Episode 67: April – June 2014
Highlights of the Quarter:
- Weekend in Detroit;
- Family visits to Australia and Oklahoma;
- Neal completes another Texas MS-150 ride;
- Weekend away with Natalie in Washington, D.C.;
- Celebrating Carol’s 40th birthday in
Mexico.
After spending much of the first quarter outside of Michigan, we were
keen to spend some time at home. Early
in the quarter, we spent a weekend exploring the beautiful city of Detroit…yes,
I said beautiful. Despite what you may
have heard in the news for…oh…the last two decades, there’s much more to
Detroit than the blight and crime that struck the city following the bust of
the automotive industry. Don’t get us
wrong – there are definitely some ugly areas of the city that are very much in your
face, but there are also pockets of real beauty to explore. We spent the day touring the Detroit
Institute of the Arts, a beautiful building filled with some amazing
collections of art from all genres. We
also took the opportunity to drive over to the Heidelberg Project, a
neighborhood we had read a lot about, which has been reinvigorated by local
artists who have brought their creative lens to all the houses in the
street. That night, we had a wonderful
dinner at Iridescence, located at the top of the Motor City Casino, providing a
nice view of the city and Canada in the distance – a great way to end an
eventful day in the Motor City. The
following morning we headed to the lovely suburb of Birmingham where we
indulged in a cooking class with Chef Bryan Polson at the Forest Street
Grill. The class was a great
demonstration of French cuisine, followed by a five-course lunch where we
feasted on all the dishes he prepared.
Educational and delicious!
In April, Neal and I headed down to Texas so that Neal could take part
again in the Bike MS event – a 150-mile cycling journey from Houston to
Austin. Unlike the Michigan version of
this event, the Texas ride is huge – they close down registration at 15,000
riders! Neal was a little nervous this
year since he had no training time before the ride, but he managed to slog his
way through the ride. (He said he now
knows what the television commentators mean when they say a rider is “suffering”
on the bike. He had a few of those
moments.) And luckily, he had our
friends, Ed and Michelle, there to encourage him through every mile. I spent the weekend with our friends, Jen and
Darin and their two kids, in Houston. It
was a nice weekend to get a taste of some spring weather, which had not yet
showed up in Michigan.
In early May, we traveled to Washington, D.C. to catch up with my childhood
friend, Natalie, who was spending a few days on the east coast. Besides visiting the monuments, Arlington Cemetery,
and Georgetown, Nat and I spent a few sobering hours at the Holocaust Museum. We also, of course, enjoyed some great
food. Of particular note was a Japanese bar,
known as an izakaya, called Daikaya that served great cocktails and delicious food.
After a tough first quarter of the year, we again received some unwelcomed
news in late April. This time, we found
out that my mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Fortunately, although her cancer is aggressive,
she was given a good prognosis by the oncologist and surgeon. Luckily, she is in the care of a tremendous
team of experts. As soon as we got the
news, I planned a trip to Australia and soon headed there for 10 days to be
with mom for her surgery and the first steps of her road to recovery. The surgery and recovery went well, and I was
very glad to be able to be there. My mom
is surrounded by love and support in Australia, and I got the chance to catch
up with a few friends and family while I was in Melbourne. Once mom was out of the hospital and
recovering, I even took a tour of the new Dow office in downtown Melbourne and
also got the chance to go to an Australian Rules football game.
While I was in Australia, Neal traveled back to Oklahoma over the Memorial
Day weekend to see his mom and attend the wedding of a long-time childhood friend,
Ruchy, to her new husband, Shawn. Neal
has literally known Ruchy since the day she was born, so he said it was surreal
to see her all grown up and getting married.
It was a traditional Hindu wedding celebration on a grand scale,
spanning four days and involving hundreds of guests. It was a great opportunity for Neal to
reconnect with other friends and relatives who had travelled in for the event,
and of course, spend some quality time with his mom.
The final highlight of the quarter was a brief trip to Tulum, Mexico,
to celebrate my sister, Carol’s, 40th birthday. We flew in on a Saturday and were greeted by
Carol and her friend, Laura, as well as my dad and stepmom. We were all in the midst of World Cup fever,
so our first order of business was to catch up on the U.S. match against
Germany at a bar before enjoying a lovely dinner together. My dad and stepmom, who had already been
there for a couple of days, flew out the next day, and the rest of us spent the
day exploring the town and the local ruins on bikes. The next day, Carol and Laura headed out to
continue their journeys, and Neal and I stayed in Tulum where we filled the next
two days with great food, beach time, relaxation, and even a little seaside
yoga. It was a lovely little getaway and
a great way to reconnect with my family.
Other than these travels, we spent the rest of our weekends closer to
home, catching up with friends and making the most of the not-so-fantastic
spring weather. Neal also spent some of
his spare time tilling and seeding the communal garden that we share with three
other families. Let’s hope the summer
months generate a better harvest than the one we had last year!
Until next quarter, take care.
