Tony and Antonia and Friends

A couple weekends ago, our friends John and Dominique drove over from Illinois and joined us for a quick trip to Sterling Heights, to see one of Jim's favorite performers.

Tony Bennett!

Lately, it seemed that every time we traveled, we'd see a billboard promoting a Tony Bennett concert, but it was always sold out. Jim started keeping an eye on Tony's website (yes, we're on a first name basis), and was finally able to purchase tickets to this show.

The show, with Tony Bennett and his daughter Antonia, was at the Freedom Hill Amphitheatre. It was a beautiful evening, and we got there early enough to get food at the concession stand, and relax. (This is because our tickets listed the time as 6 pm. We thought we were late, but it turned out this is when the gates open, so we had time to spare.)

The sun was starting to set as everyone got settled in. 

Jim, Dominique, and John

It was a delightful performance. Antonia sang first, and was a real showman, chatting with the audience, highlighting the band members, and singing great songs. Tony performed a few numbers with her, as well as on his own. He is really amazing. He turned 88 on August 3, but still has a great voice, and charms and delights the crowd. At one point he asked, "would you mind if I sing some old standards?" Would we mind?!? What a silly question...

We spent the night at the Warren Courtyard Marriott, on Van Dyke (once we finally got out of the Freedom Hill parking lot, the hotel was just a few minutes away). (Nice hotel, decent breakfast in the morning.) We enjoyed a late dinner at Buddy's Pizza, nearby (Yum! Great pizza, and a charming waitress).

The next day, we drove up to Frankenmuth, since John and Dom' had never been to Bronner's Christmas store. We wandered around for a good while - they have every imaginable ornament, I swear. Showing great restraint, we bought just a couple ornaments (really, our tree has no room for more ornaments...!).

Bonnie was glad when we got home:

She got a walk, and we humans got some dinner, and then we talked and played Settlers of Catan (Dom' won on Saturday; Jim won Sunday's game).

With all the driving we did (and a late-night push), I finished knitting my hat:

It's reversible; this is the "inside"

Not Just Legos

In May, we went with friends to the Grand Rapids Museum, to see the Lego Exhibit. I confess that the Lego display had limited appeal - it consisted of a number of famous buildings, recreated in white Legos. They were neat to look at, no doubt about it, but then what...?

Happily, there was lots more of interest at the museum. For one thing, there were Legos to build with, and the kids had a great time just playing there.

Z: Yes! Take my picture!

The Western Michigan LEGO Train Club built a model of Grand Rapids in the late 19th Century, which was very cool. It was fun to look for characters and landmarks:

This trolley traveled around the setup - very neat.

We wandered through other exhibits. The Newcomers exhibit told about the different ethnic groups (over 45!) that call Michigan home. The kids liked the habitat exhibits as well. Young J saw this owl and declared, "it's Jim!"

We came across some really large Legos, and of course had to build something with those as well:

And we had to ride the carousel:

J

K

L

We came upon this display as we were leaving - a piece of the Berlin Wall.

This is a picture of my young friend in his Link^* outfit, which comprises this hat, the mitts he's wearing (he will, however, patiently explain that they are "gauntlets"), and also a sword and shield (which you can see in the pictures above). By the way, he is still wearing that hat, even though summer heat is upon us...

J in the persona of Link

The Grand Rapids Museum is worth a visit (or several)!



* Link, I am told, is a character in the video game Zelda:

Photo source

Five Things for Friday: Blossoms and Babies and Food

Heather's blog generally features Five Things for Friday, although I don't see it yet today (watch for it!). My Five Things blogs are rarer, but here's one for today.

- 1 -

The Kalamazoo Farmers Market recently opened for the season, and Jess & I made our first visit last Saturday. It's not too busy this early in the growing year. Nearly every vendor had asparagus to sell; some had tomatoes, which, this being Michigan, seemed a bit sketchy. Our favorite egg vendor was there, and the vendor with those delicious caramels. The guy with heirloom tomato plants was there; I bought one (1) plant - Mayo's Delight - we'll see if I can manage to keep it alive. (Last year I harvested one tomato before the plant died; but that one tomato was delicious!)

- 2 -

We've welcomed lots of new babies at church over the past six or so months. Last Saturday, we had a celebratory shower for all of them. Here are six of the new little ones - a photo taken shortly before Baby Meltdown. Starting with the little guy on the top, and continuing clockwise, we have the newest members of the Wesel, Brown, Burnham, Betzold, Tensmeyer, and Ballard families. (Alas, no Thompson baby that day . . .)

- 3 -

For Christmas, Jim gave me a set of lace blocking wires, and I finally got the chance to use them. Not that I have finished anything (ha! I've been knitting steadily, but there is no end in sight for any of my projects). My friend, on the other hand, recently finished knitting a scarf out of a merino / qiviut / silk blend lace yarn - so yummy! - and I agreed to block it for her.

Here is a not-very-good photo of the scarf, stretched on the wires. I think probably I could have blocked it more aggressively, but I was being cautious - it was the first time using the wires, after all, plus it was not my scarf!

But the wires did work well. It was rather tedious, threading them through each stitch, but the end result was a much smoother edge than when I have to place individual pins. (The pins in this photo are holding the wires, not the yarn.)

- 4 -

Last year, Bonnie and I talked to a fellow at Friendship Village. He was clearing out a new area in the woods, and had planted three dogwood trees. I figured it would be a couple years before they bloomed.

But look what Bonnie and I saw yesterday. I could hardly believe it - the trees were in bloom, and the flowers were huge - the size of my hand! I've never seen a tree quite like these. A placard said they are venus kousa dogwoods. An internet search revealed that the blooms are indeed 6", and that they are drought- and deer-tolerant to boot (a good thing in this woods, which periodically sees deer).

- 5 -

I love these flowers. Wouldn't this be a lovely color for yarn - shades of purple and white, with a bit of green here and there?

Road Trip: Back Home for a Day

In deference to Jim's comment, I'll add two more pictures, from the Columbus phase of our trip

The State Capitol was built in the Greek revival style. Construction started in 1839, but wasn't completed until 1861. There was an eight-year lapse in construction, and the completed basement and foundations were filled in with soil, and Capitol Square was used as a pasture!

The Peace Statue was intended to honor those who served in the Civil War.

We spent Mother's Day in Kalamazoo. We attended church as usual, except that the meetings weren't at all typical. The previous Sunday, we'd had a special meeting at which the boundaries were changed, and our three Kalamazoo wards (congregations) became two. Our bishopric was unchanged, but many other positions were left vacant, as members moved to the other ward. So this Sunday, with positions still in flux, we only had Sacrament meeting.

This was also the day of the first Kalamazoo Marathon. I took advantage of the shorter church schedule, and as soon as Sacrament meeting ended, I slipped away to try and watch some of the runners. Thanks to Kevin's help, I was able to get to the Winchell neighborhood in time to see Jess. There were 1199 marathon finishers; Jess & Rachel (pictures below) were two of them!

Jess, in the Winchell neighborhood

Jess & her fan club

Other friends of ours ran the marathon as a family; you can read about them at their Facebook page, Mills Family Marathon. Rachel ran the entire marathon; the kids took turns running with her; and Abe choreographed it all.

Rachel and her fan club!

After the Marathon, we put flowers on our mothers' graves (Jim is very good about this), and then relaxed with our friends. Day 4 of our vacation: Excellent! On to Chicago...!

Flowers and Friends

Yesterday, it finally started to warm up, and Bonnie & I shared our lunchtime walk with friends.

 I'm told this guy has moments when he is not smiling, but I've seen few of them. Mostly he's happy as can be. Sometimes I think he looks like his big sister, but this picture makes me think immediately of his big brother.

 Here is the aforementioned big brother, sans shoes (it really wasn't that warm!), doing things the unorthodox way (as usual).

... And the aforementioned big sister - equally shoeless, equally unorthodox, and equally happy.

My favorite beagle, smiling after a nice long walk. (Note: those are not her boots!)

Today, Bonnie and I walked in the Friendship Village woods, looking for signs of spring. I love the way the new flowers grow up wherever they are, even if it means sprouting through the middle of an old leaf!

What I did during the ice storm

Another day, another winter storm here in Michigan. This one did not dump snow on us (as it did for others in the state - such as my brother's family in Plymouth), but we got some serious ice.

In our front yard

A friend and I had planned to travel on Monday to the Chicago Temple (it's open on some Monday holidays, e.g. Presidents Day). We discussed the wisdom of this, given the weather, but decided that we wouldn't let a little ice stop us. After all, we're Michiganders!

Besides, if it turned out to be bad, we would admit defeat, turn around, and come home. (We did this when my older brother turned 50. Jim & I, and Paul & his family, got as far as Paw Paw, I think, before we turned around and came home. The snow that day was awesome.)

So I picked up my friend at 7, and just as she was saying good-bye to hubby & kids, their power went out. Hmmm. They assured us they'd be fine (and really, what could we do? Generate hot air by talking?), so we left.

A few minutes later, we were back: my friend had her expired recommend with her, and not her newer one. (Anyone can enter our regular church buildings, but attendance at a temple requires that you meet a standard of worthiness. Your recommend demonstrates your adherence to that standard. It's kind of important.)

Looking for something is never fun, but in the dark? with flashlights?

At 8, we decided we needed to leave - the last session started at noon our time, and it's a three hour trip when all goes well, and we didn't know what to expect weatherwise - so we gave up looking and got back in the car. I drove, while my friend contacted various parties to work out the logistics of getting permission to enter, sans recommend. (What would we do, really, without cell phones?)

It was a gorgeous drive. The roads were dry (once we got out of Kalamazoo), the sky was grey, the trees were beautiful. We easily made the trip in 3 hours, my friend's emergency arrangements all worked out, and we had an excellent session at the temple.

We made some quick local stops (including Trader Joe's, of course), and were back on the road by 3 pm. Unfortunately, our trip home was not as smooth as our morning's drive.

There was a truck-car accident on the Dan Ryan, and when we realized there was a traffic issue, we tried to guess which lane to get in. We did not choose wisely - unless, of course, our goal was to have more knitting time. We both got some serious knitting done while we sat in that traffic. (What would we do, really, without knitting in our bags?)

We finally got past the accident, and again moved towards home. (Why does it always seem to take longer going home than it takes going to Chicago in the morning?) As we got closer to Kalamazoo, we encountered light snow. We discovered there'd been an accident on the ramp we needed to take to 131, so we continued on to the Oakland exit, where we found ourselves in a neighborhood with no power. It was really eerie, but everyone was driving carefully, treating the non-functioning lights as four-way stop signs, etc., so we had no problems there.

Even where there was power, the roads were sloppy with snow, so we drove cautiously. We finally got to my friend's neighborhood, where we reconnoitered a bit, to see where there were lights; her street seemed to be the only one with no power.

Later that night, our friends came over to dry diapers, charge phones & laptops, and bathe a baby. Then back home, to continue their 'adventure.' The next day, they dropped their dog off here, and went to stay with other friends until their power came back on. (What would we do, really, without friends?)

Their dog adores Bonnie; Bonnie tolerates their dog. Mostly they get along fine, and it's pretty funny to watch their interactions. Their dog isn't as tolerant of walking in the cold as Bonnie; we took a short walk, but even so, she started this cough / bark / whine thing, that I think was her way of saying "WHAT are we doing out here?!?"

Jim's office was also without power, so he spent some time there, and more time here at home. (I'm so happy we never lost power!)

Things are back to normal now - everyone is in their own home, warm and dry. (Well, everyone in this story - there are still areas without power.)

I recently finished knitting my Nutmeg Bear, and during the storm on Sunday, I knit a scarf for him. And yesterday, although it was cold and icy, it was also a good day for taking pictures of bears:

He really has two eyes, although you can't see both...

This was a fun pattern to knit - not too fussy, and fairly easy to assemble - and I loved the yarn. I think maybe I stuffed the head too much, but I expect it will settle over time, so I'm not going to lose sleep over it. And I'm sure my grandniece will be happy with him as he is. :)

Finally, here are a few more weather photos:

In the park, looking south

Looking north, in the park

A cold bit of greenery, in our back yard

A Not-So-Random Act of Kindness

Saturday morning, I answered phones at Ministry with Community. As I drove home, shortly after 1 pm, I noticed someone blowing leaves in our back yard. As I puzzled this, I kept driving, and saw people with rakes, in our front yard. And then - more people, with more rakes. People I recognized - youth and leaders from church!

In the words of George Elliston,

How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it!