Remembering the past

Back in the early 1920's my Grandfather, Walter J, was attending Princeton to earn his Master's degree (he eventually earned his PhD and taught at George Washington University, but that was later).  While at Princeton he joined a fraternity (I don't know which one, my daughter probably does). 

At any rate, he and his frat brothers all had girlfriends.  Walter was in love with Marie.  He loved her deeply.  I happen to know this because he saved everything that he felt was important.  So did Marie.  I have all their love letters while they were courting.  They are so very proper and sweet.

We always referred to Walter as Granddaddy and Marie as Rea.  While still in college his close frat brothers all decided to purchase candlestick holders.  They kept one and gave the mate to their girlfriends.  After all had married, only Walter J had a pair of candlesticks.

My mother ended up with the pair.  She only ever displayed one so I didn't find out the story until just a few years before she passed.  I was cleaning out some closets upstairs and found the mate!  I remember bringing it downstairs to match it up with the one on display and asked Mom about the significance.  She told me the story.  She had never liked the pair but thought the single one was more interesting.  After she passed and my brothers and I were splitting up the estate, I took one and my brother took the mate.  I have loved having mine in the living room in a place of honor.  Makes me remember my grandparents and my Mom. 

A week ago my daughter, Lori, texted me this picture with the caption:  Look what I found!

While it's not a twin (there are slight differences), I was thrilled!  "How much?" I demanded.  "Buy it now!" when she replied.

It was nasty when she arrived, but a bit of brass polish and elbow grease and it looks great!  The new one will be displayed in the downstairs great room.  They are clearly from the same foundry with different cups and slightly different base, all else is identical. 

I love family history.  I wonder how the second one came to be in an antique shop in Eureka, CA.  My grandparents lived in New York, Washington DC and Maine. 

Gary is recovering from the plague which he got 5 days ago and Lori is coming down with it.  It will be a quiet Christmas tomorrow, but I'm happy to have my family close by -- but not too close :)  Merry Christmas!

Getting to Know Prescott

I've only ever lived in one small town (I'm not including the many Air Force Bases growing up because those are very transitory places, even though I loved it).  I've always thought of  small towns as straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting.  My one experience was Garberville, California.  It was such an interesting experience living there for 18 years (but I'm pretty certain that Mr. Rockwell would not have visited).  It was full of small town charm and drama, generosity and drugs, philanthropy and villainy.  If you were looking for it you could find it, it has a bit of everything.  It is also home to our many wonderful friends that we both dearly miss.

We left Garberville for Prescott at the end of October.  Other than facing the mountain of boxes we still have, we have been busy learning about our new home and community.  I think we are going to love living here regardless of how much we miss our friends in the redwoods.

Let me tell you just a tiny bit about Prescott (I'm only beginning to learn about this amazing community.  A week ago Friday (December 1st) was the lighting of the Courthouse Square.  The square is in the center of "old town", about two blocks square with the old Courthouse in the center, lots of trees, well kept lawn, seating, a bandstand near the front and completely surrounded by interesting shops, bars (one street is called Whiskey Row), a post office and City Hall.  It's a lovely piece of property, typically bustling with locals and tourists enjoying this beautiful square.  They are sitting on picnic blankets, walking dogs, chatting with friends and neighbors and generally enjoying the atmosphere. 

They usually have 5-6 thousand attendees, this year the paper estimates that 10,000 people came to watch.  We read about it the next day.  Gary and I haven't ventured out at night except once to attend a Welcome to the Neighborhood party in our neighborhood.  It was amazing and fun and friendly, but I'll get to that.  We will definitely try to get there next year.

Last Friday was Acker Night.  Now this is what I wanted to get to.  Again we didn't attend but will next year.  

Let me tell you about Acker Night:  THIS is what a small town should be all about!  It's an evening of music.  EVERY business is open and every business has some sort of live music going.  From a single guitar player to a band, to choirs, to bands of every size and style.  Why have they been enjoying this evening for 29 years?  To raise money for scholarships for music in the schools!  Seriously, the entire community (with with guests who visit annually over this specific weekend so that they can attend).  Many of the performers are giving back because they were lucky enough to be a recipient of scholarship funds when they were in school.  This is a hugely anticipated event, my chiropractors receptionist just bubbled as she was telling me how important this evening would be.

We are looking forward to next year when we feel a bit more comfortable.

We continue to tackle boxes, emptying one, filling another.  Why do we wait until we get here to decide what to get rid of?  We've taken two trucks full of "stuff" to the D.A.V. (Disabled American Vets) for donation.  

Still haven't found the napkin holder!  Gary said, "Oh, for heaven sake, buy a new one!"

No, my brother made it in high school in wood shop.  I want THAT one.

Well, it's time to get into the garage and help Gary deal with yet another set of racks.  We moved from a spectacular and enormous custom kitchen to a very small one that is awkwardly set up.  I have three gorilla racks in the garage full of kitchen stuff (including our small refrigerator and thank goodness for that as our Viking refrigerator blew up two weeks ago and the home warranty people have been slow getting the necessary parts).  Moving isn't for the faint of heart!  More later!

I love Prescott!

Welcome to Prescott

So we got this nice invitation dropped on our front porch a week ago.  "Welcome to the Neighborhood" party on Saturday the 25th.  We got home from Sharon's on Friday and were so anxious to attend the following day.

Saturday morning dawned and we were at our chores -- Gary installing more handles on cabinets and Shon dealing with laundry and things that have not yet found a home.  We go to the local Safeway to purchase Brie, home to make puff pastry -- which is stupidly simple -- and I have a lovely appetizer to take to said party.

We get there about 30 minutes after its start and it is in full swing.  Let me tell you, our neighborhood is SO friendly and inviting -- we are thrilled!  Turns out that Kitt & Phil throw this party about once a year for the newbys and all the oldbys come to help make them feel welcome.  That's what happened to us!

Met many of the neighbors, have a date to have lunch with our next door neighbors on Wednesday and will do something fun with the neighbors who bought the house we didn't at the end of the street -- they are pretty special as well.

So we are settling in, meeting the locals, asking questions, and meeting new friends.  I think we are going to love it here!

Happy Thanksgiving, happy holidays, hold your loved ones closely!

The Trucks Arrive with 208 Boxes and Everything else!

Did I mention that we have a great deal of stuff?  When the packers were packing us up, Sergio, the lead, commented that there was zero wasted space in the house -- and we had loaded up every available spot with "stuff".  Yup!  I mean really, how many tubs of Christmas ornaments does anyone need?  As I find them all over the house they are being moved to the LL (lower level) workout room.  Before they go into storage (the dirt area connected to the workout room) we need to purchase a sheet of plywood or a large tarp or something, so for now they are just getting stacked.  Nine tubs so far plus the tree stand and an enormous plastic bag containing the tree. 

I had been pondering that dilemma:  how are we going to bring all that heavy decorations upstairs?  Problem solved:  Christmas tree will be located in the LL great room.  Done!  Whew!

Turns out Sergio parked his 53 foot van in the Home Depot parking lot and rented TWO 29 foot trucks and unloaded into them.  One was completely full, the other was about 80% full.  And he brought his crack team of four from Phoenix.  Again, a highly professional bunch who were more than polite,  I finally had to say, "Please, don't Ma'am me, makes my skin crawl; my name is Shon, please feel free to use it as often as necessary."  Kevin attempted to explain that it was a term used with great respect (he was such a sweety), which I politely responded with "Thank you, but call me Shon, I don't respond to Ma'am.  I'd never make it in the South!"

First we went on "walk about" so they could know to which room I was directing them, and then the most amazing case of controlled chaos ensued.  They arrived around 10:30am (took them close to two hours to unload the van into the trucks) and left around 4:30.  Wow, just wow!

For the first 4 or 5 days the cats slept only a little during the day, choosing instead to follow me around the house softly mewing and wanting to know why they had been transported against their will and now all their stuff was coming out of boxes and it was a hot mess and it was a strange house with their stuff.  That conversation was non-stop -- you think I've been complaining and grumbling, you should have to be subjected to Harvey (the Siamese) and Tommy (the red rescue).  Yesterday (Friday) Harvey curled up on our bed and slept from the moment Gary vacated until about 5pm.  He's settling in nicely. 

This is the living room, odd nook (which I'll figure out after I've finished with the boxes) and I'm standing in the dining room, the kitchen is to the right.  Stuff everywhere.  

This was the office before Gary rearranged stuff and set up our PCs.  His desk came easily, mine was too big to get through the door so it has been relegated to the garage and will be donated to some needy home some time in the future.  It's way not on my important list.  Some college student will be pleased not to be working on a card table like I am. 

The master bath.  It is an enormous tub which will be beautiful once the boxes get unloaded.  My master bath in the Humboldt house was enormous with tons of storage, this one has none except what is under the two sink areas.  Then I knew I had a large master closet, but good grief, I guess it was larger than I thought (plus there were eight large drawers), so as I'm unloading boxes I have no idea where this stuff is going to go.  Perhaps it's time to downsize?  Horrors!

As we unload, unwrap, each piece of paper gets flattened, stacked, folded and then loaded into the truck along with the flattened boxes for a trip to the transfer station which is about 15 minutes away.  The bed of the truck is stuffed full of flat boxes and the back seat it half way up the window with folded paper.  Several times a day I use Lori's magic wax goop that she makes to moisturize and heal my hands -- it is dry at 5800 feet and smoothing out packing paper doesn't help.  

Just one last grumble (for today).  We've been in our home for a week and in possession of our "stuff" for five full days.  WHERE oh where are our utensils?  Every box marked utensils is full of kitchen stuff, but not a real fork to be found.  And our plates?  Where the heck are they?  Mostly we've been eating leftovers (we actually picked apart a Safeway hot chicken one night -- just used our fingers, no sides, just too tired to care).  I found one baking dish and a few items from our pantry.  I'm going to bake chicken breasts, I have one small pot for rice and two glass pans to nuke veggies.  We're good.

And some really awesome news (besides the amazing sunsets):  I've been slowly but steadily loosing weight since I retired.  As of this morning I'm down 26 pounds and two dress sizes! 

Progress pictures will be coming.  We saw Only the Brave the first weekend we were here.  It's the story of the Yarnell Fire and the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished in that horrific fire storm.  You should put that on your "Must See" list, it was very well done.  Today we saw Goodbye Christopher Robin, true story about the little boy and his Winnie the Pooh.  The truth behind the fairy tale is often harder to listen to, this movie takes you though so many emotions.  More tomorrow.......

Arriving in Prescott

We arrived Friday.  Big empty house.  Sounds bouncing off the walls.  We brought two folding chairs, a big table from Costco and two camp chairs.  We set up the table open the chairs and wonder what to do with ourselves.  Oh yes, we let the cats out.  Much crying and "chatting" and running from one room to another smelling the corners.

 We also brought two twin guest beds, one unfolds and the other blows up.

 The office, upstairs.  So much potential.

 The weekend was spent shopping at Lowes, Home Depot, Safeway, Target and other stores, my debit card was in pain.  The sellers (let's not bad rap them too much -- but I just can't help it) took everything...including the hooks on the walls of the closet!  We had really settled into our Humboldt house and spent years making it just exactly what I wanted with storage for EVERYTHING I could ever want.  This master bath has almost zero storage.  A nice size closet, but no where to put linens or towels except on ONE small towel rack.

The guest bath (connected to the office) has a small cupboard where we will store the extra rolls of TP.  There is one coat closet by the front door.  Lots of awkward cupboards in the laundry room -- oh yes, they left their washer and dryer when they said they would not.  After wondering what in the heck we were going to do with them, we did laundry and decided to worry about that another day (problem solved, one of the movers was thrilled to get a new to him W&D).

The downstairs master has a ton of storage space?????  Haven't decided how I'm going to solve that.  I was just telling my friend, Barbie, that I have to live in a space for awhile before I hang pictures (I think we were in the Humboldt house for 4 months before I hung any pictures and once up I never moved them around).

We spent the weekend comforting the cats, looking around Prescott, wondering how our new lives would pan out, and sitting on the deck taking in the view.  For all the things I've been grumbling about .... do we have a view!  Boy howdy, do we ever!

I'm exhausted by the end of the day and have been going to bed quite early (for me) so I'm up around 5am, into the kitchen to make coffee and look at my phone and await the sun rise.  While my view is to the West, the sky begins to mellow, then it turns a lovely pink with yellow tones, then it brightens up and I watch the sun shine down on the mountain rim and forest below.  I tell you it's breathtaking!  Then it's off for chores, checking out the house some more, trying to decide where things will go and waiting for wine thirty.  Onto the deck to watch the sunset.  It's magical.  We'll figure out the small stuff.......

Leaving Humboldt

Where to start?  How about ... Goodbye Humboldt

It all started innocently enough, Gary came home and announced that he was ready to leave Humboldt.  I’d been harboring this thought for some time and replied simply, “I can make that happen!”

You know the rest, we bought a house in Prescott, AZ

We were very lucky to find the perfect people to rent our Garberville home to and made our plans to move.  Pretty certain my liver would not survive one more farewell party -- they were sure fun ... and painful ... and a poignant reminder that in the nearly 18 years we lived in Humboldt we enjoyed a cornucopia of wonderful friends from all walks. I loved getting to know them and left a huge part of my heart (including our daughter 😔) as we chose to move on.

Lori noted that she had accomplished nothing at home the last week as she chose to hang with us every possible evening; "no worries," I said, "bring your laundry here!"  We already have a flight and car rental back to Humboldt as we are looking forward to celebrating Jerry & Nancy Wilson's 60th wedding anniversary on November 19th; our dear friend, Bea has agreed to put us up, I'm looking forward to reconnecting.

Back to the move:  Sergio (our driver) and his hand picked crew of three (Wren, Brian and Blake) spent Monday and part of Tuesday packing.  The estimator wholly under-estimated the number of boxes we would need so on Tuesday they brought the 26 ft "shuttle" truck loaded with more boxes and paper and blankets.  Shuttle, you ask, let me explain.  Our driveway in Garberville was long, steep with a tight curve in it.  Our moving van couldn't make it up when we arrived (it was a 45 ft van).  Sergio's van is 53 feet.  Not gunna happen!  And, of course, we bought a home with an impossible hill and a too tight turn, so we needed to shuttle on both ends.  At least this time we knew it ahead of time.

Wren was packing my sewing room when he came out searching for me with a picture in his hands.  It was me with my two brothers one Christmas at Mom's.  Bill was wearing a San Bernardino City Fire Department shirt.  Wren pointed to Bill and asked if his shirt was from SBCFD.  "Why yes, he just retired from the department."  Wren was all animated, exclaiming that his fiance's father just retired from the same FD!  He immediately pulled out his phone and made a call as I texted my brother.  Yes, his soon to be father-in-law announced, I know Bill well, we're having lunch on Thursday!  We are all just six degrees from Kevin Bacon, or Bill Beaumont!

We pulled out of town on Wednesday at about 1:30 with such mixed emotions and two neurotic cats.  I was wondering how they were going to do once we captured them and loaded them into my car.  They were loaded up on Wednesday at about noon and not released until we arrived at our house around 3pm on Friday -- it was hard on them but they were true troopers, crying from time to time, but mostly just pouting and drawing strength from each other.  Twice a day I carefully removed the litter box, replacing it with kibble and water for about 30 minutes, then reversing it.  They have always been self feeders, so that was especially difficult.  They appear to be settled in now, Harvey slept the entire day today instead of following me around all day and chatting.  They seem to love having a downstairs and chase each other up and down the steps constantly.

More soon.......

Paris 2017, Day 6b Mt St Michel

[first attempt at a draft:  I just can't believe that I've been to France five times in the last seven years and I've never made it to Mt St Michel until this trip!  What an amazing day we had (as I slug down three Advil with a gulp of vin rouge -- it has certainly been a three Advil day :)  Must sleep, I'll work on this tomorrow].

My next attempt:

After circumnavigating the ramparts surrounding San Malo, we boarded our very comfortable Mercedes van and made the 50 minute trip to Mt St Michel.  Is this the most amazing place you've ever seen?  Well, let me answer that for you:  yes it is!  Here is a bit of history:

The site is thought to date back to 708, when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, had a sanctuary built on Mont-Tombe in honor of the Archangel.  The mount soon became a major focus of pilgrimage.  In the 10th century, the Benedictines settled in the abbey, while a village grew up below its walls.  By the 14th century it extended as far as the foot of the rock.

An impregnable stronghold during the Hundred Years War, Mont Saint Michel is also an example of military architecture.  Its ramparts and fortifications resisted all the English assaults and as a result the Mount became a symbol of national identity.  (read here: holy church meets military stronghold!)

Following the dissolution of the religious community during the Revolution and until 1863 the abbey was used as a prison.  Classified as a historic monument in 1874, it underwent major restoration work which continues today.  Just think about its history, the stories within these walls.  Yesterday, the first level was crowded with visitors gawking and shopping.  The middle level is dedicated to hotels (seriously), a sweet chapel, small cemetery and stairs everywhere and views that just do not stop.  As we made our way up, always up, the senses changed to that of worship and a desire to meditate (and the crowds thinned dramatically).  At "the top" the ticket that we had carried was necessary for entrance to the abbey and the outside deck on which stood a life sized game of some sort.

[side note: on our way down, just before arriving at the gate where you purchase your ticket to gain entrance to the abbey, we encountered a young couple carrying an infant.  She implored me to tell her the top was worth 10 euros a piece!  Well, that all depends on what you hope to experience (I thought).  I said, enthusiastically, that "Yes, it is worth it and more!"  I hope she thought so when she got there.]

According to the brochure: "The abbey is a unique building: its plan is unlike that of any other monastery.  Constrained by the pyramidal shape of the mount, its medieval builders wrapped the buildings around the granite rock."  I'll say!

By the time the mount was in our rear view mirror we had completed 11,000 steps and were a long way from our hotel, when Michael, our guide said, "Our next stop will be Dinan."  Our next stop?  Yikes!

Now is this a postcard worthy picture?  You bet!  Taken with my iPhone.  Feeling pretty smug :)

When you are on a private tour you get to take the back roads to your destination.  Michael was wonderful at knowing where all the great "early" shots should be taken.  I loved getting this shot with the traditional lambs in the foreground.

This holy place was also a perfect defense spot.  The English never were able to penetrate the grounds.

About two thirds the way up the mount was this lovely chapel.  We stopped to spend some time reflecting on what we were experiencing, then Sharon headed for a side alcove to light a candle for Terry.  And then the bells began which drew me outside.  See my FB page for a video of the area, flowers and cemetery with the bells tolling.

One of many windows with history that seems to demand attention.  "Look at me!  Admire my architecture!  Let me share my story!" They all seem to say, this one in particular just a bit louder than some others.

From this vantage point you can see a knight looking defensive with levels above and the Abbey spire.  Atop the 32 meter steeple (about 105 feet tall) is (roughly) a 14 foot statute of the archangel St Michael, patron saint of knights and of all guilds associated with arms and scales.  The statute was originally placed in 1897 -- HOW did they do that? -- it was restored in 1987 and removed by helicopter in 2016 to repair the lightening rod device.

A particularly beautiful and moving stained glass window which are very challenging for me to photograph, I really liked how this shot turned out.  Gosh, I love the camera app in my phone.

 Tide is still out.  Sharon and I have both commented that we would love to be there when the tide is in -- to see the change.  On the other hand I have zero desire to schlep my suitcase around these cobblestones -- they are killer on my back, hips and knees!

Look up high, there are the gargoyles who are there to assist in moving the rain water off the roofs and away from the building.  Also you get a sense of how tall those walls are.

We are on a very wide set of stairs (yes, another blasted set of stairs -- Thanks, Sharon) when we see this guy clowning for his family's camera.  He quickly moved out of the way as I trained my camera on him.  "No!" I said, and motioned him to do it again.  He was very happy to comply.  I told him that I would include him in my blog, not that I think he understood.  Funny guy, he was obviously thirsty.

We're approaching the entrance to the abbey.  Not the abbey itself, you must understand, but the place where they take your ticket and allow you to use yet another very long set of stairs.  Oh boy, more stairs!  Thanks, Sharon!

Finally we make it to the outside to breath before entering a place of worship.  I was fascinated by the life sized board game and wanted to play.  9 squares and 6 playing pieces, each a different thing.
Still pondering this game.

 Getting ready to enter.

The Abbey is everything I expected it to be...and more.  It was originally built in the early decades of the year 1000 and constructed on the top of the rock, eighty meters (262.5 feet) above sea level, on a platform also eighty meters long.  The nave has an elevation on three levels, arches, galleries and tall windows.

Wish I had taken a better shot of the floor, just look at the altar.  Now imagine the Abbott in his robes with a cloth covering the altar and supporting the sacraments.  I imagine a service in Latin (or French or Hebrew for that matter) -- I may not understand the language but I believe I would understand the message.  I was for certain feeling it.

This day, the anniversary of Sharon's birth, this holy place.  My heart is full.