Hello everybody, & greetings from sodden & flooded Concord, MA! I've been places since last we spoke—thru the rest of Illinois—Indiana—where I had lunch at an old soda fountain in the evocatively named town of Brazil (sorta stopped there thinking of Eberle, who lived in Brazil for awhile)—BBQ sandwich & some wonderful hand-squeezed lemonade—into Ohio, where I stopped Tuesday night, Wednesday—had a delightful visit with Willow & WT of Life at Willow Manor—delightful Mexican lunch, visit to a bookstore "with creaky wooden floors," & a pleasant visit at the Manor itself—the pic at the top of the post is yours truly at the Manor! Of course, I was also most happy to see my friends B.N. & her husband Yaakov, who kindly put me up for a couple of days.
From Columbus it was onward across Ohio, thru a corner of West Virginia, with much of Friday spent in Pennsylvania—then trying to get thru the Lincoln Tunnel fro New Jersey into NYC. Had a wonderful Friday evening & Saturday in Astoria, Queens with my old & dear friend Lana Bortolot (see pic). I hadn't seen B.N. in over 20 years, & hadn't seen Lana in about 25 years!
From Astoria, I did a bit of backtracking west up the flooded NY Thruway (one lane closed near
the overflowing Ramapo!) to see my friends Carrie & Marc in a small town in the Catskills—my directions & navigational skills were a bit challenged, but I finally made it to their lovely old farmhouse for a delicious dinner of rack of lamb! Have been eating well—in addition to great home-cooked meals by both B.N. & Lana, I also had some great Indian food in Queens!Yesterday was spent plowing thru rain east on the NY Thruway & the Mass Pike. I should have internet for the next few days, tho it's going to be a while before I get caught up on blog visits or comments! Welcome, by the way, to the new followers! Usually, there are daily posts to Robert Frost's Banjo, but this trip has put a crimp in that! Glad to have you along.
Will post again later today or tomorrow! Thanks to all for your interest & for hanging thru this "slow" blog period.