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Visiting family

The rain continued throughout Thursday night and on into Friday morning making our commute into Quincy, MA, even more interesting than normal. The plan was to bring coffee and Dick's homemade apple muffins to Uncle Frank and spend a little quality time catching up with my mother-in-law's sole remaining sibling.

We left 52 Linden a little before 9:00 am and headed off north. The rain persisted but it didn't stop us, although it had caused at least two accidents along the way, one of which appeared quite serious.

Nevertheless, Dick knew the way and before long we pulled into the Atria assisted living part of Marina Bay in North Quincy. Frank was waiting for us and after grabbing our picnic breakfast from the back of the car, he led us to the 3rd floor cafe sitting area where we spent the short hour chatting and catching up.

the usual suspects: Steve, Susie, Dor, Dick and Uncle Frank

After we said our goodbyes the four of us returned to the car and headed back to Douglas. where we relaxed until our next family meetup later that evening.

Dor, Mallory, Dick and Susie

About 4:30pm niece Mallory returned to D & D's and the five us piled into our car and headed off on the backroads to Connecticut. Our objective was the new Macdonald home in Glastonbury to be followed by all of us going to dinner at Max Fish near the new MacD homestead.

Traffic was slow going through the countryside but the drive through rural Connecticut was lovely. Once onto I-84, we moved a lot faster and traffic picked up, too. But drive along this stretch bought back memories of the many times we came down this way when we lived in Vermont to visit the Bergman family.

Anyway, with Dick's assistance -- and that of the woman inside his phone -- we found the Macdonald house with little difficulty. Hugs all around was the first order of the day followed by a grand tour of the new space. Just a couple of days before they had received the last delivery of their personal belongings and the house looked ready for the next phase of their life: Glen's retirement from the army and his new job adding to the large stock of changes awaiting them all.

After a tour and a glass of wine we followed Glen and Christina to the restaurant (the kids were relieved that they could stay home and not be bothered by the adults). We settled in for the evening, enjoying wonderful service, very tasty food (Glen and I each had the local fish, Tautog), and lots of warm conversation.

Glen, Dor, Dick, Mallory and Susie

Dor and Dick

Christina and Glen

Tautog with Hoisin sauce and Jasmine rice

Exiting the restaurant into the cool night air there was one more time for plenty of hugs to go around before we said au revoir.

The day had been a good one to be sure: We got to see not one, not two but three parts of the extended family: Uncle Frank, Mallory and the MacDonald clan. Pretty good indeed.

Tomorrow we begin the return trip home stopping in the Berkshires to meet up with another old friend and slipping across the state line into Vermont to find a very special grave.

Oh, and in case you wondered, the Tautog:

Back to London 2 October

Following our final leisurely breakfast at the Queensberry we packed our bags and took a cab to the train station.

After an uneventful but relaxing train ride to London's Paddington station we made our way to the Circle Line on the Underground to St. Pancras. Once we arrived we texted our niece Mallory, who is spending this semester studying in London, and the three of us met at for lunch at Le Pain Quotidien right there at the station (she's staying nearby so it was a short walk for her).

We spent the next hour and a half or so catching up, and just enjoying her company. But eventually, she had to leave to shop for groceries or do homework, she wasn't sure which would come first, and we had to catch a Thameslink train for St. Albans.

Before boarding the train we texted Pauline to let her know that we were on our way back to their home. Unfortunately, we caught the slow train --not the fast one heading for Bedford as we had planned -- but did get to see the station at Cricklewood on the milk run to St. Albans. While there is little to recommend Cricklewood's station in the way of either a cultural achievement or an architectural gem, it was just being able to say that we had actually stopped in a town called Cricklewood. I still can't say it enough.

Richard was waiting for us when we arrived at long last and whisked us off to Ellis Fields and a superb dinner prepared by master chef, Pauline: pasta with chorizo sauce. It was, in a word, mouthwatering. Although we'd had damn fine fare this trip, there is still nothing like home-cooked food.

Tomorrow it's off to Westminster and a river cruise on the Thames to Greenwich for lunch. Don't click around!

Out and about in West Michigan

OK, I admit there's little rhyme or reason to this particular post -- the cynic might say I was too lazy all these past three months or so to post individual notes with accompanying photos. The cynic might be right. And then again she might be wrong.

Frankly, I couldn't bring myself to focus on one simple blog entry as somehow worthy of standing alone on the page as it were. That and I had a few other things on my mind -- spending nearly a month in Europe, spending time with folks I find funny, engaging and happy to be alive enjoying life.

And I was sick for a short while. No, not the kind of illness that brings one to death's door but one that was nonetheless debilitating. And no fun, if I may say.

Anyway, here's what our spring and summer have been like, in part and so far. . .

First up, the butterflies at Meijer Gardens with Susie, her sister Mary and Mary's daughter Mallory.

Cut to Memorial Day, which is a pretty big deal here in the USA. The idea for "memorialization" of past lives grew out of the American Civil War. The veterans of that horrendous conflict as well as their friends and families determined it was important to recall, indeed to remember annually the sacrifice made by so many to preserve the Union. As a kid growing up in central Illinois I remember my folks calling it "decoration day" since we would go out to visit the folks who have long since shuffled off this mortal coil to place a vase of flowers on their graves.

Anyway, we thought we'd visit the cemetery before heading out to Clear Lake for some quality family time and good food.

Susan and her mom visiting Tunis VandenBerg's grave

Melissa Ten Have Loaney

Melissa, Jeff and Laurie

Bernice, Melissa and Susie

June saw another trip back to Meijer Gardens, this time along with family visiting from Chicagoland. Anyway, I learned that the Orchid Corner has been renamed in honor of Anne Frank and the children who died in the Holocaust.

Susan

Later in the month we had a chance to catch a fascinating discussion about Fortunato no. 4 chocolate by its sole producer at Patricia's Chocolate in Grand Haven.

I can never refuse a shot of the pier at Grand Haven.

After the talk Susie and I headed back into Grand Rapids and had dinner at Søvengård on the city's west side.

Small plug here for one of my projects this year: I'm prepping for a presentation on the men of the 3rd Michigan buried in Fulton Street Cemetery in Grand Rapids (21 to be exact) and am updating some of photography.

Fulton Street Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in the city (1838) and is the final resting place of many of the city's early settlers and more illustrious (and undoubtedly not-so-illustrious) characters.

Earlier in July we took a day trip up to Ludington, Michigan and checked out the state park and its beach -- both worth a stop, especially if you're keen on Lake Michigan.

After we left Ludington, we spent an hour or two touring the backroads of Mason County away from the lake and came across this bit of whimsy. . . . Enjoy your summer!

Susan goes to Texas

Back in June Susie flew off to Austin, Texas with her sister Joyce -- she had been visting us here in Michigan -- for a reunion of sorts in the Lone Star State.

They were joined by sister-in-law Dorothy from Massachusetts and together the three of them were in Texas to celebrate our niece Mallory's graduation from high school. They made the most of their veery brief time down south, as you can see.