MaryAlice Musings and More

OMG I have been traveling since the first week of March and it is now the end of May.  It is Thursday and I have spent much of the day visiting with friends.  I went out for dinner at Y oung Joni's it is such a novel and fun place and will be my last eating out time before I leave early Saturday morning.  It is late as I type, I got to see my friends Lori and Jane, and being together we all realized how much we miss each other, and I will be sure to see them when I come back to Minnesota at the end of July for the WNBA All Star Game!  I had such a good day, a few phone calls with folks from Maine,  a little down time,  good visits, and final packing done. I am ready for sleep and ready for the Graduation Party tomorrow night.  I can feel the shifts,  I am in transition, present here and aware that this long journey is ending soon, and I get to sleep in my own bed.  Cook in my own kitchen.   Resume my Millinocket life.  ...

A Happy Cretin Derham Hall 2018 Graduate In between the 100 degree days and the big time rain storms we got to have the 2018 Cretin Derham Hall Graduation.   We met at the Cathedral mid-afternoon for picture taking, Myah was so gracious and not crabby and just let us all take pictures in all the different family and friend configurations.  The rain held off, we laughed and hugged and after taking way too many  pictures we headed off on foot to The Red Cow for an early supper with the graduate and 10 family and friends.  We had good food and drinks and better conversations and many toasts celebrating Myah and her accomplishments. After eating I took some of the out of town family for a little walking tour of Summit Avenue, seeing the amazing old houses built in the guilded days of St. Paul.  By the time we got back to the Cathedral, evening Mass had finished and we were able to take our seats.  We got primed seats across and behind Myah's row....

The gathering started tonight.  Aunt and Uncle arrived from Chicago, Gramma Peg and Barb arrived from Vernon County,  G-MA drove from Minneapolis (where I am staying with my friend Beth), and the boyfriend arrived from work in St Paul, and the closest neighbor friends stopped in all to eat really good taco's, fajita's, and more.  The taco's were the food celebrating the graduate was the real reason.  Luke had a lacrosse alumni scrimmage, so some drove to the high school, some stayed back, and some left for home repair errands.  Felt very familiar and oh so loving.  Myah was almost giddy all evening long, so relaxed, so happy, and so proud of herself!  Today was not only about family and taco's but big rain storm.  The heat had risen again today another 99 degree day, record breaking and then the storm fronts began to move in, the temperature dropped over 20 degrees and the winds blew,  the rain was torrential and the hail, thankfully,...

Gramma and Grampa Wolz and Baby Sasha Today was spent with family and memories.  This morning was spent with the continued operation at the Wells Family of "clean out" before everyone arrives to celebrate Myah's graduation.  Boxes kept going out to recycling,  bags were loaded for confidential shredding, and a few larger pieces got put in the truck to be taken away.   In between we sipped tea and coffee and Sasha baked very very good croissants from Williams Sonoma.  We watched the National Finals Lacrosse game and I learned a little more about the game.  Myah took her language placement test, and scored so high that her next step was to get in touch with the department head about appropriate class level to take1  Luke was procrastinating about one of his last assignment and all was well.  On and off I thought about Memorial Days of the past and what it means today.  The picture above is of my step grandparents.  Aggie and Leo...

Today was my last Sunday in Minnesota for this trip.  Beth was so good, she did errands and came back with "everything bagels" so I go to have bagels, cream cheese and read the New York Times.  Like actually holding the NYT in your hands and turning the pages.  So I got to read the paper, have a fine cup of tea and eat my toasted bagel.  Heavenly! I got myself together after a long, long shower and then went to my iPad to watch the Lynx - Mystics game.  I watch the game on my iPad and listen to the game on my Lynx app -- they are not quite synced up so the MN announcers get to let me know what is happening before I see it on my screen.  One can only do this for so long, then you have to decide one or the other.  Too bad the Lynx who were up 18 in the 1st, struggled in the 2nd, back in forth in the 3rd and they lost in the end.  This is going to be a different year for the Lynx and for us the fans.  It is hard being the champion!...

Most of the Family at Selma's The best ice cream shop! This time next week I will be back home in Millinocket.  I have lots of wonderful things that will be happening between now and then, and I am looking forward to each day.  This morning I had a slow start, woke early - read the paper, did the Sudoku,  and had my tea.  I then drove out to Stillwater to spend the day with my family.   Today was get the yard ready and spruced up for the graduation party next week.  It was hot and humid and everyone pitched in and got the job done.  Dad and the grands went out to pick up their new iPhone's so it was like Christmas in May when they returned.  All was backed up, the installation and start up went correctly and after a little trying out of the new phones we headed out to Afton to hear some friends of mine play at the Lumberman's Bar on the patio.  It was hot, but they were all good eggs about it and we had cold drinks some go...

That is one happy senior.  2018 Graduate of Cretin Derham Hall High School looking proud, a little smug, and a lott relieved.  Myah is on her way to a weekend of relaxation,  a celebration lunch with her Mom and Dad, and lots of fun leading up to Graduation Day on May 30th. I am sure I will be writing more about Myah's graduation, her plans, hopes and dreams.  For today I am a happy Gramma just knowing that she is so happy.  AND I am able to post a picture because I am blogging from my very own computer.  I just picked it up at the Apple Store,  it didn't cost as much as I was quoted and it looks and feels like a brand new laptop.  I have missed not being able to post pictures and maybe I will go back and put in a few from the days that I missed when I was blogging from an iPad.  Yesterday I got a message from the women who bought my house that I had an envelope from my High School.  I will pick it up this weekend.  It reminde...

So you may have noticed.  No double header yesterday.  The Lynx won,  the game ran late,  then I had to stay to see Myah, rookies, new team members do the celebration dance with all the little little kids, and then hear Myah talk to the crowd.  On Wednesday we got to see the Lynx team we know and love,  great defense, took care of the ball, had a 27 point lead.  Won the game even with Dallas making a good run at the end. It was a fun night.  I am so glad that I got to see both games.  I took the bus down to meet Becky and others for eats and drinks before the game, then we walked over to the arena.  I took an Uber home,  they have a special Uber pick up for Target Center, and after a little wait,  I got whisked off in a Toyota Tundra!  Not quite the girl in the flat bed truck in Winslow Arizona, and after a very convoluted route home, I got back to Beth’s house.  No energy, desire or creative spark for a double head...

It is a slow moving morning, house errands, reading the paper, made a few calls and now getting ready for my walk and a little visit around my old neighborhood.  I have not heard from Appale about my computer yet, hoping I get email today as I will be in the vicinity tomorrow and wouldn’t convenience be nice. I read a post on FB from my friend Lolly this morning she wrote it after watching The Rachel Maddow show last night, my heart gets so heavy as we continue to witness the breaking down of our fragile democracy.  I cannot believe some days that there is not an uprising in congress, that the republicans are so bereft of values and decency needed to stand up to this erosion.  I remain hopeful that we will end this absolute disregard for our democratic institutions and move forward as a country in change that includes all.  Big breath. Big sigh. I am meeting friends this afternoon, going to take bus and light rail downtown for Lynx game....I am sure that I will s...

It is late, I traveled into the suburbs to watch Luke play his last regular season game of the year.  They lost.  They have been losing a number of days.  I had a good time, the game ran late and I stopped ao e of my favorite late night neighborhood bar and restaurant. Tomorrow will be a double header, because I am too tired to type more.ess think I. Any coherent way. It’s Tuesday,  stay tuned for the Wednesday double header.

I woke this morning with the Minnesota Lynx Loss blahs...it took a little while before I had my get up and go and my to do list in hand.    It was cloudy and a little cool in Minneapolis today but by all accounts and weather reports it is going to just keep warming up all week.  Today was the one day this week that I had no plans, except my “to do “ list.  I did good on my list.  Car gassed up and washed.  My glasses are fitted and feeling good.  Box for mailing things back to Maine picked up and  sorting is started. I made a few more plans for the week,  a few more friends and colleagues to visit and some good family time. Tomorrow I go for my Trusted Traveler interview at the airport and I get to go to Luke’s lacrosse game, here’s hoping for win for them! It is Monday and I am still on my travels.  It is good, it is green, and I am glad to be here and glad to be going home soon!

I am still struggling with how to get my iPhone pictures onto my blog...  So what I could do was download a picture from another season....This was the homemade sign I carried to all of the championship games!  Today I got to see the Minnesota Lynx receive their Championship Rings from the 2017 WNBA Season.  11-13-15-17. 4 Championships Unbelieveable!   Almost everyone knows how much I love the Minnesota Lynx,  I still am a season ticket holder even though I live in Maine and not in Minnesota anymore.  I am truly a fan.  And here I am in Minnesota for Opening Day.  Just to make the stakes for the day a little bigger, the Minnesota Lynx were playing        LA, the team they beat for the championship. The game was intense from the first moment,  Minnesota made lots and lots of turnovers, and still it was close, back and forth, back and forth.  The calls were lopsided, and the Lynx struggled but never gave up. ...

The day started gray and cool.  Without the big sun rising in the east facing windows of my bedroom I slept a little later, but early enough to watch the live feed on NPR of the Royal Wedding.  Fairy tale touches modernity and amazing love, the wedding was a surprising event.  Fina and I spent a little time talking about the “mythic” moments and checked out the BBC.  It was a fun way to start the day and send me off on my back to Minnesota. It was hard to leave, everything on the farm is inviting, easy and nurturing but after several rounds of goodbyes and big hugs I set off. I made it home with a little over an hour before I had to set off for my Apple appointment.  I got a keyboard for my iPad and turned my computer over to be fixed.  We made sure that all my things on the computer were backed up, and we got all my photos from my iPhone —- they had stopped getting onto my computer, but that worked, and we figured out how those photos got to my iPad. ...

Lovely day in WI.    A easy morning,   I made a frittata for breakfast and then we had more time to talk and talk and talk.....helped Serafina with her "trusted traveler" application, and then off to Taliesin for lunch.   The river was lovely, the drive was fun,   saw some pheasant and a deer. Nap time. Then off to meet Kira in Spring Green, we shared a fish fry,  caught up on the last year, and began making plans for a Maine visit. Then back to the farm.  A cocktail and wonderful meanderings with Serafina. Tomorrow I return to Minneapolis. Friday night in Wisconsin. Two weeks and I will be in Maine.  Next adventure driving back to Minnesota. All is good.

The vista is somewhat hidden in this driftless land, high up on the ridge.  The trees have grown so very tall, that the eastern vista's which used to remind me always of  Frank Lloyd Wright and the way his buildings are so horizontal, so is the land here....you can see one horizontal behind another and another, beautiful.   I love living in Maine and I do think that this part of the country is my geographical home,  not too very far from the Illinois I grew up in but such a different land.   The Driftless Land is so very special. I love the cragginess and the rocks and the hills and valley left untouched from the glaciers. Today the sun was soft, the green so varied and lush.  Wisconsin green is green, we are just a few miles from the town of Spring Green and it is not hard to imagine why and how they named that place spring green. I watched the predawn light and colors in the east this morning from my bed,  the lavenders and pinks and ba...

I have arrived in Iowa County today.     I am with  Serafina in her new home in the eastern part of the driftless land. It has been a beautiful, sunny, warm spring day.  Before leaving LaFarge Marcia and I had a wonderful breakfast with Amish Eggs and Sunny Paris seasonings, Marcia cooked. Then we went to Viroqua where the owner of MacHelp helped me with my computer.  It is soup damaged, but he was able to get it to boot up and helped me to understand  what has been damaged.  I will take it to the Apple Store and it will go off to Apple Care all well.  The computer only works when plugged in and the keyboard is a little stiff and it is hard to do spaces! But I have a computer and I am able to use it....now I just need to decide when I will send it off to be repaired.  After dropping the computer off we  met Peg,  Peg was my very first girlfriend and the love of my life, and the other Mother...she still is all those thi...

I have been traveling from  Wisconsin to Minnesota for over 40 years. Driving in the spring from Minneapolis to Southwestern Wisconsin is an incredible explosion of Spring greens. Often like today as I drive I find myself remembering various trips from various ears exploring the feelings and remembering the connections. I am writing from Green Hollow Road, less than a mile from where I moved almost 47 years ago.  The trees that were planted hardly more than 2” now tower over the house. I wish that I could figure out how to get photo's from my phone on the blog when I am using someone else's computer, but I am too tired to be able to do that tonight. It was a good drive,  I am happy to be with Marcia.  We have been friends for almost 50 years!  Amazing.  We went to the Rockton Bar for Burger night.  Had a Spotted Cow beer, one of my favorite Wisconsin beers.  Mona,  Marcia's youngest daughter met us there and it was just a fun time. We...

Well, blogging is somewhat curtailed!  Thai soup knocked over some spilt on computer.  Seemed ok, then a strange mouse, call to AppleCare.... 1st step turn it off,  can’t  get back on,  it thinks battery is low, not plugged in, and still the str@nge scary sound.  Keep it plugged in.... Make appointment at Apple Store.  Can’t drop off today, might try in morning, but I have an appointment for Saturday 2hen I return from Wisconsin.   My laptop has been my companion this entire trip.  AppleCare does not cover liquid damage.  Well it all is what it is.... Note to self, no food or drink near computer,  remember this. It is Monday, a little wobbly but here I am.  Cloudy, cool a little rainy and very bright green in Minneapolis.  It is still an adventure and I am on it.

Mom with Me and Bobby Dean on the Way, DeKalb, Illinois It is impossible to wake up on this day and not think about your Mother, especially when you are not in the throws of being a Mother of a little one, and there is more time as you wake up to let your mind find it's way into the morning remembering and noticing and being.  This morning I was thinking about my 17 year old Mother, the age she was when I was born.  She was younger than my grand daughter who I was with last night.  Myah is planning a summer graduation trip with her Mom (my daughter) to Greece and is going for her orientation weekend at Loyola University in Chicago next month.  My Mother was boiling diapers and taking care of a very very premature baby in 1950 when she was hardly beyond childhood herself.  She worked so hard to make me safe, and unfortunately had a husband not so long home from military service who was far less ready to be a parent than she was.  By the time my Mother...

Saturday in my old hood.  I was lazy this morning, watching the birds, reading the paper, making some phone call, and washing a load of clothes.  Then out to lunch with dear friend.  Barely time for a little rest, then Myah and I headed out to find a Minnesota postcard for the first graders at Isle au Haut in Maine,  pizza and salad for early supper and then the final Lynx preseason game.  We got there early, and there was not a big crowd for the game against the Chicago Sky.  Myah was a good sport, we walked all around the newly renovated arena, checking out the food places, looking out the new windows,  watching what was happening down on the street, then headed to our seats. The Lynx took command right from the beginning, and we enjoyed some amazing passes and some great shots.  It was fun,  I got to check in with a few old friends, and glad to see my seat mates, the little season ticket holder family.  Myah endured the stories...

This is the view out the back of the Wells Family house,  looking east towards Wisconsin.   I spent the morning settling in and headed off to get dessert at the Salty Tart one of my most favorite bakeries, ever!  Michele Gayer came to notice as the pastry chef for Charlie Trotter's in Chicago, and when she moved to Minneapolis to start a neighborhood bakery I was one happy woman.  So it was fitting that the first store that I landed at today was Salty Tart.  Got good treats for Friday night supper with the Wells Family! Then off to acupuncture.  It was great that Rachel and I were able to catch up, a bonus was David was home so I got to see him as well, and got to hear all the good news about Georgia who is graduating on June 2nd and will be going off to Smith College.  It was a very good appointment and I am glad it was one of the first things that I did since arriving.  Then off to the grocery store, Myah met me there, then off to ...

Short and sweet.  I arrived a little early, collected my bags and went out into the mayhem which was the  arrival lanes at the airport.  Beth only had to drive around once, and then bags flew into car and away we went. After a little litany of possible places to go to eat we settled on Young Joni  a great NE restaurant!  We had a great meal and fun catching up. A brief stop at the coop and back to Beth’s. It still all feels so very familiar, it is not my home now, but it embraces me in a great welcome.  The weather feels good, the blossoms are bursting forth and I am back in Minnesota. Tomorrow I will see my family. It is Thursday and I have safely made it to my next stop.  I get to end the week with family and let the adventures begin.

It was warm many places today,  I am checking my weather app as I type and it is 71 degrees in Millinocket,   61 degreesin Minneapolis, 86 degrees in Houston  and 104 degrees in Phoenix.  Tomorrow the high will be 63 in Minneapolis when I arrive later in the afternoon. I will have a lot more to say later about my time in Phoenix and the places I saw and people I met as I traveled by train from New York City, but for now I am transition mode.  Tomorrow I take a plane.  I fly to Minneapolis.  No more train rides on this trip, except maybe the light rail in the twin cities.  My good friend Beth will be picking me up, it will be cooler and probably rain.  I will wear my leather coat that has hung in the closet since the day I arrived in Phoenix.  I made plans today with Myah for a Gramma date on Saturday night.  I am going to see Luke play Lacrosse on the Varsity Team of his high school.  I will be back in the city that ...

I am not making great progress on my heat tolerance!  Feeling like a Northern Whimp, but rather than continue to test my weakened skills I decided today was the absolute right day to get the Condo all cleaned up before I leave.  I have cleaned floors and wiped counters and other spaces down,  got out the window cleaner and just tried to make it all be ready for the next lucky guest.  I woke very early this morning, listened to the morning news, and then followed MSNBC on my computer - dealt with the announcement the US was violating the Iran International agreement by pulling out and then just to make sure we all know HE is a big big man, he says we will be imposing strict sanctions.  This was so bad that President Obama released a statement,  we are in totally uncharted territory here, and what I know is it does not feel good, and it is hard to imagine all of the consequences for such ruthless and careless wheeling of power --- this is nothing that rep...

No pictures from today, but you could see heat rising off the concrete and the roads while I was doing errands (in a car) and a little walking on foot!  They are breaking records seventy years old.  People from here have lots of ways that they minimize the magnitude of the heat.  In the elevator today, a couple said that it is not so bad at least it cools down at night (that means going into the 70's) and they are not looking forward to when it is 90 degrees at midnight!  Others talk about how they cool down,  swimming pools, misting fans, etc etc.  For me I am feeling my northern climate self. The heat is more intense in mid-town than it is out in less dense neighborhoods.  The streets that have no shade are pretty brutal.  It is early evening and I am in for the night.  The rental car was dropped off,  my package is in the mail going back to Maine, and I did a trial packing, to make sure that I had the space I needed for all my thing...

Rough life here at the Valley Oasis.  This is most definitely a fine way to deal with 100 degree weather.  We had a very good tofu scramble for breakfast,  spent time on our screens and then got ready for a dip in the pool. It was a fun time floating and chatting and singing along with the music as we spent more time with inaugural swims in the pool.  I have spent time just allowing myself to allow myself deep relaxation, after almost 9 weeks away from home, I find myself amazed that I am able to just enjoy each day.  I do miss my peeps back home, and there are events and get togethers and happenings that I wish I was able to be at,  but I am somewhere else! And I know that I will be present and active at home from the moment I get back to Aroostook Avenue. And this trip has often been about people who I have deep love and care for that are not in Millinocket,  Maine.  I have spanned 5 decades on this trip spending time with women who have b...

It is morning in Phoenix, not usually my blog time, but I am sitting on the patio, feeling the breeze and listening to Weekend Edition I have been listening regularly (as in almost daily) to NPR since 1971, and this morning as I writing letters and postcards I was remembering back to being this young woman in Vernon County, Wisconsin, living the back to the land life (yes hippie was a descriptive term).  We had no tv and everyday as I baked bread, cooked, cleaned I listened to NPR.  The announcers were my mentors, the stories made me think, I felt at home when I was listening especially to Morning Edition and All Things Considered!   I still feel "grounded" as I travel along with the stories and try on new information and digest the old in new ways. We have narrowed down our plans for today, there were several Cinco de Mayo events,  but as the temperatures have climbed and the forecast is hot hot hot, we have cooked up other plans, that don't involve us being cook...

It is the first day of the big warm up!  High today in the mid 90's and we are moving into the 100's starting this weekend and maybe staying until I leave for Minnesota on Thursday.  Yesterday I was a whimpy blogger, but the Fourth is With Me, and I am ready to tap away about Friday, May 4th in Phoenix. Some things that I am doing now that I have never done or have done very little:  I am wearing an eye mask.  It is made of silk and very comfortable.  The condo has no window coverings and the sun is coming up earlier and earlier, so try an eye mask.  It works and I know that I am sleeping a little later than I would without wearing it.  It has no accessory value to it, just black silk, it is soft and it does the job.  It does have a cute little carrying bag that I use to store it when I am not using the mask. I have had my nails painted, I have done this a few times, but not often.  My nails grow in this kind of climate, so I wanted...

Not much to say, started the day in Tucson, and after many wrong turns trying not to take the Interstate back to Phoenix I made in back to the condo. It was a beautiful day and I am going to get a chance over the next few days to see how I handle 3+ days of over 100 degrees. So I am enjoying this amazing night and getting ready to return to the Valley Oasis in the morning to spend the day and evening with Abby and Luna.   Maybe a little pool time.  In less than a week I will be wiht family and friends in Minnesota.  Time marches on,  my vacation continues and I traveled through another Thursday.   

What a special day, Kyle picked me up early this morning and off we headed to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum .  It was a cool morning, maybe the coolest I have felt since arriving in Arizona.  The drive out was amazing as we drove through "slots" and hairpin turns that opened up into vistas that seemingly went forever and ever.  A few moments were a little harrowing as I had to deal with my vertigo as we slowly drove around big drop offs.  Kyle drove cab for 5 years and is a long time Tucson resident so she was masterful driving us through the ranges and luckily my vertigo was held in check.   And then we arrived at the museum.  It was so cool that after a little stroll where I gasped and wowed at the views we headed to the hummingbird house. and then onto the outside aviary.  Kyle (AKA Skye Bloodgood) has been photographing for he past few years.  Several of her photos have been on exhibit at the Museum and you c...