A friend and I participated in the local walk to raise funds for breast cancer yesterday. It was a chilly, windy day, but walking soon warmed us up. It was inspiring to walk with so many breast cancer survivors and some who are obviously in the throes of treatment. I don’t think anyone is untouched by this disease. We all know someone (or many) who have survived the disease, are fighting it, or who lost their lives. Research is the key to eliminating the disease, and money is the key to the research. It was a satisfying way to help.

It was another great Book Group outing. We went to hear Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos  at Monroe Community College. He was asked to lecture as part of their celebration of World Physics year–the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s landmark theory of relativity. I avoided physics at both the high school and college levels (now a regret), and know zip zero about physics. Brian Greene was articulate, entertaining, and absolutely understandable. Not that I could explain what he said, but I did understand it. I now have a reasonable sense of the difference between the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and string theory–and how they relate to one another. Greene made great analogies and had wonderful video clips that provided visual images of the abstract concepts. He is an amazing speaker. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk, don’t miss it.

For the third year in a row, Tracy and I took a  weekend trip to Manchester, Vt. We drive to Albany on Friday after school, spend the night, and drive over to Manchester in time for breakfast at Up To Breakfast. Their specialty is Morning Glory pancakes–a kind of carrot cake for breakfast–totally yummy! Then we head off to the Northshire Bookstore, one of the few really large independent bookstores left. Rochester has lost all the independents to the big names. Northshire has actually expanded in the last two years, and it’s easy to spend an hour or two browsing through the store, and reading the staff recommendations. After Northshire, we head to the outlets and the flagship store for Orvis. This year Tracy did a lot of shopping. I had already found my bargains at Macy’s at the Colonie Center the night before. Finally we stop in Bennington at Bennington Pottery (no finds this year), but we had a great lunch at Madison Brewery. This year we extended our trip and drove on to Hyde Park, NY to visit my brother and my niece.

The weather was generally crummy. It rained all the way to Albany Friday night, drizzled all day Saturday, but the foliage was beautiful. . . even in the rain. It POURED from Manchester to Hyde Park, NY. The Taconic Parkway was treacherous as water accumulated on both sides of the road, making passing very difficult. Later that night portions of the Taconic flooded and had to be closed to traffic.

It finally stopped raining Sunday morning so Dane and Tracy managed to get a  golf game in. Julie and I had a wonderful lunch at Crew in Poughkeepsie, and then drove to Rhinebeck and did the shops. Rhinebeck has retained its charm from my high school and college days, but the shopping has definitely expanded and there are many delightful shops with interesting selections of products. “Random,” is Julie’s interpretation, and she’s right on–odd assortments of stuff, but much of it nice. Found another nice independent bookstore there, though not nearly as large. Had a wonderful meal at Max’s Memphis Barbecue, an upscale, cozy restaurant in Red Hook. Drove home today under gray, cloudy skies. Great weekend away; seemed a lot longer than three days. Nice.

Julie in Rhinebeck