News For and From Our Family
August 2010 News
Mom and Dad .jpg)
Sunday morning we all had brunch at The Inn At Cedar Crossing (Sean and Angi’s treat) and Neill’s crew headed for home. Tuesday afternoon Angi, Sean and Sadie paid us a visit before heading home.
This month we also spent some time with the elusive Nevitts. Mike called us on the 6th and proposed supper at Dal Santos for the next evening. Unfortunately Mike became too ill to attend but we had the company of Jean, her daughter Carol Machek and Carol’s grandson Drew, plus our own Doug.
On the 24th we took Mike and Jean to Trio. Turned out they had been there before. Nice food but very noisy. Later that week we had cocktails and wine at the Nevitts and met Mike’s niece Colleen and her husband Ken, Louisville residents interested in buying Door county property for a summer home. After which we had supper at Dal Santos where Mike had thoughtfully reserved mussels for the mussel lovers in our group.
When Joe was here in June, he added a password to our router signal so that unauthorized people could not tap in. This month neighbor Ann O’Brien was here with her family. Her son Scott who cut down and removed several dead trees for us asked for the password. Ann has been a good, friendly neighbor so it’s difficult to refuse so I gave Scott the password as I remembered it. Didn’t work. Called Joe; he remembered it the same way. Still doesn’t work. Problem is if our grandchildren come with their own computers, they will be unable to use the router signal unless we find the password that works.
Doug and Jean were up for the first and third weekends. On the 20th we drove to their house in a very heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds. When we got there, Doug told us that a heavy wind had broken the top 20 feet off a massive tree close to the house; it had miraculously fallen in a way that did not damage the house. When we got home, we discovered that after many months of not leaking, the front window was again leaking copiously.
The first three workdays of the month I helped clean up the library basement after the annual book sale. A splendid success: a 30% increase over last year’s sale!
Each year our neighbors, the De Vries, host a book exchange party. It’s an elaborate affair, catered drinks and hors d’ouvres, by invitation but bring any visitors or guests. Last year we went with Mark and Parker. Both last year and this year it was held in an art gallery south of Egg Harbor. This year it was on a Wednesday afternoon when Margaret plays bridge regularly in Ellison Bay so we went separately. Many invitees are Glidden Drive residents so it’s like old home week. Bring as many or as few books as you like, take as many as you want. What remains is donated to the library book sale.
The only movie we saw this month was “Feed the
Fish” a film made in Door County. Low key, no crime, no murders; a
California writer comes to Door County with a friend from Ellison Bay to attend
the Polar Bear Plunge; he falls in love with the sheriff’s daughter. The
sheriff is Tony Shalub who played Monk in the TV series; her grandfather is
Barry Corbin who played Maurice Minnifield in the Northern Exposure TV series.
We found it very enjoyable as must many of Door County residents because it’s
still playing and still crowded after many weeks. Because of its regional
appeal, you may never have a chance to see it. Too bad.
Mark called to tell us the city is renovating the firehouse he lives in and he and Parker will be visiting us in December because that when the work will be started on his space. They have to move out while the work is being done so they will spend that time with us.
Jean and Doug
Cont’d
On the 1st,
later in the afternoon, after the boys went home with Bek and Pat, Jean and I
went to have a light dinner at Maya del Sol. They have a very nice outdoor patio
behind this Latin Oak Park restaurant. Afterwards we walked over to Scoville
Square at the corner of Lake and Oak Park Avenues to listen to the band Guitarra
Azul. www.guitarraazul.com
We heard this group once
before 2 years ago and they are really so good it is amazing. They play a
mixture of Spanish/ Flamenco/ Latin music with 3 guitarists and 3
percussionists. Stefano, their lead guitarist, is great. We sat in the park for
2 hours and listened to this excellent band as a group of little girls danced
and swayed in front of the stage.
On the 6rh I drove up to the
lake house by myself. While Jean is really busy with work, I am not. I spent
parts of the weekend fighting the endless battle against moss and algae that
love the moist dense woods of northern Wisconsin. Power washing and touch up
staining. I alternated between work and reading down on the beach.
It was beautiful weather until
Saturday night. I went over to mom and dad’s to visit and then the 3 of us were
joined by Jean Nevitt, Carol and her nephew Drew for dinner at Del Santos. No
mussels as I predicted after a phone call. As we were leaving the restaurant,
lighting was filling the western sky. At the same time, over the bay to the east
there were fireworks that could be seen off in the distance down 3rd
Avenue. I stopped to watch them for a few minutes along the bay. As I passed
over the main bridge the fireworks erupted in a brief but splendid finale.
That night there was a huge
rain storm that by the morning had dissipated. I left for Chicago mid morning.
Meanwhile the weather in Chicago was quite hot and humid through most of the
weekend as well as the month.
The next Friday we had our
friends, Gail, Sheldon, Helen and Tom over for dinner. We sat out in the garden
until the mosquitoes drove us in at dusk. After dinner we played a game of
Trivial Pursuit on the screened porch as a thunder storm raged outside. While
the boys often times win, this game came to a draw after hours of fruitless
attempts to win and we all grew tired.
Jean and I began the rebuild
of the basement damaged by the July flood using Eddie and his Mexican crew.
Since he is less expensive than most contractors, we are using the insurance
proceeds to make improvements like adding in wall speakers and building a mantel
around the fire place (which we have not used in 12 years).
Bek stopped by with the boys
on Saturday and they played in the yard for a while. In the kitchen Finn wanted
a treat, jelly bellies. Jack took gummie life savers. Having shared a gummie,
Jack asked Finn for a jelly belly, of which Finn still held 3 in his little paw.
As Jack stood there with his hand out, Finn looked at Jack and without a word
shoved the candy into his mouth and began to chew as quickly as he could.
Jason and Stacey returned from
Greece on August 17th having spent
a week’s honeymoon in Italy and the rest of the time in Greece. Six weeks in
Europe, ahh the tough life of a teacher….
On the 20th we returned to the
Lake house. Jean was not going to come due to work but at the last minute
changed her mind. We invited Mom and Dad over for dinner. As we were preparing
dinner Friday night, storm clouds filled the skies. All at once it let loose
with a terrible wind micro burst. As we looked out toward the lake, the trees
seemed to bend over and, as we watched, almost in slow motion a tree fell past
first the upper and then the lower story window. Somehow this huge maple tree
landed 12” from the house without breaking any windows, walls, roof shingles or
anything else. It was amazing.
As the four of us later ate
dinner with the storm still going outside, the electricity went off and we
finished the meal under candle light. The electricity was out for about an hour,
coming on shortly after mom and dad left to go home.
The next morning I went out to
trim the branches off the fallen tree, many of which were leaning against the
house. It was truly luck that the tree did not fall just a few degrees further
to the northwest. The house would have been crushed as there is just a triple
stud at that glass corner.
Work for me continues very
slow while Jean is in the midst of a new doctor and changing over to electronic
records. I have enclosed a photo of part of the mezzanine designed at Goose
Island Brewery.
I am reading a book ‘City of
the Century’ about the history of Chicago. Fascinating. At the time the location
of Chicago was discovered, it was a swampy area sitting on the edge of a vast
prairie. But the explorers knew it was a location with good proximity to the
Mississippi river at the foot of an inland sea. That was 1670. 150 years later,
climbing a tree, Hubbard, one of the first settlers, looked out over that
prairie. On the horizon to the west he could see the tree bordered Des Plaines.
For those of you forgetting your Chicago geography, that is about 10 miles! He
could see that far across the vast waving prairie grasses! That was 1818. 150
years after that the prairie grasses are gone and you are lucky if from a tree
you can see 1 block. The convergence of a canal, the lake and the railroads
built Chicago into the city it is today.
On the 28th
Jas and Stacey came over with pizza and we talked about their trip and school
(which has started). We looked at their 1400 wedding photos that are on a disk.
The month ended hot, much as it had been for the entire month.
Photos are here