Please Say a Prayer for Eileen

Tomorrow Bill's niece Eileen will undergo a kidney transplant. This will be her second transplant. Her first one which took place about 12 years ago has failed in the last couple of years. Please join us in saying prayers for her health and well-being. We are also saying special prayers for her friend Jose who is donating his kidney to her. Thank you Jose. Get well Eileen!! We love you.

Proof in the Picture

Robin came through with a picture of us standing in line waiting for the theater to open.

A Wonderful Birthday Present!!

Yes, my birthday was in December and my friend Robin's was in October and Rachel's was in September but this past weekend we received our gift from Erica. She got us tickets to the new production of A Chorus Line. And, Sunday was the day we went.

Saturday, Geoff and Erica drove from Arlington to Delaware to get Bill and me. After a quick lunch we set off for New York City. Erica arranged for Bill and me to stay at the Millenium in the Theater District. Our room was just off of Times Square. She and Geoff stayed at Geoff's parents apartment. After we checked into the hotel we changed our clothes and checked out the tourist information in the room. Erica and Geoff arrived a little later and we took a cab to this wonderful restaurant on East 82nd. We, Bill and I, have been wanting good Mexican food since we moved to Delaware. We have not had very good luck in that quest so far. But, this restaurant we went to on the recommendation of Geoff's mother was excellent. Zocalo is among the best Mexican restaurants I have ever enjoyed. After dinner, we were almost overwhelmed by the lights of Times Square and Broadway on the taxi ride back to the hotel.

We got up Sunday morning and walked to Times Square. I tried to imagine all of the people crowded there on New Years Eve. The traffic, the pedestrians, the lights and the sounds of the spot overload the senses. The bitter cold wind only added to this feeling. Bill and I then went back to the hotel to wait for the others to join us before we set off for brunch. Rachel and Robin had spent the night in Greenwich, CT and drove into the city from there. They and Geoff and Erica met us and we went to an Argentinian restaurant in SoHo. It is the New York version of one of E & G's favorites while they were in Miami last year. The restaurant, Novecento, was OK but not as good as Zocalo. It was over-staffed (more staff than diners) who did not provide the best of service. Too bad, because the food was pretty good. Erica and Geoff's friend Ian joined us for brunch.

After wonderful conversation and laughs, Geoff and Bill set off on a walking tour and we girls strolled a little of SoHo before taking a cab to the theater. Bill took the camera so there are no pictures of us waiting for the show to start. That's OK. It was wonderful. Erica and Rachel had taken dance lessons and attended dance camps together when they were kids. They really love this stuff and so this was a very special treat for them and yes also for their old moms.

After the show, Rachel and Robin went back to Connecticut and Erica, Geoff, Frankie, Bill and I headed back to Delaware. Erica had to work today so yesterday was a very long one for her. Thank you ERICA. Thank you Geoff. We had a wonderful time.

Looking uptown from Times Square

More of the Square

Good Morning, America happens here.

I love these graphics and all in lights.

Rachel and Erica

Here we are waiting from brunch. That's Ian in the mirror. See the flash spot.

A banner in SoHo

Bill & Geoff's Walking Tour --

After our lunch in SoHo Geoff took Bill on a walking tour of Manhattan. On this tour they went to the financial district and Ground Zero. They then took a subway from lower Manhattan to Grand Central Station and then walked around the sites there before going to Geoff's parents apartment to pick up Frankie (our grand doggie) for the trip home.

The time they spent was special for Bill as he was able to see the city through Geoff's eyes. It always makes a difference when you learn of a place from someone who is a native and who loves the place.

Here are some pictures they took on their excursion. The first five photos were taken of Ground Zero and cannot reflect how poignant and hallow that ground is.

Construction equipment and other signs of activity.

Pictures of people offering to help. The man in lower photo is holding up sign saying O+

More scenes of the tragedy.

Sign marking the day.

Faces of victims

From Ground Zero they went to other areas in Lower Manhattan including Wall Street and monuments along the way.

The tomb of Alexander Hamilton in the Trinity Church yard.

The headstone for Francis Lewis a signer of the Declaration Independence.

The cemetery at Trinity Church.

Wall Street

This marks the spot where George Washington took his first Oath of Office.

Bill and Geoff took the subway from this area and proceeded to Upper East Side of the city. They stopped at Grand Central Station and saw many more sites as they wound up their day.

Bill at Grand Central

Geoff at Grand Central

The Product Number Is. . .

Around our house Bill is the one who buys peanut butter. That's at least 90% of the time. If I buy it I will buy Jif or Skippy., never anything else. So, when the announcement regarding Peter Pan and salmonella I thought nothing of it because to my way of thinking there is never Peter Pan in our house. But, Bill announces that he did buy Peter Pan last time and he checked the product number and what we have is OK.

This morning he announces that he was looking at the wrong number. Yes, there it was right on the lid the leading digits 2111.

That many digits in a lottery would yield a prize. Not so here. We dutifully threw away an almost full jar of peanut butter and took the lid to grocery store for a refund. Gratefully we did not get sick but it was a little disconcerting.

I usually do not pay much attention to product recalls. I think I shall from now on.

Roses for Valentines

Instead of the the whole bouquet, I thought I would share this bud. Really, like almost all Valentines Days for the last 31 years I received a dozen roses from Bill. If I can't count on anything else in this life, I can count on him to deliver roses.

He learned very early on how much I love roses, red roses in particular. There is just something about them that makes me feel good. They are so beautiful. I really do love them and I love getting them. So, thank you Bill for being my Valentine this year and always.

Chilly Week

This past week we did a few things like go to the beach and then go to Baltimore and then go to Georgetown and then go to the beach. Not too exciting but we did manage to learn a little more of the area with each excursion. The pictures today do not show any lighthouses but show some of the chilly spots we saw in travels.

We were on our way to Cape Henlopen when we came across this field of white birds. Since I am not a birder I do not know what they are. This was the second or third such field. There are hundreds of birds here. This picture was taken from the car window as are so many of the pictures we take.

I looked to my right. Bill was driving and I saw these birds in flight. It was pretty amazing. I only wish that the picture had been more in focus.

We went to Cape Henlopen to check out the snow if any on the beach. Here you can see that there was of snow on the beach and that it was very cold. This particular day the temperature was around 17 degrees. This picture shows a very cold and lonely sea.

I love to take pictures of the sand. This is of the sand and snow. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Here we have a cutter trying to make it way past the breakwater.

We call this "Lonely Duty."

We went to Baltimore on Thursday. The Bay was icy as can be seen by theses pictures. We also got lost on our way home. We decided to take the northern route and when we decided that we were headed to New Jersey we asked for directions.

More of the icy Chesapeake.

Geese at Wagamons Pond.

These geese were objects of my camera today. Wagamons Pond is the area where we live. Every day there is something different at the pond. Today it was geese.

Lots of geese.

Here I am waiting patiently for the heron to appear.

Geese in flight.

Here is the heron I waited for 20 minutes to get a picture. How out of focus could I be?!! Note the other wildlife the mallard ducks in the upper right hand quadrant.

Ramblings

Here's a second attempt for this post. Seems as though I tried to out think the browser and kicked myself off and in doing so lost what I tried to post yesterday. So, here goes another attempt at "whatever."

It continues to be cold here. It was 13 degrees the last time I checked. It is not as cold as it is in Minnesota and other places but it COLD nonetheless. I still have a hard time looking out at the sunshiny day and thinking it is about 50 out there -- NOT. So, what has been going on to keep warm? Not much, pot roasts, filing, laundry, stuff like that. Oh, we have taken a couple of drives in our efforts to become more familiar with the area. This past week our ventures were to Dover and back to the beach.

Depending on which roads are taken, Dover is between 30-40 miles from here. Yahoo maps it at 31.1 miles. I have hesitated going to Dover because of a pain I get in the gut when I think of those planes that land at Dover AFB carrying the caskets of fallen military. I don't think I can or should ever get over that but we still needed to see some of Dover. We passed the Air Force Base and saw several planes that were landing and some that had just taken off. Then we went into the government section of the city where the state capital building is located. What I found particularly interesting was how small the State Capital Building seems in comparison to the Idaho State House for example. The Delaware building itself is actually younger than the Idaho building but it was built to reflect the strong colonial roots of the state. I have to keep remembering that Delaware was the "First State" and Idaho was the 43rd state. We arrived in Dover in the early afternoon and decided that we needed to come back during the morning so that we can spend some time in the museums and archives.

Sunday found us back on our search for the illusive perfect beach for us. First we went to our favorite spot at Cape Henlopen State Park and then decided because of the cold and wind not to make the journey down to the beach. We then drove a short distance to the "point" where we previously found the beach to be beautiful but the access for me was very difficult. This time we decided to check out another of the access points and found it much more accessible but the last part of the path is quite steep. We did not let this stop us from enjoying the view from the top of the trail. I am always amazed at the moment when I realize that if I just turn a little there is a whole different view of the world. This was very much the case on Sunday. Here are some of those views (all taken from spots within 10 feet of each other).

Looking at the beach from the access point

Looking towards Lewes from access point.

This is the Delaware Breakwater Light. In an earlier post I mistakenly referred to it as the Lewes Light. This picture and the previous one were taken looking slightly to the left from the access point.

Now looking right we can New Jersey in the distance. Still looking right is the Harbor of Refuge Light. I know that I previously identified this as the Cape Henlopen Light which was replaced with the Harbor of Refuge. Please check out the link to the Lights. There will be more posts on these lights as time passes because I find that they are harboring tales that intrigue me more and more.

As I turned back around to the left I got this shot of World War II Towers erected for observation and protection of the Delaware coastline during World War II. There are several of these towers from Cape Henlopen south to the Maryland border.

Now looking just bit more left is this modern day shore-to-ship electronic communication tower.