Snow, Snow Everywhere!!

My last class was Thursday, I finished my visiting teaching, and I was ready to get started on Christmas. My throat and nose had a different idea!! The body decided to get sick so I've been coughing and blowing my nose while I watch about 20+ inches of snow cover the outside of our townhouse. I was all alone because Aimee was in Philadelphia, but it was nice and cozy inside.

Saturday morning the snow had stopped but everything was covered. I looked out my kitchen window and saw a face the snow had left on my neighbor's car so I took the picture. I thought I'd better record this record snowfall which fortunately only happens every four or five years in the DC area. There's no way I would live any further north than here. My pictures aren't that great because they were taken through the window. No, I'm not going out in that snow!!

My sister in Maryland was watching the snow while she was shut in for days with my 97-year-old mother! Judy got some good pictures, too.

My home teacher, Brother Seeley, came over yesterday and cleaned off my car and my sidewalk. YEAH, Bro Seeley!!!! Today, my neighbor Bob cleaned the pile of snow behind my car left by the snow plow. YEAH, Bob!!!!! I went to Costco and got some supplies and the turkey for Christmas dinner. Carrying in heavy objects from the car to the house was not fun with all the black ice, but I made it. Wednesday, Rick and I got to get Aimee in Philadelphia. She's healthy and doing well!!! YEAH, Aimee!!!!

It will be spring before the snow melts in front of my house - no sun during the day - but I don't have to go to work anymore. YEAH, Retirement!!!!

Hope you all are enjoying the weather where you are. I know some of my friends are enjoying summer-type weather in Thailand and Ethiopia. Well, just don't brag! Happy Holidays!!

Bienvenue à Washington!!

Hier, mes amies Marie-France Weber and Nicole LeTellier et moi, nous sommes allées à Washington avec deux amis français de Nicole - Warren et Sadi. Depuis que je sois un guide touristique à Washington, j'ai donné un tour de la ville à eux. Nous nous sommes amusés et nous sommes allés partout de la ville. Nous avons vu le Capitole, la Cour Suprème et la gare (Union Station). Après nous avons mangé au bâtiment de Ronald Reagan, nous sommes allés au Mémorial à la deuxième guerre mondiale, au Mémorial de la Corée, au Mémorial pour Lincoln, et au Mémorial au Viet Nam. Il faisait très chaud hier!! En chemin de retour, nous avons passé le Mémorial pour Thomas Jefferson et nous nous sommes arrêtés au Mémorial de Pentagon. Warren et Sadi se sont amusés.

Now I'll change to English for those who don't speak French!! My friends Marie-France Weber and Nicole LeTellier took French friends of Nicole's sightseeing in DC yesterday. We had a great time. First, we drove into Washington via the 14th Street Bridge passing by the Bureau of Printing and Engraving and the Holocaust Museum. We turned onto Independence Avenue and continued past many of the Smithsonian museums up to Capitol Hill where we passed by the House and Senate Office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court. Even though our trains aren't as wonderful as the TGV in France, we dropped Warren, Sadi, and Nicole off at Union Station to see that magnificient building.

Since the boys hadn't eaten yet, we went down Constitution Avenue to the Ronald Reagan building so they could have a taste of an American food court!! Of course, we all had hamburgers from Flamer's along with great "French fries"! After that, we went to the World War II Memorial and walked around. It's nice to have a handicapped parking pass so we could park right there!! We then went to the Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Viet Nam War Memorial.

I love DC in the summer, especially now since I'm a tour guide, because you meet so many fun people. While I was waiting for them at the Lincoln Memorial, I started talking to a lady from California. She said she'd seen everything in Washington in two days. I thought to myself - No way, José!! I asked her if she'd been to the Capitol? No! Library of Congress? No! Ford's Theatre? No! And ... I went on and on. She now has much more to see.

Later while I was waiting at the Viet Nam Memorial for everyone to get water - it was super hot yesterday - I sat down next to a lady who didn't speak English. Her friends came over and guess where they were from? ITALY!! So, I started talking in fratalian - my mind was in French mode so I was having a hard time speaking Italian. I answered some questions for them about getting around DC. It was fun to meet this group from Milano.

While we were at the Viet Nam Women's Memorial, I heard a couple speaking French. So ... I asked in French - Etes-vous français? Oui, they replied. D'òu venez-vous? (From where do you come?) De Toulouse!! That was exciting because Marie-France's son Matthew (Matthieu) had served in Toulouse during his mission to France. Of course, we continued to "parler français" and I told this family - the children had shown up - about the Viet Nam Memorial.

Since it was sooooo hot and humid, we just drove by the Jefferson Memorial and stopped (thanks again to the handicapped parking pass) at the Pentagon Memorial. When Warren was here last year, this memorial wasn't open yet. Both fellows were interested in what had happened on 911.

We had a great time speaking French all afternoon. Even though I haven't been able to go back to Europe, Europe has come to me in DC!! Please enjoy the pictures at Flamer's, WWII, Lincoln, and the Pentagon.

Andiamo all'opera!!

Ieri molti studenti del mio corso di italiano sono andati all'opera a Wolf Trap a Vienna in Virginia. Era l'ultimo giorno del corso dunque il teatro era una grande fine! Quella mattina abbiamo avuto anche il nostro esame ultimo. Venerdì era una buona giornata. La prima foto mostra le due professoresse - Laura Vinti (a sinistra) e Donatella Melucci (a destra). Loro erano eccellenti!! L'opera era "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" per Monteverdi - una opera barocca. Era il mia prima opera italiana!

I should probably change to English for those of you who haven't studied Italian!! My three-week intensive Italian class, called "Little Italies" at George Mason University, was wonderful! I pretended that I was in Rome instead of Fairfax. Since it was almost every day for three weeks, I finally started thinking in Italian. Now when I'm driving anywhere, I talk to myself in Italian instead of French. I'm even dreaming in Italian!!

Our two professors - Laura Vinti and Donatella Melucci were great! We had lots of fun learning Italian, eating Italian lunches, and watching great Italian films like "Divorce Italian Style," "Ciao, Professore," "The Boy's Room" (very sad), and "The Night Before Finals" (quite funny). We had our final exam Friday morning and most of the class met in the evening at the Barns at Wolf Trap to see "Return of Ulysses," an opera by Monteverdi. I went early with my new friend from class, Maria McKay, to listen to the talk about the opera. I'm so glad we did because I think I better understood what was happening. Of course, there were supertitles because the entire play was in Italian, but I was excited to actually understand some of the Italian. During the opera, I even recognized the use of the verb "vergognarsi" (to feel ashamed) which was a verb I hadn't know on the test!!

Here's a picture of us after the three-hour opera. Another great thing about the class was being with all the "real" college students - makes you feel young again. We had a great time; and going with everyone, including the professors, to the opera that evening was a wonderful end to a great class! Viva Italia!!

Ciao, Tullio!!

Venerdì, degli studenti della mia lezione di italiano, la professoressa, sue figlie, sua madre ed io siamo andati alla Galleria Nazionale d'Arte a Washington, DC. C'era una mostra delle opere di Tullio Lombardo. Lombardo è stato un scultore del Rinascimento e ha abito a Venezia. Ecco una photografia di una sculture di Lombardo.

For the rest of my friends, I guess I should change to English. I'm taking an intensive three-week Italian class this summer at George Mason University, and it's GREAT! As part of the class, some of us met at the National Gallery downtown to see an exhibit of Tullio Lombardo's sculptures. Lombardo is a Venetian Renaissance sculptor. Unfortunately, we couldn't photograph anything inside of the exhibit because it was on loan.

I arrived at the Gallery a little early so I decided to take pictures, as usual. Here's the outside of the Gallery which was accepted by President Roosevelt in 1941. Most of the original collection was donated by Andrew Mellon who was a financier and lived in the city. He didn't care for modern art so the West building, the original building, doesn't house any modern art. The building was designed by John Russell Pope who also designed the Jefferson Memorial. He was very fond of the Pantheon in Rome, as was Jefferson, so many buildings were modeled after it.

I also took some photos of some French sculptures - couldn't leave out les français!! We waited for the professor in the Rotunda so I took photos of the fountain with Mercury. Our class is very lucky to have two professors - one is Dr. Donatella Melucci from Taranta, Italy, and the other is Signora Laura Vinti from Napoli e Roma. We met the latter at the Gallery. She brought along her two daughters and her mother - all who spoke Italian. The last picture is of the group - from left Maria (student), Signora e sua madre Silvia (back), Noami e Tullia (front), Josh, and Olga (students). Fortunately, I was taking the picture so I wasn't in it. Marie, another student, had already left.

We also saw the Beffi Triptych which is on loan from L'Aquila, Italy, which is where President Obama was this past week. There was a terrible earthquake there earlier this year. The triptych escaped damage and was offered for display at the Gallery until Labor day as a gesture of gratitude to the US which was one of the first countries to offer assistance. Unfortunately, the window behind the photographer is shining on the glass. All photos were taken without flash!! Si diverta!! Ciao!

Maryland is for Crabs!!!!!!

Today was a treat. I've been at my mother's this week while my sister is volunteering at the AT&T Golf Tournament. This morning Judy met Tiger Woods and drove Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys) and his girlfriend Jessica Simpson to and from the tournament! Well, while Judy was stargazing, I went to Chesapeake Beach, MD, to visit my girlfriend from high school - Mercine Moutouris Marshall and ... WE ATE LOTS OF CRABS!!

Summer in Maryland and Virginia is so wonderful because of our great Chesapeake Bay blue crabs. Sitting at a table of newspapers or brown paper and opening those delicious crabs just makes my mouth water. And ... it brings back fond memories of my childhood. I remember summers with my Henderson cousins at Fairview Beach sitting on the screened-in porch of the Iron Spoon rental cottage eating crabs that my Uncle Willie and Dad had cooked. I even remember when my great uncle Lewis cooking crabs on a fire on the beach. Later, we'd mosy down to the dance pavilion and jitterbug to 50s music (because it was the 50s) playing on the jukebox while our parents went out on the pier to play the slot machines (they were legal in MD and the Potomac (where the pier was) was MD). Those definitely were the days!

Well, Mercine and I did a number on the crabs today as well as the hush puppies we ordered. If you live in the DC area and have never eaten hard shelled crabs, you have to try it! If you want to go to Chesapeake Beach, go where we did - to Abner's Crab House. Here are the remains of what we devoured!!

My Mother Turns 97!!!

Yes, yesterday, June 8, 2009, Mother turned 97 years young. Can you believe it! We're sure she's going to make it to 100. It was finally NOT RAINING in the DC area so we decided to go to King George, Virginia, to celebrate. When we go down to Igo (the original name for the area from which my fraternal grandmother lived), we always meet up with cousins Jerry and Dorothy Purks. We're related to Jerry two different ways. Jerry is a first cousin to my father because my fraternal grandfather and Jerry's mother were brother and sister. We're also cousins with Jerry through the Purks line and my fraternal grandmother. I'm so glad that my Grandmother Henderson told me so much about my genealogy on the Henderson-Stevens side of the family.

Anyway, Mother loves to eat at Wilkerson's which is a seafood restaurant in Colonial Beach, Virginia. As usual, mother and I had imperial crab! YUM! YUM! She also had a slice of pecan pie with a candle, and the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday!! Afterwards, we went to Potomac Church where my father and grandparents are buried to put flowers on the grave. Unfortunately, Mother couldn't get out of the car because she has some trouble walking. All in all we had a great day. Here are some pictures of Mother and Judy and me with Jerry, Dorothy and the Birthday Girl!

Mother's Day 2009

Aimee, Judy (my sister), and I are so glad we still have our mother/grandmother with us. Mom will be 97 on June 8. Unfortunately, her energizer bunny battery is starting to slow down, but she still has a real spirit about her.




Here's a picture of Mother all "dolled up" in the new outfit Judy gave her for Mother's Day. There's also a picture of the Edible Arrangement Aimee and I gave her. I mean - what do you give to someone who is 97? Hope all our friends who are mothers had a great day!!