Russell Stover

We visit Russell Stover Candies factory in Montrose ("America's Favorite Chocolate Store"(R)) and, as Silver says, "kids in a candy store".

For those few unaware, Stover sells 60% of all boxed chocolate in the US of A or 100 M lbs of chocolate annually. Who hasn't, at some youthful moment, bought their most successful product : a heart-shaped box of Valentine's chocolates ?

Me: "How long does a gecko live?"

Madeleine: "It says 20 to 30 years."

Me: "That's nice. So who is going to take care of your gecko when you go to college?"

Madeleine: "I don't know. You, I guess."

Me: "You can always take it with you."

Madeleine: "The only way they are going to let me have a gecko in college, Dad, is if they are going to dissect it."

At Russell Stover

Madeleine: "I don't like chocolate, Dad."

Me: "Oh, really?"

Madeleine: "I only like four kinds: eclairs , Mars, Snickers and twirlers."

Me: "What's a twirler?"

Madeleine: "It's a kind of chocolate that has caramel in it. It is sooo nice."

Eitan: "I got a jaw breaker . [Eitan thrusts a radioactive blue ball in my face] "The women said her son had one and it took him two months to finish."

Me: "Oh, great. What do you do when you're not sucking on it?"

Eitan: "You can't break it with your teeth, either."

Madeleine: "Is it like chewing ice, Eitan ?"

Eitan: "Yeah. It's stronger than ice."

Madeleine: "Woa."

Me: "That's disgusting. Just don't let me see that thing anywhere in the house when we get back."

Eitan: "I bet I can finish mine in less than a month."

Madeleine: "Woa, Eitan, that is so wicked."

Self Portrait XIX

Trailhead, entering Mount Sneffels wilderness, Uncompahgre National Forrest, Colorado.

Blue Lake

We hike into Sneffel Wilderness while our trail takes us to the first of three Blue Lakes : this one 10,980 feet. The lake unnatural blue , filled by a stream from the towering Mt Sneffels, which has some scant snow. The water freezing cold - I last a few moments before too painful - while Eitan does a full-on cannonball then scrambles out, Dear Reader, in something near shock.

"Mount Sneffels is a fourteen thousand foot mountain peak located in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of the northern San Juan Mountains, about 5 miles west of Ouray. The mountain named after the volcano Snæfell, which is located on the tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. That mountain and its glacier, Snæfellsjökull, which caps the crater like a convex lens, were featured in the Jules Verne novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth. An area on the western flank of Mount Sneffels gives the appearance of volcanic crater. Seen from the Dallas Divide on State Highway 62, Mount Sneffels is one of the most photographed mountains in Colorado."

--Wiki

Madeleine: "Can we get a Gecko, Dad? Can we? Can we? When can we get a gecko? Will it go on the plane? I know, I will buy the cage and you can buy me the gecko."

Me: "What does a gecko eat?"

Madeleine: "Crickets."

Me: "Where will we keep crickets?"

Madeleine: "The garage. We can keep them there."

Me: "No, way. Your mom won't go for that."

Madeleine: "And if we feed him crickets we would have to take off every one of his last legs."

Me:

Madeleine: "So the ghecko can catch him."

Me: "Crickets: Out."

Madeleine: "Ok. We can feed him meal worms and wax worms as a treat. You keep those in the refrigerator."

Me: "Sonnet: Are you on board with this?"

Sonnet: "Is there a choice?"

Drive By Looting

The riots : like everybody, I am upset by the ransacking of London and other UK cities. This is violence fueled by boredom and opportunity : looters can do it, so they do. There is no Great Cause, like suffrage or the Arab uprising, motivating these people. Where is the imagination? Thatcher's coal miners thuggish yet fighting for their livelihood . Blacks in America , equality. We see criminals stealing electronics. We hear inarticulate, bored , yuf who believe they are owed yet fail to get educated or working. They contribute nothing yet receive health care, opportunity, and roads to leave. Cameron has it right, quoted in the NYT : "The sight of those young people running down streets, smashing windows, taking property, looting, laughing as they go, the problem of that is a complete lack of responsibility, a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals."

“This is the uprising of the working class. We’re redistributing the wealth.”

--Bryn Phillips, a 28-year-old self-described anarchist

"Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."

--Martin Luther King

Lovin' It

Me: "We can go to Sonic for good hamburgers or Mexican or pizza . . ."

Eitan, Madeleine: "McDonald's!"

Me: "Are you sure? You can do that all the time in London."

Eitan: Yes, Dad, but they don't have the playroom."

Madeleine: "Plus we go, like, only once a year."

Me: "McDonald's it is."

Both: "Yes!"

Later, entering McDonald's, both: "Mmmm, ohhh .. that smells so nice.. ."

Me: "Good to be home?"

Eitan: "I'll have the 20-piece Chicken McNuggets and chips.

Cashier:

Me: "French fries. Madeleine, you're up."

Madeleine: "I will have a cheese burger, six Chicken McNuggets and chips."

Me: "Knock yourselves out."

Later, Eitan: "Are you writing that down?"

Me: "Yeah, so?"

Eitan: "Dad! You are making me look piggy on the blog!"

For the record, from the McNugget box:

Stack 'Em & Dunk 'Em" : Golden & Juicy Meet Saucy.

Take a crispy coated Chick McNugget(TM) made with white meat and dunk it into one of our delicious tempting sauces. It's the perfect combination.

I'm lovin' it(R)

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 460 % Daily Value

Total Fat: 29g 44%

Sat Fat 5g 25%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 70mg 23%

Sodium 1000mg 42%

Total Carb. 27g 9%

Dietary Fiber 0g

Sugars 0g

Protein 24g

Vitamin A 0%

Vitamin C 2%

Calcium 2%

Iron 8%

The Shakespeares Sleep In ~ Riots And Cleaning

Madeleine, tidying room: "So, really, Dad, it's always me scratching your back."

Me: "Hey, do you know there are riots in London?"

Madeleine: "So?"

Me: "Good point."

Madeleine: "You are always making me do things I don't want. Can't you do it yourself for once?"

Me: "What fun would that be?"

Madeleine: "Can you at least pick up your clothes?"

Me: "You do it."

Madeleine: "You're just being lazy. All you're looking for is a slave."

Me: "They are putting 16,000 police on the streets."

Madeleine: "Why?"

Me: "Riots."

adeleine: "Where are they, Dad?"

Me: "Northwest London. Not near us."

Madeleine: "Oh. It is so unfair."

Me: "The riots?"

Madeleine: "The cleaning."

Corn Festival, Y'All

We return to the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival which celebrates its 20th anniversary with all-you-can eat corn and everything else American: corn dogs, country bands, US flags, slushies, military and religious booths, SUVs, corn-eating contests, enormous families, tatoos, cowboy hats and boots, iPhones and apple pie. Teenagers slink about; couples hold hands ; girls wear ripped jean-shorts up to their fannyline despite the family theme of it all. Despite a cloak of self-perceived invisibility, the young people on display, as it always is.

Last time , the headliner was Shania Twain and, since I had never heard of her, we did not stick around. Twain has sold over 40 M country albums. This year it is '70s rock band "Guess Who" , famous for '70 #1 "American Woman" which the band has lived on ever since. Richard Nixon invited Guess Who to the White House as long as they did not play "American Woman."

We find a morning spot underneath a canvas umbrella and watch the Shakespeares run back and forth and back and forth to the various food stalls - popcorn! Water Mellon! Hot dogs! Ice creams! Lemon sluice! Meat legs ! It's all a bit overwhelming in 100F+ heat so I read and observe. This an honest effort, a successful festival, and good vibe place.

"In 1992, a few insightful people in the small western Colorado town of Olathe, decided to celebrate the community's agricultural jewel... "Olathe Sweet" sweet corn, by organizing the first Olathe Sweet Corn Festival. This hometown crop was and continues to be more than just another of the many agriculture products of the region. Sweet corn is the crop that has kept this rural American community alive when other efforts were failing. Indeed, the citizens of the Town of Olathe, Colorado had cause for celebration."

--Olathe Sweet Corn Festival" Official History

Feeling 44

As I am up at 4:30AM for some horrible reason , I rouse myself from bed to sneak from the hotel to the SUV to drive to Black Canyon. The temperature a perfect 70 degrees , despite the hour , while HW 50 deserted. I turn into the National Park and curve along the mesa, passing the empty ranger station, a number of look-outs, the closed visitor center and eventually Painted Wall , pictured, where I set up my camera and await pre-dawn. The gorge, cut by the Gunnison River over millions of years, puts my balls into my stomach : one slip and it is a long ways down. I jump about the rocks with my tripod in a reckless fashion that would make Sonnet scream.

"At a sheer 2,300 feet, the Painted Wall, a prominent segment of the Black Canyon's north rim, is Colorado's highest cliff. The darker rock is Black Canyon Gneiss. The bold white and pink bands are granites and pegmatites injected during Middle Proterozoic (1.4 Ga) through Cambrian (~510 Ga) intrusions. Large books of white mica (muscovite) and crystals of pink potassium feldspar and translucent quartz give the pegmatites their lustrous pink look.

Just as Precambrian joints and faults controlled the placement of these igneous intrusions, the current regional jointing system now controls the locations of the side canyons cut by smaller streams left behind as the mighty Gunnison cut through the Gunnison Uplift.

These views look west from the Chasm View Nature Trail overlook, which is across the canyon from Chasm View on the South Rim. "

--Colorado Geology Photojournals

Painted Wall @ Sunrise

More words from Washington D.C.:

Me: "I'll give you five bucks if you can name five things about the white House."

Madeleine: "Really?"

Me: "They have to be good ones, too. I'm not paying for baloney like the White House is white."

Madeleine: "Barack Obama and his wife and his dog live on the 2nd floor."

Me: "Good."

Madeleine: "That the British burned down the White House in 1812."

Me: "Yep."

Madeleine: "There are 35 toilets. And five kitchens. That counts as two."

Me: "35 toilets?

Madeleine: "Four, dad, one more."

Me: "Go for it."

Madeleine: "There are eagles everywhere."

Me: "Dig deeper."

Madeleine: "The eagle is the symbol of America."

Eitan: "Mom told you that! "

Me: "I'll take it. Here's $5."

E: "What! Can I do that?"

Me: "Nope, you had your chance."

Eitan: "How about 5 questions for a dollar?"

Me: "No."

Eitan: "50p?"

Me: "No."

E: "A quarter? I'll do it for free, even."

Madeleine: "Washington: Museums, museums, museums."

Me: "Your worst nightmare?"

Madeleine: "Yep."

Eitan on the Jefferson Memorial : "Do we reaaallly have to go here?"

Eitan: "You know we burned down the White House? "

Me: "Oh, really?"

Eitan: "1812. It says right here the British burned down the White House."

Me: "Well I'm glad to know what side we're on."

Eitan: "I do like it when the British win."

Eitan: "Bye Dad! Bye Daaaad!

Me: "Get off that escalator right now!"

Madeleine: "What if the train comes?"

Me: "Then we will leave him."

Madeleine: "You would want to see some dumb old statue instead of keeping your own child?"

Sonnet: "I remember our trip to Washington D.C. when I was your age. I recall feeling the same way as you."

Madeleine: "Gee, thanks Mom, for making me feel really bad."

Soccer Camp

And no vacation would be a vacation without football for Eitan. Thanks to Stan, Eitan joins 75 kids, ages 10 to 14, for three hours of evening action, Wednesday to Friday. The well groomed pitches offer sweeping views of the mesa and Rockies. Two-thirds of the players female. Photo by Sonnet.

Me: "I noticed there are a lot of girls playing football."

Eitan: "Yeah, so?"

Me: "What's it like, playing against a girl?"

Eitan: "The same, I guess. .it's not like I care or anything."

Me: "Do you know what a Trojan Horse is?"

Eitan: "No."

Me: "It's from the Illiad. A bunch of Greeks hide in a giant wood horse which is left for the Trojans as a gift. The Trojans take the horse inside their city and, at night, the Greeks sneak out and open the city doors. Boom! They sack the city."

Eitan; "Why are you telling me this?"

Me: "It's kinda like playing with girls on the football squad."

Eitan: "La la la la lalalalalalala . ."

Big J

Big J's Pawn Shop on Main Street across from the Coffee Trader, the best coffee in Montrose. The founder-proprietors Fong and Will, both gay, from Las Vegas where Fong responsible for Harrahs Hotels entertainment and Will same for MGM Grand. In short, better than a sitcom. The duo moved to the Western Slope twelve-years ago, buying a derelict house, and turning it into their vision : a stately Victorian with a lovely coffee garden filled with flowers, tables , a few lounge chairs and a happy vibe. Many new proprietors followed their lead and, today, downtown Montrose celebrates a Main Street festival every Thursday evening of summertime.

Silver Is Purple

Eitan: "You are not going to JC Penney with Mom, Dad."

Me: "Oh? Why's that?"

Eitan: "Real men don't shop at JC Penney."

Me:

Eitan: "Real men only buy BBQ grills and sports stuff."

Me: "Thank you for clearing that up for me."

For the FYI: Founded in 1907, JCP's 1,106 stores produced $17.8 B of turnover and $389 M of net income for the 12 months ending December 2010. The company employs 156,000 people. While not particularly my style, JCP offers good basics and many a young man bought his first suit here. Many still do.

Texas Wedgie

Sonnet prepares dinner at her parents house.

Me: "Have you ever had a Melvin?"

Madeleine: "What's that?"

Me: "A wedgie. ."

Madeleine: "We call them a Texas Wedgie."

Me: "Oh? What's that then?"

Madeleine: "It's when you grab both sides of someone's pants and do this" [Madeleine puts both arms above head]

Me: "Have you done this in school?"

Me: "Yes, the last time was Harry. And only when he needs it. Billy had to put his hair back in school and Harry was laughing at him so we chased him across the yard. I caught him, Nathaniel held him. And Alex gave him a Texas Wedgie."

Me:

Madeleine: "And he never laughed at Billy again."

Sonnet: "Harry got a Texas Wedgie? That's mean."

Madeleine: "That's life, Mom."

Emma Watson Goes To Brown

Following seven books, 3,408 pages, 1,090,739 words and eight movies : Harry Potter comes to an end at the Fox Cinema Center where we see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2". Sonnet began reading Harry P to the kids when they were 5.5 and 7 years-old, replacing my Spider Man bedtime stories. Unlike the wizard, my adventures included, like, real characters such as the "Giant Green Cricket" and the "Spider Killers", a series of deathly spider rob0ts, controlled by Kingpin, which scaled buildings to slay Our Man. But, hey, I am not jealous : We all have to move on I am sure.

Eitan, at the end of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows": "Oh, God."

Highway

We cross the Rockies on familiar tarmac , heading for the Western Slope and Montrose.

"

Eitan's List of things we have to do in Colorado. By Eitan

1. Montrose swimming pool every day.

2. Dairy Queen at least once.

3. Make a cake or a pie/ tart.

4. Go shopping for a snorkel and camera.

5. Go watch Harry Potter.

6. Take lots of pictures.

7. Go for a late nigh dip in the hotel pool.

8. Go to McDonald's Playland.

9. play lots of football.

"

Summer Reading

Eitan: "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Madeleine: "Wolf Brother," Michelle Paver

Sonnet: "Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West", Dorothy Wickenden

Me: "Vanity Fair", William Thackery

High

Obama, whose prior experience not much to crow about, fast losing my attention. No doubt he has the hardest job in America (as Leno quipped: "a job only a black man would take") but has failed to stand against the bully Republicans. Even following the debt-ceiling "negotiations" where Obama caved on his single request - revenue increases - he takes the hit from Bahner who blames the White House for a S&P downgrade; Quoth Bahner : "Unfortunately, decades of reckless spending cannot be reversed immediately, especially when the Democrats who run Washington remain unwilling to make the tough choices required to put America on solid ground."

The reality that our national debt spiraled out-of-control thanks to el presidente Bush and his Republican controlled Congress who increased US debt by $5 T. Obama, by 2010 year-end, has added another $1.6 T mostly to save the financial system and address the economy he inherited. To suggest the Democrats responsible for the debt a bunch of baloney.

So when will the President wake up ? The story now told by the loudest to the dumbest. Dullards must be met head-on. FDR , in similar circumstances, relished the battle and welcomed the hatred of his adversaries. Obama's instincts , and decency, have set us back.

Eitan, from the air: "Chicago is neat."

Me: "Neat?"

Eitan: "Neat and tidy."

Madeleine, at a bookshop in Chicago O'Hare airport: "Look, Dad, I've found the comics you used to like. Want to see?"

Me: "Sure."

Madeleine: "See? I like the X Men. They are my favorite."

Me:

Madeleine: "Can you buy me some?"

EWR

Up and at 'em, 4:45AM, to the Newark Airport. We watch a spectacular sunrise over the Empire State Building. Kids pretty good about it, too, while me : I just drink more, and more, coffee. Does anybody else notice that the more you imbibe the more you need ?

We cross the Holland Tunnel into New Jersey and already rush hour traffic in the other direction. Our cab driver plays Miles Davis. New Jersey's first impression : swamps, industry , elevated railroads; most of the Manhattan skyline hidden behind a ridgeline but eventually, there she is, beckoning. I consider those who live in marginal or small towns on this side of the Hudson : not easy.

I've never hesitated about Berkeley, a place I am proud of, from the freakiest hippie-dippies of the '60s to the liberal moderates of now. Sure, it ain't Civil Rights nor Viet Nam but maybe equally bad given three wars and the no-compromise Tea Party fools. We need voices, and radicals, in the streets, out there fighting the system, man. Where is our ipad-addicted, video game obsessed, yuf? My mom notes that today equally depressing, and scary, as during Viet Nam.

Shaw Memorial

Shaw Memorial, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1900, Gallery 66

"The gigantic, golden full-scale plaster model of the bronze memorial erected in Boston to young Colonel Shaw and the African American soldiers of the Massachusetts 54th Infantry Regiment is not to be missed. In their valiant effort to preserve the Union, they also overcame prejudice about their military ability. Their heroism inspired the film Glory."

--West Building Highlights, National Gallery

I disagree with the enthusiastic description of Shaw, above : African Americans, I am sure, wished to destroy the South; any thought of saving the Union a secondary consideration.

Forced walk

Sonnet: "We are going to see the Washington and Jefferson memorials."

Madeleine: "Aren't they just statues?"

Sonnet: "Yes, they are."

Madeleine: "We're going to look at them for, like, 15 seconds."

Me: "Maybe you will learn something, then."

Madeleine: "Oh, Dad. Why do you always have to do that?"

Ziggy

Eitan, whose eyes are about to disappear along with his ears, at (or underneath?) the Hirshorn Museum. We have just come from the Smithonian Air and Space Museum.

Eitan eats NASA "space ice cream": "That's infinitely delicious."

Eitan: "Which do you think is better: heat when you are freezing or air conditioning when you're boiling hot?"

Eitan holds up his Smithonian ID card, purchased for three dollars: "Eitan Orenstein, average intelligence."

Madeleine: "Dad, do you mind if I run, frolic, and play on the jungle gym?"

Federal Reserve Building

The Fed, the US central banking system, created in 1913 in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907. Sound familiar ? Over time, the Fed's role has changed in response to things like the Great Depression. Its duties today "are to conduct the nation's monetary policy, supervise and regulate banking institutions, maintain the stability of the financial system and provide financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions" , according to their charter.

The Fed's structure composed of the presidentially appointed Board of Governors (or Federal Reserve Board), the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the nation, numerous privately owned U.S. member banks and various advisory councils. The FOMC is responsible for setting monetary policy. The Fed designed to serve the interests of both the general public and private bankers. The result : a unique structure among central banks.

The Fed independent inside government, ie, "its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or legislative branch of government." However, its authority from Congress and subject to congressional oversight. Uncle Sam receives all of the system's annual profits, after a statutory dividend of 6% on member banks' capital investment is paid, and an account surplus is maintained. In 2010, the Federal Reserve made a profit of $82 B Band transferred $79 B to the U.S. Treasury. (Source: Wiki &c.)

Lincoln Memorial

From Jefferson to the Lincoln memorial, pictured.

Eitan: "What are we doing today?"

Sonnet: "Lincoln Memorial."

Eitan: "What?! Another memorial? No way!"

Sonnet: "Oh, come on, Eitan."

Eitan: "I thought this was going to be a fun trip."

We approach the Lincoln Memorial. Eitan: "Where is he?"

Sonnet: "Be patient. All will be revealed."

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free ... it expects what never was and never will be."

--Thomas Jefferson

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. "

--Abraham Lincoln

White House To Capital Building

We start our day, 7:30AM, w/ a tour of The White House which Sonnet secures via her Alaskan Congressman. The first floor open to the public and used for state dinners and formal entertaining. The President occupies the second and third floors; secret service guard the chambers. I ask one armed dude about his qualifications and he informs me : "military combat+six months 'special training.' "

From there, our 16-year old friend Michael gives us a special inside tour of The Capital Building including seats to the House of Representatives and the Senate (Michael the son of London friends Diana and Simon+interning for New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen; he attends London's Westminster School). Since a Saturday and the US 72 hours from defaulting on its sovereign obligations, there is a .. festive mood on the house floor. The Congressmen huddle - look, there's Nancy Palosi talking to Barney Frank!- and gossip (Michelle Bachmann in over-sized pearls!) and chatter away (accept for Harry Waxman who is by himself and all business!). At the Senate we see John Kerry and listen to Alaska's Senator Mark Begich, which makes Sonnet happy. The highlight : bumping into Harry Reid, shuffling along a side-corridor, huddled over his papers that seem to spill from his satchel. Exactly what one would expect of the Majority Leader.

Me: "What building is that?"

Eitan: "The Capital Building."

Me: "And that one?"

Madeleine: "Washington Monument?"

Me: "Good. And what are walking on?"

Madeleine: "The ground."

Me:

Eitan: "The Mall."

Me: "Do you think the President ever suffers from trapped wind?"

Eitan: "Dad! No, but I'll bet the Queen does."

Sonnet: "I'm not part of this conversation."

"The lucky thing for us is that we are in a race with Europe and Japan for 'most financially irresponsible Super Power'. And, for right now , the European and Japanese have substantial advantages in that race."

--Walter Russell Mead, Bard College

Ginevra

Sonnet and the kids give me one - ! - at the National Gallery of Art so I head to the information desk and a Senior Gal gives me a memo: "Less Than An Hour?" which includes the West Building's twelve must-see highlights.

Ginevra de Benic, c. 1474/1478, Leonard da Vinci; Gallery 6

Ginevra's face displays the delicate translucence of porcelain. Behind her, the misty landscape assumes a soft, atmospheric effect. Perhaps an engagement portrait, this is the only painting by Leonard da Vinci in the Western Hemisphere.

Eitan, in backseat, overhears us discussing Wagner : "Do you mean the guy on X Factor?"

Me, Sonnet:

All American

Dad (goofy hat) with three healthy girls. He's got his work cut out for him. The flags half-mast following the death of a FEMA officer in the AZ forest fires.

While considering this perfect family in our nation's capital, think of this : home ownership in America 59%, the lowest since '65. The peak, prior to the financial crisis, was 69%; today it is 67% but 7.5 M are in arrears on their mortgage. Exclude them from the official count and it is dire - but is renting so bad? Perhaps like a flat-screen TV : nice to have but not necessary. More critically, Eric notes Americans get what they deserve.

During our visit we stay in Alexandria, just outside DC, with Sonnet's cousin Jacqueline , her husband Jay and 5-year old daughter Ingrid. Jacqueline the daughter of Shelton and Bridgette. Jay is an IT engineer whose firm currently engaged by the Federal Government, the largest employer by far in the area. Jacqueline works for a communications and PR firm representing energy and some of the largest companies in the US.

Sonnet: "What are two things George Washington is famous for?"

Madeleine: "Battling the Portuguese?"

Sonnet: "No. You're just winding your father up."

Eitan: "Fighting the Germans?"

Me:

Eitan: "I am sooo tired."

Me: "You've got a long day ahead of you then."

Eitan: "Can't we just watch TV or something?"

Washington Memorial

The Washington monument , made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss , is the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing at 169 m. Its construction began in 1848 but not completed until 1884, almost 30 years after architect Robert Mills' death, due to the co-option by the Know Nothing party, a lack of funds, and the American Civil War.

I ask a ranger : why the difference in shading of the marble? visible about 50 m or a quarter up.

The builders ran out of local marble so the materials changed+for years the obelisk remained half-built. When opened in 1888 it became the world's tallest structure, a title previously held by the Cologne Cathedral. The monument held this designation until 1889, when Eiffel's tower completed.

Madeleine, after seeing the Washington Monument: "We came all the way here to see that?"

Me:

Madeleine: "I don't mean it as a bad thing."

National Archives, D.C.

Here we are , at the National Archives, to view the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The kids' attention elsewhere.

From New Yawk we catch the Silver Bullet to Washington DC, which is the only district of America to pays taxes with no representation in Congress. Conflict of interest, dude. I am told by a bored ticketing agent that this the only Amtrak line that does not lose money. Hey, she has a job.

The National Archives created by Congress in '34 and has 9 B records including the census from 1790 to 1930, ships passenger lists and naturalization records; not surprisingly, then , it is most often used for geneology research.

The Constitution is 4 pages on over-sized parchment , all on display, which was not the case before 911 when only the first page on view. Following the attack, it was felt that we, the people, should see our government in its entirety. I notice that there are only 12 signatures and wonder- where's the 13th states? The security women informs me Rhode Island withheld their John Hancock for two years until certain ratifications. I learn that it was all rather tenuous whether the states would sign the darn thing. When Massachusetts gave the fifth signature, all assured positive.

Eitan: "Look at that little bird . ."

Me: "It's so hot, he's rolling in the dirt."

Madeleine: "Really?"

Me: "It looks that way anyhow."

Madeleine: "If it was a Husky I'd feel sorry for it."

"The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States."

--Article II, Section II, of the US Constitution

Madeleine sees the gift shop at the National Archives: "Can we go there instead?"

Anne And The Peace Corps

Anne, pictured, in Peace Corps #1 with Moe and Grace from 1961 to '63; they met , with a group of about 20, in Syracuse, New York, for training before Malawi, where Moe and Grace stationed , teaching French, maths and history. Anne now an artist , living on 36th St. and 9th Ave., in one of those impossible open spaces that covers half a building-floor that we all know exist somehow. She is warm and energetic and it is nice to hear a few new stories+Madeleine grooves on the creative.

By '61, upon graduating DePauw University, Indiana, Grace wanted out of 1950s America : cheer leading and bobby socks and wifehood, motherhood and limited career prospects which were second class at best (NB Grace put on hold a writing scholarship from Washington U). My mom's ambitions pre-dated the women's movement but very much a part of it.

Moe, for his part, contemplating his legal career and finishing a law degree from the University of Michigan. In '60, on the Michigan campus across the way from Moe's dorm, at speech Moe did not plan to attend (Joe Kennedy an anti-Semite) , JFK announced a "united corps for peace" and, then and there, the Peace Corps was created. Moe was all-in.

My parents met because of the Peace Corps, got to know each other in Africa, and have remained true to themselves, each other, and their youthful exuberance over a lifetime that I have shared for 44 years. Not a bad deal.

"To promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower."

--Executive Order 10924 on March 1, 1961, and authorized by Congress on September 22, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act (Public Law 87-293).

So Busted

Sonnet: "The kids have to take a shower. Can you help me out?"

Me: "It's vacation. Let them go without a shower."

Sonnet: "They stink. They have to take a shower, Jeff."

Later, Me: "Eitan, you have to take a shower."

Eitan: "What?! I took one yesterday."

Me: "Your mother says you stink."

Eitan: "I don't stink."

Me: "Ok, tell you what, go upstairs and turn the shower on and just wet your hair a bit."

Eitan: "Really?"

Me: "Go, but be quick about it."

Later, Eitan: "I was so busted, Dad. Mom came into the bathroom and caught me wetting my hair. "

Me: "Did you tell your mom it was my idea?"

Eitan: "Yeah, I said you told me to do it. "

Me: "You couldn't keep me out of it?"

Eitan: "I'm not getting into trouble for something you did."

Me:

Sonnet: "I cannot believe you told the kids to do that."

Arms And Policies

I am free for a couple hours to take photos and amuse myself sans familia. I snap this couple on 33rd St - hand-in-glove.

Roger completes Microsoft's "wide Standards of Business Conduct Training" including:

-Reminder about Microsoft’s Anti-Corruption Policy

-Update you [Roger] of the revised FY 2012 OSD PO Approval Process & MOI PO Approval Process including Yahoo! related expenses

-Closing all FY11 PO’s

-Ensure you [Roger] are aware of key Microsoft Procurement policies

-Remind you [Roger] of our [Microsoft's] OSD Accrual policy and internal guidance

-Ensure you [Roger] are aware of the existing OSD Discretionary Spend Policy

I would last less than a moment @ Microsoft.

Lips

Eitan @ Katie's apartment.

The art behind Eitan by Katie circa 1992. The oversized frame a gift from my old girlfriend's father, a small-town orthopedic surgeon and real dickface, who gave me two over-sized framed photos of Mount Mawenzi (5149 meters) which I took from Mt Uruhu (5896 m), the highest peak of Mt Kilimanjaro. Of course he lost the negatives and made my mom cry , so I was going to throw the photos out along with a bunch of bad memories, post break-up , but Katie saved one frame from the dumpster and turned it into something good.

In real time : It is hot-as-hell in New York : the Central Park South tower, whatever it is named, tells us 104 F but when humidity included it is more like 115F. Air conditioners hum, baby. The underground unbearable but the cars air-conditioned joy. New Yorkers take it all in stride, of course : the men ditch their suits or, at least ties; women, their bras. God, bless. My deodorant quits after two hours but who notices ? Everything stinks. The tarmac melts. Everybody sweats. It's a jungle, man, but no place compares.

The Wizard

Katie takes Madeleine to breakfast at her Broadway local , chica to chica. Afterwards, she owns Eitan and madeleine for the afternoon treating them to Central Park, ice cream and hot dogs - as much as they can take. I often consider Katie's lost presence on the Shakespeares - every kid should have a cool Aunt who lives in Manhattan.

Madeleine: "Will they let lizards on the plane?"

GW Bridge

We drive under the George Washington Bridge which I once ran over weekly training for the '97 NY City Marathon. And here is a factoid : As of 2007, the GW has the greatest vehicular capacity of any bridge in the world, carrying approximately 106 million autos a year, making it the busiest car bridge in the world (according to the Port Authority of NY and NJ).

Here is what Le Corbusier said:

"The George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is the most beautiful bridge in the world. Made of cables and steel beams, it gleams in the sky like a reversed arch. It is blessed. It is the only seat of grace in the disordered city. It is painted an aluminum color and, between water and sky, you see nothing but the bent cord supported by two steel towers. When your car moves up the ramp the two towers rise so high that it brings you happiness; their structure is so pure, so resolute, so regular that here, finally, steel architecture seems to laugh. The car reaches an unexpectedly wide apron; the second tower is very far away; innumerable vertical cables, gleaming against the sky, are suspended from the magisterial curve which swings down and then up. The rose-colored towers of New York appear, a vision whose harshness is mitigated by distance." (Source: When the Cathedrals were White)

"

Father, Son

Back in action. To all my Dear Readers : You may relax. Here I am with my father on the Upper West side.

The Orenstein-Stanfill family circus departs Vermont, cruising along the Taconic for 124 miles, then Bronxville. I do not get lost which happens every time - and I do mean every time - I visit my Aunt and Uncle. There was the evening, for instance, when Dan and I procured the family car, against Larry's will who cautioned we would never find the Bronxville exit, to hit the Palladium and disco clubs. This was '85, two weeks before freshman orientation, and no way were we going to miss the action nor be constrained by the Metro-North . So, of course , we get lost and end up God-knows-where at 4AM. So upset are we that I flag a driver who says "Follow me!" and takes us on a goose chase. We eventually break away and somehow stumble upon Sarah Lawrence College (in Bronxville) and home. Sunrise. Marcia notes the fuel tank empty. It took me about 20 years to earn that one back from Larry.

Orenstein Stanfill Lee Manning Bahr Schady

Madeleine, at dinner: "Why do squirrels swim on their back?"

Me and the table: "Why?"

Madeleine: "To protect their nuts."

Eitan: "That's my joke!"

Madeleine: "Is not!"

Eitan: "Is to!"

Me: "Look, I think it is MY joke so knock it off please."

Madeleine: "Yeah, Dad, but what makes it funny is how you tell it."

Boner

John Boehner, Republican, 8th District of Ohio. Minority Leader of the House of Reps (photo NYT)

Remarkably, for the first time since in US history, Uncle Sam may default on his sovereign obligations as Congress battles itself to raise the debt ceiling from $14.5 T to whatever. Americans mostly agree that the national debt not sustainable and we need to get it down. Democrats willing to do so with cuts to military and some cherished entitlements (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) and via taxes, mostly eliminating loop holes to corporates and the rich (NB In the USA, the top 10% pay 90% of all taxes; 50% of Americans pay no taxes at all).

Republicans want to go by cuts alone , protecting the military and, mostly, entitlements which keep the Elephants in office. Everybody else, go fish. Recall how Republicans argued debt okey-dokey during Bush's two unfunded wars and his ruinous tax cuts.

Believe you me I agree that we must reduce entitlements whose escalating costs will destroy the country inside a generation. Nor can we dream the problem away with more taxes so in this regard I side with the Republicans. Yet the debt ceiling no place to leverage policy. Unfortunately 250 Repubs have signed Grover Norquist's no-new-tax pledge and this, Dear Reader, threatens America''s future.

"Traitor: A person who is guilty of treason or treachery, in betraying friends, country, a cause or trust, etc."

--Webster Dictionary

Quarry

From Larry and Marcia's house, pictured. Their property dates to the 19th century when it was a sawmill cutting marble; the water powered a turbine that cut the stone which was drawn from the nearby quarry. Now it is an evironmentally protected area.

Plaque at the marble quarry, one mile down route 7A:

"First Marble Quarry

Oldest Quarry in the U.S., 1785.

Here, near Mt. Aelus, Isaac Underhill opened the first marble quarry in 1785. Dorset quarries were most active in the early 1800's when small slabs were used for for hearths, doorsills, and headstones. With better transportation and saws, larger blocks were quarried.

"

Holiday Dad

I have not considered London nor work since leaving, well, London and work. Sure I have a few telephone calls to make and some emails to answer but it is mostly hard to be overly concerned. Europe, we know, shuts down for summer from about now: for the Nordics , it is July while everyone else, August. Not a bad life for them and us , for sure, but we are falling behind in the global league tables : difficult to compete with China given a 1% eurozone GDP growth and Greece. Still, Germany tries. And Britain pulls her weight. Italy has lovely pizza and Ireland - well, she pays us with Guinness.

Me: "What do you think of our parenting?"

Madeleine: "Parenting?"

Me: "Yeah, like how are mom and I doing ? What can we do better?"

Madeleine: "I don't know.. ."

Me: "What are some things that I have done well?"

Madeleine: "Hamster. Fish. Dog."

Me: "Is there anything else I can do?"

Madeleine: "Gecko."

Me: "Got that. Do you think I'm too strict?"

Madeleine: "Yes, like, all the time."

Me: "Oh, really? Give me an example."

Madeleine: "Like when I spilled powder on the floor and you sent me to bed. Without dinner."

Me: "I did?"

Madeleine: "And I was only five."

Richie @ Laguna Beach

Richie shreds it up, pictured. We were the two Californian odd balls at Brown - I was a swimmer and he played water polo. Why on earth we went to the East Coast for college who knows ? Richie, at least, returned to his heritage and now, when not making films, finds himself inside the bowl or on the big wave.

"All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine. "
--Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Katie ~ Eitan Falls From The Bunk Bed

Auntie Katie on the way to Lake Emerald, Vermont.

3AM: Sonnet and I awaken to a loud "thump". Eitan, who is on top of the bunk bed, falls out. Sonnet moves like greased lightening to find our hero dazed but in one piece. He is sleep-walking, Dear Reader, and unable to grasp what has happened nor the dead of night. It has happened before, on occasion, and I recall the night when Sonnet home late from work to find Eitan missing and his bedroom window open. She f-r-e-a-k-s, dials the police and reports "kidnapped child", and generally goes into hysterics. Who can blame her? Me, I walk downstairs to find the boy curled up on the coach peacefully asleep. The cops understanding and everybody grateful for the conclusion. Thank, God, really.

Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, is a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. Sleepwalkers arise from the slow wave sleep stage in a state of low consciousness and perform activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness.

--Wiki

Eitan: "You're not actually writing on your blog. That's a miracle."

Me: "A miracle, indeed."

Kristy McN

I first met Kristy McNichol in "Little Darlings" where she and Tatum O'Neal, both 15 but from different sides of the tracks, compete to lose their virginity. While at summer camp, of course. This 1980 so I am about 12 and duly impressionable. The film undoubtedly rated "PG" since I cannot imagine watching it with my mother. McNichol (who wins the bet BTW) a teen sensation, winning two Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in TV weekly "Family," which aired from '76 to '80; she also appeared in Starsky & Hutch, Bionic Women and Love Boat and recorded Christmas specials with The Carpenters. Her re-doing of The Chiffons' "He's So Fine" hit #70 on the billboards. She had Sean Cassidy hair. Do not doubt, Dear Reader, that Kristy McNichol had my attention.

Sadly, McNichol's acting career petered out by the mid-1980s as erratic on-set behavior caused the studios to lose confidence. Making movies like "The Pirate Movie" and "Just The Way You Are" didn't help, either. In '92 she was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and disappeared from public life more-or-less completely.

Today, McNichol lives in LA, California, where (according to the NYT), she has taught acting at a private school and devoted much of her time to charity work.

"You're supposed to get turned on, stupid, not pass out. "

--Angel, played by Kristy McNichol, in Little Darlings, 1980

Three D

Madeleine picks up a "3-D" puzzle at the "awesome" local book shop : "So I have to describe it? It was very hard to build. It's yellow. It's delicate. When you rub your finger down it, it feels like brick." She gets everybody hooked on "Mad Libs" and we spend an afternoon filling story-lines with adjectives, nouns, verbs, pronouns &c. I have to remind myself what these things are

"Every morning they spend 253 hours stretching their tits and touching their bums."

--Mad Libs

Mt Equinox And A Bit Of The Revolutionary War

Sonnet, Katie, Eitan and I go for a "gentle walk" and end up climbing 3,800 ft Equinox Mountain instead. Equinox the highest peak of the Taconic Range. Starting from Manchester, it is straight up followed by straight down , leaving us perspired, exhausted and achy - the downward trek taxes muscles I knew not of. The peak marked by an ancient hotel which, Larry tells me, closed 15 years ago. On a winter's day it might be the Overlook Hotel. Me, I follow up with a three-hour nap (not 30 anymore dude) and go to bed at 9PM which vexes Sonnet at 4AM as I wake her to discuss house-design. Instead of fighting me, we go for a sunrise walk.

A signage at the trail head in Manchester:

"The Revolutionary War. Ethan Allen crossed Lake Champlain to capture Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775 for "America's First Victory." Allen's expedition passed through here on May 5, 1775. Nathan Beman from Manchester guided the expedition into the fort: John Roberts of Manchester was the head of the expedition's largest immediate family. In 1777, after evacuating Ft. Ti and Mount Independence, Gen. Arthur St Claire traveled to the Saratoga area via Manchester. The first meeting of the council of Safety (Vermont's initial government) were at the original Marsh Tavern (on site of the south wing of the Equinox). In Manchester, Gen. John Stark declined orders from Gen. Benjamin Lincoln and opted to go to Bennington. Stark's NH troops and Seth Warner's "Green Mountain Boys" camped in Manchester prior to the battle of Bennington victory on August 16, 1777.

--Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, 2011

Chillax

Madeleine requests a few photos for her "summer journal", as required for school. This replaces the usual cajoling or bribing now the norm when my camera trained on the Shakespeares.

VT

The Orenstein family circus arrives in NY where we meet Gracie and Moe at Herz and load up an SUV that stretches across the inter-state. Yep, holiday in America. We spend our first night in Bronxville (joined by Auntie Katie) and a day in New York , where Sonnet takes Madeleine to Alexander McQueen at the Met - Sonnet tells me that it is the most popular exhibition in the museum's history. I see a few friends, and now Vermont with Marcia and Larry and Susan and Joey and Julia. The last time our together ensemble was Diane's wedding two years ago.

Madeleine: "Dad can I sit in the back seat?"

Gracie: "I want to sit in the back with Madeleine."

Eitan: "Can I sit in the back seat, too?"

Sonnet: "I think you have to climb over the middle seat, Grace."

Eitan: "Why does Madeleine get the back seat with Gracie?"

Sonnet: "Maybe we can turn one of the seats back so Gracie can get in. .."

Madeleine: "I asked first, Eitan, and besides there is only room for me and Gracie."

Sonnet: "I am sure there is plenty of room."

Grace: "Can you move the seat back so I can get in?"

Me: "Get. In. The. Car."

Grace: "Jesus."

Electrics

Enrico, pictured, lives the Dolce Vita in Southwest London. He is father of KPR's Jean Luca, a serious threat from anywhere on the pitch with style and flair one expects from an Italian striker. Enrico rips up the house to rewire the everything.

tesco

We say "Farewell, Aneta!" who returns to Czech then Europe and eventually University. She contemplates a summer job and what the future may hold but who knows? The joy of 21. Her childhood friend, Camilla, will join us in August. Aneta and Madeleine have a last go at Ludo, a board-game that has occupied them at the kitchen table. Eitan refuses a hug but he will miss her, too.