A Night in Oxford, And Back To The Lake

Enjoying Lemoncello with Joe and Mary Lou Barry

Up at 6:15, too early really since we didn't get to bed until 11:30 last night.  It's pitch black here in Ohio, and I am the only one up.  I managed to turn on the coffee pot, always a struggle in someone else's house and am sitting in the living room, in the dark because I cannot figure out how to turn on the lamps...no doubt they too are on a wall switch.

We left Kansas City at 6:15, as we expected yesterday after a great ten day stay.  The ride was uneventful thankfully, with only a couple of stops for gas and food.  Weather was fine, no rain, and traffic was minimal even driving through St. Louis and Indianapolis.  It took us ten hours to get to our friend's house, Joe and Mary Lou Barry, who live in Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami University.  We got off of Interstate 70 just before Richmond, ID, taking a 45 minute back road ride through farm lands to their home.

We got there then about 4:30, earlier than we expected,  They live in a great place, just outside of town, so they have the college but are apart from it, never being bothered by students like at some university towns.  We had fun catching up on, what else, our grandchildren.  They, like us, have grandchildren on the East Coast, four in Connecticut and three in New Jersey, so they are kept very busy, taking trips to spend time with both families.  We have known both since our college days, when Joe was my roommate as well as teammate on the OU basketball team.  They have lived in Oxford since the 1970's, where Joe coached and Mary Lou taught.  Our pre dinner hour was a bit wild, as both of their kids called, Barb from Cheshire, CT and Jay called on Face Time, so we all got to see his children, playing at their talked with their grandparents.  Ah technology! A very different parenting world from when both of us were starting our families. I was abroad for ten years and during that time, I spoke with my family only twice though we went home to the States for a visit and they came to Honolulu and Istanbul once.  But it was three or four years where we communicated infrequently and if we did, it was via mail, a typed or hand written letter, something today's kids think of as ancient with texting.

For dinner, Lou made a great lasagna , with bread and salad, fresh fruit for dessert,  and we must have sat at the table for a couple of hours, talking about the good old days, the 'good days to come.'  We went through, I hesitate to say, three bottles of red wine and finished the meal off with an Italian aperitif called Lemoncello, viscous and icy cold.  Good stuff.  Joe and Mary have visited Chautauqua once on their way back from visiting their kids, in June, 2011.  This is the second year we have stopped at Oxford on our way back home from Kansas City, so they owe us a visit next summer.

Joe and Mary Lou Relaxing at Chautauqua, 6/17/2011

We are hoping to get off this morning by 9:00 at the latest.  Mary Lou has yoga at 8;00 so we will start packing and getting ready after she goes.  Joe usually works out as well but will wait till later in the day.  They have access to all the great facilities at the University, the advantage of living in a college town.  Oxford has been a great place to retire for many seniors, like Penn State's State College.