yellow

Springtime in the desert.  Here are backyard palo verdes in bloom, complete with extensive blossom-drop.  Yellow above, yellow below, backlighting.

Sunday 22 April 2018

newly-minted citizens of Luxembourg

Not sure who's primarily responsible - but via several of my sisters, we are following up on an opportunity to acquire dual citizenship status in Luxembourg.  They have managed their way through the various details involved in establishing a link to an ancestor resident in Luxembourg prior to the prescribed 19th century date.  We (so far me, Nicole, Patrick) are piggybacking onto their efforts.

It's official!

One of the requirements:  a visit to Luxembourg.  EMG, Barb, Carol and Therese completed this requirement in April 2018.  Text messages from Europe indicate, and subsequent phone calls confirm, that this was a pretty wonderful trip.  Sounded like they encountered the finest hospitality wherever they turned (no surprise there).

Celebratory meal with Ruiz/Lanners group . . . 

. . . dining with Mich Lanners.

Anyway, that group of four is pretty well finished with the process.  Our group is arcing toward a 2019 visit. Perhaps an EU passport will follow?

A shame that Mom and Claude Lanners weren't there to join in.

Only one way to properly celebrate the
occasion - select the finest Gales wine.

Meghan & Scott wedding/weekend

Friday 13 April - just five days after wrapping up the Jon/Jaz wedding weekend, we all (except Romie-minder Nedda) gathered in Santa Barbara for Scott Turner - Meghan Stern wedding. Nicole & POC and Chris & Dharma are on our flight; at airport we run into lawyers from Nedda's new firm plus Melaine and Daniel.  Lunch at a public market in downtown Santa Barbara.  PJ and I join up with the group involved in the rehearsal (PJ being a reader) - lovely church up in the hills.  After, we meet up with a bunch of wedding folk at a bar, followed by the rehearsal dinner (at Santa Barbara Wine Collective) - nice event.  Back to hotel for chatting etc. 

Rehearsal; interior of 1930s church

Saturday 14 April - a group of us wander around looking for breakfast and end up having a fine if gluten-free time of it - lovely morning.  The ladies go do hair-stuff; the gentlemen gather for light lunch back at the public market, which fits the bill.  We prep and jump on a bus for the wedding ceremony - all quite lovely - then there is some time to kill prior to the reception, which is accomplished by a bus tour down to the beach and around (and around) downtown - but this is quite fun as it's a good crew and definitely in the mood. 

Bus ride with marachas and hydration options.

Bus people

Outdoor reception venue and it really is quite excellent (including, surprisingly, the meal) - very nice speeches, lotsa dancing.  Walk over to the "Wildcat" lounge for post-reception ear-splitting fun; then we walk back to the hotel.  Some late-night dining in our room and that's it.

With the mother-of-the-bride.

Sunday 15 April - a nice brunch is hosted down in the pool area - this was one of the better opportunities of the weekend to just sit around and talk (which was the idea).  Kerry & Luis with early departure time, unfortunately; also PJr.  Later the rest of us walk down pretty much all the way to the water; our group looking for lunch; enjoyed a tapas place; then it was back to the airport.

Fun to be together; nice to show up for the Sterns after the way they supported the weddings in our family; everything was so well arranged; nice.

Jon & Jazmin wedding/weekend

Back seat in the Uber.  Suit
coat shade screen helps.

Had a fine weekend with everybody in town (except Luis the Mae-minder).  Kerry arrived evening of Thursday 5 April and we had dinner at Richardson's; Patrick & Shane arrived Friday 6 April - which was the wedding day for Jon & Jazmin.  Lunch at Fuego; then we get organized for the wedding; most of us meet up at 706 for an Uber ride all the way out to Mesa - which ride turned out to have non-functional A/C on a really warm afternoon - we survive and refresh at Oro Brewing right across the street from the wedding venue.

Wedding was rather small in numbers but very fun - a really good crew - our group plus the ASU crowd responsible for much of the evening's momentum.  Matt gave a funny speech.  After everything wraps up there is another Uber back to 706, where we play Five Crowns; home at 3 a.m.

Saturday 7 April - a group of us meet for late breakfast at Essence; the main event for the day is a get-together at Chris & Dharma's place.  Lots of badminton; a fair amount of beer tasting (successful as inventory was assembled by experts); great food; lots of chatting all night.  On Sunday - late breakfast via 32 Shea and then folks start peeling off.  And I'd say all of us were rather tired after all the nonstop action - fun.

OK we didn't have any time to explore in depth, but Oro (Mesa) seems promising.

Reception just getting started.

Better behaved group (up to this point)

Reception unfolds.

Chris & Dharma with newlyweds.

Serious work by Saturday food prep crew.

Saturday crew (most of it)

Opening Day 2018

29 March 2018:  D'backs open their 20th anniversary season and we were glad to see baseball return.

Traditional pre-game stop - 706 ideal for this kind of thing.

POC had four tickets for us - NOC, CPG, PJ and me were the lucky recipients.  Perfect weather; a short reception out on the 706 patio; and just as with our most recent (and highly enjoyable) trip to the stadium, D'backs beat Colorado.

Perfect night outside the ballpark.

Things also nice inside the ballpark.

St. Joe visit

PJ and I visited EMG, with an overnight in Minnesota.  Main purpose of trip:  Knights of Columbus Father-Son Banquet.  Here's what happened:

Wednesday 14 March - easy flight; we swing by our old (c. 1983-1986) place (2498 E. Cohansey, Roseville); then up to Steve & Cecilia's place in New Brighton.  Fun as always - some interesting beers (especially the one from Decorah(!)), pizza, good stuff all around.  Angie and her three kids were there, also Mark & Therese.  Birthday singing for Steve and me.  Snow on the ground!

We didn't care much for the new paint job at the Cohansey house.  At bottom
seems to be the only photographic evidence of our time in New Brighton. 

Thursday 15 March - after scraping a touch of ice off the windshield - rather a throwback experience - we go to breakfast with Steve & Cecilia at a nearby Byerley's - this was fun.  Onto St. Joe.  First we stop in Algona for groceries.  Charlie & Mark already in St. Joe.  EMG has a pretty bad cold - unfortunate timing but what can we do!? - main goal is for him to get over the cold and be ready for upcoming international travels.  The five of us (to a lesser extent EMG, who is doing some resting) start watching NCAA first-round tournament games - which turned out to be an excellent diversion throughout the weekend given EMG not feeling so great during those first days, and the weather not being so great either.  We walk up to the cemetery and visit the family graves and wander generally. 

Pictorial highlights from Father-Son Banquet (Thursday).  Missing EMG!

Steve & Nick arrive.  We leave PJ and EMG at the house; the rest of us proceed to Mass and the Father-Son Banquet - held in the gym just like in the old days.  I've not attended since March 1974; I'd think that the entire group of EMG-plus-three-sons hadn't attended since March 1971 (and well, we still haven't!)  Nice turnout for the dinner - fun as always to catch up and chat with various - salisbury steak for the meal (just like always!) - some local troupe of unicylists-jugglers provided the entertainment, we liked the whole experience - except for EMG absence.  Back to the house for chatter, beers, basketball, goodbye to Steve & Nick.  PJ and I are staying at the AmericInn.

Post-banquet photo that includes our reason for being there! (Thursday)

Friday 16 March - After breakfast we head straight to the Capesius seed shed - Nick, Bill, Chris, a few others show up including Peter Erpelding; Steve arrives from Mason City; I had requested some Pioneer paring knives and Chris comes through; also plenty of coffee and conversation, including tales of EMG (with Fr. Kollasch in tow) rounding up a coyote with his pick-up at rather high speeds, at least for driving over farmed ground.  Next stop:  Kossuth County courthouse, where we pick up paperwork in support of Luxembourg citizenship. 

We learn that oven-door-closed-via
baseball-bat technique works as well as ever. (Friday)

Dolores arrives in St. Joe.  Lunch, chat, basketball in St. Joe.  Weather deteriorating; Dolores & Steve leave in late afternoon.  Basketball and lots-of-euchre ensues; this is followed by pinochle as Mark takes a break.  We considered going to a fish fry but passed in view of dicey weather and excellent leftovers.  More cards and basketball as the evening progresses - all of this ended up being a fun experience for our little group-of-four (Charlie, Mark, PJ, me).  Icy car, icy (though fine) road conditions back to Algona.  EMG still not feeling so great though a bit better.

A dad and four kids (photo taken Friday).

Saturday 17 March - after breakfast we meet up with Kathy and Mary Lou at the Perky Parrot; Charlie and Mark join; it's fun to chat with them, we need to do it more regularly.  Down to St. Joe for lunch with EMG, who now is noticeably better; but not enough to mix in with the care facility folks in Algona - which is the next stop for the group-of-four. 

Coffee stop at Perky Parrott with Kathy and Mary Lou.  (Saturday)

But first an interesting diversion - Charlie (driving minivan) is struck by a guileless driver as we drive through an unmarked Algona intersection.  So we lose a little time with the local police (who know Judge Gales, among others). 

Drama free traffic episode; the
minivan took a minor hit quite nicely.
(Saturday)

Lovely visit with Caroline - she's switched locations and has had a rough year, but all in all doing pretty well - her CO granddaughters were there so caught up with them.  Then we visited Marguerite at a different facility - she is unhappy with being there, not sure what's up.  Back to St. Joe for more and more basketball and cards; EMG has improved to where he can offer some advice and sit in for a few hands (where he went alone mostly, with pretty good success).  Pork loin supper prepared by PJ utilizing Capesius-supplied meat - this was quite successful.  As the evening proceeds Beth checks in by phone from PA - for some reason this was highly entertaining if/because largely nonsensical - eventually we finish watching/playing and head back to Algona. 

Sunday 18 March  - check out of hotel; we all attend Mass in Livermore (including EMG, who is now quite a bit better); coffee and rolls in church basement (lots of chatting with EMG and Eugene Mertz); then the five of us (Charlie driving, carefully, in his minivan) take a pleasant road trip around the home place, Livermore, the St. Joe hill farm and adjacent countryside, etc. After that - it's pretty much lunch, pack, leave.

CCG at our card-playing post.  Seating (and b-ball viewing access) determined by draw
of the cards (CCG lost the draw).  Note necessity to prepare hand-drawn queen of diamonds.

Our usual fine visit with Caroline. (Saturday)

While we were disappointed that EMG wasn't at top strength throughout - otherwise the trip couldn't have been nicer.  It was great that the local siblings made the effort to be available in those early days; we got to catch up with the Capesius group and four aunts; and our little core group in St. Joe had a fine time of it whiling away a few days there - these are good experiences.

I rather like this picture taken by PJ from the road . . . a dreary March day in northern Iowa
just before spring sets in . . . ruts somewhat mimic the lines of the main tree . . . (Sunday)

We had a fine time with our airport delay (Sunday)

Sabino Canyon (Tucson)

PJ and I had a shorter-than-expected stay in Tucson at the new Marriott Hotel (15-16 February).  Much enjoyed meals at Penca; also enjoyed our usual Tubac wanderings (including quite a fine lunch at Elvira's).

Also had a chance to explore Sabino Canyon a bit - clearly it deserves more of our attention.  But a challenge on this trip:  lots of rain limited our range.  Here's my little friend undeterred by a rather damp bridge:

via GIPHY

Farther into the canyon it looked like this:

via GIPHY

Penca was pretty wonderful.

Virginia visit

PJ and I traveled to Virginia for a January week, and had our typical ridiculously fine time.

via GIPHY

Some highlights:

Picking up Mae, and related adventures - this was a fine trip-within-a-trip - our DC flight landed early evening on Friday 12 January; K&L picked us up at the airport; we head directly to Richmond for a sleepover as part of a dog-nabbing expedition. K drives us through pretty much steady-driving rain (though temps are rather warm).  Richmond may look a bit the worse for wear, but we definitely can see that it would be a worthwhile place for a longer visit.  We check in - "The Graduate Hotel" - nice, definitely not a chain.  K&L had reserved a table at a delightful little restaurant that was still serving dinner as we near 11p ("Saison") - fits the bill perfectly  - among other treats, we are a fan of beers from a local brewery named "The Veil," and we (wisely, as it turns out) make a note of the place.  After:  nobody wanted a pillow fight so we just went to bed.

Perly's breakfast - yes.

Breakfast on Saturday (13 January) is at Perly's - downtown delicatessen recommended by Tom/Kellen - it was wonderful.  And the portions were immense, which turned out to be a good thing since we didn't really eat again for say 12 hours. Then we hit the road for the breeder's place in Spring Hope, North Carolina.

Puppy selection successfully completed.

PJ and I were included in the puppy-pickup by pure coincidence, but it sure was fun.  Have never driven through these parts, except perhaps as part of long-forgotten Glee Club touring.  So that was neat.  Have never seen a puppy breeding place - much larger than we expected (and than the website probably led one to expect) - but seems like they have things pretty well in hand.  Be that as it may - the important thing was to FIND THE RIGHT PUPPY.  There were two from which to choose - helpfully marked with a dab of blue and pink paint, respectively - Blue had some charms and started strong in the interview process; but soon was outstripped by Pinkie, who featured a floppy right ear and a rather delightful little personality. In the end, the choice was pretty easy - Pinkie was sent off to the clean-up zone, Blue was relegated to the next-in-line dog-chooser (a kindly lady with whom K&L exchanged digits so that the sisters could remain in touch), K&L did some adoption business, and "Mae Westie" (fka Pinkie) was officially theirs!

Quick clean-up of Pinkie; shortly followed by formal introduction of Mae Westie.

OK now we have a long drive home.  Stopped at Starbucks for caffeine, and for MW to do some business.  We received a free slushy/smoothy type drink that looked promising but was immediately dumped on the floor of the car between the seats (sad sad). MW handled the car ride well, as did each of the adults. To keep up our strength we pull off in Richmond and visit The Veil. Things are different with new-pup in tow, and PJ volunteered to wait in the car with MW; they seemed to get along famously.  K&L and me are pretty happy with what The Veil is doing.

Road warriors.

Then we finish the road trip, order in some food, try to figure out MW's sleep arrangements, play a bunch of Five Crowns, and pretty much enjoy recapping a really-really fun trip-within-a-trip.

Seeing area friends - PJ and I always enjoy seeing K&L's fine DC-area friends - on this visit, this happened primarily on Sunday evening.  The usual suspects showed up in force and ready for fun; all met and played with MW; lots of chatter; interesting beers; we ordered in pizza; semi-monitored NFL playoff games (featuring Mike/Ally/Palmer departing moments before a miracle Vikings finish); followed by Five Crowns (me benefiting from Kellen's inadvertent largess); and that was pretty much it for a fine evening.

With Mike, Ally, Palmer

Late-night Five Crowns with this crew.

Pedro and Maga happened to be in town when we were.  And we took advantage by fitting in two get-togethers.  Item 1:  the six of us gathered for dinner at Le Diplomate on Monday evening - great food (in the same booth where we dined back in October); great company.  Item 2:  we (with MW in tow) drove out to the Rossello homestead for dinner on Wednesday evening.  Manny & Kristen happened to be in town.  As you might imagine, this grouping made for a fine/fun evening.  Maga's cooking was pretty wonderful.  Somehow we failed to take photos (or I failed to collect them).  What would have been even more valuable:  video, even audio, of Luis's persistent sniper-ish commentary at the dinner table - not sure I've heard him funnier, which is saying something.  We suspect Manny's influence was partly to blame (or credit)?

Lots of this kind of action by
our intrepid new owners.

Doggie management.  Getting everything lined up with the new pup was a major activity of the week (I contributed little value).  Constant "walk the dog" trips to the backyard by K&L; as temperatures plummeted, this was impressively responsible behavior. (OK we also had to clean up messes occasionally, though they were rather small messes.)  Trips to the vet (where MW was appropirately fawned over, I'm told) and the trainer; visits from the dog walkers; testing food, toys, sleep patterns and location (downstairs?  nope, MBR), etc. They definitely found a nice/cute pooch.

Hanging out at the house. We did this a lot, due to MW and the weather - and we enjoyed it a lot.  K&L house is cozy; our downstairs quarters are ideal; I had a fair amount of work left over from recent transactions, and it was pleasant to sit in that well-lit kitchen area and kind of work but also keep an eye on everything.  Many Five Crowns games.  Consistently good food & beers.  Unfailingly pleasant.

Westover is a fine neighborhood place.

Puppy scenes.  I'd never been around a pooch this teensie.

Neighborhood stuff.  Notwithstanding prior paragraph, we did get to most of the local favorites - Peruvian chicken; Lyon Hall lunch with K; Westover for fine beers and those glorious pulled pork nachos; etc.

My assistant.

Office visit.  We also stopped by K's office on Thursday - it was nice to see with our own eyes the high regard in which she is held, and how warmly folks interact with her.  Difficult line - to be professionally successful/respected yet likable on a personal level - not surprisingly, she seems to be finding it.  We are proud.

The week absolutely flew by.  It was kind of sad to say goodbye after being together pretty regularly the past few months, and with a few months ahead prior to the next flurry of visits.  But it's a lucky thing to feel that way.

Until next time (airport drop) . . . 

EMG turns 89

For whatever reason I haven't greeted my dad with an online "happy birthday" here since he turned 8-5 in 2014 . . . well, he's turning 8-9 this year - so I think it's time for a fresh birthday greeting.

We're delighted that he continues going strong . . . I'd say that the EMG "year 8-8" highlight for we here in Arizona was that he traveled out here for both of the 2017 weddings.  Pretty much the only representative of that generation, and it's just important, and a blessing, to have him in attendance.

And there are photos to prove it (a few included here). 

It's a lucky thing to have a great father.  Happy Birthday, Dad!

I much like this photo of EMG alongside  Chris & Dharma - EMG wearing
the suit and tie in which he was married on 19 February 1952.  The photographer 
(Patrick) holds the 1952 wedding portrait in the foreground.  
And yes we missed having mom here.

Grandparent - and godfather - for Kerry; with godmother Carol.

The next-gen folks enjoyed hanging out with EMG at both weddings; this is taken just before
he headed to the airport (complete with Floppy-wave send-off) following C&D wedding in November.

At both weddings, EMG led those present in saying grace before dinner (at the wedding reception for Kerry & Luis; at the rehearsal dinner for Dharma & Chris).  As I understand it, the current formulation goes back around 100 years and trust me - when I hear it, I'm hearing those in the room plus voices of Ernest J and Veronica; Mike & Minnie; my mom; etc.  Audio-challenged in the version below, but I'm grateful Patrick caught it.

year-end 2017

random T'giving day scenes

2017 Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year's cycle was a fun follow-on to the year's full calendar.

ASU tailgating (T'giving weekend)

With all the travels earlier in the year, there were less days during the holidays when we all were together in Arizona.  A plus:  Sreedhar and Janu were still in Arizona to help us observe Thanksgiving.

Sreedhar took the lead in preparing a pretty amazing meal - bittersweet to be using
recipes from his wife - PJ assists with dessert - this was a wonderful evening (2 December 2017)

PJ's handiwork looks as good as ever

Ernest Gales holding Roman Gales - nice!  Christmas Day.  Creche in background.

Closing out a wonderful 2017 and/or welcoming 2018.