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Annual Family Beach Photo

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.

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Kites, Ocean Isle Beach

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.

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Eloise’s Birthday

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.

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A Smaller Family Reunion

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.

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Summer Games

Summer Games

Summer Games

Dorothy and her friends hosted what they called the Summer Games this weekend in Pennsylvania. It was a pretty warm afternoon. Because I was taking pictures, I didn’t actively participate in most of the activities, although I did shoot an arrow (and did pretty well, if I say so myself). They had come up with a wide range of activities from a scavenger hunt, to a tug-of-war, a few races, both individual and team-based. This photo is of the first event, where the teams were to build a frame and carry one of their team members about a hundred yards. The green team (see the bandanas) won this race but the yellow team edged them out in the overall score for the day.

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Rachel and Michael’s Wedding

Michael and Rachel

Michael and Rachel

Cathy and I drove down to Raleigh, North Carolina this morning, getting there in reasonable time. We checked into out hotel and had time to visit a municipal rose garden before getting dressed and heading to the church for Rachel and Michael’s wedding. The wedding itself was quite beautiful. The music, not surprisingly considering this was Rachel, was particularly nice. After the ceremony, we drove to the reception location and after hors d’oeuvre (including an Italian ice cart provided by Rachel’s brother) and drinks, Michael and Rachel danced their first dance as husband and wife, before we had a lovely dinner.

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Roadbody

Roadbody (Dorothy, Andrew, and Vince)

Roadbody (Dorothy, Andrew, and Vince)

It was a busy day today, starting with work where I had a few long meetings as well as getting a copy of a website that we’re moving from government servers to ours (the company’s, not mine). These sorts of things take a fair amount of planning and that’s good, but it can also be draining.

Cathy and I then left at 5:00 and drove up to Gettysburg, where Dorothy, Andrew, and Vince (a.k.a. Roadbody) were playing at Ploughman’s Taproom on the square. We sat with Jeff, Anna, and Rachel and enjoyed the show. I prefer when Dorothy plays the acoustic guitar rather than the raspy electric guitar, since the latter tends to drown out her voice, which to me is a big part of her songs. Nevertheless, we know her songs reasonably well, so even when we could not hear her voice or make out the words, we could sort of sing along.

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Tire Swing

Tire Swing

Tire Swing

All of the ‘local’ family met up at the Pennsylvania property today. It was a hot and humid day, but still really nice to all be together and outdoors. Dorothy and Jeff had just finished putting up this tire swing on the walnut down near the pond. The old tire swing was on a large maple tree that we had to have taken down in August 2023 because it was threatening to fall on the cabin. The kids (and some of the adults) really enjoyed the new swing and the kids in particular played well on it for hours.

The adults mostly just sat around and talked because it was too hot to do much else. Dorothy and Jeff didn’t come until mid-afternoon, having been with some friends earlier in the day. We cooked dinner over the fire (in spite of the added heat) and then headed home around 8:40. Cathy and I stopped at Rutter’s to buy bottles of refrigerated water and enjoyed the air conditioning in our car on the way home.

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Laura and Grandma

Grandma and Laura

Grandma and Laura

Cathy’s niece, Laura, arrived last night and this morning we all went to see her grandma (a.k.a. Cathy’s mom, a.k.a. Margaret). Her face really lit up when she saw Laura, and we had a really nice visit. It was a pretty whirlwind visit, though, and we took Laura directly to the Metro to get down to Union Station to catch her train back to New York in the early afternoon. We worked around the yard for the rest of the day, going inside when it started raining and then coming back out again when it stopped.

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National Arboretum Rose Garden

Cathy in the National Arboretum Rose Garden

Cathy in the National Arboretum Rose Garden

We decided to take a break from dealing with things and drove to the National Arboretum today. There were a few early roses that were still blooming but this is pretty close to the same date we’ve gone the last two years. Nevertheless, it was a really nice visit and we enjoyed the flowers very much. It wasn’t nearly so crowded as it was earlier in the year when we went on Sunday and the cherry blossoms were in bloom. We had come for the camellias rather than the cherries.

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Dorothy and Kid Goat

Dorothy and Kid Goat

Dorothy and Kid Goat

Cathy, Dorothy, Jeff and I went out to Rocklands today. Among other things we had a nice, fairy long visit with Janis over a bottle of wine and a pizza. We also walked up to the road where Dorothy had done so much brush clearing a few years back. We also ran into Anna and her kids and we talked with them. Anna’s kids also had a kid, which Dorothy is holding in this photo.

We were there longer than we had expected but it was a beautiful day and nice to be out.

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Emberglow at Michaux

From left: Keisha, Mo, Jeff, and Julia

From left: Keisha, Mo, Jeff, and Julia

Cathy and I took off work an hour early and drove up to Gettysburg today. We met Dorothy on the Square where we picked up burgers from Blue & Gray (recommended) and took them to Gettysburg Recreation Park to eat. It was a beautiful, if cool, evening. After dinner, we walked to the Michaux Brewing Company for an evening of music (and a little beer) with Emberglow. We last saw Emberglow at Ploughman’s on January 18. Michaux has more space, which meant we were better able to see them, especially when Mo stepped up to the mic and they all sang together. Emberglow is, from left to right, Keisha, Mo, Jeff, and Julia. They have five more gigs on the calendar (that I know of): 06/06 at Pilger Ruh; 06/20 at Thirsty Farmer Brew; 07/25 back at Michaux; 08/23 at The Garryowen; and 09/12 at Reid’s Winery and Cider.

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Cathy with ‘Red Candles’ Camellia

Cathy with ‘Red Candles’ Camellia

Cathy with ‘Red Candles’ Camellia

For the last few years we’ve gone to the U. S. National Arboretum during rose season, trying to catch some of the earlier, species roses. This year we decided to try our luck at getting there during the Camellia season, which for spring blooming Camellia japonica is early spring. Because that coincides with cherry blossoms, the Arboretum was quite busy. We drove past the cherry blossoms, though, and started in Fern Valley. There used to be a huge variety of daffodils planted there, but those are almost entirely gone now. It’s a little early for most things in Fern Valley but we did see some spreading Jacob’s-ladder (or Greek Valerian, Polemonium reptans), golden ragwort (or golden groundsel, Packera aurea), cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata), spring beauties (Claytonia virginica), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), and quite a few trout lilies (Erythronium americanum).

From there we moved on to the Asian collection, which is where the Camellias are grown. I did a pretty good job of recording the names of the flowers I photographed and picked a few that I might consider adding to our garden. The photo here is the only one I took of Cathy with the Camellias and it’s called ‘Red Candles’, a very nice, vigorously flowering C. japonica.

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Dot’s Birthday

Henry, Dot, and Cathy

Henry, Dot, and Cathy

We didn’t have a big party this year, but Cathy and I stopped over to see mom this evening, since today is her 94th birthday. She’s adjusted to her new living situation quite well and we’re very pleased with the support she’s getting there. Her apartment is small but comfortable and a good size for her. As you can see, we have one of her quilts hanging on the wall behind us.

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Second Christmas Dinner

Hannah, William, Abba, Jim, Dorothy, and Anna

Hannah, William, Abba, Jim, Dorothy, and Anna

Today was the second day of Second Christmas. William and Beth arrived late yesterday and this morning we all went to visit grandma. We spent a while with her in the activity room, visiting with her and with each other. We returned home and mostly just hung out and we had our ‘traditional’ Second Christmas gift exchange, which is pretty low-key and non-extravagant. Beth went to visit a friend so she’s not in this photo, although she did join us a little later and finished the meal with us. Cathy also decided to stay home and enjoy a few moments of quiet.

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Second Christmas

Jim, Hannah, Abba, Jeff, Dorothy, and Cathy

Jim, Hannah, Abba, Jeff, Dorothy, and Cathy

With family scattered around the country, it isn’t always possible to be together on Christmas. In Cathy’s family, therefore, there is a tradition of Second Christmas, which happens anytime after December 25 sometimes as late as March the following year. This year, Second Christmas was celebrated on February 7 and 8. Cathy’s Brother Jim and his daughters Abba and Hannah flew in last night from Illinois and Dorothy and Jeff drove from Pennsylvania. We had a really nice visit with grandma in the morning and early afternoon. Then we went to the Lancaster County Dutch Market before heading to Great Falls. We walked to Olmsted Island, which is where this photo was taken.

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Emberglow at Ploughman’s

Emberglow at Ploughman's

Emberglow (from left: Jeff, Mo, Julia, and Keisha)

We’ve almost become regulars at the Ploughman Taproom in Gettysburg. Well, not really, but we’ve been enough times that we’re recognized, at least. Dorothy was finishing up at work and came about 20 minutes into Emberglow’s first set (of two). This is the first time we’ve heard them and it was an enjoyable evening of music, cider, and savory pies. Dorothy’s housemate Anna and a few of her friends joined us, as well. We hadn’t decided ahead of time that we’d stay until they finished at 10:00 PM but we did and felt it was worth the trip. Emberglow is Julia as lead singer, Jeff on Guitar and sometimes singing lead, Keisha on violin and vocals, and Mo on cello and base (not at the same time, and I don’t know if she was singing, because she was mostly hidden behind the others).

I apologize for the poor quality of this photo. I had the ISO set to 3,200 and even so it was taken at f/4 and 1⁄25 second. Then I had to lighten it a bit, increasing the lighting artifacts due to the harsh and colored lighting. Their music was better than my picture.

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Roadbody at Ploughman’s

Roadbody (Hadley, Andrew, and Dorothy)

Roadbody (Hadley, Andrew, and Dorothy)

Cathy, our friend Lydia, and I drove up to Gettysburg this afternoon to hear Roadbody play at Ploughman Cider Taproom, on the square. They were one of twelve bands to play between Thursday and Sunday evening in the Scene & Herd Fest, put on by Guernsey Beat Records and hosted by Ploughman’s. This was our second time to hear them play at that location and we really enjoyed ourselves. She was early enough in the evening that we were able to go out to dinner afterwards and still get home before the snow started falling. Jeff was playing Saturday afternoon with Emberglow but we couldn’t go both days. He’s probably going to be playing again on the 18th, though, so we are hoping to be able to hear him then.

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Christmas

Christmas

Christmas

It was a slightly non-standard Christmas for us this year. Or at least a little different in its details to previous years. One difference was that Cathy’s mom is in rehab so we went there to see her. We sang Christmas songs, which was fun. Then we came home and a little while later my side of the family came for Christmas. We were able to get this photo taken early in the day. If we had waited, I think it would have been harder to get everyone together for it. As expected, it was a fun, if somewhat tiring time. There was plenty of good food and we sang songs here, as well, with Jeff joining helping lead by playing guitar.

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Flower Valley Santa

Flower Valley Santa

Flower Valley Santa

Santa made his way through Flower Valley this evening. Cathy was visiting her mom but I went out and enjoyed chatting with neighbors until he came. I also enjoyed watching the kids enjoying seeing Santa. I don’t know who, specifically, organized this anymore, but I think it’s a great tradition, eagerly anticipated by most families, or at least all those around us, who mostly have little kids. The parents use it as an excuse to get together and talk, so they like it, too.

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