Day 670: Halloween 2013

Cinderella's carriage: the best pumpkin we saw today on our walk.  

Day 669: Golden days of autumn

In front of the science building, landscapers were planting trees and shrubs while others were pounding stone blocks into the pavement.  

Around the corner in the Fenton gardens, a late daylily was blooming.  

And the retaining wall is complete!

Our golden maple

Our oak tree

Five more steelhead trout were swimming upstream this afternoon.  When they turn quickly, a tunnel of  air develops behind them.  This fish was enveloped in a bubble that reflected the blue sky and the trees overhead.  

Day 668: Migraine

I thought my years of migraines were over, but today one came roaring back.  To think that I used to endure five or more per month!  I had to drive Betsy to the airport and sun was blazing in my face all the way.  I split the trip home in half, but it didn't help.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and I missed it.  No pictures today.  I'm happy to be functioning again.

Day 667: Recruiting

We've burned 85 DVDs and today I distributed 45 of them to the freshmen, adults and student leaders.  The 8th graders were very responsive and had lots of good questions. Doug and Amanda were so encouraging and positive.  When Doug took a poll at the end of each period, most of the students said they were very interested in doing Quest.

Milder temperatures today convinced me to take long walk through the village.  Then I made a fabulous apple, walnut and raisin cake.  YUM!

Day 666: Holocaust commemoration

Wow, day 666!  I hadn't thought I would still be writing on day  666 when I began this blog.  

My friend Linda has been a member of the planning committee for the annual interfaith Holocaust Commemoration service each October for the last twenty five years and she has been in charge of the program for many of those years.  Today's program of readings and music was very moving.   It's an important reminder of the darkness that is possible without vigilance.  Perhaps 75 -80 people attended including the mayor of Dunkirk and Judge Prince.  The Mayor of Fredonia responded with a note, but none of the other local dignitaries even responded to Linda's invitation.  

Sadly, anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe and around the world.  

Steve is in Albany at the Governor's Conference.  He has a massive room, paid for by the state (taxpayers) all by himself.  I would say it was a waste, but when you consider the pittance he is paid for a part time job as EMS Coordinator that is closer to a full time position, he deserves this.  Plus, they are driving twelve hours within thirty-six, so he is exhausted.  

Seventy-five DVDs are ready to distribute tomorrow when I talk with the 8th graders.  I will be so happy to complete that project.  I hope the kids like it.  

The remains of the last few flowers in the yard. 

Temp will be down to 30 tonight!

Day 665: Moon over Buffalo

It was a theater kind of day. Steve and his crew worked on sets for the MS musical.  Taylor has been very dedicated to the design and execution of the sets.  Ben and Bri led a warm up exercise by using a number from Just Dance. The kids loved it when Ben was up on the stage dancing with them.  No other musical director we've had would ever have done that!  

Taylor and Brigitte on stage.

This evening we saw members of the college theater department perform Moon Over Buffalo.  It was a really funny farce!

Day 664: County XC championships 2013

Gwen and Michaela

View of Chautauqua Lake

On the way to Long Point State Park

Rt. 83

The first DVD is in the burner and the video is encoding.  With any luck, it will play properly and I can burn a dozen or so tomorrow.  

Day 663: Rendering 2014

After one more run through the Quest video to check every detail, I hit "finalize".  The message?  14 hours to process.  That's fine with me.  I just don't want to see "iMovie has unexpectedly quit."  So no pictures today since I am using Steve's iPad.

Recruiting for Quest starts Monday so tomorrow I have to prepare a short flier for the kids to take home listing all the important dates.   Student leaders and I will be talking to all the 8th graders in Doug's classes.  He is always so supportive.  Steve will be in Albany at the Governor's conference on emergency preparedness.

We took a long walk under dark skies with intermittent sunshine and encountered surprisingly brilliant colors.  

Unfortunately, this effort crashed after just three hours.  The next attempt was successful so by this morning I had made some progress.

Day 662: Golden maple

View from Risley St. bridge

A golden maple in our front yard

Signs of approaching winter: put the air conditioner away, had the first fire in the wood stove for the season, ate stew for lunch, worked at my computer for six hours, snacked incessantly, wore gloves and a wool coat on our walk.   Ice piled up on the back deck and snow is predicted for tonight away from the lake.   The great advantage of a chilly day is that I finished the Quest movie!  Tomorrow, I will finalize the project and then start burning DVDs.  Finally!

Day 661: Cider Stew

Winter blew in over night!  I'm going to miss sitting on the porch or patio among all the flowers.  I picked all of the zinnias, peppers and a few green tomatoes.  The garden was surprisingly productive.  I am glad we put all the outdoor furniture away yesterday while it was still warm and sunny.  Bad weather means I couldn't resist cooking a delicious apple cider beef stew.  Wow, best stew I ever made.  Cinnamon flavored cider combined with thyme, coarse ground black pepper, celery, onions, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, red potatoes and chunks of beef.

Ben is writing his master's thesis on the educational value of the musical so he interviewed us this afternoon.  He was very disciplined and focused so it was a short interview.  He has to transcribe each one so now he understands that it takes at least three times the length of  the tape.

Colin sent me a list of music for the Quest video so I looked up all the lyrics and listened to the music.  Most of the pieces have inappropriate lyrics.  Even though several have good rhythm, I can't use them.  Fortunately, there a couple instrumentals I may use. Now I can get the job done this week, while it snows!

Day 660: Apples and pears

On the property adjoining Wheelock School is a beautiful pear tree that is loaded with fruit.  Bees and flies buzz around the rotting pears.  I'd love to reach across the fence and pick a bushel or two.  No one seems to be interested in harvesting any. 

At Falcone's, we loaded up on more apples so I can make more apple crisp, apple sauce and apple pies besides munching on fresh Jonagold apples with cheese! 

Day 659: Janet and Lori

Most of the potted plants, but especially the licorice, managed to survive the sleet, hail and thunder storm last night.  I jumped out of bed when I heard ice slashing at the house to call for Paddy.  At the back door I hollered for him and saw an inch of ice on the patio table.  I tried the front door too, hoping he had taken shelter on the porch.  But no, he came running upstairs from sleeping in the basement.  We were so glad he was not out in that storm.  

My friend and classmate, Janet Keefe, is running for a seat on the County Legislature against the former mayor of Fredonia.  If she wins, and I think she will, that means that he will have been defeated by both spouses!  

We saw Gravity today starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock and it was excellent!  Not as thrilling as last week's film, but very exciting.  In the reviews I've read, they complain that she did an excessive amount of heavy breathing and the back story of the death of her daughter was distracting.  Both are legitimate criticisms.  The special effects were especially good and the scenes of earth as seen from space are stunning.

Day 658: Homemade apple pie

Apple pie made with empire apples- fantastic!

In a burst of domesticity,  I also made an apple crumb pie and recovered the seats of two of the dining room chairs.  That's what happens to me when the weather turns cool and wet.

The light was ideal in the patio garden to capture the non-stop begonias and petunias this morning. 

I walked twice today, perhaps a total of five miles, and saw several more of the steelhead trout.  Unfortunately, the fishermen were out in force.  In one brief walk along the creek, we saw two hooked.  

Steve and his stage crew worked a couple hours building sets for the middle school musical then worked backstage during rehearsal.  It's off to a good start. The kids are cooperative and enthusiastic.  It's good to see about dozen boys participating out of a cast of forty.  I got photos of one dance number that was choreographed by a sophomore.  

Day 657: Family and friends

We took care of friends and family today and loved it.  Checked in on Laraine recovering from surgery, took Mary to the eye doctor's office in Buffalo, took Betsy and Kay to dinner and Night of Theater. We are so blessed to have loving family and friends in our lives!  On Monday, I had dinner with my classmates, loyal friends for fifty plus years.  On Tuesday, we had our weekly visit with Amy, our friend, colleague and traveling companion for fifteen years.  Wednesday was time for book club where friends of thirty to forty years meet to talk about books, ideas and experiences, husbands and kids.  We have shared so much.  Steve spent most of his week with Julius and Tony at classes and meetings, his closest friends for forty years.   He spent Thursday with Ben, a former student of ours who has become a great friend and colleague.  We are so blessed!

At dinner we ran into a family of friends.  All four children were our students and two traveled with us. I had not seen Marissa in several years.  She did Model UN with me for four years, was in my advanced 10 class and now she is finishing up her graduate degree to become a speech pathologist.  I always knew she would accomplish amazing things.  She was part of the "trip from hell" when we traveled to Ireland, Wales and England with the "monster girl."  We were reminiscing tonight and I will have to share that story tomorrow.  

Day 656: Forsythia in October

Day 655: It's finally over!

Finally, the Senate and House passed a deal to reopen the government and raise the country's debt limit.    The behavior of many of the legislators has been shameful.   To risk the economic stability of our nation and the world is unconscionable.  Millions of citizens have been harmed by this foolish shut down and the integrity of our nation is now in question.  Those who voted to continue the shut down and force the nation into default must be defeated.  In New York, the only two congressmen who voted no on the deal tonight were Tom Reed of our district and Chris Collins from Erie Co.

The other day, the Chinese said that the world should prepare for a deAmericanized world, meaning that the dollar would not be the main currency nor would the US be the dominant global power.  I think every American Congressman or woman should visit Shanghai. The staggering scope of their growth and power is on display there.  Perhaps that would stop them from quibbling about investing in our students, our infrastructure and technological research.  It's been ten years since I visited China and I have never forgotten the impressions of China's massive focus on growth that I got at the top of the Shanghai tower.  Construction cranes as far as the eye could see!  Miles of towering multinational corporate headquarters,  spotless subway stations.

When we walked today, we found out that the fish we saw swimming upstream yesterday were steelhead trout.  A cluster were again trying swim through the current this morning.  Three shot ahead while one held back in a deeper pool.  Soon one trout swam back to the pool as if it was cheering its friend on.  Then the other two came back and they all tried again to push through the current.  Imagine, trout turning back to help!  Teamwork so that all could overcome the challenge!  If only our congressional representatives could learn from the trout!

Day 654: Swimming upstream

Paddy boy did not come home this morning so we spent a few hours calling and searching.  He finally appeared at the side door about 1:00 covered with mud, seed pods and leaves.  Where was he?

We never know what wonders we'll discover on our walks through the village.  Today, as we strolled along the creek, we heard splashing and discovered five huge fish struggling up a small waterfall as they swam upstream.  Steve thinks they were salmon or perhaps they were lake trout. I'll have to find out.  It was very exciting.

Day 653: Sleeping in the sunshine

At 15, Molly is still going strong.  In good weather, she insists on spending the night outside and more time basking in the sun during the day.  She hunts chipmunks, mice and sometimes birds.  Often we find her perched on the picnic table on the porch where she can survey her territory and catch the rays. In the evening, she curls up on her blankie on the ottoman or cuddles up to one of us.

We are very fortunate that she is still healthy.  My sister Laurie's 12 year old cat Mervan died yesterday of breast cancer.  Apparently it is common among females that have not been neutered.  My sister-in-law Mary has six cats and her oldest, Clara, has kidney failure.  Mary loves her family of kitties so it's difficult for her to handle Clara's illness.

Colin and April have Drizz't and Oscar, the dumpster kitties and Justin has Chili.  Cats have been part of our lives for fifty years, but when Molly and Paddy pass away, we will not be adopting again.  Although, Molly adopted us, so that is a possibility.

One of my favorite trees in the village, this ancient maple is located on the Barker Street playground.  I noticed today that the trunk is split from the core down about five feet.  

Molly basking in the sun.

Our lazy kitties.  Paddy decided to sleep on my chair today without me!

Day 652: Captain Phillips

A cool, wet front blew through over night and ushered in the real October.  We decided to go to the movies and see Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks.  It's the mostly true story of a commercial container ship that is boarded by Somali pirates.  The crew catches their captain and negotiates a deal for the pirates to escape in a lifeboat with $30,000.  But at the last moment, they take the ship's captain hostage in a small lifeboat that looks like a submarine.  It is a suspenseful and moving story.  The juxtaposition of American naval power against the tiny Somali skiffs was disturbing.  Tom Hanks delivered a terrific performance, but even more powerful was the actor playing the Somali captain named Muse.

Day 651: A hike with cousin Betsy

Steve's cousin Betsy is here for her annual visit from sunny California.  She loves to return to her childhood home each October and revel in the autumn colors.  Some of her favorite activities are walking the Lake Erie shore looking for beach glass, shopping yard sales, attending concerts at the college and going to see our annual Night of Theater at the high school.  Unfortunately, the Harvest dinner that she has enjoyed attending for years at one of the Brocton churches has been cancelled this year.  At 78 degrees, this is one of the most beautiful autumns we have ever experienced and far closer to the temps of Palos Alto, CA.

Steve, Betsy and Mary posing in the same spot where Colin and April were married five years ago.

Today, the colors are dull and drab since most of the maples have already lost their leaves.

Sumac

Hiking on the Ruttenbur Trail