People

Katie and Maggie

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 31, 2026 by Henry
Katie and Maggie

Katie and Maggie

We had our friends Katie and Jack over for lunch today, along with their little girl, Maggie. It was a nice visit and we especially enjoyed meeting this little girl. Jack has gone back to school in the area, now working on a doctorate. Katie continues to work remotely at the same job she had in New England. We’re happy to have them in the area and when the weather is nicer we’ll hopefully take some walks with them. The snow we recently had is preventing us from walking in parks because all the trails are covered with ice, but the winter will end and it will be beautiful for walking soon enough.

Categories: People | Tags: , | Comments Off on Katie and Maggie

Dunker Church, Antietam Battlefield

Photograph taken on Wednesday, January 14, 2026 by Henry
Cathy at the Dunker Church, Antietam Battlefield

Cathy at the Dunker Church, Antietam Battlefield

On the morning of September 17, 1862, the 28th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, presumably including Cathy’s 2-greats-uncle Gustavus, crossed the Wheat Field and approached the West Woods next to the Dunker Church. It was one of three main areas of fighting in the Battle of Antietam, along with the Sunken Lane and Burnside’s Bridge. We walked a lot of the battlefield and even without the family connection, it’s a sad place to be. We’re glad for what the Civil War accomplished but saddened by the huge cost. I sometimes wonder how different history would be if Lincoln had let the Confederate states form a separate country. I also wonder how different it would be if the North had been able to defeat the south in the first year of the war and it hadn’t taken those extra years.

Categories: People, Travel | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on Dunker Church, Antietam Battlefield

Christmas Gathering

Photograph taken on Thursday, December 25, 2025 by Henry
Danna, Steve, Kaien, and Maya

Danna, Steve, Kaien, and Maya

Christmas is a busy day for us. I know we aren’t alone in that, of course. It starts, as it has for so many years, with Cathy, Dorothy and me and now for the second time with Jeff added to that, opening our presents to each other. After that, we have our now traditional Christmas breakfast of pancakes (this time buttermilk pancakes made from scratch rather than Bisquick), steamed eggs (very much like poached but a bit easier to cook) bacon, sausage patties and links, orange juice, toast, etc. It’s actually a pretty substantial meal. After that we went to visit Cathy’s mom and sing Christmas Carols with her, which was nice.

George and Carmela drove down and the local family all came here for our big family gathering. The last few years our meal had been a pot-luck style of what we call ‘what-nots’. It’s lots of little things and frankly quite an assortment. Way too much food, of course, but very satisfying.

We didn’t take a group photo, as it would not have been likely to go well by the time we got around to it. But I did get a few nice pictures of Steve and his family, as shown here.

Categories: People | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Christmas Gathering

Another Mural by Dorothy

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 06, 2025 by Henry
Mural by Dorothy

Mural by Dorothy

Last year Dorothy was commissioned to paint a series of murals in the children’s Sunday School part of Fourth Presbyterian Church. Those were very well received and recently she was asked to come back and paint two more in the two nursery rooms. The designs she came up with and which were approved both feature sun or stars and moon images and this one has the stars represented by a quilt-like pattern. This one is not quite finished, but you get the idea. The other one is a day and night design, which I also like. In addition there were a few quotes painted on other walls.

Categories: Miscellaneous, People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Another Mural by Dorothy

Thanksgiving

Photograph taken on Thursday, November 27, 2025 by Henry
Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Getting everyone seated and happy for a family photo isn’t always easy. Doing it in the evening, after a bit meal, can be especially hard. Nevertheless, we managed to do it after our Thanksgiving meal today and Iris and Seth’s. Thanks to them for hosting and for providing the turkey, among other things. The kids played well together and are better and better at getting along as they grow older. That’s not to say there weren’t a few very loud moments, but that’s to be expected.

It’s lovely to be with family but it’s also sad in that it reminds me of those we no longer have with us. This is our first Thanksgiving without my mom, so that was the most notable, but as it also happened to fall on Ralph and Tsai-Hong’s anniversary he was also very much in our minds. Dad and Albert were also missed, of course. It’s good to talk about them all.

Categories: People | Tags: , | Comments Off on Thanksgiving

Operation Christmas Child Boxes

Photograph taken on Monday, November 24, 2025 by Henry
Operation Christmas Child Boxes

Operation Christmas Child Boxes

Cathy is a big fan of Operation Christmas Child, which is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, an organization founded in 1970 by Robert Pierce (who also one of the founders of World Vision International) and with Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham as president.

Cathy set out to fill six boxes and as usual, ended up having enough things for seven. Actually, she was close to having eight boxes, but had a lot of a few things rather than a good assortment of things for that last box, so those things will be saved for next year.

You can see other Operation Christmas Child posts from prior years here.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Operation Christmas Child Boxes

Cathy’s Retirement

Photograph taken on Wednesday, November 12, 2025 by Henry
Cathy and Some Coworkers

Cathy and Some Coworkers

early last month Cathy gave notice of her plans to retire at the end of November. Normally we would have had some sort of retirement get together near that date, but the Rockville buildings were scheduled to close on the 19th and the cafe a few days earlier than that. The new building in Bethesda wasn’t going to be accessible until December 1. So we scheduled her farewell party on the twelfth. She didn’t think a lot of folks would come but was pleasantly surprised and had more than I did two months ago. Part of that is that so many of the folks I work with are remote and scattered across the country. But she’s a lot more popular than she thinks and we all had a nice time visiting.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Cathy’s Retirement

Silas Dressed for Halloween

Photograph taken on Sunday, October 26, 2025 by Henry
Silas Dressed for Halloween

Silas Dressed for Halloween

Iris and Seth invited us, along with the rest of the local family and a few friends, to a Halloween party this evening. We wore costumes, but honestly it was more about getting together than about dressing up. Eloise and Silas did show us their costumes. Eloise was a rain storm, with an “umbrella cloud” and Silas dressed in with this illusion costume being carried by a skeleton. It worked pretty well and occasionally he’d move his legs, crossing and uncrossing them, which really added to the effect.

Cathy and I wore fairly basic costumes. Cathy wore a Tajik dress, an Afghan hat and an Afghan scarf. I put on my cowboy boots, tied a bandana around my neck and wore my cowboy hat. I had already been wearing a denim shirt. So I was a cowboy.

Categories: People | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Silas Dressed for Halloween

Cathy at Blockhouse Point

Photograph taken on Saturday, October 25, 2025 by Henry
Cathy at Blockhouse Point

Cathy at Blockhouse Point

We went to Blockhouse Point today, partly to enjoy the fall colors, which were lovely. There didn’t seem to be a lot of people out, which was a little surprising. After walking to the point, where this photo was taken, we walked on the Paw Paw Trail down to the north/east side of the C&O Canal. There were some interesting spots on the trail but in general, not a lot to see. The last bit is quite steep and we didn’t go all the way down, but now I’m wondering if we should have. Maybe next time. We also took the Callithea Trail to its end behind Callithea Farm Special Park.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Cathy at Blockhouse Point

SPIRIT Club Mural

Photograph taken on Tuesday, October 21, 2025 by Henry
SPIRIT Club Mural

SPIRIT Club Mural

Through a friend of ours who works there, Dorothy got a commission to paint a mural at SPIRIT Club in Kensington. It turned out to be a bigger job than she anticipated, needing two and sometimes three coats of paint, but we all think it turned out quite nicely. This was one of two walls that were painted, along with three quotes, chosen by the manager of the club. Cathy and I enjoyed helping out a bit and experiencing a little of the SPIRIT Club experience. Their mission is “To offer a universal design for fitness that empowers people of all abilities to exercise successfully in a socially integrated setting.”

Categories: Miscellaneous, People | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on SPIRIT Club Mural

RCE Banquet

Photograph taken on Saturday, October 04, 2025 by Henry
Krystal, David, and Mike

Krystal, David, and Mike

One reason we went to see Dorothy yesterday instead of today was the Romanian Christian Enterprises (RCE) Banquet, which was held this evening. I had been asked if I would take pictures, and I did. As usual when taking event pictures, I took a lot that aren’t all that good but some that I like well enough and a few that I think are really good. This is one of the good shots, featuring our good friends, (from left to right) Krystal, David, and Mike. The sunflower came from Anna’s garden, which I featured two days ago.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on RCE Banquet

Dorothy’s Birthday

Photograph taken on Saturday, October 04, 2025 by Henry
Jeff, Dorothy, Anna, and Cathy

Jeff, Dorothy, Anna, and Cathy

Late this afternoon Cathy and I went up to Pennsylvania to celebrate Dorothy’s birthday. We stopped in Frederick to pick up dinner, going first to Cava where we bought food for Cathy, Dorothy, Jeff, and Anna and then to Black Hog BBQ where I got some meat for myself. Not the best BBQ I’ve ever had, but not bad. I liked the smoked sausage better than the Texas brisket. Nevertheless, I’d go again and try their Arkansas brisket and smoked pit ham.

We had dinner at Jeff’s apartment and then walked through town to Domino’s Pizza where we bought Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes. Instead of eating them inside or taking them back to Jeff’s apartment to eat them, they sat on the curb outside Domino’s and ate them there.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Dorothy’s Birthday

Retirement Pig

Photograph taken on Saturday, September 27, 2025 by Henry
Retirement Pig

Retirement Pig

Dorothy and her friends (but mostly Dorothy) planned a harvest festival at the land in Pennsylvania. Once I had announced my retirement at the end of September, she made it a combination harvest feast and retirement pig roast. She had met someone who enjoyed cooking and roasting in particular, and he agreed to cook a whole pig in an pit. They dug the pit, lined it with stones, and built a large fire over it. When the fire had died down, they lowered the pig, wrapped in banana leaves and burlap and tied up with fence wire, into the hole, covering it with dirt.

It had two temperature probes in it, so they could monitor the process. It was in the ground for a long time (I don’t actually know how long, but I think it was more than 12 hours). Anyway, when it had reached the desired temperature, it was dug up, unwrapped, and cut into pieces.

I was given the first piece to taste. It was very, very juicy and flavorful. Of course, I love pork of any kind, so I’m pretty easy to please. Anyway, it was very good.

Dorothy had contacted quite a few of my friends and I had quite a few there to celebrate with me. I was only sorry that I wasn’t able to spend more time with each of them. I felt stretched quite think. But it was a very nice day and a good way to celebrate retirement. A huge thank you to Dorothy and to all who came.

Categories: Creatures, People | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Retirement Pig

Retirement Party

Photograph taken on Wednesday, September 24, 2025 by Henry
John, Jon, Beth, Keith, Scott, Henry, Cathy, Soheyla, Katie, Anita, Martin

John, Jon, Beth, Keith, Scott, Henry, Cathy, Soheyla, Katie, Anita, Martin

At the beginning of August, I gave notice to my supervisor that I would be retiring at the end of September. It didn’t come as any great shock, as I had been talking pretty freely about it for a while without knowing the exact date. In early September, one of the folks I work with asked if he could schedule a get together in the company cafe for anyone who was local and available to see me off. That happened today and a few photos were taken. A lot of the people I work with are remote, scattered around the country, but even so, there was a reasonable turnout and it was really nice to have them there to see me off. Another friend and coworker also organized a very generous going away present, a very substantial gift certificate to Second Story Books, which is one of two local used book stores that we frequent. I’m not entirely sure how I’ll spend it all, to be honest, it was so much. I’m very thankful for all the wonderful folks I’ve worked with over the years and while I expect to enjoy retirement and won’t necessarily miss the daily nine to five, I’ll certainly miss the folks I worked with.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Retirement Party

Margaret’s 99th

Photograph taken on Sunday, September 21, 2025 by Henry
Margaret with David, Jim, Jeff, Cathy, Dorothy

Margaret with David, Jim, Jeff, Cathy, Dorothy

This was taken the day before her actual birthday, but at 99 years, a day is only 0.28%, so I think we can round it up. David and Jim both came for the occasion, which was really nice, and Dorothy and Jeff drove down from Pennsylvania (which was also nice). We had a nice visit and Margaret was in good form for the occasion. The tiara was brought by someone for her birthday last year and we felt it was appropriate.

Yesterday we posted a similar photo on Facebook and today we read comments to her, which was nice. She also got a huge stack of cards and we got through some of them, but we saved a few more for tomorrow, her actual birthday.

Categories: People | Tags: , | Comments Off on Margaret’s 99th

Small Art Show in Hanover

Photograph taken on Friday, September 05, 2025 by Henry
Pomegranate

Pomegranate

We drove up to Hanover, Pennsylvania this afternoon for a small art opening at Little Fox. The location, 125 Broadway, Hanover, Pennsylvania, shows up for me on Google maps as being called The Reader’s Cafe, which is closed. Little Fox is a combination cafe and book shop, with new books downstairs and used books along the wall of the loft.

On the end wall, where the stairs to the loft run, Dorothy had some artwork hanging. She also had a few things on a table. There was reasonable traffic through the shop during the evening and I believe Dorothy sold a few pieces. This is one that I particularly liked, of a stylized pomegranate. We were happy to also have our good friends Maureen and Bob come up and then we all went down the block to Famous Hot Weiner for dinner. I can’t say the hotdog was anything special, although I did enjoy the old-timey atmosphere.

Categories: Miscellaneous, People | Tags: , | Comments Off on Small Art Show in Hanover

Annual Family Beach Photo

Photograph taken on Thursday, July 31, 2025 by Henry
Annual Family Beach Photo

Annual Family Beach Photo

As mentioned, we had our annual family beach week. It was quite different without mom/grandma there, but we had a good time together, both being with each other and remembering her. Dorothy was not able to stay for the full week, flying home Thursday afternoon, so we took our annual family group photo that morning. As you can possibly see, there was a little fog still on the lens or the sensor when I took this. That’s a common issue when we come out from the air conditioned indoors into the hot and humid outside.

Dorothy had originally planned to fly from Myrtle Beach Airport, where she flew into on Sunday. She found an earlier flight leaving from Wilmington and changed her reservation so she’d get home earlier and have time for band practice. It turns out she needn’t have bothered. The weather in Maryland and Pennsylvania was stormy enough that her flight was delayed and she got home considerably later than she would have on her original flight (although for all we know, that flight might have been delayed even longer). But she did get home eventually.

Cathy and I went to the New Hanover County Arboretum in Wilmington, which we really enjoyed. I’d definitely stop in again if we were in the area.

Categories: People | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Annual Family Beach Photo

Kites, Ocean Isle Beach

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 30, 2025 by Henry
Kites, Ocean Isle Beach

Kites, Ocean Isle Beach

I made a point of having my camera outside for a little while before we went down to the beach where the kids were going to fly their kites. It’s been quite hot this week and we’re all very grateful for air conditioning (even if some would have wanted it a little less cold inside). One down-side to air conditioning, though, is that when you take a camera from a 70°F environment to something over 90°F with very high humidity, it fogs up immediately and takes a while to unfog. But I planned ahead and was able to get some nice pictures of the kids running around with their kites. There was also a nice sunset.

Categories: People | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on Kites, Ocean Isle Beach

Eloise’s Birthday

Photograph taken on Monday, July 28, 2025 by Henry
Eloise's Birthday

Eloise’s Birthday

In years past, we always celebrated my Uncle George’s birthday at the beach, because (obviously) that’s when it fell. With him no longer being with us, it’s nice to have a birthday to celebrate. As you will probably figure out from the candle, this is Eloise’s fifth birthday, and my cousins and their families came over to have cake and ice cream. It was a fairly raucous time with all the ‘littles’ running around and enjoying themselves. But it was a happy, little-kid type of raucous.

Categories: People | Tags: , | Comments Off on Eloise’s Birthday

A Smaller Family Reunion

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 26, 2025 by Henry
Family Reunion

Family Reunion

There are certain things that make me think of my mom more than normal. The annual family reunion in northeastern North Carolina is high on the list. We’ve been going to that for years and in recent years it’s just been my mom and me, driving down the morning of the reunion, spending the night with my cousin, and then driving home the next day. This year, it was just Cathy and me and we drove down the day before. It was also on the way to our annual beach week, which is how it used to be but hasn’t been for a few years. There was a much smaller group this year, with only 26 of us able to get together. We usually try to get photos of the generations but with only 26 people there, we decided just to take a single group photo (well, we took three of them, but they’re all basically the same). In spite of the smaller size, we had a really nice visit with some of my favorite people. I’m already looking forward to next year’s reunion.

Categories: People | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on A Smaller Family Reunion