Hi Gary from Hartford
I am enjoying our e-friendship and all the similarities We share. We both were away this weekend. I was away from Thursday through Tuesday. You were away at a wedding. You are the wine bringer. People must look forward to seeing you come through the door. I bet over the years, you've developed a fine sense of wine.
I look over the selection of wine at the local package store and usually end up with Little Penguin Pinot Noir. It is very good....but I know there is better wine out there....because I've tasted it. The trouble with knowing what good wine tastes like, is...all the rest taste second class.
While you were at the wedding, I drove to Syracuse New York. It takes 6 hours with a few pit stops to let the dog out...and for me, too. My daughter and her family live there. The youngest one graduated from High School. His father put together a big picnic for the family. They invited everyone including the neighbors and old friends. Don put up a tent over the driveway. He cooked for days. There were too many choices to eat...in my opinion. Yet at the end of the picnic, food was mostly gone. There were 3 desserts and I would have opted for one...to name just one example. The ones that had the best time at the picnic were my dog, Captain Jack and Amanda's dog, Sadie. Both dogs were stationed under the picnic table, moching food without shame. Over 45 people indulged them. They were happy dogs
Most graduation ceremonies are pretty awful to sit through, although they are very exciting for the graduates. Donnie's wasn't too bad. The auditorium was air conditioned. The speakers spoke clearly and slow as to overcome the echo from bad acoustics. I was only tortured an hour and a half.
Members of the audience were a hoot to look at. People dressed in all sorts of outfits...from biker wear to dress up clothes. Little kids would not sit still. They kick the back of the seat in from of them. Nobody knows what decorum is.
After the ceremony...nearly deaf from the shouting when a graduate's name was announced....after the ceremony we met Donnie outside. Donnie is a new father. He is much too young for this, in my opinion. We know He will have a hard row to hoe with his daughter and her mother. At least He picked a nice lady with a good head on her shoulders. Both intend to continue their education...but I see it will be hard financially.
People greeted each other, many for the last time. I was disappointed to Learn that others are new parents, too.
On Monday, I met with 3 girlfriends I've known for decades. They are very dear to me. Gary, you said you have some friends you would give a kidney to. They are that dear to you. These ladies are just as special to me as your friends are to you. Ginny and I lived within 5 houses of each other when our children were growing up. We had coffee together in the afternoons. We picked strawberries and made strawberry lemon jam together. I met Helen and Judy at Friends Meeting. (Did I mention I was a Quaker?) We had a reunion in a restaurant and enjoyed lunch together...catching up on each other's news. Lunch went by way too quickly.
Judy had to see someone who was ill and Helen could not come with us, because she has arthritis in her feet. She walks with a cane. Ginny and I went to the Thornden Park Rose Garden which was just past its peak...but still a lovely walk. We walked and talked.
Ginny took me back to Beth's house so I could get my truck...but I could not get in the house to get my keys. ....so Ginny took me back to her place for another walk and talk around her house with her lovely garden. I made a mental note to myself to dig up a lot of flowers I've planted and replace them with shrubs so the landscape has more architecture to it. We had dinner together. Her husband, Frank, loves wood working. He has taken a table apart to reconfigure it. Don't ask me how He is doing it. He is remaking a cherry dining room table. Knowing Frank, it will be lovely.
I've figured out the common denominator connecting my friends: They are all peaceful people, socially aware and intellectuals. They are competent people, able to handle whatever life hands them. Don't I have good taste in friends?
The next day was a travel day back to Milford...laundry and mail...you know how it goes. There was a nice surprise waiting for me as I drove in the driveway: My next door neighbor had cut my grass for me. Captain Jack jumped out of the truck and ran to Butch. They are the best of friends. Sometimes, life is good.
I am enjoying our e-friendship and all the similarities We share. We both were away this weekend. I was away from Thursday through Tuesday. You were away at a wedding. You are the wine bringer. People must look forward to seeing you come through the door. I bet over the years, you've developed a fine sense of wine.
I look over the selection of wine at the local package store and usually end up with Little Penguin Pinot Noir. It is very good....but I know there is better wine out there....because I've tasted it. The trouble with knowing what good wine tastes like, is...all the rest taste second class.
While you were at the wedding, I drove to Syracuse New York. It takes 6 hours with a few pit stops to let the dog out...and for me, too. My daughter and her family live there. The youngest one graduated from High School. His father put together a big picnic for the family. They invited everyone including the neighbors and old friends. Don put up a tent over the driveway. He cooked for days. There were too many choices to eat...in my opinion. Yet at the end of the picnic, food was mostly gone. There were 3 desserts and I would have opted for one...to name just one example. The ones that had the best time at the picnic were my dog, Captain Jack and Amanda's dog, Sadie. Both dogs were stationed under the picnic table, moching food without shame. Over 45 people indulged them. They were happy dogs
Most graduation ceremonies are pretty awful to sit through, although they are very exciting for the graduates. Donnie's wasn't too bad. The auditorium was air conditioned. The speakers spoke clearly and slow as to overcome the echo from bad acoustics. I was only tortured an hour and a half.
Members of the audience were a hoot to look at. People dressed in all sorts of outfits...from biker wear to dress up clothes. Little kids would not sit still. They kick the back of the seat in from of them. Nobody knows what decorum is.
After the ceremony...nearly deaf from the shouting when a graduate's name was announced....after the ceremony we met Donnie outside. Donnie is a new father. He is much too young for this, in my opinion. We know He will have a hard row to hoe with his daughter and her mother. At least He picked a nice lady with a good head on her shoulders. Both intend to continue their education...but I see it will be hard financially.
People greeted each other, many for the last time. I was disappointed to Learn that others are new parents, too.
On Monday, I met with 3 girlfriends I've known for decades. They are very dear to me. Gary, you said you have some friends you would give a kidney to. They are that dear to you. These ladies are just as special to me as your friends are to you. Ginny and I lived within 5 houses of each other when our children were growing up. We had coffee together in the afternoons. We picked strawberries and made strawberry lemon jam together. I met Helen and Judy at Friends Meeting. (Did I mention I was a Quaker?) We had a reunion in a restaurant and enjoyed lunch together...catching up on each other's news. Lunch went by way too quickly.
Judy had to see someone who was ill and Helen could not come with us, because she has arthritis in her feet. She walks with a cane. Ginny and I went to the Thornden Park Rose Garden which was just past its peak...but still a lovely walk. We walked and talked.
Ginny took me back to Beth's house so I could get my truck...but I could not get in the house to get my keys. ....so Ginny took me back to her place for another walk and talk around her house with her lovely garden. I made a mental note to myself to dig up a lot of flowers I've planted and replace them with shrubs so the landscape has more architecture to it. We had dinner together. Her husband, Frank, loves wood working. He has taken a table apart to reconfigure it. Don't ask me how He is doing it. He is remaking a cherry dining room table. Knowing Frank, it will be lovely.
I've figured out the common denominator connecting my friends: They are all peaceful people, socially aware and intellectuals. They are competent people, able to handle whatever life hands them. Don't I have good taste in friends?
The next day was a travel day back to Milford...laundry and mail...you know how it goes. There was a nice surprise waiting for me as I drove in the driveway: My next door neighbor had cut my grass for me. Captain Jack jumped out of the truck and ran to Butch. They are the best of friends. Sometimes, life is good.
Labels: letter to Gary
posted by gardenbug at Saturday, July 02, 2011
4 Comments:
Hi Elle:
I'm enjoying our "e" exchanges. I'm somewhat of a data guy and have gone back on this years and last blog submissions. Your such a good writer. You convey a lot of emotion, perhaps, "heart" into your blog. I knew you had me when getting free alpaca manure seemed like a treat.
Families have so many twists and turns. You wrote about a family member struggling with the issue of having a DWI. My nephew has two DWI's and a myriad of other traffic violations coupled with misdemeanors of unruly behavior (when drunk). I tried to explain to my sister that climbing out of the hole that he has dug will be difficult, but not impossible. His temptation is to make easy money.
Thanks Elle for the invitation to your blog, I do appreciate it!
Hi Gary. Glad you came. Come back often and leave your comments. Gardenbug
Elle:
I love a nice robust red wine, usually a South American Merlot or in its absence an Australian red. I don't have an educated palette, I have a tendency to buy with whatever money I have in my pocket.
Whatever the cost of the wine, I enjoy it.
If you like Australian red, try Little Penguin.
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