Swapping out my parking pass at work!

Beginning on 7-1-2020, I'm sporting a new parking pass for Illinois State. This comes after 2 years at Cortland State (1987-1989), 4 years at grad school at the U of IL, 5 years at Chicago State (1993-1998), and 22 years at Illinois State (1998-2020). What a ride, and what will the next chapter bring?

I didn't waste anytime before hitting the road to visit family in NY. These are my nieces on top of Storm King Mountain along the Hudson. Their gift to me was the t-shirt I'm sporting here: Retired 2020 - not my problem anymore!

Lush soybeans at the Germanville farm

Corn crib, Germanville farm

Wildflowers

Dennis and Cheryl's 50th anniversary party with  the siblings and outlaws. St. Joseph, IL

We planted a red oak on our 29th wedding anniversary, and plan to take another picture by this same tree 21 years. Stay tuned!

Cousin Linda, and the calm before the storm

Cousin Linda battled cancer for just over a year before passing away in December 2019. This is a picture of Linda (15), me (5), and my next-door neighbor Debbie (3) that was taken on our back steps in Hancock, NY. Linda provided a home-away-from-home for my brother Tom during his first year of college, and she wrote me many letters when I lived in Guatemala in the mid-1980s. 

She was a wiz at genealogy and wrote at least 4 family histories. An English teacher to middle school kids, she made a point to be there for them. She loved her kids and grandkids, was an expert worrier about their well-being.  

Because of cousin Linda, I met Tom. She was visiting me in Champaign in February 1990 when the Indiana Hoosiers were in town to play the Fighting Illini. She insisted that we watch the game at a bar, and who was I to argue with that decision? After the game we struck up a conversation with a handsome guy (actually, I bought him a drink). It turned out to be Tom!   

I miss her very much.  

Little did we know at the time, but Linda's funeral would be one of the last before the pandemic set in. And just as well because Linda would have had no use for COVID-19.  After the funeral we went to Kevin and Brooke's home to hang out. Here is Kevin, with cousin Tim looking on, making an "Elwood martini." To do so, pour gin on the rocks and wave the bottle of dry vermouth over the top of the gin and there it is!

Tom and I got to see Mom and Dad in February. We hosted a cocktail party and had a great evening out for dinner at Ventura's Italian Ristorante. We knew something was brewing with the "virus" and were glad to get in a visit!

Several weeks later we traveled to Reno, NV to see Tom's Aunt Alberta on her 99th birthday. We had some good laughs despite the hospital stay .  

From Reno it was over to Ukiah to spend a few days with Craig, Monica, and Winston. Wineries, oysters, pork, you name it, we enjoyed it all! 

Also on our travels was a visit to see Uncle Mike and cousins John, Dave, and Paula.
 
Pinnacles National Park did not disappoint. We hiked a few trails and enjoyed the views.  Worth the trip!

Our pint-sized friends, Maddox and Charlotte for her 4th birthday party

   

Have you tried Ecuadorian chocolate?

In 2019 BC (Before Corona) Tom and I traveled to the beautiful South American country of Ecuador. The Quito airport sits at 10,000 feet above sea level which, coming from Chatsworth's 800 feet, caused some headaches while we became accustomed to the altitude. 

While touring this church in Quito we came across this guy selling coca leaves - see the next picture. 

Coca is a cash crop in p arts of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. For years, it has played an important role in Andean cultures where folks chew it for its mild simulant properties as well as it's ability to suppress hunger, thirst, pain, and fatigue. Of course we bought some to chew for only $3 in hopes of relieving our altitude headaches. Incidentally, the experience is less like chewing gum and more like chewing the leaves you've raked in the back yard. 

Tom loved the coca leaves and is still talking about it! 

Ecuadorian cacao (not to be confused with the aforementioned coca) produces some tasty chocolate. We are big fans of dark chocolate so a fair amount of time was spent purchasing and sampling across the different brands. Their coffee is delicious as well. From the coca and cacao to their coffee, we were busy!

Baños is located several hours south of Quito and is known for its thermal springs. This picture and the next 2 are taken from our lodge room perched high in a canyon with its beautiful waterfall (we hiked to it) that you can see if you click on the picture.

The next picture is taken from the top of the waterfall.

This short sassy Salasaca lady was hand spinning wool into yarn along the highway. Authentic as she was, she quickly made clear her desire to come home with us so that we could find her a husband! She didn't know where we were from but that didn't matter. Salasaca women are known for their colorful tops, woven belts called chumbi, and long wool skirts.

Cuy, or roasted guinea pig, is a famous dish in the highlands. We thought we'd see more in our travels and opted to wait to sample it. Unfortunately, it was the only one we saw. 

We stopped by a couple of tourist attractions marking the equator passing through Ecuador. The first one features a 30m-high trapezoidal monument marking the invisible of zero latitude passing around the center of the earth. The problem was that Charles Marie de La Codamine's 1736 measurements were a little off (ok, so they didn't have GPS back in the day). But we went there anyhow and spent our tourist dollars. Then we walked several meters to the northeast to find the more subdued attraction marking the "spot" calculated with GPS.  Details, details!! 

Weeeee!

  

 

Summertime and the livin' is easy, but spring wasn't!

The weather was terrible this spring. Most crops didn't get planted until June, other fields weren't planted at all. 


I was to retire on 6/30/19 and had a retirement party planned, however, I was asked to stay on 1 more year and accepted. Still had the party, though! Here is the party-prep crew after a hard day's work.

Love this!

Alan was to retire on 6/30/19 and he actually got it done!

Daniel, Mom, and me

Kiddie cocktail party. Don't judge.

Dan's girlfriend, Alison, is a senior aerospace engineering major at the University of Colorado. In summer she travels to places like South America and Africa with student engineers to build community bridges. This summer Alison lead the team and look what they built in Swaziland!

Karen helping Tom load a pallet at the Lynch farm. The soybeans are coming up.

Last month I had a bike accident after losing control on gravel. I walloped my head (the helmet saved me) and ended up with stitches in my hand and elbow.  Tom decided I should go to the ER after my babble sounded more ridiculous than usual. They decided to keep me overnight for observation. It took me over a month to "get back on the horse" as they say. How about that new helmet?

Today was the 5th annual Dan Cavanagh Multiple System Atrophy 5K. It was a beautiful walk, and we proudly came in at the back of the pack!

Love these purple coneflowers!

The Funks came out for a little dip in the pond before the Bach reunion this afternoon.  They love the swing. The kids almost talked me into jumping off the swing, but at the last second I chickened out. 

We got into the LC banana cream pie before the reunion! 

This - n - That

Here are a bunch of pictures over the year. Tom and I were on a hike in southern IL.

In March we escaped to FL for a conference and to visit Karen and Joel in Gainesville where we saw alligators, sand hill cranes, turtles, a water moccasin, and even a manatee that swam under our kayaks!

Harold the Camel meets Next Gen Emmett Guanzini. While on a visit to cousin Linda's, I also happened upon Kevin's 40th birthday party in November!

Charlie and I before his daughter Blake's graduation from Fordham U in May.

Two Fordham alums!

Dad and Charlie went on the Syracuse Honor Flight to Washington, DC in September!

Celebrating Noelle's appointment as ISU's interim grad school director.

Brazil, baby! The clouds parted briefly at the Christ the Redeemer statue.

Brother Tom crashed Blake's graduation party. Here he is with sis-in-law Carolyn and Mom & Dad in the background.

Snappin' selfies w/ Tracy at commencement.

Old Mill Restaurant along the Unadilla River in April. They still love their straight up Manhattans!

Every so often I get to Selkow-sit!

Dad's 70th reunion from Rutgers University.  It would have been Uncle Ken's reunion, too. Here we are: Aunt Harriet, cousin Karen, Ann, me, George, and Franklin who was the only other 1949 classmate.

Mom's 90th birthday party on January 26 in Utica.  Bottom L-R: Teri, George, Carol, Ann, and Kelly. Top L-R: Barb, Tom, John Hesse (party crasher), Carolyn, and Charlie.