Hi John!
We had a lovely time, thank you for asking! It was, alas,
considerably smaller than the original guest list - medical and
financial emergencies kept nearly all those who had planned to be
there at home. The event meant to be the culmination of a year of
planning was officially cancelled, but Mathtalk and Digsalot came
anyway, and we got ourselves up to mischief!
We got started late on Thursday night. Mathy was due in around
10:30PM. He got in a little later than that, and we settled in with
beer and grins to chat until 5AM. It was so nice to finally meet him
after a year of working "together" that I hadn't even realized the
lateness of the hour! Can you believe it?
I woke on Friday morning, ready to start breakfast, and discovered
that my children has already taken him hostage. There's always one
poor soul the Monsters adopt, to inflict video games and Pokemon stats
on. Mathy bore it all with good grace, though, even going so far as
to go out to pick mulberries and climb trees with them. He has quite
a touch with children, my boys are still completely enthralled.
Digsalot arrived shortly after 1:30PM on Friday. He does not,
contrary to any imaginations his username might conjure, carry around
a shovel, nor does he compulsively dig. He doesn't look like Indiana
Jones, either, but he certainly sports a merry grin, a wicked sense of
humor, and a taste for trading barbs loaded with double meanings.
I think we were siblings in a previous life. If we weren't, we should
have been. Really, I wouldn't mind having either of them as siblings
in this one!
We settled in to spend the afternoon relaxing and nibbling, with the
plan being to wait for my sister to arrive, eventually make our way
downtown for the fireworks, and finish the day with a late supper
after the fireworks. There was much to be nibbled - fresh veggies,
fruit with chocolate, bacon wrapped dates, shrimp, a lovely smoked
salmon sent along by Omnivorous-ga (along with a letter bearing a
funny Haiku). We had rice pudding laced with rosewater, freshly made
lemonade...and enough laughter to make us breathless. Children were
tickled, stories were told, barbs were traded with gigantic grins, and
somewhere in the middle of all this, Digs reached into his bag and
pulled out a present for me.
It was a 2000 year old Babylonian bronze pot, unearthed in Damascus!
How cool is that?? It's perched atop the entertainment center for
now, and will eventually find its way under a glass dome on one of the
lit shelves. Very nifty.
Good Pot
http://www.darkfriends.net/princessmoo/extras/pot.jpg
We made our way downtown to our favorite fireworks spot and were
treated to not one, but TWO fireworks displays - the Toledo Mudhens
were playing Friday, and they concluded their ( 8-5 winning ) game
against the Syracuse Sky Chiefs with a gorgeous fireworks display
right in The Hen House ( http://www.mudhens.com )! The city's display
was set to follow almost immediately after, but was instead delayed by
40 minute because of wind on the Maumee river. Arrgh. Still, the
display was impressive, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Wanna
see the fireworks?
Fireworks over the Maumee, taken from Fifth Third Field (aka The Hen
House)
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/mal/photos_single.pbs&category=PHOTOS&IDato=20030705&IKategori=NEWS16&NoMal=1&ID=107050112
We left downtown to head for home, and decided to pick up pizza
toppings on the way. While I made pizza from scratch, the spouse
critter put Dogma into the DVD player. Out came a bottle of Merlot,
and eventually a big pizza laden with ham, artichoke hearts,
portabella mushrooms, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, fresh garlic
and a half ton of mozzarella followed. Once again, we were up late,
and I couldn't have been happier.
Saturday found us up and staggering around looking for the coffee pot.
After a couple pots of coffee and a round of cinnamon waffles, we
headed out for a trip to the Toledo Museum of Art (
http://www.toledomuseum.org ). Watching Digs in the Classics Court
was an awful lot like watching my 7 year-old loose in the candy shop
with a couple bucks in his pocket - huge smiles, and he practically
bounced. We had a lot of fun wandering the marble halls of our
museum, and I learned quite a lot from Mathy and Digs in the process.
Off again, this time to fetch my boys (who did not go to the museum),
for a trip across the river to Toledo's most famous restaurant - the
legendary Tony Packo's (http://www.tonypackos.com ). We had a bit of
a wait, so we went across the street to Saint Stephens Church (Magyar
Rite), to see if the doors were open to visitors. Built in 1899, St.
Stephen's is a central part of the Birmingham Hungarian ethnic
district in Toledo, and is home to a beautiful collection of Hungarian
church artwork. The church doors are often open all summer long, to
allow visitors to the neighborhood to spend a moment in reflection or
to exmine the lovingly created windows, sculptures and paintings.
As it happened, Mass was underway, so we only stood at the back of the
sanctuary for a few moments to listen to the pipe organ and look at
the light pouring through the windows. One need not be a Christian
(neither Digs nor I is) to appreciate the beauty of the faith's sacred
art and music.
Back across the street we went, where we huddled around a bar table to
exchange gossip and grins while waiting for our table. I was so happy
to be able to drag my friends into this place that I've been
patronizing since I was a small child. In Toledo, Tony Packo's is
comfort food - spicy Hungarian sausages, smothered in chili, cheese
and onions, and called a hot dog...creamy chicken paprikas...corn
that's been cooked in butter all day long...<*drool*>...this is where
you go when you have first time visitors and you want them to feel
welcome in the city.
Larry, Curly and Moe in Toledo's Hungarian District
http://www.darkfriends.net/princessmoo/extras/packo2.jpg
After dinner, we went back across the river, and ensconced ourselves
in the living room. I made baklava, cut the chocolate raspberry
cheesecake I had made for the weekend, and whipped up a batch of
Margaritas before we pulled out the extended edition of the Fellowship
of the Ring. Again with the staying up too late! I think we made it
to bed around 4, too tired to watch the Two Towers after four hours of
the Fellowship.
Alas, Sunday was our last day together. We had a lazy breakfast and
more giggles, then it was time for Digs to hit the road. Mathy stayed
a little longer, to make a trip to the Libbey Glass shop downtown
(Toledo being the Glass City and all), then he too had to take his
leave for a long drive back home.
<*pout*>
I miss them, and they've only been gone a day.
We're going to try again for a larger gathering over Labor Day
weekend. Even if it's only Digs and Mathy again, we'll still have a
blast!
--Missy |
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