Dr. Ben graduates from medical school

At the beginning of the week, the weather was unseasonably warm - but the forecast was for cold and rainy weather for the rest of the week. That never happened - instead, we had unbelievably nice spring weather all week, with just some rain one night.

Trees, bushes and flowers were blooming wherever I walked.

Mr. Shadow enjoyed many long walks.

Our daughter Megan flew in from Ketchikan. It only took two days (Wednesday and Thursday) and five flights: Ketchikan to Seattle on Alaskan Airlines; Seattle to Chicago on American Airlines: Chicago to Laguardia NY on American Airlines; Laguardia to Philadelphia on US Airways; and Philadelphia to Burlington on US Airways.  She was here to see our son Ben graduate from the University of Vermont's College of Medicine.  Megan was also here to get her Nexus interview and iris scan - on Friday we took the ferry across Lake Champlain en route to Port of Entry in Champlain NY.  The interview in Champlain went well and we made the quick jaunt into Canada to get her iris scan.  We then drove back to Plattsburgh NY for a nice lunch at the Ninety Nine restaurant where we dined several times when Megan was attending Plattsburgh State (can it really be six years since she graduated from college?).

On Saturday, my sister Helen and her husband Phil drove up from Hudson MA.  Their daughter Laura Mae flew in from Norfolk VA.  They came to house for lunch, then went to their hotel to check in and have a short nap while Megan and I ran some errands.  Ben and his wife Martha flew in from Sydney, Australia.  It also took two days, but only three flights (two were very lllooonnnggg): Sydney to Beijing on China Air; Beijing to JFK in New York on China Air via the polar route; and JFK to Burlington on Jet Blue.  They went home for showers and to change.  We had a fun gathering at our home: Ben, Martha, Helen, Phil, Laura, the Parascandos (Bridgette, Mike, Lucas, Aidan and Julianne), Megan, Patty and me.  We had pizza delivered from Leonardos, salad made by Megan, brownies made by Julianne and cheesecake made by Bridgette.

Sunday began with brunch at our house.  Patty outdid herself with two baked breakfast casseroles, ham, sausages and bacon.  We had muffins and croissants from Mirabelles.  And Megan made a most tasty and beautiful fruit salad.  Ann and Terry, Helen and Phil, Laura Mae, Martha and Ben, Megan, Patty and I had a great family time together before we all headed off to UVM for Ben's graduation.

 

After the nine of us got into Ira Allen Chapel, we waited patiently for the graduation to begin.

At 2:30, the processional began.  First, all the faculty.  And then all the students came in alphabetical order - Ben was sixth from the last of one hundred plus students.

The big moment came when Ben was called forward, announced with his awards, hooded by Dr. Ursala McVeigh and then received his diploma.  He is now officially Dr. Ben Ware. (Click on the link to see the video.)

 

 

And before we went off to a superb reception at the Barrio Bakery, photos were taken of the happy graduate with family members.

Spring is really here May 12

Wow, what a change in the weather - several days in a row of sunshine and temps in the 70s, sleeping with the windows open at night.  Summer is nearly upon us.

Early in the week, I noticed that the grass was turning green and nearing the time when it would need to be mowed.

There were lots of days with plenty of sunshine for Mr. Shadow to enjoy being outside.

On Thursday, sure enough, the landscapers were here mowing the lawn.  The joys of living in a condo are that the HOA fees pay to have the yard work done - that means I do not need a mower or string trimmer.  We still have some yard tools for taking care of things in our garden, or when we want to do more than the landscapers take care of - but that is minimal.

We have speed bumps here in Quarry Ridge - but they are removed during the winter months so that the streets can be plowed.  On Friday, they were reinstalled for the summer - hopefully drivers will slow down and not hit children or pets.

Sunday, Shadow and I went for an early morning walk to Jaycee park.  The shadows were very long as the sun was just above the horizon.

Sunday was Mothers Day.  Both Ben and Megan sent cards that arrived on time for Patty, Ben's from Australia and Megan's from Alaska.  I bought some flowers for the dining room table and made breakfast.

Ben and Martha are moving to Portland for at least the next four years for his internship and fellowship at Providence Portland Medical Center.  Megan now spends summers in Alaska and winters (actually austral summers) in Antarctica.  We have both retired from full time work.  So we have decided that we have decreasing ties to Vermont and put the condo up for sale.  We met with the realtor on Tuesday April 29.  The condo was listed on MLS on April 30.  We had six showings between May 1 and May 6.  We got an offer on May 7.  We accepted the offer on May 8.  And we have started packing things and donating things to Goodwill and Habitat ReStore.

I have reserved a truck to drive some of our things to Arizona and my sister Helen will be riding with me.  It will be a busy month - Megan arrives from Alaska on Thursday May 15, Ben and Martha return from Australia on Saturday May 17, Ben graduates from UVM College of Medicine on Sunday May 18, Megan returns to Alaska on Wednesday May 21, I get the Penske truck on Saturday May 24, and I head for AZ on Monday May 26.  There is much to do in the merry month of May.

Sunday May 4 - spring continues in Vermont

Spring weather and events continue in Vermont.  At Jaycee Park, the tee-ball field had the mini-backstop, bases and baselines put in (in the foreground) and the Little League field has the home run fence, bases and baselines put in.

The April showers may bring May flowers, but they certainly bring out a lot of earthworms.

On some mornings, it was still cold enough to have frost on the cars parked outside (I am thankful we have a garage).

On Tuesday, we listed the condo here for sale and have had several showings since then.
http://www.nnerenmls.com/nne/maildoc/sd_zq6XnO20140430081753.html

We continue to have lots of birds on our back deck.

We had birds on the deck, but to improve the appearance of the condo for sale, we removed the bird feeders from the back deck and I spent several hours cleaning off the winter's accumulation of bird seeds, droppings and dirt.  The suet and one of the bird feeders is now on the tree and not visible from the living room.

Trees are starting to blossom.

Bulbs are starting to sprout.

 Basketball and rollerblading is happening.

And many families are with their kids at the playground.

I had to go to UVM to pick up Ben's regalia for COM graduation.  Earlier, we had driven by the campus and could not figure out what all the colored flags were on the lawn.

It is to show how large UVM is in comparison to the rest of Vermont.

Mr. Shadow continues to do well, with at least three walks per day.  I try to do at least one long walk per day, taking about an hour to go out to Patchen Road, then to Williston Road, then west on Williston Road to the Holiday Inn (just before I-89) and then back.  It is good exercise for both of us.