For a few days around Father’s Day, all of our children and grandchildren except Lise were here to celebrate. Lise lives in Denmark and usually comes once a year at Thanksgiving. There aren’t many of us, but we make up for it with loud laughter. Nathaniel volunteered to transform fake crab into crab cakes, which we all enjoyed.
Nathaniel, John $, John, David, Kate
On Father’s Day, I persuaded (commanded) John to pose with our daughter and her sons for an official photo.
John had the day off from kitchen duties, so Nathaniel started the charcoal fire. He had slung his tie over his shoulder, reminding me of a mini-cape. He seems to have magical powers when he is around food.
I took a photo of the self-proclaimed twins after they worked out the math that John and Nathaniel were now the same age. When John turned 70, he declared that he would revert to being 21 and take a year off his age with every birthday. He teased Nathaniel that when he regressed to being a toddler, Nate would have to push him around in a stroller. Before agreeing that Grandpa/Dad is now 17, the math people talked about calculating this tricky age. Word-coiner Nathaniel said they had to include “monthage” to be more exact.
While David worked at Burger King, the rest of us went on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Son John $ guided us on a short detour to see the Lake Junaluska overlook. We were surprised that we could see part of Maggie Valley, the above-mentioned lake, the defunct Ghost Town ride, and the ski area in the valley. We see part of the ski run from the other side of the mountain when we take our morning walk.
Nathaniel was not here for David’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. I heard him asking his brother what kind of cake he would like, and soon a deep chocolate three-layer cake was being frosted.
Can you tell that David was very pleased by the expression on his face?
The cake was marvelous. We demolished half of it at one sitting.
Daughter Kate enjoyed watching the horses that board in the pasture behind our house. They were gone several months, and we are still adjusting to having them back. In preparation for our family tourist season, John bought a bag of carrots which Kate and Nathaniel put to good use. Even though light rain was falling, we stood there talking to the horses. It was a win/win situation for humans and animals.
Someone turned and noticed the sky. I’m sure the horses wondered why we abandoned them and ran toward the house. A lovely rainbow was getting brighter by the minute, and our eyes were glued to it. My photo doesn’t do it justice, but you get the idea. Seeing rainbows is a feature that should be listed for this property, along with mountain views.
While David worked, we planned to go to a ranger station in the national park. Son John $ came to visit with his sister, and he thought the park would be crowded. We headed for Waynesville instead. We walked the shady side of Main Street and back on the egg side (sunny side up), browsing in shops that attracted Kate. Poking around the town is something we do only with guests, so it’s a treat for us. John was the only one who bought something. In an art shop he found a book on local history about lumber and railroads out of Canton. John $ is standing in line to read it next. There will not be a stampede for that waiting line.
Back in the car, Nathaniel teased, “I’m feeling a bit peckish. Shall we go to Burger King?”
He said that because David was still at work, and all of us wanted to see him in action. Chef Nathaniel does not eat fast food and declined a burger, but we peeked at David working “back cash”. He was facing away from us, wearing headphones, using a computer screen, and accepting customers’ money. David was never aware of our being there, so I took a picture to prove it to him later.
Grandson David (22) and I had a rare day together when John drove to New York to pick up grandson Nathaniel. Kate, the boys’ mother, was driving herself down from New Jersey. David and I had an easy treat for dinner – pepperoni pizza. One bite, and David succumbed to temptation.
Daughter Kate phoned around eight in the morning, and I turned my phone over to David while doing other things. They talked for HOURS. Only at the end did I find out they were chatting while she began the long trip from New Jersey. We continued the conversation on our mountain excursion, and David talked with her again the last two hours of her drive. David kept his mother company from NJ to NC, almost like an inexperienced pilot being talked down from the sky.
While we waited for the others to come, David and I explored one section of the Blue Ridge Parkway for several hours. It was a perfect day for it with lots of clouds, rain showers, and a little thunder thrown in. Bright sunshine on a cloudless day seems to wash half the character from the mountains.
The next morning, Nathaniel (17) and Kate said I looked tired and sent me back to bed. When I got up, that dynamic duo were cooking breakfast. Kate was assistant to the chef.
All five of us gathered to eat Nathaniel’s sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, and biscuits. It was a leisurely meal. John sent us out for half the morning walk while he cleaned the kitchen.
We were not at our best to pose for a breakfast photo.
After David went to work, Kate asked Nathaniel to pose for a photo to show how tall he is. I think we all felt our visit was off to a great start.
When your marriage passes the 50 mark, you need to celebrate for at least a week. We began by going to the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was grandson David’s first time, so we marked that by taking a selfie on the new observation deck.
John usually takes me by my favorite waterfall on the way home, and that treat was included in the day. David has been there a number of times. He’s always game to get out and look at it with me. I took two shots of him as he explored the falls up close.
We crossed the road to look at the falls downstream. When David squatted down on that high pillar, I took the shot and had to walk away. It gives me the willies to see anyone there, knowing a tumble from that height could be lethal. I saw son John $ sit at the same spot with his legs dangling down. It had the same effect on me.
David and I saw our neighbors on their front porch and went over to visit for a while. Logan wanted to play Old Bunny, a card game based on the idea of Old Maid. A storm was coming up behind us, complete with thunder and lightning.
On our actual anniversary, John didn’t complain when I took a selfie to show us at the creek.
David was the photographer when we had breakfast at The Buttered Biscuit. My hair was still wet.
We tried for a more formal portrait with the balloon David bought for us. As you can see, we are not formal people.
We split a tiny chocolate cake from the supermarket bakery, and John was off to New York to pick up grandson Nathaniel for the summer.
Neighbor Dave, at the head of the street, battles mud that washes down the mountain and clogs the pipes under his driveway. John was concerned about the pipe under ours. Recently Dave came down to look, offering his advice and the loan of his long tool. Grandson David wielded it deftly to bring out leaves and debris.
At the other end, John shoveled mud. We have been here almost three years, and this was the first time he worked on the pipe. It’s wonderful to have neighbors who share their expertise.
A different kind of sharing came from neighbor Bob across the street. He phoned and asked, “Do you like barbecue?”
In the light of his subsequent statement, I would paraphrase that as, “If I bring you some really special BBQ, could you possibly appreciate it as much as I do?”
Bob had no way of knowing that we are FANATICS when it comes to Southern barbecued pork. As he handed it to me, he explained that it had come from a fund-raiser for an upcoming mission trip. His friend had cooked the meat, and the sauce was from a special person, too.
He said, “We had meat left over, and I’ve been eating it. On top of that, my daughter-in-law gave me a plate of food from her food truck [a brand new venture]. I wish I could eat it all, but it is not good for me to have so much.”
I wanted to make Bob realize he had brought his precious gift to the right home. I said, “We LOVE barbecue. Once when we were house-hunting down here, we ate BBQ five or six days in a row.”
In order to commemorate Bob’s generosity, I snapped David’s photo as we were about to eat the meat. I didn’t realize the sauce seemed to have top billing here. The meat was superb, and we left the table with contented smiles on our faces.
Aren’t our neighbors wonderful? It took a while for me to realize that Bob’s sharing was actually sacrificial giving.
Grandson Nathaniel had stunning news today. His teacher asked him to come to the ceremony for the graduating high school seniors in the culinary arts program. He is a junior and has been willing to do anything that special teacher asked. He was totally surprised when they called his name and awarded him a medal for the Most Outstanding Student of the Year. This included a small scholarship, as well. Yes!! That’s our grandson!! You can imagine how very proud we are of him.
Being that kind of grandmother, I asked for a selfie before we hung up.
Son John $ was able to put on shoes and drive his car a week after the gout attack started. Before he left, he was preparing breakfast for himself and offered to boil extra eggs for the family. All of us love egg dishes, but I dread peeling them. After he made his breakfast sandwich, he said the peeling was a snap. He offered to demonstrate with one of the extras. It wasn’t bad, so I joined him, and we soon had them all shelled. Wait. We don’t shell eggs, do we? We peel them. If anything should be shelled, it’s an egg.
John and I have our favorites. He opts for egg salad, and I adore deviled eggs. I asked David, “Would you prefer your eggs deviled or saladed?”
Being careful of my feelings, he gently asked, “Would you mind if I had mine plain?”
That’s how we came to have six eggs three different ways. David’s was easiest, and John’s ranked next. It was good the cook opted for the fussiest.
I’m curious. Would anyone join me in shelling eggs?
We were ready for grandson David’s birthday before he woke up. John bought a helium balloon the day before and hid it in the garage. I had sweet roll dough in the refrigerator and baked it as chocolate coffeecake. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, with the oldsters doing most of the talking. David is as much a night owl as I am an early bird. He was content to sit quietly and eat.
David had to work at 2, so we went to Bogart’s for an early lunch. Son John $ was finally rejoining the human race and went with us. He was in the woods hiking the previous week when an attack of gout started. He soaked his foot in a mountain stream before walking the remaining two miles to his car. Using that foot to shift was nerve wracking, because he wasn’t sure he could force it to move. He managed to drive to our house, which was much closer than his. His days were turned upside down, since the pain kept him awake at night. Medication finally brought it under control so that he could hobble again.
We were ready for a snack when David came home. Months ago he requested chocolate cheesecake for his birthday. We should have weighed it. The recipe began with two pounds of cream cheese, and it was heavy. After John lit the candle, we sang Happy Birthday. $ wasn’t visible, but he was sitting on David’s left telling a story. David was snickering at his uncle’s tale when I snapped the picture.
There is nothing like it when $ is in a story-telling mood. Some years ago, he and a friend had gone to the supermarket, and the friend was bummed out because he had no money left. As the story progressed, $’s accent changed to that of a mountain man. That in itself is amusing. All vestiges of his New York accent disappeared. He wanted to make his friend laugh, so he pulled into a McDonald’s drive-through.
When it was his turn to order, he said into the microphone, “I wont skillet-fried ‘possum.”
The worker asked for a repeat.
“Skillet-fried ‘possum!”
“We don’t have that,” and he began to read some items from the menu.
Before they pulled away, $’s friend and the worker were laughing. Mission accomplished!
We all headed to bed after eating cheesecake. At the end of the day, we felt the birthday mission had been accomplished, too.
The weather may not say summer, but the activities do. John drove to New Jersey to get grandson David. The first photo by cousin Jay is the segue to David’s summer. The college choir sang in Northfield MN, where Kirsten and Jay hosted David and his tour partner Aaron overnight. Cousins Carolyn and Eric were there for the concert, as well, and joined the others for an ice cream treat. (Kirsten and Eric are John’s first cousins on the Norwegian side.)
Kirsten, Eric, Carolyn, Aaron, and David
David always makes me laugh. I wish you could have heard him tell the tale of ripping his jeans on tour. Every year they dare him to climb in the overhead luggage compartment on the bus, and he is still thin enough to do it. He was pulling himself out when he heard a ripping sound. Standing in the aisle, he reached his hand behind him and felt UNDERWEAR! He had to hold his jeans together until he could get to his luggage and change.
Grandson Nathaniel sent us a photo of himself taken in a town near where he lives on Long Island. He, David, and John always dressed to go to the parade on Memorial Day. It was great to see he was upholding the tradition.
We didn’t have a parade to go to, but our neighbors came for a cookout. John found David’s DVD of Arlington National Cemetery, which he had playing mutely on the TV. That was most appropriate. As we sat around chatting, neighbor Bob asked if any of us had relatives who had died in service. Only Dave did. His brother died in Korea 20 days before the end of the hostilities.
Bob, Dawn, Frankie, and Sherm
I always enjoy this group of people, and I was glad we got in some neighbor talk. We have common concerns, after all. The funniest was about carpenter bees, something we all battle. There are as many ways to fight them as there are households. Bob said he uses carburetor cleaner! After the bee makes its tunnel in the wood, he squirts in the cleaner and plugs up the hole. We reached for our can of spray meant for these pests, and Frankie said they had tried it, implying it wasn’t very effective. I think it was Connie who mentioned swatting the bees with badminton rackets. I can tell you this, if there were a contest for bee beating, either Frankie or Bob would win. Bob made a bee bat out of wood. It had a handle and holes drilled in the paddle to let the air through. He claimed the bees taunt him, staying just out of reach. Frankie demonstrated her technique using a net. She went through the motions as she said, “It’s all in the wrist. Twist, throw, stomp! Twist, throw, stomp. I’ve gotten 30 at one sitting.”
Jeff, Connie, Marla, Dave, Bob, and Dawn
Logan (6) didn’t take much time to eat, because he wanted to play with David. They built a tower for marbles with a set of plastic pieces. David said they were going outside, so I presume they flew an airplane and did other active things we didn’t see. When Logan asked if they could play with the Nerf guns, I said yes, not knowing that David didn’t want to. He said it would make a big mess, and it might interrupt the visiting on the porch. I backpedaled quickly, suggesting computer games. The two of them stayed with that until the party broke up. I overheard David suggesting strategy, but he paused the game so that I could take their photo. Both fellows cooperated quickly, putting on their happy faces, knowing I’d then leave them alone. Later I found David playing the game by himself. He must have been exploring the possibilities he had seen when Logan was at the controls.
At different times John, David, and I watched the documentary on Arlington with the sound on. I feel we truly celebrated Memorial Day in a reverent way.
The real end to the holiday came a day later. Joyce, next door, could not come to our gathering because she had company. Tuesday afternoon she texted to see if we were home and if she could come over. She, John, and I had a delightful visit. For me, that was the final touch that made the holiday complete.
Have you seen the video of a secretary who has returned to work after computers came in? If you’ve never used a typewriter, you won’t understand this. She types quickly on the keyboard, copying something on the table. She comes to the end of a line, and her automatic reflex is to hit the carriage return of a typewriter. She throws her left hand across and knocks the big monitor onto the floor. Even that is dated, but it makes me laugh every time I see it. I wish I could have found a link to the video.
I rank right up there with that secretary in misusing a computer. I am an old secretary, after all, and I almost destroyed a monitor using an old reflex. This photo shows my little laptop on the right. The new monitor and keyboard are for the desktop, which, despite the name, is under the desk.
For the past year I used the laptop. I always closed the lid when leaving the desk to put it in sleep mode. Today I got up to take a break. You guessed it! My hand went out to pull that big monitor forward on top of the keyboard! Arrruuuuggghhhhh!
My name is Suki, my human is a writer, and this is about my world. The world according to Suki The Cat. My humans smell funny, look weird, and I can't understand a thing they say, but they feed me, so hey, what are you gonna do?
Mehrling Muse 