The In-Between Hiatus

Greetings and Merry Christmas/Happy New Year. Anticipating "cabin fever" or boredom during my "hibernating" season between the time I put Winnie II away winterized (November 10) and my next 2019 adventure (February 8), I decided to keep track of exactly what I do during the hiatus. Upon reflection it turns out I was not bored nor was I wanting for something to do.  So, what follows is a mish-mash of activities in no chronological order. And at the risk of sounding like your typical "Christmas Letter to Friends", which I happen to enjoy reading by the way, I'm reflecting on my very fortunate life surrounded by great friends and family and the observations that go with them. There'll be no sharing of age and numbers. Reason? I did the math and figured my first students are now on Medicare at age 66! Not a pleasant thought. Nor will there be any laments as to how body parts are (or are not) working, medical sagas, crises or dramas. You all have your own on which to reflect. My goal in life has always been to live forever and, at this writing, I'm accomplishing just that...so far so good.

The first big highlight was the wedding of my daughter, Marybeth to Carlo in September. I pulled this from her Facebook page along with the photographer's comment. For me her face captures true adoration and happiness.

"As a wedding photographer, I step into the bride and groom’s inner circle for a short time. Without fail, I am swept up in the spectacle of love, family ties and beauty that shows itself on wedding days. This sunny September afternoon was no different. I knew her as “MB,” my soccer captain and fierce teammate first. After her wedding day, I now think of her as Marybeth, bride extraordinaire. She and her husband said their vows in the leafy courtyard, sipped rose colored bubbly, laughed full-hearted laughs and melded their families in the most elegantly simplistic fashion. To say it was breathtaking is an understatement. Congratulations @mmmbee and @carlocitera ! The pleasure was all mine. ❤️🥂

By the way, an Italian treat if ever there was one, would be to visit his restaurant, Cosimo's in Poughkeepsie.  Everything about him and the restaurant is outstanding. Take a peek.  Meanwhile, in Peekskill, if you'd like to see where I live, we have an updated website. To visit, click the link:  https://riverhouseinpeekskill.com/ Yes, I did ask myself, "Why would anyone...?" The leaves are now gone, sunsets continue and the Mighty Hudson is once again visible to me and always impressive.

My cousin Norma flew up from Boca Raton, FL, and spent time having lunch with her godmother at Half Moon in Dobbs Ferry as well as friends in Connecticut (Dolce Wine Bar) and New Jersey (Ragazzi Italian Restaurant) . Wonderful dining experiences accompanied each visit.

And speaking of dining experiences. Highlights in RED will allow you to visit the websites should you be curious. I'll spare you photos of food. No need to thank me.

• My extraordinary dinners at Sakura continued on Mondays and Wednesdays. They were occasionally enhanced when friends and neighbors joined me: Diane, Ed and Diane, Gregg and Marina, Jack and Lynn.

• With friend, Dina, we enjoyed Table 9 in Peekskill and Spaccarelli's in Millwood.

• With my RV friends in the Hudson Islanders RV club, there was a November luncheon at Shadows on the Hudson in Poughkeepsie and our Christmas Party at Daddy-O's in Hopewell.

• I shared in the celebration of couple's 60th wedding anniversary at the Cortlandt Colonial restaurant. 60 years! Think about that.

• At home, I will be enjoying dinner with neighbors Ed, Diane, Stella, and Jack. Stella and Diane are preparing a Moroccan chicken and rice dish with an eggplant ratatouille and a Middle Eastern slaw that has almonds, cranberries and a drizzled dressing.  For dessert we will travel back down to the sixth floor and at Ed and Diane's meet more of our River House neighbors.

Working with Hen Hud's volleyball coach, Diane, we completed her 17th issue of the Hen Hud Volleyball Program Booklet. The booklet is just one of her awesome accomplishments. It has evolved into a wonderful piece of memorabilia for her players and the community that traces and displays the impressive achievements through her dedication and expertise in the sport over the years.

Before winterizing and bringing Winnie II to Cross River for its short-term storage, I had refrigerator/freezer warranty work completed. Weekly visits will have me running both the engine and the generator to keep them ready to move in February. Neighbor, Gregg (meet him below), provided his carpentry expertise and repaired one of the twin beds and made a "trap door" in the rear basement storage area so that I can more easily access the winterizing valves.

Florida friend and fellow RVer and Blue Mountain Middle School retiree, Vicki, informed me of a great wine promotion in her area and poof, just like that, I have a case waiting for me when I visit her during the week of February 11th. Thank you VC for doing that for me.  

One of the tabs on the right of this blog page, is a link to "WHAT ARE THE CHANCES" in which you'll see how many folks have the same birthday as mine. Similarly, in November, I had two cousins, a grandson and friend, Mare N, sharing the same birthday.  Through this time period I will have wished 65 people I know a happy birthday. Ha! Bet you didn't think I had that many friends. 

Here in New York, I enjoyed the snow storm of November 15th. No one else did but as a former teacher, those snow days were God's gift. Out in California on November 16th, a second big highlight was a big day for my son, Chuck. One month short of being with Facebook for eleven years, he retired.  Many of my readers are fathers and, like them, there's no one more proud of an offspring's accomplishment than "Pop." I cannot say enough about his achievements and certainly don't have the space here to do it. So I'll let LINKEDIN do it for me. This way he can't get on my case for bragging.  Click on the link and see why I can brag. I think he's a pretty fascinating guy. Just sayin'.

Then there was Thanksgiving. Here's hoping yours was pleasant and delicious. Celebrated mine with sister, Judy and mom. Afterwards, her favorite thing: "playing some games." So on this Thursday, like all other Sundays and Thursdays when I visit, we played games.

At 99 she's a terrific speller. Doesn't know what day
it is, forgot what she had for dinner, but makes words with no problems at all.
Big B'day will be on March 13, 2019.

My 2013 Caddy gave me a scare and blew a fuel pump on the road up in Poughkeepsie. With 216,700 miles it was a troublesome internal debate as to whether or not to dump the $$ for a new one--a high pressure fuel pump that is. I did and all is well.

I completed the 48th year of  my Topps Baseball Card Collection. 1970-2018. Each year, they come out of the factory set box, arranged numerically, usually 1-700, then placed in 9-pocket clear plastic pages and inserted into huge 3-ringed notebooks. The 1970 through 1975 complete sets are not mint as they were won through the eBay bidding process. That's as far back as I cared to go because their value, pre-1970, have 4-digits.











On the Saturday before Christmas I will drive up to Cragsmoor, NY where neighbor/friend Gregg Shults will perform "Mr. Dickens Tells a Christmas Carol."

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Come to find out, Gregg is a sometimes actor. This is a
photo I found of him in his role as one
of the "Twelve Angry Men" 

And this is what he's been doing these past few Christmases:
"Gregg Shults will appear as Charles Dickens as he performs his one-man production of the famed writer reading from his book. Gradually, he transforming himself into each of the 23 characters, from the endearing Tiny Tim to the selfish Ebeneezer Scrooge, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, and all the supporting characters in between. " 

Granddaughter, Beca is on her way driving with boyfriend, Kevin, to Irvine, CA to do her accounting internship with KPMG.

Chinese New Year (2/5/19), the year of the Pig will be celebrated with my Sakura friends the Saturday before, the busiest day that will have the most employees in attendance. A special event for me with special friends. 

And so, with eleven days before Christmas, the usual good wishes, blessings and thanks go to my readers for a safe, healthy and terrific holiday season and New Year.

"I assume you don't want to put a wreath on the door either"