Category Archives: Old Campus Trl

Fall Leaves at Old Campus Trail

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Leaves have been falling heavily for several weeks creating a beautiful cover for the yard and driveway.  This morning the drive was completely hidden even though I clean up the yard several times each week.  It appears that the trees in the front yard are about 60% of the way through this year’s crop of leaves.  Here are a few shots of what I saw today before today’s clean-up.

 Unfortunately I missed a photo-op with the maple tree in front of our garage. It and the dogwoods are always the first to signal the coming of fall on Old Campus Trail with their brilliant red and gold fall colors.

43 years 8 months …

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Jan’s Mother Celina LaPierre Jutras, Lorraine Dziedzic Grant (James’ Godmother), Janet, Father Vincent Keane, Bill and John at Lorraine’s apartment in Arlington VA, January 4, 1975

For some reason the photo cube that sits on our kitchen desk caught my eye this morning as I was checking email. I see it every day, but today the photo to the right was pointed my direction and it brought back a flood of memories of the fall of 1974 & early 1975 - particularly January 4, 1975. Good memories. Two young people, newly met, in love and electing to cast their lots in life together and form a new family - or should I say 3 young people as John was part of it from the relationship’s earliest beginning. We didn’t know where our journey would take us, but we had hopes and faith that it would be an interesting journey full of love.

Lots of water has passed under our bridge in the 43 years and 8 months since, the memories are still good, the journey is still full of love and is still interesting.

We love you.

Dad

Happy Birthday Gramma Jan!

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Gramma Jan at our favorite watering hole on her birthday!

Gramma Jan at our favorite watering hole on her birthday!
 

Gramma Jan with Everett at Oakhurst Porchfest

Gramma Jan with Everett at Oakhurst Porchfest

Happy Birthday Gramma Jan!!  You’re my playmate, soulmate, travelmate, true love, and best friend!  Enjoy your day today.

Jan has had a major impact on so many lives.  She brightens every room she enters, makes sure that each of our children and grandchildren are remembered at least once each day, never met a stranger, and keeps my life organized beyond belief.  Don’t know what I’d do without her!

We all love you, Gramma Jan!!  Happy Birthday!

Mike and Jennifer Visit Atlanta

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Nice family! We enjoyed your visit!!

Nice family! We enjoyed your visit!!

We started 2016 with a visit by Jennifer, Mike, and Christopher Lombardo and Jennifer’s mom (and Bill’s sister) Sarah.  They spent the better part of a week with us and we had a great time visiting and showing off Atlanta’s sightseeing high spots.

Photos of their visit are in the 2016 Gallery.  Click here to view them.

Kickin’ Back in the Keys

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Sunset at Curry Hammock State Park on Little Grassy Key, Marathon FL

Sunset at Curry Hammock State Park on Little Grassy Key, Marathon FL

Mom and I will wrap up a delightful week and a half at Curry Hammock State Park in the middle Florida Keys tomorrow.  We’ve had a very relaxed visit, spending our time enjoying local attractions, reading, and sampling the local watering holes and restaurants. We did make one quick trip into Key West for an event Mom wanted to see.

Weather has been surprisingly nice during our visit. We were expecting rain due to Hurricane Joaquin, but with a few exceptions skies have been clear with a few clouds scattered about.

We can see coming back to the area for another visit, but if we do it will take place a bit later in the fall or  early spring. This visit turned out to be a bit ahead of tourist season, so quite a few restaurants were not open or are just now opening for the season.

When we leave the Keys tomorrow (Friday), we will head to Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando. Abby is running in the Disney Cross Country Classic Saturday and we plan to cheer her to a good finish. After that we’ll head south to Bradenton and Sarasota to visit Claire and Sarah and their families for a few days before heading home to prepare for Pat Colon’s visit the following week.

Wyoming

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Devils Tower silhouetted against the evening sky behind our camper.

Devils Tower silhouetted against the evening sky behind our camper.

Finally, I have the photos from our trip to Wyoming organized and uploaded to the Gallery.  Click here to view them, or use the menu to go to the Gallery and scroll down to the Wyoming album.

Our agenda for the month long trip included Wyoming and South Dakota with a stop in Decorah, Iowa during our return journey. This let us visit the Bighorn Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Little Bighorn National Park, the Black Hills, the Badlands, and Mom’s eagle cam eagle family in Decorah.

We thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Its start was a bit challenging due to Mom’s respiratory issues at the altitudes we encountered. We should have known to expect them and been prepared, but the potential didn’t occur to either of us as we planned the trip. Regardless, with help from the good folks at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center we were able to continue our trip.  We slowed our pace, modified our agenda, and had a great time together enjoying the beautiful scenery and friendly people in Wyoming, South Dakota, and Iowa.

Thanks to all of you for your love and support during our trip!

Innkeeper’s Gazette changes

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We have reorganized Innkeeper’s Gazette from a traditional static web site containing a blog into a blog driven web site. The goal remains the same — to present family news and photos — but the blog format should make it easier to update our readers quickly as things happen. We tried the format during our Europe trip last fall and found that the approach worked well.

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Saint Francina …

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Tony and Diane regularly tease Mom about being Saint Francina due to Mom’s love of animals.

The Medical community at the Providence VA hospital is beginning to buy into her Sainthood.

After Mom arrived yesterday, Jerry has had an amazing turnaround.  He has been alert, able to visit with Mom, jokes with the staff, able to confirm his medical directives with Mom and the staff, able to go without the BPAP device for longer periods, and able to comprehend his situation.  His medical team is elated.  They will continue to watch him closely, but have cautiously begun talking about returning him to Morgan Health Center, which is equipped to handle the BPAP machine that he uses to assist his breathing.  Their major proviso is that Morgan be able to return Jerry to the VA quickly should fluid buildup in his lungs increase to the point that it again impairs breathing.  His situation is still dire given his host of medical issues with liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, et cetera.Continue reading→