Catching up...

Two weeks after Mama and Dean's wedding in Ohiopyle, we had an opportunity to visit our family in NY and our friends in Baltimore...

It was a non-stop whirlwind tour. Jess had to be at a couple of meetings for work, and so I tagged along for the ride (considering her plane ticket was paid for and I had some catching up to do). On the plane ride from Oakland I sat next to a gentleman who happened to have worked closely with my new boss back in the 90's. He had some interesting, insightful stories. I was glad to be taking a break... I had more important things on my mind!!!

It was mom and dad's 40th anniversary the previous weekend (isn't it inspiring to know there are still people in this world who keep the marital institution alive and healthy?! GO MOM AND DAD!!!), plus the end of August is a big time for birthdays in our family. I also missed the previous weekend's family reunion in Vermont, and the annual summit of the Association of Nature Center Administrators was the following week. I had to cram as much into one long weekend as possible to make up for all the things I'm missing.

Jess had arrived in Baltimore on Wednesday. I got in Thursday night. Justin and Bridget picked me up and took me down to the Wharf Rat where there was already a small crowd gathered. I was worried right from the start that I wouldn't make it too long- everyone was buying me drinks!!! The evening progressed well though. I got to say hi to Ginny and Guy, Jamie and Tase, Gary, Missy, Chris and Abbey, James D., Andrew, Cherie, Lisa, Greg, Cricket, Caitlin, and BRYAN!!! There were others too, but for some reason my memory's foggy. We had a good time celebrating the eve of my 30th birthday! I got an awesome hat from Justin with the number "40" on it. It's good to have such a thoughtful and loving friend. It's ok... he's only 11 months away from his 30th...

In the morning, Jess had to work, so Justin came and had coffee with me and Cricket before we dropped Cricket at the train (stopping at the H&S bakery outlet on the way for donuts). I got to use the car for the rest of the weekend. It's a new Focus, manual. Very fun to drive (sorry about the new funny noises, Justin... that's just how us 40-year-olds drive).

My first stop was Charlotte's house for breakfast. She's the widowed wife of Peck Bond, the man who got me started in keeping my first bee hives. Jess and I have unofficially adopted Charlotte as our surrogate grandmother. We were very sad to say goodbye to her when we first left Baltimore. She's now sold her house and will be moving to Florida by the end of this month. It's a hard thing for her to uproot at her age, and she's struggling with the transition. We had a great talk over some eggs and sausage and muffins with her homemade blackberry jelly. I sliced up some peaches I'd picked up at a farm stand on my way. We'll have to visit in Florida!!

Onwards to see my old boss and mentor, Bob Stanhope, for lunch and a peek at his retirement projects around the yard. He and his wife Sally now have two grandkids, and are quite busy with the closer one in Pennsylvania (the other is out this way in Portland, Oregon, and we're hoping he'll come down for a visit here in California on their next trip). Bob is an incredible naturalist, and he interprets his garden and yard just as if they were the Dundee Creek where we used to take kids canoeing all summer long and teach about the Chesapeake Bay. He's got a story for every tree and shrub he and his family have planted on their one-acre piece of Maryland countryside. While we were touring the yard a squall came through, my first rain in almost four months!!! I soaked it in and loved every second of it.

Bob has been researching his grape varieties and is in the process of putting in new vines. True to form, he cooked-up the most delicious crab cakes I've ever had (his recipe is fantastic, and ALWAYS made with Chesapeake Bay blue crab... in fact, he's so particular about that detail of the recipe that unless the Chesapeake Bay starts getting cared for like it really needs, I think Bob's crab cakes might just become famous as the last on the planet to use crabs from the Chesapeake Bay). He counted the lumps in the one-pound container - 136, coming from the back fins of 68 crabs. I enjoyed every last morsel of my two cakes, along with a fresh ear of local sweet corn and a few slices of fresh tomato from Sally's garden, my only East Coast tomato of the year. Over lunch Bob told me he is jealous of my new job, and excited for me. That's really saying something.

On to Jess' company picnic, where we ran through an inflatable obstacle course and jumped on a moon bounce, and then to Annapolis for a concert cruise with Bryan on the Severn River. The rain that afternoon had left behind clouds that lit up with streaks of heat lightening all night long. The highlight for me was when Bryan called the folks who live in the mansion on a bluff over the river which he sometimes house-sits (and invites friends to... we've stayed there with him a few times, the place is incredible... he calls it the "Playboy Mansion" ...Jess and I call it "The B&B"). They flicked the lights of the whole place on and off for us to see from the boat (it was only a highlight because he'd told us about this party trick a while back).

Bryan's date, Lauren, was hilarious. She had Jess and I in stitches all night. She's a great balance of funny and active and outdoorsy and smart and witty and pretty. They met as leaders at a summer camp in Edgewater. She's a keeper.

Back to the hotel in Baltimore, and in the morning we were on our way to breakfast with Justin and Bridget before getting on the bus to NY. We swung by the old house on the way and took note of the overgrown garden and "tag" on the back fence, which are in the process of being taken care of now. I'd been waiting for the fence to get tagged for a long time, so I wasn't terribly surprised to see it. No profanity, just some kid's name. They're not the brightest in that neighborhood.

Breakfast was at George's. George's wife made our wedding cake, so when Justin suggested we go there for breakfast I thought it appropriate seeing as he and Bridget are getting married in October. We didn't get to talk much over breakfast because George had some catching up of his own to do! He sat with us and told us all about the recent changes in his life. His mother recently passed away, and he had gone through a lot through the ordeal. He also missed seeing Bryan, who when he was living at the State Park was a regular at the bakery. George said he thought of Bryan like a son.

We stopped to pick up a banjo from Missy for a friend of hers out here in Oakland, then to the bus station where Justin and I threw a football with Shamus O'Leary (ok, that wasn't the kid's name, but he was a geeky, carrot-topped youngster who was on his way to visit his girlfriend in NY... and needed a friend to talk to). We hopped on the bus with Shamus, and off were went.

Once in NY we hopped a ride with Aunt Liz and cousin Aimee (AKA "Cuz"). We got trapped in traffic, but eventually made it to Long Island where the folks had prepped for a party with the family and the boys. The whole crew showed up and we had a great time playing Anniversary Trivia. At the end of the night I had an epiphany and began brainstorming a new product: Meat Bouquets. (we made our first prototype the following week... more to come soon)...

That night we played Spades with mom and dad. Jess and I lost miserably. In the morning we had plotskies for breakfast and I decided to give myself a haircut. Failing at the attempt, the ladies took me to the salon with them where I got my hair fixed. Lunch at Emilio's and then out to the beach to see the high surf from the hurricane that was passing out in the Atlantic.



It was a beautiful weekend. Hot and humid!!! What a welcomed change from dry and cold!!!