Friday, August 26, 2005
Breakfast on Saturday
Lupe, you have a half-dozen ripe strawberries, and there are more blossoms coming. I hope it's okay that I ate the ones you see here!
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
¡Nuestra vida loca!
School starts tomorrow for me, so it's back to the fast lane. I flew in from Buffalo this morning. And yes, that is the Grand Canyon. Our pilot gave us an up-close narrated tour, dipping the plane left and right so that each side could see better.
Lupe, on the other hand, continued east by bus late last night, and arrived in Manhattan early this morning, where Seth joined her and they went to be part of the crowd on the Today Show. Lupe got to shake Matt Lower's hand. See Seth's blog for details...
First Lupe was home alone. Now I am!
The summer lasts about 90 days for teachers. I spent 45 days in uniform, and during the other 45 I tried to catch up on some of the little chores I neglect during the school year. Thanks, Brock Coffey, for helping me with my weeds!
A major accomplishment this summer was completing the retainer wall that I started last year in the back yard after the rains destroyed the original redwood fence. Like it? I need to landscape, but that can't happen until I put up more wall to replace the east fence that was claimed by this year's rains.
Last days in New York
On our last day together in New York, Lupe and I visited the Sacred Grove near Palmyra. For those of you who may not know the history, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that in the 1820's, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, visited a modern-day prophet in this grove near his family farm. The prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., was then around fourteen years old.
It is also our belief that on later occasions, additional heavenly messengers visited Joseph Smith. One of them was Moroni, who revealed to Joseph that a sacred book was buried on this hill, a few miles away. Today this book is known as The Book of Mormon.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Lupe and I visited the Amherst Museum during its Scottish Festival and Highland Games celebration. There were many things Scottish, but we'll let this "Scotty Dog" represent the spirit of the day.
The aim of the museum is to represent actual life here in the community of Amherst, which incidentally is where our hotel is. In these pictures you see a well as used by German settlers in the 1830's. In the children's section there is a mock canal boat.
The part that amused me most was the representation of the decades from 1900 to 1970. See anything that looks familiar? Did any of us ever expect to see the trappings of our lives on exhibit in a museum, as though they were ancient history?
The aim of the museum is to represent actual life here in the community of Amherst, which incidentally is where our hotel is. In these pictures you see a well as used by German settlers in the 1830's. In the children's section there is a mock canal boat.
The part that amused me most was the representation of the decades from 1900 to 1970. See anything that looks familiar? Did any of us ever expect to see the trappings of our lives on exhibit in a museum, as though they were ancient history?Friday, August 19, 2005
Downtown Buffalo, New York
The city is old, but people keep it looking perky.
This is a shot from the River Walk jogging and biking trail. It runs from the Peace Bridge almost all the way to the falls.Thursday, August 18, 2005
American Falls, New York
Road trip to Kirtland, Ohio
Here we are at Historic Kirtland. The grey home framed by our heads is the house where Kieth Perkins lived while he and Sister Perkins served there. Lupe was impressed by the thickness of the foliage, and I'm highlighting a split-rail fence.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Lupe has arrived!
And heeeere's Lupe! I see her and snap this picture before she see's me at the airport. She's exhausted after a nine-hour combination of flights, but she's in good spirits. How good are her spirits? Well, within her first hour in Buffalo, after a spin around the perimeter of the city and a brief tour of my duty station, she finds her way to a market...her home away from home!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
This is my computer desktop. The photo is from a bookstore in Greenwich Village that Seth and I visited a few weeks ago.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
This is the digital clock in my rental car, noting the time as I drive home from my shift. Earlier in the day, I stopped to ponder the Niagara River as it flows past Tonawanda, New York.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Cruising Buffalo
Meet Brother Candino, High Priest Group Leader of the Amherst Ward, and my Buffalo Barber. He speaks multiple languages, including his native Italian, and American Sign.
Just a few blocks east of his shop, near the New York University at Buffalo - South Campus, I enjoyed a root beer float at this "D'ay Queen." My hotel is by the North Campus, where I jogged a lap in its huge stadium the other day during a road run.
Just a few blocks east of his shop, near the New York University at Buffalo - South Campus, I enjoyed a root beer float at this "D'ay Queen." My hotel is by the North Campus, where I jogged a lap in its huge stadium the other day during a road run.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
"You'll always know your neighbor, and you'll always know your pal...
...if you've ever navigated on the Erie Canal!"
Well, my dear friend, Steve, had to cancel our plans to jog along the Erie Canal at Palmyra on Friday, so I jogged alone by the Canal here in Buffalo. The following are snapshots from along the jogging trail, the Erie Canal, and Tonawanda Creek.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
This is the actual Erie Canal, where it is joined by the Tonawanda Creek.
Members of the Amherst, NY Ward are good pals. Here you see them helping each other by putting a new roof on a family's home. The Canal is beyond the cornfield in the background. This project took place yesterday, Saturday.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Marriott Residence Inn in Amherst, New York
This is where I will be until August 23. Lupe will join me on the 15th. I think you'll like it, Lupe!
P.S. I was wrong about the bus service. I walked to the stop yesterday, and it wasn't bad...under ten minutes.
