April 5, 2020

Sunday, April 5   Even though we are living through Covid-19, life goes on albeit slower. We rise anywhere from 7:30-8:30 am, fix the breakfast for the day 

(we’re on a Mediterranean diet) and then begin our day. I like to watch “Smerconish” on  Saturdays as he always has timely discussion topics. Then I make our bed and answer email or comment on FB and Twitter. While I’m doing computer stuff Lib reads the paper.  

  There is a blog I’m writing. Hopefully, it will last sometime after I’m gone ....and be stumbled upon by some of our descendants and be instructive or amusing 

depending on whether they're experiencing similar circumstances.

Many of our acquaintances are avid television watchers. When our children were growing up and Lib was a home mom,they would entertain themselves by watching hours of this until I came home. Now we watch mainly news. Since all the sports teams are no longer playing until this plague blows over there is little of this genre for her to watch.

Lisa our oldest daughter living in Wilmington, Delaware called with FaceTime so 

we could see each other as we exchanged family news. What comfort! She is a new mother-in-law. 

I try to remember those years in our lives and can't. Lib, on the other hand, can recall distinct details of both daughter's weddings.

I watched our pastor “Livestream” his Palm Sunday message and then our Brandermill Church minister. Both had timely presentations.

LIFE DURING COVID-19 Prologue.....

Jan 31-Feb 1 Lib and I played bells in the workshop at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church with the Branderbells. The bell director at Oak Grove just happened to be there, was looking for a slot to play and happened to see Lib and I and as we were missing a few, joined our table. How very nice! After our concert and as we were driving out from the church parking lot, Lib discovered she had left her pocketbook. Thank goodness one of our ringers noticed it, picked it up and we were able to retrieve it. 

This was the almost the last week of total life normalcy for Lib and me. 

It was maybe a week later that we heard the first glimmers of the virus in China. It was a fast-moving epidemic and though CNN  made some comment, it was felt that it was nothing to be concerned about. 

We were able to have a nice mini Flory gathering at a new restaurant in Dayton, Va,  about 100 miles from our home. We filled a table:Lib and I, Larry and Joyce, Abe and Ruth, Lillian, Marsha, Jim and Jodie on the 29 of February. We talked about our families. 

My wife Lib is the last of her line and the group we had lunch with were all her nephews and nieces. 

By the middle of February there were a number of cases in Washington State, on a cruise ship, and soon in New York City. Two main streams of public thought emerged. (1) It wasn’t more serious/dangerous than the flue, (2) It was a “pandemic” requiring unthinkable strategies to contain it and that all we had to do was see the terrible outcomes in Italy to understand where we would be two weeks ahead.

In March it began to be a serious topic in all the media. We had our last quintet early March and our last quartet on  Thursday the 12th. Governments were moving rapidly toward the unthinkable. I could see the trend and canceled other musical obligations. We attended our last church service in early March.

Then in rapid succession public schools were shut down, colleges and universities followed suit with the intention of opening later in 2 weeks just to close for the year and try online instruction. When the big athletic leagues shut down the public began to understand. More serious tightening followed. Only food, medical, and other essential services were to remain open. No gatherings were allowed of over 10 people. When in public for necessary activities, we were to maintain at least 6 feet separation. During the day we followed the spread of this plague on TV. We learned the true meaning of “exponential”.!

Around the middle of March, the Federal government began to face the real consequences of the shutdown and passed a 2 TRILLION give back, loan to, a program to put a band-aid on the economic hemorrhaging for shuttered education and nonessential businesses forced to close or temporarily shut down. Each citizen will be sent $1200 toward the end of April to help buy the necessities. I understand Canada will give each of theirs $2000 each month for the next 4 months!!  The stock market dipped way down then jumped up only to drop again. Smart brokers made zillions while less endowed lost zillions. 

At this writing around 4000 have perished in America and hundreds of thousands have tested positive and many are crowding the capabilities of huge metropolitan hospitals. The country seems to have been blindsided by this scourge even though many physicians and people who knew were warning that this train was barrelling down on us. It seems incomprehensible that this is happening.  

Tomorrow will be April 1. Lib and I saw our daughter Cathy and husband Jeff briefly 2+ weeks ago and grandson Devin when he mowed for us. We’ve gone for groceries about 3 times.  Several days ago our Governor called for a Statewide lockdown until June 10. Thankfully, the virus doesn’t appear to be fearfully active here, yet! A favorite TV commentator on CNN, Chris Cuomo,  contracted the virus and described a terrifying  night of fevers, sweats, and hallucinations.....

NIAGARA FALLS ADVENTURE AUGUST 2018

BACKGROUND

Lib and I are definitely “old” both being near and over 80 years old. I can still walk nearly a mile with a cane but Lib definitely needs a walker to navigate any length and a cane for balance when not using the walker. Other episodes and health concerns advise us that if we are going to travel and see places we better do it sooner or regret it has become impracticable. We had talked about seeing Niagara Falls and perhaps either an Alaska or Banff tour. This past Spring  we discussed the real possibility of driving to Niagara and brought it up in conversations with our family and close friends. We bought a new car two years ago with that notion in mind. Now it was getting time to “fish or cut bait”. We dared ourselves to do what seemed a daunting adventure and I began by looking up Niagara Falls on YouTube and Google Earth. We decided to drive each direction in two days to lighten the  task. Altoona PA would be the half way point and we made  reservations at the Hampton Inn there for Sunday night the 19th of August and Wednesday the 22nd for the return trip. We also made reservations at the Marriott Hotel and Spa on Fallsview  Street in Ontario after friends advised that the Canadian side was better. Near departure date we  took out nearly equal amounts of Canadian and American dollars, looked at several routes, went to AAA for triptiks and advice and received more ideas about what to do during the brief time there. Finally, we were also advised to call our credit card companies and advise them of our itinerary and destinations so that charging could go smoothly. I signed up for Uber and made sure that our Verizon service would work in Canada. Discovered that Waze was not fully functional so used our Garmin GPS for ALL the navigation. Many little details to plan before going on such a journey.

Sunday morning the 19th we began the first leg of our trip up I-95 toward Washington. Traffic was light going north but fairly heavy going south. It’s always confusing for drivers who are generally unfamiliar with the dual lane system as one nears D.C. Our GPS put us on the fast track for awhile. Our GPS then put us on the northwest track toward Altoona, PA the destination for our first day. Our aim was to drive without weariness and 5 hours a day seemed doable. The route took us through pretty vistas of mountains and valleys. We stopped at Bradford, PA for lunch at Arby’s. Think we both had a beef sandwich. Lib had potato cakes and I had curly fries. It was interesting to see how much the brand had changed since our days in Roanoke.

We continued toward Altoona and arrived around 4:00 pm. We had reservations at the Hampton Inn and we were soon in our room on the 5th floor. I took a 40 minute nap to rest up from the day’s driving. A Crackerbarrel restaurant was located right behind the Inn and we enjoyed some of the restaurant’s fare. While we were dining a young couple with their one year old baby were seated where I could see them. It was a joy to watch these young parents doing their very level best to entertain their baby boy as they waited for their meals to arrive. The young mother constantly was smiling and making faces to make the young baby boy laugh and giggle. A few times he became a little irritated and threatened to cry  and she would start another routine. 

                                           MONDAY

Hampton Inns offer a free breakfast  and on Monday morning we availed ourselves  of waffles for me and cheerios for Lib as well as fruit and hot coffee. We loaded up our few bags and were soon on our way. The weather which had been somewhat threatening cleared up  and driving was a pleasure on interstate roads. Soon we began the long climb up the Allegheny 

Front. Two things that were noticeable; that people here loved their lawns and kept them well cared for even the very large ones, and the increasing population of the blue green Norwegian evergreens. No large towns on our route, just hamlets every 10 or so miles. 

Finally we reached the outskirts of Buffalo, NY and the road turned westward toward Niagara Falls and the Canadian border. There must have been 12+lanes servicing cars, trucks, and VIPS. Here were some of the questions asked by the Canadian customs and ours was a young friendly sort. After passing over our two passports:

“Your name?”

Me, “William Kinzie”

Cc:”What country “

Me,”America…United States”

Cc, “ How long will you be staying in Canada?”

Me, “ 2-3 days to see Niagara Falls”

Cc, “Do you have firearms or guns to protect yourself” (That was an interesting question!”

Me, “None whatsoever!”

Cc “Enjoy your visit” handing us back our passport and waving us on.

After about half an hour drive we were pulling up to the front of the Marriot Hotel and Spa on Fallsview Street and after registration proceeded up to our room on the 7th floor. Our room no. was 707. It faced the Falls 

and the view from our window had to be one of the very best!

The Canadian Falls (Horseshoe Falls) could be seen in all their glory and the smaller American 

Falls were visible at our left. Lib and I spent quite some time just admiring the beauty of this world famous natural place. 

Since we weren’t too tired we decided to do the Hornblower boat trip right up to the Falls. We took the WEGO bus down to the dock area. Purchased our tickets and walked down a long ramp to the boarding area. We were given bright orange plastic raincoats which we donned before boarding. It is a 15 minute ride and we elected to be on a spot at the prow. We were instructed about what do do if there was an accident and told not to panic. The Hornblower is a much larger boat than the American Maid of the Mist which does the same route from the American side. Then we were underway.

i

The first 5 minutes were tranquil, and then the wind from the falling tons of water began to blow and the spume warned us of the coming deluge. Now we understood the need for rain gear. The water begin to swirl beneath us and turned a vivid green. It began to feel like being in a strong rainstorm. We came within what I estimated as 75 yards from the falling 

water. It was a very exciting unique spot to experience. I wanted to see all that was possible but the spume, rain like drops, blowing wind, a fog like atmosphere covered up my glasses and drenched my eyes so I was forced to turn my back on the most intense spots of the trip. Still it was one of the most exciting moments of our lives and was one of the things we had planned. By going on the boat ride that afternoon we saved time for Tuesday

We returned to our room to dry out and then walked across the street to a handy Outback restaurant for dinner. 

                                        TUESDAY

Tuesday morning we ate brunch on the 26th floor at an iHop restaurant with a panoramic view in the general direction of the Falls.  Suffice it to say, prices were nearly triple what the same breakfast would have cost in Richmond, VA. And that didn’t include that it was in Canadian dollars!!

Another unique experience is the tunnel behind the Falls. Engineers bored a tube with several branches that give wet views looking through the Fall from behind. Again we rode WEGO down to the Falls area bought tickets, donned the yellow plastic raincoats and Lib with her walker and I with my cane went down on the elevator and through the doors into the tunnel area. We got into a long line and trudged slowly toward the viewing area. Along the tunnel were posters showing the history and the science of the endeavor. I could feel the shaking from the water flowing over us somewhere above. Finally we arrived at one of the viewing tunnels and since there were people behind us also anxious to see we spent just a few minutes there. Not much to see, as the falling water veils everything. Just a very unique spot to experience. The falls generated wind blows water back into the viewing area but not with anything near the intensity as that on the boat. 

Back at the top we were ushered into a very large souvenir shop which was a delight for Lib. I was impressed with a huge stuffed bull moose and took his picture. The WEGO busses all can kneel down for handicapped persons and reserve a section near the front for their passengers. There are three lines; red, blue, and green. It took us a little time to learn which ones to board to get us where we needed to be. 

We ate dinner in one of the Marriott’s restaurants. It was well prepared and presented.

Niagara Falls are beautifully lit by powerful colored lights at night until the very early morning hours and every evening around 10 pm there is a 15 minute impressive fireworks show.

Canon Ti3 with zoom from room

Lib and I at iHop breakfast 

Lib with raincoat. using iphone for pic

Bull Moose in Antique shop

Lib and supper in Marriott 

Rainbow after supper Tuesday night

There is a zip line for the brave of heart, many parks, and a huge casino for those who enjoy 

gambling. When we entered the city we saw a large computer shop where iphone repair was prominently displayed. We observed many people attempting to take pictures on the boat who may have discovered that doing so was similar to taking pictures in a shower. Damaging water has a good chance of ruining a very expensive piece of equipment. I took one of Lib while the phone was in a plastic bag …surprised how well it came out. 

We weren’t sure whether we should attempt this adventure at our age and with our physical limitations. A number of years ago we took a tour bus for a week trip to New England called Sails and Rails. Both of us needed walkers but we were able to navigate. This time I did the driving with Lib as copilot (She did an excellent job of keeping us on track with the GPS) and she needed a walker. It can be done with patience and good humor….and I’m glad we did it!!

                                      Some Observations

Lib and I were impressed with the politeness and manners of the people who helped us 

with instructions, helpful suggestions, and physical help moving her walker when it was 

necessary. The peoples of the world inhabited our Marriott Hotel. The check in was run by two

Indians who smiled as I tried a little of my Gujarati on them. 

The tourist business brings in a rainbow of travelers. Canada at Niagara Falls, Ontario seems to be doing a very profitable business. Muslims were apparently staffing the Outback we visited on our first night supper, an Asian was the captain of the Hornblower, passengers on the Hornblower were from everywhere, and we all had fun!! There are millions of wealthy millionaires all over the world, I suspect, who are more then willing to spend significant amounts where they are welcome. America, please, please, take note!! Anything we can do they may be able to do better!! Let’s start behaving as one family instead of distinct tribes!!

Friends of Woodstock 2014: A perspective from one

Chapel building

WOSA 2014 was an interesting experience all round. Friday we drove to Baltimore and the Notre Dame University campus which was to be our location for the next 5 days. Our impression was that we would be residing in Meletia Hall, but we were strung out over another building that also was our dining hall. Our room was on the second floor, small with two little beds and a ceiling fan. No air conditioning and it was quite warm at night to say the least! Also, bathroom facilities were down the hall for Lib and down the next hall for me. Suffice it to say we did a lot of walking when the need required it.

Friday afternoon after getting our keys and room assignments we went down to the first floor gathering room and relearned not only our classmates but a few from other classes too. Our evening meal was a well prepared crab cake or vegetable sit down dinner and gave us time for further visiting.

A number of activities occur at a WOSA. We learned that the school was on a better financial footing. That a new principal had a powerful vision for the future that he seemed capable of implementing. And that faulty, staff, and board members  shared his enthusiasm and vision. Because he stopped at our table one afternoon and talked about Woodstock and answered specific concerns made me even more confident of his leadership ability.

Woodstock is an old school  in the foothills of the Himalayas.. It has reinvented itself numerous times and appears to be doing so again. Alumni gifts have provided for several new buildings and remodeled some of the older ones. It is an international school and has prepared well to serve the educational needs of the 21st century. The new name for WOSA is Friends of Woodstock School.

Young at heart trying Bollywood moves

On the evening of the khanna we were treated to a program of Indian dance, classical and Bollywood style. The picture on the left was Woodstock alumni of the younger generations trying out Bollywood style moves. At the bottom is a picture of a young 9th grade Indian girl performing a more classical dance.

After our whole school meeting was over our class of 54-55 reunion continued on for two more days.Our big activity on Monday was an Indian supper at the Indigma restaurant, downtown. Tasty food mixed with good conversation amid perfect ambiance.

On Tuesday we were treated to an Inner Harbor boat cruise with lunch. This allowed for more intimate conversation with just 4-6 at a table. After lunch we went on the open air upstairs deck to enjoy the passing scenery of landmarks and boats about their business or tied up.

We completed the reunion by assembling together to view pics from Woodstock and past reunions. It was one of the best reunions I had planned not to attend.  I  try to attend  these unique gatherings when they are in mountain venues. Because our Delaware family is nearby, we were able to visit them also.

class of 54-55 at Indian restaurant

walking down the avenue

waterfront of Inner Harbor, Baltimore

9th grade Indian student  performing Indian dance

Catching Up

Opening present....

I recently celebrated my 77th year and noticed that I had not added an entry since January. This is an attempt to bring you up to speed should you be inclined. We've had a quiet good life since January. During the winter months I continued my playing in the Richmond Philharmonic and with our quartet. Our cellist suffered a massive stroke and has been sidelined indefinitely. An acquaintence looking for a quartet was able to connect with us and complete the group. 

This Easter I was invited to play in the orchestra assembled at Bon Air Baptist for their celebration. We did three services and it was a gratifying experience. 

We also had a good time at Sounds of the Mountain at Camp Bethel. This is a folk festival sponsored by Camp Bethel, near Fincastle, Virginia. You can find more about this in a previous blog. Another trip to the Roanoke area around this time was to celebrate our former pastor's retirement. We were graciously housed by long time friends, Dan Brogan, and his wife Ellie. We saw our last snow flurry  for the winter Sunday morning at their home.

Window box full of  Petunias.

Our Spring was wet and cool so there was a lot of lawn work to do. I decided to buy a small spreader and do my own fertilizing. If I am physically able to do a task, then I should. Saves money and also is a form of exercise. Our lawn looks as good as when it was maintained by a commercial business. 

On Father's Day our symphony played their annual free concert on the lake about 10 minutes from our house. The weather was perfect and the crowd enjoyed our presentation of patriotic and  pop pieces. 

We look forward to visiting our eldest daughter's family this summer. We get to see them about 3-4 times a year. They  have two in college  and  one about the same age as our  grandson here. Our Woodstock Reunion occurs around the same time in Baltimore Hope to write a bit about both after we return. 

Evening lake scene where we visited with neighbors

Easter Service at Bon Air Baptist. in Richmond.

FaceBook

This will be a short blog. For several years I have been a member of the growing country known as FaceBook. I have lived in India, been an orchestra musician, taught strings for most of my life, and been interested in AOL and Google when they first appeared.

At first FB was mostly about family. It was a great way to instantly keep up with what was happening. It was even faster than email, because with email  I had to wait until my brother, sister, or cousin received it and then decided to answer. Email was more like writing real letters...and if the recipient wasn't into writing sometimes I didn't hear back. But there was a small group that I corresponded with and that was a circle of Woodstock School class mates. Then FB arrived and it wasn't necessary to write a long letter, just react in a a sentence or two to something that friend or family had posted.

Shortly my circle of responding folks grew larger. Former students jumped in. There were folks who lived in the same house I had lived in eons ago and were interested in photography. We made contact. Now I know it is impossible to maintain contact with 1000 friends as some of my students show on their sites. But 200 or so I can keep up  a tenuous relationship with.

Whether one has an iPhone, a pad, or a computer it is possible to maintain a satisfying connection with those who help make our lives meaningful. People that would have been lost to me forever have now dropped back into my life. Some cousins I hardly knew in  my  childhood days are now almost daily making chit chat and we're learning to admire each other.

Former students from either the near past or distant past share with me their joys and sorrows and I have come to know rather well some of  their  friends. These are all  young adults so it helps me understand how the world looks to people at that stage in their lives.

It takes some thought and some time to write a blog, an email, or to respond appropriately to a thought expressed on FB. When I began this blog as an experiment several years ago, one of my ground rules was that I would resist being vituperative. Yes, there are folks who I don't see eye to eye with...some times I see where over the years even I have changed positions, that's what growth and being human is about. But the thought remains that it is probably wiser and better to be supportive and helpful when possible rather than assuming that one is a small god and surely knows what is best in the many puzzling  situations people find themselves in.

FaceBook is like going into a large room where there are many people I know all chatting or putting up pictures of happenings near them. I can select any that I can relate to and put in my 2 cents worth, just as I would in real life in such a circumstance. There is much to be learned from each other as we journey together down this road we call life and I can't think of a better way to be so enriched. Thank all of you who have
made my life better by sharing!!

Merry Christmas

Dear Reader, Sorry it's been so long since I have written, but life has been rather ordinary and for someone like me that is something for which to be grateful. Here it is December and the Christmas mood is all around. What is it about Christmas that creates this wonderful feeling of anticipation and excitement. Depending on whether you're a child, a teen, a young adult or an older adult as myself we experience Christmas through the lenses of our very particular place on the stage of life. For some the vicissitudes of life have stamped out the exuberance, for me the magic remains though more subdued than the wild expectation of childhood.
  Advent is a strange ritual. As Christians we say we look forward to the return of the Christ child. But His spirit has suffused us all year so how is it to return. Did He go away the other eleven months? What exactly is it that returns to warm our hearts and put a light in our eyes and a spring in our step.
Let me share what Christmas means to me. Being a musician I'm reminded of all the religious and secular joys this Season arouses. There is participation in Handel's "Messiah" almost yearly from the time of my early teens. Not only the great words of God's incarnation into history, but also the accumulated stories of friends and strangers whose lives were changed by attending this oratorio. The amateur singalongs sometimes seem more fervently performed than the professional. The melodies pervading the ether are just more lovely than at any other time of the year I have also been privileged to perform in an area orchestral celebration and at our church.
  Then there are the lights. From the decorating and lighting of the Christmas tree from medieval Europe to the elegant decoration of homes, the explosion of lights on lawns and front yards, to the most humble home that is illuminated by those on a small tree or a candlestick in the window, all proclaim that Light is more powerful than darkness, that Love is stronger than hate, that God is truly among us even when we resist His insistent wooing. During Christmas it takes a truly bitter person it seems to not be somehow touched even though the secular mode is so prevalent.
  This is the season where families celebrate family. My sister is a new grandmother and it is wonderful to see the joy reflected in my brother in law and her faces as they welcome this second grandchild into the circle. Lib and I have large families on each side and so this is a special time for us. Through Christmas cards it is a time to connect, if briefly to past friends who were part of our earlier histories through Christmas cards.
  My pictures begin with the simple creche at the front of our small church. It reminds of us of the events of Bethlehem. Next there is a small sparrow I managed to capture. Jesus reminded us that God is concerned even with non human life. It clings to the branch with tenacity and bright eyed inquisitiveness, while being watchful for the predators from the sky. A short life maybe filled with an instinctive fear that keeps it alive. but for  the instant I clicked him we were both caught up in the same dance of life. The last pictures are of the beautiful homes lit to celebrate the Season. One near us has been tastefully, yet dramatically been illuminated the past several years. Several others are photos of other dwellings not far from us where a whole street has joined in proclaiming that it is Christmas. The last is Lib's decorating of our mantle and living room wall.So here, dear reader, is my wish for a Merry Christmas to you!

neighborhood house

creche

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neighboring houses

our fireplace and mantle