:: 2006 Events & Environs ::
The year to date has been extremely busy - so much so that I hadn't even visited this website in over a month. Now, with only a short pause to reflect, I post some photos of our environs, our friends and some of the events we've been involved in. The first row of photos are of our new apartment atop one of DC's suburban metro stations - literally two minutes walk from door to station platform. So convenient.
:: Christmas 2005 ::
Like a marathon runner making it across the finish line, everyone made it reasonably happy, and almost all healthy to this Christmas of 2005. We have much to give thanks for.
:: Richmond Town & the Greenbelt ::
As a relief from all the food consumed during the Christmas holiday, we visited historic Richmond Town, Staten Island's first European settlement, established in 1661...! It was here that John Adams & Ben Franklin met and tried to negotiate with British officials before the beginning of hostilities between the 13 American colonies & the British Empire in 1775.
The Greenbelt is a sliver of wooded land remarkably set aside during the poltergeistic-building frenzy of the mid-1970's so that Staten Islanders would have a natural setting within which to breathe fresh air (difficult during the heyday of the world's largest landfill just a mile downwind at Fresh Kills...) and retract sharpened elbows from the daily battle with the Island's 450,000+ & the city's 8 million+ denizens. On this day, we enjoyed 2 hours of peaceful, scenic hiking on the Greenbelt's Red trail, which begins close to the Richmond Town sign you see us photographed next to.
:: 2005 4th of July ::
Sore muscles and happy memories were generously accumulated this weekend in Staten Island as we spent the holiday with family, doing yard work, firing up the barbecue grill almost daily, watching fireworks from the beach and visiting the Great Kills* unit of Gateway National Recreation
area, albeit without swimming because of an e-coli bacteria infestation in the waters off the island. Ahhh, some things haven't changed in 30 years!
*An explanation of the use of the word Kills here. Staten Island was originally colonized by the Dutch and thus many place names and geologic or hydrologic features reflect this early Dutch influence. Kills is a dutch word for river or creek, of which many can be found in and around Staten Island and greater NYC.
:: Mother's Day 2005 ::
A splendid family reunion in the lovley northern neck of the great Commonwealth of Virginia, home to George Washington and the Lee family. This weekend mixed celebration of Mark's 40th and Eliot's 1st birthdays with Mother's Day, with Mom and Suzy coming down from NYC to join us.
:: Christmas 2004 ::
While I was in the swing of things, I realized I hadn't posted any photos from Christmas 2004,
so apologies for the oversight and tardiness
.
:: Summer 2004 ::
By happy coincidence, we were able to assemble our small, but growing family this August for a mild summer afternoon barbecue. What also made the family reunion enjoyable was the visit of our close friends Dan and Mindy, with their lovely infant daughter Jennifer.
We also had a reunion of the Barone-Esposito family, during a special picnic to remember John Esposito and Frank Walter, brothers-in-law, who passed away within four months of each other in 2003, leaving many sad family and friends from New York and New Jersey down to Florida.
And the end of August brought more sad news, of the passing of my uncle, Mike Fungone, age 61, who had never failed to bring a laugh to anyone he met.
:: Mothers Day 2004 ::
We took Mom out for a visit to Staten Island's Botanical Garden, also known as Snug Harbor Cultural Center, the former home of retired seaman - Sailor's Snug Harbor it was formerly called. Mom had indicated an interest in seeing the Chinese Scholar's Garden that we had seen dedicated some years back but hadn't seen the finished product. Lovely weather guided us around the grounds, even as Mom expressed mystification that what she was seeing was a garden. Just another reminder of the differences in translation between East and West...
:: Mom's 70th Birthday April 2003 ::
We were able to all gather together in DC this year to celebrate Mom's 70th birthday, on the weekend after she hit the big 7-OH! Suzy and Mom drove down on Friday and the special treat she enjoyed was having all three kids and both grandsons together for two nights of dinner, fun, Uno and celebration. Oh, yeah, there was the uninvited guest at Mark and Christine's early Saturday morning, but he didn't nab any of the birthday cake, fortunately!
:: Mark & family ::
Days as lovely as this are a rarity to be fully enjoyed, especially on the first weekend in November in DC. We enjoyed the day at Mary McLeod Bethune Park in the Eastern Market section of DC. Tons of babies, tots, and expectant moms.
:: Miscellaneous Photos of us ::
Photos of our various meanderings around DC and the world