A peaceful place

Hi everyone,

The other night Sandy and I drove to the Springfield Botanical Gardens for a peaceful walk along the paths of the 7.5 acre Mizumoto Japanese Stroll garden. We enjoyed the koi lake, moon bridge, meditation garden, tea house, and traditional Japanese garden landscaping. We arrived at dusk so my phone camera wasn’t really up to the requirements for nighttime pictures, but maybe this will give you an idea of why we enjoy the place. Here and there we passed other couples sitting quietly on benches or the grass, finding their center in a complex and noisy world.

Homemade ice cream!

Hi everyone,

I’ve been wanting homemade ice cream all summer and this morning Sandy finally found the recipe she’s been looking for tucked into one of her cookbooks. Hooray! This afternoon I’ll go to the store for the ingredients and then get out the electric freezer. When Robin, Tim, and maybe Kris come over for dinner this evening, we’ll have the ice cream for desert!

Yesterday Sandy and I worked for hours getting the patio vacuumed and the leaves out of the pool. I turned up the heater so the water should be perfect for an afternoon swim. It’s going to be a beautiful day for a fall family pool party.

A few more pictures from Greece

REMINDER: The word of the month for October is CAT. Have we no cat lovers among us ready to immortalize their favorite cat? Hmmm?

Hi everyone,

Before the memories of our recent visit to Greece begin to begin to fade, I’d like to share a few more pictures. Dining with friends (Mary Jo and Hank Fresch) with a wall of the Acropolis at your back is a good way to start a trip. With history rising up behind us, we look out over modern Athens.
Every horizon offers other islands, other mysteries. From Athens to Mykonos by boat we traveled five hours over calm, blue water. It was a very nice boat. Well, you know me and sunsets. Morning coffee at Santorini. On a late evening stroll we passed this calm little hedgehog. Greece protects them.

Part of the original entrance to Athens. Statues rescued from crumbling temples. That’s the Parthenon, folks!! And this is four tired but satisfied people enjoying good wine, company, and food with a million dollar view.

A little Greek in all of us

Hi everyone,

We’re beginning to get our heads back in CST but it hasn’t been easy. Last night we crashed at 9:30 (my M.O.W. insists it was 8:30), and this morning at 3:30 she bounced out of bed and started ironing and cleaning house.

In eleven days we visited Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Delos. Quick impressions: pigeons, stray cats, sun, rocks, narrow crowded streets, buses, motorcycles, restaurants, shops, friendly helpful people, quirky electricity in rooms governed by room keys, low hard beds, excellent food, lots of fish on menus, good wine at good prices, ancient ruins, acropolis, temples, hedgehog, difficult walking over rocky uneven surfaces, wandering dogs, beaches with rocks and gravel instead of sand, treacherous footing getting into and out of the water, some women who forgot to pack their swimsuit tops, white buildings, blue waters, majestic scenes.

This was Greece, where so much happened that helped shape our ideas about democracy. We were there! We walked where fabled statesmen and philosophers and teachers worked and thought and taught and made history. And we had the pleasure of enjoying it all with our good friends, Mary Jo and Hank Fresch. I’ll show you a few more pictures along the way but don’t want to bore you with them.