After returning from Ecuador, the
living room walls were soon displaying our new tapestries and the stunning portrait
of the peasant woman. We spent January and
February 2006 at home. We were glad to
welcome our Fulton friend Mary B to her new residence not far from us in
Columbia. Niece Tracy and cousins Dana and
Jaime surprised us with a visit. In
March we went to NJ for Dana and Ty’s wedding, where we saw Diane’s many cousins.
Dana and Ty
Parents of the married couple. Dana’s
mother and Diane’s cousin Joyce is on the right
Tortiello Family, cousin Peter (brother of
cousin Joyce) in center
Koll and Rizzeta families, cousin Bonnie
front center with brothers Richard and Glenn in back row
After the wedding, we visited my sister
Earlene and brother-in-law Vince in Princeton.
They took us on a tour of two DuPont family estates in Delaware,
Longwood and Winterthur. Afterward, they
took us out to dinner in celebration of Diane and my 15th anniversary. We didn’t tell them that it dated from our
first kiss in the hot tub.
The event was at a historic Wilmington
hotel that displayed original works of art by the father NC Wyeth and his sons,
Andrew and Jamie. We also saw my nephew
Craig, Mary Ann and their new son, great nephew Andrew. I actually picked up Andrew and held him with
great care, since I had no actual experience with babies.
Glass conservatory at Longwood
Diane and I returned to Columbia and discussed
how our travel over the previous 15 years and plans for future trips were
making it abundantly clear that we needed to be in better physical condition. Being a desk jockey who could spend hours
sitting at my computer didn’t help me keep in shape. I was 65 and Diane was 60, so it was definitely
time for us to get fit. The previous year
we began a regular routine of attending Tai Chi classes four times a week progressing
to the point where we could do the “24” (also called “the short form”) fairly
well. Our balance was better and our
muscles had strengthened, but there was still room for improvement.
We spent so much time with our Tai Chi
friends that we now regarded them as an additional family group. In April 2006, our Columbia Tai Chi
enthusiasts visited the Shaw Botanical Gardens in St. Louis to join other
groups from Missouri and nearby states, celebrating World Tai Chi Day as we
took turns doing forms to music. We were
lucky to be there at the same time a Chihuly exhibit was opening.
Our Tai Chi instructor, Kenny Greene and me
In addition to Tai Chi, Diane and I also began
walking an average of two miles, five days a week. Depending on the weather, we walked outdoors on
the MKT trail (built on the road bed of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad) or
indoors in the city recreation facility, the ARC (Activity and Recreation
Center). I thought back to just a couple
of years ago when I first felt like I could take time out of my work for a neighborhood
walk. I would turn to walk up a hill and
find that I did not have the stamina to keep going and I had to backtrack. It took several months of building up the
number of blocks I could comfortably walk before I could go up the hills with
ease. Since I was going to have the time
to do even more trips, some of which would involve hiking, I was motivated to
get into (and stay) in shape.
Diane and I lost weight and were really becoming
fit. We even purchased two bicycles. We could leave our garage and ride down the
street by Katy Lake where we accessed a shortcut to the MKT Trail by Kathy
Thornburg’s house. Our route then took
us into the county, over Hinkson Creek, by Brushwood Lake, over Perche Creek and
by the wetlands wastewater treatment cells the city constructed. We usually stopped at Hindman Junction where
the MKT joins the Katy Trail. (It was commonly
called the K-T, and eventually Katy.) Darwin
Hindman served 15 years as Mayor of Columbia, and championed the MKT and Katy
trails. He and Axie, his wife, would
often be seen riding their bicycles around Columbia.
MKT trail and Columbia wetlands
Hindman Junction
Another wonderful habit we continued was attending
adult learning classes at the University of Missouri. MU’s program started receiving support through
an association with the national Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning. Osher became such an important part of our
lives that we began to think of our Osher friends as yet another family
group. One of the retired MU faculty, who also taught
an Osher class we attended, told us about the Gist Lecture series. It was held every Thursday during the spring
and fall semesters at the University of Missouri. We heard presentations by students or faculty
on topics such as Iraq, Al Jazeera, the life and death of Slobodan Milosevic,
South Korea and North Korea, Thailand and Nuclear Power.
Diane and I did not neglect the Arts either,
as we were season ticket holders for the Columbia Entertainment Company’s
musical and dramatic performances, Stephens College’s theatre program (ranked
#2 in the U.S. by the Princeton Review) and for the Missouri Symphony’s
Hot Summer Nights Festival. We were
continuing our support for the renovation of the Missouri theater. We attended numerous other events at that
historic theatre including the debut performance of their restored pipe organ
and great old films shown on a big screen in cooperation with Columbia’s unique
Ragtag Theatre. Ragtag had outgrown its
space on 10th Street and started a capital campaign to relocate. We donated generously. If we were in Columbia because of its
culture, we needed to support it. Fun
times with the “Women of Substance” also continued. Diane and I enjoyed the company of these
women, the great food we shared and performance art by one of our members.
Women of Substance in ‘Chef’ Diane’s
kitchen
Member performing in our Holly Hills dining
room
In May 2006, I received my first social
security check at age 65 and one-half.
My business income was on the decline and I was nervous about still
needing enough to pay for Diane’s salary and our business medical policy. Unfortunately, in 2006 I was no longer under
contract with Monsanto’s Agriculture Division or Hoffman-LaRoche. I had been given my 30-day notice that my
contracts with Pfizer in St. Louis and San Diego were being cancelled. Pfizer was moving scientists and statisticians
around. Most of
the scientists I had been working with in St. Louis were leaving for other positions;
my consulting services were no longer needed.
I still had contracts with a handful of smaller companies and went
looking for more.
My priority was to sell the
individual stocks. I discovered that I could avoid the commission fees
that brokerage firms (like TD Waterhouse) charge by transferring the stocks to
Vanguard as they had very low to zero commissions on a limited number of stock
sales per year. And they had stock index funds which I could use
instead of managing the large number of stocks myself.
I also
wanted to increase my holdings in Missouri Municipal bonds. Early in 2006, I opened an A.G. Edwards
account as they specialized in marketing Missouri tax-free bonds. In May, I transferred all my TD Waterhouse
holdings into that account. In June, I transferred
the stock portion into a Vanguard account (leaving the bonds at A.G. Edwards). After reading that Vanguard was a
low-management fee mutual fund company, I had opened an account there in 1993
by purchasing two U.S. tax-exempt bond funds.
Now I was
positioned to use the A.G. Edwards account to manage my Missouri municipal
bonds and to gradually sell the individual stocks at no commission. I could then invest that portion of my
portfolio in Vanguard stock funds.
Earlier in
the year, I woke up one morning and realized that the usual ringing in my left
ear, tinnitus, was much louder. I tried
to think about possible reasons, but came up with nothing other than a general
feeling of stress. I was just not
adjusting to the decrease in income and worried a lot. With all my resources, it seemed silly, but
it was nevertheless the case. I was
relieved that there didn’t seem to be any related dizziness or lack of balance. However, in less than a month, I had two
instances of sounds that were normal to other people sounding loud and distorted
to me, accompanied by dizziness, vertigo, and a lack of balance. Testing by an audiologist resulted in the
suggestion that it was a central nervous system problem.
Subsequent
follow-up with a neurologist and brain imaging provided no additional
explanation. The neurologist did provide
a definite diagnosis of Meniere’s. The
good news was that the worst of Meniere’s symptoms decreased. The neurologist also confirmed a diagnosis of
peripheral neuropathy for the tingling and numbness in my feet and calves. I was having pain in my legs at night and
found a publication about a clinical trial that suggested gabapentin as a
treatment. I sent the article to my
doctor and she prescribed it. I started
taking 900 mg at night, and it really helped.
I guessed I was just going to have to learn how to live with the
peripheral neuropathy and the chronic condition of a ringing in my ear along
with a less than normal balance. After
all, it was all in my head, right? (Ha!
Ha!) My mother also had both ringing in
an ear and peripheral neuropathy, and she kept on going. Neither condition was life-threatening, so I was
determined to do the same without complaint or slowing down.
In May, Diane
and I hosted a fund-raiser in our home for our Democratic Congressional
candidate Duane Burghard. We also drove
to Kansas City with Sister Sue and Brother-in-law Joe where we visited the
Truman Library and National World War I Museum and Memorial. Diane
joined the Salon, a wonderful group of women that held monthly discussion
lunches. We also co-hosted a fund-raiser
for Claire McCaskill, our Democratic Senate candidate. Diane and I were attending our Democratic
luncheon club every Friday. Its members
were becoming good friends and yet another family.
June brought a visit from nephew Joe and his
wife Angie who was four months pregnant.
Kelly’s boyfriend, Steve, had moved to Columbia and was living with her
(and her mother and father) in the condo. Early in July, we drove to St. Louis with
Diane’s sister Susan and niece Kelly to see the new Chihuly exhibit in the
Missouri Botanical Garden Climatron.
Glass in the Garden by Chihuly
In July, we left Missouri to fly to Barcelona,
Spain. Diane and I really fell in love with
this Mediterranean city, spending a week in a delightful second story apartment
with a private balcony. We could walk
from there all over the old city. Going
down the City Museum elevator took us on a subterranean adventure in time with
the archeological sites and displays. Founded by the Phoenicians and conquered
by the Romans, Barcelona is the Capital of Catalonia. Although its candidacy for the Spanish throne
lost out to Madrid (Ferdinand and Isabella), Barcelona retains its own dialect;
visitors from Madrid often need a translator to understand the dialect in
Barcelona. We completed our history
lesson with a visit to the Maritime Museum where we learned about the history
of ship building and navigation that had for centuries been important to travel
in the Mediterranean and the oceans beyond.
Jeanne and Diane enjoying Spanish wine on
their balcony
Reproduction of 16th century
oar-driven galley in the Maritime Museum
From our apartment, it was an easy stroll
to the Central Square where we booked our several walking tours. One related to Picasso’s stay in Barcelona
which resulted in the construction of several friezes (a decorative horizontal
band running along the top of a building).
Another walking tour featured works by Antoni Gaudí, a Catalan architect
and designer from Spain, known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. World Art Nouveau Day is celebrated on his
birthday.
Picasso was here
Gaudi’s lamppost in Plaça Reial with a
winged helmet and dragon on top.
We were driven in a van through the beautiful
Spanish countryside to visit the Monastery on the mountain of Montserrat. It took two funicular trips to rise to the
upper level. Many people make this trip
for religious reasons, but for us, it was for the scenery, the opportunity to
hike, and a visit to the museum. It had a
collection of archaeology from the Biblical Orient and paintings by many artists,
such as Picasso, Dalí, el Greco, Caravaggio, and French impressionists, such as
Monet, Sisley and Degas. The collection
did not include major works, but it was nevertheless of interest. On the way back to Barcelona we stopped at a
crowded beach and found the area reserved for topless sunbathers (but we didn’t
embarrass ourselves by taking pictures).
Me on a Montserrat hiking trail and view
from the top
Sunbathers on a Spanish beach
At night in Barcelona, we would stroll La
Rambla, the boulevard that ran downhill to the docks, and were entertained by
the mimes and acrobats along the way.
The markets were indoors, and that is where we purchased food and wine
to take back and eat on our private balcony.
Or we might just sit at the food counter and enjoy local fare and
wine. I developed a taste for the
Spanish rioja wine, a blend of
grape varieties having Tempranillo as the dominant grape. Often, we would have a gelato on our way back
to our apartment.
Another highlight was the fort and castle
overlooking the harbor on Montjuic Mountain.
The ride to the top started with a funicular and continued with a
gondola lift, ending at the castle entrance.
We walked all the way around the defensive battlements viewing the
harbor, the city, and the countryside.
Fort overlooking harbor and view of harbor
It was time to end our visit to
Barcelona. Before starting the next part
of our journey, we needed to clean our clothes.
Diane and I had learned how to do this, carrying with us our detergent,
clothesline and pins. Diane strung the
clothesline on the balcony and, after washing the clothes in our bathtub and wringing
them out, we hung them outside to dry in the warm breeze. After packing our clean clothes, we wheeled
our luggage down La Rambla to our ship on the dock, very glad it was all
downhill. This would be our first trip
on a Windstar ship, the Ms Wind Surf, but not the last, as Windstar, like other
ship companies, were now eager to contract with Olivia, learning that lesbians
have money that they are more than willing to spend on cruises.
Windstar ship absent sails
Our cruise director, Jill Cruise
The island of Mallorca was our first
stop. We took a land tour to a small
fishing village, drove along the stunning shoreline and had lunch at the La Granja
Museum which began as a monastery in 1239.
The island of Sardinia was our next stop. That was the island we had glimpsed from the
beach on our Italy visit with Craig. In
Nora our group visited the excavated remains of three ancient civilizations:
the Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans.
Unlike the MU Tiger mosaic that was removed after 11 years, the mosaics
we saw there survived the elements for over 2,000 years.
Puppets at the La Granja Museum
Mosaic on Sardinia
Diane and I loved to cruise because we
enjoyed being aboard ship, feeling the waves and watching the horizon. At night we were rocked to sleep like
babies. We also enjoyed the activities
that happened during a day at sea, like attending the cooking demonstration by
Susan Feniger, one of the “Two Hot Tamales.” They had a TV show and were chefs with many
restaurants. Of course, Diane and I were
front row center for her demonstration.
Diane and I with chef Feniger
The next day we cruised by the beautiful
Amalfi coast on the way to visit Ravello, Italy, a quaint, exclusive village
that rises high above the Gulf of Salerno.
After docking and boarding vans, we had to traverse a narrow road with
hairpin curves, requiring one-way traffic and long waits. Once at the village, we found a wedding
underway in the small church with open doors for us to watch. Again, the views of the sea and surrounding
areas were stupendous, and the local vendors had some beautiful ceramics that
made it easy for us to part with our money.
It was only a short trip to our next stop: “It was on the Isle of Capri
that I found her . . .” Diane and I
rode a chair lift to the top of the Isle for breathtaking views.
Me and Diane with view of Amalfi coast
Ceramics for sale
At the top of the chair life and picture of
me in the chair lift
This cruise and our stay in Barcelona were
an amazing archaeological tour of ancient civilizations of the
Mediterranean. As if we hadn’t seen
enough ruins, we next visited Pompeii.
The size of the city impressed us.
The boulevards and large paving stones created roads without potholes. However, you could see the grooves the
chariots had worn in them. Bars and
brothels abounded; actual paint survived on murals (now under plastic). This was a rich, showy city. It would make one think of Las Vegas in 79
A.D.
Long boulevard
Mural
Our cruise finally ended in the port near
Rome, Civitavecchia. We stayed in Rome for
a few days in a hotel near the Parthenon.
We booked a tour of Roman ruins and were delighted to find that our
guide was an Oxford doctoral student in Roman history. Because of the heat, our group of five eventually
shrunk to three on this sunny 100-degree day.
The guide described “. . .The grandeur that was Rome” as reflected in
the ruins of the Circus Maximus (ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium) and
Forum (the scene of public meetings, law courts, and gladiatorial combats) as
seen from the Palatine Hill. Our group
was in the Coliseum at closing, so fortunately the crowds
had thinned, and we could easily imagine the grizzly scenes of the Christians
and the tigers. Other highlights of our
visit were: the food, the Trevi Fountain
and the wonderful mosaics in the city museum.
Ceiling of the Parthenon
Coliseum
Mosaic at city museum
Diane and I had so much fun on this
trip. It was the way I learned world
history. Adding tours of our choice in
Barcelona and Rome to the cruise, enabled us to make the most out of the
travel. We were lucky to have the time
and money to do so.