November 29, 2021

 Monday November 29, 2021

Blog time 1115 at Panera

Up at 0700.  First thing, I did my at-home calisthenics followed by oatmeal breakfast.  Nancy left early for her Monday swim at MVP.

This evening Bob and Nancy are attending a dinner at Meijer’s Gardens.  It is suppose to be a black tie affair.  I have a tux that I bought in 1957.  Last year it fit, but yesterday I could not get the pants to fit.  Blame it on Covid diet?  I will wear a 45 year old blue suit that fits.

I drove to the Y.  Did my calisthenics, 1,000 meter row and mile walk.  Showered and drove to Panera.

Ordered my coffee and two baguettes before settling down for some serious reading.  The new Covid variant dominates much of the news.  Folks worldwide seem to be panicking.

One news story that I have not heard much about is the upcoming Winter Olympics in China.  There as been some inkling that President might boycott.  I don’t think boycotts work.

Got home from Panera at noon.  The squirrel proof bird feeder works but the squirrels keep trying.  Today I moved the bird feeder to a location that squirrels can not reach.

Before lunch I made a quick trip to Meijer’s.  Picked up my MG prescription and bought some green grapes.

At 1600 Nancy and I got dressed for our dinner at the Gardens. As I mentioned earlier my tux does not fit so I wore a 45 year old navy blue suit.  My biggest problem was tying my tie.  I have not worn a tie in over 2 years so it took several tries.  Nancy looked great.

Before leaving I put out my daily allotment of corn for the deer, 7 cobs.  It was snowing hard when we left at 1700.

Luckily the Gardens provided complimentary valet service so we wouldn’t get our feet wet.  The event was well attended.  I thought I might be one of the few without a tux.  I was wrong about 50% of men wore suits.

Drinks and snacks were provided in the new entrance meeting area.  This area was officially opened this evening.  Of course several short speeches were in order.

Nancy and I were surprised at how many folks we knew.  Trinity Church and Breakfast Club members were in attendance as were several old neighbors.  

The official banquet started at 1900.  It was a sit down affair.  The main course according to the menu was “Catalan Braised Short Rib”.  We all agreed that it was nice and tender.  The salad, rice and dessert were also great.

After some boring speeches the GR Symphony performed for an hour.  They performed a great selection of music.

We left for home at 2100.  During the time we were inside about 2” of snow had fallen.  All the cars were snow covered.  Luckily the Valet service brushed them off.

This evening Missy sent us a message that she had purchased tickets to GR.  They will arrive late Christmas Day and leave for LA on Jan 4.  Missy and AJ had planned to spend Christmas in Budapest with her college roommate Audrey.  Audrey had to cancel so Nancy suggested they spend Christmas with us.

Speaking of visiting relatives we hope to spend some time this January with Debbie in San Jose.  We love Debbie’s home and her neighborhood.  Last time we visited we became attached to her new dog Violet.

Before bed I shoveled the Courtyard walks of about 2” of new snow.  Checked the backyard and saw no deer tracks so I assume the deer have sheltered in place.