Re-Entry

Now that I have survived re-entry, back from vacation and into reality, having climbed Mt Laundry and survived Dust Valley, we are returning to normal blogging mode. Re-entry was somewhat complicated by physical shock -- going from the 70's in New Hampshire to the upper 90's in Arizona, after a 20 some hour travel day. I do well in the mornings here now but by early afternoon the heat factor is kicking in and I have to go off and wilt somewhere, despite air conditioning and swamp coolers and lots of Diet Coke and sparkling water. Then we had the dedication of our new church. The old one was outgrown a few years ago and the new one was finally built and ready for the dedication. We got home from NH late Wednesday evening, and at seven the next morning Joe was at the church. He didn't come home except for showers and a few hours sleep until last night. We were taking him meals and changes of clothing to the church. I got caught up in the choir rehearsals, hours of standing in the heat and dust, which contributed to more wilting. But the dedication Mass went off beautifully yesterday afternoon despite the heat. A fine dinner was served after the Mass and then there was a concert in the new church; we skipped the concert, since cleanup was still going on and we probably would have fallen asleep during it anyways.

Michael took many pictures for us of the service. This is one of the best ones he took of his dad at the altar.

I would like to once again thank everyone who left comments on "LittleLace of the Desert" and especially to all those who voted for me. I was very flattered by it all and have sent my congratulations to those who did end up in the top three. It has been my challenge to myself to write a Serial Adventure, to make it entertaining and to incorporate whatever the current challenge is. Chapter Three has already been written, but now I see that I shall have to get some poetry into the story. Sneak preview: The next chapter will feature Magda, the vain second child of the LittleLace family. I got a lovely comment on Challenge #1 from "Magda's" creator, Lisa Daehlin, whose pattern for the Lacy Kerchief Scarf in IK Summer '05 successfully auditioned for and won the role of Magda.

The socks have certainly done their share of traveling, lately. Here the Trekking sock is checking out the candlepin lanes in Boston. This was a first for us (except for the Bostonian members of the group) and was a lot of fun. Amazing, though, how much more expensive it has gotten to spend a few hours bowling!

Here's the sock checking out the Boston subway, the T. Some of the other members of the party indulged in the infamous "T Surfing", but the sock, with all those pointy needles, politely chose to decline. We had gotten rain off and on the whole time we had been in Boston, but this evening (Saturday) the sky finally started to clear. We walked through the market, smelling all the fish and strawberries, and went to Mass at one of the north end churches. Then we went to Piccola Venezia on Hanover Street for dinner. We were lucky to get a table for eight without waiting. Marvelous Italian food (pasta with mussels, clams, shrimp, and calamari). Then we went across the street to our favorite bakery in all the US, Mike's Bakery, where we fought our way through the crowds to get cannoli, chocolate mousse, chocolate-covered strawberries, german chocolate brownies, and pizelles.

On Sunday we headed up to New Hampshire, a state I had not visited before. More on NH another time, suffice it to say for now that I am ready to go back anytime.

The Jaywalker and the Trek sock agree.