Unpleasant surprise

Just pulled up in front of our house, and the three hanging plants closest to the street are gone. Abby said "Maybe Daddy put them somewhere else to do something with them." But, I think they are just gone.

Now, that makes me want to move the stone bench away from the street. It's right at the front of our yard. Jordie put it there even though I asked him not to. It's the one from my parents' house on Barth Avenue.

We can put one of the other benches right by the street -- one that does not have any sentimental attachment.

Honestly, I feel like sending a message to the neighborhood listserve, saying, "If you see some yard that suddenly has a glorious, big, red geranium and another of purple and white petunias...they're ours!" But, of course, I wouldn't do that.

My ego is smooshed!

OK. In the middle of the night last night, I realized that I had not sent an email from work that I needed to send, asap! (An attached Power Point presentation to the Newspapers of America Association, so that they can have it ready for Bob when he gives the program at a conference soon.)

So, I headed over to the HT this morning, and on the way I stopped at McDonald's for coffee. And, the guy waiting on me was kind of new, so a manager stopped to help him on the register.

And she said: "Be sure to give her the SENIOR DISCOUNT!"

Aaargh!

She could have said "Oh, you're not eligble for the senior discount, are you?" but, no, she said it with conviction.

Ah, well.

Montclair = clear mountain

I've always liked this and now I picture it every time I see the name of our street -- Montclair -- which means "clear mountain" in French!


I have wondered and wondered about the origin of the name of our new street: Montclair. Most of the other streets in this addition have an English connection: Queen's Way, Sussex, Wimblton (yes, I know that is spelled incorrectly!) There's Rock Creek Drive, but that's self-explanatory....there must be a creek! However, when my friend Leslie was here, she reminded me that Montclair in French is "clear mountain." So now, every time I see the name on a street sign, I have this flash of a David Hockney painting that I like, of beautiful Mount Fuji.

I am looking at the beautiful white peonies on our dining room table, like a painting. Leslie bought them for us at the Farmer's Market Saturday.

It was a total joy to have Leslie here. She's is my oldest friend from high school. Through her, I met Jeannette and a whole gang of other friends who became our high school crowd, always hanging out at our house or her house. Barry, her husband, was speaking at a conference on China Saturday and so they both came down. Barry stayed with the other conference people, and Leslie stayed here.

Friday night, we drank a bottle of wine, sharing cheese and crackers and grapes on our back porch.

Saturday, we went out for breakfast, wandered around the Farmer's Market, and walked around campus -- down memory lane! (We shared an apartment with our friend Linda Sladek our sophomore year -- down on South Henderson.)

Leslie showed us a short film done by their son Spencer, who is in film school at NYU. It was called "Squirrel TV" or something like that -- and was really clever and funny. We put it on a CD so I can send it to Amalia.

At the same time while I have these nice reflections, I am also aching. Amalia's boyfriend Mike broke up with her last night, and she is aching, and so I am aching.

She is the most beautiful, kind, fun, smart, wonderful woman, and I hope that soon she runs across some man who will love her as she deserves....I don't think she'll try "jdate.com" again anytime soon, because she's feeling a little burned by this experience!

Megan, who has to be the best friend in the known universe, took a long walk with Amalia last night and I think they were planning to do another one tonight. Plus drink some wine. And maybe curse men in general.

If only I could afford to have her fly home for a few days...but in these situations, even a mom and dad might not be able to really help. A heartbreak just has to have time to heal.

But I so admire her strength and .... she's just such a trooper!

My neck and shoulders are aching, and I think I will go to bed. I didn't feel well at work this afternoon, and I think it was just the culmination of that achiness -- gave me a headache! Plus, I was at a very interesting and long meeting at Beth Shalom last night, then on the way home learned of Amalia's breakup on the phone. So, I didn't sleep well.

Perhaps some wine will help me, too, tonight.

Life is good...

OK. Jordie will not trim his beard nor his hair without a lot of nagging. BUT, when I came home from my Beth Shalom board meeting tonight, I was greeted with a plate of dinner waiting for me -- asparagus, salmon and sweet potatoes. So, I enjoyed that with a glass of wine...just thinking of how good life is. And how good my husband is.

I love sitting at the board meeting tonight. I like volunteer work, like being responsible. I spent the first part of my life being afraid to do anything, too insecure to think I could do anything. But one of the best surprises of adult life is that sometimes you have to just jump in and do it -- and forget that you thought you couldn't.

I had good news today from my sister Lee, all about how things are going with the last week of Ruthie and Gracie's high school at Cathedral. They are going to Loyola in Chicago in the fall. We're going to their graduation from Cathedral Sunday at Clowes Hall.

I love, love, love our new house. I love it that Jordie goes down the street to the little park to play tennis. I love lying in the living room and deciding what to do with the furniture.

I love it that I sit at the kitchen table and look out at the evergreens. (Just beside the window where I watch the sunrise in the morning, I hung a print by Jeremy Bazur called "Joe and the Sunrise." It's of a cup of coffee, and the sunrise, seen through the window. I think this double-sunrise view is pretty neat.)

I've been having all kinds of artistic ideas about the house. It's as if this move has loosened up, shaken up things, made us more free to change. Of course, it will be a while before I can afford to put those artistic ideas into reality!

Time to go to bed, but going to sleep with a smile on my face. Life is good.

Amalia's Pumpkin Ridge memories

While I am very happy that my family is moving into a
wonderful new house to make many new memories in, it
is a little bittersweet. When I was turning seven
years old, we moved to Indiana from Boston. One summer
later, we moved into the Benton court house. I
remember in Feb or March of that first year (when we
lived in the apt.) we got our first dog, Gillie. We
couldn't have Gillie in our apt, so some friends of
ours kept him at their house until we moved into the
new house in June. I remember our first night in the
house, when we didn't have the legs on the dining room
table yet, so we ate cross legged on the floor of the
dining room. We soon discovered that we had to hold
Gillie back when we opened the front door, otherwise
he would run outside to go frolick, and did not know
that running to the highway was a bad idea. So many
memories in that house...I remember one of Adam's
birthdays, where it was pirate themed, and Daddy
dressed up as a peg leg pirate, and for some reason I
dressed up as a clown and did tricks for the kids. I
don't think I was very amusing, seeing as I was only
four years older and did not know any real clown
tricks. But it was fun nonetheless.I loved that fact
that I was the big sister helping out. I remember the
"ropes course" that Dad set up for us in the woods to
the side of the house, with tires to climb through and
a balance beam and all sorts of other things. I
remember countless slumber parties I had, for
birthdays and halloween, and random other events. I
loved to have friends over for Shabbat dinner, and
they loved to come. We would always do the blessings,
and Mom would often make challah. We used to love to
go and spend summer afternoons at lake lemon, or
hiking through the woods behind the house (when I was
younger we would take the barbies down to the creek
and make them have swimming parties), or just hanging
out in the hammock under the trees. I remember one
time when I locked Adam and myself in the big bathroom
and cut his hair...I think after that incident the
lock may have been disabled on that door. When I was
older, and off in college I used to love to come home
occasionally on weekends to do laundry and hang out
in the peaceful house and eat home cooked food and
tell everyone what I was up to in school. It was
always such a lovely retreat to come home to, now
matter how fast life was going or how much work I had
to do, it always somehow felt more peaceful and
relaxing. Maybe it was all the trees and the fact that
the people who are most improtant to me were there. I
know that there will be wonderful memories made in the
new house as well, but I will always hold onto the
memories fn Pumpkin Ridge, because it is where I grew
up.

Pumpkin Ridge information

I'm having a fine Mother's Day! Reclining on the sofa, listening to the birds, resting my back. Yesterday, a work day at the old house for Jordie, Abby and me -- my back hurt intensely most of the time and I had to periodically go to sit in the car, with a cushioned seat. And my foot hurt very badly, too -- plantar's faschiitis, which is an inflammation of the tissues supporting the arch -- so that hurt, too. But, amazingly, yesterday, working together, was a really good day.

In the morning, Jordie met our buddy Tom Saucier and he took the canoe, and helped Jordie haul away an old reclining chair (gave it to a hospice patient who Jordie is volunteering with).

We had some stuff to get rid of...Jordie took a van-load of recycling to the Bethel Lane center. We are leaving the bins for recycling for Nicole and Dan, because, here, in the city, all we need are the two red recycling containers -- one for all papers, one for everything else.

And Jordie took a couple of van-loads to the trash, too. Abby and I cleaned. Dust-mopped the ceilings and corners, dusted all shelves, everywhere -- ran the sweeper, mopped the floors in Jordie's office, etc. And Abby even used the dust-mop on the ceiling of the back porch, and we cleaned off the table and the counter back there really well, and vacuumed! At the very end of the day, Jordie, Abby and I worked together to fix the screen door (do NOT buy one where the screen slides up and down in the door -- not easy to fix!) Abby had to stand for ages in her stocking feet on the cold front porch, holding the glass in place. I helped for some of the time, holding the door while Jordie worked, swearing and fixing...(rare for Jordie to swear!) Anyway, at the end of the day, Abby and I went into town, stopped at the house to get some shoes for her (hers had gotten really muddy) and went to Sunny Palace and ate, ate, ate! Hot and sour soup, veggie rolls, hot tea, and entrees, too! We brought home shrimp-fried rice for Jordie. He had stayed behind to put some closet doors on in the family room -- they needed to be planed down after the new carpet was installed last year.

So, this morning, Jordie is out at the house, getting the last few things, and, I imagine, taking a last quiet look at the home where we lived for 16 years, where our children grew up.

Below, I'm posting some photos of Pumpkin Ridge, because they are things we want to remember. And then, way, below, some useful information for living there!


When I saw these beautiful, huge living room windows, I knew the house was right for us. The light is beautiful, and the view....and the all-around-the-door shelves that Jordie made in the dining room -- those were great, and held so much stuff that the small kitchen just didn't have room for...











Jordie made these shelves for my birthday one year, working with Craig Benson -- this was our bedroom, and at each side of the bed, a little light -- plus, the shelves even curved around the corner, floor to ceiling. They are beautiful, and one of the best birthday presents ever.















Fixing the screen door, with Abby patiently standing on the cold porch (she could see her breath!), working together -- was one of those I'm glad we did it and it is good to work together but I am so glad it is finished! kind of experiences! Shelves to the left, built by Jordie, were great for shoes, mail, gardening gloves, flashlights, kippot -- and even space to sit on to put on one's shoes! And books to take back to the library, and stuff waiting till we figured out what to do with it...












The little TV room, in the bedroom-formerly-known-as-Adam's, with a couch under the loft, was a cozy place to curl up. And the view out the windows was very good for day-dreaming! And this was the room where Amalia always stayed when she came home for visits, seeking a little privacy....and where Adam would still go up to the loft and take a nap!












We gave this room to the girls to share after Abby was born. The wallpaper had little blue flowers in it, and Jordie painted one wall this incredibly beautiful blue!









Jordie made this really clever under-the-cabinet shelf for cutting boards, because in the kitchen, storage space was valuable!

















Big bathroom, scene of many small girls dressing up, etc.! With more built-in shelves, made by Jordie! And that great walk-in shower...













Now, to business. Here are some handy hints for living at 4420 N. Benton Court!

---The little store (formally known as "Lakeside IGA" although it is not near to Lake Lemon) is open at 6 or 6:30 a.m., seven days a week. It closes at 8, except on Sunday, when it closes at 6. Most holidays, it's open in the morning. It has Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and you can order sandwiches at the back counter. The chicken is good there, and in the summer, you can buy LOCALLY-GROWN tomatoes and corn!

---The Bethel Lane dump/recycling center is open at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. They close at 6.

---Best way to get to the Indy airport: From east Ind. 45, turn right on Bethel Lane (just past the little store). Turn right on Boltinghouse Road (think that's the second road off Bethel). Go to the end of Boltinghouse and turn right on old Ind. 37. Go until you reach Sample Road on the left (there's a red barn in the field just past Sample Road, so you can spot it easily). Go on Sample Road until you get to Hwy. 37,and turn north.

Just before Martinsville, turn right on Ind. 39. Take 39 through town to Ind. 67. Take 67 north to 465 West. When you get on 465, it's just a couple of minutes until you take the airport exit.

---I always told everyone to be careful exiting the Danny Smith Addition onto Ind. 45 -- you cannot see well if traffic is coming from the left and need to be careful! (Of course, in 16 years, nobody ever had an accident there, but still, it's good to be careful!)

---If you hear feet walking through the woods at night, it's probably deer.

---You will see lots of deer, and hummingbirds. A hummingbird sounds like a VERY LOUD bumblebee, so don't be startled!

---In 16 years, I only saw a black snake twice -- both times in the front yard. They are harmless.

---If you leave the house, walk down the street, all the way down Benton Drive to the end, turning right on Viking Ridge Road to the end and then even down the little extension past that cul-de-sac, and back home, it's two miles. So, a good half-an-hour walk.

---You can hear the tornado sirens when they go off -- they are situated at that church near the little store.

---If you turn right on Ind. 45 you can drive all the way to where it comes to an end -- at Bean Blossom, Hwy 135. You can turn right and go to Nashville, or left and go to Morgantown, Bargersville, Trafalgar, Greenwood...It's a very pretty, but wind-y, drive.

---If you put out suet, you will attract pileated woodpeckers.

---If you ever hear a sound as if a jackhammer is pounding on the house, it's a pileated woodpecker.

---You can sometimes hear coyotes howling.

---That tree just behind the little room is a male holly tree. I always wondered if a female tree were added, would it bloom? But never got around to looking it up.

---You can take a short-cut to get to North high school/Cascades Park/Old 37 by going all the way to the end of Bethel Lane.

---Lake Lemon is about 10 minutes away, driving. Off east 45, turn left on Tunnel Road.

---Oh, and Jordie can give you some safety tips about using the woodstove. When you have a fire in there, once in awhile the stove will make a loud "clang!" This is normal! It's from the metal expanding, or contracting...and the wood stove will warm the whole house, really well, especially if you use that fan in the wall to the left of the woodstove...

As we cleaned yesterday, the house was full of memories -- the bat mitzvah for Amalia when we rented three huge tents and covered the whole yard...and had a band and dancing...the high school graduation party for Amalia when we rented tables and O2R set up in the driveway and we danced...graduation open houses for Amalia and then for Adam....Jordie's dad, who finally came to live with us near the end of his life, sittng on the front porch and telling us that it was, indeed, paradise out there...setting up a borrowed crib in the big bedroom, changing it over from our bedroom to a room for the girls to share....the baby-naming ceremony for Abby, held in the living room, packed full of friends, reading poetry, blessings, etc. and Abby sleeping peacefully through the whole thing! Many happy evenings with friends around the dining room table...

I must stop and go to get cleaned up, to have dinner with my mom up in Greenwood.

Many happy years to Dan and Nicole in the house at 4420 N. Benton Court!

Moving is Hell II

Jordie and Adam just pulled up with the rental truck. I did not go to the old house to load up, because my back has been very sore this week (perhaps moving that bookcase by myself last week was foolish) and my foot is incredibly painful...our friend Mike says it may be my tendon. It's been so painful sometimes this week that I can barely walk on it. Today, I keep sitting down and massaging my foot every so often, to try to prevent that pain. I felt as if I were ancient this week, hobbling around! So I stayed here and put some hooks up in the walk-in closet in our bedroom, put a bunch of stuff away, cleaned up, put in some laundry, etc. I found my sewing machine and am going to make the cushion covers for the bamboo chair.

But, I don't even dare look at what Jordie and Adam are unloading from the truck into our garage, because if I do, we are going to have a fight. I asked him to not, not, not bring a bunch of junk from the old garage over to our new house. And, of course, he has. Because, to him, it's not junk -- it's possibilities. I don't even want to see.

Jordie and our friend Gregg moved the great fridge (that Mom bought for me just a couple of years ago, when she inherited some money) from the old house to the new house, and moved the fridge from the new house to the old house. It was an ordeal, and I can't believe they did it. Had to take the doors off the fridge...quite a production. Gregg's good humor helped that situation a lot!

This house is wonderful, and it's so much fun to see what is coming up this spring! I'm going to post a beautiful photo taken from the window of the "Miriam" room (my office/guest room, where I have my collection of Miriam prints hanging).


View out the front of the house, onto Montclair Ave. Springtime! Most of the front yard is a garden, planted with perennials. I love the way it looks to come home to -- much prettier than lawn! And I love the way the front walk winds through the garden -- in a way that my friend Bonnie says is very good, feng shui-wise! That thought makes me smile every time I come home. And I love that dogwood!


Here I was, feeling crabby, and Abby just came in to say that dad wants to know where to put the stone bench. (It was in the backyard at my childhood home on Barth Avenue, and then at my parents' retirement house...then at the edge of the garden at Pumpkin Ridge...and now will be in the front yard someplace, in the garden here. I told Abby to tell dad to surprise me.) OK, he might have brought more stuff here than I wanted, but he did bring the stone bench for me, and the fridge, which was so much work...and I feel so awful, that I could not help haul today. And Adam and Abby have been real troopers, helping today. Especially Adam, because he is grown, and strong, and I feel so sorry for him, because he is still exhausted from just being finished with finals.

My back is really hurting. I'm going to lie flat for a while!

Pumpkin Ridge thoughts

Last Saturday, we worked at the old house, preparing to turn it over to Nicole and Dan. Among other things, I cleaned the big bathroom really, really well....scrubbed every square inch, inside the drawers, all the ceiling I could get to, the floor, the walls, etc. It was almost kind of like saying "good-bye." Very cleansing experience, and not only the scrubbing! I thought so much while I was in there...I thought of soon after we moved there, when Shoshana, Jordie's mom, was staying with us. She talked about how much she liked that shower -- you could just walk into it, so easy, and the weather was so hot that we were all taking several showers per day! (That was before Jordie and I worked out our "If it's over 90 degrees, the air conditioning is on" compromise!)

And I thought of how many little girls have crowded into that bathroom, both Amalia and Abby's friends (we gave the big bedroom and bathroom to the girls to share after Abby was born). So many girls, jockeying for the mirror space, putting on make-up and play clothes. Girls huddling in the bathroom for secret conversations during slumber parties....later, after Abby got the video camera, girls would be dressing up in there for a dance routine to be filmed.

We've been having other memories, too, now that we are letting go of that house. The pirate birthday party for Adam, with treasure hidden in the woods, Jordie with one leg tied behind him to be a pegleg pirate...an obstacle course in the woods...the kids walking Gilbert down the road many times...many picnic dinners in the front yard...potlucks on the back porch with little white twinkling lights...kids reading in the hammock. I'll add more memories below later, and if the rest of the family wants to email me a paragraph or so of memories of the house, I'll post those as well.

Night.