The stars aligned for them! After a particularly nasty winter the first day of Spring was warm and balmy. Sometimes they've had a fire pit running on their deck so we could visit outside, or listen to the bag pipe, but this year no fire was needed. As luck would have it the Bag Piper is in Afghanistan so the neighborhood wasn't treated to his music. I'm not entirely sure bag pipes are Irish anyway.
I have to say that the GNU-house contingent didn't wave a very big flag this year, but it didn't make a difference to because Terri and Jim had assembled a very interesting group of other friends and neighbors.I wish I had more time to explore their Roland Park area because every time I hear people talk about the places I feel like I'd like to see them myself.
Their neighbor across the street works for Black and Decker, which was recently sold to Stanley. Lucky girl - she spent our recent snow storm in Brazil installing new software. Her mother-in-law, who moved to Baltimore from Richmond was there. They live nearby in another old home that was originally built on land leased for 99 years. We spoke with a Field Biologist who told us that Sligo Creek, a park close to us, is almost in collapse because of deer and invasive plants. We caught up with a very old friend of Jim Phillip's that we'd met years earlier. Last year at this party he'd had kidney cancer and a kidney removed. The next step was to wait two years to see if it came back. This year he's still healthy! It's nice to keep up with folks, even if it's just on a yearly basis.
Their son Brennan, was there channeling an Irish soccer player with his long hair and headband. Our son Jack, who was also on Spring Break stayed back in DC for his last break weekend. We bid good bye to him this morning. It appears there is hope that a rotten winter is ending and Spring will be here soon.
