Wednesday 16 May 2007

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Awake: 6:40am Temp 63 sleep 6+23 rain overnight @ Nicktown, PA.

K & I attend 8:00 am Mass, then the Koffee Klub afterwards. Today’s main topic overflowing from yesterday: water. Again I wish I could reveal the details, but the minute technicalities are not yet approved & far from being finalized.

K & I both spend some time on our computer late morning.

Melissa & our young grandsons arrive just after 2:00pm. Since it’s raining, it’ll be an inside play time visit. They came equipped with their own toys & that is good since we have nothing of that caliber in our motorhome. Of course, they were only here a few minutes when Matthew announced he was hungry. Kathy tried to supply some healthy snacks, popcorn and “real fruit” fruit strips. This sufficed for a while but then Matthew wanted something sweeter; carrot cake left from this morning’s Koffee Klub treat was enjoyed by all the Footes. Yes, Grandma has our grandsons trained to look for sweets.

Andrew is really getting around these days…walking, running, twisting off bottle caps, pushing switches on our instrument panel, making motor noises when playing with the cars & trucks, etc. I’m impressed. He is sooo cute & gentle.

Meanwhile Melissa brought some (3) pair cable telephone wire with her today. She’s been reading to Matthew about electricity & the book he has shows how to make a simple circuit to produce an electrical current. “Ok, lets get started” I tell Matthew. 1st we pull all (6) strands of that insulated copper wire from its sheath; strip the ends of each section of wire of an inch of its insulation, wrap the ends of each section together to connect about a yard of continuous copper wire. Matthew is helping with this project as best he can.

Then we make (2) coils with this yard of copper wire. The coils are spaced a good foot apart from each other. One coil is wrapped around my magnetic compass; the other coil is open. Now I ask Matthew to push the magnetic stick that he brought with him, through the open coil…..back & forth & then watch what the needle on that compass is doing. It’s moving & almost spinning. I explain to Matthew that the magnetic forces generated by moving the magnetic stick thru the coil are multiplied & carried over to the coil wrapped around the compass thus, generating an alternating current of a crude nature that moves that needle. I’m not quite sure just how much Matthew really understood for his age but he is a very bright kid & I think that Melissa enjoyed seeing the project actually working. The Foote visit time is up & they leave around 4:00pm; it was another fine gathering for us grandparents.

I make a call to Sister Jane that we are behind schedule & are on our way. Our late arrival was no problem as my sister, Sister Corinne, was dozing on the couch as she recuperated from a minor surgical procedure she had done this morning. General anesthesia, no matter how light, does a good job of causing its recipient to want to snooze for many hours after being administered. Corinne is feeling better and is gradually coming to life, even helping to clean up the kitchen and do dishes after our delicious meal.

Sister Patty is of Italian decent & is our chief chef for tonight. Sister Jane brings out snacks and the wine glasses as I appoint myself to be the keeper of the bottomless glass. My job was rather easy as I soon realize: these nuns are close to being teetotalers. Sister Jane sets a marvelous table with their finest china & crystal, proper eating utensils & nearly all the condiments one would find @ an exclusive restaurant.

This dinner was exceptional: Italian spaghetti, Italian meatballs, Italian sauce, Italian mixed salad, Italian Parmesan garlic bread, Italian black & green olives & American strawberry shortcake for dessert. We had fun talking about anything & everything. Aside from being hard working Sisters of Saint Joseph, these ladies are very human with a great sense of humor, a vast knowledge of the present world & are very dedicated to their Catholic faith.


Late movie: “The Cranes are Flying” with Tatyana Samoilova, Alexei Batalov, Vasili Merkuriev, etc. Lilting love story set in WW II Russia. The Doctor’s son (Batalov) leaves his sweetheart (Samoilova) to join the army. She is seduced by his cousin, marries him & from subsequent tragedies tries to rebuild her life. 1957 Russian with English subtitles. Kathy did not like this film…..subtitles distract her from napping. Even though it was an unhappy story, the stamina & determination of Samoilova to continue waiting for her boyfriend was incredibly tenacious.

Lights out: 11:35pm

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This page contains a single entry by George Monte Kirsch published on May 21, 2007 2:08 AM.

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