The past seven days were a bad week for writing. I didn’t count but if I added forty words to my book it would be a miracle. Can you call yourself a writer when your commitment drops to that level? I do have an excuse. I am at a point in the book where I need to kill off another minor character. A young woman who 
was on a date with the dead policeman the night he disappeared. I want it to be unusual and frightening. I’m still working that out in my head. Also, she has to die before the police find her. They want to interview her about the evening she spent with Lieutenant Roberto Sáenz before the night he was executed by his killer. As soon as this scene worked itself out in my head, I’ll hit the keyboards again in earnest.
Larry and I had our usual coffee and chat this past Friday. We went over our typical conversational topics and discussed some new 
subjects. He and his wife have a visitor from Brasil and we went over some ideas of things he could do here in Lima before he sets out on a tour of Peru. The week before Larry and I purchased tickets to go to Caral on August 12th; we’re still looking forward to that trip. I am excited about putting together an article and some photos for Living in Peru on the trip. Sunday I met with my 
friend Mark Kennet at his apartment in Miraflores. He served a nice Expresso and I brought some Churros from Manolo’s Café. We sat at his dining room table and talked on a wide range of subjects including some humorous episodes from our past. It was a great afternoon.
My friend Kathy has been excommunicado for the past couple of weeks. She has been in the dumps, feeling low and sad. The never ending ordeal of her divorce is getting to her. I hope she’s able to bring herself out of the doldrums and come have a coffee with me soon. I miss our chats. Amanda has landed in Europe. Her 
ship has docked in Denmark, the Netherlands and now Germany. From her posts on FB, I can tell she is having an amazing time. She’s probably on the train to Sweden as I write this. My friend Diego has been sick and busy for the past week so that and a miscommunication on our part caused us to miss our planned meeting this week. Katrina should be 
starting school in Wisconsin this week. I received an invite to Tim and Lourdes’ wedding to be held in Canada on September 2nd. Sorry I won’t be able to make it but wishing them a long and happy life together.
A week ago Sunday I went to Cieneguilla for a lunch outing with Steve and his family. We went to celebrate the great marks the he and Antonio received in their classes at University this past semester. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out and the drive there pleasant. Cieneguilla is a small town in the country outside of Lima. A small river flows through it and there are a lot of outdoor 
type restaurants and hostals where you can spend a pleasant afternoon with decent food and 
entertainment. It was great outing and I was able to spend a nice day with my Peruvian family.
Another one of those Mysterious parades occurred around the park near my house. I have yet to receive a good explanation as to what they are for. I think that they are blessing the park and the houses that surround it but that’s just a guess. There are pics from that and the trip to Cieneguilla included in this post. This past weekend was Peru’s Independence Day and their Armed Forces Day. Much like July 4th 
in the US, Peruvians and their families spend this time together with dinners, picnics and other activities.
My return to the gym has resulted in the loss of 3.5 kilos or 7.7 pounds in the last three weeks. I’m very happy with those results and plan to continue my workouts until I return to the US for a visit on October 9th. I already feel better and have a lot more energy, not to mention the effect this is having on my knees. That’s it for this entry. I hope I didn’t bore all of you too much. Wish me luck on figuring out how to off that character in my book. Have a great week everyone and get out of your chair, couch and go for a walk. You never know what you’ll see.