June Too Soon!!

30 Jun:  Today we woke up at our normal 8:30 to discover that Jim and Joni were up and eager for breakfast at the Mt. Airy Inn (cllick here.)  The Inn did a marvelous job on our egg white veggie omelets.  They are our new favorite Mt. Airy breakfast place.  Jim then preferred to go for an all-day ride instead of having help with projects on the farm.  And ride we did, all the way to Washington County (where my Sweeney/ McSweeney ancestors still await more serious research) and up to the Pen-Mar Park that both Cynthia and I remember from our AT hike in 2016.  Ron even remembered a store near the B & B we enjoyed overnight one night on our hike.  The garishly painted rock in the photos is High Rock, a local landmark (click here.)  The AT drops precipitously down a very rocky route from this vantage.  This was Joni's first ride of the season, so she was getting her skills refreshed by following Jim on his favorite twisty roads in their neighborhood.  Following Jim and Joni makes for a very pleasant and scenic ride.  We saw pretty view after pretty view of Maryland landscapes.  Only one road turned to dirt part way, but this was one wonderfully maintained dirt road.  Our thanks to those road grader operators.  Dinner was again at the Mt. Airy Inn and they fed us well in the evening too.

Smooch and SmoochSmooch at High Rock (near Pen-Mar Park)

Jim & Joni, thanks for leading us on a lovely motorcycle ride.

View from the edge of the rock

29 Jun:  Despite the bike being first in line, work did not begin until Ron was physically present to sign the contracts.  Bob said that this was the only time the owner has not been present with the bike on Saturday first-come first-served; since other riders were present and waiting, they were served first.  The hotel clerk was adamant that Ron was not to walk and arranged with another employee to give him a ride to the shop.  The bike didn’t get rolled in for service until after 1:30 PM.  The good news was the tire was fine. The nail hadn’t penetrated.  Ron returned to the hotel to pick up Cynthia at five PM, and we no sooner started than raindrops fell and we returned to the hotel to wait out another 10-minute shower before going to Jim and Joni's.  From their place in Mt. Airy, Jim drove us to the Ruby Tuesday in Westminster where we were able to eat salads to our hearts content.  Jim and Joni retire even earlier in the evening than we do !!

28 Jun:  Yup, today we roll out of Philadelphia.  Packing, cleaning and recycling was finally complete and we managed to be on the road by Noon-thirty.  It is hot!   Ron created a plan, and we almost stuck to it, except for one wrong turn.  We again took the back roads through Conshohocken and turned onto I-476 N.  We missed the turn onto I-76 west and had to turn around, Ron's only miscue of the day.  US 202 W & S to R on PA 826 W for a bit (W Street Road), then onto Creek Road, a lovely side road through Brandywine's provincial, pastoral estates (horsey farms).  Ron was surprised how near the end of that road was to I-95 south.  We found a Ruby Tuesday restaurant south of Wilmington on DE Highway 1 (in Bear, Delaware.)   After eating, we took DE 1 south,  until we accidentally turned west a little sooner than planned at Smyrna on Delaware 6 (instead of later on DE 8).  We crossed into Maryland, wandering through fertile agricultural farms and some corn fields boasting stalks well over six feet high.  Finally, we reached US 301 south.   The highlight was crossing the Delaware Bay Bridge; the view of the bay was breathtaking, but the dark, ominous clouds and vivid lightning display ahead really captured our attention.  Just after crossing the bay, the rain started, and Ron took the first exit and pulled into the BMW Annapolis auto dealer to wait out the storm.  The rain stopped in half an hour, and after another half hour, we arrived dry at our Marriott hotel off Maryland Highway 32.  Ron dropped off the bike at Bob’s BMW (click here) in preparation for tomorrow’s 48,000-mile service, and to replace a tire because ours has a nail poking out of the tread.  The walk back was a comfortable 1.7 miles on wide roads.

27 Jun:  Aaaaghh, Ron is finally realizing that we need to be riding the motorcycle tomorrow.  The tire is still holding air pressure, so that is less worrisome.  That nail convinced Ron to route us through Delaware to Bob's instead of through Baltimore.  The biggest concern with Baltimore is the harbor tunnel.  A flat tire on a motorcycle there would be very risky.  Unbeknownst to Ron, the Delaware Bay Bridge also has no break down lane.

Cynthia has beautified the entrance with a few flowers.

26 Jun:  Another day, another Smooch.  We leave Friday, and it is coming down to the wire about packing and recycling.  Still, we slept beautifully last night and woke up rested and happy.  Ron took photos again this morning in more consistent light (fewer shadows obscuring text.)  The walk to Fresh Market provided a sanity relief.  This morning and afternoon, the confirming of source citations came to a successful end, although there are still several sources left to find and several cryptic references to decrypt.  Cynthia has declared herself "finished" typing families into Family Tree Maker.  Ron is now running OCR on the photos while blogging before our evening walk.  Oops, OCR finished, time to start the backup and walk.

25 Jun:  Today even Ron is beginning to feel the need to pack.  We leave Friday, and there is still so much computer work to do.  And today Ron's MacBook was terribly slow at first, so Ron shut it down, rebooted, and watched with dismay as the striped screen showed up again and again.  Fooey, so Ron went home to do a few things while the computer restarted and restarted until it was warm enough to work again.  Thank God it is working fine again.  Kim showed up early to work and John showed up just in time to join us at McMenamin's to drink lunch.  After lunch, Ron went to the house to photograph the 77 documents that he would like to ship back to Texas.  Next step is to see if the results are readable; fair, but shadows obscure too many things.  Cynthia opted to not walk this evening; her feet hurt and she has a headache from all the typing and concentrating.

24 Jun:  Good grief, we started June just a couple of days ago.  Smooch?  This evening we enjoyed a delightful dinner at La Loconda in Newtown at Sally's suggestion.  We were joined by Herb & Zofia and by John.  The conversation was very amusing as Herb was quickly affected by the alcohol and quite bemused by his struggle to find and pronounce words.  Amusing to us all, especially since Herb's condition was not at all intoxicated, just slightly affected and very bemused.  Ron is so very proud that he selected a wonderfully traffic-free route for a Monday rush hour.  Here it is: Stenton Ave W to L on Hillcrest Ave S to R on Germantown Ave W to L on Church St to Harts Lane to R on Barron Hill Road to L on E Hector St to R on Walnut wiggle L & R & L to W on Fayette St crossing Schuylkill to R on Matsonford Rd to L on King of Prussia Road to R on Radnor-Chester Rd to R on Sinkler Dr to L on Iven St. into Church Road  into Brooke Rd to R on Derby-Paoli Rd to L on St. David's Rd to L onto PA 252 S to R on Goshen Rd 2.5 miles to L on Marlborough Rd to L on Providence to corner of West Chester Pike.  When we arrived at the restaurant, Ron noticed a very shiny slot 5/16" long lying in one of the grooves of the rear tire.  He examined more closely to discover a shiny nail filed down and polished by the roadway.  This is not a good discovery, but the tire was still inflated, so we rode home the way we came.

23 Jun: Sunday:  LTSP Lutheran.  (Google finds us with that.)  Good grief, we started June just a couple of days ago.  After worship, we wallyworlded, then we packed.  Almost.  In the evening, we rode to Scoogi's for dinner and so that Ron could air the tires up to 42 lbs as recommended.

Loren and Jon a few years ago

22 Jun:  Happy Birthday to our granddaughter Lauren.  Ron and Cynthia are again at the Archives working.  Ron got on the stick and made plans to take our motorcycle in for service at Bob's BMW in Jessup, Maryland early next Saturday.  (Saturdays there are first come, first served.)  It looks like we will pack to leave Friday, stay at a hotel overnight, and visit Jim & Joni Saturday and Sunday.  Goodie, goodie.

21 Jun:  Despite the fact that we have been awaking early, Cynthia is well rested and sleeping well.  Thank God.  Life is Good.  Another day indistinguishable from every other except that John had a visitor from Australia, so we got to listen to Austrailiaisms.  She was quite a delight and joined us at McMenamins, where she was surprised by the size of her hoagie.

20 Jun:  We are again awake early enough to spend lots of the day at the Archives.  Today Ron has Linda and her husband as company.  Damp sidewalks & roads dissuaded us from taking Cynthia to LabCorps early, but towards noon everything dried our and we rode the motorcycle 20 blocks to get her tests.  Wouldn't you know that it rained a few drops on us as we started.  We were disappointed at Fresh Market that the salad bar is still kaput.  It is now repaired, but the staff had not stocked the veggies yet and estimated an hour until the bar would be open.  So we walked across the street to the hotel and ate salads there.  Ron continues to work through the next pile of source citations.

TRUE STORY:

     Cynthia was dismayed walking into a cloud of fruitflies hovering over the bananas in the kitchen.  She complained A LOT, "How do they get in the house?"
     Ron's empathetic reponses, "Fruitflies have a very short lifespan, like hours." and later, "Fruitflies come with the bananas from Mexico."
     Cynthia then inquired, "If their lifespan is so short, how did they survive the trip from Mexico to the kitchen?"
     Ron, "They reproduce!"  
     Cynthia, "You mean they have sex on the bananas?"  
     Ron delivered the punch line, "God said to be fruitful and multiply." 

There is NEVER A DULL MOMENT!

19 Jun:  What happened to the 18th?  We forgot to blog.  Today we woke up waaaay too early, 6 AM, and were at the Archives too early, got lots done, and now it is time to go for our evening walk.  The forecast torrential rains never materialized.  No Kim, no John, so we walked to Fresh Market and enjoyed salads again, but with special service.  The refrigerated salad bar was busted, and the repair person (a woman!) had formerly been a manager, so she brought down the fixings from the refrigerator for us to select our meals.  What Service !!

18 Jun:  Over lunch at the Chestnut Hill Inn we enjoyed a marvelous conversation with Ron and Nancy.  Cynthia and Nancy discovered that they are artistic soulmates.  Ron and Ron find each other amusing, so it is a good match.  Ron (me) caught up on neglected e-mails today and was surprised to learn that two new packages had been requested last December.  Apparently that notification disappeared into the ether.

17 Jun:  Back at it at the Archives and Microsoft Word has just choked again and opened about 50 copies of previously saved backups, most of which are weeks or months old.  I really need to figure out how to clean out all those old backups before they choke me again.  MIT friend Joel also walked to Fresh Market to join us for lunch.   Much good humor & good conversation.  The solution to the Wor backups is to occasionally close Word.

16 Jun:  Tidings of Peace, York, PA.  Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers in our world.  It was wonderful to see our Trail friends again, Pappa Bear and the Preacher Boys.  Mary Lois was very surprised to see me.  Cynthia had apparently passed by her without notice and was already talking with Clayton further inside the church.  Our surprise was to see Kevin and Naomi instead of Trevor and Austin.  Clayton delivered a marvelous sermon about being blessed with cancer; we should thank God for everything, even if it isn't what we might choose for ourselves.

15 Jun:  LTSP needs another word to encourage Google to find our location.  9:30 AM into Archives on a Saturday.  Thank you, Michael, for opening the door for us.  Now I get to spend one more day on James Lea, after checking e-mails and figuring out the route to York for this evening.  I did already plant the compost and was rewarded to see that compost from a month ago is already becoming soil.  Our 6:00 PM ride to York, PA was crazy when we accidentally turned East instead of West.  That mislabeled entrance onto I-76 south at Conshohocken has bitten us before; it takes suckers south for 7 miles before there is an exit.  Once we retraced our steps and were oriented westbound the Philadelphia cityscape soon disappeared. Approaching Lancaster, PA, the setting sunlight cast marvelous shades of rich green, gold and yellow like a tapestry on fields and hillsides.  My heart smiled to see the iconic Amish farms.  So, too, to see and hear an Amish buggy clopping along, plus an Amish wagon filled with a group of young cap-clad girls, giggling loud enough to be heard.   A restroom stop provided amusement as two very young Amish boys and their dad, all three wearing identically perfect straw hats, opened their eyes wide in astonishment to see Cynthia in helmet.  The youngest boy was so frightened that he backed back into the restroom to hide behind his dad.  We were in Amish country.  Continuing afterwards, strong smells filled the air as we rode close to a cattle yard.  Cynthia was unimaginably delighted to be in a clean hotel room with a king sized bed. 

14 Jun:  This morning we awoke early and were at the Archives before my pill alarm rang at 9 AM (ain't retirement wonderful?)  I've asked my sistah if she will be my emergency contact for my passport application and started truncating a package for Sandra, but now I wanna work on James Lea until noon.  Time flies - seems like only yesterday that we were creating a new blog post for June, and it is already half gone.  Cynthia's birthday month approaches posthaste.  John P. showed up today and joined us for lunch at Fresh Market.  He really enjoyed the salad and soup, so he might join us there again in the coming weeks (two) that we are all still here. And YAY for the beautiful weather enticing us to walk the Wishahickon trail in the woods.  

13 Jun:  We hit the Archives running late after sleeping until 8:30.  Sally B and Kim-Eric joined us for lunch at McMenamins.  The hummus is delicious, although Ron always prefers a 22-oz Hefeweizen or two.  Afterward, he walked to the house twice, once for oatmeal and once for pineapple and mango.  Our evening walk was prevented by a horrendous rainstorm with flash flood warnings.  Two weeks to go until our ride to hike the summer in Killington, Vermont, so we need to start thinking about cooking beans and lentils and using up other supplies.  Ron needs to get his recycling and composting acts together soon - - - but first, genealogy calls.

12 Jun:  Cynthia is disappointed with her attempt to discover the four James Lea signatures.  The NC Archives sent her a 1771 petition and proposal to partition Orange County, NC and establish a new county named Warrick upon which is written: "Rejected."  Lots of signatures, but only one James Lea (probably her ancestor.)  She had asked for the petition to create Caswell.  Eureka !!  Larry showed up and asked to go to lunch; Ron is now eating pretzels to absorb alcohol.  This evening 7ish we had dinner plans at Jansen’s with Ron’s MIT alum, Eric, but were very disappointed that Eric was under the weather after a week-long round of doctors visits, so he opted for a nap instead of dinner.  We wish him well.  Dinner at Jansen was fabulous, as always.  (We wonder what those very tasty, little green veggies were.)

11 Jun:  Lunch at McMenamins with Kim and John.  Ron forgot to blog whilst inebriated, but this is soon after sobering.  Ron is tooooo funny!!!!

10 Jun:  Already !!  We have a dinner date tonight and rain is forecast, so I am leaving ASAP to attempt to get there before the rain starts.  Wish me luck.  We were out of luck to ride the motorcycle to Scoogi's because of the rain she fell.  Pastor Dave and Susan gave us a ride to avoid the rain and enjoy a lovely dinner with delightful company.  Susan is beautiful and a fine, fun conversationalist.
  

Bagpipes in an enclosed space are LOUD !!

9 June:  Worship in the 9:30 AM at Christ Ascension in historic Chestnut Hill, PA. We thoroughly enjoy the "old school" walk to church.  Ron clips branches while Cynthia boogies on ahead.  Somehow, he manages to catch her before she arrives at the door.  That evening we made quite an entrance pulling up to the William Penn Inn in dress clothes on the motorcycle!  Too bad someone didn't get a photo.  Pastor Frank Watson's musical rendition of Auld Lang Syne on bagpipes hit all of the right notes for a retirement farewell tribute to our friend, Dr. John Peterson.  John is retired after forty years as the archivist and curator for the Lutheran Archives in Philadelphia.  Under his watch and guidance, this Archives became a model for ELCA Archives.  We enjoyed the camaraderie sharing Norwegian and Swedish jokes.   Blessings and your forward go, John Peterson.

8 Jun:  LTSP in the AM.  John & Jim working today, so the outlook for drinking lunch is great.  Cynthia voice a preference to walk to salads, so Ron might enjoy TWO lunches today.  Nope, Cynthia chose to join us at McMenamin's, but I did get to drink two (2) 22-oz hefeweizens.  Now I've been over to the house to eat a bit more salad and leftover potato to help with the sobriety and am ready to resume working on James Lea - - after another DNA search for Pat.

7 Jun: Somehow we jumped from Tuesday (yesterday) to Friday (today).  And that's a good thing.  Everyone loves Fridays.  The twos of us completed recent projects, and now Ron is back hardly working on James Lea (Cynthia's book).  Cynthia, OTOH,  finished creating a database with a trillion kazillion names from the Forefather Profiles.  We enjoyed lunch at McMenamin's with John T.  (Oops, Ron forgot to blog whilst inebriated.)  It is almost seven PM and time to leave the Archives for our evening walk on the recently discovered Wissahickon trail.  It was cool in the shade of the "forest."

6 Jun: LTSP.  And here we are, Tuesday.  Ron has finished his receipts, and no one else has shown up, so it looks like Cynthia and I will be walking to Fresh Market for lunch again.  Ron wrote card #4 today, so only a card to Trevor left before mailing Shank cards off.  (Note: the editor in the wings reminding Ron it is Thursday)  We started towards salads, and the skies opened up and the rain poured.  Ron opted to pause under the dense trees needing clipping and clipped.  Cynthia's raincoat covers her to the knees, so she was OK.  Evening walk around campus was deliciously fragrent, and the walk in the woods was again delightful.

5 Jun:  LTSP.  Today again.  Apparently, Kim-Eric isn't showing up today, so in half an hour we will brave the forecast heat to walk to Fresh Market.  Ron has finished finding sources for the Clements package and is taking a break before deciding what to do next.  The heat walking to and from Fresh Market wasn't so bad.  Ron has been losing weight (now below 172), so he needs to eat more.  Isn't that a lovely predicament?  I think we will take our evening stroll in the woods again today.  See you tomorrow.

4 Jun:  LTSP.  Today again, a second cool day.  Apparently, it is not a Doll meeting day, so we will walk to Fresh Market at 1 PM to feed us.  Hurrah, John has shown up and is willing to walk to McMenamins.  Ron's alcoholism is resuscitated.  Two beers a week constitutes alcoholism, right?  Smooch, Smooch, I love you.  And a fine time was had by all the survivors.  Despite the background noise and Ron's alcoholic fog, a good communication was enjoyed.  In the evening we enjoyed a nice walk in the woods nearby - quite the surprise to find such a place so close to LTSP.

Da Beauties as photographed by Brita A.

3 Jun:  Back at it in the Archives.  Ron was shocked this morning upon approaching the main door into the Brossman Center to see the reflection of all those pink roses in the windows.  It was pretty incredibly wonderful, and he had to turnabout to fully appreciate the splendor.  Fortunately Fresh Market repaired the salad bar, so we enjoyed the usual walk in reasonably cool weather, and in the evening we enjoyed a nice walk about the neighborhood, which always amazes us because some other bush or flowers have gained ascendency in the splendor parade.  We've had winter, summer, winter, summer, winter, summer, winter, summer and now finally we get a couple of days of spring.  Oops, this line lines up this picture.

Ron between Jean and Susan (before thunder & sprinkle)

2 Jun, Sunday:  Another early service at Christ Ascension, but we were greatly disappointed to find the salad bar at Fresh Market closed due to electrical problems.  Being resourceful we decided to ride to Dreshertown to the Fresh Market which is a stone's throw from WallyWorld.  Imagine our disappointment that that Fresh Market does not even have a salad bar.  We bought our groceries and came home to eat oatmeal.  Ron decided to sit in the glorious weather outside while working on another computer project.  However, after an hour or so, huge thunder approached and a few raindrops sent Ron scampering inside.  That prompted him to resume his window washing assignment, but he was only half done when it became time to dress for dinner.  In the evening MIT buddy Joel and wife Susan fed us a wonderfully delicious Pritikin perfect meal, and Jean brought Pritikin perfect hors d' ouevres.  We love it when our friends take out diet seriously, but we feel guilty for putting them to the extra effort to cook with such horrible (to them) restrictions.  On the other hand, we are hoping to live 15 years longer, and our life is wonderfully enjoyable, thank God.

Ron and Cynthia and Dean

Dedication following the ribbon cutting

1 Jun:  LTSP in Mt Airy - you can Google LTSP, there is only one.  Smooch andSmoochSmooch are back at it in the Archives.  Later today we ride to Wilmington to Gov. Printz Park for a ribbon cutting for the new Farmstead.  We were approaching Wilmington when Cynthia said ??????????????????????????? Gov. Printz Park is in Essington.  The GPS figured out how to get there from there, so we arrived an hour late, but still early for the ribbon cutting dedicating the new Farmstead.  Cynthia and Ron enjoyed seeing our Swedish Colonial friends and walking about the park (which is very nice, thanks to airport improvement shush money.)  As an added bonus, we met our new Rambo (maybe) cousins Dean and Karen.  Dean has embarked on DNA to see if he can establish a relationship to Drury Rambo who was born in 1824.

May Means Ron’s Birthday

31 May:  Mayday, Mayday!  We are running out of May days!  But, after all, tomorrow IS another month.  After breakfast, Cynthia hoofed it to Chestnut Hill Jewelers to make a deal.  She sold her pair of unmatched two gold earrings for $75.00 and bought a very inexpensive pair of earrings to replace the ones she lost.  (Silly Ron preferred the unmatched pair.)  The Smooches ate lunch at McMenamins before walking into Chestnut Hill for Ron to take a passport photo, but CVS didn't offer the striped shirt and number that he requested.  Then on to the Post Office to mail cards and return.  Cynthia is rich in steps today - - - really steppin' out.  Ron is eating frozen pineapple and mango to keep his strength up this afternoon.  Receipts tell Ron that other people joined us for dinner at Scoogi's, my guess is John and Jim.

30 May:  The rain yesterday means that Cynthia doesn't need to water her plants this morning.  We were a bit warm throughout the night, but slept well and woke up too early.  Ron is already feeling sluggish with a full stomach after breakfast.  He might have to return to the house for additional pineapple and mango sugar to perk up his personality.  First, however, there is an e-mail to send and a letter full of postcards to address.  All Done and Ron is feeling much more energetic - so much so that he prepared a forWeb version of another package.

29 May:  Another tomorrow, but we will have to await tomorrow for another day.  Eureka !!  Receipts tell Ron that we went to McMenamin's for lunch with Kim and ? today.  (Ron really needs to blog lunches while still incoherent.)  Ron has completed the Cock package that has consumed all his time for the last six weeks (823 pages.)  Only 8 more packages for the Swedish Colonial Society left to complete.  Then there is the James Lea document for Cynthia before he can resume working on the Rambo Family Tree.  There are just too many fun things to do.  Cynthia is discovering that the Forefathers Profiles require much more data entry and attention than she imagined.  Isn't it nice that we can stay our of mischief so easily?  It will be quite a respite to enjoy a hiking vacation in Vermont for the rest of the summer, and we are discussing a return to the Pritikin in September (for the cheaper rates, dontcha know.)  The rain this afternoon was intense and a tornado touched down in Berks County (nearby).  Fortunately it had stopped by 7:20 when we walked home for dinner oatmeals.  Little Miss Smoochie had spirited the flowers up to the bed and sat awaiting Cynthia with the "Let Me Count the Ways I Love You" card in hand.

28 May:  Only three more shopping days left until June Day.  Oh my gosh, I forgot to celebrate May Day.  (Editorial comment from the pulpit: Isn't Ron hilariously funny?  The tree depicted on 24 May is a Korean Dogwood, according to Nancy Drew who does DNA.)  Up early, well rested, and back to working on the new components of the package, tossing out superfluities and redacting others.  Fortunately John was here today at lunchtime, so we were enabled to walk to McMenamin's so that Ron could drink lunch - and behold, he is finally sober enough to type legibly.  Getting close to completion, but heavy thunderstorms are also forecast, and it is now 7 PM, quitting time.  Somehow the heavy thunderstorms never materialized although Pastor David said that it rained heavily during the night.

27 May:  We rested well last night and woke up refreshed and cheerful.  (Thank God we both usually wake up cheerfully.)  Ron spent ten minutes meditating about how peaceful and beautiful the campus is on a holiday before asking Michael let us into the Archives.  Ron is now back to work.  Thank goodness for time to recover after a "day of rest," spent washing windows.  Now he is editing the "final" component of the Cox package and listening to "oldies" on his headphones.  Oops, more components showed up.  Nephew Eric's RPM Coins web page (click here) is reported to have problems (easily fixed by da Geek squadette.)  Communication with cousin Angi continues to be entertaining, and she is typing tons of Dehaven information.  (We need a name, Angi, for Dorothy Bertine's Dehaven book so that I can get the word out via this blog.)  The daily walk to and from Fresh Market for salad lunch was refreshing, although Ron (clippers in hand) never caught up to Cynthia after returning to change shirts and retrieve his hat.  This evening's walk was glorious; the flowers are smelling amazingly fragrant throughout the campus.  (So we walked in circles for nearly an hour this evening.)

26 May, Sunday:  Tomorrow, rapidly approaching (just like yesterday).
Ron is funny!  RON is Funny! RON IS FUNNY!  (Editorial comment from someone other than Ron.)  We churched in the morning and enjoyed the pulpit supply minister wonderfully well.  Fresh Market lettuce lunch next, followed by a quick trip to Walmart (where Ron forgot to buy fat-free, salt-free pretzels.)  Then Ron washed windows until the rain diverted his attention to the Family Tree Maker file that Cynthia improved.  After cessation of rain, window washing resumed until after dark.  Monday morning light reveals that the windows are still streaky but much, much improved.  Two more dining room windows will be Ron's focus next Sunday.  Washing windows is a lot more work when they've accumulated crud for at least ten years and all of the sliding parts are corroded or sticky.

Impatiens.  Up close and personal.

25 May:  Tomorrow, rapidly approaching yesterday, collided with today, today. 
Ron is funny!  
Today Michael had to unlock the Brossman Center for us to be the only other souls on campus.  Ron will be compelled to invent things to say to make the text extend for the entire length of the picture beside it - - - and we made progress in that dimension.

24 May:  Nina F. from Santa Fe, NM, wrote this marvelous poem for our marriage in May 2011:  

Unto her –

This tree has marvelously snow white, squarish blossoms.
(Google doesn't find good pictures, but Cynthia says it is a dogwood.)

his eyes –
If water
was a flame –
lift and chase
the sparkle
in her veins –
Not a rock
is he –
Or a stone –
But a canyon
with a thousand
depths –
The red core’s
heart –
The lips
that taste
the marrow
in her bones.

These lilac colored flowers have a sweet fragrance.

and Cynthia blogged before I looked at my computer this morning.  Another lovely Philadelphia Friday morning, and we are at the Archives working early.  Fortunately, John showed up and we were able to "drink lunch" late at McMenamin's.  Ron has returned to sobriety and is wrapping up the Catherine Cox package at long last, perhaps tomorrow.  After a few hints for a few days, Cynthia posted photos of her new flowers and the beautiful dogwood tree recently blossoming snow white.  

Cynthia's new planted row of impatiens.

23 May:  Yes, we are still in Philadelphia at the Lutheran Seminary in Mt. Airy, still enjoying accommodation on-campus with Pastor David.  And Ron is again in the basement working on the Catherine Cox package for John Tepe.  Typical walk to Fresh Market for lunch and an additional walk at 7 PM to sniff the flowers and round out the mandatory 10,000 steps.  Ron intended to get to bed early, but it was again 10:30 by the time he hit the sack.

22 May:  Ron is again in the basement working on the Catherine Cox package, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Kim-Eric and an excuse to "drink lunch" at McMenamin's.  Cynthia is again slaving away in the Lull Lounge, adding source citations to every iota of information from The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware.  Hefeweizen for lunch was delicious; Kim and Prof. Larry also joined us today.  By 5 PM Ron had sobered enough to resume work.  Ron was delighted to see Eric there again (Eric was the hard-working busboy at McMenamin's from 2011-2015.)  7:20 we went for a lovely walk around the neighborhood after which Cynthia watered her flowers, we ate a couple bags of popcorn and suddenly it was bedtime again.  We enjoyed wonderful sleep and woke up refreshed.

21 May:  Today was chilly again this morning.  Will the weather ever make up its mind?  Err, forget that the weather has no mind.  Mid-day the weather was perfect, warm enough with a cool breeze.  The new scale declared Ron to weigh a mere 171 lbs - too little, so he needs to start eating more, poor boy.  Today we again ate leftover salads for lunch, but we have finished them now.  Ron is enjoying the frozen pineapple and mango that Walmart sells - his ice cream substitute.  The leftover salads removed the incentive to walk to Fresh Market for lunch.  In the evening we invited John and Jim to Scoogi's for dinner.  Afterward, we agreed that Scoogi's is still our favorite restaurant hereabouts (click here), in large part because it is quiet and relaxed.  The good food doesn't hurt, and Jim & John thoroughly enjoyed their desserts.  So we are under-walked today.

20 May:  Another day at the Archives.  Ron bailed out of the house early, when Cynthia began cleaning up a storm.  Blogging done, back to the Cock package.  The new flowers that Cynthia planted beside the entry sidewalk are looking quite bright and cheerful today.  Cynthia declared it too hot to walk to Fresh Market mid-day, so we ate leftover salads for lunch and walked to the Trolley Car Diner for dinner of an egg white omelet.

19 May, Sunday:  What a change, straight from winter into the heat of mid-summer in two days.  We enjoyed our walk to church in the morning and Ron exulted in the trimmed trees along the way.  Immediately after eating lunch salads at Fresh Market, we rode the motorcycle to Walmart where Ron bought a new bathroom scale.  The good news is that he weighs only 172.8 Monday morning.  (Don't ask Cynthia about the bad news - Ron is in enough trouble already.)

18 May:  Cynthia is still coughing and drowsy after using nighttime cough medicine last night - - and here it is noontime, time to walk to Fresh Market, but we have too much salad in the refrig, so we will buy bananas and blueberries instead of fresh salad.

Thanks to Britt A. for the photos taken at the Council meeting on 16 May (moved to that date below): another photo is the twos of us, the Rector blessing our marriage, and the news article published in the Swedish Colonial News in 2011. 

Happily Forever After

17 May:  Settendemai, (17 May) the Norwegian Fourth of July!  Ron was delighted to skip out for lunch with John P. at noon, but drank a light lunch since evening celebrations were on the schedule.  After a long day's work in the Archives, we Swedes (plus Norske) had a marvelous dinner party at Jansen (click here) to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary and Ron's birthday (Da Annibursary.)  Friends Jim and Joni drove from Maryland, John and Emily came from Delaware, Herb and Zofia came from New Jersey,  Mark brought Sally from Berwyn, Ed and Wu Jen live closer?, John P. came from up north in Philly, and Kim-Eric and Ruth drove from Exeter, PA.  Ron and Cynthia were given a couple of greeting cards (one hand-made by Sally's computer printer and the other signed by everyone present) and a lovely flower basket (thanks Wu Jen.)  It was a lovely dinner!!!!  We are thankful to our friends for celebrating with us!!!!  

   16 May: Ron continues working on the Peter Larsson Cock package, and occasionally decrypts another cryptic source citation.
Cynthia has entered reports from Peter Craig concerning the colonial Schaggen, Stille and Yocum's lineages into Family Tree Maker.  The rain has made many local flowers breathtaking.  Bev W. gave us a ride to the Swedish Colonial Society councilors meeting at Gloria Dei "Old Swedes" Church near Penn's Landing.  Ron and Cynthia were the Fika (lunch) hosts.  This catered, Pritikin-perfect lunch was so tasty and appealing that Cynthia received effusive thanks.  Better yet, the Rector of Gloria Dei blessed our marriage which was officiated by her predecessor at Gloria Dei eight wonderful years ago. 

The Rector of Gloria Dei blessed our marriage.

After all normal business reports were given, we delivered brief reports about our activities  Everyone was so pleased that we eventually stopped talking that we received a round of applause.  The 3 PM ride back to the Archives took more than two hours, thanks to big city rush hour, a bit stressful for Bev.  Thanks Bev.



15 May:  The disadvantage of blogging three days later is that we have forgotten if there was any notable news other than noting that the rain has ceased and the sun is shining.  Cynthia mulched the flower beds before coming to the Archives.  The afternoon was spent at the Augustana meeting with Sally in a nice nook inside the Krauth Library.  The library is unique; the art glass floors came from Harvard's library in the mid-twenties.  Archivist Lisa also come to the meeting along with (?) the librarian(?).

New Sweden's "Royal Couple," pictured on 12 May 2011.

14 May:  Another day just like the other day!  The rain has been horrific for three days.  But, thank God for the rain; the flowers blossom and bloom!  While going through receipts a month later, Ron discovered that we went to McMenamins with Kim and John today.  (Kim drinks one Victory  and John orders iced tea.)  Apparently drinking lunch is incompatible with blogging.

13 May:  Another day in the archives from dawn to dusk!  And after a week not blogging, no other memories.  It could be that this was the day we ventured out to walk to Fresh Market despite morning rain - which seemingly had ended, but resumed as soon as we started walking.  Since the color radar had indicated cessation, we kept walking and got soaked.  Cynthia began to wonder if wet feet and that soaking might be giving her a cold.

12 May, Sunday:  Hooray, hooray for the 12th of May, its Ron's annibirsary!  We celebrated the big birthday and our anniversary by driving to worship (in the rain), walking (in the rain) to Fresh Market, and working on our computers (while it rained outside).  Our friend Jane B. from Kensett, Iowa wished us a happy trifecta for celebrating anniversary, birthday and Mother's Day!  Thank you, Jane!

May 12 2011-- A toast to living happily ever after! 

Rose Miller Vold and Cynthia (note hairdo, another girl day)

11 May:  Up early, we raced off to Wally World to buy groceries, exchange clippers, and get petro.  That speedy start seemed well advised to avoid the rains forecast for later in the day - which rains never arrived.  The day continued one race after another.  Cynthia prepared sweet corn and baked sweet potatoes, which we shared with Pastor David for dinner.  Isn't she sweet?   Children and grandchildren sent her skin cream that has worked so marvelously that she doesn't look a day older than this photo at age one with her mother.

10 May: Cynthia had a girl day, a pedi, mani and girlicure day, plus a haircut, too.  Joel, Susan, and Jean C. joined us for dinner at Jansen's to celebrate Ron's birthday and our anniversary a couple days early.  Everyone enjoyed pleasant conversation, great food, and great company.

9 May:  We missed blogging a day; maybe we missed out on this whole day?

8 May:  another smooch day, and another day at the Archives.  Ron continues to make incremental progress with the Catherine Cock package.  In heavy rain last night Ron noticed that a downspout is overflowing, not draining.  Cynthia seemingly hasn't regained her energy since mulching a couple of days ago.  Ron took Cynthia to dinner at Jansen, a date night to celebrate our big upcoming anniversary #8!  

7 May:  Smooch.  And so begins another day at the Archives.  Today we didn't walk to Fresh Market but instead ate leftover salads at home.  We did walk to the garden store where Cynthia bought some plantings.  Nice day and warm in the sunshine.  In the evening we treated Pastor David to dinner at the Trolley Car Diner.  Ron has refused to order there since getting indifferent responses from server and cashier the last time he ordered no oil and received an omelet floating in oil.  The "trail maintenance" clipping trees along the sidewalk is progressing nicely although that added activity delays Ron's arrival where ever we walk.

6 May, Monday!  The (female) Tasmanian devil worked hard cleaning, doing laundry, and put out two bags of mulch before ten AM!  Apparently she exhausted herself.  Ron solved several cryptic source citation questions, worked on two family group sheet packages.  We spent another very long day in the Archives, walked to Fresh Market for lunch, got in our ten thousand steps by three thirty.  Ron carries clippers to trim low hanging branches while we walk, so he arrives at Fresh Market somewhat later than Cynthia.  The evening walk was indeed pleasant and fragrant. The lilacs and Lily of the Valley fleurs are marvelous.  The day never quite warmed up enough but was much better than the last few.

5 May, Sunday, Cinco de Mayo:  What does this mean?  FB posted a meme with a jar of Mayo in a stainless steel sink.  So look up Cinco de Mayo, it means more than tacos.  The BBC reported global Christian genocide; Lord have mercy.  It is raining in Philly and so we rode to church with Pr. David, treated him to lunch at Fresh Market, and rode home with him also.  23 people were in worship, but despite the small crowd, we sang loud.  Ron is proud of himself for donning his rain gear and washing the motorcycle in the rain.  It came pretty clean quickly.  The remainder of the day was spent on computer work.  Unfortunately, Reunion GEDCOMs and Family Tree Maker GEDCOMs are not perfectly compatible.  Several glitches will require Ron to massage the GEDCOM text files to effect a seamless transfer.  These will be most easily done with XYWrite, although Ron may decide to attempt the changes with Unix utilities that are available on the Mac.  The day stayed cool, and Cynthia became cold.  Ron still puzzles that her metabolism is so different from his.

May the 4th be with you!  (Lutherans response, “And also with you!”)

3 May:  Another repetition of Archives, Fresh Market, evening walk, and sleep.  However, winter returned for another visit.

Another photo from Longwood Gardens last Monday

2 May:  Another normal day at the Archives, with a break for lunch at Fresh Market.  Nice warm 80-degree warmth.

1 May 2019, 12 days to Ron’s big birthday!  YAY!  Celebrate his day by sending an email to rsbeatty@gmail.com.  Ron already started celebrating by drinking lunch with Kim at McMenamins.  (Why big birthday ??)

April in New Sweden

30 Apr:  Ron is in the Archives again and will blog later, as usual.  Cynthia has finished up adding source citations to the entirety of the 1693 Census.  AttaGirl, Congratulations on finishing a big job.  Ron has finished his Friend family source citation confirmations (except for materials not in the Craig Collection.)




29 Apr:  We awoke in Wilmington, Delaware.  This was another unusual day because we started riding in Wilmington to join John at the Longwood Gardens (click here).  WOW !!  The flowers are amazing, and it is another surprise that Pierre S. DuPont merged fountains, flowers and music into such an incredible spectacle.  (His organ has 10,010 pipes (click here) and can be played by a computer.)  I have to suggest a visit to my opera-afficinado friend Ed.  Flowers, flowers and more flowers.  What a perfect time of year and a perfect year to visit the gardens.  The recent warmth and rains have undoubtedly enhanced the displays.  John showed us the behind-the-scenes views of the organ, before we listened to the computer play several show tune medleys.  A light display helps the computer know which pedals to push and which keys to play - or maybe that is for the audience.  It was better for me to close my eyes, and listen to the music undistracted.  We were able to order a small lunch salad from their cafeteria.  By 2:30 it was decided that we had best depart promptly if we wished to avoid rush hour traffic.  That tactic was marginally successful although Ron wandered around enough trying to find a pleasant route that we did not arrive back to the Seminary until 4:30.

Gov. Printz and a couple of Colonial lovelies

28 Apr, Sunday:  Not our normal Sunday.  We walked to church with umbrella in hand to ward off the looming rainclouds.  Then we merely picked up salads at Fresh Market and hustled off on the motorcycle to ride south and west to the Doubletree in Wilmington, delighted to arrive there dry.  (Ron likes to quip that God helps those who help themselves, and we helped out by postponed eating until after arriving.)  We then walked through a bad neighborhood for a few blocks to the Holy Trinity (Old Swedes) Church in Wilmington (click here).  There we were informed that we needed to walk another couple of blocks to our destination, Fort Christina (click here) on the banks of the Delaware, where the Swedes first landed in 1638.  We spent a couple of hours at Fort Christina, enjoying the Spring Swedish Festival and enjoyed seeing and hearing SCS Gov. John Tepe, dressed in Colonial peasant clothing, give a brief speech.  Our reason for riding to Wilmington was to join MIT alums Ed and Joel for dinner after their afternoon opera.  Ed and Joel were roommates, which added a dimension of interest to the delightful conversation.

27 Apr:  Ugh! Arising at 6:00 AM is not pleasant but Ron is committed to joining in the 5K walk with Joel.  Ron judiciously exercised, oatmealed, turned up the heat in the house before riding off on the motorcycle in a surprisingly warm 50-degree morning for the 5K Multiple Myeloma Run/Walk.  Cynthia opted out after learning the temperature was forecast to be 44 degrees.  Had she known that it was actually 50 degrees she might have braved the chill.  The walk was very enjoyable, and Ron chatted extensively with Joel's co-worker for half of the walk.  The highlight was meeting the ever-ephemeral Susan and new pup Sophia.  Annnnddd: here is the photo of the Runners/Walkers:



Ron's ride back to the Seminary was a delight.  Spring is blossoming everywhere in Philadelphia, and the chosen route was blocked off once and wrong way once so that the GPS directed Ron onto a couple of lovely streets with mansions and marvelous grounds abounding around.

26 Apr:  Rain, Rain, Rain, with blue skies in time for lunch at McMenamin’s with John P., who brought his umbrella, just in case.  We made it back to the seminary dry!   5:00 the ominous black clouds rolled in accompanied by a lightning show and roaring thunder.  A ferocious downpour lasted a short twenty minutes.  We were able to walk home dry by the usual 7 pm.

25 Apr:  Two weeks ago Ron looked out the bedroom window and was delighted to see green on the "fingertips" of the trees; today nearly everything was green.  Cynthia's transplanted iris look like they will survive the uprooting trauma.  We are told that the drain man returneth to continue repairs.  Ron has spent the morning recording receipts into his spreadsheet (so that he knows where he's been) and updating the blog.  He was delighted to find new news about Mexico Beach (click here).  Now his seat is getting sore, and he needs to move.  Movement led to salads at Fresh Market - ambience is lacking, but salads are nearly perfect, made to order by us.  And, now that the receipts are recorded and the blog is updated, Ron can return to appointed work.

24 Apr:  The Drain Man is Here! and opines that tree roots are causing the drain to back up when laundry follows shower.  Ron and Cynthia are hard at work in the Archives.  (Ron is finally recording receipts into his spreadsheet after a month of intentions.)  We took a two-hour lunch break to walk to Fresh Market.  Pastor D. Made Spaetzel with water and no salt for our dinner.  It is tasty and white, like fat rice.  Ron and Pastor added beans and lentils to theirs; Cynthia added only enough to cool hers down from scalding to warm.

23 Apr:  Repeating Monday in the Archives.  Ed R., Terry B. and Kim-Eric also worked in the Archives.  John P.  joined Kim-Eric, Ed and us for lunch at McMenamin's.  (Ron loves to drink lunch there - 22 oz Hefeweisens.)  Terry brought her own sack lunch.  Pastor David returned from his road trip to Cleveland this evening, but tells me that he leaves again on Thursday to Minneapolis.

22 Apr:  Ron spent the day in the Archives, while Cynthia cleaned and supervised both the window washers and the installer of a mini window air conditioner in our bedroom.  After Cynthia's jobs were complete, she showered and started a load of laundry.  The wash cycled fine, but during rinse, disaster struck; the kitchen floor flooded with water from somewhere.  Cynthia used a million rags or two to soak up the flood.  As soon as Ron returned and asked about the damp rags draped over everything, Cynthia told her story, and Ron immediately went to the guest bathroom to discover that the downstairs commode had also backed up and flooded that room with water and unidentified detritus.  Ron insisted that he scrub up the mess (after a bowl of oat meal, evening pills, toothbrushing, etc.) and used the last bits of the Spic & Span water to do so.  The worst part was water under the wood flooring - now drying out with big fans.  WEll! The house is mighty clean.  As Ron is wont to repeat far too often, "If this is the worst thing that happens this year, it won't be a bad year."

21 Apr, Easter Sunday:  Happy Easter!  We hope your Easter was a joyous celebration!  We walked into Chestnut Hill to the Lutheran Church, amidst springtime delight!   The dogwoods, redbuds, were bursting with blossoms, and the cherry blossoms looked like pink cotton candy!   Spring is greening beautifully, too.  The service was a very ”high church” with all of the whistles and bells. The congregation had a reaffirmation of baptism, and the choir was magnificent.  The neatest part was leaving with church bells ringing from many churches.  I felt like we should be singing, Easter Parade!  Cynthia felt like she was in the musical Easter Parade...!  After lunch at Fresh Market, we shopped at Walmart.  Once home, Ron scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom floors.  Cynthia transplanted flowers into the newly weeded bed; they could be flowering weeds?  If so, they look better than the weeds that were there.

20 Apr:  We worked in the Archives all day, Cynthia left early enough to prepare a flower bed next to the front entry.

19 Apr:  Yes, even on Good Friday, our work in the Archives continues.  We started at ten AM. Ron finished at eight PM.  Cynthia ordered Easter Lilys delivered and mailed Easter cards.  Dinner at Jansen was delicious.  As soon as we arrived home, Cynthia stripped Ron of his clothing!  Imagine!  She insisted on doing laundry despite having washed Ron’s clothes just last year!

18 Apr:  Joel G, an MIT alum, walked from his house to join us for lunch at Fresh Market.  We plan to join him in a 5K walk/run a week from Sat.  As usual, Ron climbed on the Pritikin healthful eating and exercising band wagon.  Thanks to a new puppy, Joel is already walking quite a lot on a daily basis.

17 Apr:  New Sweden, PA,  United Lutheran Seminary Archives.   Kim-E, John T. will lunch with us at McMenamin's. We are working intensely from 9:30 to 7 PM, taking a two-hour break for lunch; we walk to Fresh Market and back.

16 Apr:  The AC arrived; the installer arrives next Monday.  The regular archivists are working in the Archives; they need to move the shelving for their projects, preventing Cynthia from the book inventory until they leave at six PM.  We had lunch with John T. at McMenamin's and dinner at the
Trolley Car Diner with Jim Z.

15 Apr:  The massive fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame is heartbreaking.  Spring reverses once again, presenting us with a very chilly day!  And Cynthia’s air conditioner was scheduled to arrive within the hour.  But, it did not arrive.   Do we need an AC?  John T. came after lunch to help in the Archives. It was a long day’s journey into the night.  We finished work in the archives at 9:00 PM.

Dogwoods

Wisteria

14 Apr:  Passion Sunday, we walked a mile plus to Christ Ascension Lutheran Church in Chestnut Hill, and we lunched at Fresh Market afterward. Cynthia’s FB post...
Sunday Offering...
The passion story from the Gospel of Luke grips my soul with Thanksgiving. Thank the Lord, the Almighty, for the bread, the wine, the body and blood of Jesus given for me! For ME! How wonderful to worship with palm branches and sing Hosanna! How incredible to grasp the ultimate reason, the justification, for why we are Christians, played out during the next seven days of the holiest week of our lives. Do you get it, too?

13  Apr:  The landscape is changing daily.  Tomorrow we must get photos of the 50’ tall ethereal white dogwood trees!  The tulip trees are equally magnificent.  After hours in the Archives, it is exciting to see the kaleidoscope of change outdoors.  Jean C.  joined us for a lovely dinner tonight at Scoogi’s.  She looks so happy.

12 Apr:  Spring is springing again.  Walking to Chestnut Hill was a feast for our eyes.  One street was flooded with green, pink, yellow, gold, lavender, and purple flowers - plus rows of white dogwood trees floated down the street.  It was quite warm walking in the bright sunshine to Fresh Market, but we felt cooler returning because of cloud cover.

11 Apr:  Spring retreated.  Winter returned and Cynthia is NOT a happy camper.  On the other hand, this was the first day thatRon looked out the bedroom window and saw obvious hints of green on the fingertips of the trees.  However, she is now closer to God, atop the rolling stairs that allow access to the top shelves in the Archives.  Ron has written and responded to e-mails, so it is time to sign in as his alter ego, JamesLeaCobbsCreek, to continue editing Cynthia's next book.  We walked "home" to eat our leftover salads so that now there is room in the refrigerator.  (Did Philco make refrigerators?  Google says Philco started producing refrigerators in 1939.)  Ron should think about going on a TV game show.  We walked to Fresh Market for groceries, stopping for a disappointing meal at the Trolley Stop Diner.  Ron's omelet was slathered in Oil!

Gov. Printz Park in Essington, DE.
The New Sweden Farmstead relocation progresses.

10 Apr:  Larry again showed up at the Archives and we walked to Fresh Market for salads for lunch, our favorite.  Ron spent the day restoring the Yocum folders from the file cabinets to the storage boxes they fill.  Cynthia planned a birthday dinner for David including Jim Z, and our dinners at Jansen were again phenomenal.

9 Apr:  Ron attempted to help Alex, the maintenance man, by holding the plumbing snake steady, while Alex wound 60' of hose down into the drain.  Pulling the snake back out of the drain was a problem because the snake would fly loose causing Alex to cry out for help, ”Oh, Jesus!”  Ron thought it best to give up being assisting plumber.  Ron's next AM job was a surgeon.  The splinter in Cynthia’s heel became a big problem overnight.  Ron operated in the archives, with Cynthia on the floor, holding her heel high in the air.  Thanks to good lighting at the Archives, Ron was able to employ one hand to hold a magnifying glass and the other hand to the needle from his sewing kit, and worked wonders.  The patient survived despite the odds.  Kim-Eric joined us for lunch at McMenamin’s to discuss theology and political correctness.  (Ron drank his favorite lunch hereabouts.  They actually provide us a good salad too.)  John T. had just arrived at the Archives when we returned.  Cynthia turned into a sugar addict, eating an entire bag of bite-size cookies.  Ron caught her in the act of eating contraband.  John stayed late to finish adding one more forefather application to his Family Tree Maker files.  Now it is Ron's turn to consolidate all of those.  The snake was deemed successful, so we can again use the water in the house.

8 Apr:  After yesterday's rain and today's sunshine, the flowering trees are quite magnificent.  We walked to Fresh Market for lunch, returning to discover that our house has plumbing issues. The pipes are clogged someplace, backing up the washing machine and plumbing.  We are unable to use the water until it is fixed.  Who knows, we might have to go to a hotel after all.  At least, the laundry is done for this week and we returned to the archives for a fierce attack at our many projects.  Night came, we didn't have to go to a hotel, yet.  Alex, the maintenance guy is returning on the morrow with a sewer roto-rooter.   And just before bed, Cynthia got a large wood sliver of wood on the bottom of her heel.  She broke it off removing it.

7 April, Sunday, a day of rest and walking and buying groceries!  We rode the motorcycle on back roads to King of Prussia to a Walmart and were disappointed that it is not a supercenter with great groceries.  On the upside, we were delighted to re-discover a Ruby Tuesday’s Restaurant nearby in Plymouth Meeting.  YAY!  For those interested, the back way from Mt. Airy to Plymouth Meeting is the epitome of simplicity; take Stenton Ave west through its many turns, but do check it out in advance because several of the turns are unexpected..

6 Apr:  Kim and Ruth gave us a ride to the Swedish Colonial Society Forefather's Luncheon, a great success.  It was located in Essington, PA, near Governor Prinz Park, which we toured after the luncheon.  Cynthia ate contraband.  Ron was delighted that the staff found a big plate of vegetables and fruit for him.  Great job, Ron.  That evening, several seminary students joined us at David's house to celebrate Jim Z’s birthday.

5 Apr:  The great news of the day: the economy is booming, the March jobs report is remarkable, and the stock market continues its climb.  On the downside, it rained/ sleeted lightly before noon and changed to a cold, light drizzle by evening.  On another upside, Ron finished another Swedish Colonial package today about the Steelman family.  Jim Z. and John P. joined us for dinner at Jansen’s, the new restaurant in the stone cottage vacated by the Caribbean restaurant that closed four years ago.  We sang happy birthday to Jim.

4 Apr:  After the usual morning activity, we are on a roll this gorgeous day.  Cynthia's first AM  project was placing an Amazon order for a hairdryer, Fiber D’lish bars, and misc.  Her second project is working on a DNA  essay (with a shout out of thanks to a dear friend in Iowa who helps her with edits!). Two lovely archive volunteers, Linda and Phyllis, are quite a delight. We walked to Fresh Market, bringing back lunch for Jim Z.  We attended the seminary student dinner and worship service, but we didn’t stay long because of the noise and acoustics.

3 Apr:  In New Sweden (aka Philadelphia) ... slept late, stretches done, oatmealed and now getting back to work!  Ron has three projects going: the James Lea Book, the Swedish Colonial Society family group sheets, and verifying the Craig Collection source notations.  We achieved our 10,000+ steps by two PM, walking to Fresh Market in Chestnut Hill for lunch.

2 Apr:  New Sweden, PA, where the Swedes first landed, is famously known as Philadelphia.  United Lutheran Seminary is located in a suburb of 'New Sweden.'   We are back at work in the Seminary Archives, and we enjoyed lunch at McMinimins Tavern with Kim Eric.  Ron refers to our escapades here as "drinking lunch." (He orders a large salad and a 22 oz. Hefeweizen.)  Our host, David, prepared an awesome salmon dinner for us last night.

1 April:  No fooling! Negligence reigns!  We haven't blogged in a few days.  The weather forecast wasn’t fooling, either.  The ride was really cold from Rehoboth Beach on Highway 1 north to a Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant near Wilmington, Delaware.  No fooling.  Warmed with food, and with only two hours remaining to ride, our spirits were lifted.  Ron forgot DE 1 is a toll road north of Wilmington, but it was too late and too wet to change plans, so we took the toll road north until turning northwest onto I-95 until exit 8 onto US 202 north to West Chester (where we espied many familiar sights.)  Then we meandered around through Conshohocken to Mt. Airy as directed by the GPS (including Matsonford Road, Fayette, E. Elm, Apple, E. Hector, Barren Hill, Harts, Church, and finally Germantown Pike with its cobblestones.  We arrived at the United Lutheran Seminary in Mt. Airy, Pennsylvania, our home for the next few months.  We are sharing a house with another pastor.