Diana, Ruth & myself at the Phipps Conservatory—a whole lotta green goin’ on

Tuesday morning, my friend Diana and our former classmate Ruth (who I haven’t seen in 46 years) traveled to Pittsburgh, and the three of us went to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, established in 1893.

It honestly blew me away—I’ve lived in the city almost 40 years, and this was my first visit there.

I probably took 100 pictures, but when I began pulling them up on my computer for editing & downsizing, all I saw was a whole lot of green. 

I don’t think they were interesting enough to show that many here, but I still wanted to post a few just for memory’s sake.

Afterwards, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner, and what would one of my posts be without a couple food pics?

Here’s the outside of the Conservatory (it was a pretty cloudy day).

Here’s a nice shot of Diana (left) and Ruth, shortly after we entered the first dome.

This dome contained some British-type gardens; I loved the green statues in the far back.  (You can click on any photo to enlarge.)

One cool crocodile (if you wave your hand in his mouth, two giant crocs emerge from the water).  In the second photo are some verrry tall gold & red glass sculptures.

More giant glass pieces among the greenery.  These are big enough to lay down in

A sloth hangs from a tree; a pair of elephant sculptures, spraying water

There’s a path that winds below the surface, then emerges into a forest filled with live butterflies.  It was breathtaking, I captured a bright orange one here.

After the conservatory, we went to the Cheesecake Factory.  Diana got a spicy dish of Korean barbecue chicken, but first enjoyed a big slice of banana cheesecake for an appetizer.  She’s a grownup, she can do as she pleases.

Ruth got a chicken salad sandwich and sweet potato fries, and I got this “Bee Sting” flatbread pizza (with a spicy hot honey sauce) and a Caesar salad. Everything was delicious.

I did get a piece of their famous cheesecake to go, but wound up devouring the whole thing before we left.  At $11.95 a slice, I wish I’d made it last longer!

The dog days of summer, moms, sisters, just doing some thinking out loud

This photo is from early May, 1970.  That’s my younger brother Steve in the red & white stripes (holding a paddleball), my older brother Duke in the glasses and yellow & navy shirt, our cousin Mark over for a visit and holding our dog Bone, my sister Shawn holding our sister Donda-Lin. 

That’s me in the red shirt in the back, feeling a bit shell shocked and maybe I’m looking at my younger sister with some resentment, I can’t remember. 

Right around the time this picture was taken, Mom & Dad told us that our sister Donda-Lin was getting too big for her crib, and Shawn’s tiny bedroom wasn’t big enough for another bed; so we’d be moving to an older but bigger house in the country.  Everyone seemed fine with it, except for me.

Anyway, I was just thinking that Mom was 29 years old when she snapped this photo.  And with 5 kids.  And she wasn’t through yet.  How she did it is beyond me.

Speaking of moms, my new neighbor Sharon (I’ll be writing more about her in my next blog) told me she’d recently lost her mom, who was 91 years old.  This is such a strange, sad coincidence.  This past month, my friend & former coworker Lisa lost her mom, also in her 90s.  My blogger friend Margaret of Stargazer lost her mom, in her 90s.  My friend Robin from Canada just lost her beautiful mom, also in her 90s.

I can’t help but wonder, is it easier when you lose your mother at such an older age?  I lost my own when she was only 64.  It wasn’t sudden, we knew her end was coming, but it was still far too young for her to go.

Speaking of sisters, my youngest sister Courtney (who isn’t in that photo above, she wouldn’t be born for another 5 years) just turned 50 years old on July 2.  She lives in Ohio now with her husband Robert, and has a pretty successful business doing first aid training in the corporate sector.I can still remember the shock I felt when Mom announced she was pregnant for her—how was it possible?  She was an old lady with 5 kids, she was 34 years old! 

Anyway, Court was delighted to get her “welcome letter” from AARP, indicating she’s officially getting up there in years.  I remember when I got mine 14 years ago and wrote about it here.  Dammit, now I really am old.

I’m also grouchy, I’ve been trying not to talk about it but I’m still dealing with inflammation issues from long covid.  (Right now the center of my face feels like a bad sunburn, and the inside of my mouth is very, very sore.)  I get 3-4 days of feeling fine, then 3-4 days of this crap.

A couple days ago at the senior center, I got a few raised eyebrows when I announced I was meeting up with some high school girls this week for an outing.  I had to clarify that, I’m meeting up with my friend & former classmate Diana, and our former classmates Ruth Ann & Renee, for a visit to a local conservatory and then lunch.

I haven’t seen Diana since 2023.  I haven’t seen Ruth or Renee since 1979!  

At least I HOPE it happens.  I really need this stuff in my face to quiet down.  I’m a real barrel of laughs today, aren’t I…

Well, I know I didn’t have a lot to say or share here but I just wanted to put something new-of-sorts out there; frankly that photo of Connie & myself in my last blog was getting a little old.  I hope everyone had a nice Farce of July, and as always, thanks for dropping by.

 

 

I didn’t think it would happen but I got Connie in the flesh (for my blog I mean)

There’s not a lot to say here, but I was so happy to get this picture today I had to share it.  This is the famous ‘Cussin’ Connie’ at the Lutheran Senior center, and for as long as I’ve known Connie I’ve been asking for a photo and always got shot down. 

(I also got kicked, slapped, smacked, pinched, punched, bopped on the head—you name it.  And always the same answer:  “NO!!!”)

But today Connie was in exceptionally good spirits, and after a presentation from a guest speaker about an assisted living facility (and how they provide alcoholic beverages there which got Connie revved up) I made my pitch and she said okay—I still can’t believe it.

Connie has always been a modest person, but I admire her so much.  First of all, she looks great and attends all of the basement workouts at the center.  She lives on her own, enjoys ironing (I think that’s awesome) and still drives.  I don’t want to give away her age, but when she got married, Harry Truman was our President.  When she had her first child, my mom was only 9 years old!  What’s her secret?  She doesn’t hold anything in, that’s what!

I love her dearly and hope she knows how much this picture means to me.

Speaking of drinking (what is it with these seniors and drinking), after lunch and the place began to clear out, Dennis came over and asked if I signed up for the trip to Mission BBQ on July 16.  I said I sure did, and asked if he signed up for our trip to Narcisi Winery on July 23.

(We were there two years ago, before Dennis joined the center.  One of the best dining experiences we ever had, and I wrote all about it here.)

Anyway, Dennis said no, he didn’t sign up.  When I asked why, he said “Doug when I go on these trips I like to drink!  Does this place even serve alcohol?”

I said “IT’S A WINERY—GET YOUR BUTT OVER TO THAT SIGN-UP SHEET RIGHT NOW!!”  He laughed and said “I take it that means yes!  Okay Doug!”