A Miner Modification

Hudson River Valley

We enjoyed our trip to the Hudson River Valley very much even though the fall leaves were not at all spectacular. Too much rain and hurricane Irene has stymied the usual turn of the leaves. There were spots here and there of red and yellow, but not too much. We first visited the Hyde Park home of FDR and Eleanor. The first two pictures are of the house and the grave site of the two.

 

The graves are actually in front of the marble marker.  We then went to Val-Kill, the home of Eleanor that was built from the buildings of the furniture factory that Eleanor and two friends started to help local people have jobs. It failed during the depression. The first picture is of the sun porch, and the second is of the "front door in the back."

 

She spent most of her time there, and lived there until her death. Many famous people visited her there including John Kennedy, Haile Selassie, Winston Churchill, King George, Khrushchev, Nehru, and Tito. We went to the Vanderbilt mansion that is in Hyde Park. It is one of many mansions built by the family, the most famous being the one in Ashville NC.

We then drove to Poughkeepsie and walked across a bridge called Walkway on the Hudson. It is 1.24 miles across, and then of course, you have to come back. We ate dinner at a restaurant that was right on the Hudson. The picture of the boat is taken from the restaurant.

It was a fun, but tiring day, and then on Tuesday it was back to work.

A Tale of Two Cities

There is a stark contrast between where we live and the area where we go to church. The East New York area of Brooklyn shows signs of poverty and a higher crime rate. Here are some pictures we took at the subway stop where we go to church and the buildings across the street.

 

 

We did not have a day off this week because the temple was open for two sessions on Columbus Day. I have been training this week to work in the office of the temple.  Dad has been training to learn the responsibilities of the recorder. They train the missionaries to do these jobs, so if they need us we can fill in. I have to work in the office tomorrow for one of the secretaries that will be gone. I'm sure I will be taking lots of messages since I know so little. Setting up appointments is quite complicated. The instructions for setting up an appointment for a living sealing is 42 steps long. Next Monday we are going to the Hudson River Valley. We will tour the FDR home and the Eleanor Roosevelt home. I hope the leaves have turned some, so we can see them.

Conference Weekend and Wicked

We enjoyed conference weekend very much.  We watched the sessions on our computer here in the apartment. Time Warner Cable does not have BYU TV. The picture was actually better on the computer than on our TV because we don't have an HD television. On Sunday morning we had a brunch in the president's apartment before the first session. They invited us to stay and watch with them, but we wanted to come home where we would be comfortable. I wanted to make that cinnamon roll recipe for the brunch that you use frozen roll dough in a bundt pan, but I went to four stores and no one had the roll dough. I finally bought some frozen loaves and thawed them and cut them up. The reason that I am telling you this is that we found all the stores had frozen empanada wrappers, but no roll dough. I thought that was unusual. Maria take note.

We went to see Wicked on Tuesday night. We had a good time. We went with the Zingmarks. We ate at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station before the play. I liked the play, but as Debbie said when she saw it, it seemed long. The first act was delightful, but the second act seemed dark and depressing to me.

I am including a picture of all the missionaries that was taken when we went to Montauk. This way you can see the people that we work with. From left to right they are the Buchanans, (from Alpine, Utah. He was a pharmaceutical salesman, and she was a secretary in the Alpine school district. She is a wonderful cook.), the Prescott's, (from San Diego. They are about 10 years older than we are and have served 3 other missions.), the McCoy's on the fence (they were in the MTC with us. He worked for the post office and she taught orchestra.) the Toveys (from Syracuse, UT. He was a high school biology teacher, she worked in the school lunch program. They were in the MTC with the Clawsons.) Sister Kakuda, (from Irvine California. She is the energizer bunny. She can work circles around us all.) the Zingmarks, (from Columbia SC. He is a marine biologist and taught at the University of South Carolina.) President Garff (originally from Utah, but has lived in New York's Westchester county since the early 70's. He worked for an investment firm. They served as mission presidents in Nigeria.) The branch president of the Riverhead branch that went with us, the Seeleys, (counselor in the temple presidency from Connecticut. He was a chemist of some sort, and she played the flute professionally.) the Carter's (from New Jersey. They are in the temple presidency. He was a hospital administrator, and she was in the state legislature.) In front are Brother Hardy and Sister Garff. Sister Hardy was taking the picture.

The Neighborhood

Dad and I walked around the neighborhood last week and took some pictures.

Zabar's is a deli grocery store that I would love Helmut to see. The varieties of cheese there are unbelievable. Upstairs are all kinds of high-end cookware.

Fairway is the store we go to most often. It is crazy in there because the aisles are so narrow, but it has the best prices. The one place I have felt intimidated is at the grocery store. People are not very patient there, and the clerks are worse.

We buy most of our produce from the street vendors like the one in the picture. They have the best prices, and the best produce.

The subway stairs are the ones we come up from when we have gone to church or anywhere that is downtown. We live on the upper west side, meaning that we are on the northern part of the island and on the west side of Central Park. The most exclusive area is on the east side of the Park.

I had Dad take the picture of the Ginkgo leaf. Ginkgo Biloba trees are very urban tolerant, so grow well here. They have the unusual fan shaped leaves.