SheldonTimes

Summer vacation in New England had three objectives this year. First, we visited with my Mom and family at my sister’s beach house in Niantic, CN and had a wonderful time there. My three children were there also. After that we attended a treatment-free bee conference in Leominster, MA for four days while tenting nearby. “Treatment-free” has a specific meaning – these are bee keepers who do not use chemicals or antibiotics in their hives, do not feed bees junk to make lots of junk honey, and make a point of using “natural” (not muscled-up modern oversized) bees.

For Christmas last year, William gave us a night at St Raphaela Retreat House that he had purchased at a charity auction at St. Joseph’s University. Fran and I decided to make this our own silent retreat as a couple – something that we had previously discussed but never done. Early May was an ideal time to use William’s gift.

When we learned that one of Lower Merion Conservancy's Winter Treks was a "Divine Saunter," a tour of the Woodmont Estate, led by Mother Divine, we signed right up.

Paul heard that the local Princeton alumni group had volunteered to cook an evening meal for the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House residents, and we thought it was something very much worth doing. After a flurry of emails from the organizer and other volunteers, we signed up to bring baked ziti. Because it was the day before Thanksgiving, numbers were somewhat short of the 80 to 90 they usually have attending the evening meals.

Many of our refugee friends long to visit the zoo. I had promised the boys I would take them over the summer, but the pricing at the Philadelphia Zoo is prohibitive, especially since so many people were interested in coming along. Also, there are so many costly extras, you're in the position of spending even more or disappointing the kids.

The rain stayed with us all the way from Binghamton to Northville, NY, on the northern shore of Great Sacandaga Lake. Our original plan had been to camp for two nights at the state campsites on Route 30, just north of Pumpkin Hollow, but vacation should be about fun, not drenched misery, so we decided to try and find a B&B.

Philadelphia's refugees from Burma celebrated their growing community with the second annual PhilaBurma picnic. The community has doubled in size from the previous year, so we rented a larger space at FDR park. Everyone brought food and the children enjoyed playing and riding their bikes while the adults chatted.