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| Me dead heading flowers a the top of our roof garden when we lived in Center City Philadelphia July of 1976 |
These days I can hardly stand on a three step ladder.
Yesterday I came across a still of an 8mm film of me on the roof of our big house in Pennsylvania. I wanted to post that picture today but I can't find it now. I'll find it eventually.
Bill worked at the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago. I can't quite match his feat. I just get dizzy seeing videos of people atop high buildings.
Yesterday I had a wonderful lunch at one of my favorite nearby Mexican restaurants, Tequila Real.
My former classmate Judy, who is in town with her husband and extended family celebrating her 65th wedding anniversary, invited me out to lunch with her and her two daughters.
They came by early (11 AM) to pick me up. I wasn't driving. because I wanted to imbibe one of Tequila Real's delightful frozen lime margaritas. The reason we were having lunch early was because one of Judy's daughters had a Zoom business meeting at 2 PM. I usually eat lunch at around 2:30 PM or 3 PM (sometimes later) but I'm flexible, especially where Mexican restaurant and frozen lime margaritas are involved.
Needless to say we four had a delightful lunch and the frozen lime margarita was perfection as usual.
After lunch, Judy and her daughters dropped me off at Casa Tipton-Kelly. I had a nice buzz going on from the frozen lime margarita. I brushed my teeth and went to bed for a long afternoon nap.
Just a wonderful day with friends.
Something very rare happened yesterday. I was invited to lunch.....at a Mexican restaurant.
I can't remember the last time I was invited to lunch but this came as a pleasant surprise to me.
The person who invited me to lunch is a longtime friend and a former high school classmate with whom I've kept in touch with over these many years.
She's in town celebrating her 65th wedding anniversary. I had lunch with her last week when she arrived here at Casa Tipton-Kelly with her husband and some of her family. They met here prior to checking into their rentals for their two week stay.
We had lunch at another restaurant in Milton but it was so noisy I really couldn't have a decent conversation with them. It's interesting but when there are family visiting me I find I always gravitate towards the women instead of the men. Her husband, son and son-in-law, they didn't bother with me at all. I guess we just don't have that much in common with the guys. I have more in common with the women.
I wanted to go to a quieter restaurant like one of my favorite Mexican restaurants but her husband doesn't like Mexican food. I do. Except hot chile peppers, I like just about anything Mexican. Except fish or any sort of seafood. Ugh.
Another problem when we went to lunch last week, the weather was brutal. Over one hundred degrees with humidity. Brutal. Today the temperatures are in the low 70's and low humidity. Forecast for the same tomorrow. Looking good folks.
I wanted to go to lunch again with my friend and her two daughters. But I didn't want to be so forward as to suggest it since she was gathering with family. She has seven children and I lost count of the grandchildren. She had to rent two houses for their get together celebrating her anniversary.
She and her husband used to live down here in Lower Slower Delaware. Right in Lewes in a big house on the beach. When I was having my home built twenty years ago, she suggested that I could stay at their place while they were summering at their condo in Florida. I gladly accepted!
I'm looking forward to that frozen lime margarita
About five years ago I heard an instrumental version of this song on my Bose radio playlist. I did not know the lyrics but the song seemed very familiar. Listening to the melody choked me up and brought tears to my eyes.
"Where did I hear this song?" I thought. I racked my brain and couldn't figure it out but the familiarity was there. I thought maybe I heard it in one of those old Western movies where pioneers were trekking across America via the Oregon trail, dodging Indian attacks, the sweltering heat and blizzards to finally arrive at their new home in the West. I looked up the lyrics
"If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles,Today would have been me and Bill's 62nd anniversary.
Bill and I met for the first time July 3rd, 1964 at the Westbury Bar in Philadelphia, PA.
Forty-nine years later on this day, we were married on the exact day of our meeting which just happened to be the first day same sex marriage was allowed in Delaware.
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| Me and Bill and Jack and Judy at our wedding July 3, 2013 |
My good friends Jack and Judy were our witnesses. I've known Judy since high school, we graduated together. They were in town to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary. Jack and Judy used to live here in Delaware for many years. A few years ago they decided to move back to Pennsylvania, where we are all from, to be closer to their children. They have seven children and multiple grandchildren. Judy had asked if she and Jack could stop by for a visit before they checked into their two week rental in nearby Lewes, where they used to live. When I was building Casa Tipton-Kelly twenty years ago, Jack and Judy let me stay at their home in Lewes while they spent the winter months at their home in Florida.
Now their children are scattered across the United States. From Boston to Los Angeles. The next two weeks is to be a gathering of their extended family. The video at the beginning of this post is of their daughter and son who arrived from Boston. I was gathering them for a group family photo. You know me and photos. I love to take photos and videos.
Their visit on this sweltering heat (99 degrees 110 degrees heat index with the humidity) was two fold. First to visit me and secondly because they needed a place to stay until they could check in to their house rentals later today.
I have to say this is the most guests I've ever had at Casa Tipton-Kelly. Bill and I were very private people and I continue to be private. Same with Pat. Today's visit was quite a departure for me. While I enjoyed seeing Jack and Judy again, and meeting some of their children for the first time, the whole experience left me a little discombobulated. That's not a bad thing, just something I'm not used to. From asking them all to remove their shoes before setting foot into Casa Tipton-Kelly to taking her children on a tour, something I'm not used to doing and I doubt if I ever will again in this lifetime. Bill and I used to joke about our home in Pennsylvania, that when we moved that beautiful home would probably be the site of many a family gathering and parties galore.
All told, today's visit was very nice. We all went to lunch at the Zava Cafe in nearby Milton.
So that was my day. How was yours?
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| The back deck of Casa Tipton-Kelly during this heat wave |
Thank God for air conditioning!
Can you imagine living in Europe, where they don't believe in air conditioning? I would be one of those old folk fatalities that you read about who died from heat exhaustion if I lived in Europe.
This morning I made an early morning run to my local supermarket before the heat and Fourth of July tourist onslaught began. The traffic and heat were fine when I left at 6:45 AM. Not so much when I return ed at 7:30 AM. I sat a good ten minutes in my car waiting for a break from the south bound traffic coming from the north on Route One. Casa Tipton-Kelly is located on the other side of Route One. Always a challenge getting home in the summertime from the summertime hordes.
The rest of the day I will stay inside here at my oasis from the heat, chaos and turmoil of the outside world.
Tomorrow I'm having company. Old friends who rented a beach house to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary with their extended family. Checkin isn't until later in the afternoon and they need a place to stay out of the heat if they come down earlier. That place would be right here at Casa Tipton-Kelly. Originally they were going to stay overnight (they are always welcome) but decided not to this time. We will also go out to lunch. I suggested one of my favorite local Mexican restaurants.
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| My Canadian husband at that favorite local Mexican restaurant in Milton |
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| Pat, me ad Glenn |
Happy Canada Day from me and my Canadian husband Pat and my Palm Springs bestie Glenn!
Photo of the back of my home here in southern Delaware taken at 1:26 PM today - I may not have access to the boardwalk or a view of the o...
