Going home

A week ago today, my youngest nephew died.  It was sudden and unexpected.

It's a bit surreal to think that it's already been a week.  He was funny and bright, a daredevil and trickster.  He had so many friends that the funeral home had to put many of them in the 'overflow' room.  His sister gave the funniest, boldest and somewhat irreverent speech I've ever heard at a funeral--she didn't hold back at all and I loved it. My sister, his mother, was as strong as I've ever seen her be.  His dad was as broken as I've ever seen him.

He left behind his grandparents, parents, sister and brother, two daughters and a son, and a gazillion other kids that loved him.  Why? Because he totally adored them.  He made them feel important and brave.

He made me laugh.  He gave great hugs.  He was awesome, and I miss him.   I had planned to be home in a few weeks, for a much happier occasion.  Instead, I had the opportunity to be a support to my sister, to help where I could, to laugh at his antics and to sob at his loss, and to receive a hug from his 2 year old son that reminded me so much of him that I ached inside because of it.

Find peace, sweet Jessi.  Find peace.

A few more thoughts

Sometimes there is so much to capture on a trip, that when I go back later and reread the post (and correct the name of the hotel) I realize what I forgot.  Here's what comes to mind right now....

1. It amuses me that my screaming-guitar loving man, and my give-me-anything-BUT-screaming- guitars-self can actually survive a road trip quite nicely if we set the radio to newer country.  My grandpa would be so proud of me. 
2. Out hotel was great because the people who work there made it so.  It's also quirky.  While it's a bit hard to see from the picture, there is the oddest angle at one end of the hotel.  When it was built in 1927, the builders added the corner so that the front of the hotel looked grander.  Now, that little end piece holds storage closets.  You can see the angle a bit better by looking at this picture, taken from across the street.Last year on our road trip, we bought a whole whack of saltwater taffy.  We started putting the wrappers in a 500 ml water bottle.  It fits nicely in the door of the car.  We have been adding wrappers to it for a year now, and it still isn't quite full.  We had to top up our supply of taffy before we had to throw out the bottle.  When we do throw it out, it's going to be solid, like a brick. 
3. Every time we passed an old barn that was falling to pieces, I wondered if there were barn owls inside.  He wondered if there was an old Mach 1 in great shape that someone wanted to sell.  
4. Nope, I still haven't figured out why there is a fireplace and chimney on a nice lawn.  There's a driveway, and another structure with a house number on it.    
5. We like to visit "foreign" grocery stores.  I don't mean Asian or German or Dutch, necessarily.  I mean that when we go visit the States, we like to go to the store.  There's lots of things there that we can't get here, like fire-roasted tomatoes.    This is going to be on our menu very soon, just because we stocked up, and also because it is so good! 
6. My in-laws like to come and visit the cat when we go away.  Lynxy likes it because they give her treats.  And they put ice in her water.  We're lucky she remembers us when we come home.

Skinny Atlas

We decided to leave for the weekend, since we had four days.  That is enough to actually feel like a holiday!  So we are here in Syracuse because

• there's a great little outlet mall (so we now have birthday pjs for all the little kidlets)
• oh, and clothes for us too. 
• and one little Christmas gift for a friend. 

We're staying at the Jefferson Clinton hotel, which has been just lovely.  Why?  Because

• they upgraded us, to a suite! 
• Susan, who makes made-to-order omelettes makes them really well
• the two ladies at the front desk are very charming
• they let us stay an extra night in the same upgraded room for the same price
• it's located in the Armory District, where there are also lots of funky restaurants and more beer choices than you can imagine.  My German husband can imagine a lot so he is happy! 

And also, it's within walking distance of the Dinosaur, which makes me think of a writer friend who has a book coming out about a woman who gets a divine nudge to go buy a harley and see where it takes her.  You can pre-order it here. 

The Dinosaur also makes the German husband super happy.  See? 

We are having such a nice time, that we decided to stay a bit longer.  We had read about a lakeside village that was one of our options for the day, but Susan said it's great.  So did the lady who runs the Freedom of Espresso (and makes an awesome latte).  So we went. 

The place is called Skaneateles.  We did spend some time trying to figure out how to pronounce it.  Was it Skan-eat-els?  Skan-e-a-tels? Skane-at-el-es?  Nope.  The locals call it Skin-e-at-las.  

And it's a lovely little spot.  A lakeside village, lots of cute boutique shops, some antique corners, benches to sit on so you can watch the sailboats.  There is a church that has a lovely little corner, on the beach but hidden from the rest, for prayer and meditation. It was lovely. 

The drive there had dozens of wild splashes of these

which just made me miss my mom. Here's a few other pictures of the day