Happy Birthday

1989 Dad loved a parade!  This is one of my favorites.

Way Back Machine

Remember the footbridge in Silver Creek?  There's a new group on Facebook called Silver Creek & Beyond with a whole bunch of pictures of new and old Silver Creek.  Boy, did it bring back a flood of memories!  There are lots of comments --most seem to be from people younger than I, but that's OK because I recognize many of the downtown buildings even after all this time.  I know you don't all remember such things, but let me throw a few at the rest of you and see what you remember:

Wright's store!  It was such a treat to have a little money in your pocket so you could go down there for soda or other goodies.  Chris, did you work there for a bit?  It was the last vestige before going down that footbridge into town.  The footbridge is gone now but the memories for many linger.

The Babcock Street School.  Many comments on Facebook talk about having Mrs. Rocker for kindergarten, which I did as well.  Do you remember your elementary teachers?  Mrs. Rocker, Mrs. Millard, Mrs. Smith (I think), Mrs. Lesso, Mrs. Moore (who lived across the street from where we used to live on Olive St), Mrs. Langer and Miss Sullivan.  The Babcock Street School was apartments last time I drove through there.  Someone is cooking zucchini in my kindergarten nap time area!

How about Costa's?  Best pizza ever!  What was the name of that bar Dad used to take us to across from Petris at the bottom of that hill?  I remember practicing "the twist" while my ginger ale waited for me at the table.  How about walking from Old Main to church school every Tuesday afternoon?  Can you imagine that happening today?  Not so much.

Roof's Restaurant with Weenie?  How much he loved Hole-Parker Funeral Home?  I didn't get that joke for the longest time..........I was a late bloomer.

I think I've taken you all down this path before but these pictures really brought back picture-perfect memories I wanted to share with anyone else who might remember.  You might enjoy the Silver Creek & Beyond group as well.  Enjoy your ride in the Way Back Machine (remember that?)

Home Improvement Dalpiaz Style

Wow!  Sorry I've been away so long.  As most of you know, we travelled to Long Island for a wedding Friday July 15.  Amy was able to join us!  The four of us haven't been together in such a long time, this was really sweet (but short).  Aren't we something when we are all cleaned up? 

And, as most of you know, Kathleen and Nick followed us back upstate on Monday to stay with us for the week.  Nick helped Jim get the Mustang purring, we went on a little Finger Lake Wine Tour, had a visit with the Moore contingent, and made up our own Covered Bridge tour.  Busy week and I've stretched my ability to be social to its absolute limit. 

To prepare for Kathleen and Nick's visit, I decided we needed a little home improvement.  There was some ripped wallpaper that needed to be covered or repaired.  I chose to cover the blemish (typical problem solving technique for me).  It was a two day project.  The first day was Easter Sunday and the second day was Thurs July 14 (Bastille Day and Tessa's birthday).  Note above that July 14 was the last possible completion opportunity before the fun began on Friday July 15. 

See?  No visible blemish (well, unless you look too closely at the paint job).  Looks great and I learned that re-hanging those pictures all at one time isn't as artistic as it seemed when it evolved over the years. 

So it goes with us.  We only start such projects under some kind of deadline and then learn a whole lot about what we don't know.  Kind of like parenting--hang in here with me.  I was listening to a radio show discussing parenting from the viewpoint of economists.  It was more interesting than I am able to make it sound here.  Of course, child rearing can't really be quantified like a bank account but one interesting question arose that I've been pondering:  Why did you want to be a parent (if you did)?  All those miles on the road between here and Long Island and I still don't have a good response for that.  Why?  I knew I wanted children, but I don't know why I wanted children.  Then we tried it:  under a 9 month deadline only to learn a whole lot about what we don't know.  Still learning.

Hot in Harpursville

Who Knew?  Jim was doing some cleaning the other day (no, that's not the "who knew" part) and came across this picture of himself with Betty White!

He marched with the McDonald's All American band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade--I'm thinking this is around 1971 or 72.  The other kid is the other New York state participant.  Jim can't remember the one with the tiara.   IMDB says Paul Lavalle was one of America's best known bandmasters and conductors.  (Who knew?)

At the time, Betty White would have been better known as Sue Ann Nivens from the Mary Tyler Moore show.  Look at that posture:  shoulders back, bosom forward.  We could all take a lesson. 

Anne Marie Flynn Ryan 1933-2002

I am missing Mom a great deal today.  I think she would have enjoyed hearing about the Charlotte trip.  One of the best times I ever had with Mom was one of those trips to Toronto.  I had a haircut experience yesterday that would have made her smile, I'm sure.  I guess you already know it isn't usually the big things that bring Mom to mind, but the little everyday things like haircuts. 

Anyhow, here are some pictures I thought you might like even though I think you have seen them before.

The famous blue dress in black and white.  I think this was before their own Toronto trip.   Imagine how much they were looking forward to that!

A day that was a LONG time coming

Not the most flattering picture of Mom but they all look so happy.

So they say "Rest in Peace" which is a very comforting thought for those of us left behind, but how could she possibly rest in peace rejoining her parents, her grandparents and Mary Jane?  She can meet grandparents she never knew (Grampie and Mary Brown).  How peaceful can it really be?

Whoooo, Me??  NASCAR??

We've been in Charlotte North Carolina for the past few days.  That city is all NASCAR all the time--and I don't mean maybe.  We went to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Museum, the Speedway, a NASCAR Art Museum and Hendrick shop.  Honestly it was interesting even for me.  I nearly lost it when we pulled up to the Art Museum but even that was intriguing because the artist was on site and spent some time talking to us about his career and various interests.  What sealed it was that he designed the uniforms, cars etc for Talladega Nights so I had fun sharing that with Ryan.  No doubt the effect NASCAR has on the economy of that city.

We were also taken to some more cultural destinations like the Levine Museum of the New South where I was reminded the War never ended for many in the south.  It was crushingly southern.  We went to the Raptor center and watched these two owls do a little show for us.  We also went to the Olympic training site for whitewater rafting--a man made course which looked super cool.  They also had rock climbing and sip lines.  The school trips would really dig it big time if you could ever get the Boards of Education to agree.  

We got somewhat educated in some hotel idiosyncrasies.  Our Charlotte hotel had the lights embedded in the bathroom mirrors--along with a TV for your viewing pleasure while performing your bathroom rituals.  Never had such an amenity before.  We stayed in Winchester one night and that room had a full blown jacuzzi right next to the bed inside the room.  I really need to get out more.  

Happy Birthdays

Happy Birthday Judy--do you remember this?  I am pretty sure it was a celebration of your birthday in 2000.  This is memorable in part because Judy just fell flat out of her chair that evening.  Out of nowhere and with nothing pushing her --she just fell out of that chair!

And welcome to the world Calvin Warde and Claire Warde!  In case you are wondering, these babies are our first cousins once removed--if you are one of my siblings.  For the "kids" like Jess, Amanda, Taylor, Tim, Kevin, Bill, Ryan, or Matthew--the babies are your second cousins.  So happy to hear the good news and thinking about Cathy and Chris today.