Vacation 1 - Hello from Princeton

Well, we have returned from a fun filled trip to Deeetroit and Washington. Washington was a bit of a too short visit - with train delays and all, but I actually think a good time was had by all. Interestingly enough, at not much less than the cost of one of those Disney vacations - and we were not living high off the hog either. This is Jas on the comfee train. It really wasn't too bad but for Pete’s sake one of those cheepy flights would have been cheaper. The seat folds into a bed and there is an upper bunk too. The delights of trying to sleep in a blender cannot be underestimated.

Vacation 2

The main goal of this trip was Greenfield Village - a mid 19th century town created by Henry Ford so folks could remember the type of life people had before his darn invention destroyed whatever we had of a culture. Jas got to play a bit of ol' time baseball in the town green.

Vacation 3

Henry Ford thought that Edison was the cat's pajamas so he toted his original lab, office, barns and just about anything he could get his paws on out to Michigan. This sign is a classic. I am almost sure I tried to take the identical picture of Matt many years ago when we lived near here. I don't know if Matt (at 4) would have gotten the joke. Jas jumped on it once he read the sign. It says “I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident. They came by work.” Thomas Edison

Vacation 4

Always ready for a laugh, Jas also volunteered for this shot. This is inside what used to be called "The Edison Institute," a collection of the various technological developments over the past 150 year or so. Many cars but also locomotives, appliances and miscellany. It is now called "The Henry Ford." I guess the current management thinks of Edison as the cat's pajama bottom or something.

Vacation 5

Now while the 1937 Cord is rotating in the background, and with no regard for how much do-re-me it took to get here, Jas spent hours on a set of little build-em toys that they provided and a few slopes to test them on. He made several different versions (one with like 12 wheels, which left the other kids wheeless). But this is pretty much all he wanted to do. For someone who wants to be a writer (and he is pretty good at it) he sure took to this building and experimenting business.

Vacation 6

We did take time out for a moment of silence under one of the all-too-many planes which Dad (Grandpa) said "I used to fly one of those." While there is a possibility of him actually flying the military version of the venerable DC-3 under which we are standing, the pictures I recall were very much like the Boeing 247 which we saw in the Smithsonian in Washington on the last day of the trip.

Vacation 7

Not that the train trip was without value. We were able to see such things as the oldest continuously operating train station in the US. The site of some heroic feat of trainmanship during the Civil War. We did spend about a day in Washington. Thank goodness, I thought I would never get to see the Air and Space Museum for the 15th time. We were offered a guided tour of the Library of Congress (where Matt is working for the summer) but our wires got crossed so we never got there. We did spend some time with Matt and Kaitlin (his sweetie) which was nice. Next time we need to plan more time.

The next road trip may involve more road or even a plane or maybe a train but not overnight. We will see. I hope you enjoyed the tour. Jas is off at camp for a long, long time (till mid August). That leaves us just a couple of weeks for any more adventures.

To Mom - July 2nd 2005

Long time no hear from, well maybe not that long, but greetings none the less.

First, the news: Matthew is working at the Library of Congress over the summer. He will return to college in the fall and graduate in January. Hopefully his work this summer will help him get a job in the Government, which is what he really wants. He has a girlfriend with whom he seems to be very serious. She is a very nice girl and thinks the world of him. So, other than poor taste (ha ha) she is wonderful. They seem to really enjoy each other’s company. Who knows, she could be “Mrs. Right”.

Magda is in Brazil. Boy do I hate that! She thinks Brazil is just the cultural center of the universe. She is studying Portuguese and Portuguese literature and afro-Caribbean studies at New York University during the school year, so summer in Brazil seems almost reasonable. She has done well at college so far and is even thinking of taking more “normal” course for next year. I just hope she comes back in one piece.

JP is coming along very well. At 11 he is inching his way into teenage secrecy and rebellion, but overall he remains very pleasant. He has finished 5th grade and is very popular with the girls and boys in his class. Most of them have volunteered to pick him out of a line-up or finger him to the cops. His writing skills are exceptional. He says he wants to be a writer. So, we have a librarian, Brazil-o-phile and a writer in the family – that’s it, I am going to starve in my old age. JP and I are planning a couple of road trips for the summer. We are going west for one of them – Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago. It should be fun. JP will be in camp for five long weeks – ugh, I hate that idea. But I am always happy to see him when he is at my house.

About me: Humm, not much going on. I am slowly cleaning this dump of a house. I have lost 50 pounds. Well, actually I lost the same 2 pounds twenty-five times. But I am reasonably healthy and have learned to enjoy reading more than I had in the past.

Now I don’t want to bore you with stories of “my other children,” but I had three pots of begonias that hung on the house near the front door all last summer and fall and just bloomed their hearts out. Well, since my mom could not tell me if begonias are annuals or perennials, I nursed them through the winter in the house. Oh, they hated it in the house. They got weaker and weaker, paler and paler. First thing in the spring I put them outside – and they died. Too lazy to empty out the pots, I just left them there. After few weeks later they started to grow again. They are now very healthy and happy. One is already in bloom and the others seem to be warming up for an explosion of color. There is a moral to this story; I just don’t know what it is. But you should remember it and apply it to your life.

Well it is Saturday morning after the most hellatious storm Friday night (guess whose car sun roof was open. ) so I am off to puttering around. I hope all is well with you and look forward to seeing you soon.