A Goat Stuck His Tongue Out At Me

The day started off with a 2 mile walk on Grand River Drive from Alta Dale to Fulton, my usual. There was a branch down over the path from last night's storm but otherwise it was a tranquil walk, always enhanced by Holiday Farm views.

There's a rusted out old Mercedes for sale.

 And the animals at the pre-school were less than friendly today.

Yes, he is sticking his tongue out at me :-)

This uphill climb on my driveway is always my last hurdle.

And apparently if you don't want to dig a hole for your posted address, you can just stick it in a bucket - well done, neighbor :-)

Later on Matt and I had a lovely lunch at Graydon's Crossing but were tormented by persistent gnats. We survived and enjoyed the new, smaller menu and the always great service.

 

Grand Haven ~ 5/8/14

We haven't been back to Grand Haven since February when we could walk on water ~

Grand Haven 2/15/14 

Today our temps were in the low 80s for the first time in many months so we took a drive out to enjoy the lake. The first thing we saw after we parked were these large kites. Oh wait - there's a person attached to each kite.

These guys are harnessed to their kites and wait for the wind to catch them to grab some air. Impressive but a little scary (from our perspective).

There are new warning signs and a memorial to those who were blown off the pier and and to the people who tried to save them.

The pier is a little more rugged this year with more uneven footing and cracking concrete but we've been warned after all.

The lighthouse today sans ice, and back in February.

Each of these three are holding a smart phone, and the next two have actually ventured into this very cold Lake Michigan.

A few campers have already arrived and are parked behind these dunes, but not worth photographing.

On our way back to the car we found an actual kite flying. Here's to summer maybe finally arriving in Michigan sometime soon.

A weekend full of friends, family, and food ~ March 30, 2014

Friday started out dismal enough - another snow squall, but it was short lived.

Things at work were relatively calm, and two new, awesome volunteers signed up to be part of the Heartside Community. And creativity continues to flow in the Art Studio: Tony with his wildly creative new birdbath, new pottery work by James, and Jane with a cat picture gift for Crash's landing in thankfulness for her newly adopted cat.

Although my lunchtime opportunity was shorter today because of my appointments with prospective volunteers, Matt and I managed to grab lunch at the nearby El Granjero. The place was full but service was prompt and friendly, and the food is great. I had a Taco Salad (deep fried flour tortilla bowl filled with refried beans, spicy pork, lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, avocado, and bell peppers). Matt had the Alambre Especial which was massive (steak and bacon combination seasoned with bell peppers, onions, mozzarella cheese, and served in a hot iron skillet). It came steaming, along with a side dish of beans and rice.

There is table service right up to the point when you need to check out. Customers wait in line to do so, in the same line that people placing take-out orders are in. It took us almost 20 minutes to check out. When we finally got to the head of the line, we had to tell the cashier what we ordered so she could find our ticket. It's a most inefficient process. 

After work, Mary and I did our more-often-than-not Friday after-work stop at Pub 43. We enjoyed our first Oberons of the year :-)

Saturday night found us at dinner with the Gruizengas before enjoying our last symphony performance of the season. The Bull's Head Tavern is a favorite both for its symphony-friendly location and its interesting menu with great food. We had made an online reservation which the hostesses could not find until I showed them my email confirmation. Oh, she put you under 'Heather' instead of 'Helen.' Close enough. First up was a shared crab cake appetizer, served with roasted red pepper aioli.

Our main dishes consisted of perch & chips, vegetable stir fry, smoked gouda chicken pasta, and lobster mac & cheese.

Two of us took boxes back to the car, and everyone came away perfectly satisfied with the food and the company.

We walked across the street to listen to Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and it was a stunner but about an hour and twenty minutes longer than most performances.

And we didn't know that at the outset. Intermission came at the usual time and afterward the orchestra played on. Soloists were exquisite, especially the narrator and Jesus, as were the choruses. We had a little trouble with the counter-tenor/alto with the strange woman's voice emanating from a man, and at 11:20pm the beautiful, but long, performance concluded.

The strangest thing about this evening, however, was the man sitting behind us. He continually talked out loud and clapped at inappropriate times. At one point after a solo had concluded, he shouted out "Excellent!" We all jumped in our seats. He walked out several times after announcing he had to use the bathroom, and then came loudly back asking where Row H was. After someone asked him to refrain from shouting out, he said he was more used to rock concerts. What do you do? The people sitting next to him during Part 1 moved elsewhere for Part 2.

Sunday brought us to Wei Wei Palace for Dim Sum for a belated Roy's birthday celebration with Matt & Rachael. These were the first dishes among many.

But before this, we started with the best hot and sour soup in Grand Rapids.

Lastly, I was happy to find these signs of spring coming up through the fallen leaves this afternoon. Cheers to spring!

Shaking off the Winter Doldrums

This winter is kicking some serious ass and taking its toll on all of us.

With roofs collapsing here and there in Michigan, a local news station did a piece on how to check for signs that your roof might be under stress. Number one sign? Your doors will no longer close. A quick check of the four hallway doors informed us that our roof was indeed under stress. None of the doors would close. The roof raking was not enough.

So it was back on the roof.

The roof was now somewhat cleared, the driveway was salted and drivable, and we were off for dinner and the symphony. Usually we just wing it for dinner locations but with the Boat Show in town, we thought a dinner reservation might be in order. The Open Table website didn't show any availability at Mangiamo but a voice message left on their reservation line garnered us a spot.

 We started with bruschetta but disappointingly, it arrived in a do-it-yourself form.

Still beautiful, but a bit of work to put it together.

Pasta was the order of the day, and this fantastic winter dish was back on the menu ~ butternut squash stuffed ravioli. I never use the phrase "it was to die for" because I hate the expression. So let's just say this dish is well worth a visit to Mangiamo.

Time for the symphony! We were disappointed that David Lockington would not be here but were overall quite taken with the guest conductor, Andrew Grams, by the time the concert was over. He walked out with his left arm bent at his waist with his fist clenched, his baton in his right hand. He was animated, dramatic, and altogether fun to watch.

Just a few comments about the music. Brahms wrote only one violin concerto and he wrote it for a friend of his. And he apparently (obviously?) composed it to show off the skills of his friend, violinist Joseph Joachim. Technically, it is superb. One can hear glimpses of Brahms in the orchestra but the solo part is all technique, especially in the first movement. And yes, violonist Augustin Hadelich is incredible, as he proved during his encore, flawlessly performing Paganini's Caprice #5. Again, a technical and impressive masterly performance.

The second work of the night was Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. It was interesting to hear individual instruments/sections highlighted and it was impressive overall but again, we were not swept away. I'm sure this is sacrilege to fans of the composition, but other than parts of the fourth and fifth movements, it all seemed somewhat randomly constructed.

Some music can bring you to tears just through its sheer beauty, but tonight was not that night. It was technically amazing but it did not touch our souls.

But that was last night, and today brought us Sunday brunch with our son, Matt, and his girlfriend, Rachael.

The Winchester offers Sunday brunch complete with a Bloody Mary/Mimosa Bar. Your server brings you the alcohol and you belly up to the bar to make the drink yourself.  Bloody Marys all around.

Two items off the Sunday brunch menu ~ steak & eggs (with a secret, delicious aioli) and bratwurst burger. And two items off the menu ~ fish & chips and mushroom & swiss cheese burger.

Leftovers can now be carried home in an eco-friendly container displaying the iconic Winchester logo. We wish more restaurants would be as eco-friendly as The Winchester (hint ~ lose the styrofoam, everyone).

On the way home, we found these people on Reeds Lake defining their own version of fun.

Go find your auger and your own fun, and know that spring will actually come again.