Frost-bite Pairs

Today, I participated in my first bridge tournament in the our new club-house and since my cardiac arrest. The club had its first Frost-bite pairs trophy over two sessions starting at 9.30 am and going through to 5.30 pm. I partnered Barbara Gates, my usual partner at the club, and for our first session together against top regional competition.

Well, we came third out of the 30 pairs taking part, so it was a good day's work. But it was also a great social event, with several pairs visiting from Tamworth (110 km away) and excellent catering by the house committee. The hands were really tough and were generated randomly by the dealing machine I donated to the club. The machine also generated hand records - good for showing where we went wrong!

AS

Out of the Frying Pan ...

We arrived home 9 days ago after our, very warm, sojourn in Baltimore to the chill of an Australian winter and the heat of an 8 day visit from Max with his mother, Beck, in tow! Max is a one-man whirl-wind, a bundle of energy and curiosity, precocious in his ability to inquire and mix with others, and amazingly worldly wise. So the visit was simultaneously tiring and inspiring, with a lot of the burden falling on Dot.

Beck, herself, was here to attend a residential school for one of the units in the Mater of Natural Resource Management program she is taking part-time. As a result, she spent 6 working days at UNE, three of which were a field trip into the coal mines of the Hunter Valley. I was also committed to various meetings at the university, which left Dot to amuse Max. Fortunately, it was school holidays and various events were conducted in nearby shopping centres to amuse the kids of working parents, and Max spent quite a while modelling with play-dough. Fortunately, too, the weather was mostly fine and he frequented various parks with their play equipment. He also spent quite a while watering the garden (and the house), but not the cats who had the good sense to steer clear.

And, of course, we had to buy him toys, scoring two Leggo kits, one a transformer with a million small bits to put together and another humanoid. He has this fascination with robots and strange beings, not to mention dinosaurs. So I spent a lot of time assembling Leggo - one set we bought was for 7 year olds which he couldn't assemble but had heaps of fun using once I had done the job.

Now the house is deathly quiet and the cats have come in !! I think I'd rather have Max around.

AS

Washington Here We Come

We always wanted to see the sights of Washington, but, apart from a quick streak through the centre 10 days ago, we left our visit to last. As usual, it was a full on day and crammed a lot in, with the result that Dot nearly expired in the heat.

We drove to the outskirts (at Greenbelt) and caught the green line subway to the centre. Succession we visited the:

sculpture garden

Smithsonian's Natural History Museum (with dinosaur skeletons and reconstructions)

Washington Monument

Jefferson, FDR, and Lincoln Memorials (and some war memorabilia in between)

Mall

White House (for look from the outside) and the nearby White House museum

Capitol Building (again from the outside), and

Smithsonian's museum dedicated to native Americans

These monuments and buildings are no doubt familiar to most of you, so I will not spend time describing them. Most live up to reputation and expectations, partly because the US is good at managing its ceremonial spaces. Dot had not seen the sights previously, but I was able to update and enrich my impressions from 4 years ago when I spent time at George Mason university at Fairfax in Virginia ... just outside Washington.

Then we retraced our steps as far as Arundel Mills (a huge shopping mall where we opened out wallets later in the evening). Dinner came at 10 pm! I have to say that Em and Greg's GPS system was wonderful in navigating a mass of freeways. The machine provides a bird's eye view of the terrain you are travelling with the roads superimposed and updates position and distance continuously. It also talks to you about impending turns and the best lanes to take!

AS

Independence Day

Last Friday was Independence Day, 4 July. Time has flown so fast that I've made two posts on other matters since then, but I would amiss not to report briefly on the national holiday.


In practice, we didn't do much that day apart from have some rest, go shopping, prepare for and attend a party, and position ourselves for the finale ... the inevitable firework display. Some heavy showers during the afternoon left us (a) wondering whether the event would occur and (b) whether the barges carrying the fireworks would be relocated. In the end, the rain held off and there were two barges at different locations forcing us to rotate on the spot to witness them all. Our party including several of Greg's Australian colleagues.

I include a couple of pictures of the fireworks.



AS

And on the Second Day was Fallingwater

On the Sunday we pushed on further into western Pennsylvania to the region of Ohiopyle on the banks of the Youghiogeny River (you'll never guess how to pronounce those). The target was Fallingwater. This is not any old house, but one of the finest pieces of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture built in the 1920s for a wealthy merchant of Pittsburgh as his rural retreat. The house is spectacular in every way: its design, furnishings, functionality, innovation, and blending of home and environment in great harmony.

I have visited FLW's family compound at Spring Green in Wisconsin and seen his brilliant Taliesin. This was equally as good and constructed in a beautiful landscape alongside waterfalls over which the home is built in cantilever fashion. The furnishings were mostly FLW originals in good condition, along with art works from around the world, including excellent Japanese woodblock prints like the ones we have at home.

We took an official guided tour which was excellent as we delved into FLW's thinking and innovation. This was a spectacular day which included travelling across the ridges and valleys of the Allegheny Mountains on one of the country's most scenic roads. After touring the house and grounds we lunched at Ohiopyle and walked the banks of the Youghiogheny (yokageny).

The pictures show the house (and Emily) and the Youghiogheny.

Gettysburg, 1863

The historians among you may connect the place and date given as a pivotal event in the US nation. Last Saturday marked the 145th anniversary of the Union's defeat of the Confederacy, and we travelled to Gettysburg in southern Pennsylvania for a historical reenactment of three battles.

This was no small event. Both the battle and the reenactment took three days, though we participated in only one. We booked seats in a large stand to witness battles and other events over more than three hours. The number of troops on the field in front of us totalled over 12,000. Yes, you read that correctly, and many were on horseback, including General Custer who later met a sticky end at Little Bighorn. They were accompanied by artillery, including canon and mortars, all of which made very loud bangs and sent synchronised clouds of smoke and dust into the air at 'landing points'. The battlefield itself was close to the actual sites, but not precisely at them, and consisted of open fields and woodland in a gently rolling landscape. And, of course, the troops were all dressed in period costume. This made the reenactment very realistic.

In addition, there were hundreds of people dressed in period costume walking about a kind of tent city which comprised residential estates and shopping centres. The participants were of all ages from babies to the very old and portrayed all social classes from labourers and the military to professional people and Negroes (slaves, servants, etc.). The 'shops' sold all manner of traditional merchandise and souvenirs. My collection of T shirts expanded to include a special souvenir of the day. There were also detailed expositions of drumming and piping, and of the weapons of 19th century warfare including early mortars.

All in all, it was a wondrous day and I, Dot, Emily and Greg greatly enjoyed ourselves. The pictures show canons firing, General Custer on horseback, and a crowd scene in tent city.

AS

Two Days and Four Hours

Last night, we arrived back in Baltimore after one of the fastest and intense visits to the big apple. The journey up and back took just 2.5 hours in both directions on Amtrak at speeds of up to 200 kph and that was interesting in itself as we went through Wilmington (Delaware)Philadelphia, Trenton and Newark. Many of these cities have hectares of rust-belt factories slowly crumbling away and many of the houses lining the railway tracks were none too flash.


We did the usual touristy things in New York like the Empire State Building, Central Park (three times), 5th Avenue, Wall Street, Battery Point, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, the subway (many times), Times Square at night, the Met, Macy's Dept Store, and a Broadway musical - Xanadu. That's some two days. We were in and out of taxis and the subway many times and sampled numerous diners whose speed in meal delivery was awesome. It's really true that the larger the city the faster the pace of everything!





Did I like New York? The answer is a resounding YES ... at least in the bits we saw. We met up for a few hours with Kassandra and Michelle who were our next door neighbours in Armidale from birth. They are roughly the same age as Em and Beck and played together frequently. Kassy is now a businesswoman in Sydney running a flourishing design business. And Michelle was visiting for 5 days (the same as us) from (drum roll) Brighton in England where I was raised! How's that for coincidences? One of the things I really liked was the tremendous hustle all the time with millions seemingly on the street together. I loved the quiet of Central park and the huge buzz of Times Square at night. I can recommend the stage performance of Xanadu, though the film sank without trace 20 years ago. There were lots of jabs at Olivia Newton John and references to Australia!

Let me know when you're tempted to visit and I'll try to be there.





AS

Mount Vernon

Last Sunday we travelled down to Washington ... in fact just outside the city on the banks of the Potomac ... to Washington's home at Mount Vernon. He was a farmer ... indeed, slave owner, as was Jefferson and we heard a lot about his development of the property, his military and subsequently political careers, his family, and life at the times. It was a fascinating day and well presented by the managers of the property, a private foundation. Americans are getting very good at historical presentations. Indeed, we're off to Gettysburg on Saturday for a re-enactment of the famous civil war battle there and one of the best political speeches ever, Lincoln's Gettysburg address. His mere 64 eloquent words were among the most inspirational in history.

Mount Vernon is the equivalent to a UK stately home, only much more downscale and frugal. One can view most of the rooms and outhouses, but famous works of art are barely visible and the furnishings are mostly modest. However, Washington's achievements were grand compared to most of the English aristocracy, and therein lies the magic. Mount Vernon itself is in a beautiful setting high on the banks of the Potomac, as the picture reveals.

Late in the afternoon, we visited the Arlington national ceremony and visited some of the more famous grave sites, including JFK's, his brother Robert's, and the tomb of the unknown soldier where we witnessed an elaborate changing of the guard. It's some cemetery as several hundred thousand lie buried there and it lies close to the banks of the Potomac.

AS

Annapolis

Dot, Emily and I have just returned from a magical trip to Annapolis, the state capital of Maryland, learning a lot of new information on the way. For example, it's one of the oldest places in the US and once its capital, with the current state capitol building also having served as the national capitol instead of the building of the same name in Washington DC. Annapolis has many streets of old buildings and lots of great and surprising views around corners - a bit like in Cornish fishing villages.

We took a trip on the harbour and saw many beautiful period and modern waterfront residences. And, just to the east of the centre lies the massive US naval academy - the nautical equivalent of West Point. Members of the public can walk thhrough its precinct after presenting photo ID and the guard on duty was amused to see three Australian driving licenses. The campus was spectacular, housing what amounted to a cathedral sized church with (real) gilt dome and a memorial chamber at the Bancroft residence which would not have looked out of place at Versailles!

There were lots of interesting shops, including one where I bought a tin of 'Embarrasmints' with one George Bush on the lid. We also spent part of the time in a Starbucks coffee shop talking liquid refreshments and also sheltering from a huge storm. So, all-in-all it was a great day out.

AS

Historic Baltimore

Despite the heat - it was as high as 92 degrees (F) today or about 33 (C) - we have been walking around some the city's older districts. These include Fells Point and Federal Hill. Both have lots of small 2-3 three storey row houses, often with highly decorated eaves, and small shops, bars or cafes with a lot of what is called 'character'. They're socially upwardly mobile with a lot of restoration work in progress and many younger inhabitants. Also, there are some pleasant waterfront views, little squares, cobbled streets, shady trees, and a few museums like the one with Baltimore's oldest residence. So, it's all rather nice.

One place we visited twice for a drink is called the 'Daily Grind' - rather apt for a coffee shop. It has a separate entrance for customers with pets, It is also a lesson in economics and sociology as its young clientele sits one to rather ordinary table, most sporting an open lap-top. I canonly guess at what they are doing - perhaps writing their next novel or designing a winter wardrobe.

Look at a few a few pictures.

AS