Month: April 2021

What a day! Due to scheduling of everyone concerned, all our visits here in Winter Park happened on the same day. Yesterday. Although this did not diminish in any way the delight we had in seeing friends from the past, it did make for a busy day.

In the morning we met up with Phil. I had worked with Phil in a company that repaired large gas and steam turbines. I managed the northeast and he the southeast. Phil met us at our hotel in the morning for coffee. Had to cut a bit short due to his having a business meeting that involved a three hour drive from Winter Park. Phil is now in charge of commercial operations of a company purchased by his company. I always felt that Phil was destined to do great things in his career.

Next, we met my former commanding officer from the Air Force, Gene. It had been some fifty years since I had seen him. What a wonderful time we had with Gene and his wife Loni. They have made a great life together. Gene taught engineering for many years after he left the Air Force. They raised very accomplished children and now have a very active life in Florida. I got so very involved with the conversation we were having that I neglected to take a photo. I found out that Gene was instrumental in the design of Launch Pad 39 at Cape Kennedy.

That afternoon Tina and I got together with an old client of mine, Subhash, and his wife Madhu. They lived near us in Connecticut before they moved to Florida to be near their son and grandchildren. After cocktails at their lovely home, we went to dinner at a Turkish restaurant in Winter Park. Again, a lovely evening. This time I managed a photo:

Exhausted, Tina and I went back to our hotel and crashed. This has been, indeed, a remarkable and wonderful day, words cannot express the delight I experienced this remarkable day.

Tina and I are on our way to Winter Park, FL. Will be visiting some friends there then drive to St Augustine, St. Simons, Bluffton, then to Columbia, MD for a wedding shower.

This time we are taking the train to Florida. Hopefully this will be a fun experience. Our thinking is that this means will be less Covid-19 intensive. We can get a roomette from Washington DC to Winter Park. I was getting fenster about getting to the train. CT rail will not get us to New Haven in time to meet the Acela. Parking is truly pricy and Uber is scarce since drivers can make more by not driving. So we Limoed, it was fun and the driver was a really great guy.

The Acela really kicks it going through New Jersey. We will be in DC about 1:00 pm. Not much to look at though, just people’s back yards and junk yards. We do have to wear our masks for this part of the trip.

We made it to Washington DC. We boarded in New Haven at 8:45 and arrived DC at ¹:10. Waiting for the overnight train to board. I remember Union Station as a pretty grand place. It no longer is. The culprit may be Covid-19.

On the way to Winter Park. The roomette is surprisingly nice. We had dinner in our compartment. Food was OK, not anything worse than airline food. And, you have someone to bring it to you. The attendant just set up the compartment for sleeping. Kind of like the trip to Hanoi. Small bed, a lot of vibration. But, Wifi works. Well, it works sometimes.

Anything that I post after announcing Emma’s engagement will certainly pale in comparison. But, other things do happen. One of those other things is that I did manage to complete the Bataan Memorial Death March.

Previously Jim accompanied me on a training hike. My friend Ed did as well on another day. The day I elected to do the march Jim was ill and Ed was working. Tina was able to join me for the last 9 miles of the march. I amazed myself by completing it, all 26.2 miles.

Last night I received a call from the fellow who organized our alumni team. They will start organizing the next march in about six weeks. This time it will not be virtual but at the White Sands Missile Range. I am giving consideration to, God willing, do this again. A couple caveats: first I will need to persuade Tina to join me as a part of the support team and, second I will not do the 26.2 miles, 14.2 is plenty.

It is with great joy that I announce here, wide and far, throughout the world and across the blogosphere, that my daughter, Emma, is engaged to be married. Emma’s fiancé, James, asked her the question while they were in Nimh Binh, Vietnam, one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Check out this beautiful ring that they designed themselves.

Yesterday I heard someone say that once a person becomes a parent they think of their children every two seconds for the rest of their lives. I can attest to this truth because I think of Emma and Jim (my son), it seems, all the time. And,  although we raise them to be independent, educated, self sufficient adults, I am habitually concerned for their welfare as if they were still young children. That concern, I am sure, will never change.

Now, Emma will be a married woman with, eventually, a family of her own, God willing. However, Emma is still and will always be my little girl. So, while I share in her happiness, I still have a protective instinct in the back of my mind. 

This event has been on fiancé James’ mind for a while.  When visiting us in Connecticut the summer before last, James and I went on a long hike along the Metacomet trail. He asked me at that time if I would consider the possibility of he being my son-in-law. James is a classy guy. We discussed the things that I thought a father should discuss with his daughters suitor. James is British. He hails from a town near Devon. He teaches at an international school in Hanoi, writes extensively and plays semi pro football (Soccer to us Yanks). James is an intelligent, hard working , thoughtful and kind. I sincerely believe he is a good match for Emma. They care for each other very much. Needless to say, I am pleased with Emma’s choice.

Looking into the future for this couple, as much as we would like to have them near us, this may not come to pass. The world is the canvas on which they will paint the picture of their life. Somehow I believe that great adventures await them. If, on the other hand, they decide to live their life in a small hamlet and never go beyond it’s boundary, they, I am sure, will have a wonderful life together no matter what.