Connections

Tian makes six!

My son's family arriving in Denver airport from 2 weeks in China.

They left for China as a family of three and returned with a second daughter, so we now have six grandchildren--three girls and three boys.  The only problem is that three of them are in Wisconsin, too far away to see often.

Surprisingly, the two girls traveled well during the long flight from Hong Kong to Denver. We are now waiting for them to get back in Denver's time zone so we can get to know the new family member much better.  We'll see them all on Thanksgiving as we show our gratitude for another healthy child. 

Even as I am thrilled to have these two girls in my life, I am saddened by the situation in China which results in thousands of young girls being "lost" or deposited at night on the steps of an orphanage.  Even though China has relaxed the one-child rule to allow couples to "try again" for a boy, it is the second and third daughters that seem to disappear.  In the rural areas, parents depend on their son and his wife to care for them in their old age, so the problem is more cultural than it is a devaluing of females. After so many years of this custom the gender balance is now so lopsided that many young men must travel to other countries to find wives. 

Mystic scenery

Mystic Pizza on Mystic's main street

I don't know if this place appeared before or after the movie but I wasn't the only one taking a photo. 

After spending 3 hours at the seaport outdoor museum, we drove through Mystic proper and then over to New London waterfront.  We probably should have gone into New London itself as the waterfront was, well, too much waterfront, trains, tracks, cranes and infrastructure.  As we left we saw some beautiful homes and architecture in New London--from a distance, but were running out of time and energy.

I did get some late-afternoon shots of some picturesque pond-front homes on our way back to our hotel.

Obviously these are high-end homes, but I noticed that even the smaller homes on smaller lots had a lot of charm and character.  It is a beautiful area that I'd like to visit again for a longer time.

Behind a restaurant on Mystic River, just outside the museum

This was about 2:00 p.m. and already the wind-chill was in the air.  By sunset at 4:30 we were looking for a warm place and a hot drink.  It was exactly what I have always enjoyed about the autumn season:  beautiful colored leaves, warm days with a little nip of cold on the cheeks toward evening. 

Of course we had seafood for the evening meal both nights.  The first night our meal was accompanied by a "Flight of wines,"  5 different 3 oz. pours of wine which we shared and rated.  Great idea, a good-sized taste of 5 wines for $10.  For a quick 3-day trip we felt we sampled the flavor of the place--both in the food and in the culture.

Mystic Seaport Museum

A seaport museum of antique ships and support buildings

When my husband mentioned a quick trip to Mystic, Connecticut, I had no idea where we were going.  I had seen the movie Mystic River and found it to be powerful.  I had heard about but not seen the movie Mystic Pizza which launched Julia Roberts.  Sadly I admit that I did not know for sure which states bordered Connecticut and was surprised that we were to fly into Providence, R.I. and drive only 47 miles to Mystic.

My husband is the one who reads about and builds models of antique ships.  He is currently building a model of  The Charles Morgan, a whaling ship that operated for 80 years, making over 37 voyages--some as long as 5 years away from her home port.

I am a lover of museums of any kind but was still unprepared for how special this outdoor museum on the water is.  We spent 3 hours  walking onto ships and listening to knowlegeable people explain the culture of the sea and management of a ship's crew.  It was a fascinating experience.  One thing I learned is that life at sea was a very demanding and difficult one.  Just managing the live food on board--chickens and goats--would have had me wanting to go home.

Bob beside the Charles Morgan (above) and on board with a docent (below)

We both were amazed that there was still a lot of autumn color in Connecticut as late as November 13.  It wasn't the peak of autumn but the colors were still beautiful and made a perfect frame for the many typical colonial-style homes in the area.

 

Penguins and Mini Med School

TV buttons, not Halloween, are his priority

My son, DIL and grandson came over to show us his costume and to give out goodies while we went to our Mini Med School Class at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  The lecture on Sleep--as all the lectures have been--was excellent.  It is a 9-week lecture course taught my faculty of the Colorado University Health Sciences Center. Next Wednesday will be a last lecture.  I'm really going to miss it.  It is just another way that the Museum gets science information to the community at large.

At a time when our current governmental leadership is dumbing down the country where science, knowledge and critical thinking are involved, I am thrilled to be a member and volunteer of such a great Museum organization.