January
About 31,557,600 seconds in the lives of Jan and Michael
Moments of moment, if you will...
It was a year for Golden Celebrations. We attended Jan's 50th College Reunion, and attended Ted and Tina's 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration.
Click on any picture to see the larger hi-res version.
Who 'dat?
From last year's visit, at 7 months. We had a canvas made of this one...
Young Marx - A National Theater Production
Who woulda thunk, a comedic play about Marx?! But, with incisive and intelligent dialogue, it worked. It more than worked, it was excellent! As is always the case with National Theater.
Jazz Evening with David Fulker and Robert Johnson @ Cafe Sole. David and his wife, Nicky, are friends of ours. Nicky worked with Jan for several years. We actually met up with David and Nicky in New Zealand one year when we all happened to be there at the same time. Small world!
And as usual, Jan tore up the slopes at Vail this winter.
On our Baltic Cruise in 2016, we came back to our rooms on the ship each night to find our covers turned down, chocolate on the pillow, and a towel animal on the bed. And so I'm acquiring another talent of dubious merit...
February
Valentines Day 2018
Degas at the Denver Art Museum
Denver is the only city in the country to get this exhibition of over a hundred of Degas' paintings and sketches. Degas was lumped with the Impressionists and his works were shown with those of the Impressionists, but he didn't consider himself one of them.
Jan at a recreation of the artist's attic workshop which had a big bay window overlooking the streets of Paris. Models for his nudes and dancers were about the only people invited up to his studio. And there's Jan! Well, the exhibition IS titled 'A Passion For Perfection'
And when we got home, there were 50 roses awaiting my perfect model...
And to complete our Valentines Day, we attended the Met Production of "L'Elisir D'Amore" in our local theater in Boulder. World Class Opera and popcorn, what's not to like?!
Love Potion
Happy Valentines Day, my love!
ttsM
Boulder International Film Festival: Feb 23-25
We saw 7 films this year. It was cold navigating between events this year, but so worth it. All of the venues are within walking distance of each other, right downtown near the Boulder Mall. The festival is very well done, and the selection of films this year was especially good.
The Insult
One of our faves, and it received the Best Feature award for the festival. And has been nominated or received several awards already, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. A complex film about complex issues, and extremely well done!
Soufra
An inspirational film about Lebanese women starting a baking and catering business, named, you guessed it, Soufra. Get their Cookbook here >>> Soufra Cookbook
Izhtak
A wonderfully done film about an amazing man. Itzhak Perlman survived polio and the holocaust, and became the world's pre-eminent violinist. He works with kids, and has played with Billy Joel, and performed at Barack Obama's Inauguration. Brava! Brava!
Faces Places
Famed film maker Agnes Varda and a photographer named J.R. travel around rural France, taking photographs of people, enlarging them, and pasting them on the walls of houses, city walls, barns, any large flat surface. It won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. Agnes Varda will receive an Honorary Oscar at the 2018 Academy Awards.
Elish's Notebooks
From IMDB: 82 year-old Elisheva Rise passed away. After her death, her children clear out her home and find some journals. She secretly wrote to each of her seven children journals documenting 57 years,, from their birth to the day she died. It was her life's work. Every evening she would sit in her home in Kibbutz Ein Tzurim and write to her children, whom she had never hugged nor kissed. Now, they open the journals for the first time. Following the treasure she left behind, they embark on an emotional and painful journey, learning about childhood, motherhood, and parenting. A unique and interesting documentary, filmed by one of her grandsons, Golan Rise.
Bye Bye Germany
Comedy: David Berman and his friends, all Holocaust survivors, have only one purpose: to go to America as soon as possible. For this they need money. Close to his aim, David is not only deprived of his savings but also overtaken by his shady past.
We enjoyed it, but the seats were getting hard by this third film on Sunday!
Shorts After Dark
An eclectic assemblage of shorts, from 7 minutes in length to 22 minutes, most of them more 'noir' than we care for. But it's fun to see a bunch of short films in one sitting.
The Eleven O'Clock was our favorite short of the batch, about a Psychiatrist and Patient. It becomes increasingly unclear which of them is the patient and which the therapist. Very well done! And up for an Academy Award, which it did not win.
The Eleven O'Clock was our favorite short of the batch, about a Psychiatrist and Patient. It becomes increasingly unclear which of them is the patient and which the therapist. Very well done! And up for an Academy Award, which it did not win.
Some of the Other Movies We Saw in Theaters This Year:
We had seen 7 of the 9 Academy Award nominees for Best Picture this year. It's unusual that we are attracted to that many of the nominees, so we thought it a good year. The Shape Of Water won the Oscar for Best Picture. Gary Oldman got Best Actor for Darkest Hour. And Allison Janney got Best Actress for I, Tonya.
The Greatest Showman ***
Phantom Thread ***
Darkest Hour ****
The Shape of Water ****
The Post ***
Call Me By Your Name ****
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ***
Lady Bird ***
Star Wars: The Last Jedi ***
A Fantastic Woman ***
The Death of Stalin **
The Leisure Seeker **
Finding Your Feet ***
The Book Club ***
RBG ****
Ocean's 8 *
Claire's Camera ***
Disobedience ***
Mary Shelley ***
Three Identical Strangers ***
1945 ***
Mama Mia Here We Go Again ***
The Cakemaker ***
Puzzle ***
The Wife ***
A Simple Favor ***
Into The Okavango ***
Bel Canto ****
Fahrenheit 11/9 ***
A Star Is Born **
Green Book ****
March
Started Pulmonary Rehab to improve function after emergency appendectomy. Yeah, yeah, I'm doing the treadmill, the Octane machine, actually working out on machines like I said I'd never do. We even do a version of Chair Yoga to warm up, Chair Yoga that I've been giving Jan grief for doing with her friends for some time now. Yeah, yeah!
Went to Vail with Jan for a couple of days since Dori couldn't ski this year. Jan skied, we ate, we did hot tubs. Good weather, clear roads, and a nice little get-away.
Julius Caesar - National Theater - In our local theater. Ashley & Kenny saw this too in New Orleans for Kenny's birthday. We enjoyed it, as did they. Kenny teaches Julius Ceasar, and his birthday is, appropriately, March 15, the Ides of March. Excellent production. And fun to see 'with' Ashley and Kenny, pretty much in real time and 1500 miles apart! World Class Theater and popcorn, what's not to like?!
April
Hot Water Heater went out. Needed new parts. Resolved. Life is good. And warm.
We didn't especially like this film, but it was a big hit with the critics.
Rehab going good. Getting sorted out for our annual Cape Cod trip, having missed the trip last year, for the only time in almost 40 years, due to my surgery. A good friend and his son, from Melbourne, were due to join us for a couple of days last year at the Cape too, so it was a big disappointment to miss that chance. Our place is in the woods, on the water, and as private as it gets, yet there is no running water or electricity. We wouldn't have it any other way!
May
The Annual Cape Cod Trip
The Pilgrims' first winter was spent on Cape Cod.
The wild turkeys have had a resurgence since then, as indicated by this mating display we witnessed on our first drive out to the cottage this year.
It was coolish at first, then came the pollen, so we ate mostly indoors this year instead of our usual on the porch. Dori had painted the floor, making the living room brighter and more inviting.
All these many years, we've been by and seen this cemetery countless times, but never paid it much attention. This year I was parked beside it while Jan was busy across the street. The epitaph on Deacon Doane's grave marker, here at the Bridge Road Cemetery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places - or, as Jan knows it, that place across from the tag sale - reads:
As I have paid it, so must you.
Jan foraging for treasures at the dump. And at Ace.
We try to do little improvements to the cottage while we're there. But, being a seasonal retreat, and occupied variously by several families, and without running water, sewer, or electricity, things often go the way. So we find serviceable odds and ends, very nice stuff in most cases, at the town Transfer Station which sports a big 'leave or take' area of unwanted items, a nice alternative to throwing them in the landfill. Toys from Trash, Jan used to tell the kids. Well... you're just older!
Jan and Laurie, old friends, down the lane on the bluff...
We took the ferry over to Nantucket for Jan's birthday, and stayed the night. I had planned dinner but wasn't feeling well, so we just enjoyed some time relaxing and soaking up the ambiance. Nantucket has that wonderful art community vibe, and island mentality.
Formaldehyde!
I took the above sunset picture at First Encounter Beach in Eastham, where we often go to watch the sun set over the bay. We were parked one year right beside an older couple, enjoying the view, when the old guy in that car all of a sudden, loudly and forcefully, said 'formaldehyde.' And that was it, just formaldehyde. It's become a popular refrain between us and our granddaughter, Ashley.
June
Jan's 50th College Reunion
Me, Jan, Judy, Barb, Hank, Susan, and Larry above.
But for me, all attended Middlebury. Jan and Susan were roommates all 4 years. Reunions are held every 5 years on the Middlebury campus. I've attended the last 5 with Jan, and have been warmly accepted into their little clique.
Talking to President Patton at the reception. She was amazing, engaging everyone.
Dinner and Class Pictures at Breadloaf
The famed Breadloaf Writer's Conference is held here annualy...
Lunch on the lawn with the gang.
We checked out the Middlebury Art Museum on our way out of town...
Innocence. Uh-huh...
Innocence... upside down...
Amazingly, a photo of Jan and her friends on the lawn at Middlebury all those years ago made it into the class yearbook, and here on the Museum wall in a display about the class of '68. That's Jan, standing on her head. 1968 was a momentous year, both culturally for our nation, and for those of us just embarking on careers and life. These were the times of the assassinations of John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and of the Summer of Love. Go figure!
Our generation was about the individual, about rebelling against the institutions our parents, a civic generation, had established following the great wars. It's a cycle that has repeated itself since we came to this continent hundreds of years ago. We seem to be currently in the nascent stages of the next great crisis that will define the generations that are now coming of age.
Yeah, we remember vinyl, and even 45 RPM vinyl (look it up!)...
I worked my way through college in an IBM warehouse that handled the magnetic tapes that were used in the earliest computers.
Some of the popular books from 1968...
Back in the day, I would have to go to 7-11 (back when 7-11 was actually open just from 7 to 11) to test the tubes from our TV set, and buy and replace any faulty ones. TV's were always going bonkers or needing adjusted. Back in the day.
Middlebury's own Dan Curry, a classmate of Jan, won about 25 Emmy Awards for special effects in Star Trek. At one of the reunions, Dan gave a presentation about his work with the show.
Jan's friend, Barb Barrett, was the one who sent the photo of Jan standing on her head to the reunion committee. Pictured here with Jan checking out the photo with her magnifier. 50 years, from standing on your head to using a magnifier to read! Just saying.
Proctor, Vermont, the city of marble.
We took a little detour to Proctor on our way back to Chris and Laurie's after the reunion. Just about everything in the city is made of marble!
Back at Chris and Laurie's in MA...
We stayed with Chris and Laurie after our Cape visit on the way to the reunion, then again after the reunion, before flying back home. Jan and Laurie have been close friends since their days at Middlebury, and we have spent a lot of time together, both in Massachusetts and Colorado.
Hey guys, let's do away with the gun thing.
Having breakfast at Chautauqua to celebrate our Anniversary, June 21
And later, meeting our 2nd Great Granddaughter, Cora, for the first time.
Nice Anniversary & Solstice!
We have several anniversaries, and why not?! We originally got together on January 7, so that's one, then we officially got married on December 21, the Winter Solstice, 25 years later, and then celebrated the marriage on the following Summer Solstice, June 21.
Great Granddaughter,Adele, turns two...
And Great Granddaughter, Cora, turns up!
Cake and Ice Cream at her very own table!
Sleeping a lot now... but just wait...
And to close out June on a high note...
The Met Production of Il Trovatore (The Troubador)
Our cars got some dents, and our windshields got broken in a hail storm. So I made some lemonade and at least got a photo out of the deal...
July
Another summer breakfast at Chautaqua... so civilized!
We saw the Puccini Opera, Turandot. Or as Sister Jan says it, The Ice Queen
Also from Sister Jan (Sister Wendy and Sister Windy were taken)...
"Look, I have a toboggan on my head" --- You had to be there!
One of the better towel animals from our Baltic Cruise bed-turn-down...
August
It's still April, as I type here, but we just scored tickets to this concert in August
Yo Yo Ma Playing Bach At Red Rocks
It's pretty much a consensus among artists and performers, Yo Yo Ma included, that the Red Rocks Amphitheater is the best place in the world to play because of the incredible natural acoustics. You can actually have someone down on the stage say something in a normal conversational tone and volume, and hear it perfectly at the top, 70 deep rows away. Perfectly and clearly like they were standing right next to you.
This was a big ticket to get. The event sold out once people realized it was happening, so we were lucky and smart to get tickets the minute they became available. We were not disappointed!
There was no orchestral backup, no warm-up act, no big introduction. Just the man and his cello. Playing all 6 Bach Cello Suites, under the stars, in the red, sandstone, foothills of the Rockies.
It all began with a blessing by descendants of the original caretakers of this land...
And then 2 1/2 hours of world class cello...
What an awesome evening!
The evening ended with Yo Yo Ma playing a piece with a high school orchestra. What a thrill for these kids, and so good for the furtherance of music. This was the first stop of a two year tour for Yo Yo Ma. At each stop, he plans activities with local youth musical organizations. He says that it was a trip to Denver many years ago that inspired his decision to devote his life to music and his cello.
We've been thrilled at being able to see world class opera and theater streamed live into the local theaters. Say what you will about the new technology, but certainly one of the good things is this new accessibility to world class entertainment and information.
Then again, technology aside, there was just a chair and a couple of small microphones on stage for the actual performance this night. It looked so barren compared to your usual concert setup. Then Yo Yo Ma came out with his cello. And simply started playing. Wow!
We go to the Boulder Farmers Market, after garage sales, most Saturdays during the summer and fall. We get eggs benedict at one of the stands, and have some music and people watching with our breakfast. And we've been trying to eat better, so...
First our favourite turn around Boulder looking for Garage Sales. This sale was right by a whole avenue of blooming sunflowers, our granddaughter's wedding flower. Note the pretty flowers, the prettier bargain hunter, and the recently hail-damaged windshield...
Then on to the market for breakfast and vegetables and fun...
And we make it to Chautaqua for breakfast on the porch a few times during the warm months. The park, nestled in the Boulder foothills, is very popular, as you can hike into the foothills from there. And we've seen some great shows at the small, rustic, theater that is part of the complex. We've seem Joan Baez 3 times, and sundry others over the years.
Chautaqua was an adult education program in the 19th and 20th centuries. Teddy Roosevelt said, "Chautaqua is the most American thing about America." The feel of the park and venue and restaurant harken back to the 'good old days.' So civilized.
Ashley sent this photo, saying that Adele wants to have hair like her Papa Bear's. Thanks, I think...
The famous Dead Sea Scrolls at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
We went with Sally, and had a nice lunch there at the museum. This facility is impressive, and I don't mean just the dinosaurs. It was fun seeing the actual texts, thousands of years old, of writings that have had so much influence on our culture and beliefs.
We were amazed that the scrolls were originally handled so poorly. People smoked cigarettes while they sorted and categorized all of these zillions of fragments, and used scotch tape and edges of postage stamps to affix pieces here and there. Yikes! Of course now, with continuing preservation efforts, these valuable documents are worked on in a clean room, wearing gloves and masks.
All 3 of the world's biggest monotheistic religions have connections to these documents.
And we will go see where the scrolls were discovered the first of next year, visiting Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and the Dead Sea.
September
It's my birthday this month, so that's good. :)
Fall Farmers Markets - Harvest is in, the mood is one of satisfaction, and the reward is gathering to share the fruits of summer labors. Jan had Eggs Benedict, I had a Breakfast Paella. We were in Estonia a couple of years ago, and sitting across from us today at the market was an Estonian family.
We were glad they don't serve alcohol at the market...
Wow, 70 now!
My hearing isn't what it once was. The doctor told me the other day, 'Yes, that was very loud, Michael, but I said I wanted to hear your HEART!' I know, pretty bad, but I'm old now.
We went to the Gold Hill Inn for my birthday dinner, and Jan's for that matter, since we missed having hers in Nantucket. Gold Hill is just 10 miles west of Boulder, yet is a world away. Last time we were here many moons ago, a burro was parked outside the Inn. But the menu is priz fixe, and 5-Star. Great food in a very rustic, old-gold-town setting. Population 230. Not sure if that includes the burro. Many of the residents were hanging out on this warm evening at the local general store and at the Inn; there was a great, laid back, small-community vibe. A world away.
Nice Birthday!
Reached my goal, in the 150's / - 30 pounds / 25 Sep 2018
Just saying!
50 Years - Brava! Brava!
We had a grand time at a grand old house celebrating Ted & Tina's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Ted, though only 6 years older than Jan, is her uncle, and we co-own the Cape Cottage with them and Jan's sister. 50 years ago, Ted and Tina were married in Daytona, Florida. For this golden celebration, only those at the wedding 50 years ago were invited, so I was one of two who were there by virtue of marriage, but had not been at the wedding. We enjoyed the visit, their friends, and the party. Brava!
Dinner with friends and family the night before the party...
The original wedding party in Daytona.
It was 12 years before I would meet her, but that beautiful, tall blonde is now my wife...
We had a nice dinner with some of Ted and Tina's close friends the night before the big party...
One of our favorite memories of Jan's dad, Jon, is him standing at the head of the table dishing out the meal while regaling us with whatever was on his mind. The portions he doled out were never equal, more like punctuation in his banter, but we didn't really care. So here's Jon's brother, Ted, who looks a lot like his and Jon's father, Arthur, in that familiar position at the head of the table, as Jan looks on. It's an Ells thing.
The view from our third floor bedroom...
We sat around all day on Friday watching the Kavanaugh hearings on MSNBC with Ted and Tina.
We visited the Stony Creek Museum, off hours, since Ted is actively involved with the preservation of Stony Creek's history and has a key. The marble for the Statue of Liberty base was quarried here.
Jan and Dori locating memories...
Jan with her cousin and childhood compatriot, Steve Fischer, a kindred soul. And we met Paul, Steve's partner, for the first time.
Nice hair, Steve! ;)
We toured the garden of an architect friend of Ted and Tina's. Wow, amazing!
The video...
October
Opera and a smuggled sandwich, and popcorn. Oh yeah!
The Met's 2018 Production of Aida streamed to theaters.
Jan went to the cabin for 3 days before the snow flies...
Our pride and joy, we built it entirely ourselves, and Jan has appointed it perfectly.
And we saw yet another Opera this month.
The Met's 2018 Production of Samson et Dalila
October 24 - Got tickets for the Broadway road production of 'Come From Away' at the Buell Theater
On October 26, we booked a Middle East trip, to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and the Suez Canal for January of 2019. And in March 2019, we do the South America cruise including a trip through another canal, the Panama Canal. Man carving his world. Seeking passage.
And we finally had the heating ducts cleaned in October. Just saying. It's just one of those things you tend to put off, like measuring your face..
Jan prepares for the Trick or Treaters
And the scary result...
Another breakfast with music at the Boulder Flea Market
Jan kept telling me there was a giant bear terrorizing the Denver Convention Center
Turns out she was right...
November
We were lazy this year and ordered a full, already cooked Turkey dinner from Alfalfa's to reheat.
But Jan did make an apple pie... ah, the smell...
We saw the Broadway road show of 'Come From Away'
The true story of the town of Gander, Newfoundland, population 9,000, welcoming and caring for 7,000 people on 38 planes that were diverted from American air space on 9/11.
So shines a good deed in a weary world.
December
It's Christmas! And Hanukkah! Ramadan is in the spring this next year.
Adele staring longingly at her presents under the tree...
And FINALLY opening them!
Happy Girl!
And the kids' big event this holiday season... They bought their first house!
Bennie had us over for Christmas Brunch on the 25th. Tom, Chris, Jackson, Rags, Michael, Stacy...
and Bennie! A nice day all around.
And to top off an eventful year, we had a big family get-together on December 30, at Foolish Craig's, the restaurant Chris manages in Boulder. There were over 60 people there, 3 and 4 generations of family. We filled the restaurant and had a boisterous good time!
The 8 of us...
And some of our progeny...
And the newest member of the clan, 6 month old Cora Leotie...
4 Generations...
And now, a new year, and a new trip... and away we go...
.
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