Catching Up

 

Thursday – May 3, 2012 – Catching Up

How has an entire week gone by since my last post?  Simple – the past seven days have been so busy that I’ve barely had time to scribble a few notes to myself on scraps of paper when thoughts came into my mind.  As for sustained writing time, there wasn’t any possibility of that unless I gave up sleep.  But now, I’ve declared a temporary halt to all other activities for the rest of the day so I can catch up a bit. 

Several days ago, I started thinking about ideas for Elliott’s next career.  As some of you may know, he has already had several.  After he retired from budgeting work for the federal government, he became an artist and a teacher (at the Corcoran School of Art).  And years ago, he even worked as a movie extra (in Red River with John Wayne).  So when I heard a segment on the news recently about the demand for older models, I thought to myself, “Elliott could do that.”  Not only is he blessed with good looks, but he’s extremely photogenic.  Can’t you see him as the poster child for Lifetime Fitness, or in an ad for Cialis?  He could be on the Wheaties (or Cheerios) box, or endorse his favorite brand of ice cream.  How about starting a line of athletic wear for seniors?  Maybe he could be a motivational speaker:  how to re-invent yourself, how to get the best out of life at any age, how to stay young, etc.  Yeah, he could write a guide to aging well.  And then he might finally let me publish that biography of him that I wrote a few years ago.  So, Elliott, get ready to get to work.  You’re not going to spend your days in a rocking chair just because you’re turning 100!

Last weekend we welcomed guests from Oregon – Barbara and Glenn – who arrived on Friday morning.  The first surprise of the day occurred on our way out to Dulles Airport.  We passed a large grassy area that was completely blanketed with brilliant red poppies.  My first thought was of the South of France, where scenes like this wouldn’t be uncommon, but in the suburbs of northern Virginia, adjacent to the on-ramp from Route 50 to Route 28?  It’s a shame that we couldn’t stop to admire them.  How in the world did they appear there?  What would happen if I sprinkled poppy seeds in my front yard?

Anyway, we had anticipated a full schedule of activities with our guests, but our plans quickly had to be readjusted.  As we were driving back from an outing to Occoquan late Friday afternoon, we received news of a sudden death in Glenn’s family in Florida.  Between multiple phone calls to Florida and making travel arrangements for Glenn, we managed to take in the Air and Space Museum in DC on Saturday.  After Glenn flew off early Sunday morning, Barbara and I went into DC again to meet up with some of her relatives from the Maryland suburbs.  We also had a chance to see an excellent show of Picasso’s drawings (graphite, charcoal, conte, pastel) at the National Gallery of Art.  Barbara departed on Monday morning.

While the weekend was emotionally draining for all of us, I’m glad we had a chance to be together.  And I’ll look back fondly at some very pleasant moments:  strolling through Occoquan and eating pie on the porch of Mom’s Apple Pie Bakery on a sunny afternoon; looking up at Lindbergh’s plane in the Air and Space Museum and learning that he couldn’t see out the window because the fuel tanks were in the way (so he had to use a periscope); marveling at the range of Picasso’s immense talent and the genius of his imagination; sharing Vietnamese food from Four Sisters in Falls Church – mmm, those rice noodles have such a silky texture and a smoky flavor.

Elliott and I were back in the gym on Monday morning.  The physical activity helped alleviate the stress of the previous days.   And the leftover green papaya salad from Sunday’s Vietnamese dinner made a great mid-morning snack right out of the refrigerator – spicy and chilled.  I got back to work on the movie for Elliott’s party, now officially dubbed “Celebration of a Century.”  I had to get to sleep early Monday night since Tuesday was field trip day.  I used to roll out of bed regularly at 5:00 in the morning, but this past Tuesday morning, it was a struggle to rouse myself at 6:30!  Fortunately, the rain stopped shortly after the sun came up.  We filled two school buses at Annandale High with about 80 ESOL students, 10 chaperones, boxes of cafeteria-packed lunches and assorted snacks and got underway around 9:30 a.m. 

For many of the students, this was their first outing to an art museum.  For several, it was also their first trip into DC.  Visiting a museum with a group of 80 students is not exactly conducive to reflection and contemplation.  Mostly, it’s an exercise in crowd control.  Of course, we issued constant reminders about not touching the art, the walls, or anything else in the museum, but that wasn’t enough to keep one inquisitive young man from running his finger over the surface of a Seurat.  Surprisingly, alarms did not sound, but all of the teachers pounced on him and a guard instantly materialized.  I was secretly hoping he would haul off the offender, but he just gave him another warning. 

We ended our excursion with lunch in the NGA Sculpture Garden.  Looking back, the field trip went extremely smoothly.  I’m glad we had a chance to expose the students to Renaissance works by da Vince and Raphael, and to several later Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings.  The students took lots of photos, mostly of each other standing beside various works of art.  Some of girls will probably remember the shirtless runner they saw making his way along 14^th Street long after they’ve forgotten the bronze statue of Mercury in the museum rotunda.  By the time we got back to AHS at 1:30, I had fallen prey to that familiar feeling of post-school day exhaustion.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait until the final bell before I headed home for some rest.

After the field trip, I needed to restore my energy because I had my session with Kota, our trainer, early on Wednesday morning.  I now have my very own strengthening routine, which I will try to do 2-3 times a week.  And then there was Date Night.  Elliott and I already spend much of our time together, but I like to plan a day or evening out for a special activity.  In this case, I had ordered tickets several weeks earlier to see the HD broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s recent performance of La Traviata.  It was an unusual production (very modern, minimalist staging), but it featured spectacular singing and acting.  And since the screening was at Tysons Corner Center, we ate dinner first at Seasons 52.   

The never-ending list of things to do for the big celebration seems to grow by the minute.  When I originally thought about celebrating Elliott’s birthday with a gathering for family and friends, Elliott was opposed to the idea.  He said it wasn’t necessary, and that an open house would be too much work for me.  I foolishly assured him that all I’d have to do was order some food from Wegman’s, sit back, and relax.  Ha!  But all this work is for a good cause.  You can’t imagine how excited we are about the upcoming festivities.