We started our sojourn at Mom's secluded manor in West Hartford:
(Note the subtle yet effective placement of the Christmas wreath over the garage doors. Unlike the folks next door, who installed a 15-foot inflatable Santa next to their house!)
Two things were particularly enjoyable for me in West Hartford: Eating and mocking the cat. Here I am combining both activities. Note the palpable frustration radiating from bloodthirsty hooligan Ashton as he searches for crumbs or bits of ham... but neither is forthcoming! Moohoohahaha!
Our West Hartford days were ornamented by visits from several friends, including Barbara and Neil, who came in the company of Dennis and their adorable progeny, Antoinette (better known as Tiny Toni). Tiny Toni was a major cutie, especially since she was just figuring out how to smile. Here she's saying, "Get this balding weirdo offa me!"
In West Hartford we also made a date with my brother Greg, who hosted us at his own stately pleasuredome.
Having bathed West Hartford in our glory, we proceeded to Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania, where we were hosted by Dad and Susan (as well as Jasper) in their little mansion-in-the-woods.
The ever-personable Jasper was a big hit as usual:
One neat thing we did in PA was go to a farmers' market in nearby Lebanon. Meltem was particularly fascinated by the Mennonite farm girls who were working there. Here's a photo she took in which she was pretending to take a picture of Dad and me, but in actual fact was surreptitiously zooming onto the unsuspecting Mennonite chick behind the counter (note her little white bonnet). Fiendishly clever!
(A telling observation: In Turkey, any group of people who cling to a highly conservative form of religion, dress distinctively, and keep to themselves is a group of people you should be very, very wary of. In the States, they're a tourist attraction.)
Anyway, another thing Mount Gretna is great for is walks in the woods. It was cool and misty, which makes such treks even more evocative and enjoyable.
Also, while we were there Meltem leaped at the opportunity to do an afternoon watercolor-painting lesson with the local art teacher. Here are Meltem and Susan posing with their instructor in her studio.
Anyway, that's a brief sampling of the fun we had on our US odyssey. Hopefully it won't be 15 more months until we find a reason to go back!
2 comments:
Cool travelogue, Barry. :^)
We miss you already...we hope you'll both be back sooner rather than later. And that Tiny Toni is a looker -- I wonder if she takes after her mom... ;)
Post a Comment