First of August Faves

 

It's August already!  And that means as of today, only 5 more days of summer school teaching then I am free until September 6th or 7th...I'm actually not sure which day we are going back.  But it will be three glorious weeks of vacation with one week being up north in my beloved Adirondack Mountains!

For now, I'm pausing on this hot, humid day to share FIVE of the blessings that brought a smile to my face and made me say "thank You, God" this past week.  What a wonderful week it was. How about joining in with us?  We all share FIVE of our FAVE blessings and then we link up at Susanne's site.  She is our host for this weekly meme. 

FIVE FAVES

Cole Hill
Plymouth, MA

me next to a statue I wanted to see:  Massasoit
from the Wampanoag Native American tribe

• VISITING IN-LAWS:  Last Thursday morning, Dave and I spent time in Plymouth doing some shopping and seeing parts of it we hadn't seen or toured before.  My goal was to get to Coles Hill where Dave's great great times 9 grandfather is buried along with the other 103 Pilgrims who died the first winter after arriving on the Mayflower in 1620. It was a wonderful morning exploring, shopping and eating a delicious lunch at this place.  Then we drove a half hour north to visit his very frail parents....his dad is not doing well at age 88 but his mom is doing ok at age 87.  We helped them with some projects around the house and then ordered dinner for the 4 of us from a delicious Italian restaurant.  After our visit, they were very tired so we headed back south to Plymouth and our motel to do some relaxing and reading.  Although it's hard to see his parents age (mine are already in heaven) and knowing they don't have that personal relationship with Christ (yet!), it was very good to chat with them, help them, and find out exactly what is going on with them medically. I'm thankful for my in-laws and I'm thankful for our excellent relationship. 

John Adams birthplace (our 2nd US President)
Adams National Historic Park
Quincy, MA

John Quincy Adams birthplace 
John and Abigail's son and our 6th president)

Peacefield
The Adams Family Homestead for 4 generations until the 1920s. 
Adams National Historic Park
Quincy, MA across town from the birthplaces and church

• DAVE'S BIRTHDAY!  Last Friday was Dave's 56th birthday (yes, he is 6 years younger than me!). He has always wanted to tour the Adams National Historic Park so that is one of the reasons we went to the south shore last week. What a gem of a place.  Every single American should visit Plymouth and Quincy at least once in their lives. Of course we didn't bother  touring Plimoth Plantation or the Wampanoag Village (now known as Patuxet) because we've done that several times over the years with the girls and as newlyweds.  We also have toured the Mayflower replica twice and seen Plymouth Rock (more like a large stone now!) ad nauseum.  So.....we drove to Quincy and because of Covid and the shortage of trolley drivers, we had to drive to the various parts of this wonderful urban national park. We began our guided tour at the birthplaces and then drove over to the Homestead where we saw the actual items owned by John and Abigail and then their son John Quincy.  We also learned that Quincy is NOT named for our 6th president like everyone thinks, but rather is named for Abigail's father, John Quincy!  How's that for history?  Also, John Adams' books are located in the Boston Public Library (which we did know) and the Stone Library holds John Quincy Adams' books as well as other members of the Adams family.  That library is separate from the house named Peacefield (a former farm of course) and contains the 12,000 books plus the original desk where John Quincy was sitting in congress when he suffered his stroke. I've shown most of the photos on Facebook but I might do a separate blog post about this trip because we have SO MANY good photos of original artifacts. We then grabbed sandwiches from a little deli across town at the Quincy Commons and then toured the Church where John and John Quincy and their wives are buried.  I felt like I was standing on Holy Ground down in that crypt.  It is the only place in America where two former US Presidents are buried side by side.  And did you know that John Quincy Adams' wife Louisa Catherine was the first foreign born First Lady?  Very cool info!  We also toured the Hancock Cemetery and no it is not named after John Hancock, but rather, his father. We saw some VERY old tombstones including the original crypt where John and John Quincy  were buried before their younger brother had them moved. I'm thankful for the rich history of our country and for my husband who enjoyed himself immensely. We ended our day with a quick dinner of pizza followed by an evening summer stock performance of the musical Hair.  The performing arts company was in Norwell not too far from Plymouth. SO GOOD!  (it was Dave's first time seeing it on stage, and my third time....i mean hey...i was a pre-teen Jesus freak in the late 60s and 70s...of course I love the musical (even though parts are a bit crass...but hey...it was 1968).  The music is phenomenal in this musical. By the time we were back at the motel in Plymouth, we were completely exhausted!  I'm thankful Dave had a fun birthday. 

here lies John Quincy Adams
our 6th US President
next to his wife Louise Catherine

• TOTAL RELAXATION: Saturday morning, after  having a leisurely breakfast at the local diner we had been going to all week, we headed over to the Atlantic to grab some pics and then drove down to Dave's brother's camp on Long Pond (same town...Plymouth but a bit farther north from downtown).  The pond is more like a lake but for some reason  lakes are called ponds down near the cape. Anyways, Peter's wife Kathy and I have not just been sisters-in-law who married into the family, but we have been friends. She's a blast!  Her two kids (Adam and Beth, now 32 and 30) and my 2 girls (29 and 23) have always bonded well over the years.  They have a tiny camp (one room plus a bathroom) and a platform RIGHT on the beach...the "beach" is only a strip of sand and then the water.  We had a totally relaxing day of sandwiches and chips, drinks, beach time, swimming and just chatting together.  I'm so thankful Peter and Kathy opened up their camp for us to relax and that we have always bonded well together. 

Kathy and Dave relaxing on the "porch"
with Kyss....a wonderful Bernese Mt Dog..she is a sweetie

Peter and I sat IN the lake
as the day was getting close to 88 degrees and a bit humid

• MORNING DEVOTIONS:  I've enjoyed  the cooler early morning temps after my shower each day this week.  I go to the deck with my first mug of coffee, my devotional reading, journal and Bible.  I love that time to  read, reflect, pray, meditate. I'm thankful for those few minutes before the rush of the day/work, etc.

Lake George looking north 
from the patio at The Lagoon
eastern ADKS
photo courtesy of Deb P F
(the mountain in the far  background to the right is one I have climbed!)

The steamboat "Minnie-Ha-Ha" coming back to shore on Lake George
while we enjoy dinner on the patio

• DINNER DATE!  My dear childhood friend Deborah was up from TN visiting her family in our hometown out in the central part of New York State.  She decided to spend a couple days in Lake George (45 min north of where I live) and so I met her for dinner on Tuesday evening.  It had to be a rather early dinner due to me needing to teach the next day but we loved our time together.  We sat in the park while waiting for a table on the patio at this place and then had a leisurely dinner and then walked to a fave ice cream stand near her motel. We chatted and laughed and shared what God is doing in our personal lives and I treasured every moment. Deb is 4 years older than me and her sister Diane is 5 yrs older than me....all 3 of us are close and I can't imagine my life without them in it.  We not only are friends and sisters in Christ but we are prayer partners too.  I'm thankful for a nice evening on the "Queen of American Lakes". (I tend to avoid Lake George between July 4 and Labor Day as there are SO MANY out of state tourists and it gets very annoying....but that evening I was blessed to snag a (expensive) parking spot and our wait time was only 20 min....I much prefer our area after Labor Day)

That wraps up the past week for me.  I'm looking forward to a possible hiking trip tomorrow with my friend G and if it ends up being too hot, I will be heading to one of the state parks nearby with a lake for swimming. 

Whatever you have planned, enjoy and relax!