We spent three glorious days in Saugatuck, MI with Carolyn and Paul Jarvis at their cottage. It's so wonderful to sit on the beach and read (3 books in 3 days), swim whenever it got too hot, eat dinner together, enjoy great conversation and RELAX! They have been coming to Saugatuck for 30 years and stay in this lovely old cabin right on the beach. Life is very slow-paced and relaxed (everyone doing their own thing). Bob played a great disc golf course nearby. It was hot (in the 90s) and we had to use fans every night and couldn't eat on the screened porch because the sun shone in and made it too hot.
The day after we arrived their neighbors from Bloomington arrived. Bruce is the manager of the NPR station and Jo is a retired advancement officer from Illinois Wesslyan. Bruce is a wonderful musician and we enjoyed them immensely. Sarah, Julia's sister, arrived late on the 4th. We sat on the beach and watched fireworks all up and down the beach without braving the crowds and the heat.
We drove to Louisville, KY to visit Marge and Bob Manke. I also had the opportunity to meet three of Bob's friends (two had been roommates and one was a musician friend). We had delightful times talking about the past, seeing wonderful guitars built by Walter, eating delicious sushi and sharing lovely meals with Marge and Bob. It was still stinking hot (more than 105) and we stayed indoors, though I did convince Bob to give me a tour of Louisville (which I had never seen). We looked at the Ohio River, the medical school, several parks, and drove through the oldest cemetary (which includes hundreds of graves from Civil War soldiers and the oldest Civil War monument carved by a German man honoring an all German regiment).On Saturday we drove on to Cincinnati to visit Andrew, Julia and Elsa. Here she is sharing her train set (she is very enamored with trains). She is precocious and talks a blue streak and is very understandable. She also has a healthy sense of self and is spreading her independent wings. It was stinking hot and humid in Cincinnati too, so we mainly stayed inside.
On Sunday we decided to go for a walk along a stream bed so that Elsa could throw rocks in the water and get wet. There was very little water in the stream, so it was easy to walk in the stream bed. Elsa threw a lot of stones and also waded and fell down in the water. As Julia says, she has learned to take a complete change of clothes when she goes outside with Elsa.
A cardinal in the stream bed. It was relatively cool because it was in the shade.
Our rock thrower.
Waiting for Andrew to get the car and keeping our feet cool.
On Monday, while Julia went to a doctor's appointment, Bob and I went to a park where he could play disc golf and Elsa could play in a playground. There was no one there except us, and Elsa slid and crawled and played. It was a lot cooler and overcast. When Bob came around on the 15th hole, we walked along with him while Elsa pointed to where the disc and the red baskets were. Today I got to participate in her swimming class where she showed little fear in jumping in the water and going underwater.
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