Picture this: a typical visit back to the childhood home to see Mom for Easter, where family gathers to eat, laugh, drink, talk, share, tease, laugh, and eat some more. It is overwhelming for most but this chaotic visit reveals a super power I’ve developed while growing up in a family of 9: I am able to follow multiple conversations simultaneously. I could be listening to you in a one-on-one convo while also hearing what my brothers are discussing on the other side of the kitchen. It is an inherited ability: although we all think Mom needs hearing aids, she can hear us talking about her while she’s in the TV room watching Jeopardy. This superpower had enabled me to pick up separate conversations occurring around the office especially after open office/hot seating became a thing. This was very useful for preparing for projects coming down the pipeline before they were proposed, or for knowing when the boss would be out of town, or for juicy lunch-time gossip. The flip side, my kryptonite as it were, is that the random annoying laugh or gum-snapping could infiltrate my neurons and decimate my brain. Especially the gum-snapping, a vile habit of which Sister Clare and Sister Bernard cautioned us in high school. Sister Clare also demonstrated how not to drink from a milk carton, sans straw, and indeed the results were unexpected. White milk on a black habit, the ultimate indignity, but very funny. Oh, the things you remember when visiting home.
Greg and I took a road trip mid-March, heading south to take a break from this long, extended winter. We broke out the Tahoe which had been garaged all winter and began our trip. First stop, an overnight in Warwick, NY where we built our first house and started our family. Warwick is a beautiful quaint town in the Hudson Valley within spittin’ distance to NJ, PA, CT, and of course, NYC. We stayed with our friends MaryLou and Ron with whom we shared daycare memories as our children are close in age. We also visited Millie, who at 93, still lives alone at home. Greg became friends with Millie and Ray, Millie’s late husband, when wood-shopping at their ‘backyard’ mill. Ray could cut lumber like nobody’s business, outcompeting a computer for garnering the most usable lumber from a log. He and Millie would occupy Greg for a whole day when Greg went to visit; they loved to talk and had provoking questions for Greg, to wit: how to calculate the dilution of one cup of radioactivity in the ocean. Greg says Avogadro’s number overwhelms everything and therefore you would find some number of radioactive molecules in your drinking water. He did the math, don’t ask me.
We took some back roads through northern NJ and enjoyed sentimental memories of Rt. 23 and 287 while heading to Philadelphia to lunch with my friend Brenda who retired from AZ shortly after me. She is a very meticulous, detail oriented but extremely generous and forthright person and since retirement is much more happy and relaxed. After our visit, we continued on, ‘enjoying’ (not) our drive down I95 (we have no patience for traffic anymore) heading to my sister Christine’s new house in Northeast, MD (‘small town charm at the top of Chesapeake Bay’ and ‘not just a direction’.) Christine and her fiance Shawn were renovating the kitchen which is right up Greg’s wheelhouse, so we spent the next three days helping install the cabinets. Well, that’s what Greg did. I raked the lawn and enjoyed the relatively warmer temperatures while playing with Ranger, their yellow Lab. My softball arm is not what it used to be or rather, what I remember it to have been which was a good thing for eager yet arthritic Ranger. Dare we even consider getting a dog? Only if it is as well trained and friendly as Ranger. Our next stop, Washington D.C..
I love D.C.! We last visited when the kids were younger (single digit age), but it’s still lovely; even better now with Uber. We didn’t really plan our trip other than to book a hotel. Why bother when there are so many things to see? What we didn’t realize however, was that it was spring break with busloads of students and lines of families at most museum entrances. So, we adjusted and visited those museums ‘less traveled’. We spent loads of time at the National Gallery viewing the Dutch Masters and lots of Impressionists. There was a really cool Cezanne exhibit and they also have quite a few Van Gogh’s on view. We spent time trying to find the old Post Office museum and tower which turned out to be part of the Trump International Hotel. You can ride the elevator to the top of the tower to get the second highest view of all of D.C. for free. We also visited the National Portrait Gallery which has portraits in chronological sequence from pre-Revolution through today’s president. The line of tourists for photographs next to President Obama’s portrait was about 100 people long! We also visited the Library of Congress, the National Botanical Garden, the National Cryptologic Museum, the National Building Museum, the National Geographic Museum, the beautiful National Basilica on the grounds of Catholic University, the imposing gothic National Cathedral, and my favorite, Nordstrom Rack for shoe shopping! While in D.C., we made time to visit some old friends: Avantika with whom I worked at AZ 10 years ago and Larry and Theresa with whom we were Novartis friends well over 20 years! It was SO good to see them! Also of note, D.C. restaurants offer happy hour discounts, which appeal to my thrifty nature and to pre-dinner relaxation with friends.
On northward to Buffalo for Easter weekend with my family. I love the Polish Catholic traditions we celebrate together centering around attending church and then eating food. ALL. WEEKEND. LONG. We ate and drank too much borscht, sausage, eggs, ham, bread, peeps, chocolate, and of course, Buffalo wings and hometown pizza. There is no pizza like that which you’ve grown up with. We are duly sated and I’ve honed my superpower skill in this busy, boisterous visit. Add a quick stop to see Greg’s brothers in Rochester and then our road trip has come to an end and yet it’s still snowy and cold at home. No matter, we’re planning more trips! Italy, Buon Giorno!
Addenda:
The National Cryptologic Museum is located on the grounds of the NSA north of Washington. It’s a small museum but worth a stop, especially with kids.
Our favorites are the Library of Congress and the National Gallery and Portrait Museums. If you want to see orchids, definitely go to the National Botanical Gardens; it’s also a nice stop if you’re chilly or the weather is inclement. The Post Office Tower is free and gives you a bird’s eye view of the city.
I didn’t mention Lincoln’s Memorial or the Vietnam Memorial which no one should ever miss.
All museums are free except:
The National Building Museum which is not worth the entrace fee for the exhibit, however it is worth stopping into the building to see the atrium which is beautiful (and free).
The National Geographic Museum is, of course, run by the National Geographic Society. They had a cool exhibit on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where there is an ongoing restoration of the church that encompasses Jesus’ tomb and Golgotha. There was also an exhibit of Steven Wilkes’ photography, which was amazing. He was able to overlay both dawn and dusk in one photo shot.
On our way home we drove through the Allegheny National Forest. Did you know that there are only 10 states without a National Forest?
Just wanted to add a small book report to this blog: Just finished reading Andrew Mayne’s “Looking Glass”, Book 2 in his ‘The Naturalist” series. The protagonist, a computational biologist, incorporates a lot of scientific thinking and logic into chasing serial killers. I thought all of you scientists and engineers, or anyone else for that matter, might enjoy his writing style.
My new reality 