Day Two In Darien

Produce at Fairway

Marisa and Kathryn

Cookies

A Pensive Tyler

Up at 6:30, and both Rami and Tyler are up as well.  Tyler has SAT's this morning, so he is getting organized, or trying to, as he realized he had the wrong entry ticket, and Rami is going for a bike ride though he found he has a flat tire.  Life is trouble early morning.  It looks like it could be a nice day, clear right now, about 54 degrees, much warmer than the lake where it's 46.  Beth and Rami go off to NYC for the day and night, Mitch has an all day long board excursion, so it looks like we are stuck with Marisa, not a bad deal.

Yesterday was relaxing, as everyone was busy most of the day, the kids in school and Beth had her art class in the morning.  Evie and I decided to go to Fairway, one of our two favorite grocery stores, in Stanford, about five miles from their house.  I guess it was famous in the city, at first for it's vegetables, especially their freshness, but they later expanded to include everything.  We love the cheeses, always sample the various olive oils, and end up buying a couple of pounds of their coffee.

I wanted to try some Spanish Serrano ham, and as I was waiting in line, the man in front of me was also buying some.  He had lived in Madrid for four years so he got addicted to it.  He pointed out another version of Serrano, but this one was a hundred dollars a pound, compared to the one we were buying which was twenty eight dollars a pound.  We both were able to taste both hams, the expensive one more salty and drier but good.  We then bought a baguette, went to the cheese counter, talked with the purveyor, tried a couple and came home with four, a reggio Parmesan, a Spanish manchego, and two we have never had, the top two selling at Fairways, Midnight Moon, a goat cheese from Cypress Farms California, and Honey Bee Goat cheese, from Holland.  Late afternoon, we had them as an appetizer around 5:30, with Beth's friend Nancy.  We all loved the three cheeses, and along with the fig jam, which we also bought, we had a feast of flavors, salty, sweet, buttery, and then the baguette. What a great way to eat.

Before our appetizers, Marisa invited her friend Kathryn over and together with Evie, they spent an hour decorating mostly Halloween themed cookies, something the girls love to do.  Evie makes the sugar cookies in Chautauqua, so all that needs to be done is decorate them.  Evie even brings a huge bin of sprinkles along, so it's easy.

Unfortunately, we  also had four racks of ribs, cole slaw, and baked beans for dinner!  So we waited till 7:45 when Rami returned, to devour two racks, but we have two left over.  After dinner, Tyler and I watched the Hitchcock film, North by Northwest, as he had watched Psycho the night before.  We all went to bed around 10:30, with a big Saturday ahead of us.

Wet, Warm and Gray in Darien

Marisa

It's 7:00 and all the Albarrans but Tyler are up; he has the day off, to study for his SAT's tomorrow.  As I mentioned, it's wet outside, but warm and it's expected to get into the high 70's, perhaps 80's later in the day,  then cool off tomorrow.

Our ride from the lake yesterday was easy, just over seven hours, 430 miles to be exact.  The colors, at least during the first hour or two were at their peak, though it was foggy part of the way, blurring what could have been spectacular.  The reds, yellows, and oranges blended with the green of the pines, as bright and colorful as I have seen it.  I am not sure why one year the colors are so bright, others kind of dull and boring.  As we got in the Catskills, the colors changed to mostly yellows and green, perhaps because of the higher elevation, the difference in trees and leaf cover.  The last half of our trip, it rained quite hard at times.  We got to Darien around 2:30, just in time to pick Marisa up from school, and see Mitch, who gets home about the same time.

We enjoyed the afternoon with the kids, though it was wet, and took Cody for a walk, my routine when     I get here.  Mitch rides his long board, Marisa her bike and we walk up the hill and back.  Tyler got home from crew around 6:30 and we had baked ziti for dinner.  Rami got home around 8:00, and we all watched some TV together, then went to bed.

A Beautiful Day for a Drive to Connecticut

Mulching the Leaves

Three Hours After Cutting the Lawn

Up at 5:00, ready for our trip East to see our grandchildren.  It's pitch black out, but it's supposed to be a great day, sunny and warm.  It would also be a great day to be at the lake, probably warm enough and nice enough to take a boat ride.

Yesterday was spent getting ready for our trip, getting packed, getting the various goodies ready to take to the kids.  Evie always brings some cookies for them, this time two different kinds, one they will help her decorate. I did cut the lawn, as the leaves had covered it but by late afternoon, it was covered again as it's that time of the year.  I can just imagine our yard when we get back next week.

We went out to the Seezurh House for dinner, with the Mc Clures of course, and all four of us got the special, a ten ounce steak, with potato and salad, for ten bucks, a deal.  It was great, really cooked well, and the Seezuhr was crowded, as was Bemus, the warm weather tending to bring people out.

We came back and watched the Debate, as Romney totally dominated, keeping Obama on the defensive.  It was not fun to watch, as Obama looked bored and tended to bore with his long disquisitions on the economy. We had heard all the arguments before but Romney appeared energized and confident.   Fortunately, I don't think there are many undecided voters and a debate will not change a democrat or republican's mind.  And who is telling the truth?  Each accused the other of increasing the deficit, and both said that would never happen.  Someone has to be right, the other wrong.  Discouraging.  The most insightful pundit said the Romney completely disregarded his conservative attitudes during the debate, appealing to the general public, not just the far right which has been his wont.  It worked.

Warmer and Overcast Morning

7:37

Long Point

Long Point

Merganser in Flight

Fall Maples

Victoria Woods

Kinney's Waterless Run

Up later than usual, around 7:30 to another gray morning. mists and fog on the lake, a warm 62 degrees though it's now 8:30 and the sun looks as though it's trying to break through the barrier of fog.

Yesterday was a Chautauqua gray day though it hardly rained, just 2/10ths of an inch over the past twenty four hours so you could be outside if you wanted; it just wasn't sunny.  Evie made more cookies for our trip to Darien, CT, tomorrow, for the grandchildren of course, as well as a baked ziti for dinner our first night.  Later, she went shopping in Lakewood and went to Master Cuts.  I  stayed home, a  bit bored, but found my way.  Though it was foggy, it reminded me of a Japanese painting, so I went kayaking on the smooth, windless lake, gray and black colors, mostly, and took photos as you can see, trying to get a picture which reminded me of a Japanese print.  It was fun.  Later,  I walked the Woodlawn/Victoria woods, still dripping from the rain, marking a path as best I could, getting ready for my winter walks.  I also got the urge to get more gravel for my driveway, drove to Tri James but they are closed, either for the year or just the afternoon.  Sad.  I then came home and gave the Pilot a good cleaning, both inside and out, perhaps because I have decided to spend money on the Accord, keep it for another three or four years, the Pilot as well.  I just don't want to have a monthly car payment and both cars are in decent if not good shape. I also read some, as I am finding Hitch 22 very interesting.  Christopher Hitchens has always been an iconoclast and he lead an amazingly interesting life, seduced by Marxism when he was younger, an atheist all his life, a screaming liberal,  he changed somewhat in later life, supporting Bush and the Iraq War.  Many of his attitudes, especially towards religion were formed in his fascistic prep schools in England, with daily forced religious services, compulsory games, and kowtowing to authority.

We had meatballs and bulgar for dinner, even better than the night before and watched the first episode of The Forsythe Saga, a mini series made about ten years ago, with Damian Lewis, from Homeland, as the major protagonist.  It's a bit dated but pretty good, a somewhat older version of Downton Abbey, as we watch one of the wealthy families in London begin to lose their way, culturally and financially.

Tuesday Drizzles

7:25

Overcast, a dripping rain, gray lake, sky, and landscape, the joy of differentness.  It's rare when I tire of our view, our weather, as it's so changeable.  I hope I will be saying this during the winter, when it's gray most of the time.  But for now, I like a day or two like this, and even a walk in the mists sounds inviting.

Yesterday was a lost day, for me, as we had the guys who insulated our basement back, to tie up loose ends, make sure the house was as tight as they promised, and this took a good part of the morning.  Thus, I wasted a mostly sunny morning, sitting inside.  Evie, however, was busy as usual, making a curried squash bisque, lemony meat balls with celeriac (she just used celery as Wegman's had no celeriac), with bulgur.  The meat balls have a lemon flavored gravy, to go with the spiced meatballs.  She also made her Italian bread, as well as ginger lemon cookies, so her day was spent in the kitchen.

I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, but it did not stop me from taking a bike ride around the CI a couple of times, just enough to get some exercise.  I also went to the library, to pick up a biography of Christoper Hitchens, along with another Alan Furst.  I looked for an Ian Fleming James Bond, thinking it might be fun to see how his novels age but none were found on the shelves.

Dinner with Mc Clures

The Mc Clures returned to the lake yesterday, so we had them over last night for dinner.  We had a good time, catching up as they have been in Pittsburgh for a couple of weeks.  Our dinner was great, especially the squash and coconut milk curried soup.  It was even cool enough to have a fire in our living room, so we sat inside, enjoyed the fire and talked and laughed.  They left about 10:00 and we watched some TV before going to bed.  I stared Hitch 22 and liked it immediately.  Let's see if I stick with it.  I think I am a sucker for a good story, so Hitchens life had better be a good story.

NO MAN KNOWS MY HISTORY: THE LIFE OF JOSEPH SMITH: FAWN BRODIE

For some reason, I have been curious about the Mormon religion, reading Jon Krakauer's UNDER THE BANNER OF GOD,  about a fundamentalist sect of Mormons, responsible for a number of murders, but not much about Mormonism.  Thus, I picked up Fawn Brodie's biography, written in 1954.  Alert: I got only half way through and got bored.

The early part of Joseph Smith's life is a bit sketchy, but you do get a sense of time, where people were often irreverent, though easily duped, searching for belief.  He grew up in Palmyra, NY, born in Sharon, and his family lived in Vermont before moving to New York.  My early impression is that he was mischievous, often getting in minor trouble, well liked, a leader among his friends.  And he seemed to have a rich imagination, telling amazing stories to the delight of his friends, none true of course.  In his late teens, early 20's, he was said to have found a seer's stone and used it to find things for  friends and neighbors, developing a reputation, which eventually led him to saying he could find buried gold.  Various dupes paid for his services until he was sued, lost, and admitted finally that it was a charade.

He then gets married, moves in with his in laws, finds a secret book, which no one else can view or they will instantly die, and then begins to translate these golden plates, which is a history of the lost Hebrew tribes of Israel, one that was divided into hard working whites who eventually were wiped out by a group of the corrupt sons of evil, the red man or Indian.  Brodie shows that most of Smith's larger themes he found in Ethan Smith's equally false View of the Hebrews.  Smith's book was just bad scholarship whereas Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon was highly original and imaginative fiction.  I assume most Mormon's would disagree with this statement by Brodie.

After he wrote 116 pages of history, his scribes wife took and burned the manuscript.  For fear that it might reappear, Smith spoke with God, who told him there were smaller plates, which he could use instead, to thwart Satan of course, and then, once he got to the point where he stopped, he could go back to the original text.  Wow.  Thus, Joseph speaks directly to God and most importantly, the new translation is much more religious in nature, whereas the first was more political, a response to Joseph's rethinking of his role.

His method: to put the seer stone in a hat, put his face in the hat, and in the darkness a spiritual light would shine.  A piece of something like parchment would appear. with writing and under it was the translation.  Joseph would  read off the translation, a scribe would write down his words. Thus, the book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man. The Book of Mormon was a mutation in the evolution of American literature, a curious sport, at once sterile and potent.  Ignored by literary scholars, it brought several hundred thousand immigrants to American in the 19th century.

Once Josepth gets the Book of Mormon published, he is hassled, sued, and eventually decides to up and leave, moving to Kirtland, Ohio, where he is promised land and the beginning of a new home.  Along the way, he gains new converts, angers others, and through the power of his words, he consolidates his new religion, setting up a hierarchy, with him at the top, adopting a communistic structure where all one's profits go to the church, to be divided as needed.  It's a bit sketchy and obviously it's changed now but back then, it was attractive, with many communities springing up like New Harmony in Indiana.  Eventually, he wore out his welcome, the land where he and his believers were living, was taken back, so he decides to have a new revelation from God (these come when ever he needs them to lead his flock) telling them to move to Independence, MO, the gateway to the West, where they will found a New Jerusalem.

One does not realize the discrimination and violence this new religion faced, mainly for fear of their beliefs, one, that they were against slavery, the other, the fear they might convert the Indian.  Thus, a state like Missouri feared they brought change.  Men are beaten, their families harassed, their homes were burnt down, some were tarred and feather all through th 1830's, as Joseph vacillates as to what he should do.  His modus operandi for getting things done is to issue a revelation which has been sent to him by God.  The most important revelation from God was to move aware from a totally communistic approach, where one gave their wealth to the church, to one where families could keep their profits, tithe what they could afford, much more amenable to all.  Joseph was no fool.


He also stopped having a convenient revelation everytime he wanted something done, instead he began preaching that this is what should be done.  Intellectually, he was celebrated for having no education, as if his words were not sullied by having been educated.  But in his early 30's, he became infatuated with learning, stressed it in all Mormon schools, studied Greek and Hebrew.  Unfortunately, when a group brought some Egyptian hieroglyphics to town, he said he could read it and said it was from Abraham.. He  then translated it, a mistake, as it was clear that he was just making stuff up and it could be proved, though it was largely ignored by the faithful.

Puffs of Fall Clouds on a Sunny Monday

7:21

Maples turning in Front of our House

Paddling along Long Point

Kayaks Beached at Long Point Pavilion

Bicyclists along the Leafy Arches of Long Point Park

7:29

Slept in a bit, 7:30, sunshine fills the living room, Morning Joe on Sirius, coffee, a full day ahead of sun and the high in the 60's.  How lucky are we here at the lake?  Not much action on the lake, as the fishing tournament from this weekend has ended.  The sun is so blinding right now I have to sit in another chair.

Yesterday was supposed to be a rainy day...it was"t and it didn't.  Anyways, it was a great morning so we hurriedly got ready to kayak and hike over at Long Point.  It was an easy paddle over to the Pavilion and back, and we had over an hour walk through the woods, as the leaves are just beginning to turn, just a few have fallen.  We met a couple of people walking their dogs but other than that, we had the park to ourselves.  There is something about walking in the woods, as opposed to a street, that I never get tired of, the quiet I suppose, the changing vista, now still green with leaves, our view obscured, the softness of the earth, the occasional scurry of an animal, usually a chipmunk, the flutter of a bird, all combine for a visceral experience.  And I remember walks from the past years, when it was snow filled, with the Albarrans four years ago, the Bissell's last winter, or the cross country skiing and snow shoeing through the woods two years ago.  Thus, I see the woods in the present and past as I walk, and they are never the same.  

During the afternoon, I watched the US lose in a dramatic style to the Europeans in the Ryder Cup, the Americans making mistake after mistake, the Europeans taking advantage of it, going crazy when they won.  There is nothing like winning a championship as a team, the thrill and excitement ephemeral, yet unforgettable.  I can still remember our excitement beating Kentucky in the NCAA regionals back in 1964, winning a couple of Service League Championships in Honolulu, and of course, winning the Turkish League championship in 1975.  For a moment, everything is forgotten, all our brothers, and this bond created by this winning is long lasting, holds true today, as some of my closest bonds remain with players from college and Istanbul.  When we get together,  even after forty years, the ties remain and we are comfortable with each other, remembering those days. 

For dinner, Evie made penne with garlic, chard and white beans, a really tasty vegetarian meal, one we will have to make more often.  We watched a wonderful French movie called THE HEDGEHOG, based on a French novel called THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG.  Like most foreign movies, it's slow moving, artsy, serious, and in the end, satisfying.  In this film, a precocious twelve year old decides she does not want to live 'like a fish in a fishbowl' and decides to commit suicide on June 16th, the day her school year ends.  Leading up to this, we see her family, through her eyes, detestable in their boredom and sameness, as she films them were her camera.  Things change when a Japanese man moves into her apartment  building and she becomes friends with the lonely and lowly concierge in her building.  She develops a touching relationship with her concierge, finds out she has a room full of books, is a real person, and the Japanese resident also develops a friendship with the concierge as well, changing her life and that of the young girl.  It's well worth watching.