With Minnie In Connecticut

This is Minnie, the Jack Russell terrier. She lives in Connecticut with our old friends, Ginnie and Hugh and their son Andrew. Both Tom and I were in their wedding in Mobile, Alabama, 40 something years ago. We moved away to different places and then moved again and lost touch with each other for many years. Several years ago, I searched for them on the internet and found them. Since then, we've kept in touch and visited back and forth to our great enjoyment, and, I hope, to theirs.

On her back, Minnie has a brown mark that looks just like - not Jesus, not Mary - but Minnie Mouse! Can you see it? It's a Disney miracle!



Minnie loved me, and curled up beside, and wanted me to pet her all the time. Ginnie told me that after I left she kept going back to the bedroom where I slept to look for me.

Both Tom and Hugh love to fish. Hugh fishes from the banks in freshwaters, rivers and streams, and throws his fish back. Tom fishes both salt-and freshwaters, but from a boat, and he keeps his fish, and we eat his fish. The best month for saltwater fishing here is October. Hugh came to visit earlier in the year, but the weather was wrong, and the fishing was not good. He decided to return in prime time, last month. Tom, Hugh, and my son fished with great success while he was here, and Hugh drove back to Connecticut with frozen Louisiana fish for cooking and eating in Connecticut.

Ginnie could not come to Louisiana because the fall is rehearsal time for the Connecticut Master Chorale, of which Ginnie is a member. The group is in great demand and has performed at Carnegie Hall on several occasions and at the White House in 2002. Their rehearsals are serious business, and the members are strongly advised not to miss, except for the gravest of reasons.

Since Ginnie couldn't come South, she invited me to go North, which I did, combining a trip to Connecticut with a trip to New York and New Jersey, about which I have already written several posts. If you'd care to read them scroll down on the sidebar to "New York and New Jersey" for the links.

The evening that I arrived, Ginnie had a rehearsal, so Hugh and I went out to eat and had a long talk afterwards and solved all the world's problems. Have you noticed that we now live in a problem-free world?

On Wednesday, Hugh left for his drive to Louisiana, and Ginnie and I went to Woodbury, CT, to visit the antique stores. We had a late lunch at Carol Peck's restaurant, the Good News Café. I believe that we both ordered the lobster soup with lobster chunks, and I had the shrimp cilantro scallion and goats cheese Quesadilla avocado fruit and greens salad. The food was fabulous! The restaurant received rave reviews from the food critic at the New York Times more than once. If you are near Woodbury, I highly recommend the restaurant.

Ginnie and I tend to start the day later than we originally plan, because she is a woman after my own heart, one who does not like to be up and out early. Plus, once we start talking, we have so much to say, that we get lost in our conversations, and before we know it, it's noon, and we're not even showered and dressed. There you have it. Half the day spent talking.

On the way to Woodbury, Ginnie drove the curving, country roads. The fall color was not at its height, but there was enough to make the drive lovely. I'd imagine that the roads are scenic almost any time of the year. We couldn't stop along the way to take pictures, because the roads were narrow, winding, and without shoulders. Below is a picture taken in the rear of one of the antique shops in Woodbury, which gives you some idea of what fall color we saw, although in some spots there was quite a bit more of a variety of colors than you see in this photo.



Ginnie's son Andrew just received his masters degree in Irish studies from NYU, and is also a musician, specializing in Irish music. He plays music with other musicians who enjoy Irish music, for the love of it, sometimes for a meal, but most of the time not for pay. He's looking for a job, so if you know of a college or university in the area of southeast Connecticut, or environs, that wants a teacher of Irish studies, let me know, and I'll pass the information on to Andrew.

Andrew and Ginnie were both impressed that I knew something of the music of Kate Rusby and June Tabor, Ginnie has seen Kate perform live twice and Andrew once at the University of Hartford. I am insanely jealous of them. I must give credit to the Anglican priest from across the sea, who is not always kind to me, but who did me a great favor by introducing me to the music of the two wonderful English folk singers.

On Thursday, Ginnie and I headed North to Hyde Park to visit Franklin Roosevelt's home and library, but that is a story for another day.