Family gathering in New Hope, PA - Part One

Main Street, New Hope, PA

The famous Havana's restaurant. Imagine eating outside in January!

I just came back to life after going on the exercise bike for 17 minutes to work off one of the best dinners ever! My blood sugar is 116 after a meal that included at least six Girl Scout Cookies for dessert! And a dish of chocolate ice cream on the side.

The first newspaper article I got published in the old Philadelphia Evening Bulletin was on Girl Scout Cookies. The last two sentences were something like: Make mine Thin Mints. Please pass the milk.

Sarah was in town to help her cousin Jade w/the marriage vows she'll take w/ fiance Matt. This will be the first marriage Sarah will perform as an Internet minister.

I picked up my sister Donna and we drove to New Hope. Our plan was to eat in New Hope but then we decided it would be cheaper to eat at my sister Lynn's house and more delicious b/c Sarah would be the chef.

She made one of the most exquisite meals we'd ever eaten - a fish stew w/mussels, shrimp, scallops, mushrooms, and the delicious spice Tarragon.

For my beverage I chose a glass bottle of Perrier Sparkling Water. We all drank green tea.

Afterward, we drove to Donna's to watch Home Movies.

New Hope is famous for its small craft shops. What beautiful cowboy boots, Roy, Dale, Gene and Hopalong.

I give up! Don't shoot. Two guns yet! Hopalong was played by William Boyd, who his close friends like myself called just plain Bill.

The leather shop also sold hand-made knives inside, a nice addition to the American killing trade.

My sister Lynn once lived here on Waterloo Street w/then-husband Warren. They had a b'ful view of the Delaware River.

Warren now lives in Venice CA on a houseboat. In the Waterloo house Warren, a very creative and daring man, bot an Orbitron exercise machine for the back yard. B/c of its strange nature - it whirled you upside down - it was cemented into the ground.

It's still there, said Lynnie!

Careful of your pocket change when you flip upside down!

View of the Delaware River and the chain-link bridge to Lambertville, NJ.

Kidney pals, Sarah and Mom. Now we're at Lynn's condo in New Hope where she raised her two kids to adulthood - Jade and Miles. Miles is now studying in Madrid. Lives w/a wealthy family who have a cook. They're not allowed to speak English to Miles.

We hung out in the kitchen and helped Sarah make dinner by chopping parsley, and preparing the cauliflower and asparagus for baking.

Nikki's boys - Quinn and Paddy - watched TV dans le living. One show they watched was Home Run Derby. Never heard of it, did you? Another way of making money and wasting people's time instead of contemplating the nature of the universe and why we're here.

Bon nuit Paddy and Quinn.

Quinn likes to set the table. His full name is Quinn David Roche. Never knew his mil name was David. Probly named after my late brother.

Sarah ran eight miles this morning on the New Hope Towpath ending up in Stockton, NJ, and then running back. She said it was wonderful, really peaceful.

Oops! A lovely wine glass broke and Neil cleaned it up.

I had mussels for the first time. Delish! I'll buy em at the Giant from now on.

Thin mints, as good as they ever were. Samoans. Name changed to something forgettable.

Magic Eye Book.

Magic Eye is a series of books published by N.E. Thing Enterprises (renamed in 1996 to Magic Eye Inc.). The books feature autostereograms (precisely, random dot autostereogram), which allow people to see 3D images by focusing on 2D patterns. The viewer must diverge his or her eyes in order to see a hidden three-dimensional image within the pattern. (accdg to Wiki)

The moment you're able to 'see' the pattern change from flat to 3D is, like, WOW, I can't believe this is happening.

Find Sarah's book in Lynn's hallway book shelf.

Ah, here it is now. Every home with a child should have a copy.