Memorial Day, 2014

Having been in New York this week, a New York Times story about the sunset that will line up with the avenues caught my attention.  Dear Reader, if you are in New York, go outside at 8:00 and you will be rewarded.

We have had a week of good friends, pouring love over us like warm syrup.  Linda came from Michigan on Thursday.  Ken was still away in Chicago, so she and I ate at home, then headed out to Longwood Gardens.  It was warm and muggy and did not rain on us, so we were happy to wander the pathways and look at the gorgeous late-May flowers.  I especially like the fountains.  We then went up to Kennett Square and cruised its Woodstock-like streets.  We ate dinner at Big Sky Bakery in Wilmington, which is Zingerman's-kind-of-like.  Great bread and a fabulous chocolate chip cookie!

Ken was supposed to be home on Thursday night, but got stuck due to weather.  Linda and I toured Newark and the University of Delaware campus.  When Ken finally made it to Delaware, we headed for the beach:  Cape Henlopen State Park and Rehoboth.  We ate lunch at Homegrown in Newark - a very Ann Arbor-ish kind of place, and then dinner at a nice Turkish place near the boardwalk at Rehoboth.  We power-waded at Cape Henlopen.  The water was in the low 70s and people were in the water, but wegot wet below our knees.  On our way home, we went to the beach at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, thinking we could be part of the community that rights horseshoe crabs during their mating season.  We were either too late or just in the wrong place, as there were no horseshoe crabs to turn.  However, there were three men fishing from the beach and we wondered, 'how's the fishing'?  'Not bad', they replied.  'We caught two small sand sharks'.  Really?  We looked into their cooler and there were two small sharks, resting in their own blood.  That sent me to google sharks in Delaware and lo and behold, Dear Reader, but there are six kinds of sharks in these waters, including the Common Hammerhead.  Will wonders never cease? The statistics on shark attacks and fatalities, however, indicate that in the last 152 years, there have been 3 attacks in Delaware and no fatalities.  But I plan on swimming in these waters this summer and as they say, you cannot uncork the bottle, and now I know that there are sharks in the water.  Just think about it, Hammerheads!

On Saturday, we headed west and south to Baltimore, where we had lunch with Deb and Casey.  Deb turned 60 yesterday, so she was in celebration mode.  We reviewed the school year just ended and had a lively conversation about rape on campus.  We left and went further west to Butterfly Lane to see Bud, Paula, Karen, Jim, Erin, Stephen, Ian and Barbara!  Dinner was at that bastion of culinary delights, the Elks Club.  Not a friendly place for the vegetarian, but the company was prime. 

Linda left early Sunday morning.  I went to the pool, and we tinkered around with two more stepping stones.  What I learned:  draw the pattern you want on the stepping stones before actually applying, in this case, the marbles.  Also, the cement pigment doesn't seem to have made much of a difference.  We are going to try cement paint next.  Ideas:  1) Jack, Mark and Luke handprints and dates; 2) Ken and Jackie handprints; 3) score and pain like a checkerboard.  We already have 1) shells; 2) marbles; 3) marbles.  Now we need 9 more ideas, as we figure we need 15 stepping stones. 

On Monday, we went to the pool, then headed for Long Island.  Ken worked in Hauppauge Tuesday and Wednesday.  We went down to Long Beach, which has a reconstructed boardwalk (after the destruction of Sandy) and charges $12 a head to get onto the beach.  We went into Manhattan on LLR and met Kate for dinner.  She is living in Brooklyn and will start work next week at a women's health research unit in lower Manhattan for the summer.  Unfortunately, Hoomoos Asli was closed, so we ended up at Mexican Radio and then walked around a bit. 

I wandered Manhattan on Tuesday, eating too much but walking a lot.  I shopped some.  Ken came back to the hotel and we met Deb, Casey and some of Deb's student affairs friends on the 54th floor of a hotel in mid-town.  The view was fantastic.  We then went to see "Violet," a show at a theater on 42nd Street.  It won us both over in the end, but I have to say it was one of those shows with too many big numbers and a sound system that was unconducive to hearing words. 

Wednesday was actually Deb's birthday.  Ken went to work and I met Deb and Casey in Chelsea Market and had a late breakfast at a new place there.  I then went to see "Fading Gigolo," which was preposterous, and I agreed with some reviews that called it 'vulgar', but John Turturro is always interesting to watch.  He's a grad of SUNY New Paltz.  I also liked seeing Tonya Pinkins in a small but choice role. 

By the time Ken left Hauppauge, the rush hour traffic was in full bloom.  Our original plan was to meet at Newark Penn Station, but after waiting there for a bit and talking to him, I took NJT to Trenton.  The timing was perfect, as he was there to pick me up in 10 minutes.  We headed for home and arrived, after a dinner stop, about 9:30. 

The weather in Newark is cool and overcast today, but it did not actually rain.  When I went to the pool, air temp was 60 and water temp was maybe 76, so it was a chilly swim.  But, like all swims, perfect in every way.