rajafacesbothways

Thankful Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was a delight--mainly because my grandson, Cory, drove up from GA to be a part of it. There was lots of food, great camaraderie and many laughs at this table.

Cory, who has lived in France, discovered and dusted off a bottle of wine in my rack--an 1986 french Bordeau  that had increased in value temendously and could have been fabulous or tasted like vinegar.

Fabulous won. Three of us savored it while one guest stuck with his 2010 Dr, Pepper.

And to prove that Kentucky isn't just about bourbon, i introduced him to the Beer Trappe in Lexington. I believe that alone could have made his trip worthwhile. A beer lovers heaven.

And I was the beneficiary of his computer and iPhone skills--he showed me wonder with apps, etc. I had no idea what they were for.

Next time I see him he'll be en route to Korea so this was definitely a visit to be thankful for.

Unique Weekend

A busy weekend here with Catman in town. The  beautiful back roads we drove Saturday morning were in sharp contrast to the masses of people who were already at Court Days in Mount Sterling. The size of the crowd appeared equal to the mass marchers on Wall Street, just as peaceful but with a lot less teeth.

Saw someone pushing a stroller with two guns propped behind the toddler so knew we were in the right place. Worked our way past streets lined with booths of extremely cheap and trashy "stuff" to the areas of guns and knives--tables laden with guns, kids wagons filled with guns, and men walking around with guns over their shoulders to sell, trade and collect. The similarity of Wall Street marchers ended right there. We left shortly after, overwhelmed by the huge and growing crowd and drove to Paris for lunch. (Paris, KY that is)

Thoroughbred racing now at Keenland so went to the Track Kitchen for breakfast, KY's best kept secret of great food, then watched the races.  Returned to party on the rooftop with friends in one of the last beautiful days of the season.

A fun weekend. At not a shot was fired.

Catman Comes to Town

Brother Catman is driving in today, unfortunately missing last night's Fire Prevention Parade, an annual occasion when fire trucks from here and a few distant communities come wailing down Main Street to the delight of little kids avoiding their wheels to pick up tossed candy.

Catman is coming to see Court Days,  another popular event in the town of Mount Sterling. I went a few years ago and recall seeing rows of tables filled with guns and Jesus stuff for sale everywhere.  People walked around gnawing on a pork chop in one hand and carrying a purchased gun in the other.

Anyone wonder why this state elected McConnell and Paul for senators? There wasn't a pointy-headed liberal to be seen--just lots of Bush-Cheney banners.

And me.

Birthday Boy

My younger brother, Catman, arrives at another decade today--a number that sounds really "sucky". Actually it should be MY birthday because many years ago when I wanted to stay young longer and he wanted to get old quicker (possibly a drinking age?!) we switched birthdays.

Now neither age sounds wonderful--but if the gene pool we emerged from keeps up the good work, numbers mean nothing--just more years to rub the good times into our aging pores.

And They're Off

A very fun  visit ended after a few more delightful events that included food and drink--our main family focus wherever we are.

The Beer Trappe in Lexington has 8 taps of rare craft beers and hard to find bottled beers from all over the world. Kathryn had connected with a couple in Lexington on her blog and we met  there for some sipping. It was followed by a fabulous meal of Polish food at the home of my friend and her family who originally came from Poland.

After an airshow on the porch by show-off hummingbirds, Karen and Kathryn returned to Chicago. Hard to top exciting Georgetown, I bet?!

Family Guys

Family reunion weekend has drawn to a close; it included trips to the Cleveland Science Museum, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the incredible heaven for foodies of Cleveland's West side Market. We came from 7 states, from coast to coast and border to border, proving that the family that doesn't stay together has much more fun when it gets together.

Lots of food, beer, s'mores and "side splitting" stories revealed; no past history is sacred in this family!

 

In Your Face

Discovered that the accidentalhighway.com website now shows access to Facebook and YouTube,  along with our expanding personal website and through the Carnegie Center in New Albany, IN. Who knew? (duh! I wasn't even sure what YouTube was and I'm on it!)

Check it out!!

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Driving to a family reunion in northern Ohio this week. Westlake is  also having a 150 year awareness of the first families in that town honoring them with flags. It includes my great, great grandfather who came for religious freedom (kind of an oxymoron) and became a successful farmer.

His grandson, my grandfather later built the farmhouse below which still looks good. Our reunion will be held at my brother's house which is just across a field. We're coming from 10 states, many can't make it but it there will be lots of laughs, which my family tends to do.

Grandpa's house.

No Proof Required

Bill Reilly's proof that there is a God is, "The tide comes in--the tide goes out. The sun comes up, the sun goes down." How quaintly 13th Century of him.

In the past couple of weeks, three friends in my life have died. However baby boys were born into the families of my niece, Stephanie and nephew, John.

"The old go out, the new come in." I don't consider this as proof of God. It is proof that life goes on.

Reason to Rejoice

Happy Birthday to my daughter Karen--one of my two major accomplishments, rewards and contributions to the world. I just gave birth--she took it from there!

 

Swiftly Go the Years

Until the past couple of years I was able to spend frequent time with my grandkids from Minnesota. Now time has moved on and their years of high school and college occupy them. So it was fortunate that I got to see my two grandsons this past week. Yet it seems they were wee ones just a few years ago. Woosh! Time flies.

Here are a couple of then and now photos--stepping back about 15 years to the present. Then their focus was on fishing for fish. Now their focus is on fishing for information.

Jesse then:

Jesse now:

Cory graduated from Saint Thomas in Minneapolis and spent a semester in France. Thursday evening he stopped en route to Fort Benning, GA to begin his four year tour as an officer in the US Army, under the ROTC program.

Cory then:

Cory now:

When he discovered he was to report at 9 a.m. the next morning, 400 miles away, he had dinner and about 3 hours sleep. Here's one last sleepy shot before he drove off at midnight and reported at Fort Benning with an hour to spare.