the U.S.-Romanian Fulbright Commission at Casa Boiereasca, not far from the Commission offices in the Embassy District.  Then, following a few hours of actual academic writing, I was joined at dinner by my former student Alina Sime and her husband, Dragos Boeru.  This was my first chance to meet Dragos, whom I found to be a gracious and wickedly handsome devil, who shares Alina's penchant for jumping from perfectly functional airplanes.  Their son David stayed home with his nanny, so him I shall have to meet on a future date!

Alina and Dragoș

God bless Alina!  She called me "Uncle Duncan!"

The handsome Dragoș

And the "We were there shot," taken by our waitress.
(That is my spaghetti bolognese, getting cold.)

Latest Romanian Road Trip!

Tomorrow, early, I shall leave Cluj via Calea Turzii, and head for Oașa Monastery, about three hours to the south.  My goal there is to attend the Sunday service, a beautiful ceremony that I missed on my visit there two years ago, with then-students Valer and Simo.  I hope to get a chance to talk once again with Father Sava.

I plan to continue south in the afternoon to Pitești, just an hour or so from Bucharest.  There I have booked a room for the night, making the drive into Bucharest one I can do after a good night's sleep.  I will check into the Hotel Casa Victor, where I am sure that Dl. Mihai Ioncea and his staff will give me a good welcome.

In Bucharest I have only three objectives:

• to buy a supply of U.S.-Romania friendship pins, which were available at the Parliament (People's House) back in 2008.  I gave mine to my dear Romanian-American colleague Professor Roxana Wright at this year's commencement;
  
• to visit my friends at the Fulbright Commission of Romania, and
• to meet my former student Alina Sime's husband and baby David, and to have some good food with them Tuesday night.

On Wednesday I shall wander home to Cluj, maybe by way of the mountain road known as Ceaușescu's Folly, the famous (if treacherous) RO 7C, The Transfagarasan Highway.

 Not in a hurry!  Just cruisin'!

Klaus is All Better Now

Thanks to his friends at Autotransilvania in Cluj, Klaus is ready to roll this weekend to Turda, Oașa, Pitești, București, Sinaia, Brașov, etc.  Road trip!!!