Graduation from South Pasadena High School, June 2022

The Handsome Graduate-- Our grandson and how proud we are!

Kevin had dislocated his resurfaced hip and I was concerned that he would not be able to make Francis Pop Gailiunas' graduation; however, a wheel chair in airport and cane and walking sticks enabled us to travel.

We stayed at the lovely Arroyo Vista BnB, where we are very comfortable. Janice, our host, has a daughter graduating from South Pasadena High School, also.

 The Boy drives now! 

But still loves ice cream!

A Proud Father

And other fans!

I love Proud Mama Lecie's braids!

We had delicious meals together--pizza at Arroya Vista

And so happy to spend time with Ellie Lee!

The hands down best meal was at this Vegan Vietnamese restaurant.

Amazing vegan food!

The Graduation!

On the way to the Ceremony with Aunt Amy--a happy group!

Anticipation in the stadium!

Proud graduates ready to walk!

Francis nearing the atrium where the degrees were being given out... (here's hoping he gets one!)

And Francis Gailiunas is announced!

Congratulations!

Leaving with degree in hand!

Feeling pretty good!

We celebrated at Buca di Beppo, where we have had many good times

The Proud Parents

And Proud Grandmother

And won't he miss traipsing up and down this lovely neighborhood.

And his home sweet home.

He starts Queens University in Kingston, Ontario in August!

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

                                                                                              Mary Oliver

 

Asheville: October 2021

 We were fortunate to have Randy Allemand's "Cosy Nook" in Asheville for the month of October.  Randy likes black bears and art and flowers--a perfect BnB for us.

 And, he has built a wonderful treehouse, fun to sit in among the trees.

We arrived on the afternoon of October 1. It was still late summer here and I brought all the wrong clothes, hoping for cool weather. But we love it here. And every day is an event! We went to Boris Godunov, an opera we had seen in Newcastle in 1989. The only thing I remember from that opera were the beautiful fur hats the men all wore in the last scene. In this version, the costumes were beautiful and luxurious in tones of red and gold but no memorable fur.

We enjoyed a pub supper at a favorite,  Sovereign Remedies!

Halloween was all over the place!

Asheville was  lively with lots going on and busy with tourists. 

We used to stay in a BnB on Hillside. The original color was light yellow, then the landlord, David, painted it a bright orange (he said to stand out). Unfortunately, David sold it and the new owners have painted it lavender! It is a gorgeous old house and we loved staying there--so sorry it is no longer available.

We went to a soccer game (Asheville High vs Reynold High) where Cyrus played. He made the one goal for Reynolds!  I loved watching the girls  (including Ann and Eva) watch on the sidelines in shorts and sweatshirts! 

Louis and Sylvie came for the weekend and we trekked up part of the way to Craggy Gardens in the rain and fog. But when at the bottom, it was sunny and bright and we had a nice picnic lunch.

We had wine in the Grove Park Inn which was packed with tourists! But lovely and cozy with fine views from the porch.

We drove out to Fairview several times. This is Hanifa, orginally from Bosnia. She is in charge of the beautiful garden behind the big house.

She gave me a lovely flower bouquet!

Covid was still around. We are vaccinated and bolstered and feel pretty safe!

We had lovely walks.

Watching the Autumn colors coming in.

And hung out with Ann and Glenn,

And  eating good meals at favorite restaurants, like Chai Pani!

And one special meal with Annie Louise and Will--so good to see them.

College Tour

While Wyatt is happily ensconced in the College of Charleston, Francis Pop (aka FPG), a rising senior in high school, is just beginning to think about college.  So we decided to tour  a few colleges--there are so very many so we can only offer the tip of the ice berg here on the east coast.

He arrived on 14 July in Charlotte. We drove back and a big surprise awaited. Wyatt was at 1432 Medway Road. Wyatt was surprised, also, as neither one knew the other would be here for a nice birthday party for Hockey Ga! And it was a great birthday party!

Francis had his first and only formal college tour at the University of South Carolina. I went with him and learned so much about college. I think he did, too; although he looks a little bored!

We had a nice Sunday lunch with my cousin, Kate Reeves, and former student, Emily Bryan.

And we went to Miyos for a nice dinner with Mary and Phil. I love it when Francis lights up the room with his big smile!

He pumped gas for me.

We had an easy flight to Boston from Charlotte and then an Uber to  Cambridge.

We stayed in a lovely small hotel, the Veritas.

 It was so nice to be in Cambridge. I really like this town! You can see turkeys in the street.

And rabbits in the grass!

We had delicious breakfasts at the Tatte Bakery, especially good was the Shakshuka. (for some reason, blogger does not always want me to put the photos in the center--not sure whassup)

Jake was a good Harvard guide, showing us around landmarks, like Winthrop House, where Jake and Paul spent their freshman years.

Adams House where Helen and Paul lived!

Paul's favorite theatre

A highlight for FPG was meeting Haden Guest, Director of the Harvard Film Archive and in charge of the HH archive, for a tour around the Carpenter Center and a description of Harvard's film studies program. He and Francis had a good discussion of film noir.

We enjoyed good meals together!

Francis loved shopping in the big record stores!

And Cambridge is a lovely town.

We traveled on the T to see MIT.

We shopped at the Coop, and speaking of elephants,

We looked at Tufts whose mascot is an Elephant! And, that is because Mr Ringling of Ringling and Barham Circus was a big contributor.

Another beautiful campus

Jake and Kevin drove to Manchester for Abigail Lewis's wedding. FPG and I had a delicious dinner at a Thai Restaurant.

Then the next morning we traveled via train to NYC!

We  met Charles aka Poppy by his family!

He took us to The Little Beet!

Where we had a wonderful meal--for me it was one of the best on our trip. Charles counsels hs students and knows a lot about college admissions so he was full of good advice for FPG! We had a great evening with him.

Meanwhile FPG had caught a cold and was feeling pretty bad. So to be on the safe side, he took a covid test right on the street near our hotel.

It turned out to be negative.

But he stayed in bed most of the next day. We were at the Kimpton Muse and had a comfortable room

We did go out for a lovely dinner!

Francis took this photo of me on the way back to our hotel!

And I took this photo of him!

Before our train back to Boston, Francis enjoyed this music store.

Back to Boston. 


And, a nice dinner with Jake and Kevin, sharing our stories.


Then back to Columbia the next day--alas, it took us 12 hours as we could not land in Charlotte because of a storm and ended up in Raleigh for a layover until the storm cleared. Then we drove to Columbia--a long day.

We rested for a day, then drove to Charleston, where Francis had a wonderful tour of the lovely College of Charleston. Wyatt was his excellent tour guide.

It is a gorgeous campus and so much fun for me and Kevin to hang out with such handsome boys!

The Cistern at CoC.

We all returned to Columbia (Jake had gone early to Asheville for Susie's memorial service) and after a rest day in Columbia, Wyatt and I drove to Asheville. He is a very good driver. I hope he gets a car soon.

Francis proved himself to be a very good Pickle Ball player at the Farm!

We looked at Warren Wilson and UNC in Asheville, both had impressive campuses.

A highlight was our lunch at Chai Pani, just a wonderful Indian Restaurant. I love the marigolds in the front. They are important in Indian culture and symbolize brightness and light.

And then drove to Charlotte where we had a lovely hotel room in the Kimpton there.

Fun with red glasses and iPhone!

And then goodbye to Poppy for awhile. Hoping he comes back soon. We love him so much.

On August 9, we had a small birthday party for Jacobi!

And we had a visitor. Karen Redrobe, Professor at UPenn came to look through Helen's papers, helping to get them ready for Harvard. She is also writing about Helen. We went out to eat with Susan Courtney who is head of Film Studies at USC. They had a lot to talk about and it was a nice evening!

And Wyatt got a car!

Wyatt toured us around the lovely College of Charleston!