Good grief! as Charlie Brown would say. It's been more than two weeks since the last post. There has been more than a little going on for me and for everybody else in our country and beyond. My existential morsels are infinitesimally small, yet here I am in this Universe. I count. And so do you.

A little while back, my sister Sandy came up with a surprise invitation to meet her in Maryland where she was going to travel from Missouri to look at a house for sale. It was a converted church with interesting zillow pictures and a can't-be-beat price. She was interested and it was only a day's drive away for me. Wendy wanted to come, too, but, alas, couldn't undo enough commitments to break away for a couple of days to come along. Sandy rented a vacation house by a lake close to Oakland where the house of interest was located. The rented lake house and vistas were superb and one didn't even mind that the weather was sodden wet and grey the day we arrived. That improved.

Heading out with my pony Subaru.

Maryland!

Winding toward the lake place to meet Sandy in rural Maryland.

More deer.

As I unloaded my stuff, Sandy texted from the porch to come outside that there were turkeys crossing the driveway. She captured this of one of them.

The lake.

It was a good thing the landlord left fresh flowers and finessed a night's stay for Sandy since the first night as she readied her room to sleep, the bed completely collapsed when she nudged the mattress little to even it up with the springs. Things were quickly put right.

The next day we were to visit the house for sale. Well. The zillow pictures must have been from about 20 years ago.

The owner had a carpet business he ran from it besides bringing up his family here. After the tour, Sandy said, "I knew it was too good to be true." 

The time was not lost though. We had a nice visit and enjoyed touring around during the improved weather of the next day. One of the stops we made was at a glass factory and Sandy got a couple of very special pieces to take home with her. They were wrapped up before I realized I didn't get a snap of them. They are beautiful. Here are the artisans at work...







That day was very special. Besides the glass we roamed around looking at other interesting places and stores that had showed up online and were in and around Oakland. A little further out we found lunch at Heidi's Bakery and Café...

Sandy and the Official Greeter.

JM and the Official Greeter.

From the Tarahumara Indians in Sonora, Mexico.

Besides serving the best food anywhere around those parts of Maryland, the surprise awaiting sale on the shelves of jellies and salsas were four baskets from Sonora, Mexico. Very much the same weavers made these baskets for which our once-upon-a-time, Tucson neighbor Barney Burns had traded with the same tribes in our neighboring country. He had a wholesale trading business with indigenous peoples of northern Mexico and had marketed their various endeavors in the States and beyond. His wife Mahina Dreese-Burns collected native seeds and collaborated with Barney and a couple of other people to found Native Seed Search which banks and propagates seeds to preserve their potentials for the future. It thrives in Tucson, Arizona, as the link will show you. Here's their mission history Sierra Madre Project. My daughter Wendy during her teen years had a small roll in its formation. She watered their early gardens next door to us (and took care of their many cats) while Barney and Mahina were on their frequent trips to trade and gather in Mexico. Wendy earned a great deal of her college money there.

This neighbor couple's activities made a doorway to entrepreneurship for people in those remote Mexican canyons and plateaus. Barney cultivated there a new, more conservative  purpose for felling trees than for firewood; instead, that a single tree could be turned into numerous wooden bowls, for example. Or a blanket weaver's work to keep her family warm that led to a cottage blanket weaving industry by Barney asking the simple question, "Do you have some friends or relatives who weave, too?"

Next question: "What are Tarahumara baskets doing in the remote panhandle of Maryland?" Heidi provided the answer...

Heidi on the right and her sister.

...Their brother is part of a mission among Mexico's Tarahumara Indians that is helping women establish and market businesses.

I bought all four of the available baskets. Sometimes, it is so very well worth living long years to find circles of connections. I am smiling.

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We rounded out the day with a (large for us, small to others) hike to Youghiogheny (no, I can't pronounce it either) River rapids through a preserved, virgin Hemlock forest...

Sandy at the Youghiogheny River Rapids.

I headed back to Quakertown on Halloween while Sandy stayed on another couple of days in the beautiful Deep Creek Lake setting. The weather held enough for me to catch a dawn and sunrise there again before starting the drive back to Pennsylvania.

Dawn on Deep Creek Lake.

Sunrise.

My good and true pony Subaru got me safely back to Quakertown.

Fall is limited this year but there are patches.

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Over in New Mexico, Valerie made these Halloween eyeballs for a table centerpiece. (Game of Thrones, anyone?)

And Jeanenne sent along some Fall and Halloween photos of her family enjoying times together...

All seven of Jeanenne and Larry's grandkids.

Then, with their respective moms and dads though one dad was working...

Halloween!!! with Grandma Jeanenne and Grandpa Larry.

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At home Pat reached a goal when she discovered her hair had grown enough to wear in braids...

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It was time for Aidan's first Philadelphia Youth Orchestra concert of the season by the next weekend. Wendy and John take him and his cello early on the big day to Center City's Verizon Hall. Pictures and electronic devices are banned so no performance videos or pictures except a couple as they take the stage and warm up...

I follow them later on the train.

This time, when exiting the Center City station I stepped out the door into a parade forming to commemorate Veteran's Day...






Slowly, I wove my way along until I joined Wendy and John who were at a downtown cafe waiting through Aidan's pre-performance rehearsal.

Quiet on this street.

Ben Franklin up there keeping an eye on things.

Later, we walked to Kimmel for the concert. The PYO made wonderful music. Like always, music made from the talents and diligence of these young people, the Philly orchestral leadership and support, the community, and all the families involved. The village is large, indeed.

Time to get back to the train...

Ben is still watching.

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Wendy's birthday came next. We went to lunch together on her special day and enjoyed a little one-on-one time to chat over some good food...

Happy Birthday, Wendy!

At the end of the week, John gathered us for a very elegant birthday dinner at a nearby restaurant. That was happily joined by Keoni who managed to come to Philly from Georgia to surprise his mom for her birthday with Aidan coordinating help after his orchestra practice in Philly to get her to walk to Rittenhouse Square where Keoni waited with his luggage and music case having arrived by train a little while earlier. Aidan said, "Oh, look at that guy over there." She was looking right through Keoni wondering who Aidan was pointing out. "Gosh, he really looks like Keoni!" Aidan said. "Wendy said, "He sure does." Well, she was thoroughly surprised when it really was him. He said that he could have been mistaken for a homeless person sitting there with a pile of stuff. We all had such a good visit that evening at the dinner table over excellent food and a good deal of hilarity.

So fun for this grandma having the boys together. At home they obliged me with a couple of impromptu pieces...




And, today, stopping by the farm gave me a chance to catch Bach Suite #6 for viola that Keoni has been working up to record for his applications for grad school.


Early tomorrow he'll be back on his way to Mercer.

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Jeanenne reported their first snow in Missouri last Friday and we had some flurries here in PA.

View of the pond at Jeanenne and Larry's.

Jeanenne has been sewing dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World a program of Hope 4 Women International. They have patterns online and Jeanenne just completed 11 dresses. Friends of hers are making them, too. Some are branching out and making boys' shorts and shirts as well. The clothing with the logo/label sewed to the outside gives some protections to the children as its presence means someone is looking out for them.

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Friday before last, some of us joined many others attending Shabbat in support of our Jewish neighbors after the ghastly attack on their Pittsburgh brethren. The synagogue was completely filled that Friday night...

Tiferet Bet Israel.

As all now know, very soon after the murders in Pittsburgh, still more armed, large-scale, senseless carnage took place in another state. Armed butcheries continue unabated. Some, of lower body count, barely noted but by those who grieve their lost loved ones. The maimed limp somehow through the rest of their lives. Bad news lashes our senses until it is not news. Our grieving hearts grow numb; we can no longer comprehend our known world.

We are starving for the love of one for another.

I give myself a "TED Talk"; I look out my window to watch a blue jay pause on a branch outside, then dive to a feeder Pat put out. I am saved again. Better angels' wings waft a warm breeze over my face.

"...[I am] infinitesimally small, yet here I am in this Universe. I count. And so do you."

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