Back in June, I wrote
this blog about time upon the passing of my father in law. It has become one of my most popular posts, with many gracious compliments from family and friends. I often think about the post, and Geno, with fondness. Well, time continues to pass of course, but has once again brought both joy and sorrow. In one week, time brought our family two births, a wedding, and unfortunately, another passing. In sadness we were told that our cousin Lisa had passed after a long illness. Lisa was smart, funny, kind, and a mentor for Cindy as they were growing up. We hadn't seen her in years but like other distant family members, she and her family were often in our thoughts.
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| Nativity of our Lord Church |
In joy, we celebrated the marriage of our niece at a beautiful church in Scranton. The reception was at a Masonic Temple built in the early 1900's by the same architect that built Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The wonderful reception in the beautiful and historic hall was highlight for the year so far. I was also impressed at how much improved downtown Scranton is. The immediate area around The Hilton was very nice, with restaurants and nightclubs, with shopping for Cindy and trains for me. While Cindy was getting her hair done, an historic steam engine passed by me behind the old
Lackawanna Station. Quite a thrill.
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| Reception in the Grand Ballrom, Masonic Temple, Scranton. |
We were thrilled by two births. First, cousins Dan and Emily had their first child arrive. Elliot arrived in New York City to loving parents. Our next joyful arrival was with niece and nephew. Sara and Stephen who brought beautiful little Nora into the world. We and they are thrilled. Only a few days before the birth, we celebrated with Stephen, Sara, and family Stephen's graduation from the FDNY academy as valedictorian. Steve, a man of few words, gave a six minute address to his classmates, their families, and assorted dignitaries. Well done probie!
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| Prepping the window for paint. |
With all the events, work on the house has been slow, but hasn't stopped. On the general maintenance front, the great leaf attack has begun. I spent most of one day raking and bagging leaves in the north lawn, accumulating 17 bags for the city's mulching truck. Since then, more leaves have fallen so I feel certain another 17 bags will be filled, at least, before we're done. Over on the projects list, I have finished scraping, repairing, caulking, and painting all of the windows and frames on the first floor. This is in preparation for installation of custom storm windows, I have measured each of the six windows three times to be sure I'm ordering the correct sizes. Eventually, we may get replacement windows, but in the meantime these will improve the look of the house, and greatly increase the heat efficiency of the windows. Only a few of the old storm windows remained and they did little to keep the cold out of the house.
It's been cold enough at night to enjoy a few fires in the fireplace. It really does a nice job warming our living room while we watch television, and of course it looks great. On the down side, it does make the other rooms feel cool, and perhaps truly cool them, as the draft from the fire draws the cooler air in from outside, It doesn't matter though. We love it, And we have plenty of fuel for the winter.
