summer in the (flour) city

We have been back in Pueblo for a full week, but I have gotten woefully behind on blogging. First there was the lack of internet while we traveled, then I have been throwing myself into the projects of preparing for Miles' birthday party and looking for childcare for all my orientations and other work-related events in July and August.

Looking back on the rest of our trip will be satisfying, though. A reminder that we really did have, and still are having, a summer.

We took some time while in Rochester to get the flavor of the place back in our mouths, starting with a ramble around some Susan B. Anthony related sites.

We paid a brief visit to her home and stopped in the gift shop,

then stopped by the fanciful (inaccurate) statue of Susan B. Having tea with Frederick D.

Douglass was consistently a supporter of women's rights and suffrage, but did not, as far as we know, meet with Susan B.

Next, we paid our respects at the site where Susan B. Anthony illegally voted.

Enjoying all the while catching glimpses of my fave, Frederick, all around. 

From there we wandered over to High Falls, where the mills which gave Rochester the nickname "The Flour City" were located.

We saw two herons and a hawk!

There could be no trip to the cottage at 30 Mile Point, so we contented ourselves with a brief foot back (or, in Adele's case, full-body bath) in the lake at Charlotte Beach.

It's super high this year!

 Adele, once so timid at lakes and oceans, strode right in fearlessly.

It was about 68 degrees.

We could barely keep her from attempting to swim to Canada. 

 This visit did me real good. It reminded me that under my feet in Pueblo stretches the same ground that touches all the places I love, connected by mere roads and miles. I am still connected, somehow, and this trip reminded me of that fact. I got to see so many of my very best friends, most of whom I did not photograph. Merely renewing the relationships was enough. This trip was such a gift.

sacraments

 

Grace came to us in three sacraments on  Sunday the 18th of June. In the morning, it came in Mariel's baptism! Jon and I stood as godparents to help renounce the devil on her behalf. She is so loved and wanted and blessed; this must be why she hardly ever cries or shows any discontent ever. Both Jon and I adore her and held her as much as possible. Rocking her to sleep brought back so many good memories.

After sacrament 2 (Eucharist), we went to Leah's house for a lovely reception and then drove up to Webster for yet another blessing: 

The wedding of Allison and Paul! I have known Al since middle school and it gives me joy to see her so happy with someone so smart and kind and so in love with her. May they be blessed! Surely it is a good sign that we found a full robin nest under the lodge where they had the ceremony.

Al basically threw us a dream party, ordering a BOUNCE HOUSE for the flocks and flocks of children who attended so the adults could be free to drink our beer and conversate in peace. I got. my. blessing. 

Annie and Christine, two of my dearest from high school and college days, part of my posse that used to camp every year at the Six Flags for Kingdom Bound festival (we then kept it up in a more secular setting later on). 

Al & Paul also arranged to have a photo booth replete with accessories. Not sure if the adults or the kids enjoyed it more!

Many of us had never met each other's offspring before that wedding. It was a true reunion! I got to meet one of Christine's babies and Sarah's firstborn for the first time. 

I got to congratulate Stef and Mike on their third baby, due in August.

We got to talk and laugh and catch up to our hearts' content. Stayed for hours.

Allison and all the women for whom she was a bridesmaid:

We got to introduce our kids to one another. I'm so grateful that not only did Allison find such happiness in love but she chose to celebrate in a way that gave us all a blessing. Sacraments did everyone!!

The wedding was on Irondequoit Bay near the lake. Because of the bounce house, not one child appeared tempted to wander into the bay. But the view gave such a loveliness to the background of a marvelous day. 

This trip keeps giving and giving.














 

Making time for play

It was Friday night when we saw the Rochester skyline, arriving from the west side this time. Friday night I got to be with Allison for the final third of her bachelorette party. We talked about mine and Christine's bachelorette parties and it feels like a sepia-toned long ago time, and now here we are, with more white wine and more crowns and more laughter and revelry, though with more laugh lines around our eyes. How strange and wonderful it is to see old friends and make them current friends again. 

Saturday morning Dad treated us to a day at the Strong Museum of Play. It's every bit as wonderful as it ever was! 

Brief moment in the Butterfly Garden:
 

 And then we got to work, or rather, got to play.

Good old Sesame Street.

Good old Wegmans exhibit:
 

And good old Fairy Tale Land. 

As always, I got a kick out of the old toys, games, and Barbies. 

Thank you, Grandpa Jim, for another bucketful of happy memories. It gives me satisfaction that my kids feel so at home in Rochester.  

 
 

 
 

in which we do not die of dysentery

It was a sunny Tuesday when we set out east in a rented Dodge Grand Caravan. Koopa was securely buckled in and for once, all the baggage we could want was packed comfortably in back. Also for the first time, I fervently want a van.

On the trip out to Pueblo last June, which was the last time we'd left the state, we took the southern route through Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. This time, we went northeast to Kansas and Missouri. 

Kansas was about what we'd expected. Empty, flat, rural, with countless billboards warning us about hell, urging us to trust Jesus, condemning abortion. But about halfway through Kansas the landscape shifted and there were green rolling hills and tall deciduous trees. 
 

Sometimes we feel like we live on the moon, Pueblo feels so distant and so foreign to everything we're used to. This trip is doing a lot to help us realize the ground under our feet is all connected to all the places we have lived and loved. They (and we) can still be reached. 

In Topeka we made use of an urban dog park and nearby playground. Adele had a blast on the dangerous old 1970s era equipment, really the stuff good playgrounds are made of.

We had a picnic in Independence, Missouri and made a whole lot of Oregon Trail jokes.

And spend the night at our friends' new home in St. Louis. On the way back, we'll be able to stay there with them in it, too! Can't even wait. 

Thursday morning we found time to climb Monk's Mound at Cahokia, which about 1000 years ago was a major indigenous metropolis. We found it lovely and peaceful in 2017.

Cahokia is located in Illinois but you can easily see St. Louis from the top.

We had a spare hour in Louisville on the way so we made sure to see Buddy and Aiden at the park! Buddy's recovering from surgery and not at his best, but he made an effort to see us nevertheless. 

Aiden was enjoying the spray park, while our kids were forbidden to wet themselves and then get back in the van.

We just drove along and suddenly Cincinnati reared up in front of us. What a relief to see infrastructure and people!

That evening we made a pit stop at a Starbucks where I interviewed for a job. It wasn't 30 minutes later that they called me back to offer me the position!
 

We woke up in Columbus the next morning, refreshed from a night in a very nice hotel, and while we drove through Ohio that morning I accepted the job with Heaton Middle School. I'm going to teach my neighborhood sixth graders next year! At our local public middle school, just half a mile away! I won't have to drive on weekdays anymore, and I'll get the kids I had at Belmont last year in class! I still haven't fully appreciated the goodness of this gift. 
 This fall will be a whole new adventure.

But for now, I am living in the solstice and taking in unfiltered UV rays all over the country. 

Next up: New York State.