Sorry I’ve been gone for awhile. Busy! (I almost wrote "busty," but you’d know that wasn’t true…. hah!!!) But a good friend of mine, (HI MARY GARLAND!!!) reminded me that there are people reading these blogs, and they really appreciate the break from watching Two and A Half Men (just kidding…) so could we please get on with it??? Which reminds me, we’re keeping all of your emails and responses, so keep sending them!
OH MY GOD, IT'S BEEN A MONTH ALREADY!!!!
NIAGRA FALLS
This was, hands down, the most awesome, fun, absolutely best just-like-an-amusement-park-ride thing I’ve done since I used to kayak down the Klamath. (For those of you who don’t live in California, the Klamath is a river in northern CA…) Today we took something called Maid of the Mist, which is a 30-minute boat trip into the mouth of Niagara Falls. There are no words to describe it. If I was wealthy beyond belief, I would rent all of the boats and take everyone I know and their families and the people I met standing in line on these boats, and then have a party to celebrate how much fun we just had. Yes, we’re Americans, but I must say I think the three of us were the only people openly screaming and yelling and laughing and oh-my-godding and probably swearing, on the boat. It was a boat of the huddled masses, although fairly well shod, and everyone, whether out loud or privately, was rejoicing in the fact that it exists!!! I have to say, one of the questions I’ve asked myself again and again on this trip is “Why?” Why would people choose to live here or do that or stay or leave or whatever? Why? Seeing the falls made me ask myself another question:
If I had a choice to be one of the following, which would it be? (And you can only choose one. There’s no mix and match, no second choices, only A, B, or C.)
A. Be really (really really) wealthy in a forgotten city.
B. Be middle class (lower, really) in a great city.
C. Be poor in the best in the world.
(No correct answer will follow.)
PIE
Sometimes that says it all, doesn’t it? Claudia Schmidt does this amazing homage to pie, entitled PIE, and every time I have a bite of a really good pie, I want to hear her do this piece. Today we stopped at a little (Erie) lake side shack called Jack’s. It’s in Westfield, between Erie, PA and Buffalo, NY, and it was the perfect road trip spot. Cork had a pan sautéed perch sandwich. Lily had a”fried” salad,(lettuce with chicken and curly fries. go figure, but it was great) and I had potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream and a big glass of fresh concord grape juice. I was in childhood flashback heaven! And then, of course, pie. A not-too-big piece of fresh raspberry pie. OMG. Of course we had to get a piece of coconut cream pie for later, just in case….
Right now Lily is giving Cork a lesson on what underwear NOT to buy if we ever send him to buy underwear again. (Which, believe me, we won’t.) He’s driving, which makes this a particularly funny exchange and makes me wonder what the heck the other drivers think when they look in their rearview mirrors and see what looks like grandma panties (or auntie panties as I like to call them) being dangled from the ceiling!
We stayed at our favorite RV site to date, for anyone planning on traveling through this region. It’s the Erie, PA KOA, and it’s spacious, beautiful, and clean, has great bikes to rent and goats to pet and stray cats to feed. It rained, of course (see below) but that made sleeping so much better.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
The day before yesterday we left Milwaukee after spending four wonderful, although wet, days hanging out with friends and family. From the Friday night Fish Fry to pizza in front of the TV watching Glee (thank you, Steve and Jodie, with putting up with Lily’s “football”) we relaxed and I reminisced. Although I haven’t lived in Milwaukee since 1986, I still consider it home. I love returning to Shorewood, which I try to do every couple of years. The familiarity is always welcome. There’s sameness to these visits, which is a good thing. We stayed with our friends Thalia and David (THANK YOU!!!) and ate custard (either Kopp’s or Culver’s,) and drove along the lakefront, walked to Atwater beach. Lily got to see her cousins, Ryan, Mikail, and Mable, and even had the extra benefit of getting to see Sally, a friend of Mikail’s, and ours, who stayed with us in SF for a few months. I got to see my OABFFITEW, Jodie, and her husband Steve EVERY DAY!!! which is pretty much worth the trip right there.
We visited the Chicago Art Institute, a first for me. I have to admit, I’m not a huge museum fan. It’s not that I don’t like them; it’s just that unlike many other people I’m not as in awe of everything between the four walls. This was different though. To stand in front of some of the works that I’ve read about and/or heard and seen referenced for years in books, movies, plays, conversations, was really amazing. Pollock, Renoir, Seurat, Hopper, O’Keefe of course were just a few. Lily’s favorite piece was a Paul Evans metal weave/sculpture screen from the late ‘50s. She says she now has a new idea for her bedroom, which is a little scary!!!
We visited and had lunch with my brother, Dan, and his wife, Jen, and their 2-year-old daughter, Mable. She is smart and very sweet. Lily and Mable had an instant bond when they first met a year ago, and it didn’t take much to rekindle that connection. It’s important to me that Lily has some contact with her cousins as she grows up, even if it’s only once a year.
As we left Milwaukee, we decided to stop at a new coffee place, which is something I’ve been doing quite often on this trip. We walked through the door of Altera Coffee in Shorewood, and sitting there at a table was Tracy Phalen, a woman I went to school with. If I remember correctly, we were in both junior high and high school together, but we could have even been younger. Tracy is a special person. She’s ALIVE!!!! She has very few filters, and I’m pretty sure she’s had a fairly difficult life, but she always has a big smile on her face. When I was in Milwaukee for my 30th reunion, I walked into the room and Tracy was there with a big smile on her face. “Andrea!!!!” I avoided her the entire time. Why? Well, partly because she was a little inebriated and a little loud. When I returned to SF after the reunion, the only thing I regretted was that I hadn’t spent more time with Tracy. Of all the people I saw at the reunion, she was one of the only genuine people I saw. Genuine in the sense that she was really happy to see me. Not to see how I was doing or what I was doing or who I had married or if my looks had “held up,” but because I was her friend and had always treated her well and we’d had fun together. And for whatever reason I had brushed her off.
Anyway, there was Tracy, so I walked up to her table and said “Tracy!!!” and she looked up with that great smile and jumped up and gave me a big hug, and everything was okay. She got to meet Cork and Lily, and we all traded stories and thoughts about politics and technology. I asked her if she was happy and she said “You know, 4 days out of the week I’m pretty happy and the other 3, I just have too much time on my hands.” I thought that was a pretty fair answer.
My brother, Dan, lent us his car, which was GREAT since from the moment we picked it up it was pouring. Not just a light sprinkle, but full blown car rocking, skin soaking rain. On Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, it rained. It even followed us to Toledo, Ohio (yesterday) and is threatening to visit us at our campsite in Erie, Pennsylvania tonight. We’re okay with it actually. Yesterday’s drive felt like one of those days we all had as kids where you’re home from school for whatever reason, and it’s kind of dark and quiet and you spend all day sleeping or reading or watching TV. Lily sat and drew and listened to music and chatted with us. I have a terrible cold, so I just kind of sat and hung out and felt perfectly okay not feeling perfectly okay. Today we took a trip into Toledo to see the sculpture Cork did for the Art Tatum memorial. I think it’s my favorite sculpture that he’s done recently, and it was nice to be able to see the finished product. I usually get to see the plans and then the sculpture in pieces, but seldom do I get to see the entire piece. It’s beautiful.
We got a little lost on the way to find the memorial, partly due to the fact that there were these parking signs that we just could not make sense out of. All along the streets were metered spaces with signs that said “Parking between 8:00 – 11:00 and 2:00 – 5:00. “ We figured that meant there was no parking between 11:00 and 2:00, right? Wrong. I finally went into a store to ask what the signs meant, and it turns out that from 11:00-2:00 every day parking is free!!! Go figure! Anyway, the best thing about stopping in to ask the question is that the place I stopped in to was a showroom/art room for adults with disabilities, and their work was BEAUTIFUL!!! We stayed and chatted with them for a while. They were very excited that Cork was an artist, too, and they showed us around and pointed out which work was theirs. I bought a few things (see the “groovy” pin???) and promised to visit their website for future gifts. It was such a great stop. I went up to tell one guy that I liked his work and before I even got a word out he jumped up from the table and gave me quite a happy hug. I love those moments.
I WAS GOING TO UPLOAD A BUNCH OF PICTURES, BUT THE INTERNET IS SOOOOOOO SLOOOOWWWWWW THAT I MIGHT HAVE TO WAIT.....
