Back in Elgin, IL

DAY SIXTY-EIGHT:I'm back in Elgin with my brother. Ellen is in Vermont. I came out by train, arriving yesterday in Union Station, Chicago, at about 11am. I got a bite to eat at the food court and then took the Metra to Elgin where Peter met me. The move went well - Daniel had rented a van and with that and others using their cars, they brought everything in one trip. Stewart was exhausted but seemed in pretty good spirits: what a trooper! He said he went up and down the stairs at the old house (called Whitewood) more times yesterday than he would have done in a week normally. When I arrived, he was concerned that he couldn't find his checkbook. It wasn't in the drawer where he remembered putting it. I drove him back to Whitewood and we looked for it there - no luck. Then he thought maybe he had put it in another drawer in the new apartment, so we went back - no luck. But Daniel came to the rescue. He thought to pull out the drawer and found the checkbook stuck behind the drawer. It made sense - in the process of moving the cabinet, it got tipped and since the checkbook was on top, it just fell behind the drawer out of sight. Whew! Daniel said, "You always lose one thing when you move. I guess that wasn't it!"

Daniel brought over a wonderful airbed, queen sized, for me to sleep on here at the apartment. It's very comfortable!

GOING BACK: We had a lovely time with Katie, Savanna and Brendan on Oxbow Lake near Speculator, NY where they rent a cottage. I haven't had a chance to download the photos I took there, and now that will have to wait until i get back to Vermont next week.

When we arrived home last Monday evening, Ellen and I found the house sort of musty, having been closed up in extreme heat and humidity, but once it got aired out and we got the dehumidifier going, it wasn't too bad. No mice! No ants! Yay!

We went up to Marlboro Music Festival Wednesday evening and heard a wonderful and unusual concert of pieces by Schubert, Webern, Schnittke and Bernstein that neither of us had ever heard before. The Schubert and Bernstein were pieces of musical theater that were charming (Schubert's Der Hochzeitsbraten was a comedy about a couple poaching a rabbit for their wedding feast, and the Bernstein Arias and Barcarolles was about the more sophisticated angst of a married couple that could have been out of a Stephen Sondheim musical). The Webern Quartet for violin, clarinet, tenor saxophone and piano was repeated, a brilliant decision by the programmer, and the Schnittke (Russian, 1934-1998) Piano Quintet was a very powerful and difficult piece involving a lot of quarter-tones. It made us want to know more about Schnittke. What a treasure the Marlboro Music Festival is! This is their 60th anniversary.

Most of the days back home I was busy preparing for the August 14th service at the Guilford Church that I will be leading - celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the town of Guilford. It will feature the hymns of Isaac Watts. We also hosted John and Cynthia for supper and had a lovely evening with them. I was pretty busy the whole time.

Back in Elgin, I'll be here until next Tuesday. Last evening I went out and bought Stewart a blender, and got all the makings for my smoothies (whey powder, tofu, cottage cheese, yogurt and fruit) which I regularly make for breakfast. I'm hoping he might take to them, and make them for himself after I leave.

New Plan

DAY FIFTY-EIGHT: Our plan is evolving, but as of now, we're on our way home to Vermont. Then I'll come back to Elgin, IL by train on July 29-30, to be with Stewart for the first few days he is in a new apartment. Then I'll come back to Vermont August 3rd. Today we drove from Bartlett to Erie, PA. It was HOT. It got up to 104 in places. But the AC in the Corolla is good and we were comfortable - until we got out to stretch! Tomorrow, we'll drive to Oxbow Lake in the Adirondacks, NY, to spend a few days with Katie and Savanna.

Last night we somehow got into finding fun stuff on YouTube with Jerry, Gretchen, Becky and Stewart: We found You Always Hurt the One You Love performed by Spike Jones and his City Slickers; Nature Boy sung by Nat King Cole, and then Serutan Yob performed by Red Ingle and His Unnatural Seven; Managua, Nicaragua by Guy Lombardo and Freddie Martin, Alan Sherman singing Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah; and the crowning joy, Victor Borge doing his Phonetic Punctuation and even more hilarious Inflationary Language. It's amazing what you can find. I was a HUGE Spike Jones fan when I was about 12 years old. I still think he's funny, but Victor Borge gets the prize. He was brilliant.

Yesterday I took some things over to the new apartment for Stewart. Here's a shot of the entrance:

Change in Plans

DAY FIFTY-FIVE: We're staying in Bartlett longer than originally planned. First of all, the shock absorbers on the Corolla were really in bad shape: something we were aware of, and putting up with in the hopes we could make it back to VT. But it got worse and worse, and we decided to get it fixed here. So that's happening today - new shocks and springs, all four wheels! Yikes!

But I've also decided to stay here for my brother Stewart, just to give him whatever support I can during a difficult week in which he will be moving from the home he has lived in for 47 years into an apartment, due largely to health reasons. As it now stands, Ellen will stay too. We're taking it a day at a time at this point.

Yesterday we had a gathering of the Crockett clan for a meal at Gretchen and Jerry's house. We always take a picture of the group. Here it is:

Back Row, Left to right: Gretchen Hochburger, Lori Crockett, Peter Crockett, Stewart Crockett, Rachael Crockett Costello, and her three children, Maura, Maeve and Ronan.
Front row, l. to r.: Rebecca Crockett, Ellen, Me, Dennis McQuen, Daniel Crockett, Susie Crockett McQuen. Not pictured: Jerry Hochburger, who took the photo and Brendan Costello, Rachael's husband, who had to work.

SATURDAY, July 16th: We did stop at Talieson in Spring Green, WI on our way from Ellsworth, WI to Bartlett, IL. We didn't have time to tour the house, and the tours were full anyway, but we know we will come back if we can someday in the future. We did visit the Visitor Center, designed by Wright originally as a restaurant, and we drove by a little chapel at the cemetery where Wright is buried, and also saw the Home School and the barn he designed, which are nearby. It's a Wright mecca, and definitely worth a long visit.

UNITY CHAPEL

WRIGHT'S GRAVE

HOME SCHOOL

THIS IS A REPLICA OF THE DINING TABLE AND CHAIRS WRIGHT DESIGNED FOR HIS HOME. THE ENTIRE SET CAN BE YOURS FOR $13,000.

Arleene Sweet

DAY FIFTY-THREE: Last evening we stopped to visit our friend, Arleene Sweet, who lives in a suburb NW of St. Paul, MN. I've known Arleene for almost 60 years - she was David Sweet's girlfriend (David was my college roommate), and they were married just after I graduated from Drury in 1954. I was the best man at their wedding. (One of my more embarrassing moments in life was when David and I were talking, probably at least 20 years after their wedding, and he was talking about the wedding ceremony and I said, "Gosh, I wish I had been there!" David gave me a very funny look and said, "Larry, you were my best man!").

David went on to become a very innovative college president at Minnesota Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, and then at Rhode Island College in Providence. Shirley and I stayed in touch with him and Arleene over the years, and continued to stay in touch with Arleene after David died in 1984, visiting her in Jefferson City, MO and in Winchester, VA where she was living and working. Now she lives near her daughters in St. Paul. Ellen and I had visited her in 2007, and had enjoyed that visit very much. Arleene is an artist, sewer, and fun person. She also loves cats, and for a long time had two Siamese cats that I was deathly allergic to. (One visit I recall years ago I ended up sleeping in the car). They are gone now, but have been replaced by a very feisty kitten, "Jack," whom Arleene took pity on when he became homeless. In the short time I was in her apartment last night, I began to feel a reaction to him too (he loved jumping into my lap). So we went out to eat at Olive Garden and had a good time catching up on the news of her life and family. She offered for us to spend the night in her guest room, but I was afraid Jack might send me out to the car again. So we said farewell with a promise not to let another five years go by before our next visit.

ARLEENE SWEET








Earlier, our trip to St. Paul from Aberdeen, SD, was fairly uneventful - passing through rich agricultural land. It was a little worrisome, because our rear shock absorbers in the Corolla are pretty worn out and the car makes quite a bang on some dips in the road. This has been a problem for a while, but seems to be getting worse. We're not sure whether to get them fixed on the road or try to make it back home and have Doug Richmond, our trusted auto mechanic, do the job. We also had the experience of having a gas pump nozzle fail to shut off and gas went all over the ground. I went into the station and got a bag of litter to spread on the spilled gas, but in the process, my sandals got gas on them. I tried to wash it off, but the odor of gas was so strong in the car I finally took them off, sealed them in a plastic bag, and put them in the trunk. Sigh!

After leaving Arleene's, we had a lovely drive into Wisconsin, with a spectacular sunset, and spent last night in a very nice "mom and pop" motel in Ellsworth, WI, the David Lodge. It is one of the most nicely appointed motel rooms we've stayed in, including very lovely quilt bedspreads (motel bedspreads are usually really ugly).

We may stop by Spring Green, WI and take a peek at Frank Lloyd Wright's Talieson, on our way to Bartlett today, but I learned on line this morning that a tour of the house costs $57! Ouch! The tour of his house in Oak Park was a third of that.

National Parks

DAY FIFTY-FIVE: I have some catching up to do, because we've been in a world where there is no internet. Yellowstone National Park is blessedly free of both internet and cell phone access. Yellowstone is famous for its geysers, mud pots, fumaroles, canyons, and wildlife like bison, bears and such, but we go there primarily for the wildflowers. We did see a lot of bison and Ellen caught a glimpse of a grizzly bear, but we identified over 70 kinds of wildflowers. The profusion of wildflowers in an alpine meadow is really something to see, and hard to capture in its overwhelming beauty. Here is a little glimpse:

WILDFLOWERS IN YELLOWSTONE PARK

PAINTBRUSH AT TROUT LAKE AND COLUMBINE AT WRAITH FALLS, Y.N.P.

We stayed in a cabin at Roosevelt Lodge, our favorite place, which is sort of out-of-the way in the park.

ROUGH RIDER CABIN

THE LODGE AT ROOSEVELT

We had lovely hikes, like one up to Trout Lake, where we saw scores of spawning trout in the stream running into the lake.

TROUT LAKE

Wednesday we drove up over the Beartooth Pass, an incredible drive, where there's still a lot of snow, beautiful wildflowers and magnificent views, and on to Red Lodge, MT.

BEARTOOTH HIGHWAY: SNOW, MARSH MARIGOLDS AND VIEW

Then we went across Montana to Glendive, MT and on to Beach, ND, just over the line from Montana, where we spent the night Wednesday, and had one of our "evening walks in a strange town." We love exploring a new place and imagining living there. Thursday morning we went on a few miles to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND, another very special place, sort of like the Badlands, but different too, and with several "prairie dog towns" which are another sight to behold! The grandkids would love them! The park is, in a way, a monument to the important role Theodore Roosevelt played in the creation of national parks and monuments.

VIEW FROM BUCK HILL, T.R.N.P.

We went on from there to Lemmon, SD, the hometown of Kathleen Norris, author of Dakota, Cloister Walk, Amazing Grace, and other books I have enjoyed. We read parts of Dakota; A Spiritual Geography as we drove. We had a little supper in Lemmon and then had a long drive yesterday evening to Aberdeen, SD, where we spent the night and where I am writing now - in a very fancy suite which we got because we made a reservation through Hotel.com but the Super 8 in Aberdeen didn't have the room Hotel.com sold us, so they upgraded us to this suite at the same price. This created a bit of anxiety last night because we got a text message on the cell phone saying there "was an issue with our reservation," and that it was urgent that we call a number. But we kept going in and out of cell phone access and we worried whether maybe we wouldn't have a room - it was getting on toward 11 p.m. at this point, so we had a right to worry! We finally reached the number and found that they just wanted to tell us we had an upgraded room! Now how "urgent" was that? So here we are! Today we'll go on to the twin cities in MN - maybe we'll get to see our friend Arleene Sweet. Then on to Bartlett, IL Saturday, and see how my brother is doing. We're pretty close to 9,000 miles at this point.

Horsing around

DAY FIFTY: Today the Feinlands headed back to home. They drove to Salt Lake City where they will spend tonight and fly out on an early flight in the morning for Bradley. So there were many goodbyes today. Max took it all in stride pretty well, but he did get close to a four-hour nap this afternoon. Ellen and I hung out and had a quiet day. Tomorrow, we'll head for Yellowstone.

DAY FORTY-NINE: Saturday, Ben and Miriam helped Ellen make a "cherry-berry pie."

Then Ellen suggested we all take a walk down to the horse arena, which is just down the road. It was an inspired suggestion, because it led to a wonderful experience for the girls. Inside the arena, we found a mother and daughter riding. Emma, the daughter, was practicing moves on her new horse, Kentucky. Emma is a barrel racer, which is sort of like a slalom course for horse and rider. Only fourteen years old, and she is good. Her mother, Kelly, said Emma had been riding since she was two. Kelly offered to give Tamar a ride on Choppers, the 18-year-old and very gentle old trail horse she was riding. She even put a child's saddle on Choppers so Tamar could get her feet into the stirrups. Then after several trips around the arena, she did the same for Miriam. They were both thrilled, as you can see:

TAMAR ON CHOPPERS, WITH EMMA

MIRIAM ON CHOPPERS

Workshop

DAY FORTY-EIGHT: The highlight of today was a workshop that Ellen and I led for the Boise Hospice Singers, a group like our group back home, Hallowell. BHS is led by our friend, Susan Gelletly, and Ellen and I had a little part in helping to get it going. This was actually our Third Annual Workshop! The BHS has grown and become firmly established since it was formed three years ago. It has over forty members, many of whom come from a strong musical background (e.g., several are retired music teachers). We met for a potluck lunch at noon in a lovely space called the ENSO Art Space, a gallery cooperative leased by eight artists, one of whom is a member of BHS, Chris Binion. Chris’ art and that of another artist adorned the space, and the room was attractive, as well as live acoustically. The event was well attended (over twenty people), and the lunch was spectacular. The workshop itself was a mix of singing and sharing experiences. We opened with a song Navajo Chant, which goes “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” After introductions, we introduced Hallowell to them and then opened the floor to questions. After a while we segued into a discussion of the lyrics of the songs we sing and how they resonate when sung in the context of someone dying. We sang, inter alia, Over the Rainbow, All Through the Night, Angel Band and How Could Anyone Ever Tell You. Several folks had meaningful experiences to share and it didn’t seem very long before we had come to closing time. People seemed to appreciate our being there and we enjoyed it too.

BOISE HOSPICE SINGERS








Earlier I found time to UPS my Canon A85 back to the factory for a free fix, and we visited the fabulous Boise Coop, which is always fun to walk through even if you buy very little. Now we are driving to Arco, ID, where we’ll spend the night. Tomorrow we’ll join the gang in Alpine, WY where all Ellen’s grandchildren and their families are gathered, and have one day with them before the Feinlands return to Massachusetts. We ourselves will be moving on, on Monday, to Yellowstone National Park. We have reservations for two nights in a cabin at Roosevelt Lodge, our favorite part of the Park. Then on Wednesday, we’ll start the long trek home.