Leaving Darien For Home, A Sweet Sadness

6:33 

We are both up early, 5:30,  as we want to get a early start back to the lake, mostly to avoid any heavy traffic on the Merritt Parkway or RT 7 up to Danbury.  It's been a great five days with the Albarrans but time to get back to life on the lake.

Yesterday was another gorgeous day, lots of sun and in the high 60's.  Ramiro went biking again in the morning, the rest of us hung out, sipping coffee, surfing the Internet, occasionally talking.  I did take Cody for another walk, not as far as yesterday, just up the street, but it was a great morning to walk. Around 10:00, I drove off to Trader Joe's, less than a mile and a half away, picked up some cheese for home, some bacon and home fries for breakfast. We all were getting hungry so Beth and I cooked the bacon, sausage and home fries, Evie fried the eggs and we had a great breakfast, just what we wanted.

You Go, Marisa!

Waiting On Coach

At 2:00, Marisa had a soccer game in town, so we all drove over to watch her play.  It was fun to see Marisa play even if the team did not win.  She fits in well, enjoys her teammates, has fun even when she is not playing.  It's neat to watch girls play, as they are not that upset when they lose...winning isn't everything, at least not yet!

Enjoying A Night Out

Silly in Norwalk

At 5:15, we drove off to Norwalk, to celebrate Mitch's sixteenth birthday at an Italian restaurant called Bar Sugo, a  good choice.  They serve lots of small dishes, which you share, so you get many tastes, from their six different meatball platter, to risotto with bacon and truffles, to calamari, to french fries wrapped in prosciutto with truffle oil, to cavatelli with a meat sauce, to a caramelized onion pizza, to raw tuna, to polenta, with shitake mushrooms and eggs.  At first, we thought we would never get enough but soon, especially after the pizza and meatballs, we began to get full, though we did manage an extra three of Sugo's famous meatballs.

Mitch's Birthday Cake

Marisa Scarfed

We were home by 7:45, in time to sit around the table and sing Happy birthday to Mitch and have a piece of Lady Baltimore cake, with seven minute frosting, made by Beth and Evie.  Everyone loved it, and we devoured half the cake.  We then relaxed, did some packing, and enjoyed the night before going to bed around 10:30 as all of us were very tired.

Weeds Beach At 7:10, The End Of A Visit

A Perfect Morning in Darien, Blue Skies, Sunny and Not Too Warm

6:35

I was the first one up, at 6:00, and Ramiro didn't straggle down till about 6:45.  It's a great morning so I walked outside to take a few pictures in the early morning sunlight, one of the two golden hours for taking pictures, two hours after sunrise, two hours before sunset.  Rami and I sat around talking cameras and he showed me some tricks on editing photos with Aperture as well as using some of the modes on my camera.  It's amazing what you can do with a photograph these days if you have time to fuss around with a shot.

Yesterday was a lazy Saturday for all but Mitchell who had a three hour practice in the morning.  The extent of my physical activity was to take Cody on an hour walk, going up Fox Hill and Peach Hill, two neighboring streets with amazing homes, lots of trees, and interesting landscaping.  The green, after a winter of black and white is almost overpowering to my senses.  It felt good to be outside in a long sleeve tee shirt, and Cody, of course, loved it, smelling or urinating on just about every bush or tree. While I walked, Ramiro went on a 48 mile bike ride with some local riders, taking over three hours.

Choosing Books With Granny

Early afternoon, Marisa, Evie and I went off to mail some cookies to Tyler, then stopped at the modern Darien Library, with an automatic book check in/out device, no librarians needed anymore I guess. Marisa loves reading so she and Evie made up a list of books she liked (for our other granddaughters), books she wanted and she ended up taking seven out, and starting reading one of them on the way home.  I am trying to get her to keep an annotated list of the books she's read but she's resisting it, not wanting to take the time to write it down.  By evening, she finished her first book.

Mitchell With His New Long Board

Around 4:00, we all gathered in the living room and Mitchell opened his birthday presents, from all of us.  Lots of shirts and tees, but his favorite was a new Long Board, what else.  He was pretty excited about his gifts.

Marisa, Standing Tall

Marisa, With Her Baba

We, then, all went our separate ways.  Mitchell was dropped off at a friends house, Beth and Ramrio went to a movie and dinner, and Evie, Marisa and I went for dinner and a shopping experience at our favorite grocery story in Stamford called Fairways.  We loved the fries there so that became our dinner. Unfortunately, they were not up to snuff, very disappointing but Marisa enjoyed them anyways. We bought just a few things, three kinds of coffee, some Kashkaval cheese from Greece, and a berry pie for dessert.  We stopped on the way home at Weeds Beach, enjoyed the sunsetting on Long Island Sound, walked the beach, climbed some of the rocks, before heading home.  We watched a fair movie called Miss Congeniality, which none of us loved but stuck with.  And we had our pie with ice cream.  Around 10:00, I picked up Mitch from his friends house, over near Weeds Beach, and came home and took Cody for a night walk.  Just was we started out, Beth and Rami came home from a movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and eating at Basso, a good Spanish restaurant in Norwalk.  We then sat around, watched another episode of Archer, an adult cartoon, and went to bed, all of us tired from the day.

7:10 Sunset at Weeds Beach

A Rare Ray Of Sun Brightens A Cloudy Morning

7:15 In The Morning

Side Yard In The Morning

It's 7:30 and I have been up for an hour, having my coffee, enjoying a quiet morning here in Darien. Ramiro is up as well despite not having gotten home from Dallas until about 12:30 last night, a long day for him with delays at the airport.  In a few minutes, Ramiro will take Mitch off to his three hour long Saturday volleyball practice, even though they had a match last night that lasted five games, and didn't end till 9:00.  Mitch seems to thrive on it though.

A Happy Fifth Grader

Yesterday was much like Thursday if not worse weather wise, overcast much of the day, occasional rain until last night when it poured.  Everything looks washed outside this morning, the rhododendron's still wet from last night.  We did not do a lot yesterday, mostly waiting for Marisa to come home, then waiting to go to Mitch's volleyball game, the JV game started at 5:30, then waiting for the game to end, at 9:00.  In the morning, Evie I did manage to hit Stew Leonard's in Norwalk, one of our favorite grocery stores, along with Wegman's and Fairway (we are going their tonight for dinner with Marisa because she loves their french fries).  We also stopped at the wine store, picked up some for both Beth and us.  It's an amazing store, has just about anything you could want but no Two Buck Chuck!  Go figure.

Darien Volleyball, Our Grandson, Mitch, Second From Left

Beth acted as chauffeur again yesterday, picking up Mitch a couple of times, then dropping him off. We picked up Marisa at 3:00. Then,  Evie and Beth went over to the JV game at 5:15 though Mitch did not play and Marisa and I stayed at home, waiting for the varsity game to start, getting their at 6:45.  There was actually a good crowd because the game was also a benefit for the Veterans or Wounded Warriors Fund.  It was a good game and we have gotten to know some of the parents of players over the years so we reconnected with them.  We did not get home till 9:15 and had not yet had dinner.  We had picked up a couple of foccacia pizzas at Stew Leonard's, which were excellent, thick and doughy with a tomato topping with cheese.  We finished eating about 10:00, then stayed up till about 11:00, then went to bed.  Beth stayed up waiting for Mitch and Ramiro.

More Rain In Darien (Mitchell Albarran Turns Sixteen Today)

Birthday Boy

Mitch 8/6/2005

12/31/2003

Albarran's Corner

Up early again, at 6:00, with strict instructions to turn on the oven, and put in Trader Joe's frozen croissants, so we could celebrate our grandson Mitchell's sixteenth birthday in style this morning before he heads off to school.  He opened a few presents, tee shirts and a skate boarding sweat shirt so he's happy.  We will celebrate on Sunday with a dinner in Norwalk.  It looks miserable outside, wet and gray, just like Chautauqua except 435 miles east.

Yesterday began with taking Ramiro to Stamford, to catch the train at 7:00.  Then coffee, with Beth, Evie, and Marisa until 8:00, when I walked Marisa up to the bus with Cody.  Beth had some errands to run, so she had to leave around 9:30, so I took Cody for a walk, then decided to go to the cool local coffee shop called NEAT, a very hip and crowded coffee bar in the center of town, quite a contrast to Ryder's Cup at home.  I ordered a latte, which they forgot to bring me, so they were apologetic when I asked where my coffee was and gave me a card for a free coffee next time.  I read, surfed the net, and just relaxed for an hour, watching the crowd, mostly women, some people working or smoozing, a meeting place in Darien.

For lunch we decided to go for sushi, in town, not far.  Beth had to drop her car off at the local mechanics, to get her headlight fixed, so we dropped it off, went for sushi, and picked it up after lunch. Sushi was great, two rolls, salad, and miso soup for nine bucks, a deal really.  It was a good choice, on a wet day here in Darien.

White Gate/Azaleas/Pines

Colors/Verticals/Shapes

Mid afternoon, Beth had to pick up Mitch, take him to physical therapy, then drop him off at practice, so I picked up Marisa at 3:00 and we helped her clean her room till 4:45 when she had to go off to soccer practice for an hour.  Beth took her, picked up a couple other players, and didn't get home till 5:30.  I took Cody for another walk and took some pictures of the colors on their street because I had been reading one of Ramiro's books on Landscape Photography and wanted to see if I learned anything.  It's a great street to walk on, lots of trees and landscaping to enjoy.  Notice the difference?

Bed of Tulips

We were in no hurry for dinner, so we enjoyed some wine in the Sun Room with Marisa until about 7:00.  I came across an interesting salad on a Blog, made with a Green Goddess dressing, with lots of cilantro and yogurt and jalapenos, so Evie put that together, and we added it to greens with black beans and corn.  Everyone liked it.  We had BLT's for dinner, easy and good, so along with the salad we had plenty.  Mitchell got home from a team dinner about 7:00 and went upstairs and spent the rest of the night doing his homework.  He's a busy boy between school and volleyball practices and games but seems to enjoy it.  We stayed up watching TV until 10:30 with Beth, then went to bed, with Mitchell still up working.

THE DEEP BLUE GOOD-BY: JOHN D. MACDONALD **

This is the first of the Travis Mc Gee books, set around Ft. Lauderdale, where Travis docks his boat, The Busted Flush.  He gets involved in the lives of a couple of women, all who seem to have been taken in and advantage of by one Junior Allen, definitely a psychopath.  Junior first of all steals the inheritance of Kathy Kerr, by wooing her, then taking her money.  She is afraid of Junior and ends telling her story to a sympathetic Travis Mc Gee.  He learns that Junior has been living the high life, sleeping with a wealthy widow, Lois Atkinson, and parking his new yacht at her boat slip.  By the time Travis finds this out, Junior has tossed Lois, after having beaten her as well as sexually abused her.

When Travis finally locates Junior, he's about ready to take off to the Bahamas, with a boat load full of innocent honeys.  Travis befriends one, gets invited aboard, and sizes up Junior, realizing at once that he's dangerous, even a psychopath.  He finally finagles a way on to the boat, but Junior realizes he's dangerous, hits him over the head knocking him out but not for good.  He awakens, surprising Junior, what else, and they fight and eventually Junior gets tangled in the anchor, which eventually pulls him overboard and he drowns, sad but true.  Travis eventually recovers some of the stolen money for Kathy Kerr and unfortunately, Lois becomes a victim of Junior, when she tries to save Travis's life when she realizes Junior has found him out.  Not my favorite book, Mac Donald's first Travis Mc Gee but you can see the potential is there.

Rainy Day In Darien (Marisa's Violin Concert)

With Marisa, After Her Concert

Dogwoods

Up at 6:00 on a rainy morn here in Darien, may stay this way through the weekend.  I just got back from driving Ramiro to the train station in Stamford where he's taking the train to Boston for a meeting, then flying to Dallas later in the day, to attend the Byron Nelson Golf tournament with clients tomorrow, Friday, before flying home at night, a long 36 hours for him.  Right now Evie and I are sitting in the den, waiting for Marisa to get up and Beth has just driven off to take Mitchell to school.  Lots of things going on in the morning when you have kids.

We had another easy drive from Chautauqua yesterday, leaving just before 7:00, arriving in Darien around 2:30.  We expected rain most of the way, but it was a sunny day, the hills and countryside getting increasingly green as we drove east.  The trees are not yet fully in bloom, so they are an interesting spring like chartreuse color, at least that's what I would call it.  In the Catskills, I saw lots of guys fishing for trout I assume, in the crisp spring air, bright spring sunshine.  It's a great time of year to be there when it's warm and the sun is out.

When we got to Beth's, Cody, the dog, came running out, greeted us with what we call his happy dance, as he's always glad to see us because I take him for walks usually twice a day, a treat for him.  We relaxed till about 3:45 when we drove over to the high school to watch Mitch's team play volleyball.  He fractured his ankle a couple of weeks ago so he couldn't play but we knew a number of kids from the team from last year so it was fun to watch.  Marisa was practicing for her concert till 4:30.  She then came to the gym until the game ended, then we went home to get her a snack before the concert.  Beth dropped her off around 6:10 and we all drove over at 7:00 for the concert which lasted till about 8:15, before a fairly crowded auditorium.  Marisa played violin in the 5th grade orchestra, then sang in the chorus.  They were surprisingly good for that young and lots of kids seemed to participate in the music program, which is big deal in the schools in Darien.

Marisa The Prodigy

We came home and Beth had made chicken tacos earlier in the day so we all had a couple of tacos for dinner with the whole family.  Around 9:00, I took Marisa up to bed, talked with her for awhile before Evie came up to take over.  Marisa is a delight, happy and talkative, especially at bedtime.  Mitch spent a couple of hours at his desk doing chemistry and math homework.  We watched some TV with Beth and Rami and they wanted us to see their favorite show, an adult cartoon called Archer.  It's hard to say whether we will like it after one show, but we will give it a try.

On The Road to Darien... Again

An Early Spring Swim

6:00

We are up before 6:00 because of today's drive, about seven hours, to Connecticut.  We hope to be on our way by 7:00 at the latest, getting us to Darien by 2:00, 3:00 at the latest depending on traffic and weather. The poem below appeared in yesterday's Writer's Almanac and it captures perfectly spring here at the lake.  We almost give up hope that spring well arrive then suddenly, in a day or two, it's here.

Spring by Linda Pastan Just as we lose hope she ambles in, a late guest dragging her hem of wildflowers, her torn veil of mist, of light rain, blowing her dandelion breath in our ears; and we forgive her, turning from chilly winter ways, we throw off our faithful sweaters and open our arms.

Yesterday began with yoga at 9:30, as they have decided to fill Tuesday morning with a class which is great.  Now there are classes every morning, six days a week, if I want to go.  Class was just two of us and Courtney, our teacher, but I don' think word is out yet that there is a Tuesday morning class. Hopefully, more will begin to attend.

I expected a rainy day from the weather report but it was sunny when I walked out of the yoga studio and it stayed that way the rest of the day.  We spent the morning getting organized for the trip, packing, cleaning, and Evie made some snickerdoodles for Mitch, his favorite.  I finished up the cauliflower soup for lunch, with a couple of hot dogs, watched some ESPN, the topic, the Browns choice of Johnny Mansell.  Boring.

God's Grandeur 

After lunch, the sun really warmed things up, the clouds puffy and magnificent, hanging over the eastern shore of the lake.  Evie went out on the dock to read around 1:00, then I went out after lunch and a brief nap.  It was actually too warm for me, the temperature hovering around 85º.  Spring, no summer, has arrived.  It was so hot, I worked up a sweat just sitting and reading in my chair.  Evie, of course, wanted to go in for a dip and it was warm enough to think it.  But it was still cold, the water in  the 50's but she went in anyways, perhaps the earliest she has ever been in the lake. Wisely, she did not linger!

 Or A Mindless Algorithm 

We enjoyed a glass of wine around 5:30, the lake calm, a slick blue, the sky filled with cotton ball like clouds. A boat or two were out on the lake, and it was still very warm, 85º.  I was literally sweating as I sat enjoying my wine. For dinner, Evie made one of our new favorites, polenta with a mushroom/soy sauce. And of course, we had a salad, then watched TV, Stewart and Colbert, then Friday Night Lights before I could get back to Alex Cross's pursuit of a serial killer in ALONG CAME A SPIDER.

Random Think: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."  Michael Pollan

Moon Over Wells Bay, Shine On My Love And Me