DAY 33: More Connections, More Goodbyes…
Sunday, July 23rd: I get it, and it’s starting to wear thin.
The more you say “hello,” the more you eventually have to say “goodbye.”
Sunday was fun, tho—beginning with eavesdropping, early in the day, on Isaac (4) and Jacob (6) discussing what to name the cat. They apparently didn’t like Ladybug, my choice. (And, admittedly, it is kind of a generic endearment in the cat department.) Daughter Jennifer and her husband, Adam, and other son, Jacob, had arrived Saturday night.
Isaac: How about “Tractor”? [on which he was climbing at the time]
Jacob: That’s a boy’s name!
Isaac: Well, maybe…[can't remember] ?
Jacob: That’s a boy’s name, too!
Then we started talking about flowers, inspired by Judy's borders near the shop and sidewalk. Would Petunia work? (No.) How about Daylily (looking around)? No again.
Suffice to say, by the time we took her to Georgie’s, they had thoroughly bonded with little
Zinnia and both boys ended up in tears over the parting!
Sally wasn’t doing much better herself. But Judy and I dropped
Zinnia off, amid reassurances from Georgie, and hurried home for another brief Howe mini-reunion which Judy had agreed to host. Cousin Peg arrived with (still want to say “Uncle”) Dick, shortly before Cousin Jim and his partner Mark came by. Sometimes this whole part of my trip feels like a traveling mini-reunion—and it’s been great! See photos on
Day 38.
But after Jim and Mark left, Peg and I sat around a bit longer, looking out over the huge lawn and watching the boys swimming in the pond-- and the idea of a full-fledged Howe Reunion at this estate raised its head… hmmm… But how much can even good friends take??
And then… I said goodbye! Again. This just keeps getting harder… and drove off toward Rochester, again arriving late in the evening at Linda and Evaristo’s house in Henrietta after a few detours. Time was going to be brief, with a workday ahead for them, but we got in a little visit.
(Hadi called with bad news… and another goodbye ahead was inevitable.) In the morning, David arrived to join me for the first leg of the trip—and that brings us up to date through Day 34 if you follow the link above.
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Please note that David’s Day 2 (posted on Tuesday) describes Day 1 (Monday Day 34 in Sally days)-- due to the early-a.m. blogging we are a little out of sync. But hang in there—it all makes sense eventually!
DAY 32: My First-ever Class Reunion
Saturday July 22nd: Our reunion took place at Catherine Park near Odessa, where about 105 of us went to high school together. Odessa-Montour Central School, more often known as OMCS, was our educational and social center for those four years (1962-66). A few of us hadn't seen each other since; others were "nice that we have reunions, so we get to see our neighbors."
I awoke to thunder, lightning, and a steady rain at 7:30 a.m., but by late morning we momentarily had hopes it would all clear up. That never quite happened. So we gathered close around the picnic tables, undercover, and spent the afternoon chatting, hugging, eating, knocking mosquitos off each other, and just generally getting reacquainted. I think, counting spouses, there may have been 35 or so in attendance.
Here's a view of most of the group, minus the few who'd already disappeared. (Click to enlarge for a better view.) Blaine and I had always said "I'll go if you do"-- and this was the year we called each other's bluff. We both had a great time-- and he was surprisingly chatty, I thought! Although each of us found some good buddies there, many present were folks we hadn't known too well. Between getting acquainted and getting reacquainted, we spent a long afternoon together.
Some people change a lot, others less, but let’s face it—we have all changed, all been through a lifetime of stories. What’s fun is that when you stop and look (and listen!) you find the person you once knew… Here’s a picture (courtesy Daryl) of Priscilla, Daryl, and I… buddies in high school and now reconnected to be buddies again.
DAY 31: Among Friends...
Friday July 21st: A mellow morning and breakfast at Blaine and Judy’s, then we were off for some visiting. Turns out that Georgie, the Humane Society lady, is a neighbor of theirs, so we connected with her and arranged for Ladybug’s future care. Then visited Laurel and Skip’s house in Odessa, and at some point loaded all four of us (me, Blaine, Judy, and grandson Isaac) up for a trip to Corning to tour the Rockwell Museum of Western Art. Blaine was interested in their Ansel Adams exhibit (photography)—and we all enjoyed it immensely!
We picked up “the cat” (temporarily
Ladybug) on the way home in the roomy cage Georgie had provided, and Blaine was kind enough to let Ladybug stay in the garage for a couple of nights. Skip and Laurel, married just a few weeks ago, came for dinner. I'd never met Skip, but it was great to and to see both of them.
Ginny and Verne came over in the evening—another reconnection. They weren’t going to be at the class reunion next day, so that was our best chance to get together, though I missed meeting their fancy chickens. Ginny is into genetics; currently trying to breed golden-laced Cochins. We had a nice time, sitting on the screened porch (safe from mosquitoes), catching up on some of the intervening years.
It’s amazing how much comes back when you see people! Even things you haven’t thought about in 40 years…
DAY 30: From the Lake back to Baldwinsville… and Beyond
Thursday July 20th: After breakfast and a morning walk, Daryl and I took a canoe ride around the lake (I never did get its name!), admiring the white water lilies, the beautiful scenery, the view of their new lakehouse from the water, and so on. I took dozens of pictures but, incredibly, managed to erase them all, even the one of the great blue heron who took off in front of us!
Daryl sent me some substitutes, so here’s a look at the lake and their new place. They have, as you can imagine, lots of company!
Back in B’ville, I surprised Uncle Ted with a phone call, and had a wonderful (but too short) visit with him and Jeanne. My dad’s brother, Ted is 86, but was at the office when I called him! See, work keeps you young! (Doesn’t bode well for my “early retirement.”) We might have had a longer visit, but they’d just been visiting Cousin June in Lakewood a few weeks earlier, so we were already freshly caught up.
Then I picked up Nan and we went to Warners, where my mother and her two older brothers grew up. (The three older siblings were already in college by then, I think.) Nan showed me the house, our grandparents’ graves, and the church. Then we got on her computer and downloaded the photos I'd taken, which made me think the camera was safe to empty, and that’s how I lost the Lakehouse photos! Sometimes I get technologically impaired.
Then it was back on the road to get to Blaine and Judy’s. This time I made it by bedtime, more or less, so I was getting worse again. Maybe though, you’re beginning to see how I put all those miles on the car!
DAY 29: Of Cats and Cousins
Wednesday July 19th: Emma had a problem. There was this cat. Starving, she said. So Sally had a problem. So Hannah and I collected the cat and went to the vet, who was kind enough to see us. Not surprisingly, the cat, 7 months old, was pregnant. Though she was delightful, Miss Personality plus, she was on her way to being a teenage mother with a half-dozen wild offspring, the beginning of a feral colony. I should have taken a picture of her! (I have often wished since that I’d brought her home with me.)
That meant I got a late start for Baldwinsville, connecting with Cousins Nan and Bob just in time for, you guessed it, dinner! They took me to a nice restaurant, Italian and more, north of B’ville and we had a great time talking. AND I got to see their son David—it’s been decades!—and meet his girlfriend, Linda. Once again, no pictures! I’m slipping up!!
Here's a picture of David sleeping on the couch... yes, he's about 6 ft 6 in tall!
But I’d promised to be at the Lakehouse, so off I went, driving north into the night to find Tom and Daryl’s beautiful new place on a lake east of Pulaski. Wow… this is NOT your ordinary “cottage.”
DAY 28: Big Flats Recovery Day
Tuesday July 18th: What I’m recovering from I don’t always know, but it was nice, nay wonderful!, to have a quiet restful day catching up with Cousin Peg. We talked, we laughed, we spent the afternoon with Hannah doing errands, and later, went to Olive Garden with Emma and Dick along as well.
We even (next morning) played a game of Scrabble before I left. I got most of the vowels. Vowels are worth 1 point each. You do the math. (Yes, Peg won, but as Deb reassures me, I just don’t get enough practice!)
DAY 27: Heading West
Monday July 17th: I left Daryl and Tom’s about 12:30 after an oil change, went down the road to Waterbury a few miles for a tire change, then really headed west about 2 p.m. I dithered most of the day about whether I was going to head north—the great circle route around the entire Adirondacks, eventually reaching Cousin Jean at the north end of Lake Champlain—or just hit the southern tier.
In the end, I went west instead of north, Waterbury, Middlebury, Danbury… finally there were no more burys and I was in New York. Ended up retracing part of the route Ashley and I had taken on a soggy day weeks ago… but this time got to angle northwest on 17 instead of being diverted to Scranton. (Guess what, Ashley? It IS shorter that way!) It was a beautiful drive and before I knew it, I was in Binghamton and closing in fast on Schockners. I could still see considerable evidence of the devastating floods that had challenged us on our trip to Yale. Flooded fields, piled remains of trees along the river, and water that was still plenty high reminded me of
Day 7.
In due course, as luck would have it, I arrived at dinnertime and enjoyed a great family get-together and delicious dinner, featuring a variant of Betty’s potato salad. Rick, Rowan, Hannah, and Emma were all at Peg’s house, so though we’d already gotten together once, we had another opportunity to catch up! I took no photos… imagine that! (Well, it was late!)
New Photo Index
Because both David and I, and maybe even Ashley, will be updating old entries with photos you haven't seen, I'm going to start an index to new photos (and just text) here. New being, that is, photos that weren't up with the original posts on the topic.
Day 33: More Connections, More GoodbyesDay 32: My First-Ever Class ReunionDay 31: Among Friends...Day 30: Baldwinsville and the LakeDay 29: Of Cats and CousinsDay 28: Big Flats Recovery Day (no photos, text only)
Day 27: Heading West (no photos, text only)
Day 38: Review (of Days 33 and 34), last day in New YorkDay 2 David's report on our visit to ancestral homestead, Day 33 in Sally days.
Day 3, David's report on our visit to Bucyrus. Day 34. More text as well as photos.
Trip-related haiku at Foothills Fancies (Sally's nature blog), which has been languishing due to attention given here at Eastbound 2006:
A Raft of Haiku, posted July 31.
More Overdue Haiku, posted July 29.
Journey Home, posted July 4.
DAY 40: NO NEW DAYS...
Today the trip is officially over, but the blog won't end quite yet. After all, I haven't met all my commitments nor gotten up all the photos yet, right? So the rest of the posts will backtrack through some of the missing stories, people, and photos. Hope you'll all stay tuned a little longer.
So, here's the final report. We (the research team: Sally, Ashley, and Linda) logged
1,381 photos of pages in Yale's archive of Paul Sears papers. A drop in the bucket, I suspect, as we made it through approximately 35 of the 154 boxes. Can you believe? And that, I'm sure, will be enough to keep me busy most of the winter.
Others have asked for a mileage report. Upon arrival home (the car has been surprisingly sedentary since Friday night), the car had logged a final tally of
6,379.3 miles. I figure Ashley left me after about 2,700 of them...
More later-- Ashley came over to pick up a couple things and we're going to dash off. Turns out I got home just in time for the last day of Lila's famous must-see Barn Sale!
--Sally
DAY 39: HOME SWEET...
This is a long and funny story, but for now I'm just going to do a new post to let everyone know that I AM home! Got in at 10:30 last night, Friday night that is. It was amazing. Though dark, Denver looked vaguely familiar, Morrison looked pretty strange, and the house was quite unfamiliar. Memo: 5.5 weeks may be a little too long. The disconnect was almost complete.
The dogs got the idea ("mom's home!") right away, some of the cats were a little more standoffish at first. Now, though, things are gradually getting back to what used to be normal. Hadi sure looked good!!
With just two notable exceptions, all the plants and critters are alive and well and looking quite robust! Hadi and Karen, his mom, clearly took good care of things in my extended absence. He said last night that "there sure is a lot to do around here!" Not bad for someone who kinda used to think I wasn't helping much... nothing like a long absence to make you appreciate each other.
Rest of the story coming soon... along with those long promised photos, now that I'm back where easy uploads are possible, and I have lots of time...
--Sally
DAY 38: REVIEW
Long-awaited photos are beginning to appear. I'm probably going to be working backward, but here's a start at reviewing events and visits of the last two weeks!
Here's a quick shot of Cousin Jim and Cousin Peg getting caught up.
On Sunday (DAY 33), we were lucky enough to be able to connect with Cousin Jim and his partner Mark, and Cousin Peg and her husband Dick-- all at the same time. And finally got to meet Betsy, Mark & Jim's dog, who turns out to be camera-shy.
Then I had to say goodbye to the Chamberlains after a wonderful visit with the entire family! Here they all are: Riley (background) and Farley (foreground) the two black labs ("there's only one kind of dog," Blaine says, "and it comes in three colors." Actually four, I hear-- why not collect them all Blaine?) Left to right among the humans are: Judy, Isaac, Jennifer, Jacob, Adam, Blaine. The newlyweds, Laurel and Skip, were off on an expedition to pick up their new canine, a non-dog apparently, as they've chosen to bring a boxer into the family.
Monday (DAY 34): As we left Rochester, me for good and David only temporarily, David and Linda waved a breezy goodbye from Linda's front yard. It was great to see the Veras, however briefly.
And now... I'd better get back on the road! Iowa City goodbye and hello North Platte! If I don't drive into the night and there's internet access in western Nebraska, I'll post more this evening.
--Sally
DAY 37: HO-OMEWARD BOUND NOW...
I wished I was, and now I am! Tonight I'm in Iowa City, and pretty happy to have made it that far, even though it's less than halfway and probably means I'll be doing the last little leg of the trip Saturday morning instead of making it in Friday night.
Thanks, Priscilla, for the book-on-CD, which made short work of the last 100 miles or so. Hope I was paying attention to the road-- but all's well that ends well, right? The book is about the difference between our chronological age and our physiological age, and all the things we can do to be younger than we are! Very appropriate for the 40th-reunion set, now that we've checked out how everyone is aging (or not, in some cases that shall go unnamed)... I'm going to listen to the 2nd CD tomorrow, and calculate my physical age when I get home. Or maybe sooner. Will keep you posted.
All for tonight, unless I can get some photos up!
--Sally
DAY 3 (IN DAVE DAYS)
Hi all,
I have made it home safely after many delays at the Indianapolis and Detroit airports. Thunderstorms were the culprits! But I did make it home a bit after 12 midnight. I promise to add more entries and photos in the near future. But for now... off to bed!
Since my DAY 2 entry details the events of DAY 1, I will detail the events of DAY 2 here. From the hotel in or near
Mt. Gilead, we made our way to the city of
Bucyrus (the birthplace of
Paul Sears, the subject of Sally's research project). We first visited the public library there, a beautiful old building, and located the address of Paul Sears parents' house, the Bucyrus cemetery, and the Bucyrus historical society (open on Mondays from 1-4pm -- we arrived on a Tuesday!).
The most notable thing about Bucyrus (for me at least), were the
murals in the central square. I don't think I've ever seen such fine, detailed and realistic-looking murals. I took a few shots of them (see below).
Yes, that's Sally standing in front of the mural. And yes, that 
is a painting not a sculpture!
We did much driving around Bucyrus -- the library, the cemetery, the historical society, Bob Evan's (for lunch). Sally and I walked into the office at the cemetery, and the lady behind the desk asked her if her name was Sally White. Which of course it was. Apparently Sally had left her license at the library, and luckily, they knew she was headed to the cemetery. After snapping a few photos of gravestones, Sally let me drive the car around a bit, so I could get a feel for driving a stick-shift.
Left Bucyrus in the afternoon, and drove to Bloomington, Indiana to meet Sally's friends Sue and her father Richard. Richard and Sally were the founders of the Morrison Natural History Museum, and Richard's son, Vance, is building Sally's new kitchen cabinets. But I should let Sally fill you in on all that. Nonetheless, it was a pleasure meeting them.
Now I should create a DAY 4 entry to tell you about day 3. That will happen sometime soon...
DAY 36: BUSY, BUSY, BUSY...
I see some of our commenters are getting VERY impatient with my lack of posting. Well, as we bloggers say, get busy living or get busy blogging! Lately, I've been so busy spending time with people (and, yes, places) that I haven't had much time for blogging. Tomorrow morning... I'm going to OVERwhelm you with updates. I think. Even photos if we can get them to load...
Meantime, Cousin Bob has sent the following in response to David's message that mentioned the lovely disc player at great-great-grandfather's house. Yes, Bob, this is the right kind of "music box," so the rest of you can check out photos of the music box
here. (
Fixed! Sorry I'm on a Mac at the moment and it doesn't seem to want me to make that an active link...)
We took Cousin David to the airport today, as he felt he really should be at work tomorrow, because he only told them he'd be gone Monday and Tuesday and here it is Wednesday already. It was wonderful to have him along and we did a little exploring... I miss him already-- but I hope he will use his new status on the Eastbound blog team to provide a few more updates of his own in the coming days! So keep checking, and don't give up hope.
--Sally
DAY 2 (IN DAVE DAYS)
We started bright and early at Linda Vera's (10:30 or so), and drove out to Newstead (or Clarence) to visit the old Squire Howe homestead on Howe Road (photos to be posted soon!). We found Howe Road with no trouble, and the first house we looked at on that road turned out to be Darius' (Carey Howe's brother) place! What luck we had! Squire's (Carey's father) place is across the street.
We lurked around the house for a bit, then got up enough nerve to ring the doorbell. A nice
elderly lady named Norma answered, and though she was a bit reluctant at first, she warmed up to us and invited us in to look around. She had an amazing collection of "Boyd" teddy bears (sorry, no photos). She told us what she could about the history of the place, and, after about an hour, we said our goodbyes.
We then ventured across the street to Squire's house (built in 1831). Unfortunately, the county crews were doing tree trimming, so it was very loud and distracting. But we persevered, and made it to the front door, where a pleasant young lady invited us in to look around. She showed us an old music player (we don't know what it was called, but it is similar to a music box, but uses a large metal disk). Sorry, again, no photos.
We were most impressed by the wide plank flooring on the second floor (newly refinished). Most of the planks were 18-23 inches wide, made of pine (we think).
Photos will be up soon... Sally is really hungry and is dragging me off to breakfast! ;-)
DAY 35?: NO LONGER EASTBOUND
David and I are happily reconnecting to the Internet here at the Best Western "near" Mt. Gilead, Ohio. It's been an eventful, friend-ful and family-ful, week, with little time or resources for long Internet interludes. Now that we're on the road, MAYBE we can do better.
This morning, we're off to Bucyrus, Ohio, to check out the home territory of my research subject, Paul B. Sears, and soak up a little atmosphere. Doubt we'll do much research, though I hope to photograph the home he grew up in, named Rosedale Cottage, which is (I believe) still there. We may also check out Bucyrus Bog, which is also expected to still be there, and still on land owned by the same family as in Paul's day. Sounds fun, eh?
I'm going to let David fill you in on our "home territory" research of yesterday...
--Sally
DAY 27: BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN??
This morning I have to tackle some car maintenance issues to be sure we're road-worthy, then hope to be westward bound fairly promptly today... or possibly early tomorrow. Still haven't figured out whether to take the high road or low road, so to speak-- north or south route. And it may depend on the car outcomes... fresh oil, maybe a quick tire change? Is it too much to hope for?
Will try to keep you posted!
--Sally
The Connecticut River...
Daryl took me for a little seaside sightseeing yesterday. We drove down along the Connecticut River, browsed the shops in Essex, and drove over the causeway to Old Saybrook... I have a few photos, but once again will have to wait before I can get them up.
DAY 26: SUNDAY IN CONNECTICUT
This morning I'm posting while Tom and Daryl are off at church. Not sure what we'll be doing the rest of the day, but Hadi is suggesting some car check-ups before I hit the road again. The trip odometer is now at 3,639.9 miles, so will break 5,000 long before I get home. Good thing I had training driving regularly to mom's (about a 5-hour trip).
Although the area is getting familiar, I will probably have forgotten how to get around by the time I return, alas. Today I've got to figure out my itinerary for the rest of the week... who I'll be able to catch up with and how I'll get there!
--Sally
Please stand by...
Technical difficulties persist. Now I'm posting easily, but can't seem to load pictures. Maybe we can overcome the problem later today!
DAY 25: MORE MAINE...
Saturday morning, after we enjoyed Linda's Maine blueberry muffins for breakfast (!), we went for a walk in the woods. More lichen photos and fungi! Rather than bore you with that here, I'll put up a few more lake shots... (If you want lichens and fungi, they'll be on www.foothillsfancies.blogspot.com as soon as I get around to it.)
Mid-day, I packed up my gear and hit the road again. Linda's directions were so good, I made not one wrong turn finding my way back to the Interstate, then dashed Connecticutward again, arriving back and Daryl and Tom's about 7 p.m. after crossing parts of four states! They (the states) are certainly smaller back here. So, after 3 weeks "abroad," I'm finally heading slowly and gradually westward now.
-- Sally
DAY 23-24-25: AWAY FROM IT ALL!
I did take pictures... and we weren't completely out of touch with civilization, but apparently posting became difficult, as I see I've fallen behind. Here, I hope, is a quick catch-up for Thursday-Friday-Saturday.
On Thursday Linda and I drove from Portland to Rockland, Maine, to visit with one of my undergrad professors, Ken Crowell, and his wife Marnie, who met us in Rockland but live even further north, on Deer Isle. I hesitate to confess that I didn't even get to see the rocky coast of Maine, and at the time didn't even notice that omission. We had a wonderful chat with them, and received some great ideas for my Sears project. Ken once took a course from Sears at Yale.
Then we drove to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, a work in progress. And THEN I remembered the camera, so I do have some pictures of that (the Crowells escaped photographic record). Here's the not-yet-open main building. Linda and her husband Orrin are involved in helping the Gardens get established. It's a big project and well underway. We walked through the woods, saw some great lichens, and a leopard frog, and enjoyed the yard of fairy houses and new sculpture installation in progress.
Friday morning we drove to the Shanes' cabin on Keyes Pond, about an hour north of Portland. After a refreshing swim (during which we even saw a water snake swim past us), we lolled in the shade and read books for a few hours. Imagine! Then another swim, dinner, and a sunset canoe ride on the lake, accompanied by the calling of loons... In all, a wonderful day and evening!
To be continued...
DAY 22: WHERE'S SALLY NOW?
I have a great wrap-up of leaving Sterling Memorial Library, but I'm going to hold it til I can figure out how to get the pictures to post.]
So, now I'm in a new location and it's up to you to guess what new state I'm in. I'll take pictures tomorrow (Thursday) morning, I promise, but here's a quick hint-- we picked wild blueberries off the back porch this afternoon.
Look at this great "deep woods" shot... I was almost expecting Thoreau to step out from behind that tree and introduce me to the mosses!
More soon!!
--Sally
DAY 21: GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END...
Today we're going to be madly cranking through as many boxes at the Archives as possible, preparing for our departure this evening. First we had to say goodbye to the Graduate Club, where I've been staying the last two weeks.
I'm a bit tardy, having left now, in getting up pictures of the place. It was really quite lovely, and they took good care of me! Here is the entrance hallway.
Ashley and I, then just me, now Linda and I, always got the best table in the place--the little one over by the window--for breakfast in the dining room.
I didn't spend too much time here in the Club library, because these second floor rooms were too hot. But it's a lovely room, with a huge Audubon print over the fireplace.
I'll finish the Yale farewells soon!
--Sally
DAY 20: BACK TO WORK
After a relaxing and refreshing visit with Daryl and her husband in Meriden, I came home yesterday afternoon to meet Linda at the bus station. Then we went out for dinner at that nice Italian place Ashley and I tried.
Next we'll be back at the Archives, for a full day of capturing as much as we can from the many boxes we'll have out. So I will check in later.
See yesterday's post, now updated with photos.
--Sally
DAY 19: SOMEWHERE IN CONNECTICUT
Having a wonderful visit with Daryl and Tom, who live in Meriden, just up the road, but the camera batteries ran out of juice yesterday as I was leaving the main home in New Haven... so will have to add photos later.
Here it is!Yesterday (Saturday) we walked the neighborhood, then drove around the larger area some, saw a fabulous park, and visited a wonderful place called Lyman's Orchard, where they have seasonal events (pick your own whatever's in season, corn maze, and next weekend, the blueberry festival) and a huge store full of great produce!
On the way back, we tried to rescue a painted turtle that was near the road, but he had already been hit by a car and was dead. (I did get two box turtles out of the road in Indiana, though, so guess this is a bit of a turtle trip.)
As you can imagine, after almost 40 years, Daryl and I had a lot of catching up to do... we spent a lot of the time together just chatting and looking at pictures and talking some more. As with Priscilla, it's wonderful to catch up on what people are doing after all these years. Daryl and Tom are both retired from teaching...She has an amazing little review booklet of our class activities from freshman to senior year... and of course, there was the yearbook. How will I ever catch up on everyone before the reunion (July 22)? Now I have an assignment from Priscilla to call a few people--that's interesting, and sometimes strange.
--Sally
DAY 18: OFF FOR A VISIT WITH LONG LOST FRIEND
Priscilla, with whom we stayed in Ovid, reconnected me with Daryl, another high school buddy I'd lost touch with. Daryl lives in Meriden, just a little north of New Haven, has invited me up for the weekend, so I'll soon be leaving my temporary home to head up there this Saturday morning.
Will report later, or perhaps tomorrow...
--Sally
DAY 15-16-17 IT'S ALL THE SAME
You might say I've settled into a routine... up (too) early with a cup of tea and work, then breakfast (opens at 7), then off to the archives to take page pictures all day. Well, most all day. My boss has been letting me off a little early for good behavior. And I've started coming in a little late... today I got there at 9:15 and was the first one!
Hadi says you want to know what things look like on the INside... when I finished this afternoon, I stood up to stretch, picked up the camera and captured this photo of half of the room. In the foreground you can almost see the long tables at which researchers sit and type or sift or photograph. This is the inner research room, know here as MSSA, for ManuScripts and Archives. I must be missing an 's'.
As I was stretching (the camera work is kinking my back)-- I happened to look up at the ceiling and decided to take a picture of that too! Everywhere you look there are lots of elegant little details... Really quite lovely. You can click on the photo to see the elegant little details better if you like.
Forgive the long absence-- somehow I thought all those little notes would carry me over a few days or that I'd done at least some of that on Wednesday.
All for now-- almost bedtime!
--Sally
p.s. Waiting for Ashley to post pix -- she and 20 of her closest friends were going to the Pirates opening last night... hint, hint!
For Ashley...
who knows that pigeons are special!
Walking back to our house, I guess I got a little sentimental. So when I saw this very special pigeon, I just had to take a picture for Ashley. I know the pigeons and squirrels in the green across the street will miss her and the friendship and admiration she always extended to them! (Though I'll do my best, Ashley!)
(okay, now he's extra special, cuz blogger won't display him right side up... )
One last photo from Fourth of July at the beach... It won't be the same without you, girl!
p.s. To Aunts Deb and Diane and any other faithful readers, I'm hoping Ashley will keep posting her thoughts on the east as they come up...
Ashley's Departure: Adjusting to Alone
The moment came at last, and off she went! The shuttle was a little late, so we waited at Phelps Gate-- less than a block from "home".
Finally, the shuttle to LaGuardia came, and she loaded up and disappeared... One quick ring on the phone in the middle of the early a.m. let me know she was safely landed in Denver, but she hung up before I could talk to her.
Ashley's Last Day-- At the Beach!
We got to the beaches of West Haven more quickly and easily than expected this a.m., despite an extra loop getting out of New Haven. After a nice drive along the beach, and late breakfast at the Dunkin' D (of which there seem to be MANY in Connecticut), we settled on a beach near Savin Rock to watch gulls, start a seaweed and shell collection (Sally), and just while away the day.
If you note, to the left of the photo, there's a little stretch of open water. And further left, an island-- the famous Savin Rock. We noticed people wading out to it, so naturally we wanted to as well!
Here's Ashley wading in the Atlantic, the real one... or at least the Long Island Sound facsimile thereof.
Of course, by the time we got there, the tide had receded somewhat, leaving a narrow spit of dry land to walk out on.
And here's Ashley on the rocks, looking back at shore. A "last day in the East" batch of photos for Mom and Dad!
Meanwhile, Back at the Art Museum
We never got the full story of our trip to the Yale University Art Museum up (last Wednesday)... Awesome place, and free! I fell for these Assyrian reliefs... and the vases were nice too!
while Ashley was more into helmets... and heads to go with them. Impressive as the entire place was, we both liked the Sculpture Hall best of all, perhaps because of its antiquity.
As a matter of fact, we never get any "full story" up, but this is a good overview. Ashley has LOTS of pictures on photobucket, but as they are mostly ones she took, there are too many of me! I think this morning I've evened the score a bit-- but have to warn you-- the human interest level of the blog will decline somewhat with her departure today! We will ALL miss her-- but I'm sure Paul and Kathy--and Aaron-- and Max-- are looking forward to her return...
But now, it's time to go wake her up and get going for our last day together! And no, I'm not that cruel-- the blog is still on Denver time!
Bronco Day at Yale
Who knew...? Yalies are Bronco fans. Everything in this quad was orange-and-blue on Sunday. They were welcoming high school students to a summer program called Explo, and everyone was running around in orange t-shirts.
Later in the day, hoards of students and the college-student guides were encountered around campus. Ashley could have fit right in... We're often mistaken, in fact, for a mother-daughter unit, checking out Yale for possible application.
So far, Ashley hasn't shown any interest in going here...
A Matter of Scale
Like the Forefathers Monument, Yale is built LARGE... Hadi wants pix of the churches, but you can't get a single church in one picture.
For example, this is the Yale Gym... the only building we were able to get inside on Sunday.
And here are its doors... with Ashley. Inside there is a huge basketball court and swimming pool, along with two small pools for learning to row those skinny little boats... sculling, is that it? And more...
What will I do without Ashley for scale...??
More on Plymouth
While at Plymouth, Ashley and I trudged up Burial Hill, where graves were after the first fateful winter.
Equal time for the Pilgrims. As I already put up MAssasoit, here's the companion statue of Governor Bradford.
The Monument to the Forefathers is an amazing piece of work. Looks kinda like a normal statue...
Until you see it next to Ashley!
Then we started talking about flowers, inspired by Judy's borders near the shop and sidewalk. Would Petunia work? (No.) How about Daylily (looking around)? No again.
But after Jim and Mark left, Peg and I sat around a bit longer, looking out over the huge lawn and watching the boys swimming in the pond-- and the idea of a full-fledged Howe Reunion at this estate raised its head… hmmm… But how much can even good friends take?? 
