New Hampshire Family Visit

After the New York City Marathon we drove north to Crown Point, New York to stay overnight in the backyard, in our camper, at a friend's old Victorian house.  She is fixing it up with plans to live in it so it is fun to come and help and to see the progress.  We didn't help this time.  We got in after dinner and left bright and early in the morning.  We took our time heading over to Center Harbor, New Hampshire in order to time our arrival with Dave's brother's return home from work.  

We had a nice visit with him and his wife, Karen, who was vectored back home from the airport in Baltimore where she was held up while things were being canceled in Florida due to yet another hurricane.  

We visited Tim's work site as we usually do when we visit him.  He retired a few weeks later so maybe we saw his last work site.  

We did some hiking about. 

This is Tim and Karen's house, redone a couple of times since it's origin as a barn in the late 1700's. It looks like it could be featured in Architectural Digest, in my humble opinion.  It is gorgeous.

We saw this tree when out hiking.  I love that someone built this little door for it. 

And that was that. 

Seawitch Festival, Rehoboth Beach

Like last year, we were a day late and a dollar short with the Seawitch Festival Parade in Rehoboth Beach.  We did better this year than last though.  Last year we were actually in Rehoboth Beach vectoring to a parking spot when we decided we really didn't have enough time to see the parade and still get to our bank to do loan paperwork for the truck we were buying.  This year we just slept in, due to emotional events such as Dave having a potential diagnosis of cancer, we didn't make it quite in time doe the entire parade.  In fact, we made it for the tail end.  But it was better than nothing. 

 I love me a good Seawitch Festival Parade. 

New York City Marathon

We volunteered at the New York City Marathon from 3am-1100am on November 6.  This time, instead of sleeping in our Subaru in the parking lot at South Staton Island Beach we slept in our camper.  Last year when we'd volunteered for that time frame we didn't realize that our camper would not be outfitted for the replacement truck (with four wheel drive) that we bought in order to more safely trailer our River Dancer C-Dory in and out of the water.  But this year we were all cushy and comfy in our camper.  We had sashimi for dinner at a nearby restaurant, turned in early and slept good until 2am when we got ready and caught a shuttle the short distance to the marathon start point at Fort Wadsworth Park at the base of the Verazzanno-Narrows Bridge. 

We really enjoyed our volunteer time.  Our job was to check in other volunteers.  Maybe next year we will see about volunteering at the finish line in Central Park.  That could be fun.  And a lot more chaos, probably.  Hmmmm...  Maybe.  Maybe not. 

Maybe.

Brandywine River Art Museum

We visited the Brandywine River Art Museum which has been on my list of things to do in our area since we moved to Delaware a couple years ago.  Art museums and nature are places I like to go when I'm depressed or even when I'm not depressed.  But I've been depressed for a month or so.  Dave may have prostate cancer so that is depressing to say the least about something that is the most distressing.  And with it came a conversation between him and me that brought up some really serious relationship things between him and me and that has not really resolved itself.  Also, there are other family issues that are weighing on me.  Tis the season, isn't it.  " Well I don't know what to say except it's Christmas and we are all misery."  
 

But the Brandywine River Art Museum certainly cheered me up for a while. 

The exhibit is called Fragile Earth: The Naturalist Impulse in Contemporary Art. It features four artists, Jennifer Angus, Mark Dion, Courtney Mattison and James Prosek.  Jennifer Angus had artwork that made me smile - lots of displays of insects.  One of the rooms was done up only with her art.  In my mind, it was laid out similar to an old museum of natural history that we'd visited somewhere in New England but I can't quite remember where...Vermont?  I talked to the security guard at the door and mentioned that he must hear and see lots of odd things.  The art was odd, odd in the way I like it but recognize that many people wouldn't.  He said some people open the door and turn right around and go back out.  I'd seen as much when I was in there.  But I loved it.  

Below, is a collection of found objects from the beach and it was the first thing I saw at the Brandywine River Art Museum once we were inside.  It made me smile because we have found so many of the same types of things and have collections of some of them.  

Mark Dion's collection, "Cabinet of Marine Debris"

After we left the museum we walked the grounds, also beautiful. 

Then we had dinner nearby.  A nice dinner with good wine and good food. 

Iowa to See My Mother

Yeah, the rural midwest celebrates and brags about shit beer (see below picture) in a diner in Illinois while on our way to Iowa from Boone, North Carolina to see my mom.  Ugh.  They had wine though and it wasn't all that ugly on the tongue as most dive bar/diners in the midwest offer if they offer wine at all. 

Harry Potter has turned vintage telephone booths into a fun thing. This one was in a restaurant in Burlington, Iowa, right off the butt-ugly M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. 

Fun mural.

Me and my mom and the doll she has as doll therapy for her dementia.

I miss my mom as she used to be, the phone calls the letters.  I called her nearly everyday the last few years until she was "committed" to a nursing home due to continued falls and a family member finding her on the floor in her house and other indications she could no longer care for herself in a way symbolizing healthy behavior. I use the word symbolizing because many Americans, even with means, don't live in a way that is healthy, what with the Capitalist-fed diets we eat of processed foods and consumption of tons of byproducts (buyproducts) of carcinogenics used to make us comfy and elite. 

But even with my mother's dementia I am still getting to know her in ways I never would have otherwise.  Not that I'd have wished dementia on her or anyone.  But I am making lemonade here.  And I am grateful that my mother is not in pain on a daily basis, not lonely, not angry and she knows she is loved and is still loving and doing what she's done all her life - caring for others (the doll therapy).  We women are amazing, wouldn't you say?

Boone, North Carolina

This is the only picture I took in the Boone, North Carolina area where we went around the 20th of October 2022 to attend a memorial service for Dave's cousin, Jan, beloved to us and to many others.  Family and friends came in from all over to be together as her ashes were interred.  We had a loving good time celebrating Jan.  

Dave and I got there a couple days ahead of time and did some walking and exploring.  We camped at a campground just beyond the barn in the picture above.  It was a nice campground and we put in some miles walking.

In the town of Boone we happened into a thrift shop where I got lucky with an original painting by Anne Peterson Klahr which still had the price tag on the back for $250.  The name of the painting, also on the price tag sticker is Assimilate.  I love it.  My gain. Was it at the thrift store because someone gifted it to someone else who didn't want it?  Was it a leftover piece from an otherwise sold-out show?  Who knows what the story is on the painting.  I looked her up and found virtually nothing using the name Klahr.  And what was the painting doing in Boone when nearly everything about Anne Peterson takes place in Idaho, from what I can see on line.  She does murals and paintings. I love love love her work. 

Assimilate.  I am assuming it is an assimilation with nature, with trees, foliage, with water and sky. I love it. 

Community Parade - Milford, Delaware

The night before we headed out north to Wilmington, Delaware for a MRI for Dave, we attended a community parade (Halloween time) in Milford, Delaware.  It used to be called the Halloween Parade but political correctness haters indicated with slight sneers that the name had to be changed.  The parade began 70 years ago during World War II. 

We'd heard from the docent at the John Dickinson Plantation just outside of Dover Air Force Base, that the Citizens Hose Company Band would be marching in this parade.  We wanted to see and hear them.  And we did.  It was a really nice parade.  We loved seeing how many different people from surrounding communities and business came out with floats.  I waved and smiled a lot.  It made me happy to see the level of participation.  If they can spend the time getting floats together and ride the route waving, I can stand there and wave back and enjoy the moment. 

The theme this year was "splish splash".  

My pictures suck.  Sorry.  But the parade was fun.  The Medings Seafood restaurant, Milford, had two of their vintage vehicles in the parade and I think one was a boat, which would make sense, right?  A guy on one of their vehicles was waving to the crowd and pointed right at me and gave the peace sign and a thumbs up.  I responded in kind.  Also with a big smile.  

It was a bit cold and breezy to be standing there for the parade but I wanted to see the Milford High School Marching Band which I figured was going to be bringing up the rear.  It did.  It was fun.

When the Citizens Hose Company Marching Band (volunteer fire department band from Smyrna, Delaware) came by Dave joked that we could be in it.  His meaning was that they were not very good and even with us not playing instruments for years, we could still fake it enough to contribute.  I love the idea of that marching band and don't want it to have to fold so I'm sorry to criticize.  The musicians have full time jobs.  I suppose.  They donate their time and passion.  I suppose.  They date back to 1947.  True dat. And they've played for Presidents Eisenhower and Clinton.  The fire company itself has marched in parades since 1886. Paul Yoder, a world-renowned composer and arranger, wrote "I Love Old Smyrna" which is the band's theme song now.  

Yoder was born in 1908 in Tacoma, Washington and died in Hendersonville, North Carolina in 1990.  He spent time in Japan after WWII.  He wrote or arranged many pieces still used today and it is said that a band student in the years between 1930 snd 1970 in the US would probably had played a Yoder piece. 

 

Recon of Pokemoke City Boat Ramps

We didn't end of getting the River Dancer into the Pokomoke before the end of the year.  I guess we still could if we get a good day and we are around.  It was a fun recon though and Pokomoke River State Park, is very nice.  We camped there a couple of times years ago.  It has cypress swamps which originate in the Great Cypress Swamp in on the Delaware side of the Delmarva.  The Pokomoke River flows southwesterly 45 miles to the Chesapeake.  There are actually two separate portions of the state park - Milburn Landing and Shad Landing. They are within the 18,000 acre Pokomoke State Forest.  There are lots of hiking trails in the area.  And I must say, they sold local ice cream made by a nearby Maryland dairy farmer that we failed to resist.  It was good.  Ice cream is kind of like pizza though which is kind of like sex - even if it's not great it's still pretty good, right? 

So we hope to put in here at the park and motor out the 66 miles of the Pokomoke. It's actually an arm of the Chesapeake at it's mouth.  The Pokomoke, in 1635, was the location of the first recorded all white man battle in North America.  The Captalists from the Virginia Company battled the Maryland Lord Baltimorists over rights to Kent Island at the mouth of the Chester River.  Maryland won. 

Lots of settlements were on the banks of the Pokomoke in the early years of our White Capitalist invasion until water-bourn transportation was etched out by roads and train tracks.  Virginia and Maryland watermen continued to battle back and forth over rights to the Pokomoke Sound so much that they began to regulate fishing in the area which ended up at the US Supreme Court who determined neither had rights to the mouth. The other major arm to the White Capitalist invasion, the US Army Corps of Engineers, stepped up and dredged the mouth to make it easier for them to fish.  Then Mother Nature stepped up and responded to all the organic waste dumped or seeping into the water and produced mass fish kills and lesions, respiratory problems and memory loss for folks eating the fish. So that's that. Charming. Not.

 

Oahu and Kauai

The Koko Crater Trail - a young family walking up ahead of us.

We flew to Honolulu on October 5th.  It was the first time Dave and I went to Hawaii on a vacation.  We went with our daughter and her husband, mostly on their dime (lots of dimes).  The plan was to hike the Koko Crater Trail at sunrise, something our son-in-law had been wanting to do the last eight trips to Hawaii.  After the hike and a shower, we were to fly Kauai and spend the next week hiking, doing a helicopter tour, taking a catamaran dinner cruise to see the Napali coast, snorkeling, seeing sunrises and sunsets - and eating.  And for me, a few runs here and there.  

Here we are reaching the top of the tracks on the Koko Crater Trail.  

This is not your typical vacation in Hawaii story.  It is the start of a new phase in our life, one dealing with the possibility of the Big C.

The day before we flew out of BWI at 6am from BWI, Dave had a medical procedure that ended up giving him an infection and by midnight Hawaii time after we arrived he was woke up very sick and bed-ridden.  That is, when he wasn't in the bathroom every half hour, seemingly.  Our daughter and son-in-law ended up flying on to Kauai without us the following day after arranging for another day for us at the hotel in Honolulu.  The plan was (hopefully) a flight to Kauai the following day if he was well enough.   

Dave had started antibiotics at midnight as soon as he realized what was happening to his body.  The doctor had given him a five day supply just in case - at Dave's insistence.  Each day we thought he'd be much better but it was a slow recovery.  He was a little bit better the third day, enough that I thought he could fly the short hop to Kauai.  Dave hardly drank or ate anything and I hadn't realized he wasn't hydrating properly or I'd have insisted. Dehydration didn't help anything. Our daughter and her husband had taken as much of our luggage as they could, what we didn't need immediately, to make our move to Kauai easier. 

What I hadn't planned on was the brain fog Dave had going on.  He didn't empty the water in his water bottle before going through airport security. He didn't pull out his wallet or take off his belt.  He got patted down in great detail.  But after that it was a lot easier and the flight was uneventful.  

It was Thursday when we arrived in Kauai and leaving the airport we drove right by a VA Clinic so the next morning early, we walked in.  Dave wasn't that much better and we were worried about going into a three day weekend without seeing another doc.  So first thing Friday morning went to the clinic.  The VA was on a light schedule due to the upcoming three day weekend holiday and their lab was closed that Friday.  Still, they were aware of the "traveling veteran" clause which we weren't and are now happily  aware since we travel so much. They took the steps to enact it and sent us across the parking lot, literally, to an urgent care clinic where there'd be no co-pay now due to the "traveling vet" clause.  

The urgent care clinic had Dave pee in a cup, of course, but told us it'd be an hour and a half, maybe, before the doc could see him but offered to call us, said we didn't have to wait. There was a lobby area but no waiting room, per se, because there were no chairs, probably due to COVID.  Of course, its Hawaii and the weather is nice and there was a covered drive up area and benches outside. Dave was in such bad shape we went back to the AirBNB across the island and he laid down again.  Sitting or standing was really uncomfortable and despite the warmth of the weather and beautiful sunshine and no fever, he was cold.  

We really liked the urgent care doc that we saw.  He had great people skills, instilled trust and confidence, and gave a 10 day prescription for an antibiotic better able to tackle the UTI. He also prescribed a five day regimen of pills that would lessen the pain of urination.  We are grateful for him and for the staff that helped us at the VA clinic on Kauai. They were kind and knowledgable and followed through to check on us.

About two days later Dave was able to walk a half mile with me to and from a little village of shops near our Air BNB.  I purchased a couple prints by a local artist, Fanny S. Bilodeau.  One is Chicken Divan and the other is Starry Night.  Starry Night, of course, is a cute take on Van Gogh's Starry Night and though I know many people may roll their eyes on yet another Starry Night knock off, I enjoy them.  This particular one I purchased for my son and daughter-in-law who vacationed on Kauai a couple years ago and loved it so much they gave thought to moving there.  They recently had an anniversary so I thought the affectionate rooster and hen in the foreground was apropos.  Our son is a huge fan of Van Gogh.  He's read bio's on him and a book on his letters.  He doesn't believe though, as I do, that Van Gogh was probably bipolar.  I think he has a more romanticized take on Van Gogh's life but that's OK.  No one really knows.   

The chickens featured in both prints are like the chickens in Key West - numerous, protected, entertaining, and part of the Kauai experience.  Apparently tourists complain about the roosters waking them out of a morning hangover, I mean sleep, and stepping in chicken poo outside their AirBNB accommodations.  Amazing how people hate on the natural world, even one, like the chickens, that probably resulted from human intervention into their ecosystem. 

But back to Starry Night. I'm actually working on a Starry Night 1000 piece puzzle.  Its probably the most difficult puzzle I've done.  All the pieces are roughly the same size and shape.  I have all the "stars" put together but have been struggling with much of the rest.  Having good natural light is the key for the subtle changes in color and brush strokes.  

The Chicken Divan print I have by Fanny reminds me of The Blue Couch by Michael Sowa.  I have a large print of The Blue Couch and love it.  So I plan to hang Chicken Divan near The Blue Couch.  

Koko Crater Trail

The Koko Crater Trail, just outside of Honolulu, had 1,048 railroad cross-ties (or steps) and is about a mile and a half long. This tramway was built around 1942/43 due to World War II to move supplies up the Pu'u Mai summit of Kohelepelepe to bunkers and a radar facilities later rendered obsolete.  Now there are about 800 steps. It has a beautiful view and is a nice workout due to the 1,100 elevation gain.

The little boy sitting in the right background was the one in 
first picture holding his parents hands at the start of the tramway hike 
up Pu'u Mai. 

I liked the graffiti art on this cement block.  And again, there is the little boy who hiked up the steps with his parents.

Incredibly beautiful.

My daughter

The view back towards Honolulu

Upper left is our son-in-law.

Our son-in-law and daughter.

As we were making our way carefully back down the tracks/steps which were slippery and very steep in spots, some folks were going up with their dogs.  Dogs aren't allowed on the trail according to the signs.  But this older dog decided that was ok.  He didn't feel like going up anyway.  Cute.

Our son-in-law went down the tracks across an area that has a drop off underneath.  I didn't feel brave enough to traverse that.  It was slippery and my balance is not what it used to be despite my occasional yoga sessions. Or perhaps because my yoga sessions are not as religiously pursued as they should be.

This Frida mural was right across the street from Leonards where we wanted to get Portuguese rolls but they were too crowded.  Our daughter and her husband needed to get back to the hotel and shower so they could catch their flight over to Kauai.  

Leonard's - an iconic place with great food. It was not to be for us on this trip.

And the place was packed inside, too. 

So our daughter and her husband flew on to Kauai and Dave and I stayed another day, hoping the antibiotics would kick in fast and he'd be back to Abby Normal.  The antibiotics seemed to be working but in slow motion.  Long story short, it took about five days for Dave to be able to move about and do some tours with us.  However, the second day in Honolulu, he was OK enough to be able to fly to Kauai, about a 45 minute excursion.  He had so much brain fog though that he didn't empty his water before going through security at the airport, and didn't take out his wallet or take off his belt.  He got the full pat down. 

People on Waikiki Beach enjoying the sunset.  Our hotel overlooked Waikiki.

Another view of Waikiki.

Morning on Waikiki looking off towards Diamond Head Mountain.

Another evening shot, sunset, from Waikiki.

As Dave starts to feel a little better he wanders out onto the balcony of our hotel looking out at nighttime on Waikiki Beach. 

And even though I was keeping an eye on Dave, I was also getting a lot of reading done sitting on the balcony.  I spent a lot of time watching surfers, swimmers, snorkelers, families and friends tossing frisbees and footballs...

And here he is, feeling a little better yet.

Woo hoo!  It was fun to watch the tour boats come in to dock at Waikiki. The spot where people dive with the sea turtles was just beyond this dock as well, so there were lots of boats out there all day while their passengers enjoyed nature.

Morning overlooking Honolulu from Waikiki Beach.

Waikiki Beach.

Morning on Waikiki Beach.  I went for an early run but as per usual, I stopped to enjoy the sights. 

Early morning Waikiki. Diamond Head is rising on the left.

Early morning Waikiki.

Waikiki looking towards Diamond Head.

More pictures, below, from my morning run in Honolulu.

Fort DeRussy is an Armed Forces Rec Center that used land the Hawaiians used to use for fishing.  There were lots of shallow fresh water ponds they could fish. All were filled in by the US military, transporting coral and lava rock from around the island for months.

I love these red-crested cardinals first brought to Hawaii as caged birds from South America. For whatever reason, they are missing from the Big Island.

I love big murals.  The world does not have enough of them. 

More pictures, below, from my morning run.  

Our hotel on Waikiki.

The foliage in Hawaii is quite lovely. 

Here is Dave at the airport in Honolulu awaiting our flight to Kauai. 

I saw every sunrise except one on Kauai.  

Andrea standing on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean towards the sunrise.

Below, a bride and groom were doing drone pictures of themselves at sunrise on the beach near Poi Pu.

One of the mornings Andrea and I came to the cliffs for the sunrise and heard a noise that sounded like a quick exhalation of breath or a little airy toot and then realized it was a monk seal. A nice first gift of the day.  Besides the beautiful sunrise.

I love the clouds, the layers and patterns of gray and green and blue and a touch of yellow and pink.

The monk seal, the stealth tooter.

Mike watching the sunrise on the beach near Poi Pu in Kauai.

Just a beautiful shot early morning after the sunrise, walking back to the parking lot.

 

Hawaii is like Alaska and Canada in that regard.  Beautiful everywhere you look.  

And if the beautiful views weren't enough, here we have more roosters and green sea turtles. I found the 8 sea turtles on the beach while out for a morning run. 

And every day we'd have roosters and occasionally a hen visit us in the backyard at our Air BNB.  Occasionally if we inside a rooster would look in the window. 

More lovely foliage pictures, below.

I like the found objects used to make decorative hangings on the patio of this condo. 

Right out back of our Air BNB there was the Hapa Road. I ran it a couple of the days we were in Kauai. It runs from Hanaka'ape. Bay were ships used to be off-loaded with goods and fresh produce and livestock was loaded onto the ships. The Hapa Trail is 150 years old. It is a cart path, really.  

There were little white flowers growing on the cacti along the edge of Hapa Road. 

And cows int he field boardering the Hapa Road. 

And golf balls.  

The Napali Coast of Kauai.

The Napali Coast of Kauai.

Its appropriate to end this picture blog with another green turtle.  This one was swimming with Dave and Mike while they were snorkeling just off the beach.  Andrea and I went snorkeling later and didn't see it but when we were sitting on the beach it came ashore alone.  Nice.