A Restful Night At Home

Tonight we shared a wonderful meal of Los Nogales-style Fajitas. Let me explain. Since working with my cousin and her husband at Affordable American Insurance, we have discovered a wonderful little Mom-and-Pop Mexican restaurant, Los Nogales, which I call the best Mexican food in Denver (well, it's the best I've ever tasted!).

Anyway, we've been there many times, and most recently we went on a fact-finding dinner (actually, Kathy, Pam, and Jill were fact finding; I was just enjoying the food). The gourmet cooks in our home (that does not include moi) were researching how to make these delicious fajitas. Tonight we enjoyed the fruits of their research. Here's a picture of the finished product, fajitas, black-bean salsa, tomato-avocado-salsamole, and multi-grain tortillas.

Here are a couple of views from the kitchen.

For some years now, we have made every effort to set aside Friday night as a time to rejoice together in the evening meal, remembering the completion of the work of creation and savoring a time to be together and to invite others to join us in this celebration. We have learned from our Jewish friends the joy of the seventh day, the time to remember the God of creation and this marvelous day. Although we do not have a complete understanding of it, our little grasp of it has greatly enriched our lives. We eat together, light some candles, bless God for the fruit of the vine and the bringing forth of bread from the earth, and we bless one another. One night and day of the week set aside especially to bless God and one another. What a concept! How did we miss it?

Just the Two of Us

On Saturday evening at the Reunion, someone (I think I heard it was Em) had the wonderful idea to put pictures from old Reunions around on the tables. It was great fun, and we came across this picture, which I fell in love with. This was after the Navy forced all of its facially hirsute members to become less so! Many of you have never seen me whiskerless. But enough about me. What do you think about my girl?!

Central City Opera Weekend 2007 and The Best B&B in the West

This weekend Kathy and I celebrated our fifth annual Central City Opera Weekend, staying at our favorite Bed & Breakfast, Chase Creek Inn in Blackhawk, Colorado (see link below). Central City and Blackhawk are two historic Colorado cities that are, unfortunately, now known mostly because of legalized gambling and the influx of casinos. This is unfortunate because their history is very rich and interesting. Additionally, the Central City Opera, in its 75th year, provides excellent operatic entertainment every July and August, high in the Rocky Mountains.



The Central City Opera House, built in 1878, was reopened in 1932 by the Central City Opera House Association, and has been in operation ever since. Here's a picture of the historic building. Check out their website here: http://www.centralcityopera.org/

A view down the street running by the Opera House. The historic St. James Methodist church (oldest church in Colorado) is on the left (but unfortunately covered by the huge pine tree!).

Here's Kathy in the historic Teller House Hotel (next door to the Opera House). It is now a museum, not an operating hotel, but they do have a bar and a restaurant operation out of the Teller House during Opera season. In fact, we had a fine dinner here with our friends, Jim and Sue, on Saturday evening, between operas.






This year we were again blessed to enjoy our opera weekend with our dear friends, Jim and Sue. Here is a picture of the four of us out front of the most peaceful, wonderful Bed & Breakfast we have discovered, the Chase Creek Inn.







Here's a view of the B&B from above.
















Kathy and Sue relax on the porch. The rocking chairs, gentle breeze, and the sound of the babbling brook make this a very relaxing area. Also, chipmunks and squirrels cavort on the hill behind the house, and hummingbirds visit the feeder provided for them.


















The hot tub is one of the attractions that keep us coming back to Chase Creek Inn year after year.


















Hal and Karen are the proprietors of the Chase Creek Inn B&B. They are a delightful, hospitable couple (and Karen's gourmet breakfasts are par excellence!). For further details, check out their website here: http://chasecreekinn.com/index.html

Boulder Shakespeare Festival

Some years ago (1999, I believe) we took some friends to the Boulder Shakespeare Festival on the campus of the University of Colorado, Boulder, to see the Bard's Comedy of Errors. It took us eight years to get back, but last night we attended with four good friends. Kathy had decided to get tickets for my birthday, and our friends were able to join us. It was a most wonderful celebration.

We started the evening at my favorite Italian restaurant, Laudisio's. I had discovered this Boulder eatery a couple of years ago because of their acclaimed specialty, Buffalo Carpaccio. I often stop in for some appetizers when in Boulder. After a lovely dinner, we drove to the CU campus, which is just around the corner from Laudisio's, to watch the play "The Servant of Two Masters," by an 18th century Italian playwright by the name of Carlo Goldoni. (Yes, I know, we went to the Shakespeare Festival and didn't see Shakespeare! We had already seen the three Shakespeare productions in other places, and anyway, this was in the style of a Shakespeare comedy.) It was a comedic romp, a madcap farce, with a lot of physical humor, mistaken identity, and funny swipes at current politics and popular culture. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The production was in an outdoor venue, and there was a nice breeze and a noticeable absence of mosquitos!

All in all, it was a memorable birthday celebration, and I thought I would share it with all of you. By the way, we did have our camera with us last night, but had no time to snap pictures of the group (and we were forbidden from photographing the performance), so I have included a picture of Will himself on the program cover and a shot (from the program) of the theater with the Rocky Mountains in the background.

For more information about the Boulder Shakespeare Festival, check out this link.

Independence Day 2007

Our classical station was playing American music and quoting American writers and speakers all day today. One of the highlights was James Earl Jones narrating Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait, one of my favorites. It struck me that the 16th President's words hold some relevancy to our predicament today. With these words of Abraham Lincoln, I wish all of us a meaningful Independence Day, as we celebrate the birth of our nation. May it remain alive and vibrant for years to come.

From Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait
QUOTE
"Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history."
That is what he said. That is what Abraham Lincoln said.
"Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility." [Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862]
He was born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, and lived in Illinois. And this is what he said. This is what Abe Lincoln said.
"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we will save our country." [Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862]
When standing erect he was six feet four inches tall, and this is what he said.
He said: "It is the eternal struggle between two principles, right and wrong, throughout the world. It is the same spirit that says 'you toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation, and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle." [Lincoln-Douglas debates, 15 October 1858]
Lincoln was a quiet man. Abe Lincoln was a quiet and a melancholy man. But when he spoke of democracy, this is what he said.
He said: "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."
Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of these United States, is everlasting in the memory of his countrymen. For on the battleground at Gettysburg, this is what he said:
He said: "That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
ENDQUOTE

Ashland, Ohio -- Someplace Special

I am totally ripping off my daughter's blog post (like that lingo? Totally!).

Bonnie took some great pictures of the three grandchildren near my family's home in Mifflin Township and a classic view of the water tower on Clermont Avenue that has been there as long as I can remember but was recently painted with the slogan "Someplace Special."

Ashland, Ohio, really is someplace special, and there are a lot of special people there, who touched my life deeply, not only my family but many friends from my life before the Navy. Although I may never live in this special place again, I'll never forget or regret growing up there.

These are our "something special" grandchildren, Jono and Alia, and Aidan, during their road trip to see Grandma.

Above are Aidan, Alia, and Jono on the road in front of Grandma's house. (When I was growing up, this was a dirt road.)

We end this travel-blog with the grandkids walking hand in hand down a country lane in Mifflin Township, Ashland, Ohio, in the good old USA.

My children never really had a place on earth to look back on as the place they grew up. They grew up in Spain, Italy, Maryland, Canada, and Japan. All of those places hold a few of their childhood memories, but ultimately home was wherever the family was. They tell me that was okay. For me it was the same growing up. My home was always where my family was. It just so happened that my family was always in the same place -- and that was okay, too.

Here's a link to a fascinating site put together by the father of one of my good friends from high school: Click here: Ashland County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society

Estes Park Wool Market

Last weekend, Kathy and I took our youngest daughter, Hannah, to Estes Park for the annual Wool Market. On exhibit were all manner of wool/fiber-producing animals. There were also workshops and demonstrations of such things as sheep shearing, spinning, and weaving. Everything was fascinating, but the highlight of the afternoon had to be the demonstration of working sheep dogs. We saw how the dogs are trained, as well as the variations in how the different breeds work the sheep.

We saw many varieties of fiber-producing animals, including sheep and goats—and even yaks and angora rabbits. Then there were the camelids, namely the llamas, alpacas, and paco vicunas. The paco vicunas—related to the alpaca—produce very fine wool that goes for $1000 an ounce. At one time it was reserved for Inca royalty. If you'd like more information about these interesting creatures, check out this link.

http://www.alpacaland.com/Paco-Vicuna.htm

As you can see, the baby animals are adorable. Hannah enjoyed seeing them and petting them. Many of the llamas were shorn in ways that made them look like poodles. As the owners or handlers led the llamas into the show arena, the animals looked like overgrown poodles!


We met a man named Switzer, who owns a paco-vicuna and alpaca farm called Switzer Land Farm (the link to his web site is the one above). Ironically (for those of you who know we are originally from Ohio), he was born in Cleveland. The logo for their farm comes from the Switzer Land Trail, a railway that was built to service the mining towns around Boulder at the turn of the 19th century. We had a nice discussion, and we each related how our families had made their way west and settled in Colorado.

One of the surprises at the Estes Park Wool Market was the presence of yaks. Although yak wool is not as fine as that of other wool producers, it is still quite soft and warm. There are fewer than 1,500 yaks in North America, compared to over 250,000 bison and 300,000 alpacas and llamas. For more information about yaks, check out the following web site:

http://www.hpy.bz/

All in all, our day at the Estes Park Wool Market was both enlightening and relaxing. We hope to go again some day. For further information about the event, here's a link:

http://www.estesnet.com/Events/woolmarket.htm

My Son-in-Law Called Me a Polymath!

πολυμαθής

My son-in-law called me a Polymath!

…but that’s not a bad thing.

No, it’s actually quite a compliment...

You see a polymath has nothing to do with mathematics, or at least not completely. A polymath is learned in many subjects, one of which could be math (or maths outside North America).

The math component of the word confuses us. We associate it with “the science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement.”

…but etymologically, the word derives from a Greek word that simply means “to learn.”

The thing I loved most about being called a polymath is that, not only was it a new word for me, but more importantly, it came in an email entitled “New Word,” with the following text: “I came across a new word today, and not only did it remind me of you, you fit the definition of the word...polymath. You are undoubtedly a polymath…”

…and being excited about a new word is a very good thing, in my book.

Now, it’s a great compliment, indeed, to be called a polymath, but I think a lot of that just has to do with keeping my mouth shut about subjects I know little (of which there are a multitude) and spouting off about subjects I’ve studied (of which there are a few). When I do get interested in a subject, I pretty much obsess over it until I know as much as I can about it. I usually then like to tell others about it and will bore anyone within earshot as long as they’ll listen!

Polymaths are described as persons with encyclopedic, broad, or varied knowledge or learning. Synonyms are Renaissance man or Homo universalis in Latin, terms used to describe a person well educated, or who excels, in a wide variety of subjects or fields. With the proliferation of knowledge and the diversity of fields of study in today’s world, there is some question whether any modern person could be a true Renaissance man, in the classical sense of the word.

I am delighted that our sons-in-law, both of whom are extremely bright, capable, creative young men are interested in new words, as are our children. Words are the key to so many things. With them, we learn; we teach; we start, nurture, or restore relationships. We pray, we sing, we praise, we honor, we provide words of comfort and healing. We give of ourselves and receive from others by means of words. We create with words. The Word is among us, with us.

Of course, as soon as I learned this new word, courtesy of my son-in-law, I had to find out more about it, its etymology, its denotation and connotations. I learned of an interesting synonym, polyhistor, which is just as misleading as polymath. The word has nothing to do with history, but means one who is very learned or learned in many areas, just as does polymath.

A few lines of poetry from Thomas Moore deal with the erudite “polys” as follows:
“Off I fly, careering far
In chase of Pollys, prettier far
Than any of their namesakes are,
—The Polymaths and Polyhistors,
Polyglots and all their sisters."

The word is used rarely enough to find its way into dictionaries of rare or unusual words.

It is a delight, this polymath word, but a greater delight still is the person who sent it to me and all that the email represents.

My son-in-law called me a polymath!

…but that’s not a bad thing.

No, indeed…

The Next Generation

Bonnie had to format this for me as a JPG file, and she entitled it Monkey Kids. Here's the next generation of "Monkey Kids" -- Aidan, Alia, and Jono. Of course, this is all in fun, but there is a good message here, i.e. "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil." Amen!

Putting Our Kids on a Pedestal

Here are Ellie, Jimmy, and Bonnie at the Forum in Rome. We took this picture while stationed in Italy sometime between 1976 and 1979. Comment: Well, Bonnie pointed out to me that this must have been closer to 1979 than 1976, since Ellie was born in 1977. Then my Mom wrote and said that this happened on the trip that she and my sister, Lori, made to Italy in 1979. So, there you have it.

This is the picture that inspired the original pedestal picture. Kathy saw it years later (in the 90's) in Nikko, Japan.

Years later, at Italica, outside Sevilla, Spain, we put our kids on pedestals again. Here's Jimmy. You can read more about Italica here: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/italica.htm

Here's Ellie at Italica.

Here's Hannah posing at Italica.

Yeah, I know, that's not Bonnie. We're not quite sure why we couldn't find a picture of Bonnie, but for some reason we put me on a pedestal at Italica.

The Best Thing We Ever Did

Sometimes I think these four people are the best things we ever brought into the world.


On second thought!!!!!!!

Memorable Road Trips of the Past

Here are some memorable road trips from the past:

Here we are in October 1976, just outside Madrid. Kathy, Bonnie, Jimmy, and I are driving our Fiat station wagon from our first Navy tour in Rota, Spain (where we had lived since 1972) to our new duty station in Gaeta, Italy.

This photo was taken at Mary Yarman's in Sarasota, Florida. My mom (far right) and our family were on a trip from our most recent duty station in Ottawa, Canada, to a special vacation at Disney World. We stopped to visit a number of friends and relatives along the way. Kathy and I, along with our four children, were en route to our new duty station, back in Rota, Spain! The year was 1987.

The Road Trip (April, 2007)

Here's Jimmy relaxing before the Road Trip begins.

Here's the gang getting ready to leave on the Road Trip. From left: Bonnie, Ellie and Alia, Aidan, Jono, Jimmy, and Kathy.

Here's a silly version of the same picture.

Happy Birthday, Bonnie!

Today Bonnie celebrates a birthday with a few more candles than the one we commemorated with this picture!

There may not be as many balloons for this one, but there will be plenty of sushi and other Japanese goodies to mark the occasion.

Here are a couple more pictures of Bonnie at a much earlier point in her life. Notice her feline friend. Cats were an ever-present part of our children's home life, no matter where in the world home was.

The anchor symbolizes the reality of a life of travel when your father is in the United States Navy. Bonnie's journeys have taken her around the world. Born in Spain, she spent many years there. She also lived in Italy, Canada, Japan, and Australia, as well as visiting other countries.

So, in closing, we say to our beloved birthday girl:

¡Feliz cumpleaños!

Buon Compleanno!

O-Tanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu!

Yom Huledet Sameach!

Dinner March 30, 2007

The night after Bonnie's arrival, we shared a wonderful dinner with her dear friends, Shay and Shawn, and their family. The delicious dinner was prepared by our nieces, Pam and Jill, two of our resident culinary experts!

Bonnie, Jono and Alia arrive in Denver.

After two long days of travel, crossing the International Date Line, and spending a night at the Narita Hilton outside Tokyo, Bonnie, Jono, and Alia make their long-awaited arrival at Denver's International Airport.

Jono and Alia, shortly after arriving in Denver.

Back at Nanny and Sabba's house with cousin Pam.

In Nanny and Sabba's living room with cousins Pam and Jill.

Checking out Pam's bedroom before retiring for the night.

We are so blessed and happy to have Bonnie and the children here for an extended visit. In a couple of weeks, Ellie and Aidan will arrive, and when Jimmy and Hannah join us, our family will all be together in one place for the first time in five years. We will be thinking of Rory and Ryan, who were unable to make this trip, but will be with us in spirit.

Another One Just (Almost) Like the Other One!

My "new" 1994 Ford Taurus, the third since coming to Colorado. My family sometimes makes fun of my sticking with something I have grown used to. I buy the same wallet every time, the same watch, the same glasses, the same car. Our first Taurus is still going strong with close to 200,000 miles on it. We gave it to some friends who were in need of a car. The second one (visible in the background) has 130,000 miles and will serve as a good spare, which will come in particularly handy with all the visitors arriving in April. This car, although 13 years old, has only 65,000 miles on it.