my roots in Iowa-- coming right up

My mom was born in Des Moines, Iowa.  I knew that, growing up as a little kid.  I don't know exactly how she came to grow up in Chicago with just a mom and sister.  I can fill in a couple factoids, but they don't paint a whole picture.  Recently, I found a letter in my cellar when I went to look for my family tree. Apparently in 1978, I wrote my grandmother's brother in Keota, Iowa when I was in high school in California. He gave me some Page family history back to the 1800s and quotes a family Bible from Vermont . (more to come)

Tomorrow, I'm going to Keota with my best friend from medical school.  I'm here visiting Susan in Coralville, IOWA and it's about an hour to go look for my family ties.  I have two pictures of  my Grandmother Eva's house growing up (one sepia and white, one sepia with the roof on fire and white.)

Today we visited Wilson's Orchard and picked apples and looked at wee, little kids picking pumpkins.  We saw a most awesome weeping willow tree, I recall, my mother's favorite kind of tree. The Iowa Artisan's gallery in Iowa City has a big collection of things from local artist Brian Andreas and the Soap Opera  (we StiLL smell good from all the sampling) has soaps and creams and perfumes with more testers than things to buy.

Sorry, pictures will be later... Apple pie with King Arthur's recipe is coming out of the oven and I have to go google how to do grave stone rubbings.....

Pear perfection?

Judd planted 2 pear trees in the front yard years ago.   They've gotten bigger and greener over the years but not very prolific. We finally got about one pear last year.  This year, they're falling off one of the trees before we can pick them.  Don't know why the other tree doesn't have fruit--maybe it's the boy. Today, Malindi and I decided we'd better do something with the fruit, quick, before they all rot in the grass.  We made jam and cake and dried fruit so Judd will get a taste of fall harvest when he returns from the South. For all the blemished spots on the peel, they were lustrous, juicy white on the interior. We washed and peeled and diced and boiled and sugared, boy did we sugar! The Certo pectin instruction sheet has so many capital letters and underscores on DO NOT REDUCE THE SUGAR that they absolve themselves of any failed gelling. The oven-dried dehydrated slices  are coming along, but after 14 hours, they're still not the crisps I imagined.  They're more like pear leather.

 

"Girls just want to have fu-un"

Yesterday I awoke to puppy poop, just fresh, warm and aromatic in my closet. I woke up.... and it was still there. Malindi had just taken little Juno out at 5am or a piddle and she must have forgotten that other part.

Malindi had a bad day. She mostly missed her boo from a long day at work.The dog-girls had a good day. Malindi and I made them a "crate" 6 times bigger than any other dog crate in the universe.... we gave them the entire mud room, stripped of things they might destroy, full of doggie toys and chews.  Our only concern was that they might destroy each other. They did not.  When Malindi returned home first, 
she texted:

After the morning "wake up call" I had shut my closet door.  Juno showed me.   Right before I went to bed, she piddled just in front of the closed closet door.

Whew--it's going to be a long winter...

Day Zero....

Judd and I started Day Zero, coincidentally, at the same time.   He got to Georgia,  pre-Appalachian Trail yesterday and I gave my notice to leave the VA yesterday. We both started a new adventure today.  Don't know if we can keep up the endurance of two consecutive blogs, a new puppy at home, an old cat and old puppy who don't appreciate the new puppy, 5 smoke detectors without up-to-date 9V batteries, outdoor toys/hoses to put away for winter, etc...... but I'll work on it.

Calm and quiet

Judd and I left Maine Friday for a wedding in New Hampshire. We tried to override our TomTom and said we wanted to go west when "she" kept telling us to go north.  But it was a lovely afternoon with no real harsh deadline, so we meandered the back roads of western Maine and watched Siri on my phone battle it out with the Siri-sounding lady on the TomTom.   Sometimes they synched. Sometimes they directed us in opposite directions. We did end up on some winding steep roads that would have been closed in the winter. 

It was a pleasure to arrive in Jackson, NH at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast, cranberry lemonade and cookies awaiting us and beautiful flowers-from-the-bride already in our room. The wedding was actually at a resort a block and a half down the road, so we were away from all the hubbub and din of preparations.  We were invited a day early to the meet-n-greet barbecue so had two night to play in Jackson. 

On our free morning, we did some chores in the town of Conway and missed some big to-do. A Muddy Football event and antique  Corvette parade were just amassing spectators when we left town for a pre-arranged massage date at Moondance.  Although the room retained the it's-about -to-be-fall chill and my nose and toes were cold the whole time, it was heavenly. I left feeling taller (she pulled all the knots out of my neck and shoulders.) We spent the afternoon further relaxing and unwinding at the cute B & B.

Having played so well the night before, we did not feel we needed to shut the party down after the wedding and retired early.  That way we could be up early this morning for Judd's drop day.....I'm off right now to drop him in Boston with his backpack. Tomorrow he'll wake up in Atlanta. Does that count as hike day one or on Tuesday when he actually gets on the trail?  He'll keep me posted. He better!