Fourteen years of wedded happiness. I love you, Meredith!

Last Friday, our former students Ben and John came over to the house. Not only do I find it amazing that eighteen-year-olds want to hang out with a forty-one-year-old, but they were coming over to teach me and Mer how to play the video game Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. Brawl is pretty much a self-descriptive name for the game – Nintendo took many of the characters from its video game series, and made it so you could use them to have a four-player free-for-all. It is pretty entertaining to watch, but Ben and John wanted us to play it.

I made pizza for the occasion, and Ben got to the house first. He spent the fifteen minutes or so before John got there playing the game, trying to “unlock” new characters. He also tried to explain what he was doing as he was playing. We munched on some pizza, and Ben and John had some food they brought with them as well. Then, we got down to playing.

It was amusing. Ben and John let me and Mer beat on their characters in an attempt to learn the game, which worked pretty well. But every once in awhile, John could not stand it and wiped the floor with me or Mer. He did that not out of spite so much as habit. Mer turned out to be a pretty good player, better than I was. She was particularly good with the old-school video game character Donkey Kong. We had some fun mayhem for about an hour and a half, and then Ben and John had to leave. I’m not saying Mer and I could hold our own with anyone under the age of thirty, but we had a good time with it.

On Wednesday, Mer and I finally caught up with Mike Murray, the former student of ours who had gone on a several-month mission trip to South Africa. We agreed to meet at a Cold Stone Creamery in Montrose (western Akron). Mer and I wanted to see Mike, and with ice cream thrown in, it was a good prospect.

We visited with Mike for about an hour. Sadly, my ice cream was pretty bland; I think they forgot some of the toppings I requested. Mike had a lot of good things to say about South Africa, but I had trouble hearing Mike. He is soft-spoken, and the “background” music at Cold Stone was pretty loud. It sounds as if Mike had ups and downs, but that his training for the trip had prepared him as much as possible for the downs (like homesickness toward the end of the trip). Mike got to serve both in a large and modern city, where most of his ministry took place, as well as on some visits to very remote villages. He worked mostly with kids by putting on church camps focused on kids.

Mer and I had to leave after about an hour because we had a lecture to attend. Years ago, I got some lectures on the author C.S. Lewis that were published by The Teaching Company. The lecturer’s name was Dr. Louis Markos, and they were excellent talks. Two local churches and a local ministry teamed up to bring Dr. Markos to the area for two lectures over two evenings: one on C.S. Lewis and modern thought, and one on C.S. Lewis and postmodern thought. We were very excited to go, and we had the added bonus that Mer’s parents wanted to go as well. When we got to the church, we saw our friend Dubbs, so it was a merry little company for the evening.

Wednesday’s lecture was on C.S. Lewis and modern thought. Modern thought, in a simplified nutshell, focuses on logic and reason. Lewis, as the 20th century’s most well-known Christian author, wanted to show modern thinkers that Christianity is a logical faith. Lewis maintained that the “leap of faith” that many people feel Christianity requires is actually more of a small step of faith. Faith is still required, but there are logical and reasonable underpinnings of the faith.

Markos explained that Lewis first tried to establish that morals must come from outside human experience since basic morals cross cultures. He also pointed out that even hardened atheists will demand what is “fair,” but if there is no outside morality, there is no “fair” to which one can appeal. Lewis answers that the outside morality must come from a supernatural (outside of nature) source, and develops that argument to point toward God (theism – belief in God, even if not necessarily Christianity). Markos then talked us through Lewis’ reasoning that based on the claims that Jesus made, specifically that he was equal with God, Jesus must be the world’s foremost liar, a complete lunatic, or he must be what he claims – the Lord. Lewis pointed out that Jesus’ teachings were too consistent and rational for Jesus to be insane. He also argued that Jesus would not have suffered all he did for a lie. So, according to Markos and Lewis, that leaves Jesus as Lord. It was a well-done lecture.

On Wednesday, Markos was having a questions and answers session at The Root Cafe, a coffeehouse in the basement of a nearby church. I took off from work early so Mer and I could go together. The talk was very informal, mostly about Lewis growing up, with a little bit of Tolkien’s life thrown in for good measure. Mer had a Root gift certificate, so we had some good munchies as well.

In the evening, Dale and Carlene joined us again, and we met Dubbs again, for the second lecture: Markos explaining Lewis’ ideas as related to postmodern thought. My take on postmodern thought is that it is more emotional and puts more emphasis on story and the experience of individuals. For this, Markos explained, Lewis appealed to myth. Lewis was a great scholar, and knew many myths of gods who died and came back to life, and for a long time Lewis though that the story of Jesus was just another myth. Then, one day, when Lewis and Tolkien were walking and talking, Tolkien asked Lewis if he had ever considered that Jesus might be “the myths made fact” – that is, that all the myths were types or examples preparing the way for the myth that became a fact in history. That clicked for Lewis, and persuaded him to embrace Christianity. Lewis used the same argument with the miracles of Jesus – all prior stories of miracles pointed ahead to Jesus. Lewis pointed out that Jesus’ miracles tended to be within nature. For instance, Jesus made water into wine; Lewis points out that this happens all the time in grapes, but it takes much longer. So, for Lewis, older stories of mythological miracles in which nature is violated, such as when men are turned into animals, lack a ring of possibility and truth, whereas Jesus’ miracles take place within a natural scheme of things, and so carry weight.

It was a very interesting lecture, and Mer and I were very pleased to have gotten to meet one of our literary heroes.

Sunday was a fairly mellow day, with much eating involved. Ellen, Mer, and I went to church at New Baltimore, and then onto the Sheraton Hotel in Cuyahoga Falls. They have a restaurant that serves a great brunch buffet, so we wanted to take Ellen there. It also served a second purpose. Mer was the class advisor to the Class of 2007, and so this year was their fifth reunion, and they were holding it at the Sheraton. So we were able to have a huge breakfast, and Mer was still able to put in a fifteen-minute appearance at the party. I was a little disappointed at how thinly attended it was – there were probably not even thirty students out of a class of about 160. I expect the tenth will do better, once people get more distance from high school and college.

After brunch, we wandered over to the walking area of downtown Cuyahoga Falls. The three-block pedestrian area is where the city hold festivals, and this weekend it was the Italian Festival. I wanted Ellen to see a festival, so we walked one full block of it and back. It was mostly food vendors, and we had already eaten, so we did not stay long (plus, it was really hot in the sun).

We went back home, where I took a nap and Mer watched Olympics. I think Ellen did both. In the evening, Ellen gamely tagged along to another grad party, this time for two of Mer’s students. The girl whose family was hosting was the youngest of five students, all of whom Mer had in class. The mom graciously let us bring Ellen along, and we had a great seat in the back yard, where we munched on various grad party foods (tacos and cake).

Sadly, my vacation was over. Not a bad little vacation. I went back to work on Monday, and when I got home, I found that Ellen had left earlier in the day.  I don’t blame her – once I make up my mind to head home, I generally like to get home as efficiently as possible.

On Friday, Ellen, Mer, and I decided to head over to Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. Stan Hywet was the mansion owned by the Seiberlings, who made a fortune in rubber. The city of Akron now owns and maintains the site. Ellen has been to Stan Hywet before with us, but we wanted to go back because they had a butterfly exhibit (with live butterflies) and an in-house display of late Victorian jewelry. Even better, Mer and I could get into the grounds for free since we are members of the Holden Arboretum, and Stan Hywet honors that.

It was a hot day, but quite bearable in the shade. The butterfly exhibit was in a specially constructed structure that resembled a mesh tent. It was over next to the conservatory (greenhouses). We went in and caused a small flurry of butterflies to wing around. They were very beautiful. I’m guessing there were six or eight different kinds. There was even an exhibit with sugar water that encouraged you to feed a butterfly with a Q-tip. I could not get a butterfly to eat from my Q-tip, but I did get one to land on it. I learned (from a sign) that butterflies taste with their feet, so you wanted to try to get them to touch the sugar water.

After the butterflies, we checked out the greenhouses. They were okay, but the gardens are what are really spectacular. The grounds of Stan Hywet are expansive and well maintained, and include reflecting pools, a quarry, huge expanses of lawns, and several gardens. The formal gardens near the house were largely in bloom, and were spectacular. We wandered along a birch-lined path to a tea house, and then back, and went around to the back of the house. There, as I looked at my map, I saw a garden path I had never seen before, despite having been to Stan Hywet half a dozen times. We had to take it, of course, and I’m glad we did. It led to a recessed, walled garden, with a reflecting pool. It was very cool. It led to a small wooded path that led to the far side of the house. We took that as an opportunity to check out the house and the jewelry exhibit.

We have been on guided tours of the house before, but our free admission only covered a self-guided tour. That was okay, since we could go at our own pace. The jewelry exhibit was in the ballroom, which may be my favorite room in the house. After we checked out the baubles, we wandered around the house on our own. It was a great way to see the house again (though I recommend a guided tour for first-time visitors).

By this time, it was early afternoon, so I thought we could go to West Point Market. West Point Market is a high-end grocery store, and I thought Ellen could get some tea, which she likes very much. They also serve lunches there, so it made for a good stop for a meal as well. We ate in a very private-feeling booth that was enclosed on three sides, and then wandered the store. I got some kettle-style chips, Ellen got some tea, and we all got some dessert items for later consumption.

Back at the house, we watched TV and ate desserts. We showed Ellen a couple more Big Bang Theory episodes, and since Ellen had heard of it, but not seen it, we broke into season one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ellen seemed to enjoy it, both finding it tense in places and enjoying the tongue-in-cheek campiness of the show.

On Saturday, I woke up early to go run fifteen miles on the Towpath Trail. Ellen and Mer slept in. Once I had gotten back and showered and we all were ready, we headed south to Canton. We were meeting up with the Hubele family (except for Don, who was occupied). The destination of the day was the McKinley Museum and Library, a fun and bizarre place commemorating William McKinley. It is located at the foot of the impressive McKinley Monument, and the museum has dinosaurs, mock habitats, a planetarium, exhibits on local manufacturing, and a small but very complete late-19th-century town, including a working fire pole. I loved it.

I also worked the long-term angle. Mer and I joined as members, which costs fifty dollars a year. But the membership allows for free admission to over 250 museums around the country, including ones in Cleveland, Columbus, and Chicago. I figure it will easily pay for itself.

We met up with Donna and her two sons at the museum, and we explored it all, albeit at a rapid pace.  The boys seemed to have a good time. After we’d exhausted the museum, we climbed up to the monument, which the boys ran up. We looked around and went back to the museum for a planetarium show.

The show was okay. It was narrated live by the operator, and he did a good job of showing the effect of “light noise” on sky gazing. He pointed out some major stars and planets, and ended the show with a small presentation on the space race of the 1960s.

We all left after the planetarium show, and Ellen, Mer, and I went to Cuyahoga Falls, to a grad party. This was a party for Ben and John, two students whom I know very well. Mer had Ben in class as well, and both Ben and John were in my improv group. We had cleared bringing Ellen with Ben’s mom, so that was okay. Ben and John are very popular students, so there were a lot of fellow teachers there. We ate too much food and had a great time chatting with folks, and we were able to get under a pavilion roof when a brief rainstorm blew through. Ben and John’s party was Avenger-themed, so it was fun to see kids running around in superhero masks.

After the party, and after some time back at the house, Ellen went back to visit the Hubes. That was okay; Mer and I used the time to watch Olympic coverage for the rest of the evening. We both like the Olympics, and Mer is a veritable junkie. It was certainly a preview of coming attractions for the next two weeks.

On Wednesday, our friend Ellen came to visit from her home in Michigan. She was slated to stay for a few days, and my being on vacation meant that the three of us could hang out and do things together.

But not on Wednesday. Ellen got here in the late afternoon, and had made plans to catch up with her former professor and close friend Don Hubele (or “Hube” for short). We knew about the planned supper before Ellen got here, so she was not blowing us off. We got to visit for about an hour before she had to head off. I like to do some active things when I am on vacation, so I asked Mer if she would want to go for a walk. She agreed, so we headed over to the nearby Ledges park.

The Ledges is really cool in that it has lots of exposed rock, and has a grand view over the Valley (at least when the leaves are down). Mer and I had been to the Ledges many times before, but I picked up a map and noticed there was a trail I had never been on before that led down into the Valley, toward another park area called the Octagon (named after the shelter located there). Since we both like new trails, we decided to go that way. We did have to take one detour to get to the trail; our first attempt was blocked by a deer that was lying down and did not seem to want to move. We did not want to freak it out, so we took another way.

I’m really glad we did. The trail curved under the exposed rock face on which the Ledges sit. It was really pretty and, in places, awe-inspiring. I like exposed rock. We made it down to the Octagon, and I wanted to check out a little half-mile trail on which we had never been before. It was a pleasant little trail though the woods. After that trail, we headed back to the Ledges, completing a very pretty loop.

After our walk, I felt as if we had earned some slack, so after supper Mer and I went to get ice cream from Handel’s with the Churchills, after which we went home and chatted. We were still visiting when Ellen got back from visiting Hube and his family. Zach and Londa had met Ellen before, so we all just kept on visiting. Finally, the Churchills felt they had to get home, so they left and I went to bed.

On Thursday, I called up our friend Dubbs, and she agreed to meet us at the Blue Door restaurant for a late breakfast. The Blue Door is a gourmet diner, if that makes any sense. They use really fresh ingredients, and the chef makes authentic European-style pastries that are really wonderful. I thought Ellen should try it, so we went there. Breakfast was great, and we got to catch up with Dubbs for the first time in over two months. We picked up some pastries to go, and dropped Dubbs off at her place, and then headed over to Dale and Carlene’s.

Dale and Carlene had met Ellen several times before through Hube (Dale and Hube have known each other for over twenty years), and they were delighted to see her. We chatted and ate pastries (except for Ellen, who can’t stay eating at a Riordan pace), and stayed for about thirty minutes before we had to head out for the excitement of the day – the Cleveland Museum of Art.

I had never been inside the museum before, so I was looking forward to it. We got to the museum about 1:30, just in time for a guided tour that lasted about an hour, orchestrated by a charming Hungarian woman. The museum and the tour were both free (the museum general exhibits are always free). After the tour, which focused on a few pieces of Renaissance art and the ancient Egyptian collection, we tried to wander systematically through the museum. As such, I think we saw it all (or at least most of it). I liked the Tiffany glass collection and the sculpture room, and there were two Maine landscapes that jumped out at me, even before I knew they were about Maine. We were able to browse the museum in about three hours, which is a very good size for me.

By the time we were done with the museum, we were starting to get a bit hungry. So, we drove east, over to Legacy Village, where the nearest Cheesecake Factory is located. Before we ate, we swung by the art gallery in Legacy Village, to show Ellen several sculpture pieces we like very much. By the time we wrapped that up, we were all quite hungry.

We were still on the early side of supper (about 5:00), so we got seated right away. We sat outside because it was very nice out, although I kept one eye on a bank of clouds that was coming our way. We had an excellent meal, and Ellen and I had finished our individual desserts and were waiting on Mer to finish hers, when it began to sprinkle. We went inside, where Mer finished her cheesecake, and within a minute or two the heavens just opened up and poured for about five minutes. I was pleased we had made it inside.

The rain had all but stopped by the time we were ready to go, so we walked back to the car and headed home. Ellen had mentioned she had some gripes with Renaissance fairs being unhistorical, so we decided we had to show her a Big Bang Theory episode in which one of the characters (Sheldon) has the same complaints. Ellen was much amused, so we watched a second one. Then, since Ellen has recently become a huge Doctor Who fan, we watched one of the few episodes of that series that she had not seen, as well as some DVD special features that were new to her. A busy day, but a good one.

I still had a week of vacation I needed to take this summer, but we had unexpected car repairs and a new hot water heater that sucked up our potential vacation fund. Plus, with Mer’s folks having just arrived in the area, we wanted to stick around to see if we could help some. So, we decided to have a “stay-cation” and just indulge in day-trips.

On Monday, the big outing was to Hudson to see the new movie The Amazing Spider-Man. I have to admit I was a little skeptical of a film being remade so soon after a pretty successful series (the other Spider-Man movies came out starting in 2002, so it had only been ten years from the first film). I was pleased, though. I had been afraid the film might end up being too dark (a sort-of Batman-meets-Spider-Man), but while there were some dark moments, there was some very good humor as well. The choice of the Lizard as the main bad guy was a fantastic choice, and the script did him very well. I liked all the characters quite a bit, although I thought Spider-Man took off his mask a bit too much. I expect that makes acting quite a bit easier.

On Tuesday, Mer took me up to Cleveland to cash in on one of her CVCA auction items that she still had. We went to the Flats, an area near the river which used to be happening, but is pretty empty now. The city is trying to reinvigorate the Flats, and the new aquarium is located there. We were not there for the fish, though; it was also the launching spot for the two-hour “Lolly the Trolley” tour of Cleveland.

Trolley tours and bus tours are common in cities, but I had never been on one in Cleveland. The day was fine, so the trolley windows were all open, so it was easy to see. There were about fifteen people on the tour, including a family from South America and three people from Eastern Europe. There was a slightly boisterous family that got a little irritating as they got restless toward the end of the tour, but on the whole the group behaved.

The tour went around much of the city, but skipped the far west side for some reason. The trolley took in all the major sites of downtown, including the baseball field, the skyscrapers, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the football stadium. It went all the way out east to University Circle, where Case Western Reserve University and the art museum are located. We came back along the lake and stopped at the lakefront airport for a fifteen-minute break. The airport had an exhibit on women in aviation, including women astronauts. You could also see right out onto the runway, which you can’t do much in big airports anymore.

In all, it was a good overview of Cleveland, including some side-street neighborhoods I would probably have not found on my own. The driver and tour guide was pleasant and informative, and we had a good time. And it was at a discounted rate from the CVCA auction too!

Last Saturday was our fifth of six weddings spanning October 2011 through September 2012. There was actually going to be a seventh, but the bride and groom decided to delay their wedding for awhile. I don’t imagine we will be so wedding-rich again for some time, if ever.

Last weekend’s wedding involved a former student of Mer’s and one of my former improv students. Dan has stayed in touch over the intervening seven years since he graduated, and we were very pleased to be invited to his wedding. Dan had met his bride, Carolyn, online, which I think is the third such wedding we have been to since the dawn of internet dating made such meetings possible.

The wedding was in Pittsburgh, which is always an adventure, even with a GPS. For those who have not driven in Pittsburgh, the city is very hilly, and so the streets tend to wind, and the intersections can come up very quickly. We made it to the church with little difficulty (we were not quite so lucky on the way home, where I took two wrong turns, from which the GPS rescued us). Dan’s younger brother, Mike, was also in my improv group, and had just gotten back from a months-long mission trip to South Africa. We were able to chat briefly with Mike and his girlfriend at the reception, and made plans to catch up with Mike later.

The actual wedding was an Anglican wedding, and was presided over by two priests – Mike’s priest from New York and Carolyn’s priest from Pittsburgh. The ceremony was from the Book of Common Prayer, and the homily was given by Mike’s priest. She looked a little tired from her trip the previous day, but she did fine. The entire service was a real church service, lasting over an hour, and included several congregational hymns, and Dan and Carolyn served each other communion, which I found very touching.

The reception was nearby in a fire-fighters’ hall. Mer and I were seated with Dan’s fellow-students, most of whom were in my Royal Fools improv group, and most of whom have stayed in touch with both me and Mer. It is always a great time to see this group of former students; we have a good time together. The food was excellent, and the fellowship was grand. There was dancing after supper, and Mer and I got to dance a fair amount. The only downside to the evening was that the music was too loud to allow for conversation, even when we were on the other side of the hall. That was fairly minor, as we figured we could make plans to see most everyone, and we made definite plans to see Mike.

The next wedding will be in early September, and will involve the same group of students. It will be a fine way to wrap up the Year of the Wedding.

This last week was mellow, but family-focused. On Monday, we drove down to Canton, to Aunt Mary’s place. We got take-out from Chipotle (Aunt Mary got a salad from Wendy’s), and we went back to the house to eat and to do our classic game-show watching: we played along with Wheel of Fortune and then Jeopardy!

On Thursday, Mer and I drove up to Cleveland, to the airport, to pick up Mer’s parents, Dale and Carlene. They were moving back to Ohio, which made me and Mer pretty happy. Their possessions were en route and would not get to Cuyahoga Falls until Friday, so we all drove back to our place for the evening. It was a later flight (8:00 pm), so Dale and I went to bed fairly directly, while Mer and Carlene chatted for awhile.

On Friday, Mer and Dale and Carlene went over to Dale and Carlene’s new home – a two-bedroom apartment in a nearby retirement village. The furniture was being professionally moved, so the movers did pretty much all of the heavy lifting. They got the heavy things into place, and took a bunch of boxes over to a storage unit until such a time as Dale and Carlene are ready for more boxes to unpack.

I ran over with Mer after work to see how things were shaping up. The place has real potential, although it was full of boxes. We brought over our older LCD TV, and I set it up on the existing cable line. The picture came in pretty well. The management of the apartment complex had left a cake for Dale and Carlene, so we all had a piece of that. I know it cannot be easy for Dale and Carlene to leave their home of the last fifteen-plus years in Florida, but it is my hope that having family and old friends in the area will help the transition. Mer and I are pleased to be able to “drop by” when we want to; it remains to be seen if Dale and Carlene see that as an advantage or not.

We left Maine late Friday morning, with the goal of reaching central New York. We stopped near Portland to eat brunch at IHOP, eating a ridiculous amount of food including a stack of “cinnamon roll” French toast. That certainly held us until our late supper.

We drove until about 7:00 or so, reaching Syracuse. We got off the highway to look for a motel, and the first one we saw was called the John Milton. Milton is a famous English author, and so it seemed as if we should stay there. It did not hurt that it was only $42 a night. It was a bit run-down, but it was clean, and was located next to a Dunkin Donuts and a Denny’s. We did smile at the notice that people who did not pay their bill on a daily basis would be asked to leave, no matter how long they had been in residence. That is not a sign we had seen before in Hiltons or even Motel 6 chains. The front desk also had a sign that said something to the effect of “Poor customer service will be remembered long after the joy of a cheap price is forgotten.” The odd thing was, the sign was pointed at the customers, when I would have expected it to be a reminder to the people behind the desk.

We ate supper at the Denny’s, and grabbed dessert at Dunkin Donuts. We got back to the room around 9:00, and went to bed. I slept fitfully, and was up before 5:00. Mer had to use the bathroom, so I used the opportunity to urge us to get on the road. She acquiesced, although a bit grumpily.

We got home about noon, and used Saturday and Sunday to get caught up on house things, like laundry and paying bills and such. One unfortunate occurrence was I found out our hot water heater was leaking, and so I put a call in to get a plumber to come out and replace it (which he did on Monday evening). It put a slight damper (ha!) on the vacation, but we had a great time in Maine. The kitties were all safe, and it was good to sleep in my own bed again and not be rooting around in a suitcase for clean clothes.