My Mom Turned 79 Today

Yes, she's been, and continues to be, a good mom indeed.

Something I wanted to mention about her is how much I appreciate her role in promoting an interest in music in our house. This has been a huge benefit to me personally. And each of my siblings had a bunch of talent, and developed and used it as they liked over the years.

Starting with the piano.

Ah yes, I well remember the day the piano was brought into the house (though I couldn't tell you the exact year). It was a classic upright, perfect for the parlor of an Iowa farmhouse. Dad backed up the pickup to the "cold entry" and he and (I think) Jerry Snetzer (sp?) brought it right in. So I thought they were pretty tough guys (which they were).

It never would have occurred to me at the time, but it's pretty hard to imagine her having to listen to all of us bang away on that piano - for literally decades. This had to be a headache-inducing experience, but I don't ever recall a complaint. Instead she always told us how good it sounded. (Even when at least some of the time it must have been just awful.) Same positive reaction to however we performed in the piano recitals in St. Joe. Encouragement goes a long way!

It also must have been a big task for her to monitor all those 30-minute sessions (via the white kitchen timer that sat atop the piano). From the practicer's perspective, that timer really moved slowly some days. As Patricia has experienced here, the performers aren't always enthused about putting in their daily half-hour sessions.

I guess the main point is that having nine kids take up music is something that doesn't just happen - it's nurtured. And Mom was the key driver on this. (Dad was a big supporter also, and also led by example via participation in the church choir. But Mom drove this on a day-to-day basis. And it's her birthday so I'm writing about her. Plus she plays the "oom pah" song on the piano, check out the video of a 2005 Arizona performance that at least our dog found inspirational.)



She is even out scuffling to sell tickets for the local community concert series, which you can read about here.

And look at the benefits of this effort. On top of all the enjoyable music over the early years, some of us are still performing in our communities (for example, Carol and Dolores do all sorts of things in their communities).

Even better, I have no doubt that her efforts are a contributing factor for the next generation. I don't think that I could list all the performers and what they can do. In my own house, all five of the kids played piano and performed in high school advanced chorus (with a boost of encouragement from their own mother); Chris and Paul Jr. are with me in the ASU Choral Union. The Cullen family members have been know to do all sorts of interesting things musically. Julia is into instrumental music. Etc., etc.

This is the kind of thing that a good Mom does.

Happy #79!

Weekend away (but not far)

Patricia and I have not had much success organizing little getaway weekends. But we finally made it last weekend. Drove down to Tucson on Friday morning and stayed two nights at the JW Marriott Starr Pass resort. This is a large place, just finished in 2004. We hadn't seen the property before and were pleasantly surprised with pretty much everything.

We had no activities planned, which was the point. Friday was rainy, Saturday - Sunday were spectacular. We watched some NCAA tournament games, and visited the "presidio" and "lost barrio" areas of Tucson. Those places are always fun to wander through.

We also ate a remarkable amount of really excellent food. The restaurants at the resort were delightful. Saturday dinner was at Primo, which you can read about here. The chef won some James Beard award and definitely can cook. Here's the description of my entree: sturgeon with carmelized cauliflower and eggplant with golden raisins, currants and capers in a white balsamic vinagraiette with crisp panelle, arugula and basil. How do you even dream up that combination? And what is panelle? The meal was wonderful. We sat on the patio looking at the moon and Orion, with the chef's herb garden right in front of us. Friday dinner at Signature was also excellent.

Patrick paid us a courtesy visit on Saturday, then we went to lunch on Sunday with he and pals at Rosa's, a Mexican restaurant a bit northwest of U of A (described here). He recommended the enchiladas, which was a fine recommendation indeed. It was a fun lunch. (If you think I'm fixated on the food, you're right. Haven't even talked about our Friday lunch at Barrio, one of Tucson's best downtown restaurants.)

One of many nice things about this resort is that you could sit outside for meals, and we did for breakfast, lunch, dinner, breakfast. With great views of downtown Tucson.

The place also had hiking trails right off property. This is in the immediate area of the Saguaro National Monument (you can see the effect in the photo). We hiked Saturday afternoon. The turn-around point was some stone house in the absolute middle of nowhere.

Fun.

Worth an occasional sniffle . . .

This photo was taken right outside my home office window . . . the fragrance from the citrus blossoms is really quite remarkable. And the weather permits open windows 24/7. So it's a wonderful spot from which to work. The citrus is about a week or 10 days behind its normal blossoming schedule.

Only downside with all this is that as the years go by, I'm starting to have a slight allergic reaction to some of the stuff that blooms this time of year. But this very minor inconvenience is well worth it.

A Nice Birthday Tradition

For many years now, Patricia has been kind enough to provide a home chef service to each birthday honoree at our house. Basically, you can order - and she will prepare - whatever dinner you want. Full menu. Within reason, of course.

This really enhances the birthday celebrations. And results in many, many hours of work.

While there have been some outliers over the years, the menus do tend to fall into a pattern. The kids have graduated from "corn flakes" chicken to more sophisticated (and difficult) dishes. Fettucini alfredo, pepperoni stuffed chicken, chocolate cheesecake, and beer/cheese soup are among the repeaters.

In my case, I've been ordering the same banana cream pie for many years. The kids didn't like it much way back when, but unfortunately their outlook has changed. This isn't any old banana cream pie - check out the ingredients (click to enlarge, from well-worn 1989 magazine), which include white chocolate, banana liqueur and creme de cacao. The crust is moreso a cookie than anything else. Best of all, leftovers from the pie, if there are any, taste even better the next morning with coffee.

As far as an entree, in the last few years I've been going with a marinated grilled pork loin. How can it be anything but awesome when the marinade includes Negro Modelo beer and serrano chiles? And it's served up with "nectarine and onion sauce" and grits! Our chef makes quite a few wonderful things but, trust me, this is #1.

So, thanks much to the chef for making all the birthdays special occasions. Six beneficiaries over 20+ years each adds up to a lot of birthday cooking. This is why you track down a good wife. (Among other things.)

P.S. By the way, this year's dinner beat all. And it was fun to have my sons around, with a few other distinguished visitors. As a bonus feature we were treated to a mighty entertaining 2-OT Suns victory over Dallas between dinner and dessert, described here.

A Photo I Like

During our visit to St. Joe a couple weeks ago, we saw a photo that I had forgotten about, but really like. At the top of this post is a cropped version 0f the photo showing my grandfather, Ernest J. Gales, with his dog "Joe Boy." (At bottom is the full photo plus the notations I put on the reverse side when discussing the photo with Ernest J. some 25-30 years ago.)

So this was taken sometime in 1915 or 1916. Everyone shown in the full photo, including the dog, appears to be in excellent spirits, and then some. It's interesting to see a photo from that time of the gravel road that became U.S. 169. The photographer (who was it anyway?) had expert timing to catch Ray Gales standing on his head (though Aloysius Gales appears to have been caught at a less flattering moment).

The dog that we had as kids in the 1960s was given the same name -- "Joe Boy" -- by Ernest J himself. I guess he took naming rights without paying a fee or probably even asking. I don't have a great photo of Joe Boy #2 at hand, though this 1965 photo - 50 years after Joe Boy #1 - gives a look at him. (Back row L-R me, Steve, Cecilia (in sweet hat), Ernest M; front row Barb, Charlie, Dolores.) Standing in front of the '63 Ford Country Sedan. Not sure why most of us appear outfitted in Sunday best, yet EMG is in business casual.

Anyway, Joe Boy #2 showed up from nowhere and was a fine dog for us for many years. Loved chasing cars.

The recycling of the Joe Boy name seemed to start a trend. Later there was a female dog named Max; its male successor was named (of course) Maximilian. The lack of originality hit bottom with two dogs named Schmutt 1 and Schmutt 2.

Anyway, mostly I like the top photo showing Ernest J and his friend, now 90+ years ago.

As always, click on photos to enlarge.

CPG = Homeowner (and Occupant)

Big news - Christopher moved into his house on Wednesday (February 28). And out of the apartment at Tatum south of 101 (which was actually a nice unit with great views from the third floor areas).

He and Jon were well organized for the move. The new house looked really good (first time I've seen it without the previous owner's kid stuff all over the place). Kitchen remodeling is great and ready to go, and the overall space allocation is just right.

Unfortunately I failed to get photos of the interior goodness and only snapped a few badly-lit "before" photos in the back yard. Which needs work, but is large and configured well.

Here's the location on a map (except their house is across the street to the north, and one house over to the east, from the Google arrow).