We celebrated Father’s Day June 16, which this year was shared with GD Kaileigh’s 23rd b-day. Understandably, she didn’t make it over, but Lindsey and Ashley did, along with my Gkids and spouses. We kept it rather simple – snacks, Minelli’s pizza and wings, and the Key lime cheesecake that I made the day prior.
For Mindy, I think the highlight was hanging out with Rocky & Landon playing spoons and Jenga. I enjoyed it all. Thanks for putting the celebration together, Mindy & Bella!
B-in-law Craig and husband Jeff hosted a simple cookout at their Franklinton home where the plan was to feed locals passing by throughout the day. The fare was simple, hot dogs, potato and pasta salad, previously frozen desserts, and water. Mindy and me arrived shortly before 2pm. A few others showed up too; Tony & Chris - friends of Craig & Jeff, and nephew Joe and his husband John. C & J really had no idea how well the event would go. Would they run out of food, or would they find themselves with loads of leftovers?
Once the local foot traffic brought a few patrons, it didn’t
take long before word of mouth spread throughout the immediate neighborhood
that there was free food available. Several eaters commented that they hadn’t
eaten anything for multiple days. Fair to say, it proved to be a cathartic
event. Great job, C & J.
For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been star gazing almost nightly (some might argue obsessively) looking for and spotting low-altitude satellites making their way across the star lit skies. Some nights I’ve seen as many as 17. An added bonus to my nightly star gazing has been the unexpected spectacle of watching a raccoon family climb a mulberry tree that hangs over the creek along the west side of our home to harvest ripe berries in the dark of the night. How cute! Their eyes glow gold in a flashlight.
Last spring we bought 4 Adirondack chairs and a fire table for our deck, not for sure how well they’d hold up in the elements or for that matter, how they’d fair aesthetically. Much to our delight, they’re incredible. All along, Mindy had been pushing for a couple more, but instead of the standard Adirondack, she really wanted a couple barstool height chairs for sipping morning coffee under our new patio umbrella’s. To accommodate, but also to save a little money, I bought a couple via Amazon instead of the same Polywood vendor we used last year. Most HDPE chairs are very pricey! I got what seemed like an incredible deal via an Amazon 3rd party seller. They arrived 4 days after ordering. Ordered on Monday, they arrived on Thursday. I strategically had Micah help me carry the heavy box into my living room office for Friday indoor assembly in the comfort of AC.
I cracked the box opened and carefully sorted all the pieces
shortly after my Friday morning walk. All looked to be in order save for the
stainless-steel hardware of which there was none! I combed through the contents
a second and third time. Still no hardware! Dang it! With little hesitation, I reached
out to the supplier via Amazon.com and eventually opted to use the 800 #. On
the 2nd try my call was answered by a well-meaning customer service
rep, Eunice, who was obviously located offshore and likely in the ASPAC region somewhere.
She assured me several times that they’d make it right quickly. Great. She
asked that I send a picture of the damaged part??? I asked how I might take and
send a picture of missing hardware. 😊 I sent off an email to that she provided along
with a photo of all the parts, sans hardware. We’ll see how long it takes to remedy.
The Way You Look Tonight - Tony Bennett
For the last several months Mindy & her sibs had been planning Gloria’s 90th bday celebration, a milestone many aren’t blessed to reach. The celebration was hosted at JPs BBQ event space located at Bolton Airfield, a venue many ‘siders aren’t aware of. Nonetheless, the venue is more than ideal for a large event, and the catering, including BBQ fare, beyond decent. Collectively the family chose to self-coordinate most of the party accoutrements, including decorations, music, photos, etc. And thanks to lots of work and careful planning on behalf of the Thompson kids and extended family, I think the event was a huge hit.
We celebrated her actual birthday at her place Tuesday
afternoon, June 11th. First summertime event hosted at her place in a
number of years. Special thanks to Mindy and Joe for cleaning and prepping her
patio for summer!
Mindy enjoying a summery lavender drink at Milestone 229 Saturday, June 1
The new and improved fountains at Bicentennial Park
Arcturus & Musk
Relaxing on the deck Sunday evening with Mindy, my gaze
turned skyward searching for the brightest star the naked eye could see.
Quickly I spotted what turned out to be Arcturus, one of the first and
brightest stars visible in the early June night sky. It’s located near dead center
between the east/west horizons at about 2 o’clock north to south.
I kept my gaze right there intent on observing more stars
coming into focus while the sky continued to darken. Suddenly flush with goose
bumps, I watched what appeared to be a star moving swiftly north to south. It
looked different than a high-flying jet might appear. Instead of flashing
light, and or multi colors, it was fixed and bright white.
At first, I thought it nothing more than an anomaly, so I
kept my thoughts to myself. Another 30 seconds hadn’t passed when I spotted yet
another taking a similar trajectory. This time I excitedly shared my citing
with Mindy, who was playing on her phone. She caught a quick glimpse just
before it faded into the southern sky. I explained that this was the 2nd
I’d spotted in roughly the same spot.
No sooner had the 2nd one faded when a third appeared,
this time passing just west of Arcturus but on a similar north south trajectory.
Now having Mindy’s undivided attention, she spotted it too. What the heck!
We quickly eliminated ISS since we’d spotted three in the
same area. Phones in hand, we both Googled feverishly looking for an
explanation, but without keeping one eye skyward. By the time it was all said
and done, we’d spotted seventeen such objects. The last few taking different trajectories,
but with the same physical characteristics.
Google convinced us both that we were witnessing Starlink
satellites moving about their low-orbit home. Further, this apparently is a
common experience 1-3 days after they deploy, which Starlink deployed 60 such satellites
on Friday May 31.