This is the category closest to just being a plain diary. Places I go, things I do, people I see, what’s happening in my life.
I really don’t have much to say, but I wanted to post a few photos of Iris:
I took that Monday, when we had her for an overnight. She is so fun! She’s taken her first steps, and is just about to start walking on her own, and we love just letting her explore her world. (We are constantly forced to upgrade our child-proofing…)
We went out to the Velodrome last night with Shari & Rick, and met Bill & Marie M there along with Joe & Laura. It was the last race of the season, the weather was perfect, and the place was as full as I’ve seen it in years — the whole scene still hasn’t recovered from COVID, and maybe it never will, but last night it was almost as full as the Friday nights of old. And it was just a lovely night, with some truly exciting Madison Cup racing, good friends, beer and french fries, and a spectacular fireworks show at the end. (I realize now that, between MusikFest, New Years, Independence Day, Heritage Day, and the odd Friday night at Coca Cola Park, I have become a fireworks snob…)
Anyway, it was a good night, and today we’re off on a birthday ride: Sean C set up a slopeside party and overnight camping trip for Jen at Blue Mountain, and we’re all biking there together.
It’s not the end of summer yet, and we’ve got a few more things planned before the cold weather arrives, but the late-summer bugs are singing, some kids are already back at school, and you can feel the plants getting ready to turn color. The seasons are turning, as they always do.
I’m home at the moment, just waiting for Anne to get back from the big Women’s Overnight Bike Ride. This was a combined CAT/Adventure Cycling event that our friend Jennifer C put together, and I helped by borrowing Sarah A’s pickup truck (she was also on the ride) and doing support duties. It was a long exhausting two days, but now I’m just hanging out at home in our newly air conditioned house…
Yes, we finally broke down and got a species of AC called a mini-split, which works like a heat pump: heat in the winter, cool in the summer. It took about a week to get installed, and we’ve had it running for maybe a month now. I love it, though it’s a bit weird to be so disconnected from the outside weather in our comfort bubble.
Here are pictures I took while they were installing the system:
We have no room for ductwork in our walls, so the working fluid (air? water?) runs in the piping/conduit installed on the outside wall; I guess this is what makes it a “mini-split.” They are super quiet and really efficient, and are very popular in our neighborhood, where most houses are of a similar age and design. Anyway, we’re keeping with the Joneses…
We had them installed and working for one day, when I had to travel down to Florida — but that’s a story for another post.
Happy 61st Anniversary to my Mom & Dad! We visited them for their anniversary, and took them out to dinner at a steak place called The Edge. Awesome meal, followed by some complimentary prosecco for the anniversary couple:
Salute!
Well, the bike parts showed up yesterday afternoon, and I changed out the cassette and the chainring last night. The chain itself had to wait until morning, I was just too tired. (Good decision: the job was a piece of cake once I was fresh and rested.)
Among my Master Mechanic Moments last night:
Anyway, everything is done except replacing the front tire. If it’s nice tomorrow (fat chance) I might go for a test run on the towpath. We had Iris today, so cello duets got pushed to early afternoon tomorrow; lets hope for a reasonably dry afternoon.
I finally got rid of that cold — it took a week of rest, Advil and Mucinex-D, but it’s in the past now. Unfortunately, pretty much everyone in our extended household is currently still under the weather: Iris is now recovering from an ear infection, Emmi and Kyle are both sick, Anne looked like she was over it but is in the middle of a relapse, and Ben, who visited for just long enough to be exposed to the Whole Sick Crew before flying to LA, came down with it and is probably giving the cold to his girlfriend and her family as we speak. We’ve all been using a lot of tissues lately…
So while I was spending my days in bed I managed to finish the first “Wheel of Time” book. I’m still on the fence, though I have to say I read an 800-page book in about a week, which might be an indicator… I downloaded the second book, but I’m finding it to be much more of a slog, so I’m back to “we’ll see.”
Meantime, I went for a bike ride yesterday, my first in about a week: fifteen miles or so, riding with Anne and Julie to check out a new assisted-living facility for walkability issues — someone in CAT noted/complained that the place was isolated from anything around it. Turns out it’s true, but it also looked to me like the place was purposely designed to discourage non-automotive accessibility. Anyway, it was a nice afternoon on the bike.
The mountain bike is currently out of commission: I found a broken part on the chain, and bought a chain to replace it, as well as a new front tire and handlebar grips. I discovered I also need to replace the cassette and chainring, and am currently waiting for the parts to come in. Soon…
I hope soon — I really want to get up to Jim Thorpe to do some real mountain biking, where I can ride among the mountain laurels if they’re still in bloom. I missed them last year, I mostly missed them the year before, and I fear I’m about to miss them this year as well.
I am currently home sick, with enough downtime that I can actually muster the wherewithal to write something. We’ve been watching Iris a few days a week, which isn’t too strenuous but nothing else gets done when she’s here, so the rest of the week is compressed, etc, etc. Not much to write about lately anyway. No good news anyway — global warming is reaching the “find out” phase here, but that’s just too depressing to write about.
Meantime, I finally picked up the first book of the “Wheel of Time” series, The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. John R and Matt I are both reading the series, and both recommended it, so I e-borrowed it from the library. It’s fantasy, which is not my thing, I’m having trouble deciding if different aspects of the story are required tropes in the genre, or just plain derivative, and it reads like it was written for children, but I read 600 of almost 800 pages since Friday, so it must have something going for it…
My uncle Jake passed away last Tuesday. Here is his obituary; he was only a week or so away from turning 90 when he died. My dad was pretty devastated, and especially now that his last surviving sibling was gone (Dad was the youngest of five). Here are some pictures of my dad and his siblings over the years:
Because of the holiday weekend, his funeral (in Brooklyn) was last Friday and the viewing was Thursday night; my parents needed a ride so I drove down and took them Thursday night, then stayed over and we went to the funeral together. It was a long two days…
Remembering Sally A: Our friend Sally passed away early this year, and there was a memorial service for her Saturday at the Quaker Meeting house. She was an amazing woman, with a big personality and a sense of humor and a heart to match. There were many people there, friends and relatives, teaching colleagues and people she’d helped over the years, with many stories from her life and travels. It was nice to see how people cared, to bump into old friends and to hear the stories, but it was still a tough day.
Congratulations Holly & Chris! Our niece Holly got married on Sunday down in Glassboro. Rainy day, travel was tough (there & back) but the wedding was fun. Some pictures:
I guess I could have had a lot to say this past month, if I wanted to, but the inspiration didn’t come — I also didn’t want to blog about some things (birthdays, anniversaries) in the moment, as they might turn into a security risk. But now the tales can be told:
Now that we’re home, I’m easing my way back into the cello — Iris loves when Anne or I play music, by the way. The Native Paths project continues apace, and I just did a volunteer day (my first in weeks) at the D&L archives. And now I’m blogging again! It’s good to be back.
As a bonus , here’s what I wrote ten years ago, and what I wrote fifteen years ago.
