We’re having plenty of entertainment last week and this. Last Saturday was a concert at Lurman Woods. We attended the last symphony concert of the season Sunday. We had a total if three food trucks this week. We’re leaving in a bit to attend the play “Night Watch” at Essex Community College. When we get home, it’s a free ice cream party at the clubhouse. Dani and Gayle are down visiting Mom. We’re all going out together for dinner Tuesday.

With all that excitement, there’s no room for news! I hope this finds everybody doing well.

The Navy Sea Chanters last Sunday were quite good, but they only did one sea chant. I guess all the other chants weren’t suitable for a family concert in a church.

We had a bang-up day planned for Friday. It was sunny and very hot. I took an easy bike ride on well-shaded trails. I was just about to turn around and head home when my gear shifter stopped working. The cable broke. The bike has four cables. This is the most important one. There is no such thing as a jury rig fix for a broken cable. Good thing it was an easy ride. There were a few hills I had to walk up, but it wasn’t all that bad. When I got home I drank water in the air conditioning for a while, then I removed my jury rig bike rack and took off for the bike shop. It’s almost all down hill from our house to the bike shop, but I still had to some walking to do. Danita gave me a ride home. By the time we got home and had dinner, we missed the Marine Corps band concert. After dinner, we went downstairs to watch the last of our recorded TV shows for the season. About half way through, the shows were preempted by the President’s comments following the mass shooting in Texas. We could have streamed the show, but it felt like the perfect ending for a bummer of a day. We called it quits.

Today is perfect weather — cool and sunny. Too bad I won’t be riding.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

We had a busy week. Bud will be needing memory care before long. When he goes to memory care, we will move him to a facility that is closer to Danita and Ed. Way back when, Bud chose Riderwood because it was close to his church and his old neighborhood. Riderwood is a bit of a drive for Danita, and it is a heck of a drive for Ed. We spent the week visiting memory care providers that are close to Danita and a shorter drive for Ed. It was a rough week for Danita. We found two providers that look like a good fit. That’s good news. We wrapped up the week on a lighter note with a neighborhood party last night.

My second cataract surgery was last Monday. Everything went well. I was driving Tuesday. My vision is much improved.

Schools are out or will be out soon. The weather is warm. The days are long. It’s the summer season. We attended our first outdoor concert at Lurman Woods last Sunday. It looks like this weekend will be rainy and mushy. We probably won’t go this weekend. But we’re looking forward to hearing the US Navy band Sea Chanters, performing indoors Sunday.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Sunday ushered in days of perfect weather, so naturally I spent a good chunk of the morning locked in a windowless basement room counting money. Afterwards I spent the afternoon driving. We went down I-81, enjoying the scenic Blue Ridge mountains on the way to Roanoke. Roanoke was a very good destination because it’s on the way to Jul’s house, Bryon was being confirmed Tuesday, … AND … there were negative COVID tests all around. Woo-Hoo. For dinner, we enjoyed al fresco dining at a very good Mexican restaurant next door to our hotel. The weather was still picture perfect. The food was plentiful and good and cheap. We topped our dinner with large fried ice creams. Back at the hotel, the indoor pool was filled with kids and Moms. Danita wisely chose to use the pool early Monday morning, and had the pool all to herself.

We got to Jul’s on Memorial day. This was an unusual visit. We hadn’t been there since COVID. It was the tail end of a holiday. We weren’t taking the grandkids on any adventures. But we managed to get into the swing of things eventually. Bryon’s confirmation was at 7. The priest gave a very good homily about the sacraments in general and confirmation in particular. When Jul asked Bryon what kind of cake he wanted, he said he wanted Chick-fil-A nuggets. So we that was dinner. I was surprised how good they are. Jul picked up a cake at the last minute. Bryon has an unusual name with unusual spelling. Based on past experiences, Jul decided it was better to leave the inscription to just “Congratulations”.

We took two days going back. Going up I-95 was less scenic and had heavier traffic, but it let us stop at Bud’s on the way home to drop off clean clothes and pick up dirty. We stopped overnight in Richmond. The hotel wasn’t nearly as nice. But we took the opportunity to visit the Edgar Poe museum and we found a pleasant restaurant for dinner. We were back in town, safe and sound Thursday.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.