Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Lisa

Summer is off to a … start

Summer is off to a … start. I refuse to say whether it’s a good start or a bad start because mostly I’m just grateful for another day, another season of life. A work friend once described June as the “Friday” of summer because school just ended and you’re still getting used to the idea of time off, whereas July is like the Saturday of summer. You can fully relax into “weekend mode.” School ended in June, and it has definitely taken some time to adjust to our new schedule. So here’s the round-up of what we did, what we ate, what we watched and what we read in June.

What We Did

First and foremost, we finished the school year. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. It was a year that felt like a decade and while it had its high points, I’m just glad it’s over. To celebrate, we took a quick trip downtown and bought ourselves some sweet treats at Central Market. (And visited my husband and his co-workers.)

Look how happy we are to be done!

One virtual adventure and the topic was Pokemon. We learned about some of its origins and where it’s headed.

The kids and I joined the public library summer reading program. Because if there’s one thing that’s certain about our summer, it’s reading. My daughter and I also printed out reading challenge logs from our local bookstore Aaron’s Books. Not that I need an incentive to read, but I do love a good list.

I ran 5 miles for the virtual Red Rose Run. It was a muggy morning with an air quality alert, but I did it and that’s all that matters.

Started planning our summer road trip vacation. We’re driving back to Illinois this summer, and we’re taking a couple of days to do the driving so we can stop and see some things along the way. The plans are coming together.

Shots and sports physicals. With one child going into 6th grade and the other a teenager playing sports, our first week of summer break was full of medical appointments, all of which we’re thankful for. And glad to be done with so early in the summer. Our daughter also got her second COVID vaccine.

We hosted my brother for a day visit to Lancaster!

I’m told there is a resemblance

He flew in to Philadelphia for a few days because travel is back, baby, and took the train out our way so we could hang out for the first time in 18 months and the first time in Pennsylvania. I took him to my favorite coffee shop. We fed him a smorgasbord style sampling of foods from Central Market. (See more in the What We Ate section) Then we gave him a driving tour of the county featuring the schools we attend and work at; Amish farms; Intercourse, Pa.; Lapp Valley Farms for ice cream and the cows that provide the milk for the delicious treat; then to downtown Lancaster city for a tour of market and some shops for souvenirs. We ended our day with dinner at Luca, a walk around our neighborhood, and a sampling of whoopie pies for dessert.

My son and I played a game of Battleship.

My formidable opponent

A day earlier my husband had taught him how to play solitaire the old-fashioned way with a deck of cards because there are certain hours of the day that I need to focus on work and other tasks and I cannot entertain. But I offered him a game on a rainy Friday. He chose Battleship and it was a close battle.

Our kids attended a youth group kickoff event at our church on a Saturday night, which meant that Phil and I took the opportunity for a date night. We checked out this new beer garden in downtown Lancaster hosted by Wyndridge Farm (one of my favorite hard cider companies), and it was magical. A mild summer night with refreshing adult beverages and live music. It’s my new favorite hangout. I can’t wait to bring friends there! And our kids had a great time at the youth event. They made friends, which always makes my heart full.

Chilling in the beer garden

An early morning bird-watching walk with my bird-watching husband. We’re in this phase of parenthood where our kids are more independent so Phil and I can do more things together ourselves. We saw a bald eagle because we heard a duck quacking loudly and repeatedly. The duck was not happy with the eagle’s presence. Numerous other birds spotted. (We later saw the eagle again on a morning run.)

Graduation parties. We’ve lived here long enough that we know graduates from high school and college. It’s fun to be included in these kinds of celebrations, but we are now firmly in the “friends of my parents” age group at parties.

Lacrosse camp. Four full days for our son. He came home sweaty and tired every day but he loved the extra time to learn and practice his skills.

Friend dates! I’m finally back to seeing friends in person. I spent a glorious 2 1/2 hours in the park with my friend Alison.

We’ve been using Voxer religiously to stay in touch since the pandemic hit, but it’s so different to talk all things writing, vacations, families and life changes in person. It was wonderful, even when the waterfowl got a little too close and when I was distracted by a gaggle of giggly girls taking pictures near the pond. Then we were able to gather with our good friends, the Stevensons, who now live in Arizona.

No, Phil and Gene are not brothers.

We were only together for an evening, but it was a refreshing reunion and a much-needed time of in-person catching up on our lives. I also had a breakfast date with my friend Carol at Panera, and we had a good couple of hours of catching up on life.

Field hockey. Our daughter is participating with some classmates in a summer league and attending optional turf practices. It’s fun to see her so excited.

On one of the lacrosse camp mornings, we took a walk in downtown Lancaster to a friend’s place, then walked with him back to a coffee shop for a drink treat. We then ordered lunch to pick up at Jersey Mike’s and took it to Long’s Park for a picnic. There,  we walked around the pond and the park for a bit.

Ice cream Wednesdays. We’re attempting to create a definitive ranking of our favorite ice cream places in Lancaster County. We took my brother to Lapp Valley Farms. The next week we went to Hayloft. And now we have a system on the side of the fridge to rank our favorites individually because we cannot agree as a family and that’s okay. You can read more about our flavor choices in the What We Ate section below.

Our current ice cream rankings. Bear in mind, last-place ice cream is better than no ice cream at all.

Science!

Last year’s Halloween costume doubles as a functional lab coat for experiments.

Our first experiment was making an acid-base indicator out of red cabbage, then we tested various substances in our house to see where they fall on the acid-base scale. It was a fun morning diversion.

All the household substances we tested.

Shopped for Father’s Day gifts at Building Character. If you’re local to Lancaster and have some time to shop, I highly recommend this place. You’re never sure what you’re going to find, but it’s sure to be unique.

I visited a local used bookstore in a barn that I didn’t know existed. Phil drove us past it on our way back from a graduation party. I would go to this book barn just for the smells.

I’m on track to need a barn for all my books someday.

I gave blood for the first time. It would have been a memorable experience without any added excitement, but I fainted after giving blood and subsequently (or simultaneously) lost control of my bladder so when I came to I was lying in a pool of my own urine. (Ew.)

Free scrubs for every patient who passes out and pisses herself after donating blood!

I was nervous about the whole process from the beginning. I haven’t tried to give blood since I was in my early 20s and was considered ineligible because I had lived in England for just long enough during the “Mad Cow” disease era. Sometime in the last decade, the Red Cross changed the dates that had made me ineligible to donate so I was no longer unqualified on that basis. Mostly, I just didn’t want to do it, even though I have O blood that I know can help people. I passed all the screenings with flying colors and the donation process itself was practically painless and speedier than I expected. I thought I had it made but when I sat down at the snack table, my vision blurred and I started to feel foggy. “I’m feeling lightheaded!” I announced to the staff. The next thing I knew I was on the floor lying in my urine, looking into the faces of a friendly Red Cross nurse and my husband. It took me almost an hour to recover enough that I could change my clothes and leave on my feet. While I’m not eager to repeat this experience, I know that it’s something I can do. And honestly, now that the worst has already happened, I can be more prepared the next time.

Flew home to Illinois for my grandmother’s funeral. We had not traveled by air since before the pandemic, and honestly, it’s not that much different now. At the funeral I was able to reconnect with cousins, friends and other family I haven’t seen in a while. There is a lot more I could say about this but I don’t have the words yet.

Good news: we still know how to navigate airports and flights

The kids drove and rode four-wheelers all over my parents’ yard and had a blast doing so. They finally look like they fit the machines they’re steering.

Most of the time they were riding separate ATVs. I took this picture as proof they sometimes get along.

And of course, we had an adventure on the way back to Illinois. Our drive to the airport took double the usual time because of heavy rain and a traffic accident. Our flight was delayed multiple times for a total of nearly five hours, but we finally boarded the plane about the time we were supposed to arrive in Baltimore. We landed in Baltimore around midnight then waited for another near-hour for our bags to come off the plane. Finally, we made it home to Lancaster around 2 a.m.

The kids and I visited Longwood Gardens.

Before I knew we would be making a quick trip home, I made a reservation for Longwood Gardens, to keep using the membership I got for my birthday. It was the Monday after our trip home for the funeral, and ungodly hot, but we went for a few hours. The kids got soaked in the 12-minute fountain show, which was part of the plan. We had hoped to grab some ice cream as a treat afterward, but the place inside Longwood that sells ice cream wasn’t open on a Monday. So we stopped at Rita’s instead.

They wanted a front-row seat to the fountains and they got it

Hiking! We made our Wednesdays in the Woods return on the very last day of June with a short hike at Climber’s Run Nature Preserve, which just so happens to be the location of our favorite local birdcam. It was quite the adventure. We tried to cross the creek at an unauthorized spot and I slipped and fell into the creek. We successfully crossed the creek twice after that. There’s often a lot of complaining when we prep for these adventures, but my soul needed the time in the woods.

What We Ate

Sushi and poke bowls for our Pokemon virtual adventure.

Taste of Market. For my brother’s first-ever visit to Lancaster, the kids and I shopped at Central Market on a Tuesday for a lunch smorgasbord for Wednesday to give my brother a taste of the area’s food. Selections included: emapanadas, pierogies, bread, goat cheese, whoopie pies, smoked fish, and deli meats.

Luca. We had three appetizers and five pastas and I wish I could describe them all to you as deliciously as they tasted. The fried squid appetizer was cooked so well our son tried it and liked it. We also had a burrata plate with focaccia and another topped bread selection that I don’t remember the name of.

The apps

There were five pasta dishes on the menu, and we all chose a different pasta and shared a few tastes but each one suited our personalities. We didn’t have a bad dish among us. I drank a dry cider with peaches. Phil had a lemon beer that tasted way better than I just made it sound. What we love about Luca is the seasonal menu. If we went back now, the offerings would all be different.

Gnocchi. Also, I’m in love with the plates.

Pulled pork french fries from Holy Smoked Meats at the beer garden.

Goes great with beer and cider

Ice cream. At Lapp Valley we had cookie dough, cookies and cream, maple walnut, black cherry and raspberry. At Hayloft we had orange creamsicle, lemon bliss, triple chocolate earthquake, and Mississippi mud. At Good Life Phil tried the dill pickle ice cream with peanuts mixed in (on the recommendation of the ice cream server), Isabelle had pink lemonade with chocolate sprinkles mixed in, Corban had banana ice cream with marshmallows mixed in, and I had nutella ice cream with peanut butter cups mixed in.

Our Good Life ice cream

After another field hockey match, we tried Son’s ice cream in East Petersburg. Our daughter had sour berry Italian ice, our son had a root beer float, Phil had Budder Brickle (yes, that’s how it’s spelled) and I had chocolate raspberry chip.

Listen, I’m a big fan of therapy. I also find no fault in this sign at Son’s.

Nachos. This was the lunch Phil requested for Father’s Day, and I was happy to comply.

At home in Illinois, we ate Culver’s: burgers and cheese curds and custard–oh my! It’s one of our favorites from the Midwest. As is Arthur’s Garden Deli, our hometown deli. One of my mom’s co-workers ordered sandwiches, salad and fruit for us to eat for lunch the day of the funeral. Post-funeral, we ate at the restaurant my friend runs with her husband. Pizza and pasta and salad and breadsticks. Comfort food, all of it. A Midwest speciality is taking care of people with foods and I am grateful.

If you ever find yourself passing through northern Illinois, stop at Arthur’s Garden Deli. You’ll only be sorry that there aren’t more Arthur’s Garden Delis in the United States.

Chicago mix popcorn from Nuts on Clark. A tradition when we’re flying.

Cheddar and caramel corn: what could be wrong?

Rita’s Italian ice. Two of us mix it with custard, and it’s a refreshing treat.

What We Watched

When Calls the Heart. I finished season 7 and I had so.many.FEELINGS. And a dilemma about how to watch season 8. I bought the boxed set through season 7 to share with a friend and then discovered season 8 is not available till September on DVD. But it was available digitally for a low, low price. I hesitated, but only momentarily. I am two episodes away from catching all the way up. Who can be my When Calls the Heart therapist when I finish?

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. We watched one episode before our Saturdays got full with other things.

Olympic trials: gymnastics, diving, swimming. 

LegoMasters, season 2. Fun, as always. The creativity and patience amazes me.

Kim’s Convenience. A few more episodes.

Lots of baseball. Even when the Cubs are breaking our hearts, we turn on the game.

What We Read

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny. I finished this one in a matter of days and I’m just in awe of how she weaves multiple plots and stories together to leave readers both satisfied and wanting more.

Truman. I pick this one up every now and then and try to make progress, but I haven’t made a lot of progress.

Miracles and Other Reasonable Things by Sarah Bessey. I’ve been meaning to read this one for years. I finally bought myself a copy last year, I think, and now seemed like a good time to read it.

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. I know this is a recent PBS show. I have not seen any episodes of this but heard it was a book. I need a book from every continent for my summer reading challenge, so I picked this one up for Europe. (Really, there are so many choices for Europe, so I just had to choose something.) From the very first line of the book, I was hooked. Herriot is a gifted storyteller. I really enjoyed this book.

The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood. Another Miss Fisher mystery for my Australia pick for the summer reading challenge.

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander Mccall Smith. A friend recommended this one to me years ago, and I picked it up at book sale. I read it for my “Africa” selection for the Read Around the World summer reading challenge at our library. It’s delightful.

How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope. A gift from a coworker at the end of school. I don’t read enough poetry.

A Murder by Any Name by Suzanne M. Wolfe. This is tagged as an Elizabethan spy mystery and the first line of the book made me laugh out loud. I love a good first line, and I enjoyed the setting and intrigue in this story.

Showing Off (Upside-Down Magic #3) by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Miracle and Emily Jenkins. This started as a way to help our son calm down and go to sleep during the week of my grandmother’s funeral. We’ve been reading aloud this series off and on for months.

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Well, there you have it. A full month of doing, eating, watching and reading. What have you been up to in these areas?

A month to remember: A lot of firsts for our family in May

I forgot how overwhelming and busy the month of May can be when life is closer to normal. Last May was nowhere near normal, so I was unprepared for how exhausting (mentally, emotionally, spiritually) the month would be. But here we are, at the end of it, and we made it. Summer is knocking on the door, and I’m hopeful for some rest and rejuvenation. Before we hit summer hard, though, here’s our round-up of May: What We Did, What We Ate, What We Watched and What We Read. Buckle up! It’s a ride.

What We Did

One of the first things the kids and I did was re-organized and cleaned out the pantry. Confession: we had a small ant situation that necessitated this action, but overall the pantry shelves become a catch-all, especially after a significant grocery trip. Stuff gets forgotten and pushed to the back. It was in desperate need of cleaning and re-organizing. I did not take a before picture because that would have been embarrassing. The three of us worked together, and my son’s main contribution was taking each item out one at a time and reading the label. Out loud. “This is fun,” he said. Meanwhile, I was holding in a scream.

After we reorganized.

Next up was a trip to Longwood Gardens. At the end of April, we purchased a membership for the year. It was a retroactive birthday present for me since last year I was supposed to go see Hamilton in Washington, D.C. We repurposed the Hamilton money and bought a membership, something we’ve been wanting and meaning to do for years. May 2 was the last day of the spring blooms exhibit at Longwood, so we made the day trip. We had never wandered the meadow trails and honestly, these were some of the best moments of the day because fewer people were on those trails. The main garden area was packed with people in various states of COVID compliance. Stay tuned for future visits because we can.

I love tulips.

May is a month of celebrations, and first up is MY birthday. I took cupcakes to work to share with some friends and some of those friends treated me the next day to lunch and bought balloons for my desk.

I was told I’m supposed to announce my birthday so my co-workers can help me celebrate.

Quarantine. Again! No, that’s not a holdover from last month. Our daughter had a second quarantine just two weeks after her previous quarantine. It’s wild times we’re living in.

All-day lacrosse tournament. (Twice.) I was sort of dreading it, but they turned out to be mostly enjoyable. The first one was cold but fun, even though our team lost all of its games. I enjoyed being around the other lacrosse parents and cheering on our sons. The second one we were at for 10 hours total. So much lacrosse.

One of our firsts in May is that I got tested for COVID. I woke up one morning with cold-like symptoms that had developed overnight. In normal circumstances, I would not have thought twice about the symptoms but it was the worst I’ve felt in a year (even though it wasn’t that bad). After a video call with a health care provider, I got a COVID test. It was negative so it must have been just a body-shutting-down end-of-school-year cold.

We had a FaceTime Uno date with our niece and her parents. One of my favorite things about quarantine is learning how to play games with people via video call. I want to do more of this.

Another first: our daughter got her first dose of COVID vaccine. She will be fully vaccinated by the end of next month, which will bring us great relief.

Phil stopped at a record shop after getting the car inspected and added to his cassette tape collection. Either that or he time-traveled.

I said “yes” to an invitation to drink margaritas at a friend’s house with her neighbors. I usually need a lot of encouragement to leave the house on a Friday night. I have no regrets about this decisions. I met some new people! 

Apparently trying new things with new people is another theme for the month. Since January, we’ve been attending a new church online. This church hosted the first of its summer hikes in May, so the kids and I went. Meeting strangers in the woods? What could go wrong? The answer was nothing. The next day we attended that church in person and have now been there in person twice. It’s not easy being the new people, especially during a pandemic, but this return to community has been encouraging already.

We were nervous, excited and awkward … so you know, totally normal.

We took a virtual adventure to Myanmar (Burma).

And finished the lacrosse season. As fun as it was, it is so good to be done for the year.

Another celebration: our anniversary. I took the day off, and Phil and I went hiking together at Otter Creek Nature Preserve. We hiked for an hour and a half then stopped for a picnic lunch that we had purchased at Wegman’s. Then it was another couple of hours of hiking. Four hours total on a 90-degree day and we ran out of water while hiking because we packed too little with us on the hike. (There was plenty in the car.)

At the Urey Overlook of the Susquehanna River from the York County side of the river.

Then, date night! For the first time since pre-pandemic. We sat on the porch of a local restaurant and ate and drank while it rained. But the rain only added to the experience, and I could eat outside most of the time for the rest of my life and not be sad.

Did I mention that this was my first time eating out since pre-pandemic? We’ve done a lot of take-out.

Isabelle and I ran the Race Against Racism virtual 5K. It was after the reporting window for the race, but our spring was a little bit cray-cray so we ran it on Memorial Day just to say we did.

Before we started running

Then we weeded the garden.

Maybe it won’t be a lost cause after all

And went for ice cream at Lancaster Sweet Shoppe. They were having an anniversary sale. Does BOGO ice cream taste better? Can’t be sure because the ice cream at the sweet shoppe is always good.

I thought we were done with the tongue photos, but apparently not.
I cannot begin to count the number of ice cream photos we have of him.
Her Insta photos always look better.

What We Ate

While we were visiting Longwood Gardens, we bought food there, another thing we’ve never done, mostly because pre-pandemic you could leave and come back, so we would picnic. Among the four of us, we had a wood-fired pizza, smoked cauliflower bites, parmesan truffle wings, a brisket grilled cheese, Hershey chocolate ice cream, and two ice cream sandwiches from a local place called iSwich. We will now be searching for their ice cream closer to home. It’s pricey but all the food was delicious and we needed the fuel for all of our walking.

So. Many. Cupcakes. I had three from Lancaster Cupcake in less than 24 hours: a London Fog, a Cannoli and a Vanilla Party Cake.

I also ate peanut butter pie and a southwest salad for my takeout lunch at work.

We did not light the candle because I was not about to be the reason the fire alarm went off.

And we ordered from Annie Bailey’s Irish Public House for my birthday dinner. I had the Irish nachos over waffle fries. Two of the family had bangers and mash, and our meatatarian ate a Beyond Burger. He is sold on this plant-based protein initiative and I am all for it.

What’s not to love?

Pizza and stromboli from Pasquale’s because of lacrosse tournament number one. It normally would have been a pizza night from our son’s menu but we figured none of us would want to cook after being gone all day. (We were right.)

Mother’s Day breakfast: Eggs Benedict, potatoes O’Brien, danishes, donuts, fresh strawberries, chocolate milk.

I didn’t have to cook: my favorite kind of breakfast

Frisco’s Chicken with some delicious sides: mac and cheese, chicken fried rice, plantains, yuca fries, empanadas.

Smoked turkey breast. Phil did the smoking. We pulled it and made sandwiches for one of our busy lacrosse nights.

Chicken biryani for our virtual adventure to Myanmar.

It was a Burmese take on chicken biryani and we ate this for an entire week as leftovers.

Ice cream at Freeze and Frizz with the entire lacrosse program in our school district. It was 50 degrees outside.

Meat, cheese, bread, almonds, nectarines and a ganache cheesecake for our anniversary hiking picnic.

We made our own charcuterie for hiking.

And then we went out to anniversary dinner at Quip’s Pub, a local British pub. We shared crab dip for an appetizer. Phil had fish and chips (wrapped in newspaper!) and I had Miss Lacreevy’s chicken (chicken with ham and brie and asparagus, topped with balsamic and served over mashed potatoes). And beer. Because it’s a celebration.

What We Watched

More WandaVision. If you read last month’s description of the show, it was not inclusive of everything the show is about. I mean, after four episodes, I don’t have a clear idea of what the show is about. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. The opposite in fact. Compelling. Good storytelling. Every episode leaves us with a “WHAAAAT??” feeling. We finished it, and we still have that feeling.

The Nate Bargatze episode of The Stand-ups. More laughter. Some backstory for the jokes he told in the longer special we watched last month, which I now want to go back and watch again.

And his other comedy special The Greatest Average American. Again, lots of laughs.

Footloose in Switzerland with David and Debra Rixon. Do I now want to move to a Swiss village in the mountains? Yes.

Call the Midwife. 

Kim’s Convenience. I laughed out loud within minutes of the first episode. I’m always reluctant to start a new series, even when I’ve heard good things. So far, this one doesn’t disappoint. One thing that’s hard for me is the accents because I think I’ve only ever heard Korean accents in television in a mocking sort of way. So, it’s jarring to hear them used in everyday conversation as part of the show and not be internally offended. We finished season 1 and are already several episodes into season 2. I’m stilling LOLing.

When Calls the Heart. I was so bummed when the show was pulled from Netflix. I had watched up to season 5 (heart-breaking!) so earlier this year I bought the DVD boxed set and shared it with friends. When they were finished watching, it was my turn. I picked up where I left off with the Christmas special at the start of season 6. And continued watching a few episodes in that season.

The Africam at Neledi Dam, South Africa. In keeping with our birdcam obsession, a wildlife cam in Africa came up on our suggested list and we watched for many minutes and now I’m going to be obsessed even more. I’ve since tuned in to other African wildlife cams. I can’t stop. I’ve seen birds sleeping near hippos, giraffes just eating till they can’t eat anymore and warthogs.

For our virtual adventure, a documentary about the Burma Road that is being built by hand through Myanmar to connect China and India. Fascinating.

Another episode of History of Swear Words. The “b-word” this time. My favorite part of this show is how academic and professional people talk about these words and their origins and usage. I’m also learning about all kinds of jobs I think I wish I could have had.

What We Read

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. It left me with questions and an immediate need to read the next book, which I requested from the library.

Evicted. Finished it for book club and am still reeling from my second read-through.

Truman. Continued. Slowly chipping away at it. Will I finish it before summer is over? Stay tuned!

When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn. Bridgerton Book 6 and is it repetitive to say that each one is better than the last?

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. It was like reading Hemingway’s journal. And he made Paris come alive at a time when it was filled with American writers. Enjoyable.

Come Back to Me by Jody Hedlund. This is the first in a new series by one of my favorite authors. It has echoes of Outlander themes in it (modern woman time travels to the past, meets handsome rescuer, struggles with decision to return to her time). Not a substitute for Outlander but a strong story that tugs on your emotions in all the right places.

It’s In His Kiss by Juila Quinn. Bridgerton book 7. Not my favorite of the Bridgerton books, but I’m nearing the end and I won’t stop until I’ve read ’em all.

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny. I’m already about a third of the way through it, and I cannot stop reading about Inspector Gamache.

Bonus book treat: I did not read all of these books yet, but on a particularly stressful day at work, I went shopping at the BOGO (buy one, get one) book fair at our school. I have no regrets.

This stack does not include the books my daughter bought. Do we have a problem? Nope!

Thanks for reading along with our May happenings. Next month brings the end of school and the start of summer and what I hope are more adventures. Till next time!