Wonder Years with Chris and Wendy

 Our first visitor in August was our wonderful grandson Wesley. We had a great time going to the beach, staying on an airbnb boat, visiting the NC Zoo and playing in our local pool! It was a super week, even if he did beat our pants off in Monopoly!      Later in August, we had a super visit from Laila and her two girls, Katie and Livvy. We visited the children's museum in Burlington, a great place for families, went to our local parks and played in the pool. We also made pizzas together and had a wonderful visit to Dinner Bell Farm where Katie got to hold a chicken! And finally, we had a welcome visit from our friend Joanne. We found a new historical museum, nestled into a woodsy area in a somewhat rundown Victorian house, we learned more about the history of our county. We had to share Joanne's visit with our other Peace Corps friend, Bobbi and her fiancé Rod. We also got to meet, for the first time as adults, two of Bobbi's daughters and one granddaughter. Altogether, th

 We have been mostly home since mid-May, not counting a quick trip up to Baltimore to celebrate Lily's birthday (somehow, we did not get any pictures of her birthday celebration, except this one of us after our successful "Breakout" from the Submarine Escape Room in Towson.)   We also had a successful visit with good friends Laila, Katie and Livvy at the Waverly Library, visited with Margarita and her two wonderful kids and had a delicious Indian dinner with Leah and Anthony just before they headed north to a new adventure in Newport, RI.  Chris has been working for a few hours a week at a friend's organic farm. They plant seedlings, weed the gardens and now have been harvesting many, many, many vegetables. Of all the food we have had the privilege to share, we love the tomatoes best. Here is Farmer John with some nice fresh potatoes. Also pictured here are some Korean folk singers and dancers helping to celebrate the veterans of the Korean War as well as the strength

 On Wednesday, April 10th, after celebrating Wesley's 13th birthday & Evelyn's 91st and 10 days of traveling together, Wendy was more than ready to drop me off at BWI. My 10:30 flight got me non-stop to Denver around noon Mountain Time. My forever pal, Bill Veazie, picked me up and we were off to his home in Parker, CO, about a 45 minute drive from DEN. That afternoon we did two cycles on the Parker Incline, a set of 150 tall steps up a hill maybe 10 minutes from home. Just the way to shake off the forced confinement of a plane. And also a beginning to my acclimatization to Rocky Mountain altitude. That day we also visited one of Parker's great public rec centers...the one with a set of pools! I'd brought my Medicare Silver Sneaker's ID and was able to get a permanent ID which entitled me use all the services in town. That first evening we met Bill's camping/hiking friend Gordon for dinner near Denver University. Thursday I got out to swim laps and then used

In May Wendy went on her first ever Viking cruise. When telling people about the forthcoming cruise, several times, she was understood to say a Biking cruise. 14 days of biking up and down the shores of the Rhine, maybe that would be the vacation Chris would take! On the Viking Cruise, the ship did all the hard work! Wendy went with her former colleague and still friend, Kathy from Baltimore. Also on the cruise were two friends of Kathy's. A good time was had by all.  We started our trip in Paris, so we had to get a few shots of the icons of Paris.                We made a pilgrimage to Normandy, a heartbreaking visit to a place of glory and horror. Here we overlook the landing place at Omaha Beach and below is a fraction of the crosses at the American cemetery near the beaches.  And finally, we were on our way to the ship and off for our Viking adventure!     Most of our stops were in Germany. Here are a few of the outstanding scenes we saw in  the villages.    One of my favorite

April is a big birthday month for our family and we got to celebrate two of them. Wendy's mom turned an astounding 91 on April 3 and we treated her to a nice lunch with family and friends.     (Note the large bowl of ice cream, some say this is the secret to Mom's long life!)   We also got to see some of our grandnieces and new baby Miles!     All this fun was followed by a small snowstorm and then fog and clouds that prevented us from seeing the  full solar eclipse.        We also celebrated our grandson Wesley's 13th birthday with a trip to Medieval Times.  A Great and Royal time was had by all!   Other highlights from March and April were a visit from good friend, Marcy, former Peace Corps Volunteer and her husband, When we added Bobbi, it gave us four members of K-34 together again! And a good visit with friends, Ralph and Carol at their home in Baltimore.      A great start to spring 2024!  

  Best Books of 2023 FICTION In 2023, i read over 100 books, and many were very good. I tried to pick my top 10 each in fiction and nonfiction. This was much easier with the nonfiction, since I read mostly fiction. I also found, that like the Oscars, the most recently read books were easier to pick as favorites as they were more clearly on my mind. While I love Limberlost, I did wonder if it would have made the top ten if I read it last January instead of in December. Please let me know what some of your faves were in 2023, they may make my 2024 list.                                   Limberlost by Robbie Arnott Set in southern Australia, Limberlost tells the story of Ned, a teenager living on an orchard with his father and older sister during WWII, as they await news of the two older brothers who have been called up to war. Ned wants to work to buy a boat, but he doesn’t want others to know of his desire to buy a boat. The writing is idyllic and describes