Bernice's Adventure Day two

On Friday evening I had dinner at the Sycamore. It is a "gastropub" in the heart of German Village. Being a Friday evening I had my meal by the bar watching the Kentucky Oaks horse race.

But the highlight of my adventure was attending the Columbus Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler's Fifth.  I copied this description of the concert.

The orchestra brimmed with jubilation through Mahler’s big-hearted finale, which brought more distinguished playing in the horns and trumpets and an exuberant rush to the symphony’s euphoric end.

That describes it better than I can.  The theater was beautiful in it self. 

Bernice's adventure - Day 1

When I learned that G was going on the dirt riding trip with his riding group to the Hatfield McCoy trails in West Virginia, I planned what I called on our calendar, "Bernice's Adventure".  I had no idea where it would take me, but finally chose Columbus,Ohio.  That is about one and a half hours drive from home.  I reserved a room at an Air B & B.  On the way down I stopped at Otterbein  University in Westerville, Ohio to see an exhibition by the Brazilian artist, Vitor Mizael.   What was displayed there was one wall of stuffed birds hanging from the ceiling by strings.  His work is hard to understand unless you read about what he is trying to say from his works.  Google "Vitor Mizael" to see images of his works. I was unable to see online the exhibition that I saw, so no pictures.

After settling in at the B&B I had dinner at an Italian restaurant, sitting outdoors.  Just like in Europe.  Only problem it was not looking over the beautiful country side, just a street with lots of traffic.  I had to use my imagination. 

Slept with the windows open:  a cool breeze and gentle rain. For me that was  heaven. 

Life is too short to ...

Drink bad wine.  For me, who is not an expert on wine, this is a big deal.  Somewhere last summer I bought a bottle of rhubarb and strawberry wine.  ( I know some of you are gagging).  I opened it last night.  After tasting it, the rest was poured down the drain.  I think when I first started drinking wine the sweet fruity kind was fine.  But no more. This was awful.

Eat bad pizza.  Once recently, when G and I were traveling the the toll road we stopped at a rest stop.  These have very limited food selections.  We ordered pizza.  We looked at each other and said it was like eating cardboard. But, being frugal or German (I don't know which) since we had paid for it we ate it.  But this experience now has become a key phrase for us.  When we are eating or doing something that is not so good, but continue to do it, we remind ourselves by saying, "We don't have to eat cardboard pizza".

Spamalot

We attended a play that K was in.  It was a shortened version of Spamalot.  What fun.  She was in a "chorus line".  I have never seen the Monty Python's Spamalot but will now.  We saw it twice which was good as I understood a lot more the second time.  As an aside, when we visited the SPAM museum in Austin, MN they had  this play running on a TV.  Ha.

B is up before any of us in the morning.  It us fun listening to him talk with the other players in the game.  It sounds like he is coach.  "Go, go, get the purple one, Good job"  

When I visit here, I am aware of how much I miss with us being so far away from each other.

I am so happy that I can be here now.

Beautiful snake

We went with grandson to his scout meeting.  The program was on reptiles.  They learned about four types, where they lived, looked like, AND were able to touch them.

I did not get a picture of B touching one.  

We are basking in the sun here.  The temp is in the 70s.  G and I are here with the other grandparents.  It is a perfect week with family. 

Shopping for clothes or not.

I desperately need new clothes and shoes.  I would be embarrassed to acknowledge how many years I have worn the ones I currently have.  So today I went to the mall.  I walked the aisles of many stores.  The current styles are not for me!  Finally I said I would not even look at the price, if I just found something I liked I would buy it.  But still no purchases.   The only thing I found was a beautiful pair of earrings that cost $800.  Even though it was on sale, I did not want to give Gerry a heart attack.  To be truthful I have never had a piece of jewelry that cost that much so am not going to start now.  A $20 pair would be just fine.

I will admit that I had a great dinner at a fine restaurant, including wine and a decadent dessert.

Gelato  with caramel, ganache , and something else crunchy.  

 My next post will tell the story of why Gerry was not with me.  I need a picture for that post.

A Difficult posting

Yesterday my brother, Harry, died.  He had an aneurysm couple days ago.  He was airlifted to a great hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  They did surgery and he was put on life support.  Yesterday his siblings met and we made the decision to remove him from the ventilator. It was horribly difficult but the damage to his body was too much.  Three of us were at his side, holding his hands so he was not alone. 

Today I am planning the memorial service.  I am the coordinator, but all siblings are very involved.
There are legal, practical and emotional issues everywhere.  But it will come together.  I wanted to post a photo but am finding it difficult just using my Chromebook.