All for now.

Before signing off, here's the last of the pictures from our Jordan journey.
We spent hours a day digging and sifting for pottery and later washing it. Before packing up the finds from the season, a few were put out for a photo shoot.

I admit that it can be cool to handle things, even broken things, that were formed in the Early Iron Age, or 1,200 B.C. But too much of a cool thing...

The night before our flight, Ken and I took one more walk to the nearby "Cash & Carry" to purchase snacks for the flight and find a last gift or two. Strolling along and looking around the neighborhood, I was reminded again just how much stone, tile and concrete inform Jordanian architecture.

Thursday morning a large group said farewells to those remaining. More than one of the college women said, "Thank you for having Graeme." A first for me, but not surprising. While not the keenest digger, Graeme made astonishing headway forming new friendships and learning Arabic. He may have dreaded the trip, but he found his own fun. Justin looks on the experience as an exercise in discipline; she worked with a prickly field supervisor but kept going and kept her cool. Ken and I learned we didn't miss an archaeological calling, a huge relief. But we do enjoy traveling together and thoroughly enjoy Jordanian culture and hope to return in the future for different reasons.

We've been home a week now. Jet lag took a while to beat, drat that 10-hour time change, but we're all pretty well back in the swing. Graeme has had two long-distance phone calls from his Jordanian dig buds. Justin, after a few weeks chillin', now works away on her essay test; she gets college credit for her misery, or rather participation in the dig. And Ken and I have turned some of our dig habits to work in our yard and garden. Start while the day is cool, wear gloves and comfy clothes, begin by clearing inter-season growth and debris. We don't imagine we'll find any artifacts and may faint if we unearth any broken pottery. We do intend to turn our outdoor space into a cool oasis, like many we enjoyed while in Amman.

Thanks for keeping company with us on our adventure and let us know if you'd like to lend a hand digging up a bit of earth in our back yard.