Monthly Archives: July 2024

Fourth Pres. School Teachers

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 02, 2024 by Henry
Krystal, Erin, Mary Chris, Marianne, and David

Krystal, Erin, Mary Chris, Marianne, and David

From Kindergarten through third grade, Dorothy went to the Fourth Presbyterian School in Potomac. It was a good time and we made some good friends while there. Dorothy’s second grade teacher, Mary Chris, and her husband David, moved after that year and we haven’t seen them since, although we did hear a few things about their travels through Krystal. Mary Chris and David and their son Joey were in town visiting and Krystal invited us, along with two other teachers and their husbands as well as Cathy and me, for dinner. Erin and Krystal taught first grade. Dorothy was in Erin’s class but the two classes did a lot together and we’re very close to both of those teachers. Dorothy didn’t have Marianne or David as her teacher, but we enjoyed visiting with them, as well.

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Leverington Cemetery

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 06, 2024 by Henry
Leverington Cemetery

Leverington Cemetery

This is Leverington Cemetery. My 7th-great-grandparents—John Wigard Levering (February 2, 1648 – February 2, 1745) and his wife Magdalena Bokers Levering (who died in 1717)—were among the first to be buried here. Their grandson (Septimus, my 5th-great-grandfather) and his wife Mary Thomas Levering are also buried here. John and his brother Gerhard owned about 500 acres between them in what is now called Roxborough although it was at one time called Leverington. While there are no markers for my direct ancestors, I thought it would be interesting to visit, and since we were nearby for a wedding, it seemed like a good opportunity.

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Biz and James

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 06, 2024 by Henry
Biz and James

Biz and James

As mentioned in my previous post about Leverington Cemetery, we were in the Philadelphia area for the wedding of the younger son of a friend of ours. When Dorothy was at the Fourth Presbyterian School, James and his older brother Jon, who was in Dorothy’s class, carpooled with us. We got to know the family pretty well and you’ll find some January 1 pictures through the years with our families together on New Year’s Day. Today was the wedding of James with Elizabeth, Biz to her friends, and we very much enjoyed being a part of the festivities.

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Lydia and Dorothy

Photograph taken on Tuesday, July 09, 2024 by Henry
Lydia and Dorothy

Lydia and Dorothy

Cathy and I drove up to Frederick this evening, bringing Lydia with us, and met Dorothy and Jeff at the Kittiwat Thai Kitchen. It was a lovely evening and we enjoyed chatting over a nice meal. We had brought a window air conditioner that our friend Amy gave us so that Dorothy could have it in her room in Pennsylvania, where the house doesn’t have central air. We moved that to the back of her truck and then talked a little more before heading home. And of course I took a handful of photos, because it’s what I do.

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Sunset (with Moon)

Photograph taken on Thursday, July 11, 2024 by Henry
Sunset with Moon

Sunset with Moon

Sunset

Sunset

We had a beautiful sunset this evening and had the bonus of there being a crescent moon in the southwestern sky. The first photo is to the southwest, showing the moon. The second it looking northwest over our next door neighbor’s house. We haven’t had a lot in the way of sunsets lately. That is, the sun has set once per day, as usual, but they haven’t been anything to look at, much less spectacular. But this evening it was really something.

The summer has been very hot, humid, with very little rain. Rainfall in June was only 48 percent of normal ranking among the 20 driest and the fifth hottest Junes on record for Maryland. We also tied our record for the greatest number of June days with a high of 90°F or higher with 14 days. With this sunset, though, I’m hoping things are changing and we’ll get some rain and some cooler weather (like with highs in the mid 80s) sometime soon, hopefully before September.

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Family Reunion

Photograph taken on Saturday, July 20, 2024 by Henry
Family Reunion

Family Reunion

I picked mom up at 6:00 this morning and we had very few traffic problems getting to North Carolina four our annual family reunion. It was a slightly smaller group this year than in the last few years, but still a really nice time visiting with people we only really see once a year. It was really good to see mom’s first cousin Ann, who sadly passed away a short week later. I had an extended visit with Lyn and Beth, since Beth hosted us for the night so we didn’t have to drive home again the same day, which is a bit much for us.

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Kids On The Stairs

Photograph taken on Sunday, July 28, 2024 by Henry
Third Cousins

Third Cousins

Our annual week at the beach started yesterday. We had fewer issues with traffic than in many years, although we stopped a bit more, including stopping for lunch at Parkers in Wilson, North Carolina. We usually stop there to pick up barbecue and we’ve occasionally bought lunch there but never eaten it in the restaurant. We happened to be within a few miles of George and Carmela, who had started driving yesterday and spent the night in Southern Virginia, so they met us at Parkers.

Today is Eloise’s birthday and after dinner many of her third-cousins came over (along with their parents and grandparents). I was able to get a few photos of most of them on the stairs. Getting them all looking at the camera and not acting up is beyond me, though. Still, they were having a good time and I think it shows.

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Annual Family Beach Photo

Photograph taken on Monday, July 29, 2024 by Henry
Annual Family Beach Photo

Annual Family Beach Photo

We usually take our annual family beach photo a little later in the week but Dorothy was leaving on Wednesday and Iris and her family were going to Myrtle Beach to see her sister-in-law and her family Tuesday, so it was today or never. The kids made at least some faces in each one, but that’s just the way it’s going to be. I think it’s a pretty good photo, overall.

Earlier in the day we had driven to Sunset Beach to go to the Bird Island Reserve but couldn’t find a parking space. We saw a large flock of wood storks as we crossed the bridge back off of the island. We went to the Carl Bazemore Bird Walk on the imaginatively named East Lake, which we call Alligator Pond. We did see a few alligators as well as a few more wood storks and other birds. A person we met there told us about Vereen Memorial Gardens just into South Carolina and we went there and walked around a while, as well. We didn’t see much, but it’s a pretty place and I suspect there are times when there are more birds. In fact, someone we met there told us the painted buntings are there in large numbers at some times during the year.

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Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 31, 2024 by Henry
Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

We headed to Sunset Beach again today, leaving a bit earlier in the morning, and were able to get a parking space near the west end of Main Street. The walk to the Bird Island Reserve nature trail is about 1.25 miles. It was partly cloudy and quite windy as we walked out, but that was actually very nice. We heard quite a few painted buntings (Passerina ciris) but only saw two and only one that I was able to get a decent photo of. They certainly are pretty little things. This one sat and sang for us a good while.

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