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This is home for now
978 Twp. Rd. 133
West Salem, OH
44287
USA
330.347.9114
kaysraplenovich@gmail.com
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November 11 is the day that St. Martin turns the grape juice into new wine.
So we had to celebrate!!!
It was a cool night lit by a silvery moon. We snuggled by a toasty fire in the locust grove next to the new barn.
The menu was beef goulash on polenta, burek [cheese pie], Bosnian vegetables, cheeses.
Everyone bought a bottle of wine and we shared around all the miraculous flavors of grapes.
Happy Martinovanja!!

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Aaron was home for a joyful month in July.
He created an installation at Cleveland Public Theatre in Cleveland with Hope Schultz.
It was an event of great beauty and spiritual wonder.
The Line Between

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Welcome the new member of our family!

This is Drago.
He is a 5 month old Havanese puppy.
The Havanese is the national dog of Cuba and was known as The Havana Silk Dog. The parentage comes from the Bichon and was brought to Cuba by the Spanish.
We have no proof of this, but maybe Fidel Castro gave a Havanese to Joseph Tito, so of course the dog needed to speak Slovene. And surprisingly even though this little pup was born in an Amish home where they spoke a dialect of German he is multi lingual and receives all his commands in Slovene.
The biggest problem of course are his owners who are fluent in Slovenish [Slovene and English combination] and can’t decide which words to use – come [pridi] – let’s go [gremo] – sit [sedi].
Since his name means “dear one” maybe he will help us to remember the Slovene we are trying not to forget.
I never thought we would ever have a little dog, but he is such a lap dog that he behaves like a cat [ma^cka]. He loves to be petted while purring on my lap. And I absolutely hate every minute of it
We really hope he will be a great companion to my mother.

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WINTER 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR! SRE?NO NOVO LETO!
In Slovenija, the past 5 winters were warm by Ohio standards. The temperatures typically were above freezing and cyclamen and pansies continued to bloom in the window boxes. So returning to an Ohio winter has been a little bit of a shock. The weather has been unseasonably cold, with constant snow cover and the pond next door has been frozen since before Christmas. Bob has tried in winters past to skate on the pond, but often we are lucky to have one good weekend for skating. But this year the ice is now 5-6″ thick and with a lot of shoveling and a little bit of watering he has it perfect for a winter waltz.

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THANKSGIVING 2010
Bob and I returned to Ohio permanently in mid-November.
Before we barely hit the ground we were celebrating the first American Thanksgiving for our new nephew-in-law from Guinea, Africa

and the newest member of the famil, baby Maliq.

Plus the celebration of my mother’s 85th birthday.

Our time away in Slovenija meant that the family events that we would have celebrated together were missed, so it is a great joy to be here to join with our own families.

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SPRING/SUMMER, 2010

Spring and summer in Ohio was filled with great variety.
We packed up Mother’s belongings and found boxes of treasures to delight in.
Mother moved into a beautiful new apartment in a retirement community and had the walls painted peach.
We distributed the remaining remnants of her house to family, friends and The Salvation Army.
Boxes of memorabilia and the memories in photos came to my house to be catalogued this winter.
We sold her house to a retired couple who were very happy to have a smaller place with a nice yard for gardening.
I visited her in her new “home” regularly and enjoyed the 45 minute drive through Amish country.
And with the addition of lots of home made compost everything in our garden flourished.

We are visiting Slovenia for 2 months and then will be moving back to Ohio. We do not know what gifts the future has for us, but that keeps the adventure alive.

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January, 2010

The Christmas holidays were a blessing. Bob came to Ohio from Slovenija and Aaron came from California. We celebrated all together with the Raplenovich and the McGarvey families for the first time in 4 years. It was filled with lots of chit chat, laughter, food and even a few tears as we remembered those who were not there to share our joy.

sister Judi, her husband Dave                                   my husband Bob, son Aaron        Judi’s son Scott                                                             my mother Kitty                                                                           Judi’s daughter Katie and me

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2009-2010 school year will be split between Slovenia and Ohio for the 5th year. Amazing!!
The first year, when we went to Slovenia, neither of us had any idea how long we would stay.
It was the beginning of an adventure, at the beginning your don’t think of the end.
And we still do not think of the end, but the adventure of each moment.

Because of my father’s death I will be living in Ohio and helping my mother but Bob will be teaching in Slovenia. We will talk daily thanks to Skype, and we will visit when we can. It is indeed bitter sweet because more than anything I want to be with my husband and in the beautiful country of Slovenia, but more than anything I want to be with my mother in her first year alone.
So I need to buy Bob a camera so that now he can start documenting his experience in Slovenia.

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On 25 May, 2009 my father passed on to the next phase of his being. He had a cerebral hemorrhage while watching golf on T.V. – he got a helicopter ride to Cleveland from his home in Wooster, OH – his 2 daughters and his wife of 61 years were with him – he made his own decision about not having surgery and he was gone in 24 hours – He left this world the way he lived it – in control to the end, no fancy fanfare, straight forward to the point and with a thumbs up that told us that he knew he was going to a better place.

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April, 2009

Home is where the heart is. Home Sweet Home.  Keep the home fires burning. Home home on the range.   OK maybe the last one doesn’t fit.

Right now we are saying na svidenje to our “Slovene home” and friends I am feeling very sad. We have a wonderful life here with great jobs, incredible friends, and marvelous places to visit. After the better part of 4 years it really feels like home. Yet we both are so incredibly excited to return to our “U.S. home” to work in the gardens, spend countless hours with family and friends and spend summer nights on the front porch with a glass of wine being serenaded by Bob playing the accordion [come on over you don't want to miss this].

So where is home? I guess it is where we feel the most comfortable and “at home”, and right now we are truly blessed because we have two beautiful places that feel like home.

We will be at Thistlefink Gardens in West Salem from 14 April until 12 September, please come to visit!!

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WELCOME! DOBRODOŠLI!

Life is a most incredible journey! Sometimes the path winds among the deep damp darkness of the forest and the way seems lost, but more often the sun shines through the leaves and the journey is highlighted in a golden glow. Each sunset is a work of art, each conversation is literature, each bird sings an aria, each early morning wake up call is a symphony, and the movement of each living creature is a dance. I intend to celebrate the art of each day and of the meandering of my path with the greatest joy.

This site was created so that my family and friends can follow me on my adventures through life and around the world [and so I don't have to answer the same questions over and over again]. If you are not already in the f&f group you are most welcome as a new friend. Please leave comments on what you read and share your journey with me as I share my journey with you.

Peace, Mir,

Kay Raplenovich – kaysraplenovich@gmail.com
Nicole Tesle 3
5290 Sempeter pri Gorici
Slovenija
or
978 Twp. Rd. 133
West Salem, OH
44287
USA
330.347.9114

for more Slovene blogs go to kaysuzanraplenovich@blogspot.com