Weekends Are Made for This . . .

• Eating out (at a new Mexican place, Blue Agave beside LaRosa's in Tri-County for supper last night, [new for us, that is] and Bronte Bistro at Joseph-Beth Bookstore for brunch today).
• Running errands: Visits to Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's, the Apple Store, Staple's, and of course my favorite, Kroger's.
• Good times with friends: the Wuskes last night and Bill and Verna Weber and Paul and Sev Friskney today at brunch.
• Doing stuff we love: After Costco last night we picked up the Wuskes and drove to Newport on the Levee to hang out and see the fireworks after the Reds game. We stumbled into a big Oktoberfest celebration on the river bank below the stores at the Levee. We'd already eaten, so we passed up the goetta balls, brats with sauerkraut, and funnel cakes (although that last one really tempted me).
• Doing something on a lark: In addition to trying the Mexican restaurant when we'd really driven over there to eat at LaRosa's, we and the Wuskes decided to try the giant ferris wheel set up at the edge of Oktoberfest. It was a beautiful evening to see all the lights at the riverfront and feel the cool breeze.
• Laughing: with the Wuskes, and always with Sev Friskney and Verna Weber. The Webers, Friskneys, and Taylors used to get together every six weeks or so, but we hadn't been together since before school was out last spring. It was great to reconnect. And laugh. We sat at Bronte for at least 2 hours together.

On the way home, Evelyn and I decided just to stop at the Apple store and see what they're saying about iPhone 5s availability. The guy said a) they're getting new stock every evening, b) the online "order and pick up at the store" option had been disabled; maybe it would be reinstated this week, and c) if you show up at the store when they open, at 10 a.m. weekdays and Saturday, you'll have a pretty good chance of getting the phone you want. That's encouraging, because I thought with the hot interest in the new iPhones (9 million sold in the first weekend), maybe they'd be out of stock till next month or something. Also discouraging, though, because taking two hours on a work morning to drive down there, wait in line, and get the phones set up before driving back to work is almost impossible. We're thinking we'll be there when the store opens NEXT Saturday.

Friday Night Fireworks

Every Friday night home game, the Reds have a fine fireworks show to end the evening. It lasts almost 30 minutes, and fans sitting in the stadium have front-row seats. But anyone on the riverfront, especially in Kentucky looking at downtown, can enjoy the fireworks too. And at least once each season I like to go to Newport on the Levee and see 'em for free.
Last night was our night. We picked up Terry and Shirley Wuske after 7:30 and drove to the Levee,
walked around to see the city views from beside the Newport Aquarium, and then retreated to the balcony beside the Starbucks on the second floor of the Barnes and Noble bookstore. We bought some cookies and coffee and enjoyed the view and each other's company till the game ended and the fireworks began.
It was a beautiful evening, a nice breeze but still warm. The only distraction was a festival going on down by the river, complete with at least two sound stages and competing rock bands thumping and blaring throughout the evening. They were far away enough that we could still hear each other when we talked, but it would have been nicer without them.
It was great to catch up with Terry and Shirley, though, and to renew what has become a tradition for our summers in Cincinnati. Maybe before the season's out we'll actually get to a game--inside the park!--some Friday night!

A Big Bang of a Reunion

The nicest thing about the weekend was the reunion with the people.
We drove to North Carolina Friday to participate in the Fourth Final Budfest hosted by Dean and Anna Hinson and Bob and Sue Willson. Bob and Sue have been friends since we first moved to West Chester almost 30 years ago. Anna is their daughter, and I performed her marriage to Dean several years ago. The Hinsons live in Seagrove, NC, on Bud Lane (hence the name "Budfest") not far from Asheboro, and the Willsons live in Pittsboro, NC, not too far from there.

Many autumns Bob and his fellow pyrotechnics (Bob is a licensed fireworks shooter) invite all their friends and neighbors to a giant potluck with a magnificent fireworks finale on the acreage the Hinsons own. It's a low-key, down-home event, complete with a wonderful bluegrass band. Bob has said several times that he was doing this for the final time this year (thus the "Fourth Final" label), so we decided we'd better go experience what we've heard so much about for years.
We enjoyed the weekend very much. The food was wonderful. The fresh air and crisp autumn evening were invigorating. Exploring an orchard outside of Asheboro and several of the potteries in Seagrove was enjoyable (and gave us some stuff to bring home), and the drives through scenic highways in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and the Appalachian Highway in Ohio were beautiful.

Rita and Wendell Dunn were two of the
Christ's Church at Mason friends who
trekked to Seagrove for Budfest.

But the best thing about the weekend was the people.
We arrived after 6:00 Friday night to find two or three carloads of friends from Christ's Church at Mason who were graciously waiting for us to arrive so we could go to dinner with them.
Most of them were there Saturday morning for breakfast at the Fairfield Inn where we all stayed. And with them, Ron and Linda Ford (former Christ's Church at Mason members, and I worked with Linda at Standard Publishing) and Allen and Sharon Lennon (also fellow church members before they moved away) as well as Bob and Sue. We ate and laughed and table hopped and enjoyed much of the morning together.
After doing some sightseeing in the area we got to Anna and Dean's house after 4:00 in time for the pot luck supper at 4:30. It was great to see Anna and Dean in their element and to give big hugs to Jim and Annie Willson--Jim and our Jen grew up together here. Jim and Annie had driven up from their home in Florida for the big event. And John and Heather Turner arrived in time to visit with so many of us who had worked together with them at the Mason church almost two decades ago.

Sharon and Allen, former fellow church
members in Mason, drove from
their home in Florida for the party.

After the fireworks (and these fireworks were as good as any you've ever seen--a 28-minute show beautifully coordinated with a wonderful sound track), we gathered around a camp fire. After awhile we retreated to the lobby of the Fairfield where a bunch of us sat and drank the hotel's decaf coffee and visited till almost 11:00.
I'm thinking there will be meals together in heaven, and a wonderful reunion with friends and family we've known in many circles in this life--laughter and talking and sharing memories. And maybe something as good as, or even better than, fireworks.

We drove through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. The most beautiful trees were along one stretch of the Appalachian Highway in Ohio, but I was driving then and didn't get a picture! But many of the highways through the mountains offered beautiful vistas.

What a Wonderful Way to Spend an Evening

Evelyn and I grabbed some dinner and made a run through Lowe's after work Friday evening. (Exciting stuff: a new toilet seat and a kick plate for our newly refinished front door.) Then we drove to Price Hill, picked up Verna Weber, and headed for Newport on the Levee.
(Bill's out of town attending a big family gathering in Wisconsin. Verna stayed behind, because her mom has just moved into her new room in the nursing wing of Mason Christian Village, and she didn't feel good about leaving town. Plus, she and Donovan are moving her mom's stuff out of her assisted living apartment today. Verna's telling her mom and herself that they'll store it all in case she can move back to assisted living. But Verna doesn't really believe that will happen.)

 At the Levee we walked around a little, enjoying the "vibe" of happy people filling the restaurants and enjoying the river view. We met an interesting foursome visiting Cincinnati for work: from Israel, Romania, and Russia. One of them volunteered to take our picture if I would take theirs.
Then we retreated to Barnes and Noble and snagged a table and chairs on the balcony outside their Starbucks. That was our landing place for catching-up conversation in full view of the beautiful Cincinnati skyline, with motorboats slowly slipping up and down the river.

After awhile we bought cookies and lattes and kept the conversation going till the Cincinnati Reds ballgame ended and the Reds' Friday Night Fireworks began. 

It's a wonderful show from inside the stadium. But even though you can't hear the recorded soundtrack from across the river, the fireworks light up the sky above the river for anyone nearby to enjoy. We enjoyed them! By the time the 25-minute show was finished, we were satisfied, and we ambled slowly out of the bookstore and to our car. It had become almost cool outside, and Evelyn was glad she brought something with sleeves to wear.

We didn't get home till well after 11:30, and I decided just to go to bed instead of trying to post last night. But maybe I'll make up for it by posting twice today!