alexandriacardinals

By Tommy Obert, 5th Grade

Dateline: Alexandria, Minnesota, April 22, 2011

[Let me introduce you to a good part of the whole fam damily. If you are keeping score at home, here is sister Gretch’s description: “(L to R) Niece Sophie (Chris and Janet’s youngest, age 14), niece Jessica (Chris and Janet’s oldest daughter, age 27) with her son, Ryan. Her husband, Colin, is a photo-journalist who works for the Army Times and is in Afghanistan on a 6 week assignment. Brother Tom is in the front. Brother Chris is behind Tom. Chris’ wife, Janet, the new grandmother who looks about 25, is next to Chris. I am next. My nephew, Nich, is standing in the back. He is over 6′ 4″, age 29. My husband, Mohamed, is next. The young woman on the far right is Kady, Nich’s fiancée. I believe she said yesterday that she was recently nominated for “Teacher of the Year” from her school. We had a wonderful get together and Tom and Ruth got to see baby Ryan for the first time.”]

OK, it’s time to wrap up this puppy. Our last couple days in D.C. were spent acting the tourist and visiting family.

[Stuck in Cherry Blossom traffic on Constitution Avenue.]

[Sticking the camera out the sun roof for photos of the White House and the Washington Monument.  The supervisor was so embarrassed.]

[Still in traffic.]

[National Gallery of Art.]

[Capitol Hill.]

[Eastern Market on Capitol Hill – an old hangout area.  Sometimes photos out the roof don’t plumb.  :-)]

[Lincoln Memorial.]

We’ll close this out with family.  You may be excused.

[Siblings Gretchen and Chris with the Traveling Wilburys at Chris’ family abode on the Potomac River in Stafford, Virginia.]

[Chris’ boat and dock.  As you can see, the Potomac is rather wide here (50 miles south of D.C.), and though it is 75 miles to the Chesapeake Bay, a couple of times since he has lived here hurricanes in the mid-Atlantic have come up the bay, up the river, and taken away his boat and dock.]

[Ruthie looks upriver.]

[Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Mo.]

[Mo has a swing and a photo op.]

[Chris tours the property.]

[Jessica and Ryan.]

[On the way home, we stopped in Fairborn, Ohio, to see Ruthie’s son, Rob.  Driving to Fairborn it was raining so hard we could hardly see.  We were reminded it was the anniversary of the Xenia (very near Fairborn) tornado of April 3, 1974.  Ruthie was working at Wright-Patterson AFB in Fariborn at the time and was in the parking lot trying to get home during the storm.  The Xenia tornado is believed to be the most powerful tornado of all-time with wind speeds estimated to be in excess of 300 mph and led to the development of the tornado warning system.]

We hope you have enjoyed the tour.  Please check the overhead compartments to make sure you haven’t forgotten any personal items.  [A vacation was obviously needed.  A well-rested (?) cub reporter has in the first week home made 22 and 28 consecutive free throws in one day, and 22 in a row again yesterday.  Could 100 be in the future?  Prior to the current hot streak, I had only achieved 20 or more in a row twice.]

April 20. A month into allegedly spring. We had our second snow in a week this morning; this afternoon we had two episodes of sleet. The supervisor and I slogged our way to the end of Darling Heights Place this morning to check on reports we’d heard about ice dams. [Oh, and to say “hi” to neighbors Tina and Noel Thompson, here checking on their Lake Darling property – hard to believe they have been gone (now living in Steamboat Springs) for eight years now!] The reports were confirmed – these photos were taken about two blocks from our house. Ice dams, blown by strong winds over the last week, have climbed onto shore in spots and have damaged boat lifts and docks; and have taken out bird houses, wood duck houses, and anything else in the way:

[Reputedly cute couple (part II)]

We interrupt completion of our vacation analysis (again) for the following: We had a fine dining experience . . . and experience has taught us a multitude of photographic evidence requires a blog rather than an e-mail. So, from Monday night, it was every bit as tasty as it looks:

[Ruthie with Andy, the wine guy.]

[Jim Lien, original SAWA bartender, bon vivant, and gourmet.]

[Andy caught in mid pour.]

[Mmmmm, wild boar!]

[The house.  56 in attendance.]

[Alexandria’s movers and shakers.  His worship, the mayor, is on the right.]

[A slow to react reporter missed the hosannas for the kitchen and wait staff.]

Which all leads us, of course, to a treatise on . . . male underwear (a/k/a, the No Fly Zone). I sit. I have written about this at length in the past – for reasons of age, girth, convenience and hygiene. As a retiree, I generally wear trousers with elastic waistbands – for reasons of comfort and , well, . . . My underwear is obtained from a variety of sources – often as gifts from female members of the family. Underwear manufacturers do not subscribe to any patterns of universality. The flies on their products may be vertical or horizontal, may flap from the left or the right, may flap from the top or the bottom. For someone who usually does not “use” a fly, this can be quite problematical in circumstances where its use is desirable, if not mandatory. This has occasionally led to levels of severe discomfort. On this evening, I had occasion to use the facilities. As you can see I was dressed (informally formal) for a “stand up” event. However, after much searching, and increasing agony, I was reduced to my usual sitting position – from whence I discovered said undies did not even have a fly! They were a relatively recent acquisition by the supervisor, and they appear to be of the variety athletes wear as under support. There are no photos of this episode.

We interrupt completion of our vacation analysis for the following: If you know Cam, my youngest brother, you may be aware that this weekend was his stage debut in The Seagull, a play by Anton Chekhov, at Century College in White Bear Lake. Because blood is thicker than greasepaint, the supervisor and I saddled up for an audience appearance at Sunday’s matinee. [An aside: If our family can be said to be reasonable successful as a family, it is because the four siblings reside at vast distances from one another.]

[This has absolutely nothing to do with our story; a private joke among some of the readership.  Like Russia from Alaska, however, it is visible from the Cenury College campus.]

Our first stop, however, was in Woodbury, where we finally caught up with a superstar from this blog, Basketball Dan. A brunch at Sunsets in Woodbury (a mere two blocks from his abode) set a fine beginning for the day (we were not aware of this Sunsets but have been semi-regulars at the one in Wayzata for boating escapades with the HQ). With his every weekend forays to the far corners of our country covering college basketball, we had not made visual contact with him since well before his annual turkey fest was snowed out (well, at least for us) in November. He has some eye issues, probably as a result of an aging physical plant, i.e., his body, but remains steadfast in his determination to keep educating the youth of the world as a business statistics professor at the University of St. Thomas (which, despite rumors to the contrary, was not named after me). Dan’s Final Four gang had a good time in Houston this year, allegedly because they enjoyed many fine dining experiences. We anticipate rejoining the group next year in New Orleans.

Now, to the subject matter at hand. Cam is looking to improve upon his geography degree from the University of South Carolina by taking horticulture classes at Century College. As a lark, and inspired by his thespian and cellist son, Michael John, he decided to try out for the play. And got the part! So we went to see it. Cam played Shamraev, a bombastic, crotchety character . . . not unlike himself.  The other characters in the play went through four acts and a generation trying to figure out who they were in love with and why. Except for Shamraev, who generally just worried about his horses. The cast was multi-generational, reflecting the make up of today’s college attendees – Cam was not the only oldster. We enjoyed the performance – Cam did a great job as a first-timer but remains faithful to his true love: the care and maintenance of green things!

[Shamraev with the supervisor.]

[Shamraev with a groupie.]

[Shamraev with his wife, Polina (Jenna Dickhausen, who is in her last semester at Century and will transfer to a 4-year college to continue her interest in theatre.]

It was also prom weekend, and Cam reported this exchange with his son. Apparently Michael came home from the prom at 11:30 – the following morning. Cam queried as to his whereabouts all night. Michael replied he spent the night at his date’s house. So Cam, being Cam, asked if they spent the night in the same bed. Michael responded, “Of course not!” To which Cam, being Cam, snapped, “Well, why not?” (He was kidding, of course . . . I think?) Which brings us to the hypocrisy of dads. Our other brother, Chris, is, like Cam, a rather large fellow. The first time his daughter, Jessica, went on a date, Chris greeted the young man at the door with nothing more than an intimidating growl. We assume the date went fine – after the young man changed his bespoiled under garments.

Finally, as we headed home after the play, we decided to pull off at Hemlock Lane to get a case of “3-buck Chuck” at Trader Joe’s. Of course, we forgot it was Sunday. There was a note posted on Trader Joe’s wine door noting it was closed on Sundays due to Minnesota state law. We appreciated the policy statement! Since we were there we decided to pick up at few items in the grocery store. When we got to checkout I began my usual banter with the cashier bemoaning the fact we were unable to purchase any wine there despite having driven 130 miles to do so. She eyed us both suspiciously, then finally said, “You’re a really cute couple! You are a couple, aren’t you?” Kinda made our day. 🙂

[Reputedly cute couple.]