The 2010 Report

     This is a picture of my sons, Eric on the left and Alan on the right, with me in front of a beautiful Christmas tree in the elegant lobby of the Ritz-Carleton Hotel in Philadelphia. It is one of the last photos I took in 2010. I took a lot in Philly, but I'm sorry to report that I accidentally deleted all but two of them; this is one.


     I have to admit that I am borrowing an idea from my Facebook Friend's blog written by Miriam Nadel reporting on her achievements and progress towards goals in 2010. Well, I didn't set any goals for 2010 so I can't report on their progress or completion, but I can report on some of the categories that Miriam included.


     The most life-changing event I experienced during 2010, of course, was the death of my husband, Rocky. It meant that I had to learn how to live alone and make many decisions about my life that I had always shared with Rocky before.
I am still undergoing that process and will discuss it more when I talk about my goals for 2011.


     I read 16 books during the year, enjoying The Help most in the fiction category. Of the non-fiction my favorite was Traveling With Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor. I also read a newspaper The New York Review Of Books which I receive every two weeks. You can see the titles of all the books in the side bar of this Blog.


     I also love movies and have watched so many Turner Classic Movies this year that I lost count. So the movies listed in the side bar are not entirely accurate, but by that count I watched 25 movies, 3 of them in theaters. The three were Inception, Reds, and For Colored Girls Who Consider Suicide When Rainbows Are Not Enough, the latter being the most powerful and therefore my favorite.


     I also took the opportunity to see some plays at the Barter Theatre, Blue-Sky Boys, Violet, and The Full Monty. 


     I cut back on storytelling activities this past year, although I did perform four times. One was a children's event at Pumpkin Palooza on Halloween, and at a Sat. night telling at the SW VA Highlands Community College, Graveyard Tales, and Tellabration, the latter three produced by the Beaver Creek Storytellers which I no longer direct. I did do some publicity for that organization, however.


     I attended some storytelling events in which I was a listener, two private parties, one on Summer Solstice eve at Pam Miller's home in Jonesborough, and one honoring Elizabeth Ellis at Linda Poland's home in Tennessee. I was happy to see and hear my old friend, Gay Ducey, at the International Storytelling Center and later in the year attended the Skating On Thin Ice program at the ISC by Kim Weitkamp, Bil Lepp, and Andy Offut Irwin.


     I took five trips during 2010. Two were to Lynchburg, VA which is only 4 hours away. The others were to Indianapolis, Indiana; Taos, New Mexico; and Philadelphia. 


     Now for my goals for 2011. My head is stirring with probabilities, especially about living arrangements for the future. Although I haven't made up my mind when and where, I know a move is coming up. So clearing up projects that are already started should get priority.

• Finish collecting all of Rocky's memorabilia and biographical information together and preserving it in some fashion.
• Finish Rocky's book on humor and find a publisher.
• Get clearance from Barter Theatre's Board of Directors and proceed to publish Rocky's book, Jenny Of The Barter.
• Clean out garden house and give items away to friends and relatives.
• Speak to a real estate agent about selling Castle Yonder; make decision.
• Continue to participate with the Beaver Creek Storytellers.
• Invite friends to lunch or dinner at least 4 times during year.
• Produce a workshop on drumming.
• Exercise by walking outside every weather-friendly day.
• Finish the crocheted blanket for Stella.
• Read 20 books.
• Attend the Virginia Gathering in March.
• Complete the truck title red tape. 
• Write my Blog at least once a week; keep the BCS blog and website up to date; 

     Well, I think that will keep me busy enough for the year.  I'll report exactly one year from now. Happy New Year, All
                                                                                      

Christmas In The City

The view from my hotel window

     I had a wonderful time over the Christmas weekend in Philadelphia. However, I have only this one photo to show for it. During the snowstorm and downtime in a hotel room, I was reading my Nikon camera guide trying to learn some things I didn't know about my new camera. Unfortunately, I thought I was deleting one picture but it turned out I was deleting about 20, including the horse and carriage ride I took with my son Alan and a wonderful picture of my two sons and I standing in front of a beautiful Christmas tree in the elegant lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. My heart is still crying which is better than the cussing out I gave myself at the time.

     The highlight of my weekend was two fabulous, and expensive, meals at two fine dining restaurants on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Paying for them was my Christmas gift to my sons and son-in-law. Then they turned the tables (pardon the pun) and informed me they were paying for the Christmas Eve feast. When I saw the bill the next night, I was very glad they had helped me out that way. But thinking about it, I have always spent that much and more when I've entertained family here at Castle Yonder for Christmas.

     We ate at Fish one of the top 10 restaurants in Philly and chose to have the traditional 7-course Italian dinner with the wine pairing. Selected wines were brought in small portions that complimented that course. We started out with baby Bibb lettuce salad with anchovies, then (and I won't remember these all in order, I'm sure) an oyster on the half-shell, clams with linguini, roe, shrimp, octupus (!), and salt cod. These were all served with lovely sauces in beautiful presentations. Dessert was a cake-like nut bread with whipped cream and tiny diced peaches. The restaurant setting was very intimate, and the ambience was warm with dark red walls, and low, artistic lighting. 

     Our Christmas dinner was at the Ten Arts, a restaurant inside the elegant Ritz-Carleton Hotel. Our table was surrounded by mammoth marble columns, and crystal chandeliers hung above us. It was as elegant as Fish had been intimate. We chose the 5-course dinner with the wine pairing. The courses I remember was a magnificent truffle soup with a parmesan and foie gras embellishment and the thinly sliced skirt steak. I'm sorry I can't remember all the courses but by this time there were just too many unfamiliar foods to remember. 

     It truly was two of the most elegant dinners and restaurants I've ever experienced. My sons don't eat this way except on very special occasions, but they are fine food conniseurs. My son, Alan, was trained as a pastry chef and graduated from the Philadelphia Restaurant School twenty years ago. I had the same fun I have when I go on a cruise which is pretending to be a member of the jet set. That's what happened to many of us who grew up during the Golden Age of movies. We aspired to be the Beautiful People.

I make no apologies.  

Proud Posies (And Designers)

On March 1, our son-in-law Armas Koehler, along with his two partner-colleagues at Moda Botanica, a floral design service in Philadelphia won Best In Show for Garden Floral Design. I am posting a few photos that my son, Alan Spooner, took. The Philadelphia Flower and Garden Show is an 8-day event drawing crowds of 250,000 people. I had fantasized about going thinking it was at the end of the month, and had even discussed it with my good friend, Molly. However, because of Rocky's recent trips to the ER decided it was not good timing. I was really excited when Alan called me to tell me the news, and really, really proud. Moda Botanica started up only last year, and this is the first they had ever shown. It surely will bring lots of good business their way.

Alan and Armas have been together for 12 years now and are very committed to their relationship. They moved to Philadelphia three years ago out of a desire to buy a house. Alan is not in the floral business. He was trained as a Pastry Chef, but was forced to end that career due to vascular problems. He now works as a Fund Raiser for a bio-medical research organization closely connected to the University of Pennsylvania. 

His career as a chef, and Armas' career as a floral designer, do mesh at times and they have done Special Event shows together. Armas is a quiet, reserved, and obviously very creative young man and we are proud of him for his labors, and of Alan for the support he gives. Alan is much more gregarious and a very good photographer!

Enjoy the slideshow! You can see more of the Moda Botanica display at http://modabotanica.blogspot.com/