Winter in Upstate New York

Global warming? Maybe, but this snow and wind chill to -20 (F) is the type of winter we remember. You know, back in the day when there were no school buses, and we walked to school every day. 5 miles- uphill-both ways!

A little hard to see- but this is where the sidewalk is supposed to be!















Not a very good job od cleaning the walk, but the best we could manage!















I think there's a car under there!

Happy Birthday Cyndy !

I won't say how old my wife is today, but if you see her, wish her a Happy Birthday.
We all love her. Here are a couple of images from her early years milking cows to her more recent looks.

New York Grand Finale

Our last day in NYC was special for us - we were able to reconnect with a young lady we first met when she was 5 years old. Nacole came to the country through the Fresh Air Fund, and was part of our family for several summers.





Here we are at the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown (we think)




Not having seen Nacole for 20 some years, we were excited that she had contacted us recently, and that we had the opportunity to catch up. Nikki remembers Tom as Creative Images photography, and me as working on the Fouts farm!


We spent an enjoyable afternoon swapping stories of our accomplishments and experiences since that time.

We also reminisced about all the animals we used to have- Snowflake the goat, Nabisco the raccoon, Blackie the best dog ever, those rabbits that we entered in the 4-H Fair, watching the birth of a calf, and hayrides at the Fouts Farm. She still has her Fouts Barn Dance T-shirt!




And here we are today - Nacole is now in her early 30's, an assistant VP at Citigroup HR in Long Island City, and she lives in Newton, NJ - in the country she says- next to a golf course and a couple of farms!

Putting on the "Ritz"

Last Tuesday Tom & I headed off to the big city for some business mixed with a little fun. We normally drive when we go to NYC, and so we headed out in the late afternoon only to hit a snow storm in the Catskills. It was beautiful (but too dark for pictures) as we slipped and slid down Rt. 17. Once we got to the city, there was no snow at all. We arrived about 8:30 PM, checked into our hotel, and then jumped on the subway to go to our favorite bar, Terra Blues. http://www.terrablues.com This little bar in the village offers live blues music every night. There are two shows nightly, so we were able to catch part of both.

Our hotel, The Milburn, is on the upper west side on 76th Street (think it's a coincidence that the boat basin is on 79th Street?) We've stayed here before, and find this is a very clean hotel for not much money ($159). This time, we had a room on the 13th floor with a terrace that allowed us a view of the Hudson River, although it was too cold to sit out there for too long.

Wednesday I had meetings at our corporate headquarters in the financial district, so we again took the subway - this time to the tip of Manhattan. We were traveling at rush hour, and felt like real New Yorkers as we elbowed our way onto the crowded car. It was so crowded, there was no need to hold the overhead rail - we were all wedged together so tightly there was no room to fall.

When we arrived at the building that houses our corporate offices, I noticed an unusual police presence. Since the building is very close to the NY Stock Exchange, since Sept. 11 there has been increased policing in that area, with barricades, patrol cars and beat officers, but Wednesday AM was unusually active. There were 3 police tow trucks removing cars that had parked in front of the building, and many officers on foot standing about on the corners. When we stopped at our building's security desk, I asked what was going on, and was told President Bush was coming! Who knew? Of couse Tom wasn't carrying his camera, so no photos of the Presidential motorcade!!

Wednesday PM we dined at Carmine's and then went to the Broadway show Wicked. This was a fabulous musical production that sheds a different light on the witches of OZ. Great show, great story - everyone should see it.

Thursday I had another meeting in midtown, and Thursday PM we attended a black tie event at the Metropolitan Club in NYC.

Here's part of the entry to the Club-
















Note the ornate decor...

















One of the floral centerpieces in the dining room-














Lots of black ties and black dresses


















They just don't make buildings like this anymore. This was part of the ceiling.











And in case you were wondering, we did not take the subway in our dress up clothes! Cabs are plentiful in NY!