August
2012
August found us enjoying Naperville. When we returned from our trip to the
East Coast we found ourselves longing for some of our favorite restaurants and
our local cuisine. Some of our
favorites include, PortilloÕs, for their Italian Beef, QuigleyÕs Irish Pub for their outside patio and dog friendly atmosphere, PepeÕs Mexican Restaurant, which is right next door to my old office, Home Run Inn, which has some of the best pizza in the world,
KregerÕs meat market for some of their famous bratwurst with German potato
salad, and my favorite, SullivanÕs Steak House for some great beef. Now, IÕm not saying I donÕt appreciate
Lobster and steamers with corn on the cob, its just that we grew up enjoying
the local food and we missed it after being gone.
August 3rd we had
a nice visit from Jan Watson from Vermilion and daughter Bambi Clark. JanÕs Granddaughter, BambiÕs daughter
has recently moved here to Naperville.
Nice to have a visit from Jan and Bambi.
August 8th we
celebrated our 42nd Wedding Anniversary.
We enjoyed a lovely dinner at, you guessed it, Sullivans Steak
House. Thank you Diane for 42
wonderful years.
We were able to play some
golf, float at the Beach (our local rock quarry swimming hole), enjoy our deck
and our porch. We go to the Health
Club, ride our bikes, walk through Pioneer Park and take scooter rides(my
favorite). The weather, although dry, has been remarkably nice. We had warm days and cool nights. I love summer.
My favorite time is my
morning coffee. I just love
sitting on the porch or deck with the dog in my lap and drinking a nice hot cup
of coffee while watching the sprinklers sway to and fro. ItÕs just really nice to have the time
to sit and ponder what activities the day might bring. IÕm really liking
retirement. I recommend it.
My big work project for the
summer has been to repair/replace the ceiling fan in the upstairs parents
retreat room. Somehow a helium
balloon got the better of the old fan.
I tried fixing the old fan but when I got the new part in the fan it did
not work. Too many years and too
many lightning storms took their toll.
So we ordered a new one from the Sears web site. When it came it had no blades. The new fan, even though it was still a
Casablancaª, had a totally different mounting bracket which required moving the
outlet a couple of inches, which required patching the ceiling and
painting. ItÕs always
something. After two months, it is
finally done. Of course the new
fan required a new switch as well.
Another
project has been to work on reducing the damage to the three decks which has
been caused by weather and chipmunks.
I used to think that the Chip and Dale chipmunk cartoons were cute
growing up as a kid. Do you
remember Chip and Dale? Now itÕs
Alvin and the chipmunks.. The
tenacity displayed by the chipmunks in the cartoons carries over into real
life. I am filling the holes with
Great Stuff and bent coat hanger wire stuck into the ground 6Ó. ItÕs a lot like playing Wack A Mole at
Chucky CheeseÕ. As soon as you
plug one hole they pop up somewhere else.
I finally purchased a catch and release trap. They love peanut butter. I now spend my time driving to the local forest preserve to
release the cute little buggers.
Chipmunks. Cute. Really cute.
My
other project, which is every homeownerÕs favorite, is working in the yard and
the landscape beds. ItÕs my poor
manÕs Health Club. Did you know
that a dandelion will germinate in just twelve days? Twelve days. They
should isolate that gene and put it in corn or beans. While we have had beautiful weather, at or just after Noon
it gets warm and I have to quit. I enjoy the work and it is a good alternative to
the indoor Health Club. I work up
a sweat either way. I have discovered that a good morning in the yard makes for
a good nap! Tinker loves
naps.
I have also rediscovered my
bicycle. We have bike trails that
run along the DuPage River for miles.
They eventually lead to an abandoned rock quarry south of town now known
as Whalon Lake. It takes about an
hour to get out there. But once
you get there it is really pretty.
Cycling is a great way to spend a sunny day. There is always a breeze in your face and on you to keep you
cool.
Here
is a link to the full interactive map. As you zoom out you can see the full
extent of the trails. The
Naperville trails are part of a larger DuPage River Trail which extends across County
lines along the DuPage River. It
is quite extensive. You can click
on the link to see the full map.
Besides
eating out and exercising we keep an eye on the Hurricanes. We are ever mindful how fortunate we
are to live in Florida. So far, so
good. The last one named Isaac,
arrived here today, September 1st., having skirted Tampa on his way
here and the Republican National Convention. We watched the speeches. God bless all of the people who get involved in our
electoral process. ÒAnd that is
all IÕm going to say about that.Ó (Forrest
Gump) Please vote.