Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Busy days in Ed and Lise world. For starters, a couple days ago marked our 33^rd anniversary. Way too late in the game I was reminded this is the amethyst anniversary. How was I to know. I assumed that by 33 it be something more practical like a coffee maker or an oil change. This anniversary marked a turning point for Lise. She was 33 when we married so now she has been a Schools as long as she has been an Eichhorn. We had some friends visiting to help us celebrate.

Celebrating good times with Gretchen, Lisa, and Lindsay.

Lise and I have been on the go the past few weeks. We did a trip to Delaware and Philly. Always fun, but this trip was a special one. This trip was a present for our family friend Lindsay who graduated from an intensive program at University of Michigan that earned her both a master’s in education and a teaching certificate. With a very high GPA at that. A job well done.

Philly street art.

Lise and Lindsay enjoying a Termini Brothers cannoli at Philly’s Reading Terminal. Termini Brothers Bakery has been in Philly since 1921. I will put these up as the best cannoli you will eat in this country.

Storms over the ocean in Delaware.

In addition to the Philly/Delaware trip, between us there have been trips to Pokagon State Park, Charlestown State Park, and to Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The state park trips were related to Lise’s work. The Pennsylvania trip was for my family reunion. Because of COVID we haven’t had a reunion for a couple years. It was great to touch base with relatives and find out what is going on with everyone. In a typical family story, one uncle was put in a memory care unit at a local facility. It took him 20 minutes to figure out how to remove the screws securing the grill across his room window and climb outside for a walk. At the next facility he memorized the code for the security door by watching the staff push the buttons. He then let himself out for a casual stroll about the facility. He can’t tell you his name, but he can figure out a security code.

Before doing the then hour drive back to West Lafayette I went to Hershey Park with my sister Anita and our wonderful seven-year-old niece Katie. Their goal was to see if I could still stomach the roller coasters. I had to show them the old guy still has it.

This is a very different Hershey Park than the one I remember as a kid. Greatly expanded, with mobs of people. Because of timing I only rode two roller coasters. Basically, it was 45 minutes of standing in line for two minutes of total exhilaration. Not something I’m really interested in doing at this stage of my life but how often do I get to play with a seven-year-old.

The mob waiting for the park to open.

The first coaster was pretty much what I remember as roller coasters as a kid. In fact, this one may have been operating at Hershey Park when I was a kid. The second one was different. You’re dropping at a high rate of speed, then they decide to flip you over. One second I’m looking through my feet at terra firma, the next second I see the sky under my feet. Then for fun they right you and flip you over from the other side. Right after that I jumped in the car and drove ten hours back to West Lafayette. I think my inner ears are still adjusting.

A big time sink for me has been my attempt to turn some mahogany church pews into benches. These pews had been in a church to over 50 years before the church decided on a new seating model. The pews were given away for free, so I grabbed some. These pews are contoured for comfort, not nice flat Puritan pews. There’s nothing flat or square about them. I fiddled with them for a couple months to find an aesthetic way to balance them for comfort, and still be stable. I finally came up with a solution and put together a prototype. To finish all I needed to do was rough sanding, disassemble for gluing, reassemble, plug the screw holes (with nice maple contrasting plugs) and apply a finish. A few hours of work and I’ll have a perfectly functioning prototype. Happy with an end in sight I grilled dinner for some guests, leaving the shop doors open for cooling. Apparently, a bird got into the shop, perched on the bench, then dumped a load on it. A precursor to the bench’s future mayhap? Some thanks for the tons of birdseed we throw their way.

My prototype.

Bird droppings on my prototype.

In other news from the shop, the smell of death under the floor has greatly abated. Apparently the dermestid beetles have been gnawing away at whatever died under my shop, turning dead animal into more beetle. I imagine there are some fat happy beetles living under my shed, hoping that something else decides to die there. Sometimes a trace of odor still comes up through the floor, but things are right tolerable at the moment. At least it doesn’t bring tears to my eyes.

Given our travels and schedules the past few weeks, we haven’t had much time for birding or dragonflies. Managed to squeeze in a little but not as much as I would like.