Gallery photo |
Nancy Murdock July 9-13: On Monday we drove down to Gardner MA to check in at the Super 8. Somewhere around Rindge NH, I slowed from 60 to 40 for a rather strangely organized intersection. After we got past it, I went back to 60 and moved into the right lane. However, the rules were not quite what I thought, and I received my first ever ticket - after 52 years of driving! The policeman said I was supposed to have continued at 40 MPH (even though hardly any cars were in sight at that point, and the 60 MPH continued shortly). The cost of the ticket was $100! Yes, you are reading correctly. From that point on, I no longer enjoyed driving in NH. With its constant shifts in the speed limit every few yards, I didn’t dare miss a sign! My brother Tom and his wife Marcia invited us to supper on the first evening. Tom had bought a fine vegetarian pizza at our favorite pizza place down the lane across from the Co-op, and Marcia had made a very delicious batch of rhubarb sauce, which I had not had for many years. We had time to catch up on all their family news and discuss the status of my plants that came from the seeds Tom had sent in February. The next day we visited my brother Steve, who had had a serious heart attack while I was in Wales. In fact, the doctors didn't think he would survive. He wasn't getting enough oxygen, and they had to intubate him. We expected to see a convalescent who would not be able to have much company. He was at home alone when we arrived, fully dressed and with good color in his face. He sat us down and talked animatedly and knowledgeably for 45 minutes about his heart attack and his general methods of knowing as much as possible about his situation, so he can get the right things done for it. He pointed out that he hasn't used the oxygen-making machine since two days after he got home, because he doesn't need it, now that his blockage is fixed. He cut up some watermelon for us, talking all the while. It was a real gift to see him so well. Our travel Scrabble game got good usage at the motel, as well as once at Polly’s and then several games later in Part 3 of our trip. But we also spent a lot of time outside the motel, with Bob revisiting lots of his childhood spots. We were disappointed that the Heritage State Park museum was permanently closed, having enjoyed that on two other trips. However, we spent quite a bit of time at the recently upgraded public library. Bob had time on the public computers, and my aim was to prepare for my book club meeting on August 5. We are reading Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451," which I had not yet obtained. The library couldn’t let me take it out, since I was not a resident, but they put my name on it and held it at the desk. I went three times to read it, and managed to finish it all, bless those librarians. Then I read a couple of quilting books I had never seen. One day Claudia and her cousins from her mother’s family came to the library when we were there, and they had been making copies of the Gardner High School “Argus” yearbook, including the one from my graduation year, 1949. I would never have guessed one could find those books in the city library! On another day, Bob tried to access them, but the person in charge of them was out. So this will be a goal for our next trip to that area. My major achievement that week was to get my hair cut and permed. It had needed help for many weeks, but I couldn’t locate my hairdresser. Finally, one rainy day in Gardner, I announced to Bob that I was ready to bite that particular bullet. I figured I’d better grab the first chance I found, and we could see a hair place in the shopping center next door. Without Ann, I had to guess at how she did some of the trickier portions, but this unknown operator was very eager to please. It’s taken me a while to figure how to let ths hairdo know who is boss, but I have finally struck a balance between taming it and living with the results. When I got home, I pulled out an almost-full can of mousse from so far back that I couldn’t recall using it - or even wanting it for any of my previous haircuts. I was pleased to find that it makes the hair look curly, instead of just mussed. Later in the week we joined Bob’s brother Art with his wife, Lorraine, and sister Dotty at the Barre Mill Restaurant, owned by Bob’s niece Cindy and her husband. We had a fine dinner and good conversation. It’s always fun to catch up with family news. It was also interesting to see how much the roads in that area had been improved. We didn’t even recognize one of the roads, it was so well-tamed and good-looking. Bob’s niece Teddie very kindly organized a gathering of the Murdock relatives in the Hubbardston area for Saturday, July 14. It was actually a surprise birthday party for Casey Phillips and Mike Doane. We had a great time at the picnic in the backyard of Mike’s brother Ben’s home on Main Street. We had a fine chance to talk with people we don’t often get an opportunity to chat with. There are a lot of great cooks in the family, and I enjoyed every bite of every item I tried. There were plenty of vegetarian dishes, including even grillers. The potato and other salads were exactly to my taste, and the desserts were wonderful. Ben had even made a great ice cream cake! He told me how to make it, but I need to get it in writing, so I can impress friends the way Ben impressed me. |
and Roy, 2007 |
Nancy Murdock July 15-20: We left for Attitash, a timeshare in North Conway NH, on the day after the Murdock picnic, very glad we had been able to get the resort to agree to a late arrival. As we were checking out all the amenities, Bob called out, “Nan, the bathtub is a Jacuzzi!” At first I couldn’t find the bed, so I figured we were supposed to sleep on the hideaway couch. However, Bob pointed to a plain white portion of one wall and said,” Here’s the bed.” We had a high old time trying out the Jacuzzi. I figured my knee wouldn’t allow me to use it, but Bob said he could lift me out if necessary, so I figured I didn’t need to be a spoilsport. After several tries, we did finally maneuver me out (although I had to kneel briefly on the bad knee), but at least I was clean and we had conducted a hilarious experiment. One of the first things we did in North Conway was to get Bob a haircut. He had not had one from anyone but me for about 40 years, but we hadn’t carried the shears with us, and a haircut hadn’t worked its way into the schedule for either of us before the trip. The lady who cut his hair kept checking with me to be sure she was following the usual route. On Tuesday Roy and Priscilla Januskiewicz visited us. We offered them several choices for restaurants for lunch, and they selected the same one as last year, an interesting place that features breakfast all day and toy trains running around the wall. We had a good visit. Even though we ordered a simple breakfast, Bob and I had enough to take home, especially their famous fried potatoes. (Well, I had to leave room for the ice cream sundae, didn’t I?) One serious thing we discussed was that something mysterious has happened to their bees. Roy is a beekeeper, and they sell honey and beeswax items at the summer Farmers’ Market in Concord on Saturdays. This year, however, when Roy opened the hives to check on his bees in the spring, the hives were empty. There were no dead or sick bees on the bottom of the hive, so it wasn’t caused by a disease or an intruder animal. He contacted his beekeeper friends, who checked their hives and found them all empty, too. This all seems to be another result of the deterioration of the planet, which began with global warming. I recall reading of bee problems in other areas, also. We had lots of time to take it easy, but we did go to lunch several times at different restaurants. We also found a used book store on a free map shaped like a placemat. I ended up making two trips there, because I read so many of the books I had bought that I was afraid I would not have anything to read on the plane. On the second trip, Bob actually found Fahrenheit 451 for me! That gave me something to refer to at the book club meeting. Another adventure was to revisit the falls we had seen last year. First we stopped for lunch at Yesterday’s Treasures for a solid meal, and verified the route we thought we should follow. We were super careful, picking our way around the slippery-looking spots, because it was raining a little, and the rocks are not guaranteed wetproof! Actually, the pictures kind of point out how unsuited we were to do much clambering. Bob is leaning over his cane, and I am sagging onto the crutches. What a pair! But we don’t want to miss out on any fun, anywhere. After about twenty minutes, when the raindrops seemed to have picked up both girth and speed, we picked our way to the car and drove out into the less populated countryside. Bob asked someone to take our picture by a nice covered bridge, and we followed the road around in a full circle. It was interesting to see how secluded the homes were. Living as we do next to a large city, it would make us very nervous to be so far from any help in case someone wanted to break into the house or harm us. Fifty years ago we would have been thrilled to own one of those places, but not now. Life here is much more laid-back for us. If Bob heads for the dumpster with bags of trash, he rarely gets more than halfway before someone much younger runs out and carries it for him. The time went by very fast, and soon we were packing our bags, checking out, and moving on to the next big event on our itinerary. |
|
Nancy Murdock July 21-23: The exciting event planned for the 21st was a wedding reception for Charlie Frost and his bride, Janice Grow-Maienza. The two university professors had married in Missouri and honeymooned in Hawaii, but they kindly made a wonderful opportunity for friends and extended family on the East Coast to share in their good news. We were very excited as we drove to the Coastal House. But first we had to navigate to the Comfort Inn, which turned out to be a bigger challenge than we had expected. We stopped for directions several times, but somehow we managed to go in the wrong direction two or three times. Next time we plan to have a full-size map to consult! I finally rebelled and insisted I was NOT going to go one more time in the direction that had already cost us so many miles. This time I knew we were wrong. It took all my nerve to go exactly opposite from where Bob was pointing, but I had reached the stage where I was desperate enough to trust my own navigation over Bob’s, an unheard-of event! We did reach the inn, where we were comfortably settled in a room equipped for disabled people, as requested by Bob when he made the reservation. We used the iron and ironing board to good advantage, since by then our chosen clothing was looking rather creased. I chose my shiny white blouse and white jacket, along with the great black pants with rhinestone “buckle” that Colleen had found at Goodwill for this event, and had insisted on hemming for me! Then we drove calmly to Wells, ME. It was a nice drive, with not a huge lot of cars on the road that Saturday afternoon. I was almost ready to forget the trauma of the morning trip. The Coastal House, which caters to events, was a lovely place. What made it particularly attractive was the decor arranged by Pam Clark and her helpers. It was all done in a seashore motif, with lots of variety in the setup. Pam, an artist in several media, teaches a small group of young women who need a little boost to start careers in art. They had done a spectacular job. We kept noticing yet another item, such as braided napkin rings with little seashells at the knot where they were tied. Charlie Frost did a superb job of welcoming all of us - and each of us. Although we were all mixed around the room, he grouped the guests by category for the introductions. For example, he began with Janice’s relatives and his own, and then he introduced Orrel’s family members. Then he went to his high school and college pals, and next to Orrel’s high school friend, me, representing Athol’s class of ‘49. There were several other categories, including his International Law students, one of whom was from China - and was sitting at our table! We had a great table: Pam, Richard, and Colleen Clark, Colleen’s friend Emily, and two delightful men from China - the lawyer and his friend, a chef. Beside Bob were one of Pam’s students, Elaina, who had done a lot of hard work on the decor, and the young lady’s mother, Michelle, who looked very proud when Pam (during her opening introduction) praised Elaina and said she had not complained even once while they were doing all the preparation work. After we were all comfortable with each other, we went up to the serving tables, which were laden with chafing dishes of good stuff. Since I was expecting only a token vegetable dish, I first picked up cold foods. But then I found that most of the hot chafing dishes held grilled vegetables - not mixed veg, but a single variety in each dish. They were SOOOO good! I have never before seen such an array. We had a fine time conversing, as well as eating. The local sports photographer came to visit with me for some time. He took lots of pictures in fast succession all during the reception. He said he takes about 264 photos at each Little League game, etc. Then he chooses two to go into the newspaper. Nearly all of his work is with children’s sports, so this event was different. There were not very many of us who would qualify for the teams he normally photographed. From Wells, we drove contentedly back to the Comfort Inn, with no dispute over the route. The next morning, after a very hearty buffet breakfast with way too many choices, we drove to Polly’s house. Partway there, we realized we were not going to arrive in time to go to church with her, so we called to ask for instructions on how to get there. She felt it would work out better if we traveled in a leisurely manner and went directly to her house, since she would be a while. After church, she planned to stop by to see Clyde, who was temporarily at a nursing home. She kindly told us she would leave the house unlocked, and she had put some food for us on the counter and in the fridge. This turned out to be a huge variety of items, so we picked out what we felt we could do justice to, and blessed Polly for setting us up with a good meal and a nice quiet, cool setting. It was enjoyable to have a cozy visit with Polly before leaving New England. We stayed overnight with her. The next morning, we took the rental car back to Budget and got ready to board the plane. The rendezvous with Budget went like clockwork, but we got a kick out of the delays in getting to board the plane. Southwest, which had always been very efficient about our previous flights, ran into one snag after another. Actually, I guess the snags were all connected to one fact, but they made a series of announcements that must have embarrassed them. It began with an alert saying that the flight at the pier next to us would be delayed , as they had an “issue” regarding a valve. They had to decide what to do about it. After several announcements which varied as to which of the other planes on the ground they were planning to latch onto, they kept saying different times, different piers, and different planes, which finally boiled down to ours, but they did find another one for us. They made mistakes about the boarding time and who would board first. They finally said they would let us “preboard” folks go on, if we had a certificate saying we had been selected for preboarding. It was a blue slip of paper, which neither Bob nor I had been given. I asked one of the men about this, and he checked out the computer, where he found us listed. “Don’t worry about the blue slip,” he assured us, but by then we had lost a lot of confidence that anything would likely go right. Well, eventually, we did get into good seats and then even off the ground. We had an uneventful flight home and were met by Colleen at BWI. Things were going very well, by then. We know we don’t deserve a friend like Colleen, but we surely do appreciate her! Colleen had left work early to drive to BWI and meet our flight. She knew when we were arriving, and which luggage carrel we would be using, because she had checked the Internet. She had even left a good message on her work phone, so we knew what was going on. She also made quick work of loading the heavy luggage into her car and getting us on the road. I realized then, and for the next few days, that I was really ready NOT to have to live out of a suitcase for a while. When I took out an item, I didn’t have to memorize where I had laid it down and where it would need to go back inside the suitcase. We had a great time on this trip, and we have many happy memories. But getting back into the groove was pleasant, also. |
Gallery photo |
Chip Martz I hope you had a great time on your extended New England vacation. I sure enjoyed seeing everyone, especially my Howlett cousins. I moved to Calif. in 1956 at age 15. I had finished two years at Gardner H. S. and completed high school in Pomona. Rose, the girls, and I visited Doug and family in 1976, the Bicentennial Year. Thus the last time I saw him was 31 years ago. Aside from him and you (Bob and Nan), I had not seen anyone else at the Reunion for 51 years! It was especially a treat to see Tom, Polly, and John again after all those years. By the way, I think Bob took a picture of the Howletts and me on John's deck. Could you e-mail me that photo? Looking forward to the next Muse. [To view the picture, click on "Gallery photo" at the left.] |
|
Missi Sargent Thank you for including the story about my CD. I thought I would share more info with the readers. I am very thankful for the support I received on this project. I raised over $450 (I lost track at the relay because people kept giving me money and I kept turning it in (since the money was due). I learned a lot of things during this project. It costs a lot more to make a legal CD than I thought. Besides buying the music tracks, recording studio time and licensing the songs (so it would be legal), I didn't think about the price of buying the CDs, the CD cases, the paper stock to print the covers, and the color ink (I think I went through 3 color ink cartridges). But I am very happy that I did it and was very excited with the outcome. My mother-in-law is fighting cancer (and winning), as are two of my co-workers. I lost a brother-in-law to the disease two years ago and a cousin-in-law last year. I have two other co-workers that are currently in remission. The biggest hit I ever took was losing my grandfather when I was 10. It broke my heart and still brings tears to my eyes today. That was the reason I never participated in the walk...it hit too close to home. But I am now realizing that cancer doesn't care if you are young or old, rich or poor, black or white, male or female. We all know someone who has been affected. And all of a sudden I felt selfish for not participating in the walk. I am healthy and able, so I needed to do this. The songs on the CD all represent my interpretations of what the songs mean to me. If anyone would still like a CD, please email me at alouette99@netzero.net. I would be happy to ship you a copy. I can also send you the tracks in mp3 format via email. I just ask that you make a donation to the American Cancer Society for $5 or more. In other news on the home front, both boys played baseball this year. Jamie played in the Winchendon Babe Ruth League (ages 13-15) and Richie played in the Winchendon Majors (ages 10-13). Richie's team won the Season championship and was chosen to play on the all star team. Unfortunately the team was eliminated July 5th, but they played a great game. I received a promotion at the College and am now the Director of Non-Credit programs. I still love my job and my division. It's a lot easier to go to work in the morning when you love the people you work with. Someday I will finish my degree, but with two teen boys, I think I'll wait a little bit longer. I have always said that I was "no Martha." I freely admit that I am domestically challenged. If it can't be done on a computer, than I'm at a loss. So I had some doubts when I took on painting the kitchen. I had a contractor come in and install two new windows, some beadboard, and trim. Once he was done, the painting was up to me. So off I went to Home Depot, accompanied by a floor tile from the kitchen and a basic idea of what I wanted to do. The poor woman at the paint counter helped me for over an hour and a half. I somehow wanted to blend four colors that don't usually blend. She was great and found what I wanted. I found a tool at Walmart called a Woolie, which allows you to "color mesh" your walls (looks a lot like marble or wall paper. ) I have to admit I even surprised myself at how good it came out. I now have a warmer kitchen with a nice breakfast nook, which opened up a nice space. I painted my rocking chair the same colors and placed it in front of the big bay window, which overlooks the back yard. With a nice hot cup of coffee on a cool morning...man, you can't beat it!! I've attached a couple of before and after pictures. If anyone has any ideas where I could find nook cushions, rocking chair cushions, and a valance that all match, please speak up!! I suppose it would probably be easier to hire a seamstress (because I can't even sew on a button). I have to say, nothing makes a home owner more proud than a successful do it yourself job! |
|
Top /
Muse Home /
Who's Who / What's New |
