Quick Trips

Two weeks ago my husband and I headed south to Franklin, TN for his Uncle Bill’s funeral. It was an easy decision to go even though my husband was in the middle of a musical theatre production. We wanted to comfort and connect with his family. We stayed one night in St Louis and had the most amazing Indian cuisine at Tumeric and enjoyed strolling through the Washington University area before continuing our journey. The funeral was a two-day celebration with lots of family there to honor Bill. 

A week later he and I headed to Minneapolis to see Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. We had dinner in the North Loop’s Red Rabbit with Marv and Marcia, family friends who have always been a presence in my life. It was great to connect with them over a delicious meal. It’s a joy to have friends who loved both my mom and dad, to listen to stories because those are my last ties to hearing family history. 

The next  day Greg and I headed to a Minnesota Twins game at Target Field. We watched Joe Ryan pitch an amazing game against the Boston Red Sox. I was happy the Twins won. Greg, a Red Sox fan, was not! But he didn’t have long to mourn as we had another leg of our journey. 

Winona, MN is home to The Great River Shakespeare Theatre so we traveled the 2 1/2 hours south, checked in at a beautiful Airbnb right downtown and had just thirty minutes to spare before the show. My husband likes to get the most out of a trip!! The show was fantastic and the next morning after a quick stop for a coffee house breakfast burrito we started for home.

 

Thankfully he did most of the driving because I was trying to finish Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, our book club choice for July and I was completely engaged. It’s a near perfect tale set in the 1950’s - 60’s that explores women’s roles and relationships. Whatever traveling you might do I hope you have a good book, a good companion, and excellent food! 

School Days/Summer Days

 

The school year is over! Literally Thank God!  Tough year but also a wonderful year. Fantastic 6th graders I had to say good-bye to ( or really see you again) and some very tough cookies that I'm happy to move along to the next part of their educational journey. 

Summer is here and I'm so happy to have this new summer. Last year at this time I was still healing from surgery and it was a thrilling day to just walk up and down the driveway and then eventually around the block. It was a hard and happy time; this summer I'm ready to take that healing to a new level with lots of yoga, walking, and bike riding. I've also got plenty of days set aside for reading on my patio and meeting up with friends.

We are headed to the Redwood Forest this summer and I'm very exciting as this trip has been on my bucket list for a long time, yes since childhood! I have 6 days for open library time at Hansen this year. I love to see students coming through the door excited to find summer reading material. It's a joy and I didn't get to do it last summer. 

I will reminisce about sitting on the patio with my mom, playing cards with her time after time,  or taking her to Scoopski's for rhubarb crumble ice cream as I make my way through this summer but hopefully most will be happy thoughts and positive reflections. Some days it still seems so surreal.