tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9616679166332963872024-03-18T21:08:01.684-07:00Bill's Trips 2013Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-7102397774729379982013-11-07T07:43:00.001-08:002013-11-07T07:43:03.788-08:00Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - West VirginiaAfter visiting with Mom for another day in Kansas City, I finally turned the venerable CRV to the east and began our return to Rochester. We spent our first night in Terre Haute, which is becoming our regular way station on I-70. Then we pulled into Morgantown WV to spend three days with Brendan, Eileen and the kids in their new hometown. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tpAtKJiZ9aI/Uno2O1q23UI/AAAAAAAAjkQ/JciqIOeprQo/s1600/20131031_halloween_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tpAtKJiZ9aI/Uno2O1q23UI/AAAAAAAAjkQ/JciqIOeprQo/s320/20131031_halloween_0014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brock and Brady as zombies!</td></tr>
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As it turned out, we arrived in time to celebrate Halloween and got to go with the kids as they went trick or treating in a nearby neighborhood. The neighborhood was actually a gated community is a leaky back entrance. The residents were expecting a lot of kids and had decorated their houses in some very creative ways.<br />
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You can get an idea by looking at some photos. <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5943121012733984897" target="_blank">Click here for the Halloween album.</a><br />
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The next day was Friday and all the West Virginians headed out to work or school while the two New Yorkers headed out for a day of spectacular views, a nice meal and compatible companionship. Our first stop was <a href="http://fallingwater.org/" target="_blank">Fallingwater</a>, the Frank Lloyd Wright designed summer getaway home in the Pennsylvania mountains about 50 minutes from Morgantown. I had been there about 20 years ago but Marilyn had never seen it. We took one of the house tours and then ate lunch in the cafe at the visitors center.<br />
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It was a glorious fall day, cool but not cold. Breezy but not uncomfortably windy. The sky was a mix of brilliant blue and puffy clouds passing in and out of view. We also stopped at <a href="http://kentuckknob.com/" target="_blank">Kentuck Knob</a>, another Wright designed home in the area but decided not to go up to the house and take a tour. We didn't want to miss our next stop.<br />
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5941469749153680929" target="_blank">You can view photos by clicking here.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bb7IK3eU8XU/UnRh19p-R9I/AAAAAAAAjNM/0hLlyw49rRk/s1600/20131101_coopersrockhdr_0022_3_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bb7IK3eU8XU/UnRh19p-R9I/AAAAAAAAjNM/0hLlyw49rRk/s320/20131101_coopersrockhdr_0022_3_4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View to the east showing Cheat River in distance.</td></tr>
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Our final stop that day was<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coopersrockstateforest.com%2F&ei=G657UqmdDom_sQTEkoGYAw&usg=AFQjCNGhkNKFvnomnBXwMzmkCnEWc85U-w&sig2=w8PO3McJIWF-dvt11Yd9hw&bvm=bv.56146854,d.cWc" target="_blank"> Cooper's Rock State Forest.</a> These dramatic rock formations form the bluff high above the Cheat River. Cooper's Rock got its name from a legend that an escaped prisoner successfully hid out from the law around the view point promontory. He was a cooper by trade and plied his trade for several years providing barrels to local residents. His first challenge would have been to stop looking at the awesome views and get back to work. That may also account for the law not being able to find him.<br />
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<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coopersrockstateforest.com%2F&ei=G657UqmdDom_sQTEkoGYAw&usg=AFQjCNGhkNKFvnomnBXwMzmkCnEWc85U-w&sig2=w8PO3McJIWF-dvt11Yd9hw&bvm=bv.56146854,d.cWc" target="_blank">You can view more photos by clicking here.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hWI-Oer9swk/Unuy7VbrTqI/AAAAAAAAjow/wEPHxswC_Os/s1600/20131102_brocksoccer_0025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hWI-Oer9swk/Unuy7VbrTqI/AAAAAAAAjow/wEPHxswC_Os/s200/20131102_brocksoccer_0025.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brock directing traffic at midfield</td></tr>
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Our last full day in Morgantown was taken up with sports: watching Braden and Brock play soccer and then college football on television. They played teams from Pennsyvania. Brendan pointed out there is not a lot of level terrain for soccer fields in West Virginia. When you do find some, it is almost certain that it was the site of strip coal mine. On this field, in addition to that little bit of West Virginia lore, there was a field-side waste treatment plant and a railroad track on which several cola trains passed during the four hours we spent there <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0zsk1RRBcH4/UncObKe_daI/AAAAAAAAjfI/qS3URZVESSY/s1600/20131102_bradensoccer_0074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0zsk1RRBcH4/UncObKe_daI/AAAAAAAAjfI/qS3URZVESSY/s200/20131102_bradensoccer_0074.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Braden hustling into position</td></tr>
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watching both games. Unlike the previous day, this one was cold, windy and often heavy rain.<br />
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5942227129935007025" target="_blank">See photos of Brock's game by clicking here.</a><br />
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5942231568831591521" target="_blank">See photos of Braden's game by clicking here.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSi9vDVX7uRaH4ySLhqKTKHrUGwI65A-qbQZEd0fN1MJlBvQnA66fZ3wi5TF_t20n8XmZ44EvGkn1IzB7dNhNYvu2PcjIbTt8m_ScOYcaEaxF1P0sWecD6unfA-M-oXl4U9svSox072-A/s1600/20131103_150118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSi9vDVX7uRaH4ySLhqKTKHrUGwI65A-qbQZEd0fN1MJlBvQnA66fZ3wi5TF_t20n8XmZ44EvGkn1IzB7dNhNYvu2PcjIbTt8m_ScOYcaEaxF1P0sWecD6unfA-M-oXl4U9svSox072-A/s320/20131103_150118.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The next day we had an easy drive back to Rochester and our home sweet home. Note the sun shine and dry walks. I was able to watch the second half of the Kansas City game and got to see the Chiefs go to 9-0!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-42905270758034224722013-11-04T15:56:00.000-08:002013-11-04T15:56:03.737-08:00Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - Kansas Prairie Adventure continues<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NFPJDRASQKk/Um-0sjfI-CI/AAAAAAAAjEg/A-aCF88NYnc/s1600/20131028_maize_0025_6_7_tonemapped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NFPJDRASQKk/Um-0sjfI-CI/AAAAAAAAjEg/A-aCF88NYnc/s320/20131028_maize_0025_6_7_tonemapped.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An exquisite window with the fall foliage <br />
outside the Seelye Mansion</td></tr>
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Even though every day, we planned on leaving the Sciolaro hacienda no later than 9:00, we never seemed to make it until 11:00 or so. Nonetheless, on our second day we headed out to Abilene Kansas with every intention of spending the better part of the day at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. However by the time we got there it was getting toward noon and we decided to make a quick stop at the Seelye House, grab a quick lunch and then spend the afternoon at the library. Well, we never did make it to the library, telling ourselves that we would put that on the list for the next trip to visit Andy and Lois. "What," you might ask, "kept you from visiting a world renown historical resource?" The answer is twofold: The Seelye Mansion and the Russell Stover factory store and outlet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Killa-germ for the fastidious<br />homemaker.</td></tr>
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The <a href="http://kansastravel.org/seelyemansion/" target="_blank">Seelye Mansion</a> is a marvelous time capsule of early 20th Century American life for the wealthy. As the web site explains, "the Georgian style Seelye Mansion is like a time capsule. Most of its furnishings were purchased at the 1904 St Louis World's Fair. The furnishings cost more than the $55,000 that was spent building the 11,000 square feet home.
The 25 room Seelye Mansion was built in 1905 for Dr. A. B. Seelye, who made his fortune in patent medicine with the A.B. Seelye Medical Company. The Patent Medicine Museum occupies a former Seelye laboratory which has been moved to the rear of the mansion." Even in his day, A.B.'s "medicine" had another and more pejorative name, "snake oil." His salesmen roamed the Midwest in horse drawn wagons filled with a variety of remedies. One of his "medicines" does live today as Mentholatum. He didn't limit himself to medicines but branched out into any useful household chemical formulation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marilyn shows the<br />key hole cover</td></tr>
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In 1920, Seelye had Frank Lloyd Wright redecorate the interior and it has been unchanged since. One of the most interesting feature is that every key hole (and every door in the house - interior and exterior - had one) was covered to prevent peeping! The current owner of the mansion - Terry <span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;">Tietjens</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;"> - was our tour guide. He purchased the mansion and its contents from the Seelye sisters who lived there into their nineties and never married. He is reluctant to let any guest get by with a quickie tour and that was the major reason why the Eisenhower Library awaits our next trip.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marilyn, Andy and Lois</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;">However, someone did mention that the Russell Stover manufacturing plant had a retail store which one could buy factory seconds, not up to their retail standards for appearance but just as tasty.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-center;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5940162079896536033?banner=pwa" target="_blank">Click here to view more photos of our visit to the Seelye Mansion.</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-7464915691178298362013-11-02T07:42:00.000-07:002013-11-02T07:42:53.117-07:00Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - Kansas Prairie Adventure<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PdJF-HhKd9A/Um5ZrjxFCiI/AAAAAAAAi7g/WwZlzNtkX68/s1600/20131027_132444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PdJF-HhKd9A/Um5ZrjxFCiI/AAAAAAAAi7g/WwZlzNtkX68/s400/20131027_132444.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic view from Coronado Heights</td></tr>
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I am writing this blog in Terre Haute Indiana where we stopped for the night on our way back East. We are headed to Morgantown WV where we will spend Halloween and a couple more days with Brendan, Eileen and the kids. The highlight of our trip so far was the three days we spent in cousins Andy and Lois Sciolaro. They live in Maize KS, just outside Wichita.<br />
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We spent Sunday touring around the prairie. Our first stop was Coronado Heights, a hill where it i said that Coronado made his furthest trek East before returning to Mexico. There are structures that were added by the WPA in the thirties. It is a favorite picnic spot with great views and, at least on the day we were there, pretty high winds. This is the prairie so the wind is a constant.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n_DDuOrUITs/Um5bKpRG2PI/AAAAAAAAi8s/46CrWkcknNw/s1600/20131027_maize_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n_DDuOrUITs/Um5bKpRG2PI/AAAAAAAAi8s/46CrWkcknNw/s320/20131027_maize_0027.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marilyn, Andy and Lois in Linsborg</td></tr>
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We then went to Linsborg where we had lunch in restaurant on Main street. As the name suggest, the town was founded by Swedish immigrants. We also visited several shops which contained the work of local artists, all very nice.<br />
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On our way to Coronado Heights we spotted a very interesting structure which we eventually named The Little House on the Prairie. We promised our selves that we would return to it on the way home when the late afternoon sunlight would be perfect for picture taking.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2j1PmMJzYXc/Um5cvNUFg7I/AAAAAAAAi-E/yiDJVbf_bKk/s1600/20131027_maize_0052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2j1PmMJzYXc/Um5cvNUFg7I/AAAAAAAAi-E/yiDJVbf_bKk/s320/20131027_maize_0052.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andy and Lois under a prairie mushroom.</td></tr>
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But first we visited Mushroom Park. I know it seems somewhat strange that there are mushrooms on the prairie but there they were! These strange rock formations in the middle of nowhere are the setting for a small park which was being visited by a dozen people on that Sunday afternoon.<br />
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5939783243601060449" target="_blank">You can view more photos of that day on the prairie by clicking here.</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little House on the Prairie</td></tr>
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The unexpected discovery of our day, however, was the aforementioned "Little House on the Prairie." It was situated about 200 yards off the highway. An old driveway, mostly overgrown, gave us access. We parked just off he highway and walked up to the house. It is surrounded by blue stem grass, the natural vegetation of the prairie. In the afternoon sunlight it was golden and warm which belied its abandoned nature. When you looked inside, multiple narratives of the lives that had unfolded there leaped into consciousness. We had no idea how old it was. A quick Google search didn't turn up anything. It is a spectacular subject for photography and would be worthy of multiple visits at different times of the year, in different weather conditions, and time of day. The house is made all the interesting by the lone tree close to it which is now dead and with no bark. It is situated on the west side the house and must have been designed to provide relief from the blistering afternoon sun during prairie summers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hKxNmGtGCMg/Um5WmUeeSMI/AAAAAAAAi5E/VRernppHC5k/s1600/20131027_maizehdr_0001_2_3_tonemapped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hKxNmGtGCMg/Um5WmUeeSMI/AAAAAAAAi5E/VRernppHC5k/s320/20131027_maizehdr_0001_2_3_tonemapped.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior of the house with prairie blue stem grass outside</td></tr>
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We didn't enter the house since the floor was pretty much missing. From natural disintegration or vandalism or salvage? Who knows? It must have been a moderately affluent family since it had a full basement and second floor with three or four bedrooms. But again, who knows?<br />
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5939779924666381921" target="_blank">You can click here to see more photos.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-85957492276310127872013-10-25T05:19:00.000-07:002013-10-25T05:19:46.942-07:00Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - The First Few DaysI arrived on Monday and today is Friday. Marilyn flies in around noon and we will spend a couple of days here in Kansas City before we head down to Wichita area to visit our cousins, Andy and Lois Sciolaro. My sister Anola and her husband, Peter, left Tuesday for China. We missed connections on a Skype call last night but she sent a video message which I will show Mom when she gets up. I know she will be relieved to see that they got there just fine.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom with Diane</td></tr>
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I have had chance to meet the young ladies who come every morning and evening to make sure she is taking her pills: the right ones on the right day. They are both lovely and caring. Diane, shown here with Mom, is completing her nursing degree and is both cheerful and very competent. Mom enjoys their visits even though she continues to insist that she can take the pills on her own without them. I just tell her to humor us.<br />
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Nadine is one of the people who sits at Mom's table for dinner. She is a lovely person. She shared something last night and broke me up. "You know, I sleep on one side of my bed for a week and then switch to the other side for a week. That way, I only have to wash the sheets every two weeks." I like it!<br />
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I spent around an hour on the Country Club Plaza a couple of nights ago seeing what photos might be there. While I had seen the Nelson-Atkins Museum including the new addition many times, I had never seen it at night. It is stunning. Even though I didn't have time to get the tripod set up and had to hand hold the camera, I couldn't resist getting some shots of the museum and the Four Rivers Fountain. There are some other locations down there for night photography and I plan on returning tonight and getting even better shots.<br />
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Mom and I have been scanning several of her photo albums including her memories book from St. Vincent's Academy where she went to high school. I will be making a selection of those and posting them on line. <br />
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5938306811744551585" target="_blank">Click here to view the Plaza Night Photos Album.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-38287758088228957562013-10-22T10:22:00.000-07:002013-10-22T10:22:45.347-07:00Fall 2013 Trip to Kansas City - The Journey WestThis is my third trip to Kansas City this year. Normally I try to make it after Thanksgiving so I can enjoy the lights on the Country Club Plaza but this year Marilyn and I will be spending some time with our cousins Andy and Lois Sciolaro on a tour of the prairie. They live just outside Wichita Kansas and it seemed a better chance for good weather now rather than early December. As often happens, Marilyn is flying in on Friday and then the two of us will drive back together, visiting friends and family along the way.<br />
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I left early Sunday morning and made good progress even through some heavy downpours and strong winds between Buffalo and Erie. This confirmed my decision to make this trip now rather than early December when those heavy downpours would have been WHITE! Originally I had thought about stopping in Morgantown to visit Brendan and company for a day. It is not exactly on the way but it does break the drive into two doable segments. As it turned out, they were not going to be home that weekend but rather at a soccer tournament in Dayton Ohio where Braden and Brock were playing. I thought perhaps we might pass each other on I-70 and thus there was a possibility of lunch together in Columbus. As it turned out, however, both of them were playing in championship games with Braden's starting at 1:45 just as I would be passing by about 15 north on I-70. As a result I took a two hour break and got to see them and see Braden's team win their championship game. <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5937609707173949729" target="_blank">Click here to see some photos of her game.</a><br />
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I got back on the road and was able to listen to the Kansas City Chiefs game against Houston on ESPN radio. I got to my stopping point in Terre Haute in time to watch the fourth quarter and see them win a close one to become, as it turned out, the only undefeated NFL team at the end of week seven. I watched most of the Denver game and look forward to four weeks from now when the Chiefs go to Denver for their first of two games.<br />
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I left Terre Haute early the next morning and with the time change and good weather got to Kansas City before noon. Mom looks wonderful and, as always, it was great to see her and get settled in. That evening we had dinner with Anola who was leaving the next day for a three week trip to Hong Kong and the a tour of China. Anola and Peter's son Gerry and his wife Kara live there due to Gerry's job as an editor with the <a href="http://international.nytimes.com/" target="_blank">New York Times International Edition</a>, formerly the International Herald Tribune. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0cN6fjYMV3NAaNJxoyPedNGqayNaphbYodDIkipnQlN3M8jylNJokpOpQwjzyOhmap4bjr6OOkznK2QFzAVy_Wi3GCT3YZ7PBnmYsCArKMYD4S0ACUNzf38sByQKBpNaMyshvyZ21HI/s1600/20131022_100544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0cN6fjYMV3NAaNJxoyPedNGqayNaphbYodDIkipnQlN3M8jylNJokpOpQwjzyOhmap4bjr6OOkznK2QFzAVy_Wi3GCT3YZ7PBnmYsCArKMYD4S0ACUNzf38sByQKBpNaMyshvyZ21HI/s200/20131022_100544.jpg" width="200" /></a>As soon as I arrived, Mom told me that she had lost her purse but eventually found in her apartment. I was quite surprised at her answer when i asked her where it had been found. "The dish washer," she said calmly. Since Mom has, to my knowledge, never used her dishwasher...fortunately in this case, I asked her how it how come to be there. She had no idea but since she uses it to store other items, it must have just hopped in by herself when she wasn't looking.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-72389047595582450802013-10-07T11:50:00.001-07:002013-10-07T11:50:31.782-07:00Trip to Charlotte - Fourth and Final DaySunday was a busy day. Marcie had to work and left for the hospital around 7:30. She got caught up in some involved cases and didn't get through before I had to leave. The night before, Liam and Marcie went to some friends for dinner and a bonfire, something of a tradition. I was given an out and so stayed home, rested after that busy day and got to bed early.<br />
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As soon as Aidan was up and after Liam ran out to Dick's to get a place kicking tee and a couple of regulation footballs, the three of us went up to the middle school field so Aidan could practice his kicking. I took a lot of pictures so Liam could coach him. Here are two sequences that I put into video format. The first part is a field goal attempt and the second an extra point.<br />
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We had to hustle home and collect Marin to get her to her soccer match, about 45 minutes north of home but close to the airport where I had to catch 3:50 flight back home. We also had Eibhlin and her little friend along. I was glad I got to see her play while I was here. She had a match on Saturday but I was in Pinehurst watching Liam play football.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another fast Pickett on the soccer field!</td></tr>
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Her team and Marin played a great game in what could only be described as a hot, summer day. The temp was 90 degrees. They played an undefeated team to a 2-2 tie. Marin played center back and made a number of fine plays. She played every minute of the match! <br />
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You can see more photos of Marin playing soccer in the <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/111139278872202723241/SoccerInCharlotte2013" target="_blank">Charlotte Soccer Album in Google+ Photos.</a> Make sure you navigate toward the last part of the album to see her.<br />
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Liam got me to the airport right on time and my flights were all on time or a little early. I got home a little before 9:00 just after Marilyn pulled in from her day in Buffalo. Good to be home. We relaxed with some popcorn and watched the season opener of "the Good Wife," one of our favorite shows.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-47494855099855134422013-10-05T18:45:00.000-07:002013-10-06T05:00:29.392-07:00Trip to Charlotte - Day Three<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaLkqo-uUPctLDlatisPC32hRWE9S1Uv_tXIj9BAWDfomAiMS4FOoq0X-DXxfUaILdCT7djeHFLtK_h-nhAr_h7WN1yvWSI7IuobocFsZOW-lgNybYXsFZUgscFHLM5xMsE8zLNJYTqGY/s1600/IMG_7645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaLkqo-uUPctLDlatisPC32hRWE9S1Uv_tXIj9BAWDfomAiMS4FOoq0X-DXxfUaILdCT7djeHFLtK_h-nhAr_h7WN1yvWSI7IuobocFsZOW-lgNybYXsFZUgscFHLM5xMsE8zLNJYTqGY/s320/IMG_7645.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoe flotsam</td></tr>
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The Carolina Picketts generally do not wear shoes inside the house. Even though Liam has built a set of shelves just to the right of this door from the garage into the house, shoes seem to collect as flotsam does after a receding tide. By the time we got back from our day of football and soccer, this had all been cleaned up and shoes put away on the shelves. I discovered this was due to Marcie's tripping as she tried to exit the house!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aidan taking a free kick</td></tr>
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My day began with Liam at Aidan's soccer match which his team won 5-0. It has been a year since I had seen him play and he is a presence on the field as a team leader. His play has improved and he has grown into a really good looking young man! I won't see him till Sunday morning. A friend of his from middle school--a young lady whom he claims is "just a friend"--invited him to join her and her family in their box seats for the South Carolina football game Saturday night. You can see more photos in the <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5931440217316594001" target="_blank">soccer album by clicking here.</a><br />
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As the soccer match was ending, Liam and I took off for Pinehurst NC where Liam was playing his second football game of the week. His team--Hammer Down--was playing the Sand Hill Patriots team which had won their last fifty games. Hammer Down played very tough but lost 14-0. If a <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liam's big block</td></tr>
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couple of plays had gone the other way, they would have won; it was that close a game. Liam had a nice pass reception. He was exhausted after the game having played every down: defense outside left linebacker and and offense tight end. He plays with his head up and is always looking for a play. This picture shows a block he made on a busted play that resulted in an additional nine yards. <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/111139278872202723241/FootballInCharlotte2013#5931436592187791826" target="_blank">You can see more photos in the updated football album by clicking here.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-36969934897075463852013-10-05T03:48:00.000-07:002013-10-05T04:01:45.249-07:00Trip to Charlotte Days One and Two<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCc9Pa7ZLTOMOiYRpXyXlpvxU9-3Q4Q6tOaDhxDRHYq_Y1Cgn8hVUolvBYSk9M1FoCdlLAROgzca40ofhIf5rXxVD1ikiH-Hlvyma94FYcA8LQDWsWgBMrNEH7zfDMN0bKOH0lI8WYS-4/s1600/IMG_7583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCc9Pa7ZLTOMOiYRpXyXlpvxU9-3Q4Q6tOaDhxDRHYq_Y1Cgn8hVUolvBYSk9M1FoCdlLAROgzca40ofhIf5rXxVD1ikiH-Hlvyma94FYcA8LQDWsWgBMrNEH7zfDMN0bKOH0lI8WYS-4/s320/IMG_7583.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liam at half-time during the boys football game.</td></tr>
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It has been a year since I visited Liam and Marcie in Charlotte. I picked a game-filled weekend with two football games and three soccer matches. Liam has just taken a new job with Abbott: Emergency Department Executive covering a region that stretches from Atlanta to Richmond. He has been working in Clinical Affairs for the past year and this is a move back into sales. It is a position he had been seeking for sometime. This time, they came looking for him. He had just gotten the written offer letter the day before I arrived. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liam: Hey, a little help?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aidan set.</td></tr>
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After an uneventful flight on Delta through Atlanta and a lunch at Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, we went to the Community House Middle School football game. This year Aidan went out for football for the school team as did Liam who has been playing on a club team for the past two years. They both made the team. Liam plays middle linebacker and receiver. Aidan is a kicker and cornerback. Since this is Aidan's first year in football, he doesn't get a lot of playing time but he enjoys the game and is learning fast. After two blowout victories, they went up against a tough team and lost 14-8. Aidan got in the last series on defense and showed great courage in attacking an offensive lineman who was in the backfield for a sweep.<br />
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We went back home and watched the Buffalo Bills lose to a decimated Cleveland Browns team. Actually when I went to bed, it looked like the Bills would cruise to a victory with the Browns quarterback out of the game. Of course, the Bills quarterback was knocked out as well and the Browns won the battle of the back ups.<br />
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Friday saw everyone off to school and Liam with a full set of phone conference calls and meetings. We got out for lunch and then went to two football practices: the first for the middle school team and the second for Liam's club team, Hammer Down. The second one didn't start till 7:00 and was under the lights. We didn't get home till after 9:00. A long day with a busy Saturday in the offing.<br />
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5930950993559971377?banner=pwa" target="_blank">You can see an updated album of photos by clicking here.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-45539637294954701322013-10-04T06:31:00.000-07:002013-10-04T06:31:00.012-07:00Trip to Morgantown WV<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uMqyoLBKC5ykoGOQwEUyUTb-MC_ZCcyvpbgwVWQqXoI3mzBsGM94m_J_P0Lon6fdZQ_283GvEJZayYKjdUlRSNZg-L9FSswazDYPFbeM5snHtrWx-Rb3Rnefl2lFbF8CnyXamfWmLG4/s1600/20130928_075256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uMqyoLBKC5ykoGOQwEUyUTb-MC_ZCcyvpbgwVWQqXoI3mzBsGM94m_J_P0Lon6fdZQ_283GvEJZayYKjdUlRSNZg-L9FSswazDYPFbeM5snHtrWx-Rb3Rnefl2lFbF8CnyXamfWmLG4/s400/20130928_075256.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of Cheat Lake from Lakeside Resort Golf Course</td></tr>
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Brendan, Eileen and the kids moved to Morgantown WV on August 1. I drove down to for my first visit on the last weekend in September. Driving to see them is now a lot easier since it is less than six hours from Rochester as opposed to the slightly more than 12 it took to drive to Aurora IL. By the way, this Morgantown is almost exactly halfway to Charlotte. Originally I had planned to drive to Morgantown and then on to Charlotte and back through Virginia to visit my brother Tom but that didn't work out this trip.<br />
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The first thing you notice about Morgantown is the natural beauty especially as fall colors begin to emerge. The next thing you notice is the HILLS and finally you realize how small the town is. The permanent population is around 30,000 with slightly more than 30,000 students at West Virginia University. This was a football weekend with the Mountaineers hosting the Oklahoma State Cowboys, ranked 11th in the country. WVU recently left the Big East and joined the Big Twelve. After an embarrassing game against Maryland the week before (37-0 loss) confidence was not high. With a 63,000 seat stadium sold out--a great time to go to Kroger's by the way as well as safely transit West Virginia's first and only traffic circle--the Mountaineers played a spectacular game to upset the Cowboys 30-21. Go 'eers? I know, I would have thought 'neers too. We enjoined the game at home on ESPN.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAu_3DNXlvkRLbecLaAgDgbI9DFp8cZ57y4ieeK436IVb8KSasp14_cYr2ZRAY3Sayr8bYBo2gRIFpmNMH9Dj6JQwGozAgkxnQENKktTV9SzcvYfJG8WwXxvE8Wde5OKigMUbfsu0pal0/s1600/20130927_141408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAu_3DNXlvkRLbecLaAgDgbI9DFp8cZ57y4ieeK436IVb8KSasp14_cYr2ZRAY3Sayr8bYBo2gRIFpmNMH9Dj6JQwGozAgkxnQENKktTV9SzcvYfJG8WwXxvE8Wde5OKigMUbfsu0pal0/s320/20130927_141408.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eileen and Braden</td></tr>
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When I arrived on Friday, I joined Eileen and Braden for lunch. Braden was getting ready to attend the <a href="http://www.buckwheatfest.com/" target="_blank">Preston County Buckwheat Festival</a> at an even smaller town near Morgantown. She was going with friends from her soccer team. I was pleased to see how well her transition has gone with a lot of friends both at school and on her team. <br />
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They live in a very nice and new townhouse with three bedrooms on the top floor, a spacious main floor and the fourth bedroom and bath occupied by the West Virginia Pickett teenager on the ground floor. This is located in the Cheat Lake area and is right on the tenth fairway of the resort golf course. In fact, Brock and Brady met us with cold drinks there and happily enough observed one of my few good drives of the day. Fortunately I was unaware of the gallery until after I hit. <br />
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After golf on Saturday, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching football on TV: the aforementioned West Virginia game, then Notre Dame-Oklahoma, and most of the Wisconsin-Michigan game. Sunday we sandwiched in a couple of NFL games on TV, Chiefs game on internet updates, and some of the kids' activities.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tr_fE_mhAjg/UkrRmnHt8tI/AAAAAAAAhh4/9P3v5gf4S-Q/s1600/20130929_morgantown_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tr_fE_mhAjg/UkrRmnHt8tI/AAAAAAAAhh4/9P3v5gf4S-Q/s320/20130929_morgantown_0004.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No caption needed</td></tr>
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Wrestling is the newest Pickett sport. Brady is in a instructional program coached by one of the WVU assistant coaches. He is very motivated and works extremely hard especially given the fact that he is typically paired up with a boy who is in his third year of participation. It is hard to watch him get tossed around but he comes right back and works the drills and techniques the coaches teach him. He is also playing flag football but with a Mountaineer home game taking over the town, there was no flag football that weekend.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HCYytPHAPvw/UkzFqKGXKzI/AAAAAAAAhlk/RHlWe5m-DNE/s1600/20130929_morgantown_0186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HCYytPHAPvw/UkzFqKGXKzI/AAAAAAAAhlk/RHlWe5m-DNE/s320/20130929_morgantown_0186.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Braden leaves her signature pigtail after a header</td></tr>
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Later that afternoon, Braden and Brock both had soccer matches but I could only get to one and that was Braden's. It was great to see her play and smile a lot while she was. She clearly enjoys being on the team, has friends, and is playing as a force in the mid-field. The thing I noticed most of all was how she has added headers to her game, both at mid field and in front of the goal.<br />
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You can view the photo album <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5929781849920920945?banner=pwa" target="_blank">by clicking this link.</a><br />
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Eileen arrived with Brock from his soccer match in Pennsylvania. We all ate out and then returned home to finish the evening watching football. What else! I left early the next morning and left two days later for Charlotte. More about that on the next blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-67563176065895633762013-07-23T13:06:00.000-07:002013-07-23T13:08:56.055-07:00Trip to Kansas City - Days Five, Six, Seven, and Eight<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ep4ptih5YMs/UeijPMyYk4I/AAAAAAAAf6I/Rgf0PayLBPI/s1600/20130718_154951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ep4ptih5YMs/UeijPMyYk4I/AAAAAAAAf6I/Rgf0PayLBPI/s320/20130718_154951.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Thursday we stayed with Mom for her physical therapy and speech therapy sessions. After a quick lunch Marilyn and I headed down to the Liberty Memorial to spend the afternoon going through the excellent<a href="http://theworldwar.org/" target="_blank"> National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial.</a> That evening we dined with Mom at Grand Court and spent the evening visiting with Anola and Peter who had just returned from North Carolina. Early the next day, Marilyn flew home for a family baby shower in Buffalo the next day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Saturday I began the day breakfasting with Peter and then visiting the<a href="http://www.kemperart.org/" target="_blank"> Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art</a> to experience an exhibit of photographs by Laura McPhee entitled "River of No Return." These are 6 ft. x 8 ft. chromogenic prints which is to say the kind of prints we are used to getting from film -- remember film? The photographs are very engaging and intriguing; their large size adds to the impact. I wondered about the dark room she would have used to prints these giants! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I was off to the Reading Reptile, the young person's bookstore in Brookside. They had a big display of Anola's book and will be hosting a book signing the following Friday. Anola and Peter had just returned from a book launch at the<a href="http://www.chicamacomico.net/" target="_blank"> Historic Site of </a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span class="style7" style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chicamacomico.net/" target="_blank">Chicamacomico Life Saving Station in Rodanthe</a>. Her book, Whisper Island, tells the story of a 12 year old girl in 1913 who wants to be part of the Life Saving Service...but, no girls allowed. One reviewer said, "What a sweet, tender, amazing book!
I sat down to read it and didn't get up until it was finished it was so captivating!
A story told from the heart with all the passion of a young girl trying to make it in a man's world."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I waited to get together with my sister, Mary, I revisited Loose Park and took this panorama image with my phone camera.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I was continuing to kill time, I went by the old neighborhood and found a Forest Avenue Community Day in progress. They had spent the morning cleaning up and were celebrating with some nice eats. They were set up pretty much in front of the house where I grew up. I stopped and visited. There were a couple of families that remembered some families that had lived there such a long time ago. The neighborhood still struggles but it was good to see such positive attitudes and energies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That evening Anola, Peter, Mom and I went to Culver's for some burgers and shakes. Gotta like a place that advertises "butterburgers!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I left the next day at 5:30 AM. I had intended to stop in Richmond Indiana but found that I was not at all tired and it was much too early to stop at 3:00. So I kept going and eventually got home a bit after 11:00 PM after 17 hours on the road.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-21975968207259442552013-07-18T05:10:00.000-07:002013-07-18T05:20:54.218-07:00Trip to Kansas City July 2013 - Days Three and Four<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqmDENmXMF7gvac9wXPVTPkajMgGeyz4dd4nZp-sbPn4hVAGbxoWqhj_nPFk0F8tlCF24NktYNehRweHHGDoMsFHJMoEdxvpLJ_TM-ac8jEnE8_dyLp1UnJaq5ydmfZ86XB3BD3nqdkA/s1600/20130716_084122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqmDENmXMF7gvac9wXPVTPkajMgGeyz4dd4nZp-sbPn4hVAGbxoWqhj_nPFk0F8tlCF24NktYNehRweHHGDoMsFHJMoEdxvpLJ_TM-ac8jEnE8_dyLp1UnJaq5ydmfZ86XB3BD3nqdkA/s320/20130716_084122.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Along Indian Creek Trail</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">July 16 was Mom's 101st birthday. In contrast to last year's big celebration, this was a calm celebration. I began the day as usual with early morning coffee with Sean who had flown in the day before with his family. I accumulated some more stars at the local Starbuck's while I got caught up with his life, especially the developments with his very challenging job. After that, Marilyn and I took an hour's walk along a wonderful biking hiking trail along <a href="http://www.trailsidecenter.org/index.php?id=30" target="_blank">Indian Creek</a> near my Mom's place. It was a cool start to a very hot day although it was much hotter in Rochester where there was a heat alert in effect!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We returned to Mom's and sat in on her physical therapy session and then went to lunch with my brother Terry, his wife Johnny along with Sean and his family. The family members in town then gathered with Mom for dinner at <a href="http://www.cinzzettis.com/" target="_blank">Cinzetti's</a>, a wonderful Italian restaurant. We had our own space for a lively session with lots of laughter and way too much good food including many--too many--delicious desserts! Two of my siblings were not in town: Tom who had been here before we arrived and Anola who was in North Carolina for the launch of her newest novel, <a href="http://www.anolapickett.com/" target="_blank">Whisper Island.</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day was spent reviewing the reports from Mom's therapists as we began the process of making decisions about her living situation. Marilyn and I took a break and headed to the Country Club Plaza for lunch and shopping and then stopped by Loose Park to view the rose gardens. Of course, we also stopped at the Baskins & Robbins in Brookside for some ice cream. Hey, it was hot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went down for dinner with Mom at Grand Court so we could visit with her friends at the table. Bill Binder was there along with Nadine, Barbara, and Mary. All the men in the dining look forward to our visits so they can get a chance to see Marilyn. Before dinner, we met Nels and his wife Jean. They were married at Grand Court two years ago. Nels is 94. Their wedding was the first and so far the only one involving residents of Grand Court. He happily explained that two Social Security checks are better than one. I suppose that there will be more such weddings in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My big learning for the day concerned my Android phone and its camera. I had no idea of the many functions that come with the camera function: HDR, panorama, and a number of very sophisticated editing apps -all of them free. Marilyn had sent me a link to very informative book about these. <a href="http://clickserve.dartsearch.net/link/click?lid=43700001088208217&ds_s_kwgid=58700000127774001&ds_e_adid=%7Bcreative%7D&ds_e_matchtype=%7Bifsearch:search%7D%7Bifcontent:content%7D&ds_e_device=%7Bdevice%7D&ds_url_v=2" target="_blank">Click here to go to the Android Store for a free copy.</a> After dinner we went for a walk in the new garden at Grand Court where I used the new apps to take some photos and then edited them. The picture to the right is an example. The app I used easily allowed me to achieve an SLR look by defocusing the background while keeping Mom and me in sharp focus. Nice, huh? These apps are so impressive that I may try leaving my other cameras at home on a trip and just using my phone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent the evening watching one of Mom's favorite movies, "Shall We Dance?" She has watched this so many times that she actually wore out her original DVD and I had to get her a new one last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5901746872927779761?banner=pwa" target="_blank">Go here to see the continually updated Picasa album of this Kansas City trip.</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-87254261908268354292013-07-16T03:43:00.001-07:002013-07-16T03:43:15.788-07:00Trip to Kansas City July 2013 - Days One and Two<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M-YPx-rLq_U/UePMJI_59UI/AAAAAAAAffc/cClWE1xV4Rw/s1600/20130714_terrehaute_0022_3_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M-YPx-rLq_U/UePMJI_59UI/AAAAAAAAffc/cClWE1xV4Rw/s400/20130714_terrehaute_0022_3_4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Wabash River at sunset: Terre Haute</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are off on our annual summer trip to Kansas City to celebrate my mother's 101st birthday. We drove the 1000 miles and stopped over night in Terre Haute, our usual pattern. After dinner, we went to Fairbanks Park and strolled along the Wabash River and enjoyed a lovely sunset.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was home to the Wea Tribe of the great Miami Nation whose control extended over present day Indiana, western Ohio, eastern Illinois, and southern Michigan. As happened with other tribes, the Wea sold its land rights to the federal government for what amounted to paltry sums and eventually were relocated. Some of the Wea stayed in Indiana around Terre Haute. Their descendants still live in the area. You can learn more on their <a href="http://www.weaindiantribe.com/" target="_blank">web site</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can also see more photos of the <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5900783358206204241" target="_blank">Wabash stroll by clicking here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we arrived in Kansas City, we met my cousins, Lois and Andy Sciolaro, for lunch and a fun catching up. Then it was off to Grand Court to stay at Mom's and see Sean, Julie, and Sam who had arrived the day before. After dinner at Sweet Tomatoes--Mom stayed home to rest up--it was back to Grand Court for me to rest up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5901150552205080017" target="_blank">Here is a link to the trip album which will be updated each day.</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-58268533642672659022013-06-17T03:51:00.002-07:002013-06-17T03:56:20.590-07:00Trip to Aurora Picketts<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFQ0Uor-62A4X_d527cQO74KpcI0tXYODwNeG1DPZvcekGehaGurdQ1r6OpqDmWtFw32TiVt3v3E3HzF_knC6inkvi2qDKCQzBQvYRFjha-ncpezWi-a7tybSgyZWnsOQ08XGUwVe5X9w/s1600/20130613_085958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFQ0Uor-62A4X_d527cQO74KpcI0tXYODwNeG1DPZvcekGehaGurdQ1r6OpqDmWtFw32TiVt3v3E3HzF_knC6inkvi2qDKCQzBQvYRFjha-ncpezWi-a7tybSgyZWnsOQ08XGUwVe5X9w/s320/20130613_085958.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Grand Hall at Chicago Union Station</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We returned home from our California trip last Wednesday night a little after 11:00. I left the next morning on a 6:40 AM flight to Chicago to visit Brendan, Eileen and the kids whom I hadn't seen since last October. I arrived around 8:00 and took the CTA train to the Loop downtown, walked about three blocks to Central station and then took the Aurora METRA train out to Aurora where Eileen and Brock and Brady picked me up. I had to wait a couple of hours for the next Aurora train but otherwise it was a very efficient and pleasant to make the trip to Aurora. Also it only cost $8.50 which is less than the cost of gasoline for the same trip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although it wasn't known when I planned this trip, Brendan is taking a new job in Morgantown WV. He will be Director of Production for Dan Ryan Homes, a major regional builder founded by one of the grandsons of the founder of Ryan Homes where he has worked for the last 17 years. He will start in Morgantown July 1 and he was giving his two week notice the day after I arrived. This is a great move for him professionally in many ways and will be wonderful for the family as well. Morgantown is the location for West Virginia University, about an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh. It is midway between Rochester and Charlotte where Liam lives, 3 hours from Cleveland where much of Eileen's family lives, and three hours for Washington DC where Brendan and Eileen went to college and have friends and family. A six hour drive for me means that we will be seeing much more of them than a 12 hour drive or an airplane flight now permits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brendan told his boss Friday morning and then he and I played a round of golf--my first of the season--on an absolutely perfect day weather wise. We dropped Braden off at Prairie Fest, a local festival, and then the rest of us went to a ballgame to see the Kane County Cougars--Single A affiliate of Chicago Cubs-- play the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from Appleton. We left a bit early and stopped for ice cream on the way home. We had to get home and get to sleep since we had two ballgames of our own to get to on Saturday.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brady receiving a pitch</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We dodged rain throughout Saturday during two baseball games: Brady and Brock. Brady played outfield, catcher, third base and first base. He enjoys the game and especially behind the plate which he says is his favorite position. <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5890037497499937793?banner=pwa" target="_blank">You can click here to see a photo album of his game.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brock also had a game Saturday with his regular team. He would also have an All Star game on Sunday. He plays shortstop and pitches both of which he enjoys but he says that shortstop is his favorite. In fact, he is one of those players who enjoys fielding more than batting and can't wait to get back in the field. He has only been playing organized ball for two years but he is good at the game. As you can see in the video below, he studies the pitching form of professionals and then copies that in a very consistent way.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9vJuygOVC4A" width="480"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can see more photos of Brock playing in two albums:</span><br />
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<li><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5889859895904465025?banner=pwa" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brock regular season</span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5890256090945484225?banner=pwa" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brock All Star game</span></a></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a long afternoon of Little League baseball on Sunday, we returned home to watch the end of the U. S. Open and Phil set a "new league record" followed by a delicious steak dinner. Along the way over the weekend, I got to watch some favorite family movies with Brendan: Parenthood and Field of Dreams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I take a late flight home Monday where I will be till mid July when Marilyn and I will go to Kansas City for Mom's 101st birthday.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-63869692713040677122013-06-12T06:45:00.000-07:002013-06-12T06:45:22.493-07:00Petaluma Friends - Day Two<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UCVFpooqJBc/UbfVKusX3-I/AAAAAAAAeGE/69oGRl4CF84/s1600/P1070445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UCVFpooqJBc/UbfVKusX3-I/AAAAAAAAeGE/69oGRl4CF84/s320/P1070445.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bill Crowley shared an interesting and intriguing artifact with us. His son, Dan, found this volume while he was working on rehabbing a house in San Francisco. It is a scrapbook that was started in 1873. It was filled with news stories, poetry, pieces of fiction most of which appear to have been published in newspapers and then clipped and carefully glued into this large book. The book itself was a railroad engine ledger that kept track of trips, cargo, and fuel used. It appeared to have focused on railroads in Oregon but it was hard to tell since the pages were almost completely covered. Most of the pages had colorful lithograph labels which had been cut out and again carefully pasted in. The colors were vibrant still. There were also pages of children's books that had been cut apart and pasted in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We decided to spend the day in San Francisco and to get there by taking a ferry from Larkspur. The day began with some fog and wind but cleared as we neared San Francisco and the Ferry Terminal. We passed right by San Quentin State Prison, Alcatraz and Treasure Islands and had some great views of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges as well as some America Cup yachts in their training in the bay. </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8GLOYBeZ4HE/UbfVha25FvI/AAAAAAAAeIM/SSiwRWb2Ofk/s1600/P1070486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8GLOYBeZ4HE/UbfVha25FvI/AAAAAAAAeIM/SSiwRWb2Ofk/s200/P1070486.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we explored the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Ferry_Building" target="_blank">Ferry Terminal</a> with its many shops and restaurants, I met Milo, a security guard on duty on the second floor where there are offices. As we chatted I learned a great deal about him. He came to the United States 13 years ago from the Philippines. I also learned three important pieces of information from him.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Ferry Terminal building was constructed in 1898 and was the only major structure to have survived the 1906 earthquake and fires in tact.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When he retires at age 66--not too far in the future--he will receive $600 a month from Social Security which is 16,000 pesos in the Philippines to where he plans to return.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He travels back for visits on Philippines Air. The 18 hours flight costs about $2,000 so he can't return too often. But more important to Milo is the disturbing fact that the female flight attendants all appear to be of grandmotherly age. He wonders why the airline doesn't hire all those attractive young Philippinas who are looking for work.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We finished the day with a pleasant dinner at <a href="http://www.centralmarketpetaluma.com/" target="_blank">The Central Market Restaurant.</a> We got to bed early. We return home tomorrow and will be traveling all day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5887979230191426449?banner=pwa" target="_blank">Click here to see the constantly updated photo album.</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-8985895392567987932013-06-11T06:31:00.000-07:002013-06-11T06:50:24.891-07:00Petaluma Friends - Day One<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LLxiTuexCP8/UbZOG3WB-rI/AAAAAAAAeBg/9ZuQq8my_CM/s1600/P1070442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LLxiTuexCP8/UbZOG3WB-rI/AAAAAAAAeBg/9ZuQq8my_CM/s200/P1070442.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marilyn, Bill, Bill Crowley, Barb</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the next couple of days, we are staying with our friends, Bill and Barb Crowley. After both retired, they moved to Petaluma from Rochester four years ago to be near their two children and the recent addition to their family, Vinnie, their first grandchild. They appear to have become fully acclimated to life and climate here. But then, who wouldn't?</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qnK2w1Tt8IU/Uba3l846oyI/AAAAAAAAeDU/0O78gIQiYM4/s1600/IMG_6607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qnK2w1Tt8IU/Uba3l846oyI/AAAAAAAAeDU/0O78gIQiYM4/s320/IMG_6607.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the girls were up till 2:00 AM visiting, we got a late start and spent the late morning through early afternoon walking through Petaluma and having a leisurely lunch at one of Bill's favorite places. They live in downtown Petaluma in a redeveloped area called the "Theater District." Their three bedroom apartment is spacious with lovely views. Everything is walkable in a charming district that sits astride a channel or river that leads out to the Bay and beyond. It was cloudy most of the day with a break around sunset. I scouted out a few locations and came back out around 8:00 and got a few nice sunset lit photos of the area. We will see what sun rise tomorrow might bring.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xfXcCgY7Y-4/UbZOGO_XSZI/AAAAAAAAeBY/7KWvu2bPkxo/s1600/P1070439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xfXcCgY7Y-4/UbZOGO_XSZI/AAAAAAAAeBY/7KWvu2bPkxo/s200/P1070439.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the interesting places we visited is the <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/baker-creek-heirloom-seed-store-petaluma" target="_blank">Seed Bank</a>. This is a store in an historic bank building in downtown Petaluma that sells heirloom seeds and associated supplies of all kinds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5887979230191426449?banner=pwa" target="_blank">You can click here to view the constantly updated photo album.</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-11861898700897777602013-06-10T07:07:00.000-07:002013-06-10T07:07:49.161-07:00Pleasant Hill Picketts - Day Three<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kjHGofO0UBE/UbT9x6EuJiI/AAAAAAAAd1g/-GwMwnhhwOk/s1600/IMG_6591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kjHGofO0UBE/UbT9x6EuJiI/AAAAAAAAd1g/-GwMwnhhwOk/s200/IMG_6591.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sam had a Cub Scout outing Sunday and it was a wonderful opportunity not only to spend time with Sean, Julie and Sam but also to connect with an important part of Marilyn's family history. Marilyn's Dad was crew chief on a B 24 during World War II. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service and we are all very proud of him. In fact, he will be part of an Honor Flight from Buffalo to Washington this weekend where he will join a group of his fellow World War II veterans at the Memorial in our nation's capital. The reason this is especially relevant to our trip is that Sam's Cub Scouting was to a display of a B 24, B 17, and a P 51 Mustang at a local airfield in nearby Concord CA.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marilyn in front of the area where her<br />
Dad would have worked in his B 24.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marilyn had a wonderful time exploring the plane about which her Dad had told her so much and in which he provided his remarkable service to us all. I created special photo album for the pictures from that display. <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5887609627173683873?banner=pwa" target="_blank">You can click here to view them.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also got some nice video of the P 51 Mustang taxi and takeoff while we were there. You can view that in the window below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/noaVd0JdGss" width="420"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After spending time at the display, we headed to a local pizza restaurant where the Cub Scouts devoured several pies and then celebrated their year of scouting. Sam will advance to the Webelos by the end of year and will then advance into the Boy Scouts. We are all very proud of his achievements as well. It was great to see him interacting with his den mates.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a nice dinner, we said good by and drove over to Petaluma to spend a couple of days with our friends Barb and Bill Crowley. More about that in next trip blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5886944666448478225?banner=pwa" target="_blank">Click here to see an updated photo album of our time with Sean and family in Pleasant Hill.</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-25927734983390561782013-06-09T06:56:00.000-07:002013-06-09T06:58:33.205-07:00Pleasant Hill Picketts - Day Two<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifzTq-JNqA4tplyEDlRJbrMBQ2Y7dyZdnThi3Ww4aCK21HGQZh-A-XIZy-0UGWayWyRp_2pSPkehd1rYNjd1nd_2J_zcfVuHeC_fr8GQOmOgxwinDAqCN6ghfKJ02nhHUiF3sNgY3MWFY/s1600/Screenshot_2013-06-08-16-22-18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifzTq-JNqA4tplyEDlRJbrMBQ2Y7dyZdnThi3Ww4aCK21HGQZh-A-XIZy-0UGWayWyRp_2pSPkehd1rYNjd1nd_2J_zcfVuHeC_fr8GQOmOgxwinDAqCN6ghfKJ02nhHUiF3sNgY3MWFY/s200/Screenshot_2013-06-08-16-22-18.png" width="112" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The big activity Saturday was the assembly of an adjustable basketball goal. This was not some wimpy version for a little kid but a full scale one, adjustable from 7 feet to a regulation 10. The base is anchored with 300 pounds of water. It took us most of the day to complete it and by "us" I mean Sean, Sam and yours truly. Marilyn provided some photography, occasional advice, and mostly reading her novel in the sun.. Oh, yes, and it was hot...very hot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually the very first activity was a game of Ticket to Ride with Sam. It is fairly complicated game of strategy on board that looks like a power grid of the United States--that last bit of observation from Sean. The first one to 100 points wins which Sam did 100 to 98. I almost caught him!</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-91iYvSx_YqM/UbPu4EOvolI/AAAAAAAAduY/fdEG_qRNDmA/s1600/P1070315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-91iYvSx_YqM/UbPu4EOvolI/AAAAAAAAduY/fdEG_qRNDmA/s200/P1070315.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Julie left for some Saturday work in the office, the guys began the assembly of the goal. It took four hours plus a lunch break. There were the inevitable reassembly of steps once it was recognized that something had been installed backwards. This apparently is a Pickett trait--at least a Bill Pickett one--since every piece of furniture or device that I have ever assembled has been at least 120 percent assembled due to some necessary rework. Finally however it was completed. It was too hot and everyone was too tried to try it out right away so that is left to another day. Perhaps Sunday before we leave.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmavlOlaM4KEsvWFODfOrU8kJ5ogMGN0nb_vKF_FmK3NQ_0wZoQwGYB7zcWApb-7Y8p5SntamgewA9LB0BP-SgdW9eksEjXbhMnSehnpAc744vSk8mHSshE8PbUzPAqZcCvMV7lYo2Xqo/s1600/20130608_173139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmavlOlaM4KEsvWFODfOrU8kJ5ogMGN0nb_vKF_FmK3NQ_0wZoQwGYB7zcWApb-7Y8p5SntamgewA9LB0BP-SgdW9eksEjXbhMnSehnpAc744vSk8mHSshE8PbUzPAqZcCvMV7lYo2Xqo/s200/20130608_173139.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went to 5:00 Mass at Christ the King Parish and heard a remarkable homily by one of the priests who does weekly supply on the weekends. He preached the raising of the widow's son as a way of accessing the plight of women in the time of Jesus and then went on to say that things really haven't changed all that much. After detailing the many abuses and injustices of women throughout the rest of the world today, he painted a similar picture of the situation in the United States where we think everything is just fine. He received a spontaneous round of applause when he noted the fact that "the old boys club" still reigns supreme in most areas of life including the Roman church where women religious who care for the sick, homeless, and marginalized are being investigated by the male bishops most of whom have never been in a homeless shelter or ministered to the homeless and marginalized. That was the trigger for the applause which was repeated when he had finished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a delicious dinner from Three Brothers from China restaurant, I finished the tub of Ben & Jerry's American Dream, watched another episode of The Walking Dead, and went to bed. Tomorrow is a big day for Sam and his promotion to the next rank in Cub Scouts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5886944666448478225?banner=pwa" target="_blank">Click here to view photos in the updated album.</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-26785353797938708082013-06-08T06:25:00.000-07:002013-06-08T06:25:18.082-07:00Pleasant Hill Pickett's - Day One<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marilyn waiting to board in Newark</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are off on a one week trip to Northern California. Our first four days will be spent with Sean, Julie and Sam in Pleasant Hill and the last three days with our friends Bill and Barb Crowley in Petaluma. We left the rain and storms behind in Rochester to arrive in sunny California to a pleasant 68 degrees in San Francisco and a summery 80 degrees 30 some miles inland in Pleasant Hill. On Friday, our first full day, the temperature reached 98, but as the saying goes, "It was a dry heat." Saturday should be the same with a nice cooling off by Sunday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The day we arrived was Sam's last day of school. Julie had taken the day to be with him as he went through his promotion to fourth grade. As I have come to expect, she had numerous lovely snacks ready for our nibbling and Grandma and Sam got right to them. Since we had gotten up at 3:45 to make our 6:00 flight, we were both exhausted. I kept falling asleep in the most comfortable rocker and foot stool ever--Ikea acquisition--and we hit the hay a little after 8:00. I slept so soundly that I only got up once during the night and when I did, I initially had no idea where I was. Lovely sleep after a long day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Friday Julie went into work. She is in a particularly challenging time with many tight--perhaps impossible--deadlines in an implementation project. The rest of us just lollygagged around during the morning. Sam and I enjoyed a couple of bocci ball games while Marilyn enjoyed the seemingly always sunny backyard and patio. After lunch and a quick nap--for the adults, not Sam--we decided to go bowling at a nearby bowling alley. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The results were a little different than we had expected. We got in on a Thursday afternoon $2.75 a game special and were given an alley between a very good bowler--last game was 266--and a group of beer drinking, screaming women who apparently had the afternoon off from their jobs in a nearby warehouse or something similar. More than that, we didn't anticipate that Grandma Marilyn would turn</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> out to be a turkey...well she bowled a turkey: three strikes in the tenth frame. Who knew? The rest of us had had enough bowling but she kept whining about another game...and putting a little loose change on the outcome.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We returned home to spend some time with Sam's new cats who joined the household the first of the year. Miko is very personable and enjoys interacting with people. Monkey on the other hand is more like a cat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a yummy dinner of takeout from Los Panchos, we welcomed Julie home from working late. After Sam went to bed, Sean got me caught up on two more episodes of "The Walking Dead," my new guilty pleasure. Julie plans on going into work Saturday so she can be with us for Sam's Cub Scout promotion ceremony Sunday afternoon at a local air field where a B-17 is on display.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5886944666448478225" target="_blank">You can view more photos on the constantly updated photo album by clicking here.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-57714580002806367982013-05-13T05:35:00.000-07:002013-05-13T05:35:22.286-07:00Mother's Day Trip to Kansas City - Day Four<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0ALCFS_fH0DkQQUAPD6iRTECayUZalDyHMw-q2j8ngBLCXSRcM9r5Vz-W_9Gtqcbb0I72CD8rjx_kea-PoyFHI7z4JZcIoVckOhBJ8v50aw20AgiNpbFxTKRUTpG4iXgbVYLMn7XjJU/s1600/20130512_105317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0ALCFS_fH0DkQQUAPD6iRTECayUZalDyHMw-q2j8ngBLCXSRcM9r5Vz-W_9Gtqcbb0I72CD8rjx_kea-PoyFHI7z4JZcIoVckOhBJ8v50aw20AgiNpbFxTKRUTpG4iXgbVYLMn7XjJU/s200/20130512_105317.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May Crowning</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I went to Mass with Anola at St. Therese The Little Flower Church, her long time home church. As usual there was a lot going on in this energetic and racially diverse parish. We happened to catch a procession of children with flowers to place in front of the statue of Mary. The ceremony culminated with placing a crown on her head. The little girl who placed it had some difficulty getting it straight and thus Mary spent the rest of Mass looking out at us in either a somewhat disheveled state or with a bit of rakish swagger. Take your pick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Mass I picked up Louisa and along with Mom joined Peter, Anola, and Bob for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, another one of Mom's favorite places. Mary joined us back at Mom's apartment for dessert.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent the next couple of hours with the mother of whom we are all so proud and fond. Our two out of town brothers, Tom and Terry, called to wish her happy Mother's Day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of years ago she began writing poetry. This spring an annual volume of poetry by local poets was dedicated to her and included two of her poems. This is one of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I'm Really Not That Old</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I am old, I will wear purple,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the saying goes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the many shades of purple</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Present a lot of woes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not an artist, never was</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And find the going rough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To make the color that I want</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is really very tough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think you take vibrant red</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And a touch of blue,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when you mix the whole thing up,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It really, really isn't you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I put my palette down</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And turn to things I know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To solve the problem of my choice</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I life my head and raise my voice:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I really don't like purple!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Could it be that I'm so bold</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That I don't like purple</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I'm really not that old?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-31782495522601483662013-05-12T05:31:00.003-07:002013-05-12T05:31:58.652-07:00Mother's Day Trip to Kansas City - Day Three<div style="text-align: left;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe Sebastienne at the Kemper Museum</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After breakfast with my brother-in-law, Peter, at First Watch, we went to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art near the Plaza for some indoor photography. This is a wonderful community asset created and sustained by Kansas City's leading banking family. There is no admission charge. Among the many interesting features and exhibits is the Cafe Sebastienne. The walls are completely covered with a 110 interlocking paintings by Frederick James Brown. Each piece is a tribute to specific artist or school. In the artist's words, "This is a project of love. It is a tribute to art and artists throughout the ages. The works in exhibition are my interpretations of the selected artists and/or art. No attempt was made, nor was it ever the intent, to reproduce or copy any works of art." Any visit to Kansas City should include some time at the Kemper Museum.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louisa</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After that I drove to Grandview to pick up my sister, Louisa, who is rehabbing after knee replacement surgery. Actually this is her second replacement...but of the same knee. The first one ended up providing a home base for a raging staph infection that nearly cost her the leg! She has been off work since January but should go back next month. She is doing well and it was so great to see her pain free after two years of dealing with infection and its systemic effects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After lunch I returned to Grand Court to pick up Mom for a trip to Kauffman Gardens, again down by the Plaza. These gardens were created as another public asset by the Kauffman family. Ewing and Muriel Kuaffman founded Marion Laboratories and the Kansas City Royals Baseball Team. Their immense fortune was used at their deaths to create the Kauffman Foundation (NPR listeners will often hear a reference as an underwriter) which is primarily focused on the quality of life of the Greater Kansas City area.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and me</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was beautiful spring afternoon, cloudless skies with a steady breeze. The gardens were filled with wedding parties, graduating seniors, families, and young couples. We enjoyed looking at the flowers and the people...oh, yes, and the resident cat, Tom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We stopped at a nursery on the way home so Mom could pick out a plant or two for her balcony. She chose a couple of coleus plants. She then prevailed on me not to eat dinner in the dining room at Grand Court. She wanted to go to another of her favorite dining spots: McDonalds. So we did of course. After holding out for three days, I finally gave in to eating bad but delicious food. "Please supersize those fries."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5876492561826511777" target="_blank">Click here to view the constantly updated album of photos from this trip to Kansas City.</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-57585104612385796792013-05-11T04:41:00.002-07:002013-05-11T04:41:24.918-07:00Mother's Day Trip to Kansas City - Day Two<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21JYf2-RueDP3Dq8ucrmQny8tpA26xMJ7goGd_KsWH7YX-sTy8dXXc2irssm_hyphenhyphenfn4P6LdK_Mr31OL6UTqjpV5MmD96RsaX00CDhMZ2bi7I-lU8NuAyTzHCavRwhp-D2Nffh7vzZgOZw/s1600/20130510_104129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21JYf2-RueDP3Dq8ucrmQny8tpA26xMJ7goGd_KsWH7YX-sTy8dXXc2irssm_hyphenhyphenfn4P6LdK_Mr31OL6UTqjpV5MmD96RsaX00CDhMZ2bi7I-lU8NuAyTzHCavRwhp-D2Nffh7vzZgOZw/s320/20130510_104129.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Liberty Memorial</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mom and I decided to visit the <a href="http://theworldwar.org/">National World War I Museum at the Liberty Memorial</a>. Anyone who grew up in Kansas City is familiar with this although many of us have not visited it since it was reconstructed, enlarged, and developed. We remember the two halls on either side of tower with a perpetual flame (electrically lit) that symbolized the liberty that was "guaranteed" by the "war to end all wars." Sadly, of course, that was not true. But no one realized that when ground was broken in 1921 in a ceremony attended by 100,000 Kansas Citians along with the Allied leaders: Field Marshall Foch (France), General Pershing (United States), Admiral Beatty (Great Britain), General Diaz (Italy), and General Jacques (Belgium). Also present was the nine-year-old Ruth Platt who walked from 31st and Flora with a procession from her school, St. Vincent's Academy. Mom shared that bit of history with one of guides who was showing us through main gallery with the "Music of World War I" exhibit.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruth Platt Pickett being interviewed at the National World <br />
War I Museum</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within 15 minutes, a group from the museum's public relations department showed up with a video camera to interview her about her experience. She told how her mother had given her sister, Maude, and her a nickel apiece for streetcar fare to get back home. But kids being what they were and still are, Mom and Maude decided to spend their nickels getting an ice cream cone and then walked back home! After Mom enjoyed listening to the music of that era at the exhibit, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Over There Cafe courtesy of the museum staff.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sjLkc29mQtg/UY1_uF9g4_I/AAAAAAAAcMU/Xm1_hb6Z6xU/s1600/P1070128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sjLkc29mQtg/UY1_uF9g4_I/AAAAAAAAcMU/Xm1_hb6Z6xU/s200/P1070128.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom with Pat Croaker</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we visited with the guide, Pat Croaker, we learned that he had grown up in Good Counsel Parish in Kansas City and, much to our surprise and delight, had been a friend and classmate of my brother, Terry, at <a href="http://www.rockhursths.edu/s/1280/start.aspx">Rockhurst High School</a>. You can read more about the Liberty Memorial in an interesting and accurate <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Memorial">Wikipedia article</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can see more pictures of our visit in the <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5876492561826511777">Picasa album with pictures of this Kansas City visit.</a> We returned to Grand Court where we had dinner and then back in Mom's apartment watched Gran Turino with Clint Eastwood followed by one of Mom's favorite programs, Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck who is the real reason she likes it.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-65666553381174653512013-05-10T05:20:00.003-07:002013-05-10T05:20:40.816-07:00Mother's Day Trip to Kansas City - Day One<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Jx2Sb-Nq7A_3l9eHf-3kXaBetg8YfACojHr8E7nGu6I14-utR2lydgYCzJQtjqL6_hcMFttCQgZBFMKDaWuZdZeNFDNY3cyiA5y7KRbF7Ss8LxjeAqRZwhIqWGUE9Kh9QC-2blErd4I/s1600/20130509_064129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Jx2Sb-Nq7A_3l9eHf-3kXaBetg8YfACojHr8E7nGu6I14-utR2lydgYCzJQtjqL6_hcMFttCQgZBFMKDaWuZdZeNFDNY3cyiA5y7KRbF7Ss8LxjeAqRZwhIqWGUE9Kh9QC-2blErd4I/s400/20130509_064129.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way from United B to C at O'Hare</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have not been on the road for a couple of months but that is coming to an end. I just began a trip to Kansas City to spend Mother's Day with my Mom and sisters. I left Rochester on a 6:00 am flight through Chicago and arrived in Kansas City on time at 9:30. I drove up to Clyde MO to the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration monastery to visit with Sr. Paula. I had a great visit with her as I always do. We have been friends and spiritual companions for more than 30 years beginning in San Diego.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Culinary innovation</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I had shared many meals with her, I had never experienced what I had at the retirement facility on the grounds of the monastery. The menu for dinner (the noon meal) is shown below. Yes, it does say "Revamped Apple Crisp." When I asked Paula what that meant, she replied simply, "We had apples crisp yesterday." Apparently, "revamped" is the new word for leftovers. The only revamping I sanoticed was that the leftover apple crisp was placed in a large bowl and then smothered in Dream Whip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sr. Paula is celebrating her 60th Jubilee this year. She is in good health again after a bout of illnesses and up to all her old tricks. She continues to read and reflect and bring her own style of plain spoken sophistication to matters spiritual and ecclesial. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old and new in the Heartland.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I was driving in to Clyde I saw a scene that caught my eye. On the way out, I pulled the car over and took several shots of an "old school" windmill used to pump water for livestock and three of the modern wind turbines that generate electricity. I thought it a nice commentary on a land out of time and modern at the same time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I drove down to Kansas City and stopped at Panera to get dinner for Mom. It is one of her favorite spots although she didn't feel like going out. We visited and ate our dinner and then watched Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwick in "There's Always Tomorrow" on Turner Classic Movies.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-82850347099694355892013-02-06T05:05:00.001-08:002013-02-06T05:06:14.491-08:00Trip to Southern California - Day FiveThe big accomplishment today was getting Marilyn to the airport in time for her flight. Actually not a big problem since we are flying in and out of Long Beach, a pleasant and short drive from Galen's house. I spent the day hanging out at the house and getting prepared for the project at the Diocese of San Bernardino which begins bright early Thursday morning.<br />
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My eye was caught by a vase of flowers that Maggie brought back from Bolsa Chica Mesa on Saturday. They looked like a bunch grass when she brought them home and put them in a vase with a little water. Lo and behold they bloomed and brightened up the kitchen.<br />
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Marilyn's flights to JFK and then on to Rochester were uneventful and right on time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-85682696715174785442013-02-05T07:56:00.000-08:002013-02-05T07:57:58.103-08:00Trip to Southern California - Day Four<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Galen instructing</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O_z3A37gaFw/UREb7U9ptiI/AAAAAAAAZMU/g2j2DjPe9DU/s1600/20130204huntington0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O_z3A37gaFw/UREb7U9ptiI/AAAAAAAAZMU/g2j2DjPe9DU/s200/20130204huntington0004.jpg" width="200" /></a>It is Monday and everyone is back to school; most as students but one as professor. I went to campus with Galen to do some work and then sit in on his mechanics class. This time the topic was starting position and final position with the impact of momentum and force...or something like that. I was particularly impressed with his use of Angry Birds as an illustration. His class was suitably impressed that he almost got all the structures down...missed the last one. They gave him a round of applause. He observed that understanding the earth's orbit around the sun is just Angry Birds in space.<br />
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While all this was taking place, I learned by text from Marilyn that Maggie was participating in a program on California at school. We hustled back when Galen was through so we could catch Thomas in his program. It was an interactive couple of hours focusing on California history. It was presented by an energetic young woman who apparently goes from school to school presenting this program. You can view a video of Thomas answering that important question below.<br />
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Once we got home and had some lunch, Galen took us to his paper supplier where Marilyn picked out some paper for the origami project that Galen will be giving to us for my birthday. They spent a lot of time browsing through a wide variety of paper. I checked on the location of the closest Starbucks but determined that it was just outside my range. Thus I waited patiently, a behavior I learned accompanying my mother to fabric shops in my youth. We then had to hustle back home to pick up Maggie from her after school tutoring.<br />
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Once we had taken short naps--Galen and I did anyway--we were off to In-n-Out Burger for dinner. Henry and Robert did not come with us but we brought back plenty of food for them. I enjoyed a dish of ice cream and we all watched a comedy show off Netflix while Galen installed the wireless printer that we had gotten them from Amazon and which had arrived that afternoon.<br />
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5840720156985904097?authkey=CLHM1abqwt3q4QE">You can view the updated Picasa album here.</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961667916633296387.post-73600864169372395132013-02-04T07:08:00.000-08:002013-02-04T07:08:07.642-08:00Trip to Southern California - Day Three<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We went to Sunday mass at St. Bonaventure parish in Huntington Beach. It has some dramatic stained glass windows. I particularly like the one near the baptismal fount. After Mass we walked the two plus miles back to the house. It was warm and sunny with little traffic. We even passed up a Starbuck's in order to get back by 11:00 when we were to head out to<a href="http://bolsachica.org/About/mission.html"> Bolsa Chica Preserve</a>. Laura has been involved there for many years and today was one of the monthly work days when volunteers worked to plant native plants which will eventually return the area to its original ecosystem. Laura, Thomas, and Maggie had been working there all morning. When we got home, we drove over to see their work and pick them up.<br />
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We got there just as they were finishing up. It was a bit cooler along the coast but still lovely and warm. We went back to the house and hooked up with Robert and Henry and then we all walked up to <a href="http://bowlofheaven.com/locations/california-locations/huntington-beach-ca/">Bowl of Heaven</a> for their very interesting concoctions. As you can see, Grandma and Maggie were first in line and then just had to sit in the sunshine to enjoy what they finish of their dishes. Marilyn saved about half of hers for breakfast Monday!<br />
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After a bit of a rest, Galen, Marilyn and I headed out to Seal Beach to see if the rip tide warnings and bigger surf would bring out some skilled surfers. At first we disappointed because there were two surfers who weren't able to catch any of the waves. Then a lone surfer appeared who was quite skillful. You can view a slide show of a sequence of images I captured of him below.<br />
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When we got back, naps were in order and then out to dinner at a Himalayan Grill in Huntington Beach. The food was delicious. Maggie and Grandaddy especially enjoyed their meals.<br />
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You can view more photos on the constantly <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/111139278872202723241/albums/5840720156985904097?authkey=CLHM1abqwt3q4QE">updated Picasaweb album for this trip.</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0