Five Things

It's been awhile since my last blog, and a LOT has transpired. I am going to jump ahead for now and then recap the summer in a later blog.

Five Things I Like About Minneapolis:

5 - MN accents - you betcha.

4 - No humidity after August.

3 - City living.

2 - The outdoorsy life.

1 - Being with my honey!!!

Five Things I Miss About Ponte Vedra:

5 - The beach.

4 - Sunshine 95% of the time.

3 - Long days.

2 - Golfing with the gals.

1 - Friends.

Five Things I Don't Miss About Ponte Vedra:

P.S. Okay, I admit, this is a stretch and it took me longer to think of reasons I don't miss PVB.

5 - Our big house.

4 - Bugs and geckos.

3 - Humidity.

2 - 90 degree plus days in September.

1 - Living w/o my honey 5 out of 7 days a week.

There you have it in a nutshell!

Summer In Aspen

A beautiful Aspen Tree grove.

Jim and I just spent several days in Aspen for a business team building event. Not only has it been about 9 years since I have been to Colorado, I have never been during the summer months. We had spectacular weather to match the spectacular views

and the spectacular food. We stayed at the St. Regis at the bottom of the mountain. Alas, so much to do and so little time. We did have time to ride the gondola to the top of Ajax for lunch, take a white water rafting trip down the Arkansas River,

At the end of our ride on the Arkansas.

and fit in two rounds of golf,

Maroon Creek Golf Club

plus some walking, shopping, and relaxing. Oh yes, Jim had a little work mixed in there too. All in all, I think summer is my favorite time to visit the Centennial State.

Green Thumb?

I have been wanting to enjoy the fruits of a garden for several years now. Not known for my patience or gardening skill, I was excited to read about the supposed ease of hydroponic tomatoes! Once settled into the rental house on MVY, I raced to the nursery to pick up the necessary equipment. Low and behold it was just as advertised... easy! So easy in fact that I decided to try two varieties of tomatoes AND an herb garden.

Freshly planted, lookin good.

A month later and there are lots of flowers on the tomatoes and we are enjoying the fresh herbs in our daily fare. Stay tuned for a tomato update. Yummmmmmmm.

G is for......

G raduation

R eally good friends

A wesome grads

D uke

U nabashed pride as parents

A trip down memory lane

T rucks, beer trucks

(Better known as Duke Alumni Commencement Celebration. Sounds dubious, is dubious.)

I nspiring speakers

(Yes, and...)

O verjoyed

(over served?)

N ew beginnings

We wish Cullen success in law school in NYC and Melissa success in Boston. We had a full weekend of parties and family celebrating the accomplishment and achievement of the two cousins who started together at Duke four years ago.

Gammas on the Green

Melissa has been asking me to participate in the Duke Delta Gamma fundraiser Gammas on the Green for 3 years. So this year, her last at Duke, we played and I hope we can make it an annual event for me and the girls (that includes you Colleen). We had so much fun! Who knew that Melissa was a budding golfer?! Okay, I'm not sure if she really liked the golf, or just driving the golf cart. But she looks pretty intent over this putt.

We began with a delicious dinner at Rue Cler in Durham the night before. Em flew in from Boston late Friday to join in the event. Saturday dawned early, cool and partly cloudy, perfect golf weather. We met Mel and her sorority sister Marilie for b-fast, a quick warmup, and we teed off in our matching attire. We didn't win any prizes, but we certainly were the best looking team there.

After golf Em and I relaxed and recharged poolside with a champagne cocktail at our favorite spot The Umstead Hotel and shared a delicious dinner and conversation. It was a quick visit, but worth every second. Now that we have gotten Mel on the course, I am glad to be able to share my favorite sport with the entire family. Hope we can get some rounds in this summer on MVY.

Easter

Our shared family trips and meetings in Durham are gradually coming to an end as time spirals towards May, graduation, and our imminent move to Minnesota. We spent the third year in a row celebrating Easter in Durham. We had particularly fine weather, the flora was in all its glory including the explosion of pollen. Everywhere and everything was covered with a fine coat of greenish yellow. Waves of pollen dust were even visible floating through the air. We cheered as the Blue Devils advanced to the championship, we sampled some tasty new restaurants and it wouldn't be Easter without poppyseed and Josh Early candy.

Cousins, minus Cullen:(

We enjoyed meeting Melissa's friend, Eric, who was brave enough to have dinner with the family one night.

Eric and Melissa

We missed Cullen, JoAnn, and Pete. Looking forward to the graduation extravaganza!

Welcome - Fall in Springtime

A very majestic live oak tree.

Live Oak or Evergreen Oak -- The name live oak comes from the fact that these trees remain green and "live" throughout winter, when other oaks are dormant, leafless and "dead"-looking.

It is that time of year again in Ponte Vedra, that time that never ceases to intrigue me - fall in springtime. There are not many deciduous plants in Florida so autumn is relatively a non-event. But in spring, as the live oaks push off the old leaves to make room for the new growth, the ground and gutters are littered with debris. Hence, fall in springtime. When Zoe was small, she loved to chase the leaves as I kicked them along.

Live oaks also contribute to the pollen count. As the leaves are pushed off, little clumps of flowers appear and as they fall off and new leaves emerge, yellow pollen is everywhere.

It has been a long, cold winter and I welcome all the new growth, including a little debris and pollen.