Queen is so Non-Gender Specific

For those of you who don’t know me well…and there may be some guest readers to this edition…it seems that if Cheri and I are getting ready to go on vacation, then I need to fall off my bike. 

There was still enough light Friday evening for us to head out on a ride.  We did a nice 13 mile loop and as I powered to the top of Dugg Hill I  pulled over to watch Cheri surge up the climb.  At the top of the hill is a nice turn-out that provides a great view over the fields of East Woodstock with the church steeple just rising above the trees…a very New England look.  I crossed the road to this turn-out and when I got to the edge realized there was a six inch drop from the road to the packed dirt area.  Slowing my bike I dropped down onto the dirt surface and then needed to turn quickly (or drop off a steep edge into brush and a field). 

Now I am moving very slow…turning left…on loose dirt with a drop to one side and a six inch climb back onto the asphalt on the other.  Since I planned to stop here anyhow, I kicked my right foot out of the pedal clip (when stopping I usually unhitch my right foot first since that is the foot nearest the edge of the road).  When turning left the bike tends to lean in that direction and having kicked out my right foot it continued to move my overall center of gravity in that direction as well (the engineers out there will appreciate this…and I won’t go into angular velocity or centrifugal effects).  Regardless, I now realized that I was fully stopped…leaning left…my left foot still attached to the pedal…and a fall was inevitable.  The photo above shows the greatest part of the ‘seen’ injury (the unseen greater part is my pride) where upon hitting the ground on my left side my loose right leg followed gravity and momentum down and across the front gear sprocket. 

Enough Mundane Info…On to the Important Events

Saturday was time to take Bunco back to the South…or at least southern Connecticut.  Jack (a former Queen and only a little bitter about losing his crown…I’m just saying) and Stephanie Gosselin hosted the next event at their home in North Stonington.  As Consort to the reigning Queen Cheri I took great care in delivering her and the royal jewels to the site.  Upon arrival they were prominently displayed in the main room of the Gosselin Estate.

 The evening began with appetizers, cocktails and a brief demonstration of the usefulness of a ‘spud-gun’ for planting potatoes and providing fetch opportunities for the dog, Lego.  Although there was a nice outdoor fireplace providing some comfort, the party soon moved inside and proceeded to the main entree.  Stephanie made a large serving of paella for the main course and we settled in for a fine meal.

…and then the Bunco festivities began…the range of emotions throughout the game was intense.

 

Finally the rounds were completed, the scoring done and Jack and I went into Executive Session to determine the winnings.  There was some discussion among non-winning players that Jack and I may not have been judicious in our choice of most wins trumping a tie for most Buncos, not that we are overly concerned…again, I’m just saying.

 

The votes were in…scores tallied and Jo received an award for the most loses…Drew an award for the most wins…and then it was time for the coronation for the player rolling the most Buncos.

The transition seemed to move smoothly and orderly with Cheri standing regally by the host.   And yet it may have been this nexus of Royalty that caused the calamity to follow…the crown fell to the floor, jewels and dice scattered… Eventually Queen Mark was able to pull himself together enough for the official picture of the coronation. The Queen is dead…long live the Queen!

Then came the moment of transfer…the passing of State from now a former Queen to the new Queen…Queen Mark.  Rare is it that we have three members of the Royal Lineage so involved with the transfer of State.   The former Queen worked with the new Queen to gather the crown jewels…and the dignity of the participants.

The Festivities ended well with all participants enjoying the adventure.  A tentative time in June is being established for Queen Mark to defend his role as the Bunco Queen.

 

Jet-Setting

Somehow the month of March has passed us by…

Following our wonderful weekend in Boston we managed to stay at home for a week…then it was back to Boston to catch a flight to San Diego.  It was time for the annual American Society for Healthcare Engineers and the American Institute of Architects Planning, Design & Construction Summit. 

These summits are often times for me to speak or do presentations, but this year I was able to get by with simply presenting the Vista Award for teamwork in a healthcare construction project.  I Chair the selection jury and as the Chair had the privilege of making the presentation at the opening ceremonies (in front of approximately 2,000 attendees).  The presentation went off very well and then I had time to simple attend the summit, pick up new ideas, and network with others from around the country.

Much of my time was going to be spent at Summit events, but we planned ahead for Jess to come over from Phoenix to spend days with Cheri and all of us being together in the evening.  Also, since it was San Diego we decided to head out on Saturday arriving late in the evening.

Jess joined us the next morning and following breakfast we each headed out our own ways…me to play some golf, Jess and Cheri to take a tour of the Southern California wine country.  I am not sure who had the better deal, but we all had a good time.

 

That evening we decided to take advantage of the Old Town area of San Diego and headed out to the Coyote Cafe, a Mexican restaurant.  We were able to sit out in the courtyard, but having the propane heater did help…along with the margaritas… Even while enjoying pool time, Jess was multi-tasking with her Kindle and her Blackberry.

Monday  seemed to involve quite a bit of time in the sun for Cheri and Jess while I went off to make the  Award presentation and attend some sessions.  That evening we caught up with several of my friends and their wives from around the country for a good time at Joe’s Crab Shack.

The trip followed this planned theme for a couple of days with Jess and Cheri heading off to tour and bike while I went to presentations and exhibits.

The summit ended on Wednesday and Cheri and I spent the night—instead of catching a red-eye flight—which gave us a little more time with Jess to do some sight-seeing before getting her onto a flight.  We headed out to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Park and Monument.  The weather was beautiful, once again, and we had a great time hiking around the Park and the lighthouse before sending Jess on her way.

It was a great trip overall being able to spend some time with professional colleagues from around the country and to top it off by spending time with Jess.

After arriving back in Connecticut we were fortunate to have uncommonly warm weather which allowed us to do work cleaning up the yard over the next few weekends—spending time with my newest toy.   It also allowed us to begin eating out on the deck while enjoying the weather.

The nice weather took us into April and the Easter Holiday…the month of March has passed us by.

Coming soon to the Adventures…a guest writer telling tales and showing pictures from her travels to the genteel South with her friend Gail.

 

Guinness is Good For You…Even in Boston

As the result of my winnings at a golf tournament—the raffle, not the playing—Cheri and I had a weekend in Boston.  A limo to get us there and back, two nights at the Copley Marriott and a few dollars to spend…not bad for a twenty dollar raffle ticket that supported the fund raising for one of our hospitals.

We arrived late afternoon on Friday at the hotel and then headed out to walk around the area in Boston.  Before getting back to the hotel we did stumble upon Solas, an Irish Pub in Boston…how could it compare to Dingle (inquiring minds wanted to know…well, at least I did)?  The Guinness was okay, but not the same as in Ireland.  It could be the geography, the surroundings, the people…but I am guessing it was the brewing.  Ah well, a return trip to Ireland at some point in our future may be required.  It would be another great adventure and there may even be some readers that would want to join us.

Down to the Public Gardens—no swan boats this time of year—back up Boylston Street.

Here’s the view from our room when we got back.  Not a bad look at Boston.

Later Friday evening we headed over to Cambridge to meet up with Dan Whitney, currently at Harvard Law School, and to enjoy one of the restaurants on the other side of the Charles River.  First we went to Craigie on Main for a cocktail and to rendezvous with Dan.  Craigie on Main has excellent Food & Wine reviews for their mixologists and they didn’t fail us.  (Note to self – the layout, food being served and ability to see the whole kitchen operation make this a place to try for dinner in the future).

Coming out of Craigie on Main we made a few false turns—maps on the Blackberry were surprisingly inaccurate—and finally made it the couple of hundred yards to Salts.

FOODIE ALERT – some of the following may focus on food and wine…but then that is what we do…

Salts is a fairly small restaurant with only about 40 seats, but that meant the service was impeccable and the waiter was able to fully describe the food, the preparation, the herbs and spices, and the flavors.  He also had good insight into the wine, and they have a great wine list.

On-line and in several magazines Salts had great reviews and it was someplace Dan had not yet been.  So we had earlier made reservations and were ready for a new experience.. We were fortunate that a roast duck for two was available.  Usually this item requires it be requested before arriving, but it worked out for us.  Dan and I split this entree (which you can see being carved in the photo) and Cheri had tenderloin beef.  Preceding the entree we did each try an appetizer—Parsnip and Almond Soup with squab (domestic pigeon), sour orange and dark chocolate for me;  Nantucket scallops in a seafood broth for Cheri; and foie gras with carmelized black olives and beet foam for Dan.  To top off the meal we had Orange panna cotta, lemon souffle tart, and a chocolate and carmel tart…a filling evening spread over three hours.

We sent Dan off, back to his apartment, and caught a cab back to our room at the Marriott.

Saturday morning we lazed a little and, after I had already had some coffee and done some writing, I got Cheri up for some breakfast around 8:00.  We took our time, but had plans to meet a tour group in the North End just before 10.

When looking on-line for different things to do in Boston Cheri found The Food Tours of Boston—go figure—so we had a plan.  A small group of nine met at the edge of the North End along the Rose Kennedy Greenway—the park now in the place the Central Artery once occupied.  Our tour guide started us out at Maria’s Bakery and led us on a three hour tour of the history and the food experiences of the North End—fishmongers, butchers, green grocers, and general Italian groceries.  We learned the differences between Italian-American cooking and Italian cooking. 

Along the way we discovered Mediterranean pine nuts and Chinese pine nuts, identifying real (not doctored) balsamic vinegar, the importance and virtues of extra virgin olive oil (evoo), and how to tell male and female eggplant apart.  We were able to sample foods and ingredients along the way.  A very enjoyable way to spend the mid-day.

If you look closely at one of the pictures above you will see the word Gelati and Napoli Pastry next to a plaster ice cream cone.  We were told their gelato comes only from Italy and is flown in weekly.  Since we had time following the tour we grabbed some lunch at a trattoria and then determined we would validate the quality of Italian gelato…it was worth the side trip.

With full (or fuller) bellies we decided to walk from the North End back to our hotel next to the Pru.  It was a nice walk and the weather—at least in the sunlight—was very Spring-like.  We did wander through the Prudential Mall for a little while to pick up some odds and ends before getting back to our room for a little siesta and getting ready to meet Mike and Jo Gallivan for dinner.

Our evening adventure (yes another one of the eating kind) took us to Radius, a restaurant in the Financial District.  The food and service were once again outstanding and the evening was three hours of visiting and slowly eating.  Without going into all of the menu items some of what we enjoyed may be tried in some future cooking at one of our outings.

A cab ride back to our hotel—we weren’t walking at this hour—and we were tucked in for the evening.

Sunday morning was another slow awakening before an initial check out from the hotel.  We packed, checked out, and left our bags with the Bell Captain so we could enjoy a little more time in Boston. 

Having never been to the JFK Library—it’s one of those things where you rarely go to the sites close to where you live—we decided that Sunday morning would be a good time to make that trip.

 

We took the T from the Prudential Station out to JFK / UMASS—with a change at Park Street Station.  A free shuttle bus runs from the T Station to the Library, so the trip was easy.

The setting is on the UMASS Boston Campus—chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy—to reflect JFK’s love of the ocean and has great views back towards downtown.

We spent three hours in the museum and if not for having to meet our ride back home we could easily have spent at least another hour.  If you have never made it to this museum I highly recommend it.  We have all grown up hearing the speeches and some are old enough to have memories of living through some of the Kennedy days.  it means so much more to hear the words—mostly in JFK’s voice—and realize the context of the speeches and events.  The value you receive far exceeds the $12 entry fee.

Our trip back home was made easy by riding in the back of a town car.  A great way to travel—if someone else is paying for it.

A quick side-note…I thought we needed to have someplace to hang towels and bathrobes when using the hot tub so I asked Dad for some design advice and came up with what you see in the photo.

Thanks for joining the adventure this week.

 

New Bunco Queen Celebrates Caribbean Style

We won’t quibble over which is more important…Bunco or the Super Bowl…Valentine’s Weekend Festivities or the Chinese New Year…it continues to be one adventure after another.  Just read on…

The Queen is Dead…Long Live the Queen

Who needs a Super Bowl when there is Bunco to be played?  The tradition continued in a new venue and many of us were there to witness a passing of the torch.

Bob and Ellie Donahue sponsored the winter event with an outstanding ham dinner supported by other of the Queen’s subjects bringing appetizers or desserts.

Not long after Cheri and I arrived the reigning Queen and his entourage made their entrance.  We quickly noticed that the Queen’s retiring to the Southern Palace following the last Bunco event resulted in a change in the Crown Jewels.  After feasting on Pig and Peat—a metaphor for pork and Scotch for those of you not familiar with Royalty…or Jimmy Buffet lyrics—the assembled masses spread out to four tables over four rooms, and the gaming began.  There were many give and takes with limited shouts of “Bunco” and “The Queen is going down” echoing around the rooms.

The scepter remained unchanged, but the Queen had complained that the earlier crown neither met his styling sense, nor fit the larger level of responsibility—or ego inflated hat size—that results from joining Royalty.  Jack the Queen (sounds like a rock group) had taken the Royal Jewels on a whirlwind tour and then he and his consort, Stephanie, used their own resources to embellish the Signs of State.  The crown will now weigh heavily on the head of anyone given the responsibility of representing our Bunco Kingdom.

We played the traditional two rounds and then the host and I went into Executive Council—private meetings to decide matters of State.  It didn’t take too long before the gathered masses saw white smoke and a hush fell over the crowd in the kitchen awaiting the results of our deliberations.  A roll-off for the most wins had to take place and Jim Nowak narrowly beat out Martha Harrison for the honor.

The Royal Jewels have now moved back to the Quiet Corner of Connecticut.  An early Spring challenge has already been established in an attempt to bring the Crown back to to the Southern Palace.  The Challenge is there, but Queen Cheri is growing comfortable as Royalty.  I’m just saying…

Then we announced the decision regarding the tied number of Bunco’s rolled and the Executive Council’s precedent setting move to then use total wins as a tie-breaker.  Cheri was declared the new Queen with newcomer Deni Vander Voort as a Lady-in-Waiting.

One adventure that will continue.

Calling All Captains


Besides being the weekend leading into the Chinese New Year—the Year of the Lion—the weekend was also significant for recognizing all the Queens in the Morris/Manz/Swenson trio.  With distance this event has evolved into a weekend long get together.

This year we gathered in Standish, Maine beginning Friday evening and the festivities began.  The ladies of our lives thought a gift selection of unique ales would be just the thing to get the men into the mood of preparing the weekend gourmet dinner.  Of course, since it was there…in the house…in front of us, and an opener was so close we decided to experiment with a couple on Friday evening.  We started the cooking as well with some tenderloin steaks that James had rubbed in fine ground coffee, crushed vanilla beans and kosher salt and left to sit overnight. Thomas chipped in with a preparation of brussel-sprouts with bacon and we rounded the meal out with baked potatoes and a little red wine to wash it all down.  Following the meal the lady-folk gathered around the fire place and watched some of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics.  The men went downstairs to play some pool…don’t even ask what Dan and Thomas were doing…suffice it to say they are both old enough to be consenting adults.

Not too surprising, it ended up a relatively late evening.  So, we all slept in a bit the next morning, but that didn’t stop our die-hard ladies from heading out for a run…as evidenced by the photo. Dan also got into the action and arrived back from his run about the same time as the Cheri and Liz.

Coffee, breakfast, coffee, showers, more coffee and then it was time for the men and women to go their separate ways.  The ladies off to Portland for some shopping and lunch.  The men needed to run some final errands to pick up flowers, the evening’s entree and lunch as well.

The afternoon seemed to fly by while the men pulled together the final items for dinner and added the decorations to the table.  James took the lead…and performed 98% of the work in getting the ambiance set—Dan’s and my 2% were primarily artistic opinions.  Our theme this year was a Caribbean evening and James had beach sand, figurines and models, and a self designed flower arrangement to set the mood—complete with palm trees, beach umbrellas, a pirate ship and doubloons. 

The ladies came home, visited for a short time and then we all retired to dress for the evening.  At this point the word went out, “Calling All Captains” and we responded appropriately…

The ladies joined us in their tropical attire, and began reviewing the menu, enjoying a selection of cheeses and crackers, and tasting cosmopolitans—Liz’s new favorite drink…at least until the next Lemon-drop martini.

We also took this time to get some couples photos before moving to the dining room.

Then it was on to dinner.  In the Caribbean theme we started with coconut shrimp and a pineapple & mango relish.  As soon as the shrimp was completed Dan prepared a Jamaican Hearts of Palm salad—a recipe he received from one of the Emergency Services technicians who is from Jamaica.  At the same time we prepared the Macadamia Nut crusted scallops to go into the oven.  The meal flowed from one step smoothly into the next. 
As I described to the ladies, the main course was, as expected, all about them.  Each food piece representing a piece of them:

“The scallops are firm, but tender and a little nutty; They rest on coconut risotto which is smooth, creamy and sensual; The mango-plum tomato salsa is exotic and a simple touch; On one side is a red pepper coulis which is savory and comforting; On the other side is a mango coulis which is sweet and spicy; Here’s to our ladies.”

Accompanying the entree, Dan prepared jalapeno corn bread which was drizzled with honey for a sweet, spicy, comforting side piece.  Dan then outdid himself by making key lime pie for dessert, for which he hand-whipped the cream.

We dined for over three-and-a-half hours and then retired back to the fire to close out the evening visiting and simply enjoying time spent well with good friends.

In keeping with not wanting to walk away without being well fed, Sunday morning Stephanie made us all eggs benedict.  James and I went off to sing in the choir at church and when we came back it was time for all of us to pack up and get on the road.

To view most of the pictures from the weekend click (or double-click) on the pirate ship below to be taken to my web-album.  Another great Adventure that will be a continuing story.

Valentines 2010

Keep Your Powder Dry

Gasparilla Day in Tampa was approaching and we were doing the best we could to hold off the Buccaneers.  Cheri and I arrived on Thursday, well before the attack, and headed off to Zephyrhills to bunker-down with Dad.  Dad’s friend RuthAnn (a part of the neighborhood team of “RuthAnn and Harvey”) along with her daughter Annette picked us up at the airport since Dad had dialysis that afternoon.

As usual following his dialysis treatment, Dad was a little washed out.  But with our arrival he seemed to pick up a bit, and he perked up even more as the evening progressed.  Dad had supper going for us in his crock-pot, so it was nice to arrive to the smell of home cooking.  We did manage to stay up to a reasonable hour and spent the time visiting and watching a little TV—including the Celtics’ disappointing loss.

The next morning Dad and I headed out with a group of his friends from the Park for breakfast at the Golden Corral.  Cheri accuses me of not telling her, but this was a group of men and women—Cheri stayed back in bed thinking it was only the men—who get together every Saturday morning to have breakfast together.  This was obviously Friday morning, but since the Buccaneers were attacking on Saturday the breakfast date was moved.  I probably ate more than I should have, but it was an enjoyable time.

Fortunately, when we got back to the Park Cheri was up and had already eaten.  We waited a little bit to let everything settle and then we headed up to the walking / running trail next to the hospital—Dad stayed back at the Park to take his morning break.  Everyone else on the track was in long sleeves or sweatshirts, but Cheri and I had our running shorts and t-shirts on while we ran around for a couple of miles.  We finished off with a couple of walking laps as well, so it was a good way to burn off some energy—and the Golden Corral buffet breakfast.

Getting back, we decided to have some lunch and then head out for a couple of errands.  Since Dad spends several hours at dialysis three days a week, he thought it would be nice to have a portable DVD player to help pass the time.  The center does have individual TV’s, but the selection of shows isn’t always the best and there are sometimes problems with the headphones.  Cheri and I tagged along to make sure he picked out a good unit.

We went to h.h.Greggs, an appliance and electronics store where Dad bought his new TV, and they had a very good selection.  Dad was able to find a nice Panasonic on sale—all of the h.h.Gregg prices seemed good—and he picked up some better headphones to go with it.  This set up seems like it will help the time pass—he does enjoy watching movies—while undergoing his treatment.

The timing for getting back to the Park worked out just right since we were able to take a little siesta between the errands and heading out for supper.  Cheri and I had told Dad ahead of time that we wanted to take RuthAnn and Harvey out to dinner to thank them for all they do for Dad—they treat him like a brother…in a good way.

There was a little mix up with the pager while we were waiting for a table.  They had said it would be a 25 minute wait and after 40 minutes I asked them where we were on the list…and they didn’t have us on the list.  So they then seated us right away.

We left the choice of restaurant up to the three of them and they decided on the Texas Roadhouse.  Peanut shells on the floor, tall cold beer, and good steaks…it worked for me.  Sorry the picture is of their backs, but you can see the Roadhouse ahead of them (and the Texas sign over the door).

For most of us the meal was very good, only Dad ended up with a tough/gristly steak, so the manager came by and took the cost of his meal off the bill.  Fortunately, we had started the meal with a baby blooming onion and some rattlesnake bites (jalapeno fritters) and the sides along with the meat were all enough to ensure no one walked away hungry.

The attack of the pirate ship Gaspar into Tampa occurred the next morning with the ship sailing into port and the Mayor giving the pirates the Key to the City.  As a result pirates parade through the City tossing beads and candy to the bystanders on the route.  This also seems to be a good excuse for beer drinking and festivities throughout Tampa.  Many years they have had in excess of 400,000 people attend, but the rain kept many away this year…too hard to keep your powder dry!

Gasparilla Day was not in our plans for this trip so we stayed away from Tampa.  When we sent Dad off to dialysis we instead headed for Groveland, FL.

Our trip took us to visit with an old (old as in the 34 years we’ve known each other not old as in our age) friend from the Academy, Joe Bradfield.  I was in Joe’s first wedding 30 years ago, he is happily in another for the last 12 plus years.  We wanted to take the time to visit him (since we haven’t seen him in 30 years).  He is now an Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon and has a great practice in Central Florida.

We were fortunate to spend time catching up with Joe and remembering the times he use to come up to NH with me to go skiing.  His children were home as well so we were able to hear about all the events going on in their lives.  We had a great time.

Dad was a little washed out when we got back, but he rallied as I put together a pork loin for supper and Cheri made up the apple sauce and quinoa for sides.  After dinner Dad had another second wind and we visited and watched some TV into the evening.

Jumbo Strawberry Shortcake! The price is right, the servings are huge, and we like to make it a part of our annual trek to Florida.  We want to do our part in helping the economy and this is our form of an Agriculture Stimulus Program.

The next morning we got Dad to Church in time for his choir rehearsal and then we met up with Deb in the Narthex to go to church together.  Afterwards it was back to Dad’s for a brief siesta before we all headed to Parkesdale in Plant City, FL.  The photo may have caught Cheri by surprise, but you can see in the signs behind her the reason for going to Parkesdale Groves.

Deb headed back to Lakeland after our treat and we went back to Zephyrhills.  We seemed to time things right since we were too full to have supper when we got back, but it wasn’t too long before we felt ready to head over to the Park’s Ice Cream Social. 

This event celebrates the current month (and some of the off-months since most Park members don’t stay there year round) birthdays and anniversaries.  We were able to take part in the cake and ice cream part of the event and there was a nice skit put on by some Park members.  A very enjoyable afternoon and evening.

The next morning we were up early and ready to head back to Connecticut.  We caught a 10:50 am flight direct to Manchester and had a pretty uneventful flight.  When we landed I received a text message from Dad that let us know he had made it back home and that it was raining…probably no shuffling that afternoon.

The trip was fun and another great Adventure for the Swensons.