| Saturday was a big holiday here in the U.S. Independence Day. Unfortunately, the usual firework celebrations in this area of Virginia were cancelled. Oh well. We still had fun. About half of my family came over to spend the night and I volunteered to take a small group down the river after lunch. Now that my travel options are limited, exploring the local rivers has become my main source of adventure and discovery. On this trip there were four of us: my oldest sister, her thirteen-year-old son, and the husband of my oldest niece (25). I asked them how long they would like to be gone for, and when my sister told me about two hours, no more than three, I had just the river in mind. I had gone down this river the previous weekend in one hour and fifty minutes. But since groups always travel slower, I calculated it would take an extra 30 to 60 minutes. Small mistake. What I hadn’t planned for was that after a week of no rain, the water was flowing slower. After about four hours on the river, it started to get dark. All around us was forest and fields. No houses. No stores. Not even a signal for the phone. And the bridge… when would we finally see the bridge where the car was parked? Every time we saw a bend in the river, I told them the bridge was probably just around the corner. After an hour of that, I stopped making predictions. We were lost, wet, hungry and it was now night. But before I tell you how I managed to escape the river and write another Vitamin V lesson… |
| What Should We Talk About? |
| Personally, I don’t mind silence. But for some people, it makes them uncomfortable. So after a few hours of chatting on the river while watching the trees go by, I guess we ran out of things to talk about, because my sister asked, “What should we talk about now?” I mention this, because the same question came up in the chat rooms this weekend. You see, members of The Society now get weekly invitations to meet other members online to practise speaking English. I’m not in the rooms with them, but I do record them so I can watch them later and get ideas how to make them better. So on Saturday, while members from all over the world — India, Slovakia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada — were meeting online, they were asking the same question my sister asked, What should we talk about? And I think that’s a great theme for this week. How do you start conversation in English? How do you keep it going? What are some good questions to ask? And so on. By the end of the week, you’ll be a conversation master. And maybe you’ll even feel ready to join one of the chat rooms and practise… |
| Escape From The River |
| While we were watching the light fade, and as darkness started to surround us, Tom and his friends were sitting on their back porch about to light their own fireworks. One of his friends, looking down at the river, asked him if any rafters ever came up to the house. Tom replied, No, it had never happened. A few minutes later, my niece’s husband emerged from the dark forest and politely asked to use the phone. And we were saved. But I wonder if they’ll want to go on the river with me next year…? |
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