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adventures / family / Monday / photo / running — Comments Off
20
Dec 21

Our journey continues

We were at a one-year-old’s birthday party on Saturday evening. A small family event and with Zoom for those that couldn’t be there. The birthday girl’s aunt made the cake and, at one point in the evening, surrounded by screaming children, we found ourselves talking about colors and aesthetics. There were too many artistically-minded people in that house is what I’m getting at. But look at this beautiful cake.

That’s homemade. The snowflakes are edible. The tablecloth was seen as both a conflicting and a complimenting color, depending on your shot composition. At some point, to keep the cake away from impulsive three-year-olds and adults, it was moved to a secret location. (The back deck.) This gave us some different, softer, lighting options.

And that’s what you talk about when grandparents are watching 3- and 7- year olds run through sugar highs.

It was a delicious cake. The cupcake was for the birthday girl, who is the calm in the storm. Even her smashed cupcake was dainty, dignified and not especially messy.

She’s wearing a hat The Yankee made. Her parents call her Hazelnut, and so now she has a hat made to look like a hazelnut. There are leaves on top, and everything, as you’ll soon see.

Yesterday, we went for a run before holiday festivities. It was an easy, and awfully chilly, four-miler. Here are The Yankee and my godsisters-in-law (just go with it) at the sign marking the highest point in Delaware.

And I also ran from Delaware into Pennsylvania. That’s at least the fourth state line I’ve run across, but it seems like there’s one or two more I am forgetting in that list.

And last night we had New Jersey Christmas. This is usually the last of our family Christmas parties, but this year it came first, because everything is upside down. We had a delightful evening, from the scrumptious appetizers to the hearty homemade lasagna, to the lovely company. Our hosts and my in-laws are lifelong friends. My mother-in-law and the hostess were in nursing school together. My father-in-law and our host have known one another since elementary school. Our hosts met at my in-laws’ wedding. They are each godparents for the other. And they more-or-less raised their kids together, too.

They open presents there by age. Meaning I’m closer to the end of the line than the beginning. I distract myself from that thought by paying close attention to the kids enjoying their new toys. I got a shirt and a nice jacket in a big box that was decorated with a classically whimsical Santa.

We also received a few neat ornaments, because you can never go wrong with thoughtful ornaments.

Oh, and here’s another shot of Hazel, wearing her Hazelnut hat, at her grandparents’ home. Note the leaves on top. Handmade with love, by her god-aunt.

This one is a little blurry, but look at the smile on that kid’s face.

Also, now that she’s one, she has quickly moved into self-taking mode.

At the end of the night we said our goodbyes and climbed into my in-laws car and continued our trip. Here we are on the Cuomo Bridge, crossing the Hudson River, and having just entered New York.

But that’s only a quick cut across the corner for us. Tonight, and for the next several days, we are in Connecticut — our sixth state since Thursday.

adventures / food / friends / Monday / photo / running — Comments Off
6
Dec 21

A weekend in Savannah

Yes, this is Monday, but I’m writing about Monday. The next few days will be in arrears. It’s a vacation thing and I’ll somehow cope with the difficulty of the problem.

Spirits were high before the 10K. Here are most of us. Anne was on the course doing a 5K because she’s an awesome overachiever. The Yankee, Brooke, Andre and Stephen and I all did the slightly less ambitious 6.2 mile run over one of the tallest bridges in the southeastern U.S. We had to run the bridge twice.

Anne ran the bridge three times. (She also finished in second in her age group.)

This is at the starting line. Limited field by design. Everyone had to show proof of vaccination and all of that. Here, I thought, is a sign of maturation as a human and my bowing to inevitability. The joke I used to make right here was “Look at all of these people I have to pass.”

(Knowing I would never pass all of those people. I have landed on the podium in exactly two foot races as an adult. Both, you might say, were of a limited field.)

But, today, my joke was “Look at all of those people that don’t have to pass me!”

And here we all are, after weaving through many of the beautiful squares in the historic district we finally have our first good view of the bridge we’re about to go over.

And one of the views from atop the Savannah Bridge.

This is the largest single ocean container terminal on the U.S. eastern seaboard, and the nation’s fourth-busiest seaport. It is a cable-stayed design, and it’s 185 feet from here to the river below.

Off the bridge, around a cloverleaf, up one little kicker and around a little right hand turn you’ll find the finish line, and your medal, and some fruit and other healthy snacks.

Speaking of food … We tried a new place for dinner Saturday night, on account of the mileage we’d already enjoyed. Plus it got good reviews, and we’re going to give Cha Bella another good review. It’s a farm-to-table concept, a term that’s lost all meaning, I think, but Saturday night it meant tasty. We had a gnocchi appetizer.

I had a tasty grouper entree, which did not photograph very well, but it was tasty. We tried the cheesecake, which had a goat cheese blend. It was a super creamy dish, and every now and again, you got that hint of goat cheese.

It was a delicious outdoor dining experience. And we made everyone go back with us again on Sunday night. Because there were other things to try.

And, look, if you have different servers on different nights and they both react the same way when someone orders a specific dish, you get that specific dish. This is the hog chop.

And I’m pretty sure I don’t need to ever have another pork chop in my life. But I also wonder why everyone doesn’t make their chops like this one. Because they should.

And this weekend I also had the opportunity to enjoy a few ghost signs. This was one of the better ones. Everybody knows, Uneeda Biscuit.

That’s a 19th century brand, made it all the way to 2008, when Kraft (which took hold of all of the old Nabsico properties in 2000) discontinued it. The old original Nabisco, NBC (itself a product of three different mergers) rolled out the Uneeda campaign in the 1890s, when no one said things like “rolled out the campaign.” Within a year or so, NBC was selling ten million Uneeda biscuits a month.

I don’t think I ever had a Uneeda, which you’d, of course, today call a cracker. But I did have some good biscuits this weekend.

Tomorrow, we have to leave Savannah and travel back to Indiana. But I probably have two more days of content to work through here. Anything to extend the trip.

books / cycling / history / Monday / photo / running — Comments Off
29
Nov 21

I survived a Monday that should have been an e-mail

A nice, but chilly weekend. Perfectly delightful for late November. Any time around here that you can use the word “nice” around weather in late November, in any capacity, you count yourself lucky. And the skies were cooperating nicely.

Went for a run on Sunday afternoon. It was cold, but not too cold. It was hard, but not too hard. I was slow ~~but not too slow~~. Somewhere in the third mile my back locked up in a serious way. And after three-quarters of a mile trying to run around it a lot of other things went, too. Something to work on for the future. But I got a nice shadow selfie.

But look at that surprising sky!

Also, I had a bike ride on Saturday. That’s three this week! It’s almost a streak. This one was in a simulacrum of northern France. I did not notice Mont-Saint-Michel, must have been trying to catch my breath, but you can see the lighthouse.

The abbey, which is a UNESCO site, is one of the most popular spots in that part of France. It dates back to the ninth century at least, and you would see it in this brownish-orangish section just to the top of the map.

But you’re going to want to see the real Mont-Saint-Michel. It’s gorgeous.

At some point this weekend I finished The Coming Fury, the first installment in Bruce Catton’s centennial trilogy of the American Civil War. Now I have to go buy and read volumes two and three.*

It’s a good historical tome, concerning itself with all of the major events in the year leading up to, and through, the First Battle of Bull Run. One part I might never forget is when someone writes to President-elect Lincoln and basically asks what should be done about the forts in Charleston if they wind up in South Carolina’s hands. Essentially, should we get them back? Leave them be?

Catton writes:

An interesting field for speculation opens just briefly here. What would have happened – how would the ever changing situation in respect to slavery, secession, and the preservation of the Union have been affected — if in December the South Carolina commissioners had won everything they asked for? Suppose that Buchanan had given them the forts and that Lincoln had announced publicly that as soon as he took office, the government would fight to regain what had been given away? What then?

At that point Catton has, over 193 pages, starting with the political conventions the prior spring, distilled this down to the decisions of Maj. Anderson in command of Fort Sumter and a South Carolina militia captain ordered to a paddle boat in the bay. Catton has put it before you that any of the decisions these two men made, for several days, meant war or peace at any moment — even as it was obvious the people wanted to play at war — and then asked you that rhetorical question.

This is December 1960.

James Buchanan is historically portrayed as ineffectual with Southern sympathies. Catton’s characterization feeds into that. Buchanan couldn’t make up his mind, he was a poor executive in desperate need, always, of his cabinet. Then late in the year his cabinet necessarily has its makeup changed and, suddenly, Buchanan resolves himself to be made of stern stuff.

As ever, there’s more to that guy than the one or two sentences you usually hear. Lincoln, meanwhile, was playing the cagey lawyer. He was insistent that he had to get in office and be credibly* seen as the president, before he’d do or say anything more than he’d already said.

It’s insight, but I spent hundreds of pages in this book thinking “You guys should be cabling each other constantly!”

Two more work days for me. Then it’s time for a long weekend vacation. But who’s counting?

*I have already started the bidding on e-bay.

**The credibility part was important because Lincoln was portrayed by many in the early going as a figurehead for William Seward, his secretary of state. Lincoln had to prove himself the president, even to Seward, and show that to the people, while juggling the border states, each according to their need, and starting a war. So the second book is probably going to be something.

IU / photo / running / television / Thursday / video — Comments Off
17
Nov 21

Another Wednesday down

Saw this on my morning 5K. You’ll forgive the composition and fuzzy focus, but I was running, sorta. Also, this didn’t seem the place to stop and frame a shot.

And this is the difference a month makes. On October 17th, that’s cute, neighborhood kitsch. On November 17th, the neighbors have had enough. And it could come off as creepy to the rest of us.

But, just maybe, there’s a kid that lives there that really loves Halloween. Favorite holiday of the year. Why can’t it be Halloween every Sunday? In which case, keep that ghost dancing.

That wasn’t the only spooky thing of the day. Dig that sky.

And take it back on with you. I could do without all those clouds. I will get more clouds than I want, so feel free to grab a few of these gray skies when you go.

Tonight was the last night in the studio before Thanksgiving. It was a sports night. And I can share those shows with you tomorrow and later this week. For now, two little news shows are here for your consideration. Here’s Hoosier News Source:

And once you’ve gotten all the headlines and weather you need, you can stroll on over and find out what’s up on What’s Up Weekly. (They’re taste-testing pies, just in time for Thanksgiving.)

And at least one sports show will be here tomorrow. I watched them shoot it tonight.

The daily duds. This is an alma mater tie.

And I learned you shouldn’t wear contrasting shades of orange. I had a different orange as a pocket square, saw it in the mirror and tucked it away. But I stuck with the cufflinks. They were a bit more low key.

Orange you glad I learned that lesson? You’d think I’d already know that, having attended a school that used orange in the color scheme, but somehow that never came up.

What’s going to come up tomorrow? I have to do at least two unusual things and surely there will be a new story out of at least one of those, right? Come back tomorrow. Let’s find out together!

bespoke / IU / photo / running / television / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
9
Nov 21

It’s a Tuesday, is what I’m saying

Late start to the day, but I had a nice little run late in the morning, just to get things moving. I didn’t even feel tired or sore later. Which means I’ll have to do it again, I guess. That’s something to look forward to.

Also had a late night on campus last night. There was a speaker that we streamed online, a young journalist from Afghanistan who only just barely got out of her home country when Kabul fell. Fatema Hosseini literally got out under the lash of the Taliban.

It was a compelling conversation. We streamed it to Zoom. Maybe someone will put it online one day. The school’s Facebook page, or on their YouTube account would be great places. It’d be nice to have people see that program after the fact, to refer back to it, to share it with other interested parties.

I’d like to be able to show it to you, after all, is what I’m saying.

Perhaps one day. But, today, the sky!

And we should check in on the cats. Phoebe has adjusted nicely to the milder weather and she likes being cozy under blankets.

Poseidon likes blankets, too, but he’s an even bigger fan of the ambient heat radiating away from the oven.

Goofy cat. Smart, goofy cat.

While I can’t show you what we produced last night, I can show you this video, which some of the TV students produced for the morning show.

The daily duds: Pictures of clothes I put here to, hopefully, help avoid embarrassing scheme repeats.

Today’s look, my 2009 Canadian poppy for Veteran’s Day and Remembrance Day and a very loud pocket square I made last summer.

That’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite jackets. It’s soft and supple, and pairs well with wild pocket squares and simple shirts.

And here are the cufflinks I paired it all with. Also accessories I made over the summer.

They’d look fairly dapper if anyone could see them. I need shorter arms, and longer sleeves!

It was another night in the studio, this evening. News and nothing but the news — and some sort of coffee sampler demo thing? — and that’ll all be online for you tomorrow. The IUSTV people really understand how to turn around video is what I’m saying.