Spring 2021

Flowers precede the leaves on a red maple.

The pussy willow in full bloom

Tulips near our porch

Just like spring with the emergence of daffodils and tulips and flowering trees, we are hopeful that our world is beginning to emerge from the devastating and isolating effects of Covid-19.  Rusty and I traveled 50 miles to Virginia, MN to get our first shot, and another 50 miles to York, NE to get our second shot.  What a sense of relief to have them both!  We've not discarded our masks and still are very careful not to be among crowds, especially in bars or restaurants.

Our first venture among the public happened outdoors on Easter.

Most of you are aware that my daughter, Felicia, has had many physically challenging difficulties in the last month.  She has recently endured her second non-cancerous pituitary brain tumor surgery, which happened in Pittsburg, PA.  Rather than spend time on the details, I'd like to share the outcome and subsequent visit with my family.

Big smiles after a very successful surgery!

We rented an Air BnB in Pittsburg so that Felicia could be close to the hospital for the obligatory 3 weeks.

My grandkids made Welcome Home signs for Felicia.

The home we stayed in was in the beautiful Duquesne area.

We were a short walk from the gorgeous view over the Ohio River and most of the city.

We rode the fanicular down to the river area where we had dinner.

 

Ruby, Pierce, and Reece
It had been a very long time since I saw any of my family; their hugs and kisses meant everything to me!

These boys have grown up so much!

Thankfully, Felicia soon felt good enough to enjoy dinner at The Melting Pot where we celebrated Pierce's 13th birthday.    

Olivia and Felicia, my beautiful daughters.

Pierce used his phone to order dinner for all of us.

Ruby and Reece in their new hats.

As we walked back to our residence we had this beautiful view of the city.

I had originally hoped to bike some while in the city.  From our hood, the hills looked like this.  Anytime the hills are so steep that you can't see the bottom, I think it's most likely too steep for me.

Instead of riding, we ate delights from the French bakery.

And I walked the hood.  I found Pittsburg to be a delightful place.  It has totally reinvented itself from the days of steel and mining.  Now it's all about meds and eds and technology.

The kids had virtual school, and we played cards, and had relaxing time on the patio, and read books, and just generally enjoyed being with each other.

Sunlight shining on beautiful Ruby.

Reece is just learning to throw the shot put.  I love his concentration in this video!

I have to give many kudos to Olivia for sharing of her knowledge of neurosurgery and hospital procedures throughout Felicia's surgery.  She was an invaluable asset to family and friends!  I'm so thankful that my days in Pittsburg overlapped for two days with her and the boys.  Their hugs and kisses made me feel welcome and loved beyond measure!

After the Fishers returned to KC, Felicia continued to heal and grow stronger, so we were able to take in  some of the sights.

Sam holding onto Felicia for both love and her physical stability..

The Phipps Conservatory

The "Spring" room.

The Phipps Conservatory had about 10 Chihuly sculptures among the plants.

Roasted broccoli is one of Sam's favorites.

GiGi and Ruby

One room in the Conservatory was entirely about Cuba, its history and its vegetation.  Here Felicia and Ruby try dancing to some Cuban music.

I learned the history of paladares, a great place to enjoy local Cuban cuisine.

The 1990’s became known as the periode especial, the special period, a time when Cuba was experiencing widespread food shortages because of economic collapse.  This was a direct result of the Soviet Union’s communist government collapse, and thus the end of many imported goods.  Cubans fell on hard times with little resources.  Yet, a popular pastime would make way for change.

A Brazilian telenovela about a woman who starts selling sandwiches on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro was a Cinderella type of rags to riches story.  the private restaurants featured in this Brazilian soap opera, Vale Tudo (Anything Goes), became hugely popular in Cuba in the early 1990s.  Cubans were inspired with the character and her success.

In 1993, tides changed and Fidel Castro allowed some measure of private enterprise due to the financial crisis.  This also extended to private restaurants, the first paladares.  New owners called the paladares after the Brazilian telenovela.

Those first paladares according to law were to run out of people’s homes, much like a speakeasy.  They could have no more than 12 seats and employees had to be members of the family.

We also roamed the campus of the University of Pittsburg and checked out its most prominent building, the Cathedral of Learning.  It is a 42 story skyscraper standing at 535 feet tall, the tallest educational building in the Wester hemisphere.  There are many classrooms housed in this building.

And nearby is a huge memorial to Stephen C. Foster., famously known for "Oh Suzanna" and "My Old Kentucky Home" and many others.

This is a grandiose building--all dedicated to Foster.

We also visited the Carnegie Museum of Art, one of the most dynamic and major art institutions in America.  It houses more than 30,000 objects, among them painting and sculpture; prints and drawings; photographs; architectural casts, renderings, and models; decorative arts and design; and film, video and digital imagery.

I've seen copies of this Van Gogh painting and found it to be lively and fun.  He described this painting as reflecting his loneliness and depression; his death followed soon after.

Van Gogh's last painting

Ruby and I took turns posing in the huge marble hall.

My favorite exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art was that of Charles "Teenie" Harris (1908-1998) who worked as a photographer for the Pittsburg Courier--one of the preeminent Black newspapers in America.

Jackie Robinson in the locker room

Here is Harris' photograph of a very poor Black family living in Pittsburg.  Painted on the wall near the stove pipe are the words, "Be Kind to Everyone".  If this family can understand the importance of these words enough to write them on their wall, perhaps those of us who have much more should take these words to heart as well.

Be Kind to Everyone

One day we went to the Point State Park, which is where the Monongahela River and the Allegheny River join to form the Ohio River.

Di, Ruby and Sam dipping our hands into the confluence.

By the way, this is where Meriweather Lewis had his boat built and then launched down the Ohio River to begin the Voyage of Discovery.

Most days I was in charge of dinner, a task I greatly enjoyed.

Felicia is now more than a month out from her surgery and so far all is going well.  Hurray!!!!

Back in Lincoln Rusty and I have had a few projects to work on.

I sewed a new cover for Gretchen's bed.  
She has a history of chewing them to bits.

I made a new cover for the grill.

Rusty is chiseling mortises into future table legs.

Rusty has spent many hours with a plane turning rough-cut lumber
 into dimensional lumber for our new table. 

Now that the weather is a little warmer and Covid is a little less threatening, I've been riding with friends again.

Impromptu spring ride--12 people showed up!

Earth Day Ride

A brief stop in Murdock on our way to North Bend

I've been working hard to get my garden going before we head north again.  The asparagus has been producing well for 3 weeks and probably has another month to go.  The spinach and lettuce are up.  The beans and beets and carrots and potatoes are planted.  Being absent from the garden for weeks at a time will be a new paradigm; we'll see how it goes.

I love the spring iris!

Our new bigger, better composting toilet from Sweden arrived just in time for us to haul it up north.

We leave for Hus OLAF on the 10th and plan to return on June 1.  Even though it feels like we are mostly off the grid, that really isn't so.  We can be reached by phone, text, email, Skype, or Zoom.