A Really Good Show

“Good morning.  How are you?” a lady asked as we entered the elevator.

“We’re tired,” said Susan with a laugh.

“That’s good.  That’s how it’s supposed to be when you come to New York!” she said in a chipper voice.

“Yes, we’ve been keeping really busy,” said Susan as I tried to stifle a yawn!

The doorman also greeted us with a friendly “good morning” as we left the hotel.  We walked the short distance to Sarabeth’s.  Some customers were sitting outside, but since the temperatures kept climbing each day, we decided to eat inside.  The host escorted us to the same table where we sat a couple of days before.  I ordered the French toast and patiently sipped warm coffee.  When the food arrived, I generously poured maple syrup over the large stack.  I thought the extra sugar would do me some good since my stomach was feeling pretty empty after the Miserable Outburst.

Susan and I talked about how sad we would be if one of us got sick enough where we wouldn’t be able to go to the shows.  We bought our tickets long before we got to NYC.  I had thought about how sad that would be even before we left on the trip.  That thought helped us decide that our fifth day was going to be a more relaxing one.

After breakfast, we waited for a bus on the corner of 79^th Street and Amsterdam.  If it would have been any other day, we probably would have walked the short distance to Riverside Park.  When we got on the bus and noticed that we were the only customers, we told the bus driver that we were visiting from Minnesota.  He jokingly asked, “Do any people live there?”

View of The Lucerne (on the Right)
from the Bus Stop

“More people live in Minnesota than South Dakota,” I said.  He wondered how come we didn’t just walk because it was only a few blocks, but we ignored his question.  We really just liked the idea of using our bus passes!  When we got off, we walked down to The West 79th Street Boat Basin Café, which looked like a fun place to eat overlooking the Hudson River.  As we walked along, we enjoyed the quiet park and being shaded by large trees.  A lady walked towards us with a little dog, and both Susan and I said, “Aww.”  Seeing the dog made us realize how much we missed each of ours.  After the dog met us and figured out we were all right, he laid down flat and panted.

Since the dog needed a rest, the lady told us about how in the day she is a nanny to a little boy and the dog, but at night she is an actress.  She just auditioned for a show.  We wished her good luck and continued on after the lady tried to get the dog to move.  People zoomed by on bikes, and we passed others walking along the path.  When we came to the 91st Street Garden, we named off some of the flowers.  The foxgloves looked beautiful.  We could hear many little children at the nearby playground.

Me at the 91st Street Garden

We walked down a beautiful path:

We saw the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument:

The buildings were quite pretty:

The warm day had us visiting Café Lalo again.  I ordered a delicious smoothie.  Susan told me about the scene in the movie “You’ve Got Mail” where Meg Ryan is patiently reading her book while waiting for her email buddy to join her at Café Lalo.  That movie ended when Tom Hanks met Meg Ryan at the 91st Street Garden!

We walked some more, visited a few shops and admired the neighborhood.

When we got back to the hotel, we took our time getting ready for “The Jersey Boys.”  Before we knew it, it was time to go on the subway.  We decided to go to Victor’s Café, a very extravagant looking Cuban restaurant.  We sat in the small bar area and ordered Papa Rellenas (stuffed potatoes and meat puffs) from the Tapas Menu.  The appetizers were so delicious; we decided to order another round.  We were glad that we were both feeling just fine.

As I read the playbill in the August Wilson Theater, I was surprised that I knew all of the songs.  I didn’t realize that Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons had such a long list.  The order of the songs conveniently told the story of their lives together.  The play was quite funny until it got to the part where Frankie Valli’s wife decided that she wanted a divorce because Frankie wasn’t home very much.  When Tony Winner John Lloyd Young sang “My Eyes Adored You,”  I tried to hold back the tears.  I realized I would never think of that song the same way again.

At times the show had me stomping my feet to the music, laughing, and a moment later trying to hold back the tears.  When we left the theatre, I felt like I was leaving some good friends behind.  That’s when I knew I saw A Really Good Show.

We looked forward to going to see the Statue of Liberty the next day.

To be continued…

Miserable Outburst

The fourth day of our trip started out as another protein bar and Starbucks coffee morning.  After we repeatedly chewed on bits of the cardboard-like bars and tried to swallow them down with gulps of coffee, we headed to the subway.  Even though we had been on the subway many times, I never recognized any of the faces like I do at home, and I missed that.  I was surprised that I was feeling a bit homesick already!  I pushed the feeling aside and reminded myself to call home later that night.  I had been sending many pictures to the kids via text, but I missed having talking conversations with their Dad.

Susan thought it would be fun to find The World’s Most Famous Subway Grate.  We walked around the midtown area searching for the grate where Marilyn Monroe stood while a subway passed underneath.  The swishing air made the white skirt of Marilyn’s dress fly up which caught a lot of attention back in 1954.  Since it was a Wednesday, many professionals hurriedly walked by us.  When we found the grate, there wasn’t even a sign to confirm our discovery.  That made us unsure if we were in the right place.  After I read about The World’s Most Famous Subway Grate, I think we were in the right place, but now it doesn’t seem very exciting because we didn’t know for sure.  Anyway, if you’re interested, click here for a movie location guide, which would be fun to have on a trip to NYC.

Next we visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  The Cathedral is currently going through some renovations which will take a couple more years to complete.  A lot of unlit candles greeted us, and Susan and I each lit one.  Here are some of my favorite pictures, even though you can see the scaffolding in the first one.

The protein bar was starting to wear off.  We spotted another Le Pain Quotidien which are all over the place in Manhattan!  This is the scrumptious salad I had:

Our next stop was the Museum of Modern Art.  The Campbell Soup Cans by Andy Warhol were quite the attraction as was The Starry Night.  Susan asked me to take a picture:

While we stood in front of the painting, the man behind me started singing Starry, Starry Night, by Don McLean, and it helped me remember some sad things about Vincent Van Gogh.  😦

Thankfully, this piece of artwork had me laughing out loud:

It’s so fun to be cultural!

After leaving MoMA, we found the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gift Shop by Rockefeller Plaza, and I bought a beautiful umbrella with a Tiffany “stained glass” fabric and some Monet coasters.  Plus, I remembered to use the coupon from my New York City Pass booklet.

Not only did we see Rockefeller Plaza, and

Atlas,

we found Gilly at the NBC Store.

Our next adventure was to go to the Top of the Rock(efeller Plaza). We waited about 20 minutes before we could get on the elevator.  I liked seeing Central Park from the Top of the Rock.  I couldn’t believe how many buildings were below us.  It’s incredible how Manhattan stretches out further and further.

When we got back to the Upper West Side, we decided to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  I thought I would try the scallops, and our waitress, Heather, said that was a great choice.  We told Heather that we were going to go see the Statue of Liberty on Friday, and she told us about a lot of fun spots down by the pier.  The scallops and the fresh vegetables were very tasty.  By the time we were finished with dinner, it really was a starry night.

After only being asleep for a couple of hours, my stomach woke me up because it felt a little sour, and that’s when I decided that scallops didn’t like me.  Thankfully Susan slept through the whole miserable outburst.  That miserable outburst made me feel even more homesick.

The next day turned out to be the most relaxing of our trip.  We hoped that I would be feeling good so we could go see The Jersey Boys the next night.

To be continued…

A Lucky Gal

When I first woke up on the third day of our trip to NYC, I couldn’t believe that later that night I would see Tom Hanks in The Lucky Guy.  I felt like a Lucky Gal!  Some of my favorite movies are Big and all of the Toy Stories.  There seems to be a sort of humbleness that shines through in Mr. Hanks’ performances.  I was happy that still held true after I saw him in the show.  But the day was young, and there were a lot of things we wanted to do before being in the same room (even if it was a theatre) with Tom Hanks.

Since rain was in the forecast, we planned to visit some museums right after a leisurely breakfast.  We grabbed our umbrellas and walked to Sarabeth’s, a bakery and restaurant, across the street and up a block on Amsterdam.  We sat in a booth in the back, and I ordered the garden omelet.  Susan ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes.  We both sipped our very delicious coffees with cream until our food came.  We decided our food was delightful and would keep us full for a long while.

Little sprinkles began to fall as we walked back to our hotel.  We packed up some necessities, left the hotel and walked over to the American Museum of Natural History where the movie Night at the Museum was based.  Many other people thought it was a good day to visit the museum too.  The lines seemed long, yet moved fast.  We picked up our New York City Passes, which Susan ordered ahead of time on-line.  The pass that we chose was a booklet that contained six admission tickets to various attractions and was valid for nine consecutive days.  It cost a little over $100, which we thought was well worth it.  One of the advantages of having the pass is that you don’t have to wait in line to purchase your tickets.

Journey to the Stars was at the planetarium.  The film was narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, and there were many well-behaved school groups in attendance.  I learned about those little balls of light and imagined them being born.  I was glad to learn that scientists believe that the sun will last many more millions of years.  Whew!

After that we walked around and saw a lot of stuffed animals, creepy crawlers and such.

After seeing the dinosaurs and being glad that we were never alive the same time they were, we decided to go across Central Park and visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Now that the raindrops were really falling, we hailed a cab that took us over to Fifth Avenue.  We walked about half a block as the drops made noises on our umbrellas, and I suddenly felt like a New Yorker!

Since we had our passes, we went right in.  Susan studied the map and tried to figure out how to navigate to her favorite paintings.  When we were admiring the Rodin statues, we came across a beautiful painting of Joan of Arc, by Jules Bastien-Lepage (French, 1848-1884).  Susan and I admired the artwork for many, many minutes.  We were fascinated by how Joan of Arc seemed so lifelike.  It was if she could pop off the canvas.  Her eyes seemed to tell a story.  Seeing the painting reminded me of the stories I heard as a child and how I admired her bravery.  You can see a photograph of the painting if you click here.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures at the Met until we got to the stained glass artwork and the angels:

We also saw the painting of George Washington Crossing the Delaware and the Egyptian Temple.  When we came to the gift shop, we realized that there was a coupon in our New York City Pass booklet.  We tried to decide if we wanted to buy anything and realized that it was almost 5:00.  I felt a little stressed and worried if we would make it to the show on time.

I was sad to leave the museum because I enjoyed it so much.  The traffic was heavy, big raindrops still fell, and we knew that at that time of day we wouldn’t be able to catch a cab.  We looked over at the commuters filing on the bus across the street and decided to ask some questions.  The people were so friendly and told us that the bus would drop us off right by our hotel.  We were thrilled that we learned another way to travel about NYC.  We used the same $30 pass that we used on the subway.

It was nice to have the doormen greet us.  Our hotel room looked so tidy, but we didn’t have time to stay.  We headed out the doors again, but this time we walked in the other direction to the subway.  When we got to our stop, and went up the steps, the crowds were much heavier in Times Square.  We passed by many shops.  We picked up our tickets at will call, and Susan led me over to Sardi’s.  We went to the upper floor, sat at the bar and ordered watermelon cosmopolitans and crackers and cheese.  People were standing in line in front of the Broadhurst Theatre.  A gentleman at the corner of the bar said, “I can’t believe the line.  I always wait up here until just before the show starts, and then go into the theatre.”  It sounded like a great idea to me as I munched on crackers and sipped my cosmo.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be sitting at Sardi’s doing just what I was doing at that moment.  A picture of Lucille Ball smiled at me from across the room.

The man told us about his grandson who was in a play at the adjoining theatre and how his family members took turns being the actor’s biggest fan and making sure he got home safely.  We chatted for quite some time and noticed that the line was getting shorter.  We got up to leave around the same time.

I thought theater goers would dress up, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable wearing my jeans since the majority of the audience did too.  Some dressed like one would expect going to a Broadway show.  We read our playbill and waited for the show to start.  The play was written by Nora Ephron who also wrote When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, just to name a couple of things she did during her very successful career. 

Tom Hanks played a newspaper columnist, Mike McAlary.  McAlary’s career blossoms when he becomes the reporter who the criminals tell their stories to about the police.  It was difficult for me to watch Mr. Hanks puff on cigarettes and say the F-word because I always think of him as Woody or Josh.  It was a different role, and he played the part well.  I admire how he likes to be different characters.  The audience saw his humbleness shine through when he graciously bowed at the end.  It seemed like he truly appreciated the audience being there.

We went to Juniors Restaurant after being in the same room with Tom Hanks.  I had a ham sandwich which looked like it could feed my entire family.  I didn’t think I was very hungry, but I ate it all!  We talked about what a great job the cast did, and how much we enjoyed the performance.

When we walked through Times Square on the way to the subway, it was 10 times more crowded than the most crowded Minnesota State Fair that I ever attended.  I couldn’t believe that it was around 11:00 at night because the lights were brighter than a lot of Minnesota days!  I could have worn my sunglasses and been fine.  The subways were less crowded than the streets, and I felt comforted by the music of the man playing the steel drum.  He did an awesome job every time I saw him that week!

We made it back to our hotel, and planned the next day.  Even though I felt like a very lucky gal to have seen The Lucky Guy, little did I know that it would not turn out to be my favorite show of the trip.

To be continued…

Starbucks Helped us Make it Through!

The streets were very quiet Memorial Day morning.  The neighborhood wasn’t busy like it was the day before.  As I left the hotel, I asked the doorman if he knew where Starbucks was, and he pointed the way.  It felt a little strange to be walking all by myself.  Sometimes I felt like I should be afraid because I was in the Big City.  Then I realized that I didn’t have a reason to be.  I took a right turn by the DSW Shoe Store and walked a couple blocks down Broadway.  When I entered Starbucks, I was the only customer, and it was nice to have the individual attention!  On my walk back, I saw a few moms pushing their little ones in strollers.  People were busy working and moving boxes from trucks to buildings.  Only a few cabs and cars traveled along the road.

When I got back to our room, Susan and I ate protein bars and washed it down with some coffee.  We didn’t have time to stop for a leisurely breakfast because we were heading down to the 9/11 Memorial.

The subway was only a block away.  By the time we got to the bench to finish our coffees, the traffic had picked up, and more people wandered about. The bench was by a big grate and we heard the trains pass underneath.  After we finished, we walked down the steps.  As we went down each step it got darker and colder.

Artwork at a Different Subway Station

I followed Susan’s lead.  I watched her slide her subway pass through the slot and push the turnstile to get through the gate.  Just a few people were waiting.  I stood back, and when I heard the loud rumbling coming closer, I stood back a little farther just to be sure.  The train stopped, and the doors opened wide.  We found a spot to sit right away.  After the doors closed, we sped up faster and faster.  The train swayed from side to side.  Passengers unknowingly bobbed to the rhythm.  The rumblings from the inside of the train were not as loud as they sounded when it first started to approach.  When we made it to our destination, we only had to walk a few blocks to the Memorial.  The taller buildings cast longer shadows here.  Susan, who I referred to as “My Tour Guide,” had taken care of the required reservations, which had no charge.  We pulled out our passes and entered the gate.  We joined the zigzag line of people.  There was quite a wait because we were told a film was being produced for military personnel.

No buildings shaded us.  We soaked up the warm sun because we knew at home everyone was suffering through more rainstorms.  Susan struck up a conversation with the couple standing in line in front of us.  The lady was originally from Reykjavik, Iceland.  She and her husband were on vacation, but were ready to go back home to Sweden to their two children.  She commented how nice it was to see so many people at the 9/11 Memorial on Memorial Day.

When the line began to move, we were told that we would have to go through an airport-type security.  Thankfully we didn’t have to take off our shoes.  We passed through the security check, and went back outside.  The first thing I noticed was the sound of water running.  The very large pools stand where the Twin Towers used to be.  The names of the people who died there are carved into the beautiful stone.  I watched the water fall.  Where the sun shined, the water sparkled.  The water fell down the upper walls, fell down another level and disappeared.

We were not able to visit the museum because it is scheduled to open next spring.  You can see the museum in some of these pictures.  It’s a short, lopsided building.

Being there reminded me of the scenes we saw on TV and the stories that we read in the newspapers.  It reminded me how we felt about the lives of the people who were lost, and how we grieved for them and their families.  I thought about how frightened they must have been and how heroic the firefighters and policemen were.

We also saw St. Paul’s Chapel.  Even though the church is very close to where the Twin Towers stood, it didn’t get damaged.  This is where the fence was, where people left mementos of their lost loved ones and where the recovery workers slept on pews and received round the clock care.

The old tombstones in the back of the church have been there so long that the names and dates have worn away.  Inside the church a choir sang.

We walked around that area and saw more sights:  The New York Stock Exchange Building, the Wall Street Bull, and Battery Park.  We also walked halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge, even though parts of it were under repair.

We ate Panini’s and found our way back to the subway.  We stopped to see Grand Central Station, visited Annie Moore’s for a cold beverage and then went back to our hotel.

That night we went to Chinatown.  We briefly tried to find Wo Hop, a very good Chinese restaurant.  We didn’t stay in Chinatown very long because we felt claustrophobic.  Many people surrounded us and asked if we wanted to buy a Rolex and other such things.  Thankfully, Little Italy was only a few steps away.  We found Di Nico, one of Susan’s favorite restaurants, and relaxed while we ate dinner outside.

When our orders came, we realized that one of the ladies next to us ordered the same pasta as I did, which led us to start a conversation.  Kate and Maddy, a mother and daughter, were visiting from London.  Maddy shared how her parents told her that they were going to send her on a trip to Ireland with her Mom, but then surprised her with a trip to New York City instead.  They had plans to spend a lot of time shopping.  It was great to meet them, and I loved listening to their wonderful English accents.

Kate and Maddy told us how they waited in line for 90 minutes just the other day to eat at Wo Hop.  They said that it was very good, but it was a very small restaurant.  If Susan and I would have found it, we never would have met Kate and Maddy.

A Band Marching Down the Street in Little Italy!

The eventful day had us feeling quite tired, and we were glad that Starbucks helped us make it through!  The next day we had tickets to see Tom Hanks in The Lucky Guy, and we were really looking forward to that!

To be continued…

Fun Plan Turned into a Reality

Sometimes when we make plans to do some fun thing it doesn’t always work out for one reason or another, and we know to just let it go and move on.  But last August, when my friend Susan and I were at the Minnesota Twins game, somehow the subject of New York City came up.  The hotdogs and beers might have helped to start the conversation.  When Susan asked me what I would want to see there, I pretty much knew that the trip would become a reality.

The first place that came to mind was the Statue of Liberty.  Since the Statue of Liberty is like a heroine to me because of what she represents, of course, I wanted to meet her.  I also knew that I would be honored to be able to visit the 911 Memorial.  We saw those things and so much more.

We arrived on the Sunday before Memorial Day.  As we traveled from the airport to our hotel on the Upper West Side, we remained calm as our taxi driver swarmed about the traffic as if he was some sort of bumble bee dodging in between a winding garden of flowers. The van came close to scraping some barricades on the highway. Our cabbie, who is originally from Bangladesh, told us he has lived in New York City for over 20 years and how all his family lives close by. Since Susan, a seasoned traveler to the area, asked how he was going to get to our hotel, he delivered us there promptly without venturing off course.

The glass doors to the hotel were opened wide to greet us. Several doormen bustled about carrying customers’ luggage to and from the building. When we entered the Lucerne, I felt welcomed by the extravagantly decorated lobby. Comfy sofas and chairs were grouped in circles on each side of the room.  The elegant colors blended together and felt homey.  We weren’t able to get into our hotel room right away, so we checked in our luggage so that we could wander about the city. Seeing many other people stroll along was just what I expected. A yellow sea of cabs zoomed by while vacant cars sat parked on the street.  Every other group of walkers was accompanied by a dog. Most of the dogs were small, but occasionally a larger dog appeared. The dogs seemed to be happy as they walked along the cement sidewalks.

I thought that the subway station was crowded for a Sunday. We bought our $30 pass for the week, and walked to Le Pain Quotidien, a French bakery and restaurant on 72nd Avenue. We sat at a butcher block table close to the window. As we studied the menu, the sounds of dishes being ushered about echoed through the restaurant. People’s hushed conversations melded together. When I looked at the two women sitting next to us, I noticed a small dog inside a carrier that was sitting at its owner’s feet. If I hadn’t looked in that direction, I wouldn’t have even known the dog was there just minding his own business.

The waitress took our orders and soon she delivered this delightful creation which is a tartine:

After lunch, we only had to walk a couple blocks to Central Park. In the back of my mind I thought Central Park was a place where people got mugged because that’s all we ever heard about New York all the time we were growing up. I was surprised to see how beautiful the park is:

Imagine – Memorial to John Lennon

Entryway to Central Park

Native American Statue

The Boat House

Bethesda Fountain

Scene Across from Bethesda Fountain

Horse & Buggy Ride

Remote Control Sailboats on the Lake

The Madhatter from the Cinderella Statue

The Chessire Cat & Climbing Boy

Hans Christian Anderson Statue

King of Poland Statue

Turtle Pond

Castle

We walked for hours around the park discovering the statues and attractions.  We heard many different languages and wondered if they were visitors to the park too.  More dogs could be found and enjoyed the grass all around us.

When we got back to our hotel, I wondered how many miles we walked.  It wasn’t long before we were off exploring again.  We stopped at the Gin Mill, a very lively bar that was only a block away from our hotel.  Next we had delicious lasagna at Al Dente Restaurant.  By the time we arrived at Café Lalo for dessert, it was 10:30.  I couldn’t believe the atmosphere because where I come from everyone is in bed at 10:30.  The customers were wide awake and the conversations were lively.  We split the amaretto tiramisu, and it was divine!

Inside of Cafe Lalo

Cafe Lalo Napkin

Outside of Cafe Lalo

The minute my head hit the pillow back at the hotel, I was off to sleep in the blink of an eye.  I wasn’t even worried about the next day when I would travel on the subway for the first time.  I was just glad this fun plan turned into a reality!

To be continued…

I Heard Someone Say “Rhubarb”

Today I bought a bunch of rhubarb at the Farmer’s Market downtown. I passed by several stands before I came to one that looked to have a very nice selection of ruby-red stalks with some green parts in between.

“This is all grown on a farm in Elk River,” the lady said to me from behind the stand.

“It looks beautiful,” I said. I thought it looked like a real bargain too at $2 a bunch. Other stands were selling their rhubarb for $3 or $4 a bunch and the colors weren’t as vibrant.

“The honey dew is a $1 each,” she said as she opened a plastic bag. My friend and I looked at the large melons, and we looked at each other and laughed.

“No, we both ride the bus, and it would be too much to cart on there. I can just imagine the melon rolling down the aisle,” I laughed.

“Well, we don’t want to haul it back either!” she said. She packed up the rhubarb for me, and away we went.

It all started about a month ago when I heard someone say rhubarb. I started to think about the rhubarb sauce my Mom used to make for us when I was a little kid. She served it to us warm over cold vanilla ice cream.  I searched recipes on-line, looked through my own cookbooks to see what recipes I could find for rhubarb sauce, but deep inside I knew that I really wanted to use the recipe that my Mom used for her rhubarb sauce.  I wish I knew I wanted that recipe way before now.

Today when I got home, I searched through Mom’s recipe box and cookbook for the first time since I became their new owner. The recipe box had tabbed dividers that said: Beverages, Bread, Cake, etc. When I found casserole recipes under the Sauce tab, I figured out that Mom didn’t divide the recipes up accordingly, so I leafed through the entire box. There I found the many recipes that I typed up for Mom when I was just a little kid. I loved to type away on the old black typewriter. It was the kind that had ink on a ribbon and you had to push the keys down so far that you built very nice muscles in your fingers. It didn’t work from any electrical energy. It was all done by manpower. Those lovingly typed up recipes were mixed in with Mom’s handwritten index cards and lots of recipes cut out of newspapers. I found a pepper enchilada recipe that sounded good, but there was not a recipe for rhubarb sauce.

I pulled down the large green cookbook from the top shelf of the pantry in the kitchen. The Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book, © 1942-1946, informed me that rhubarb is a vegetable even though it is usually served as a fruit. I always wondered! Many pages are devoted to rhubarb, but page 254 explains how to make spiced rhubarb, stewed rhubarb, baked rhubarb and rhubarb sauce. My own Betty Crocker Cookbook doesn’t even have that many options! The rhubarb sauce from Mom’s book called for lots of water and cornstarch, and I knew that wasn’t right. I decided to try the stewed rhubarb:

1. Clean and cut 2 pounds of rhubarb in 1-inch lengths. Place in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water and 2/3 cup of sugar.
2. Cover and simmer over low heat 12 to 15 minutes or until tender but not mushy.
   Makes about 3 cups.

I cooked it a little too long, and it looks a little mushy. It tasted okay but not as good as Mom’s. I’ll always wonder if this is the right recipe, or did she just make it up on the way every time even though it always tasted the same. Now, for the rest of my days, I will be trying to figure out how to make rhubarb sauce that tastes just as good as Mom used to make.

Why Did I Wait So Long?

It seemed like a nice day for a walk around the lake. Katie and I got into the van where Lila was patiently waiting. There was just a little hint of thunder way off in the distance, but we ignored it and went on our way.

Just as we were about to park, a couple little raindrops speckled the windshield. This was our first walk around Lake Harriet since all the snow had melted away, and we really didn’t want to turn around especially since we all had been suffering from a very bad case of cabin fever.

“Let’s just walk a couple blocks and see how it goes,” Katie said. She pointed to Lila as if to say that we didn’t want to upset her because it seemed as if Lila had been trying to control her little squeaks of excitement on the ride over. We really didn’t want to disappoint our dog by getting back in the van and heading home right away, did we?

As we walked, the sweet lilac blossoms and flowers from blooming trees mingled together to help us forget the long cold winter that seemed like a bad dream to us now. We slowly climbed down the steep and narrow stairs. Lila listened to me as I told her to go slow, and we made it safely to the walking path. I thought it would be better to go in a different direction than usual because as I looked at the clouds, I hoped the rain would pass over the east side of the lake and miss us.

When we passed by the Elf’s house, we could see that his door, that is located in the nook of a tree, was closed. Under the crack of the door, we could see that many brightly colored dandelions had been left by some visitors.  A couple little drops of rain started to fall on us and on the path before us. We hoped that the Elf’s house would stay dry.  Many walkers passed by and no one seemed to mind the little rumblings of thunder. Not even the little boy who was on his bike and cheerfully asked his Dad, “Is it raining?”

“Yes,” said the Dad in a chipper voice.

Since it was warm and humid, the cool raindrops felt good. I was glad that no one could tell that underneath it all, I really was sweating! The clouds rumbled back and forth to each other as if they were having a conversation. Their lightening didn’t seem to brighten up the sky, so we just walked along more than just a few blocks. Lila kept us on pace and still seemed to be as excited to be outside as we were. As we rounded a corner, the rain started to fall down in sheets and we couldn’t see across the lake any more. Sometimes the trees sheltered us with their new bright leaves.

When we came to the area close to the band shell, many people sat in the sheltered area out of the rain. We decided to keep on going. A girl continued rollerblading while she held onto her Mom. Even though the wheels kept slipping along the path, the girl didn’t give up and neither did her mother. They just kept on going.

Lila got off track for a bit to sniff at something as Katie and I patiently waited. When we saw that Lila had found a stinky dead mouse, I told her she had a good sniffer, and that we had to keep on going.

For a short time, the sky was bright and we thought that maybe it was going to get clear. We walked along, and no drops of rain hit us to get us any wetter. As we got closer to the van, a bright light flashed and soon we heard the thunder. The lightening was showing itself now, and was no longer having a conversation just between the clouds. The rain came down again, but now it was a little bit harder.

We made it to the van safe and sound. Even though our clothes got soaked through, we realized that it was a nice day to walk around the lake after all. I also realized that I hadn’t walked in the rain like this since I was a little kid. Why did I wait so long?

Some people feel the rain — others just get wet. ~Roger Miller

Nose Kisses

As Lila floated about in the creek after our walk around the park, we could hear the barks of a dog off in the distance. Suddenly, a beautiful yellow lab came running through the woods and came close to the shoreline to look at Lila. Lila swam to the shore to greet him. The yellow lab bent down and they sniffed at each other’s noses. The yellow lab backed up some and dove in right on top of many branches and dried grass. As he sank through the mess, his face showed a look of surprise as his paws paddled a little frantically. Mike and I wondered if the yellow lab thought that mess was dry land. Mike had just removed a large stick that had been blocking the flow of water and formed a dam. Other obstacles were being held up behind it all. It looked as if some kids had been experimenting with bricks on top of Styrofoam to see how far away it would float.

The yellow lab paddled about some and came close to Lila to greet her with another nose kiss. When the yellow lab heard his people calling him, he tried to climb up where the embankment was steep, but he didn’t succeed. He paddled to the other side and ran up the hill with small branches and dried grass clinging to his fur. He was gone as fast as he came. He didn’t limp or look to be hurt at all from his jump in the creek. Little did the yellow lab know that he helped knock the dam apart by jumping on the mess. We watched as the rest of the debris broke free and traveled down the creek. Mike bent to grab the Styrofoam and bricks. He broke up the Styrofoam into little pieces and stuffed it in the garbage can. All the debris floated away and the creek was clean again.  The water washed over Lila and carried away any grass that clung to her fur.

It’s funny how dogs will go out of their way to greet each other with a nose kiss.  I wonder if those two will ever meet again!

If you can look at a dog and not feel vicarious excitement and affection, you must be a cat. ~Author Unknown

Way Off in the Sky

Sometimes my husband and I went on dates to the airport to watch the airplanes land and take off. We parked the car on Post Road, rolled down the windows and listened to the powerful jets as they took off and landed. I really didn’t think that was an unusual sort of date to have with a boyfriend until I told my friends about it later on, and they thought it was funny. Maybe I didn’t think it was rare event since my Dad used to take our entire family to the Crystal airport when I was a kid. We stood by the chain link fence, stuck our noses through the holes and watched the little airplanes take off and land. The steady rhythms around the airport always felt sort of soothing.

Last weekend, while we were visiting our son Matt at his school during Aviation Parents Weekend, we waited for him at the airport while he had a flying lesson. My husband and I sat in our minivan, the cool wind blew through the open window while the steady, soft noise of the little airplanes buzzed around us. A lot of the more experienced kids gave their parents rides so many airplanes dotted the bright blue sky, and we watched as they meandered about. Sitting there watching the planes reminded me of the dates my husband and I used to have, and now we were waiting for our son to come down from out of the sky.

When Matt was finished with his lesson, we saw him walk towards the building with his instructor. I couldn’t help but think about when he was just a little guy standing out in our backyard with his little jean jacket on and his blond, wavy curls blowing in the wind. The airplanes flew right over our house. Matt would point his index finger towards the sky, and he held that hand close to the side of his face right next to his eye. Sometimes he wobbled as he tried to keep his balance while he stared up at the “big birds.” He would always announce when he saw an airplane even though we too could hear it traveling over our house and sometimes rumbling the ground.

As Matt grew, so did his knowledge of airplanes because his Dad was such a big fan too. They both studied schedules and would know when a certain plane was going to Japan or some foreign destination. They would ramble off the makes of the different jets and could tell which airline it was even if it was way off in the sky too far away for me to even tell.

Today Matt made his first solo flight. Ever since he was a little kid, from the time he could say the word “airplane,” he has always wanted to fly, and today he did, all by himself!

It might be funny to go on a date to watch airplanes, but somehow it all worked out!

The engine is the heart of an airplane, but the pilot is its soul. ~Walter Raleigh

April is for Showers

Tonight the rain is tapping on the windows, but the weatherman predicts that it will soon turn to snow. All of this strange weather doesn’t bother Lila at all. On Saturday, she greeted the snow by rubbing both sides of her face in the white stuff, and then she got down and rolled over on her back and wiggled around in an unusual dance. It looked as if she was embracing the snow.

When she chased the tennis ball, some of the piles of snow at the park looked to be solid, but underneath were hidden puddles. Though her sturdy paws fell through, it didn’t scare Lila one bit. She just crunched through them and ran into other puddles as big as ponds. Even though the rain has melted some of the snow, the new snow will make it even harder for spring to appear.

I wonder if Lila misses the smells of spring like I do. Maybe Lila noticed little shoots of green grass that are trying to poke through the ground. Maybe she can smell the nests of rabbits if she tried. I miss the sight of daffodils that should be blooming and swaying in the wind and the shock of purple crocuses that we only see for a short time before rabbits eat them gone. The clouds keep greeting us day after day still sputtering snowflakes our way.

If only I could think like a dog when I see whatever the day has to offer and embrace it all no matter what. With each new day a dog still plays.

It makes me wonder if Mother Nature forgot that April is for showers of rain, not of snow.

Don’t knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation if it didn’t change once in a while. ~Kin Hubbard