I ran into a woman in the bathroom yesterday who was a first year teacher retiree. We followed one another into the ladies room after touring the Confederate White House in the same six person group. I, of course, asked questions whenever the tour guide asked if anyone had any, so she said, "You're a teacher, right?" "What was your first clue," I laughed. I'm retired", I said. That's when she said, "This is my first year to be retired. It feel so strange not to be at school." Teachers bond over stuff. More so, I think, than people who work in a 'normal' atmosphere.
When the first day of school rolls around and you're a new retiree, you feel like you're pulling a fast one. It's hard to explain 'first day of school'. It's not just kids who are nervous, excited, and wondering what they should wear. The first glimpse of the kids you will see every day for 185 days is exhilarating, and, when you teach the alternative population, sometimes a little scary. The initial interaction sometimes sets the tone for the entire year with a class. The assessments start the first day about how you are going to help the kids that file into the room.
Teachers spend time, money and effort working 'off the clock'. In August of this year USA Today wrote an article about how much of their own money teachers wind up spending. It's not bad enough that teachers buy their own office supplies - imagine telling any other professional they need to buy copy paper, pens, pencils, oh, a stapler, staples and whatever else they think they might need to do their job! No, they don't just buy office supplies. They buy books, learning aids, enrichment materials, laboratory equipment, experiment materials, and other stuff that should be covered by their school district. Well, it isn't. Here's the USA article if you don't believe me. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/08/18/teachers-budget-money/2660077/
There's a relatively new phenomena - a website devoted to helping teachers raise money for their projects. This isn't about office supplies. This is about developing a project, a lesson plan, or enrichment program to help kids. These projects are 'vetted' and if they pass the scrutiny, then the project is offered to the public with the opportunity to help the teacher FUND the project. The website is called "Donor's Choose". I like to help teachers I KNOW. I specifically like to help a teacher I know who teaches in those places where the kids need the most help. That usually means 'poor'. My current teacher friend who falls into this category has a project on Donor's Choose.
She's bitten off a big chunk designing a great program to help her low income, rural, elementary school children improve their reading skills. She's hoping to challenge each child in her entire school to read 100 books this school year. Well, you have to have books kids WANT TO READ. That's what she needs. This project costs $1000.00 to fund. So far, she's raised $578 out of the $1000 to fund her idea.
Basically, I need you to go to this project, and give. It's real simple. We'll take $5.00. That's a cup of coffee. Of course, we'll also take $50. It's up to you. Read her idea. Look at the books she needs to buy. She needs THIS project funded NOW. There are only 40 days to raise $422 dollars. I'd like for you to join me and reduce that amount. Ready? Start? Click! This is so easy; do your part.
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=1018066
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Who? What? Where? When? I Don't Remember.
I'm tired of getting old. Now my 'good foot' is going wonky. I finally admitted it was really hurting and getting worse, so I went to the doctor. Turns out that I've damaged it, and now I'm wearing a foot brace that I have to wear 24/7 until I see the doctor again in one month. But that's not ALL. Right now, if I put my computer down and stood up, I would have to wait for everything to 'settle', and it would still hurt somewhere when I took my first step. Lots and lots of niggling little aches and pains that individually don't really bother me that much, but taken all together, well, it's a miracle I get out of bed.
I shouldn't complain since I can get out of bed, but I exercise almost every day. I'm supposed to feel better, aren't I? I supposed to be bursting with energy. For heaven sake's I swam laps more than 30 minutes today and did other stuff in the pool. Tomorrow, I'll probably lift weights - and then I'll really hurt. Ok, Ok, Ok. It's not just the physical stuff.
I'm discovering I'm losing the ability to spell. I've always been a great visual speller, and I can still usually do that, but sometimes, I now have to spell a word phonetically - yeah, I had to do that with the "p" word in this sentence. I got the red wavy underline which just silently screams, "You dummy". Spell check is saving my ass. How depressing. I was never a good audible speller, but to just have words 'vanish' out of my head is disconcerting. It's not every word, of course, but sometimes it's EASY words that go poof. I just hate that.
Also, soon I'm going to have to write a list to make sure I remember everything I need to do to go pee. My life is totally controlled by lists and calendars. My mother was the queen of lists and the empress of the calendar. Now, I understand why. If I don't write it down, then I don't remember when/what/who. I can just about remember to buy four items at the grocery store without having to make a list. Does it count against me that I have to say the four items as a mantra under my breath the entire time I drive to the store?
Don't get me started with trying to 'find' something. This one is really frustrating. Drake insisted that we list everything that's packed in a 'tub' when we started this peripatetic (got that one spelled the first time!) life. That system has worked really well. As we move around, though, last minute stuff in these mini-moves tends to get tucked away in that nebulous land of 'someplace'. As in, "I know I put it SOMEPLACE!" Occasionally, "someplace" turns into, "DAMNATION! I can't believe that I left that, forgot that, or lost that."
We also play a new game around here called, "Where are my glasses?" No, it's not me - mine are always on my face. It's Drake. A few days ago, he looked and looked and looked for his favorite pair. They are not different from his others, but they are in his special soft leather case. He stomped around muttering, "I've just gone off and left them somewhere." Fortunately, they rematerialized. We went from, "Damn it, I've lost them!" into "Oh, I forgot, they were in my jacket pocket." This was a two day morph which caused quite a bit of angst around here.
I can also feel my brain processes slowing down. Now, I understand why the elderly increasingly dislike change and having to make snap decisions. I'm getting it. They are worried they've forgotten some key thing, and it paralyzes their decision making. Moving around from town to town is actually very helpful; we have to adapt to new traffic, new land marks, and have to REMEMBER where things are. Most days we are holding our own except on the days we don't. Those are the U-turn days. Or, the ones that have queries of, "Where was the CVS?" "Do you remember how we went to the post office last time?"
I also miss 'automatic pilot'. I used to be able to think or talk about something while doing some routine something else at the same time. My auto pilot got me through all the mundane stuff while I enjoyed doing other things with my brain. Now, that luxury has slipped away. I have to actually pay attention to the ordinary repetitive stuff, or I will forget some key thing in the sequence that used to be just automatic. If I don't give the ordinary my complete attention, I periodically leave the house without something, or I wander around retracing my steps a zillion times as I try to get the easy stuff done.
I'm also tired of wrinkles, age spots, and drooping whatever. This actually bothers me less than the other stuff since I was never a great beauty. For those women who WERE beauties in their youth, this wrinkle, droop, spot thing must be horrifying and anger inducing. You know what the worst part is? It's looking in the mirror and seeing the faint lines that YOU KNOW are going to be cavernous wrinkles in another ten years. That's why really, really old women never look like pictures of their younger selves. We change into people we don't even recognize in the mirror. How screwed up is that?
All right, I've finished whining. Just saying that some days life seems all uphill with pot holes. Of course, at some point, any day you're vertical instead of horizontal is a good day. Just goes to show: All things are relative.
I shouldn't complain since I can get out of bed, but I exercise almost every day. I'm supposed to feel better, aren't I? I supposed to be bursting with energy. For heaven sake's I swam laps more than 30 minutes today and did other stuff in the pool. Tomorrow, I'll probably lift weights - and then I'll really hurt. Ok, Ok, Ok. It's not just the physical stuff.
I'm discovering I'm losing the ability to spell. I've always been a great visual speller, and I can still usually do that, but sometimes, I now have to spell a word phonetically - yeah, I had to do that with the "p" word in this sentence. I got the red wavy underline which just silently screams, "You dummy". Spell check is saving my ass. How depressing. I was never a good audible speller, but to just have words 'vanish' out of my head is disconcerting. It's not every word, of course, but sometimes it's EASY words that go poof. I just hate that.
Also, soon I'm going to have to write a list to make sure I remember everything I need to do to go pee. My life is totally controlled by lists and calendars. My mother was the queen of lists and the empress of the calendar. Now, I understand why. If I don't write it down, then I don't remember when/what/who. I can just about remember to buy four items at the grocery store without having to make a list. Does it count against me that I have to say the four items as a mantra under my breath the entire time I drive to the store?
Don't get me started with trying to 'find' something. This one is really frustrating. Drake insisted that we list everything that's packed in a 'tub' when we started this peripatetic (got that one spelled the first time!) life. That system has worked really well. As we move around, though, last minute stuff in these mini-moves tends to get tucked away in that nebulous land of 'someplace'. As in, "I know I put it SOMEPLACE!" Occasionally, "someplace" turns into, "DAMNATION! I can't believe that I left that, forgot that, or lost that."
We also play a new game around here called, "Where are my glasses?" No, it's not me - mine are always on my face. It's Drake. A few days ago, he looked and looked and looked for his favorite pair. They are not different from his others, but they are in his special soft leather case. He stomped around muttering, "I've just gone off and left them somewhere." Fortunately, they rematerialized. We went from, "Damn it, I've lost them!" into "Oh, I forgot, they were in my jacket pocket." This was a two day morph which caused quite a bit of angst around here.
I can also feel my brain processes slowing down. Now, I understand why the elderly increasingly dislike change and having to make snap decisions. I'm getting it. They are worried they've forgotten some key thing, and it paralyzes their decision making. Moving around from town to town is actually very helpful; we have to adapt to new traffic, new land marks, and have to REMEMBER where things are. Most days we are holding our own except on the days we don't. Those are the U-turn days. Or, the ones that have queries of, "Where was the CVS?" "Do you remember how we went to the post office last time?"
I also miss 'automatic pilot'. I used to be able to think or talk about something while doing some routine something else at the same time. My auto pilot got me through all the mundane stuff while I enjoyed doing other things with my brain. Now, that luxury has slipped away. I have to actually pay attention to the ordinary repetitive stuff, or I will forget some key thing in the sequence that used to be just automatic. If I don't give the ordinary my complete attention, I periodically leave the house without something, or I wander around retracing my steps a zillion times as I try to get the easy stuff done.
I'm also tired of wrinkles, age spots, and drooping whatever. This actually bothers me less than the other stuff since I was never a great beauty. For those women who WERE beauties in their youth, this wrinkle, droop, spot thing must be horrifying and anger inducing. You know what the worst part is? It's looking in the mirror and seeing the faint lines that YOU KNOW are going to be cavernous wrinkles in another ten years. That's why really, really old women never look like pictures of their younger selves. We change into people we don't even recognize in the mirror. How screwed up is that?
All right, I've finished whining. Just saying that some days life seems all uphill with pot holes. Of course, at some point, any day you're vertical instead of horizontal is a good day. Just goes to show: All things are relative.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Might as Well Have Been Mars
In 2023 there's going to be commercially backed manned mission to Mars. Applications are being accepted and evaluated for the one way trip. There are apparently five 'astronaut' characteristics the leaders of the mission are looking for: Resiliency, Adaptability, Curiosity, Ability to Trust, and Creativity/Resourcefulness.
In 1606 the Virginia Company was chartered by King James. This was a commercial venture by a group of English merchants and aristocrats to establish a colony in the New World. The purpose was to tap into the vast resources they were sure existed in the unexplored continent. 104 men made the four month journey in three small ships and established the Jamestown Colony. They chose a small almost island in the James River. It was connected with an isthmus to the mainland, and it was chosen because it would be easy to defend against the Spanish who didn't like anybody else from Europe horning in on the New World resources. This is the first English settlement in the United States. I was utterly struck today by the similarity of these two missions 400 years apart.
After our visit today, it was perfectly clear that you would have to exhibit the five astronaut traits PLUS have a boatload of luck to just survive. I wondered all day long who these men were. They signed up for a one way trip into the unknown just like their 21st century counterparts who want to go to Mars. I was struck by the list of occupations of the first Jamestown colonists. One was pretty hilarious in terms of 21st century hindsight - a jeweler to evaluate all the precious stones they hoped to find. There were also soldiers, explorers (specifically Captain John Smith), metallurgists, barrel makers, carpenters, farmers, leather workers, and laborers. When it became clear via Spanish gossip whispered in England, the colonists were marrying the native women, 90 English women arrived the fourth year of the colony. The women's survival was even more perilous: They faced childbirth in this bare subsistence environment.
The Company instructions to the colonists were to coexist with the natives since they hoped to trade with them for food and absorb local geographic knowledge. That detente attitude lasted for about two years. At that point relations deteriorated steadily due to the usual problems of two cultures rubbing up against one another. The real blow was the disastrous winter of 1609-10. It's called "the Starving Time" and has been documented by historians. The earliest colonists managed to arrive in the middle of the worst drought in 800 years. Not only did they not have enough stores for winter, but they were penned in the fort they had erected against Indian attacks by the very Indians they were fighting. Out of 500 colonists, only 60 survived that winter, and it's been proven they resorted to cannibalism to survive. Today, we saw the skeleton of a 14 year old girl whose body had been cannibalized. After eating her facial meat, cracking open her femurs for the marrow and opening her skull to eat the brain, she was dumped into an abandoned well. Her desecration proves the utter desperation of the few survivors.
The colony was on the point of extinction in the spring of 1610 when a strong willed governor arrived on a well-provisioned ship and saved the colony. This was the beginning of the end of the Powhatan Indians. They had used Jamestown and the surrounding lands on the James River as their summer home for about 10,000 years. Within 50 years of the arrival of the English, their numbers dwindled from 15,000 to 2,000.
As the 17th century unfolded, Jamestown became a jumping off place for new arrivals from England. It didn't take long for the word to spread there was unlimited land for the taking. Jamestown's political importance dwindled when the 'capital' of Virginia was moved up the peninsula to the new town of Williamsburg in 1698.
Jamestown's successful establishment proved there was value in the New World. Colonists experimented with several industries looking for the 'cash' crop. John Rolfe, a key early colonist, managed to grow a Caribbean strain of tobacco and ship it to England. Jackpot! Tobacco was a double edged sword: It gave the Virginia colony it's economic backbone and profitability, but it also established slavery in America as more and more of the profitable tobacco was planted. Tobacco is very labor intensive, and gradually over a 50 year time span, the labor was increasingly provided by slaves forcibly imported from Africa.
Jamestown languished as the centuries passed finally becoming only farm land. That was a stroke of luck because in the 1990's backed by private financing, archaeologists began excavating the site discovering a treasure trove just inches under the surface. They found the layout of the original fort, the first legislative building in the United States, a large church, and a huge trading house. They also found the detritus of the first colonists as well as their bodies.
It struck me how Jamestown is much more representative of who American's are than the pious bible toting Pilgrims. Jamestown was all about money, getting ahead, innovation, hard work, and taking a chance. What's more American than that? The proof? Well, over 250,00 people want to make that one way trip to Mars. I think those applicants would have been on the same wavelength as those Jamestown colonists 400 years ago.
If you want to see the pictures of this fascinating place where it all started, here they are:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/5921801456105992961?authkey=CPXEmOf37bymwgE
In 1606 the Virginia Company was chartered by King James. This was a commercial venture by a group of English merchants and aristocrats to establish a colony in the New World. The purpose was to tap into the vast resources they were sure existed in the unexplored continent. 104 men made the four month journey in three small ships and established the Jamestown Colony. They chose a small almost island in the James River. It was connected with an isthmus to the mainland, and it was chosen because it would be easy to defend against the Spanish who didn't like anybody else from Europe horning in on the New World resources. This is the first English settlement in the United States. I was utterly struck today by the similarity of these two missions 400 years apart.
After our visit today, it was perfectly clear that you would have to exhibit the five astronaut traits PLUS have a boatload of luck to just survive. I wondered all day long who these men were. They signed up for a one way trip into the unknown just like their 21st century counterparts who want to go to Mars. I was struck by the list of occupations of the first Jamestown colonists. One was pretty hilarious in terms of 21st century hindsight - a jeweler to evaluate all the precious stones they hoped to find. There were also soldiers, explorers (specifically Captain John Smith), metallurgists, barrel makers, carpenters, farmers, leather workers, and laborers. When it became clear via Spanish gossip whispered in England, the colonists were marrying the native women, 90 English women arrived the fourth year of the colony. The women's survival was even more perilous: They faced childbirth in this bare subsistence environment.
The Company instructions to the colonists were to coexist with the natives since they hoped to trade with them for food and absorb local geographic knowledge. That detente attitude lasted for about two years. At that point relations deteriorated steadily due to the usual problems of two cultures rubbing up against one another. The real blow was the disastrous winter of 1609-10. It's called "the Starving Time" and has been documented by historians. The earliest colonists managed to arrive in the middle of the worst drought in 800 years. Not only did they not have enough stores for winter, but they were penned in the fort they had erected against Indian attacks by the very Indians they were fighting. Out of 500 colonists, only 60 survived that winter, and it's been proven they resorted to cannibalism to survive. Today, we saw the skeleton of a 14 year old girl whose body had been cannibalized. After eating her facial meat, cracking open her femurs for the marrow and opening her skull to eat the brain, she was dumped into an abandoned well. Her desecration proves the utter desperation of the few survivors.
The colony was on the point of extinction in the spring of 1610 when a strong willed governor arrived on a well-provisioned ship and saved the colony. This was the beginning of the end of the Powhatan Indians. They had used Jamestown and the surrounding lands on the James River as their summer home for about 10,000 years. Within 50 years of the arrival of the English, their numbers dwindled from 15,000 to 2,000.
As the 17th century unfolded, Jamestown became a jumping off place for new arrivals from England. It didn't take long for the word to spread there was unlimited land for the taking. Jamestown's political importance dwindled when the 'capital' of Virginia was moved up the peninsula to the new town of Williamsburg in 1698.
Jamestown's successful establishment proved there was value in the New World. Colonists experimented with several industries looking for the 'cash' crop. John Rolfe, a key early colonist, managed to grow a Caribbean strain of tobacco and ship it to England. Jackpot! Tobacco was a double edged sword: It gave the Virginia colony it's economic backbone and profitability, but it also established slavery in America as more and more of the profitable tobacco was planted. Tobacco is very labor intensive, and gradually over a 50 year time span, the labor was increasingly provided by slaves forcibly imported from Africa.
Jamestown languished as the centuries passed finally becoming only farm land. That was a stroke of luck because in the 1990's backed by private financing, archaeologists began excavating the site discovering a treasure trove just inches under the surface. They found the layout of the original fort, the first legislative building in the United States, a large church, and a huge trading house. They also found the detritus of the first colonists as well as their bodies.
It struck me how Jamestown is much more representative of who American's are than the pious bible toting Pilgrims. Jamestown was all about money, getting ahead, innovation, hard work, and taking a chance. What's more American than that? The proof? Well, over 250,00 people want to make that one way trip to Mars. I think those applicants would have been on the same wavelength as those Jamestown colonists 400 years ago.
If you want to see the pictures of this fascinating place where it all started, here they are:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/5921801456105992961?authkey=CPXEmOf37bymwgE
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Virginia: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
I've been waiting impatiently to get to the famous botanical garden before the summer season is over. No matter how well done, an autumn and winter garden are just not as good as a spring and summer one. First, though, we had to buy something to sit on. Due to the wedding boxes we drug from Arizona to Austin, we had to leave behind the easy chairs we normally travel with. We buzzed over lots of Richmond following up on thrift stores and Craigslist items. In two days we managed to buy two easy chairs - Drake actually got a great leather recliner - as well as a table and chairs, a six foot bookcase (there are no drawers or shelves in this apartment), two chests of drawers; mine is missing the bottom drawer, but for $10 it was a bargain, and I just consider the open area to be shoe storage. We acquired all of this is two days for under $200. Since it's all going to be resold or donated in December, it doesn't pay to go upscale.
Then we had to go get our health club settled. This one is swank, swank, swank. It's gorgeous, new and reasonable. Boy, are we going to be spoiled when we leave here. They provide all the towels, both work-out and bath towels. There are hairdryers and air diffusers (cool air blows on you) in front of the individual lighted makeup stations). There is an indoor salt water lap pool, an exercise pool and a spa. There's another pool and health food restaurant on top of the building, and the parking is covered. All the exercise equipment is the latest,and there's a large selection of classes included in the price. It's less than 10 minutes from the apartment. Of course, now I have to go exercise. There's always a fly in the ointment, isn't there?
Yesterday, perfect weather day incidentally, we headed for the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden a highly touted 'must see' United States garden. Ginter was a wheeler dealer of the 19th century who made and lost four fortunes in his lifetime. The last fortune was made in real estate as he developed the first Richmond suburb. The property where the garden is located was purchased by him to be used by Richmond bicyclers in pursuing the new bicycling craze that was sweeping the country in the 1890s. (Bicycling did more to modify the heavy, unwieldy women's clothes of the 19th century than the previous 100 years of clothing reform.) After his death, Ginter's niece, Grace Arents, purchased the bicycling property with the clubhouse and founded a convalescent home for sick children along with her companion, Mary Garland Smith. ("Companion" is exactly how the brochure describes her!) Grace died in 1926 leaving life rights to Mary of the property and the stipulation upon Mary's death, Richmond would turn the property into a botanical garden and name it after her Uncle Lewis. Well, Mary lived to be 102! She didn't die until 1968. The property was pretty much abandoned, and languished until in 1981 when a group of committed horticulturists and botanists got the botanical garden off the ground. In about 30 years the City of Richmond has managed to sponsor the creation of a nationally famous botanical garden thanks to this group of citizens.
It's not very big when compared to Montreal's garden, but each area is exquisite. There are also 14 buildings - gazebos, and the like, scattered throughout the property with numerous benches and places to simply sit and contemplate the beauty of this place. There's an imposing glass conservatory with a dome sitting in a lawn area used for concerts. As always, the pictures tell the story.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/5920903614294834001?authkey=CIjS6J-CvK-DwgE
Then we had to go get our health club settled. This one is swank, swank, swank. It's gorgeous, new and reasonable. Boy, are we going to be spoiled when we leave here. They provide all the towels, both work-out and bath towels. There are hairdryers and air diffusers (cool air blows on you) in front of the individual lighted makeup stations). There is an indoor salt water lap pool, an exercise pool and a spa. There's another pool and health food restaurant on top of the building, and the parking is covered. All the exercise equipment is the latest,and there's a large selection of classes included in the price. It's less than 10 minutes from the apartment. Of course, now I have to go exercise. There's always a fly in the ointment, isn't there?
Yesterday, perfect weather day incidentally, we headed for the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden a highly touted 'must see' United States garden. Ginter was a wheeler dealer of the 19th century who made and lost four fortunes in his lifetime. The last fortune was made in real estate as he developed the first Richmond suburb. The property where the garden is located was purchased by him to be used by Richmond bicyclers in pursuing the new bicycling craze that was sweeping the country in the 1890s. (Bicycling did more to modify the heavy, unwieldy women's clothes of the 19th century than the previous 100 years of clothing reform.) After his death, Ginter's niece, Grace Arents, purchased the bicycling property with the clubhouse and founded a convalescent home for sick children along with her companion, Mary Garland Smith. ("Companion" is exactly how the brochure describes her!) Grace died in 1926 leaving life rights to Mary of the property and the stipulation upon Mary's death, Richmond would turn the property into a botanical garden and name it after her Uncle Lewis. Well, Mary lived to be 102! She didn't die until 1968. The property was pretty much abandoned, and languished until in 1981 when a group of committed horticulturists and botanists got the botanical garden off the ground. In about 30 years the City of Richmond has managed to sponsor the creation of a nationally famous botanical garden thanks to this group of citizens.
It's not very big when compared to Montreal's garden, but each area is exquisite. There are also 14 buildings - gazebos, and the like, scattered throughout the property with numerous benches and places to simply sit and contemplate the beauty of this place. There's an imposing glass conservatory with a dome sitting in a lawn area used for concerts. As always, the pictures tell the story.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/5920903614294834001?authkey=CIjS6J-CvK-DwgE
Friday, August 30, 2013
Hello, Richmond
We arrived in our new destination, Richmond, Virginia, on Sunday evening after having a Saturday afternoon farewell meal with Sarah and Jay. I fed Al, the cat, several tuna treats, and then we hit the road. The move out of New Haven was very easy because other than our personal toiletries and clothes, we used all of Sarah's stuff. We still managed to leave the crucial cable that connects the TV and the computer attached to Jay's TV. Oh well, I'm sure they will be able to use it.
Sunday afternoon on the way to Richmond we decided to take the heavily traveled I-95 just south of Baltimore down to the infamous Washington DC Beltway (which actually is just the western freeway loop around DC), then reconnect to I-95 and come into Richmond. Simple, straightforward, and overwhelming. It reminded me of the new Southwest Freeway through Houston with six lanes on each side, and HOV lanes, and separated lanes that got on and off at every exit. We breezed right through, and realized we never wanted to push our luck and drive it again. Observing the northern traffic, (we were driving south, of course) on the same route, with the same number of lanes (numerous) at one point there was a 20 mile long bumper to bumper traffic jam. Mind you, this was Sunday afternoon. Chatting with someone when we arrived in Richmond about the I-95 route, she laughed and said it was almost always horrendous, and you had to know both the college and pro football schedule on Saturday and Sunday to make sure you don't try to drive anywhere you can get caught in standstill traffic.
Richmond has surprised me. It feels a little like Tulsa - rolling hills, but much more heavily forested. Trees grow naturally here - there's thick forest of mixed deciduous and evergreen everywhere. I think the autumn is going to be breathtaking. It's also rather comforting to be in a part of the country where I recognize most of the vegetation. This town seems to be the crepe myrtle capital. They are a bit faded now, but in July there were undoubtedly gorgeous. They march in well trimmed rows around the various shopping centers. They have signage ordinances here, and it's maddening to try and find a store by peeping through the crepe myrtle branches since low profile signs are suffering from vegetation encroachment.
Anyway, we started house hunting on Monday morning. We decided that after New Haven, we have had enough 'downtown living'. It's fun in that there are lots of individually owned restaurants that are walking distance, and lots of cool shopping, but it's also constant noise. This time we are opting for suburban living with broad smooth streets, right turns on red, and left turn lanes at every major light. The bitter is that most of the eating choices are fast food or chains in the part of town with the smooth, wide, well marked streets.
It took us about two days to find an apartment. We signed the three month lease on Tuesday, and moved in on Wednesday. On Thursday we did blitzkrieg shopping driving all over Richmond and beyond looking for the additional stuff we needed - like chairs and a table - to get set up. We found almost everything, as well as got the Fios set up. Speaking of Fios, (Verizon's TV/Internet/Phone), guess what? You can't just pick up your cables and box after you get signed up. No, they MAIL you the box of equipment. It was supposed to come on Friday, but we got the 'box' a day early. That's why I'm on the Internet.
We also discovered on our trip to the Post Office to get our 'mailbox' key, that it will be 7 to 10 days BEFORE WE CAN GET THE KEY. I guess some blacksmith is going to have to devise it, and then get it blessed and finally, finally, deign to give it to us. Our new address is: 9409 Brightway Court, Henrico, Virginia 23294. Apparently we live in a town that only the post office cares about. Everyone else who lives here thinks they live in Richmond. According to anecdotes, you could address my mail to the address above except put Richmond and it would get to me. I asked what happens if we get mail before we can get the magic key. The postman answered, "Oh, it will just pile up in the box." SWELL.
I also have ANOTHER library card. New Haven was very generous with theirs - I will using it for another three years. This Tuckahoe (another mysterious town) library is new and very nice. I was trying to figure out how many library cards I've acquired. I think I have nine. I should have a nice collage soon.
So, tomorrow is the final furniture quest - a chest of drawers for Drake. Oh, and did I mention the apartment features? It's a 2/2 that's been newly remodeled with new floor coverings, counters, sinks, and appliances including a Maytag stacked washer, dryer IN the APARTMENT. We also have air conditioning, which now seems 'cold' to me after the New Haven hot box, a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. High cotton. It's also in the back of the complex, so we look at trees rather than parking lot. Absolutely perfect except for one tiny thing...it's on the second floor. I can walk the stairs - did that in New Haven, but Drake is insisting that I help carry the furniture up the stairs. Well, I did it, but my back hurts. The recliner bottom (one of the pieces we bought) was just awful as was the big mattress. I'm contemplating throwing the pieces down the stairs and seeing what survives when we leave.
We are all unpacked. I've made the four hour re-set up the household and kitchen store run while Drake was getting the Internet set up with the equipment we couldn't be trusted to carry out of the store, and doing the laundry. After we get the last chest, AND manhandle it up the stairs, it's two days of rest for me. I'll be raring to go after that. Lots to do here.
Sunday afternoon on the way to Richmond we decided to take the heavily traveled I-95 just south of Baltimore down to the infamous Washington DC Beltway (which actually is just the western freeway loop around DC), then reconnect to I-95 and come into Richmond. Simple, straightforward, and overwhelming. It reminded me of the new Southwest Freeway through Houston with six lanes on each side, and HOV lanes, and separated lanes that got on and off at every exit. We breezed right through, and realized we never wanted to push our luck and drive it again. Observing the northern traffic, (we were driving south, of course) on the same route, with the same number of lanes (numerous) at one point there was a 20 mile long bumper to bumper traffic jam. Mind you, this was Sunday afternoon. Chatting with someone when we arrived in Richmond about the I-95 route, she laughed and said it was almost always horrendous, and you had to know both the college and pro football schedule on Saturday and Sunday to make sure you don't try to drive anywhere you can get caught in standstill traffic.
Richmond has surprised me. It feels a little like Tulsa - rolling hills, but much more heavily forested. Trees grow naturally here - there's thick forest of mixed deciduous and evergreen everywhere. I think the autumn is going to be breathtaking. It's also rather comforting to be in a part of the country where I recognize most of the vegetation. This town seems to be the crepe myrtle capital. They are a bit faded now, but in July there were undoubtedly gorgeous. They march in well trimmed rows around the various shopping centers. They have signage ordinances here, and it's maddening to try and find a store by peeping through the crepe myrtle branches since low profile signs are suffering from vegetation encroachment.
Anyway, we started house hunting on Monday morning. We decided that after New Haven, we have had enough 'downtown living'. It's fun in that there are lots of individually owned restaurants that are walking distance, and lots of cool shopping, but it's also constant noise. This time we are opting for suburban living with broad smooth streets, right turns on red, and left turn lanes at every major light. The bitter is that most of the eating choices are fast food or chains in the part of town with the smooth, wide, well marked streets.
It took us about two days to find an apartment. We signed the three month lease on Tuesday, and moved in on Wednesday. On Thursday we did blitzkrieg shopping driving all over Richmond and beyond looking for the additional stuff we needed - like chairs and a table - to get set up. We found almost everything, as well as got the Fios set up. Speaking of Fios, (Verizon's TV/Internet/Phone), guess what? You can't just pick up your cables and box after you get signed up. No, they MAIL you the box of equipment. It was supposed to come on Friday, but we got the 'box' a day early. That's why I'm on the Internet.
We also discovered on our trip to the Post Office to get our 'mailbox' key, that it will be 7 to 10 days BEFORE WE CAN GET THE KEY. I guess some blacksmith is going to have to devise it, and then get it blessed and finally, finally, deign to give it to us. Our new address is: 9409 Brightway Court, Henrico, Virginia 23294. Apparently we live in a town that only the post office cares about. Everyone else who lives here thinks they live in Richmond. According to anecdotes, you could address my mail to the address above except put Richmond and it would get to me. I asked what happens if we get mail before we can get the magic key. The postman answered, "Oh, it will just pile up in the box." SWELL.
I also have ANOTHER library card. New Haven was very generous with theirs - I will using it for another three years. This Tuckahoe (another mysterious town) library is new and very nice. I was trying to figure out how many library cards I've acquired. I think I have nine. I should have a nice collage soon.
So, tomorrow is the final furniture quest - a chest of drawers for Drake. Oh, and did I mention the apartment features? It's a 2/2 that's been newly remodeled with new floor coverings, counters, sinks, and appliances including a Maytag stacked washer, dryer IN the APARTMENT. We also have air conditioning, which now seems 'cold' to me after the New Haven hot box, a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. High cotton. It's also in the back of the complex, so we look at trees rather than parking lot. Absolutely perfect except for one tiny thing...it's on the second floor. I can walk the stairs - did that in New Haven, but Drake is insisting that I help carry the furniture up the stairs. Well, I did it, but my back hurts. The recliner bottom (one of the pieces we bought) was just awful as was the big mattress. I'm contemplating throwing the pieces down the stairs and seeing what survives when we leave.
We are all unpacked. I've made the four hour re-set up the household and kitchen store run while Drake was getting the Internet set up with the equipment we couldn't be trusted to carry out of the store, and doing the laundry. After we get the last chest, AND manhandle it up the stairs, it's two days of rest for me. I'll be raring to go after that. Lots to do here.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
A Few Thoughts on Connecticut
We took a fast trip to the Hudson River Valley to see the Franklin D Roosevelt home and Presidential Library at Hyde Park. It was a fun trip, and a fact finding trip to see if the Hudson Valley in New York is a possible summer destination for next year. We are winding down our time here in Connecticut. We'll be leaving for Richmond next weekend, and three months of fun and exploration in the Old Dominion (Virginia's nickname).
Connecticut was more interesting that I expected. Initially, my expectation was that it would be a solid metroplex stretching into New York City. That was completely wrong. Most of the state is rural. I mean really rural - two lane roads, mixed growth forest, and small farms. The baffling traffic quirk is the 'roundabouts' on the rural roads. We could never figure out what they were for.
Connecticut has also been settled forever, at least in terms of Europeans in the United States. It was quite common to run across towns settled in the 1600's. New Haven was first settled by Europeans in 1638. As you move northward along any river (all of which empty into Long Island Sound), the dates of the settlements get later, all the way into the 1740s. That makes for a lot of dead people everywhere - and they are all buried with increasingly elaborate markers. I would estimate a good 5% of this state's land is covered with cemeteries.
I learned that Connecticut was the first hotbed of American manufacturing. Everything from hats to clocks to shoes to other small consumer goods. The small towns are filled with red brick mills and small manufacturing plants - most of which are now empty and deteriorating. There are some things still manufactured here - like Pez candy and dispensers. (That's in Orange, Ct.) There was also a huge ship building industry in Connecticut that endured for over 200 years.
They do have their own soda company in Connecticut. Foxon makes and distributes cola, root beer, lemon-line, and ginger ale. Most of the local restaurants carry it. The root beer is especially good. Connecticut also has a founding father who is the only person to sign all four major American Independence documents (Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution and Bill of Rights). He's buried in the Grove Cemetery in New Haven, and his house still stands in New Haven - close to Yale, of course. I ran across the Hopkins School, founded by the Governor of Connecticut in 1660, and it's still in operation today as a 7th - 12th grade day school. The most complete dinosaur tracks in the United States are in Connecticut - discovered by a construction worker, and preserved and excavated by Yale professors of paleontology.
Yale dominates everything around New Haven, and really in the entire state. The university architecture is beautiful, the art amazing, and I discovered this week that they have their own forest, of course. Every time I turn around, I'm exposed to another historical mover and shaker that went to this University. Their professors over the centuries are famous, and they have sent luminaries from their student bodies into every profession.
However, I have discovered there are certain things that can not be found in Connecticut. Here's a partial list: Fountain Dr. Pepper. Yes, you can buy it bottled in the stores, but nobody carries it as a fountain drink. Then I went looking for pimento cheese spread - it doesn't exist - ANYWHERE, nor do corn dogs. The closest thing to a corn dog is something called 'pretzel dogs'. They are cocktail wieners wrapped in pretzels. They are OK, but they're no corn dog.
Naturally, there are no chicken fried steaks either.
There is lobster, lobster and more lobster including a lobster sub at Quizno's. The shellfish including clams, mussels, scallops, and shrimp is all delicious here, like everywhere else in New England. I've found a delicious canned Clam Chowder that I'm trying to stock up on since this region is the only place I can buy this particular brand.
It's been kind of fun living close to a university again - even Yale has a 'campus corner' and a bunch of cheap eateries. It has not been fun revisiting non-air conditioned living space. We've been pretty lucky. Only about 2 weeks up here were really unbearable. We had to vacate the apartment during that time by 10am and only returned close to dark each day. It was still miserable, and almost impossible to sleep because it was so hot. We upgraded to five fans (in 546 square feet), all of which we used. The small space didn't bother us in the slightest. I think it would have if I'd tried to cook while here. The kitchen, even though Jay and Sarah added two rolling carts to have SOME counter space, and I added a large cutting board covering the stove top, is just not conducive to any type of cooking. It's so small that the tiny microwave sits on top of the fridge - there's no other place for it. We have to 'swap out' the coffee pot and the toaster. You can't have both plugged in at the same time.
I'm also ready to leave the antiquated bathroom - you know where the hot water comes out of one faucet and the cold out of another - it makes face washing and shaving such fun - you're either boiled or frozen. The cold water here is COLD out of the tap which gives me an inkling of how cold it really must be here in the winter. Fortunately, this apartment doesn't have any northern exposure windows nor any western. We have some other 1929 anomalies
in this apartment including the original wooden lined icebox, glass doorknobs, extra wide window sills (good for cat), and all the hardware in the apartment is solid brass - mostly painted over unfortunately. Overall, it's been a fine place since the bed is good, Sarah has our LazeBoy couch with the two recliners at each end, and Jay left his flat screen. We have also enjoyed the revolving garage sale on the first floor landing. When people move out, they leave various items they no longer want as freebies. We've scored some great finds - including coffee pots, insulated glasses, trash cans, and some other small stuff. It drives the management here crazy, but I've enjoyed it.
The biggest reason we are ready to move on, other than itchy feet, is the traffic and the constant noise which is getting on my very last nerve. After almost six months in Sun City, the town that rolls up at dark, the noise assault here has been not so much a surprise, but mainly an annoyance like a dripping nose or an itch that won't stay scratched. The constancy just drives me nuts. It does get quiet for about two hours between 3 and 5am on weekdays, but I can't even say that on weekends. With the noise also comes LIGHT - the bedroom is never dark with the security lights and street lights.
We have enjoyed our temporary pet ownership. Al, as I call the cat - who Drake will insist I explain is called "Jackson" by his real owners). Al is short for Alice, our former cat of 19 years, and he doesn't seem to mind the name change. He's enjoyed being 'our cat' since we spend a lot of time telling him what a great cat he is, and spoiling him. I'm sure we've given him some bad habits, but we were also free. You have to take the bitter with the sweet.
On to Richmond!!!! American history, here I come.
Connecticut was more interesting that I expected. Initially, my expectation was that it would be a solid metroplex stretching into New York City. That was completely wrong. Most of the state is rural. I mean really rural - two lane roads, mixed growth forest, and small farms. The baffling traffic quirk is the 'roundabouts' on the rural roads. We could never figure out what they were for.
Connecticut has also been settled forever, at least in terms of Europeans in the United States. It was quite common to run across towns settled in the 1600's. New Haven was first settled by Europeans in 1638. As you move northward along any river (all of which empty into Long Island Sound), the dates of the settlements get later, all the way into the 1740s. That makes for a lot of dead people everywhere - and they are all buried with increasingly elaborate markers. I would estimate a good 5% of this state's land is covered with cemeteries.
I learned that Connecticut was the first hotbed of American manufacturing. Everything from hats to clocks to shoes to other small consumer goods. The small towns are filled with red brick mills and small manufacturing plants - most of which are now empty and deteriorating. There are some things still manufactured here - like Pez candy and dispensers. (That's in Orange, Ct.) There was also a huge ship building industry in Connecticut that endured for over 200 years.
They do have their own soda company in Connecticut. Foxon makes and distributes cola, root beer, lemon-line, and ginger ale. Most of the local restaurants carry it. The root beer is especially good. Connecticut also has a founding father who is the only person to sign all four major American Independence documents (Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution and Bill of Rights). He's buried in the Grove Cemetery in New Haven, and his house still stands in New Haven - close to Yale, of course. I ran across the Hopkins School, founded by the Governor of Connecticut in 1660, and it's still in operation today as a 7th - 12th grade day school. The most complete dinosaur tracks in the United States are in Connecticut - discovered by a construction worker, and preserved and excavated by Yale professors of paleontology.
Yale dominates everything around New Haven, and really in the entire state. The university architecture is beautiful, the art amazing, and I discovered this week that they have their own forest, of course. Every time I turn around, I'm exposed to another historical mover and shaker that went to this University. Their professors over the centuries are famous, and they have sent luminaries from their student bodies into every profession.
However, I have discovered there are certain things that can not be found in Connecticut. Here's a partial list: Fountain Dr. Pepper. Yes, you can buy it bottled in the stores, but nobody carries it as a fountain drink. Then I went looking for pimento cheese spread - it doesn't exist - ANYWHERE, nor do corn dogs. The closest thing to a corn dog is something called 'pretzel dogs'. They are cocktail wieners wrapped in pretzels. They are OK, but they're no corn dog.
Naturally, there are no chicken fried steaks either.
There is lobster, lobster and more lobster including a lobster sub at Quizno's. The shellfish including clams, mussels, scallops, and shrimp is all delicious here, like everywhere else in New England. I've found a delicious canned Clam Chowder that I'm trying to stock up on since this region is the only place I can buy this particular brand.
It's been kind of fun living close to a university again - even Yale has a 'campus corner' and a bunch of cheap eateries. It has not been fun revisiting non-air conditioned living space. We've been pretty lucky. Only about 2 weeks up here were really unbearable. We had to vacate the apartment during that time by 10am and only returned close to dark each day. It was still miserable, and almost impossible to sleep because it was so hot. We upgraded to five fans (in 546 square feet), all of which we used. The small space didn't bother us in the slightest. I think it would have if I'd tried to cook while here. The kitchen, even though Jay and Sarah added two rolling carts to have SOME counter space, and I added a large cutting board covering the stove top, is just not conducive to any type of cooking. It's so small that the tiny microwave sits on top of the fridge - there's no other place for it. We have to 'swap out' the coffee pot and the toaster. You can't have both plugged in at the same time.
I'm also ready to leave the antiquated bathroom - you know where the hot water comes out of one faucet and the cold out of another - it makes face washing and shaving such fun - you're either boiled or frozen. The cold water here is COLD out of the tap which gives me an inkling of how cold it really must be here in the winter. Fortunately, this apartment doesn't have any northern exposure windows nor any western. We have some other 1929 anomalies
in this apartment including the original wooden lined icebox, glass doorknobs, extra wide window sills (good for cat), and all the hardware in the apartment is solid brass - mostly painted over unfortunately. Overall, it's been a fine place since the bed is good, Sarah has our LazeBoy couch with the two recliners at each end, and Jay left his flat screen. We have also enjoyed the revolving garage sale on the first floor landing. When people move out, they leave various items they no longer want as freebies. We've scored some great finds - including coffee pots, insulated glasses, trash cans, and some other small stuff. It drives the management here crazy, but I've enjoyed it.
The biggest reason we are ready to move on, other than itchy feet, is the traffic and the constant noise which is getting on my very last nerve. After almost six months in Sun City, the town that rolls up at dark, the noise assault here has been not so much a surprise, but mainly an annoyance like a dripping nose or an itch that won't stay scratched. The constancy just drives me nuts. It does get quiet for about two hours between 3 and 5am on weekdays, but I can't even say that on weekends. With the noise also comes LIGHT - the bedroom is never dark with the security lights and street lights.
We have enjoyed our temporary pet ownership. Al, as I call the cat - who Drake will insist I explain is called "Jackson" by his real owners). Al is short for Alice, our former cat of 19 years, and he doesn't seem to mind the name change. He's enjoyed being 'our cat' since we spend a lot of time telling him what a great cat he is, and spoiling him. I'm sure we've given him some bad habits, but we were also free. You have to take the bitter with the sweet.
On to Richmond!!!! American history, here I come.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Elementary, My Dear Companion
Perhaps you might recognize the phrase as Basil Rathbone uttered it in the 1940's: "Elementary, my dear Watson." I've long known that this phrase is NOT in the original Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes' stories, but I always thought it originated in the bone tired brain of some Hollywood hack screen writer. Not so, as I discovered at Gillette's Castle on the Connecticut River at the East Haddam Ferry.This house (now called a castle by the Connecticut State Park people) was built in 1919 by a very famous actor by the name of William Gillette. As with so many famous people in the past, their fame doesn't outlast their deaths, so I was puzzled as to who this guy was. However, Mr. Gillette was a stage actor who would have been instantly recognizable to the late 19th and early 20th century theater going public. The reason? He took the Sherlock Holmes stories, and wrote stage plays based
The more we learned about Gillette, the more fascinating he became. He was the holder of over 40 patents because he devised several 'special effects' devices he used in his plays. His house was also designed with some real quirks and reflected the ego we associate with actors. In addition to the house, he also constructed a miniature railroad on his property with a 3.5 mile track. Prior to building the house, his usual residence was a series of houseboat/yacht accommodations. In fact, while the house was being built, he lived on his last house boat on the Connecticut River. He also collected art, and was a devoted cat lover with over 20 cats in residence at his home. He worked more or less continually in the theater until he retired in the late 1920's, but kept coming out of retirement for special performances which were happily received by the public until the early 1930's. He died in his 80's in 1937.
The pictures are of his house and furnishings. He used Connecticut limestone in the construction of the house, and it was not altogether the correct material for the design. The interior is much more successful, but also has Gillette's individual stamp.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/5910688616270086769?authkey=CPzE37GA96yk_gE
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