It's Been Too Long

Wow!  I have let way too much time pass since my last post.  There have been many things that were worthy of a post, but I just didn't make the time.  So, in bullet form, here's what's been going on since my last entry:

• Jack applied to 7 colleges: Rochester Institute of Technology, Drexel, SUNY Albany, Champlain, University of Hartford, Ithaca,    The only one he was really excited about was RIT - he applied early decision.
• Lizzie made the JV volleyball team as a freshman.  The entire team improved dramatically throughout the fall.  See has also joined a league team, Downstate Volleyball, to continue to practice and play throughout the year.
• In December, I was approved as an Angel Flight pilot.  This means I can fly humanitarian aid missions in the Northeast with my airplane.  It's mostly taking people in remote areas to urban airports so they can get treated at the better hospitals.  I've flown 4 missions so far and it is very gratifying to be able to help people in so much need.  It's one of the reasons I wanted to become a pilot was to do this type of volunteer work.
• Lizzie made the JV basketball team as a freshman.  See started every game and she always defended the other teams top scorer.  She would usually shut them down and she never fouled out of a game.
• Kelsey was accepted into a prestigious summer internship at the Mianus River Gorge.
• Jack was accepted at R.I.T. as a Digital Cinema major.  We was also accepted at all his other schools except Ithaca were he was wait-listed.  Impressive.  He has committed to R.I.T. and leave August 31.
• In January, Mary Beth's mother fell on ice in a supermarket parking lot and fractured two vertebrae in her spine.  She is currently wearing a full upper-body brace, has limited mobility and is in tremendous pain all the time.  Mary Beth has been doing a lot to help her parents out.
• Our February ski trip took us to Jay Peak in North Troy, VT this year.  Fantastic glade skiing!  We had a ski-in/ski-out condo and had a great time.  It's Official:  Jack is a better snowboarder than me on both the soft-boot board (has been for years) and the alpine board (surpassed me this year).  He just rocks!
• In February, Mary Beth's younger sister Kate had her first child - a girl named Zoe.  In March, MB, Kelsey and Lizzie flew to North Carolina for a few days to visit with Kate, husband Jason and Zoe.  They did not want to return!
• In March, Kelsey received word that she had been accepted into the EcoQuest program at UNH which will take her to New Zealand for her spring semester next year.  This program is the most competitive of all the semester abroad programs for science students and she is thrilled she was accepted.  Congratulations Kelsey!

That's a recap of what I should have been writing about.  Now I hope to get back to a more regular updating of this blog.  Thanks for your patience and understanding.

An Unplanned Adventure

This past weekend turned out to be a blast, yet nothing that happened had been planned.  My original plan was to drive up to my father's house in the Catskills to visit with him and my sister Carole who is in America for the month of August from her home in England.  I took a suit with me as I planned to drive my father down to Summit, NJ on Saturday to attend a funeral and then drive him back up the Catskills the same day.

Well, my father wanted none of my assistance.  Even though driving is a struggle for him, and a round trip drive to Summit and back with a funeral in between would make for a very long day, he insisted on doing it himself.  He fears that if he starts giving in to offers of driving assistance, he will quickly lose his mobility entirely.  He left Saturday around 11am and Carole and I just crossed our fingers that everything would turn out OK.  She and I decided to run to town to get the fixings for a gourmet dinner -- swordfish steaks, fresh corn-on-the cob and Russet potatoes.  We got back to the house around 2pm and the afternoon was spent reading and reminiscing about our childhood.

As we were beginning to get dinner started, I received a phone call from my partner telling me he was done with the airplane for the weekend.  Due to unfortunate timing during her previous visits, Carole had never gotten a chance to fly with me.  I asked if she would be interested in taking a flight the next day and she jumped at the chance.  We decided to eat and then drive down to my house in Bedford that evening, take a trip in the morning on Sunday and then I would drop her back off in the Catskills in the afternoon.  Our meal was fantastic and we hit the road about 7:30pm.

The sun was low in the sky as we left, but it was still quite warm.  I had the top down on the M3 as it was a beautiful summer evening for a drive.  The road along the Delaware River from Barryville to Port Jervis is a two-lane winding affair that is wonderful at highlighting the superior handling of the BMW M3.  Since we were not in a hurry, I decided to avoid highways as much as possible and take the scenic route home. After a brief ride on 84 East and 17 East, we took the Bear Mountain Parkway to the Bear Mountain Bridge and then route 202 and route 35.  Traffic was light and we made it home in about 2 hours.

Kelsey and Dave Flynn at Sand Bar & Grill

My daughter Kelsey and her boyfriend were there when we got home and the four of us decided that a day trip to Martha's Vineyard was in order.  We left the airport around 11am and arrived at MVY around noon.  The flight was made in "severe clear" conditions with unlimited visibility.  I think Carole truly enjoyed the ride.  We took the public bus to Oak Bluffs (only $2) and had lunch at the Sand Bar & Grill. We toured the streets and shops and got ice cream at the Carousel Ice Cream shop where a "child size" cone is two large scoops -- I can't imagine what the "large" must be.  It was time to head back to the airport for our trip to Sullivan County Airport (MSV) to drop off Carole. My father and about 25 locals met us at the airport.  The locals were a Hasidic group that come up to the Catskills from the city on weekends and enjoy bringing the children to the airport to watch planes. They get very excited about arrivals and they made us feel like we were important!  Very funny.

We arrived back at White Plains airport around 6pm and headed immediately to a neighbors barbecue for some of the best pulled pork and spare ribs I've had in ages.  It was the perfect end to a fantastic weekend!  And totally different than I'd thought on Friday -- perhaps that added to my enjoyment.

The Eagle Has Been Awarded

This past Saturday was a very proud day for me and my wife, Mary Beth.  Our 17 year-old son, Jack was awarded the highest achievement in Boy Scouting -- the rank of Eagle Scout.  Less than five percent of all boys that join scouting attain the rank of Eagle. It is a very difficult journey that takes commitment, perseverance, organization and leadership skills to accomplish.  The actual construction phase of the project was completed in the fall and since then Jack had to raise the funds to pay for the materials, write up the project using the Eagle Project Workbook, and lastly, defend the project to an Eagle Board of Review.  It's taken over a year from start to finish but now it is over.

On Saturday, a ceremony was held at our parish hall for Jack and ten other scouts from his troop that have earned the Eagle Rank over the last 3 years.  The were presented with proclamations from the U.S. Congress, the State Legislature and the town of Armonk.  Each had a day named in their honor in the county of Westchester.  Each young man received his official Eagle Neckerchief and the all important Eagle Pin.

Many people believe that the Eagle Award is a predictor of future success.  While less than half of 1 percent of all men become an Eagle Scout, many highly successful men are Eagle Scouts:

• William Bennett, Former Secretary of Education
• Bill Bradley, Pro basketball star and U.S. Sneator from New Jersey
• William Dannemeyer, U.S. Representative from California
• Arthur Eldred, (First Eagle Scout)
• Gerald Ford, 38th President of the U.S.
• Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Governor of Louisiana
• James Lovell - Astronaut
• Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator from Indiana
• Sam Nunn, U.S. Senator from Georgia
• Ellison Onizuka, Challenger Astronaut  
• Samuel Pierce, Former Secreatry of HUD
• William Sessions, Former FBI Director
• Steven Spielberg, Film Director/Producer
• Wallace Stegner, Pulitzer Prize winning Author
• Percy Sutton, Chairman of CBS
• John Tesh, TV Celebrity
• James Stewart - Actor
• James Brady, Former Press Secretary to President Reagan
• William C. DeVries, M.D., Transplanted first artificial heart
• Walter Cronkite - Journalist, T.V. commentator
• J. Willard Marriott, Jr., President, Marriott Corporation
• H. Ross Perot, Chairman, EDS Corp.  

So Jack's off to a great start and his parents could not be more proud of him.  I want to congratulate him for a fantastic accomplishment.  Well done son, well done.

Check out this site dedicated to the project.

5 - 0 on Mother's Day Weekend

It was a big sports weekend for my daughter Lizzie. In addition to playing spring soccer with the WYSL U14 Travel team, she is playing AAU basketball with the Westchester Hoopers. The Hoopers entered a tournament in Queens, NY -- their first and second rounds were played on Saturday in Jamaica, with the finals schedule for Sunday afternoon in Rosedale. This meant Lizzie had soccer practice on Saturday morning and then had to rush to make it to Queens in time for the first basketball game.

I was returning from a business trip to Houston on Saturday and landed at LaGuardia around 1pm. My cell phone received a text as we were taxiing into the gate: "First game 48 - 22. We won. Lizzie played great!" The car service driver met me at the curb for the 20 minute drive to Jamaica -- the next game started at 2pm. I arrived around 1:30pm to find the girls lounging in front of the church taking in the beautiful sunshine. The afternoon game was a rough one. A lot of pushing shoving and hard fouls. Our girls never backed down and won the game by 17 points. By Saturday evening, she was 2 - 0.

Our soccer game on Sunday morning was against Rye. It was Mother's Day and many of the moms were none too happy to have a game scheduled on their special day, but there was nothing we could do but to make it a worthwhile experience for them by winning. The team had been in a bit of a scoring slump, having scored only 1 goal in their previous 3 games. Karl had worked exclusively on scoring in practice. The Armonk Angels won the game 3 - 0 and Lizzie scored all three goals. She worked hard, put herself in good positions and the ball just went her way. What a start to Mother's Day!!

The semi-final basketball game started at 3pm in Rosedale, NY in a tiny gym with room for chairs only on one side and also at the end up on a stage. Shortly after the start of the game, it became obvious the referees were in the tank for the home team. We were literally playing 7 on 5, but our girls were relentless and never lost composure. We led the entire game and, in spite of the refs, beat them by 12. On to the finals at 7pm against the Royals. We went out to a diner for some dinner and rest. When we returned, the tournament director apologized and informed us that she had gotten rid of the two early refs due to there terrible officiating. By the start of the game, the gym was packed and, other than the 9 parents and our players, everyone was cheering for the home team. The refs were completely balanced, but the competition was much better and we led by only 8 at halftime. We stretched the lead to 10 with about five minutes to go, but then the Royals started a comeback. With 3 minutes to go, we led by 5. Then with 2 minutes to go, we're up by 3 with the ball and get it to our best player in the low post, but her shot rims out. The Royals race the ball to the other end and one of their guards let fly a monster 3-pointer -- I'm talking an NBA-type 3 -- and it's nothing but net!! Game tied with 1:05 left.

The crowd goes crazy and rushes onto the court in their excitement. The clock is still running on the made shot, but our girls can't inbound the ball because of all the people on the court. The refs stop the game, clear the court, reset the clock, but now the Royals are able to set up their full court trap. We inbound the ball to our point guard Ashley who passed up to the 3, Alia, who moves the ball across half court and gets fouled on the dribble. We are in the double-bonus, so Alia gets two free throws to break the tie; there are 42 seconds on the clock. Alia is our youngest player -- she is only 11 playing with 14 year-olds because she such a good athlete she dominates in her age group. So here is this 11 year old with a chance to break the tie with two free throws and the crowd is heckling her mercilessly. She misses her first shot which sends the crowd into a frenzy! Calmly, Alia steps up and hits her second shot. We're up by 1 point.

We press on the inbound play and their point guard tries to split our defenders at half-court but Alia steals the ball!! She passes to Ashley breaking down the right wing who drives for the layup but is fouled hard by a Royals defender and goes to the line to shoot two shots with 25 seconds on the clock. Ashley is a wonderful foul shooter and in spite of an apoplectic crowd, she makes them both. We're up by 3. The Royals inbound the ball, our press makes it difficult for them to get the ball up court and they don't even get a shot off. WE WIN BY 3. The crowd goes silent and I think we might need to hurry out of town. However, the host team was gracious and congratulated us as did most everyone in the crowd as we left the gym. I am very proud of how well these girls played in hostile circumstances and winning the tournament was a fantastic. Lizzie went 5 - 0 for the weekend -- Happy Mother's Day!

A Trip to Washington

I spent the weekend in Washington, DC with a group of Socata owners. As I explained in my last post, there is an active web site for owners and once a year they try and get together. There are 4 meetings annually; one in Europe, one in Australia and two in the United States; a West Coast and an East Coast Fly-in. This year, the East Coast Fly-In was planned for Washington, DC. Since Vince was in town, he came with me as did my favorite co-pilot, my cousin Ken Wellington. We made the southbound flight to Fredrick's Municipal Airport in Maryland on Friday afternoon and the trip was beautiful -- warm, clear air and no turbulence, but a killer headwind. I'd filed to fly down at 6,000 ft AGL, but Air Traffic Control assigned me 8,000 ft. to keep me above the arrivals into Teterboro and Newark airports. At that altitude, we were fighting a 50 knot headwind!! That meant we were traveling at 95 knots over the ground or only 2/3 of my normal speed. I asked for lower and the controller paused prior to his response, "Yeah, I guess 95 knots in a Trinidad is not too good, I'll have lower for you in 5 more miles." Once at 6,000 ft AGL, the headwinds were a more reasonable 20 - 25 knots and we made much better time.

We rented a car and drove to our hotel in Bethesda, MD. Dinner was within walking distance of the hotel at Positano's. We had a wonderful Italian dinner and were serenaded by Vince our very own pilot / opera singer! He is a marvelous singer and everyone enjoyed the performance. Saturday we traveled as a group to the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Air and Space Museum and were provided with a 3 hour private tour because one of our members is a large supporter of the museum. The aircraft on display are simply awesome. It is a worthwhile trip out to Dulles for this unique aviation experience.

Saturday's dinner was held at a DC landmark, Clyde's of Gallery Place. A few of the local Socata owners also joined us and "virtual" friends became face-to-face friends as the mask of the Internet was removed. It was wonderful to actually meet so many people that I'd been conversing with for the last few years.

The group met for breakfast at the diner on the field at Fredrick's and following breakfast we had a seminar on glass panel installations by Landmark Aviation. Informative, but not in my current budget -- I guess I can dream. The trip home was made with a few more clouds and haze than the trip down, but offered a nice tailwind to speed our return to White Plains. It was a fun weekend with nice people all of whom are just as crazy as I am about airplanes.

More photos of the trip

After the Call Comes the Visit

As you know, last week I got The Call - my father informed me he had cancer. Yesterday, I joined him for his visit to the oncologist. Late last week, he had an MRI and a PET scan to determine to what degree the melanoma has spread to other parts of his body. Yesterday was the meeting to get the results -- I had prepared myself for a dire diagnosis.

It is with great joy and an overwhelming sense of relief that I can report the doctor delivered the best possible news. The MRI and PET scan revealed the rest of his body is cancer free! The only remaining cancer is locally contained in a few lymph nodes under his left arm. The doctor believes it can all be removed in one additional surgery and may not need any post-op chemotherapy. What a relief.

I took him home and we had a chance to talk. He was extremely relieved and as we discussed our fears about the alternate scenarios, he got emotional and glassy eyed. Mind you, Spartacus does not cry, but I think he'd been keeping a lot of fear and emotion bottled up and it all just hit him in that moment. We both let out a big sigh of relief and sat quietly for a while.

So, it looks like he's going to be sticking around a while longer, and for that, we are both extremely happy.

The Call

Well it finally happened. I got the call every child dreads -- my father called to tell me he's been diagnosed with cancer. He was stoic, even detached in his delivery of the information, which I have come to recognize as his technique to cover up his worry. I know he's scared, but he would never let on. And now, everything changes, all because of a single phone call. How many times has this same scenario played itself out in the kitchens of homes throughout the country? And what are the outcomes? The mind races with the possibilities -- both good and bad!!

He doesn't know much, except that it's serious -- doctors removed a swollen gland from his left armpit the size of a golf ball and one from his right armpit that was even larger. Both were biopsied and determined to be malignant with melanoma. He will be having a PET scan and an MRI this week to determine how widespread and at what stage the cancer has developed. We will all be sweating out the next few days.

My dad has been battling skin cancer for many years. Once a quarter he's been seeing a dermatologist to have bad looking lesions removed. He wears protective clothing and a hat and religiously applies sun block -- now. But he didn't always. For years, he allowed himself to be exposed to the sun unprotected and now he is paying for his folly. But this is different -- this cancer has moved inside his body and is in the lymph nodes. All his ailments up to now: arthritis, high blood pressure, neuropathy and heart valve surgery have been light work compared to the big C -- cancer. This is time, I'm scared too.

WOW -- Weekend of Weather

The picture above is representative of what the neighborhoods near my house look like. The wind and rain of Saturday have reeked havoc on trees and power lines. There are 22,000 Westchester county residents still without power 48 hours after the storm. If not for some handy work with a chainsaw by a local resident, this street would be blocked.

We lost power at 4:30pm Saturday and didn't get it back until 9pm on Sunday. It made for a challenging weekend to say the least. I've heard that some Greenwich, CT residents won't be restored until this weekend. I felt like Magellan navigating to my destinations with so many streets closed due to the trifecta of obstacles -- either flooding, downed trees or downed power lines. It amazes me that I live in one of the most affluent areas in the United States and we still can't figure out how to supply our homes with uninterrupted electrical power. Why do we still hang wires on poles just begging Mother Nature to drop trees on them? It seems like a silly game -- one that she is clearly winning.

Kelsey's Back at UNH

On Sunday, I flew Kelsey back to the University of New Hampshire for the second semester of her freshman year. It was GREAT to have her home. It made for even teams and I was no longer a man without a country in my own home. She'll be home again in March, but only for a few days -- she plans to spend part of her spring break out at Butler University in Indiana visiting her boyfriend Dave Flynn.

We flew to Portsmouth in the morning, landing just before noon. The weather was overcast and grey, but we quickly got above the clouds and it got better as we flew northeast. We landed in clear conditions at Pease International airport. A big storm was due to hit home around 5pm, so I was anxious to get back to HPN as early as possible. Kelsey's friend Kyle met us at the airport and drove her back to campus. I was back in the air within 15 minutes and glad to be heading home. We'd had a 25 knot tailwind on the trip up to Portsmouth, but now I was flying into that same wind so it made for slow going. The weather got progressively worse as I flew southwest and within 30 minutes I was inside the clouds flying on instruments. The temperature was right around 0 degrees celcius so I was concerned about icing. Fortunately, I didn't encounter any and the trip gave me a chance to practice my instrument flying. To my surprise, I was very sharp on the gauges and flew with great control. My Bi-annual flight review is coming later this month, so that bodes well for me to pass with flying colors.

Four hours door to door -- I got home just in time for the AFC Championship game on television. Too bad the Jets couldn't keep their streak alive. It was a fun game to watch and the NFC Championship game was even better. Not a bad Sunday.

Christmas Break in Canada

We’ve never really gone anywhere over Christmas break. Our typical family routine has been to hang around the house and play with our new stuff. Mary Beth usually takes some time off from work and I will usually take the day before or the day after Christmas, but never the entire week. Our big traveling family vacation has typically been during the February school holiday or occasionally the Easter break.

This year was different. Because Kelsey is now in college, she has a different school break schedule than the local school system which makes vacationing as a family challenging. Perhaps because our trip to Mont-Tremblant had been so much fun last year, she wanted to go again with our entire family and her boyfriend’s family as well. Our only option for this was to go over the Christmas break. I found a house big enough for all of us – again using the greatest realtor in the Laurentian Mountains, David Coderre. We planned to leave Saturday, the day after Christmas and stay until the following Saturday, Jan. 2nd; spending the New Year holiday with our neighbors to the North.

The weather was a major challenge to this year’s trip. It rained in Tremblant on Christmas Day and was forecast to rain on both Saturday and Sunday as well. Our Saturday drive to Mont-Tremblant should have taken 7 ½ hours, but ended in Plattsburgh, NY after only 5. David Coderre called to tell us the roads around Montreal and up into the mountains were becoming impassable due to freezing rain and we should not continue over the border. Better to wait until the next day. We found cheap accommodations at a Days Inn, ate at Applebee’s, bowled 2 games at the local lanes and caught the 9pm showing of The Blind Side. We were on our way again at 6am on Sunday and arrived at the house by 9:30am. We skied Sunday afternoon in a light rain and fog. Monday brought temperatures 25 degrees colder with sub-zero Fahrenheit wind chills at the top of the mountain. The conditions were fair, but 1/3 of the trails were closed due to the rain and the glades were all closed off. The weather stayed very cold and overcast for the next 3 days. By Thursday, it warmed a little and Friday was the nicest day with temperatures in the mid-twenties. The drive home on Saturday was relatively uneventful, but part of it was made in a snow storm.

I learned a few things from this trip:

• The week between Christmas and New Years is 40% more expensive than February
  
• In February, U.S. schools have one of two different weeks off and Canadian’s aren’t on break, which helps dramatically with the crowds.
• Reservations at restaurants and activities are nearly impossible during Christmas week.
• A larger crowd makes skiing easier because groups of equally capable skiers can split up without leaving anyone alone.

We skied 5 days, took 1 day off to go snow tubing and went on an evening 2-horse open sleigh ride. In all, it was a good trip but I don’t think I would do it again. For me, February is the best month to be in Mont-Tremblant.

Videos:
The house in Canada
Base Lodge
Snow Tubing 1
Snow Tubing 2
Snow Tubing 3

The Eagle Has Landed

After weeks of preparation and many levels of approvals and signatures, my son Jack began his Boy Scout Eagle Project a few weeks ago and we completed the construction phase this past Sunday. A Boy Scout Eagle Award Project must benefit a non-profit organization and be permanent or sustainable -- it must provide on-going value.

Jack's project is to winterize an outdoor kennel for our local Adopt-A-Dog shelter. The director wanted to cover the opening between the roof-line of the kennel and a surrounding fence by installing removable roof extensions. By covering this gap between the roof and the fence, it formed a wind barrier which they believe will raise the temperature in the kennel by about 20 degrees. This will allow the center to use the outdoor kennel year-round. These extensions need to be removable so the kennel will not be too hot in the warmer months of summer
Boy Scouting tries to teach leadership and communication skills to teenage boys. The purpose of the Eagle Project, in addition to it's community service benefit, is to give the Eagle candidate the opportunity to demonstrate effective leadership and communication. The scout can not perform any of the work on the project himself, but instead must plan the entire thing, organize a group of volunteers to help, show them what needs to be done, and then guide them through the process. It's quite a lot for a sixteen year-old to handle.With the construction now complete, Jack must next finish the fund raising to pay for the materials used. That should happen in February and March. Then he must write up the entire project for a review by a Board of Adult Boy Scout leaders. The hard part is behind him, but the next two parts are not without their challenges.

Click here to see photos of the project.

Settling In

Mary Beth and I visited Kelsey at the University of New Hampshire this past weekend for Family weekend. We all had a very nice time. We left on Friday morning -- we both took the day off and we took Lizzie out of school -- headed for Rochester, NH to see a horse that Mary Beth was interesting in possibly buying. We arrived at the barn in the late afternoon and the girls took turns riding the horse. She was big and good-looking, but there was clearly something wrong with her right hind leg, so Mary Beth decided to pass.

We arrived in Durham in time to take Kesley out to dinner. Even though the food is excellent at UNH, most students crave an off campus meal. We went to Applebee's in Newington for a fine dinner of "comfort" food. We learned that Kelsey is settling in; she has 4 or 5 good friends, a job two days a week, and a routine and rhythm to her life. Her classes are not as overwhelming as she once thought, her first few quizzes have proven to her she can compete academically. All is well except that she desperately misses her high school boyfriend Dave Flynn. Boy, does she miss Dave!

Things are settling in with Mary Beth and me. We are becoming more comfortable with new patterns at home. I have my SUV back and get the luxury of choosing which car to drive in the morning. Meals for 4 are now the norm and clean up seems a tad bit easier. There is less competition for the home computers and less fighting over the TV. We speak to Kelsey every couple of days by cell phone and I see her frequent updates on Facebook and Twitter. Not quite the same as seeing her everyday, but it's enough to sustain me.

And even Jack seems to be settling in and taking his school work and chores at home more seriously. He wants a new computer and is willing to do more work at home to build his nest egg. He usually knocks off his homework before we even get home and seems more engaged in his classes. Only the report card will tell us for sure. He needs a 3.0 GPA to qualify for the "good student discount" from our insurance company. The discount is worth almost $1,600 and without it he will not be allowed to get his license. Carrots are better than sticks.

A new phase has begun for all of us and we all seem to be making the adjustment. Change is constant -- don't get comfortable.

Kelsey's Off to College

Mary Beth and I spent Friday taking our oldest daughter Kelsey to Durham, NH to begin her freshman year at the University of New Hampshire. It was an exciting and sad day for us all. We pulled out of the driveway at 7:15am for the 4 hour drive up to New England. The suburban was completely filled with items to decorate and outfit her room that she and MB had bought over the previous 10 days. Here's the math: Full car = empty bank account. (I didn't budget this into my college cost calculations!)

We arrived on campus around 11:30am and the move in process was in full swing. Police directing traffic, upperclassmen helping carry things into the dorms, sign-in sheets, key distribution and finally arrival at the room. Her room as a corner room which meant two windows and an "L"-shaped floor plan. No sign of the roommate, so Kelsey was free to pick which side she liked and the unpacking began. What started as a fairly stark, institutional space, finished up as a rather cozy and attractive dorm room. Kelsey's roommate Gabby, (they found each other in June on Facebook, so are already friends) arrived when we were mostly finished, so we relinquished the space to them so Gabby could settle into her side.

We had a very late lunch (3:30pm) at the closest dining hall -- the food at UNH is very highly rated for good reason! Kelsey had a dorm orientation meeting at 4:30 and during lunch, she began to cry as our departure crept closer. It took everything Mary Beth and I had not to join her crying, but we both knew if we fell apart, she would get even worse. So, we helped her recover, kissed her goodbye and left.

Wow -- end of an era. She is no longer ours to care for, to set the rules for, to watch over. We won't know what she is doing all the time and when she gets home at night. I cried the next morning as I realized I wouldn't be making breakfast for her that Saturday, or any other day in the near future. The dinner table is now set for 4 -- what do we do with the extra chair? Leave it as a reminder or move it to the basement until needed? We've spoken to her everyday and she is settling in. I know she'll be fine, and I also know the same is true for me and Mary Beth, but right now things feel out of sorts.

A Trip to Nantucket

A few weekends ago, on a gloriously sunny day, I took Mary Beth and Elizabeth to Nantucket to go to the beach. This was just a day trip - a luxury most can't accomplish - but with the plane, it's relatively easy. We left Westchester County airport at 10:30am and were on the beach by 12:15pm.

Lizzie sat upfront with me and Mary Beth seemed content in the back. We had a cooler full of lunch supplies and a boogey board for the waves. The beach was perfect and not too crowded. We left the beach around 4:30pm and were on our way home by 5pm. We arrived at Westchester County airport by 6:40pm and picked up Chinese food for dinner. Everyone had a great day!

This was Mary Beth's second flight in the airplane and this time the weather was ideal. She seemed to enjoy the scenery and took a number of photos from the back seat. It seems she may be warming up to the benefits of general aviation -- her Facebook posting that night read as follows:

Mary Beth Wellington had fun on Nantucket just for the day! I guess it's a little handy having a husband who's a pilot!

I hope this leads to many more adventures for her and me.

Quest for the Blue Tuxedo

My daughter recently attended her high school prom. She looked beautiful in her blue dress and her date wore a white tux and tails. Kelsey had been anxious because Dave's outfit was a surprise and so she was nervous as to what he might be wearing. I told her that it couldn't be worse than what I wore to my prom -- a powder blue, polyester tuxedo including a ruffled shirt. Of course she laughed and asked to see a picture, but unfortunately, I didn't have one.

At the same time as all this prom business was going on, I received an invitation to my 30th high school reunion in Lewisburg, PA. I only went to LAHS for my junior and senior years of high school and my family moved back to the metro NY area shortly after I graduated. I had a great time there in my 2 years, but since my family no longer lived in the area, I've never been back -- not ever in 30 years. I stayed in touch with only one person from LAHS, Mary (McKeegan) Norman and she called me to ask if I was going to attend. We got to talking about our prom and how much fun it had been and about my blue tuxedo. Mary did not have any pictures of me in the tux, but she was in touch with my prom date, Heidi Wulcyzn and would ask her for one. Within a few days, Heidi had written back to Mary with the following:

John did not wear a blue tuxedo to the prom, it would have clashed with my dress and his hair. He wore an off-white tux and I will bring a picture to the reunion to prove it."

This stumped me for a while as I know I wore a blue tuxedo to a prom, and then it hit me: the junior prom. My date to the junior prom was Kimberly Kirkland and I was able to find her on Facebook. I sent Kim a note explaining my situation and asked her if she had any pictures of me in the blue tuxedo. After a few anxious days of waiting for a reply, I got the following:

Hey John:

I can confirm for your daughter that you wore a blue tux, but unfortunately, I did not record that fashion faux pas for posterity.

Kimberly

So the quest had come to an end, but all the activity got me excited to go to the reunion and a picture of me in a white tux would have to satisfy Kelsey's curiousity. I arrived in Lewisburg around noon and met the Norman's (Mary and her husband Chuck and their two children Irene and Chas) at the children's park in town. Mary's parents were there as well and it was great to see them after so many years. We had lunch together at our favorite high school hangout, La Casa de Pizza -- Za's for short. The food at Za's tasted EXACTLY the same as it had all those years ago!

After lunch and Mr. & Mrs. McKeegan's departure, we walked around town. Lewisburg was as quaint as ever, but somehow seemed much smaller than I'd remembered. Many of the shops were the same, but a few were new. After an hour or so, the Norman's retired to the hotel and I decided to walk down South 3rd Street to see my old house. It looked about the same, yet again, smaller than I'd remembered. I didn't have the courage to knock on the door and try to get a look inside.

Next it was back to the hotel for some serious studying of Mary's yearbook (I couldn't find mine) to try and remember my former classmates. Heidi Wulcyzn arrived a few hours later and presented me with the following:

Spring of 1979 - What were we thinking?!?

The three of us left for the prom leaving Chuck in charge of 3 kids -- his two and Heidi's son -- thanks Chuck! We were all a little concerned how everyone would look and if we'd recognize anyone, but all that was quickly put to rest. We had a FANTASTIC time! Most people looked remarkably similar to their high school pictures and it was easy to tell who they were. Years of no contact melted away in minutes and soon we were all enjoying each other's company and getting caught up on each other's lives. As I am telling the group my story about the quest for the blue tuxedo photo, another friend, Lori (Sholley) Bechtel says to me: "John, I only brought two pictures from high school with me tonight and you're not going to believe this one. I have no idea why I picked it." And there it was -- a picture of my best friend junior year, Bud Schuster, his date Lori Sholley and Kimberly Kirkland and me:

The trip had all been worth it. I was able to visit Lewisburg after 30 years, re-connect with long lost friends, and share with my family a period in my life that had for them been a mystery. We've all had great laughs over the pictures from my high school days and my kids find it amazing that I was once their age. I've never been much for reunions and I don't think they mean much if they are less than 20 years, but I do recommend everyone attend all reunions that are 25 years or greater. Life is about friendship and relationships and I've been blessed with many good ones -- sometimes you just need to be reminded.

Mary Norman, Christie Pyper, Heidi Wulcyzn, me and Lori (Sholley) Bechtel

Craig Adams, Doug Fero, Craig Harley, Tim Snook and Tom Naugle

Mary Beth takes a flight

I started flying in October of 2007 and have accumulated over 330 hours since then. I have taken many trips to many places and enjoyed the company of my three children, my cousin, my brother-in-law, my father and many friends. The one person who has never been in the plane with me, however, is my wife Mary Beth. Well all that changed this past Monday.

Our daughter Kelsey has decided to attend the University of New Hampshire in the fall. June 15 & 16 was a freshman and parent orientation on campus in Durham, NH. The program started at noon on Monday and concluded by noon on Tuesday. During our previous two visits, Kelsey & I had flown up to a nearby airport, Portsmouth International, and rented a car to get to the campus. The flight takes 1 1/2 hours verses driving time of 4 1/2 hours. So, our options were to leave at 7am on Monday and drive to UNH or leave at 9:30am and fly. Kelsey appealed to Mary Beth, "Mom, I really want you to attend this orientation as you've never seen the campus and I want you to come with us, but I am not driving 9 hours in the car for a 24 hour program. Can't you just fly with us?" And much to my surprise, Mary Beth said yes.

Mary Beth texting her last Will & Testament

The weather was not ideal for a first flight. I had hoped for clear skies and calm winds. We got the calm winds, but the skies were not clear. There was a slight overcast leaving White Plains that we had to get above and a thick layer at Portsmouth for our arrival. The departure went fine and we got up to 7,000 feet without really penetrating any significant clouds. The trip across Connecticut and Massachusetts was made in bright sunshine above the cloud layer which appeared to top out at 4,500 feet. Mary Beth seemed quite calm and was even able to sleep during this portion of the trip. Kelsey zoned out with her iPod.

As we got into New Hampshire, the clouds tops were higher and we had to start our decent to the airport. We entered the clouds at about 5,000 feet and were in and out of layers down to about 2,500 feet. I had hoped to avoid IMC conditions during Mary Beth's first flight, but that wasn't to be the case. The good news was there was no turbulence at all. Below 2,500 feet we entered solid IMC conditions during the remainder of the approach to Portsmouth. We got established on the ILS 16 localizer and began our decent to the runway. We broke out of the clouds at 800 feet and the runway was dead ahead -- this seemed to please my passengers! We made a smooth landing and taxied to the parking area. I must say, Mary Beth remained calm through the entire flight.

We had a great visit at UNH and while there, Mary Beth received a call from a friend that was over in Vermont looking at horses for sale and had one that she wanted her to see. Mary Beth asked if we could fly to Burlington on our way home and I told her it was only an hour away. On Sunday, we left New Hampshire around noon and flew to Vermont, spent two hours looking at a few horses and then flew home in time for dinner. Each flight involved some flying in the clouds, but without much turbulence, Mary Beth didn't seem to mind. The two days offered a great demonstration of the utility of general aviation and I hope she will fly with me again. We'll see........

The Prom

This past Saturday was Kelsey's prom. After months of worrying and planning, dress picking and re-picking, haircuts and make-up, the day came. Her boyfriend of 6 months, Dave Flynn arrived to pick her up in a white tux and tails. The two looked fantastic!

The prom was held on a boat cruising the Hudson River and was followed by a late night comedy club in the city and then back to a friends house to sleep, followed by a pool party and barbeque on Sunday. Prior to the prom, one of her friend's parents hosted a pre-prom party for all the parents to come by and take photos and see the kids off. There were ten couples sharing two limousines to the event.
I couldn't help but be struck by my rememberences of all of these kids, most of whom I've known since the 2nd grade, and how grown up and beautiful they all looked. I was filled with pride at how these young adults have turned out, but was also sad at the realization that this was clearly a demarkation point for their jouney into adulthood. Soon they would all be off to college and on with the rest of their lives.

How did this happen? It seems it was just yesterday that Kelsey was a toddler riding her rocking pony, but now she stood there in her gorgeous blue dress looking very grown up and beautiful. There are days that I wish I could go back to the time of toddlers and little girls, but there are others that I would not trade for anything -- and this day is one of them. I love you Kelsey!

Pictures of the pre-prom

Westchester Drivers: Be afraid, very afraid!

Today, my 16 year-old son, Jack, has gotten his learner's permit. Of course, he doesn't need a learner's permit because he already knows how to drive. It's true -- just ask him. With great confidence he will tell you what a great driver he is. He knows this, of course, by extrapolating the skill with which he has moved our cars around the driveway to what his performance will be on the open road. That's right, because he has successfully moved the cars in and out of parking spaces in our driveway and in empty parking lots, he believes that he possesses all the necessary skills to drive.

Perhaps he's also factoring in his many hours of simulator training playing video games on XBox, Playstation and the PC. These have clearly prepared him for high speed, open road racing at frightening speeds. I can't wait for the day he calls to ask me "Where's the reset button" after his first fender-bender.

His confidence and conviction are staggering to me, but I think this is common among teenagers. Are they really from this planet?? The only joy this day has brought me came from his mother's response to my inquiry how he'd done at the DMV --

"Sure, this test he passes." Too funny.

Whale Watch in Provincetown, Mass

On Saturday, Lizzie and I flew to Provincetown, Mass (KPVC) to join a group of my flying friends for a cruise on the Dolphin VIII for a whale watch. This time of year the whales come in close to the eastern shore of Cape Cod to feed. It makes for wonderful whale watching.

In all we saw 12 - 15 different whales and an entire school of White Sided Dolphins. It made for a wonderful day and I highly recommend it to others.

Pictures of the trip: http://jhwellington.shutterfly.com/332

College Selections - Part 2

So the final tally was 9 acceptances and 3 declines:

Accepted at:
University of Vermont
University of New Hampshire
University of Maryland
SUNY Stony Brook
Penn State
Indiana University - Bloomington
Miami Ohio
Indiana University Perdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
University of Delaware

Rejected by:
University of North Carolina
University of Florida
Duke University

Three weeks ago, Mary Beth and Kelsey went to visit Indiana U. and Miami Ohio. The trip took 3 days and what we now know is neither of them is enamoured with the midwest. Upon her return, Kelsey had already concluded that Penn State was just too big, leaving us with just Maryland and New Hampshire as finalists.

Two weeks ago, Kelsey and her good friend Alexandra went with her parents for an overnight visit to College Park in Maryland. She has been accepted into their Scholars program which offers smaller class sizes and exclusive housing with others in your major. The visit was a huge success and she called me the next morning to say she thinks she wants to be a Terrapin! Yipee -- that's where I wanted her to go!

This past Friday, we flew to New Hampshire for a 9am visit with the head of the Zoology department at UNH. It was a warm and beautiful day and the flight to Portsmouth International airport was glorious. We landed a little after 8am and we were on campus by 8:45. While Kelsey was visiting with the professor, I went and met with the President of the university, Mark Huddleston. Turns out he owns the same type of plane that I do and we've been conversing on the owners website forum for the last few years. When I mentioned we were visiting the campus, he invited me to his office.

The town is a quaint New England jewel, the school shows beautifully and they offer a zoology major -- case closed -- she's going to UNH. We're all ecstatic! Having spent the day with her on campus, I totally support her decision. The schools a great fit for her and I know she'll be happy. GO WILDCATS!