Rochester, NY
The summer in the northeast is off and running. The weather has been ideal, upper 70′s and lower 80′s with abundant sunshine. Seeing the sun and being outside is a wonderful thing for the mindset.
It was a weekend of gatherings. The first was a birthday party for one of the people that is going to be in my book, Brad VanAuken. This was a birthday party unlike any I have been to. I would describe it as high class. The party took place in the backyard of he and his fiancé’s (the mitrologist) house. The house is tucked away in deep woods. A six piece jazz band played off and on for three hours, slowing down as the night crept in. The hours dourves were splendid with salmon-asparagus crepes, shrimp tortillas, and scallops wrapped in bacon to name a few. Then came dinner of mahi mahi, chicken, grilled veggies, and my first ever mashed potato martini. Then the deserts came: bananas foster, strawberry shortcake, cherries jubilee, and ice cream with homemade chocolate and caramel sauces. After all of the eating came fireworks. What a party.
And yesterday was awesome, starting with nine holes of family golf. In the first group were my aunt, uncle, and two cousins. Following them were my dad, my sister, my bro in law, and me. We were doing some Father’s Day things because both dads will be out of town next weekend. Walking around the golf course with your dad is always great. To have other parts of the family joining made it that much better. I must have been relaxed because I shot 1 over for the 9 holes.
After golf I rushed home and headed to a farewell picnic for some new friends doing a great thing. The husband and wife team have been trying to figure out what to do career wise, we’ve even talked in detail about it. But when an email came in saying they were moving to Montana to volunteer for AmeriCorps and Neighborhood Housing Services, I was excited. My guess is some people were nervous, I was excited. After speaking with them, I know how strong of a desire they have to make a difference. Some people say they want to do something but never do anything about it. They will be living their desire to the fullest. Now I have to arrange a trip to Montana.
The picnic was another gorgeous evening filled with lots of their friends and family. I could feel the love and bond amongst their well wishers.
And then I came back to the lake and took a walk on the beach with my mom. Not a bad weekend.