Remembering Grappa Eddie

Grappa Eddie died on Thursday, August 20, 2009. He spent his last week in Hospice with the family gathered around. We were looking at pictures and laughing and remembering his adventurous life--or at least the stories he told about it. I hope to post more of hist stories here in the near future ...

I will remember many afternoons spent sitting around the kitchen table listing to his stories. He had a million of them!

I will remember plum dumplings every fall. This is a traditional Bohemian feast. Gramma Pickles actually made them, but Grappa always won the contest for who could eat the most.

I will remember Grappa taking my brother and me fishing with looonnnggg cane poles at Rabes Lake probably before I was even in school. Fishing was important to him.

Grappa drove a yellow school bus for many years. After long days at school, I can remember speeding down 5th Ave. Road at 80 miles an hour. For years, I actually thought there was a separate speed limit for school buses!

I will remember bailing hay on the hottest days of summer, on ridiculously steep hills. My brother and I were still pretty small then. We could pile the bales 2 or 3 high, but Grappa would have to stop and re-stack the bales to get more on the wagons.

After I learned to quilt, I decided that I would make a quilt for Grappa Eddie. When I shared my intentions, everyone in my family said "Why do you want to make a quilt for Grappa? He's not going to be around much longer." This was in 2004. My mom took care of the quilting and the binding. When we gave it to him, we made sure he understood that this quilt was to be used, and not put away and "saved" to keep it nice.

I found some orange blossom fabric and fell in love with the colors and the textures. It reminded me of Grappa. He had a talent for picking the best boxes of Indian River grapefruit and oranges from the travelling truck drivers who sold them on the road in northern Wisconsin. Grappa knew how to pick the fruit at the peak of ripeness, sweet, and fresh, and juicy. He knew what he was doing!

The pattern is called Northwind, however, I softened it to "Orange Blossom Breeze" because Grappa didn't tolerate the cold as he did in his younger days. This quilt was my way of keeping him warm with memories of his cross-country drives down south and the sweet, fresh fruit of Florida--where everyone has a fruit tree in their yard!

After Grappa moved into the nursing home 2 years ago, Gramma returned the quilt to me. They decided the detergents in the nursing home would be too harsh on the quilt. She gave it back to me--it still smelled like their house. Now I get to keep the quilt and remember Grappa Eddie.

I Can Still Cook! : Greek Cheesburger

Greek Cheeseburger (with feta and cumin) topped with Tatziki (yogurt, cucumber, and garlic).
Side order of "fries."

Keune veggies utilized :
Cucumber, potato, greens, garlic

And it was tasty, too!

Bristol Renaisance Faire 2009

A Griffin atop one of the shops.


A lovely day with Lee and Vicki. Lee had a knack for finding these quiet little alcoves.


The attraction of the day was (there for this weekend only) Tartanic, a Scottish Bagpipe and Drum band. Wonderful! High energy. We caught all their performances that day. I even bought a CD and got their autographs. God I love Scotland! Yeah--those are real Highland Pipes in the picture. And they know how to play them, too. And they're all wearing Kilts.


Highland Bagpipes and the rising sun. Tartanic : also known as Men without Pants.


This little elf was watching Tartanic with us.


Even managed to catch some of the May Pole Dance.


I also got to ride an elephant--briefly. Her name was Lady Essex. She's 39 years old, so we're about the same age.

Here's what I purchased : a Mug O' the Woods Mug made by Doug "Doc" Rice. These beautiful and rugged mugs are hand cut from logs, many with the bark still on, and many with moss and lichens, then dipped in polyurathane. Since I am the kind of person who takes pictures of tree bark just to study the color and textures, I was really drawn to these mugs. My Dad would love them, too--as he loves his woods.


Anyone know what kind of wood this is? I forgot to ask ... I was so tickled to find one that fit my hand just right, that I wasn't worried about the kind of wood it was.



An Encounter :
Very nice and unusual pieces, so I bought one at the end of the day. While I was there trying them all out -- I had to find one that fit my hand -- I got into a very nice conversation with a young man who I imagine looked like CL at that age with long, dark, wavy hair (before I knew him). He was very pretty, with a few Avalon braids and a kilt. I'd seen him throughout the day--something Dream Academy about him ... He's another Tartanic Groupie, like me, Lee, and Vicki. He came up from Chicago, and is there most weekends. Would love to just get on a circuit going from Ren Faire to Ren Faire. I told him he could make that happen, many people do just that. He was going to start working for the Mug o' the Woods Man. All the while we're talking, I was touching / feeling /trying every mug in the shop to find one that felt comfortable in my hands. So many beautiful mugs -- Rugged. Natural--like a walk in the woods, minus the mosquitoes. The owner had stepped out for a moment. I had finally found the mug I wanted and set it on the counter, and asked if the young man could take my money. He could take cash, but was not yet checked out on plastic yet. I said, "Well, If I stay a little longer, I'll probably find something else I have to go home with. My Dad would love these. He loves his woods." Just then the owner came back and I was able to purchase my mug. Then this young man gave me a stalk of purple-blue orchids. He said, "I'll give you this flower, too. I've been carrying it around all day, looking for someone to give it to--the right person to give it to. The colors match your dress. Blue and green and purple."

I hope I said "Thank you. Every woman loves getting flowers!" I think I laughed and said, "I've got the dress! I'll see you at the drum jam," and I walked away with my mug and his flowers.

That was so sweet! Made my day, made me wish I was younger, too. (Actually no--I'm much more comfortable with myself now, than I was at 20. I'll stick with my real age.) I probably would have talked with him more, but the end of the day drum jam was about to start. I haven't been able to be part of that drum jam since before Oliver! It was a great day! He made a memory for me. ;-)

I wonder if he knows how talking with him and him choosing me for his flower made my day? As I was walking away, of course I thought of all sorts of other things to say to him/to ask him, to encourage him to live his dreams--whatever they may be. Had he been to Scotland? (He was wearing a blue and green kilt ...) Go! It's like Home! Do you sing or play an instrument? Act? What else do you like about the Faire? If you're working in a shop all day, you won't be able to get out and about the Faire ...

In Your Eyes ...

I think this might be the Jeffrey Gaines (not Ben Harper) version of the Peter Gabriel classic.

This has got to be one of the most beautiful love songs of all time --whether you interpret it as love between 2 people, 2 friends, or on a spiritual level. It works all ways. Even better that you can dance to it!

This goes out to all the Anchors in my life : Sandy, CL, J, SKS, Caroline, Dottie, DO, Sinden, DMJ.

In your eyes, I am complete. Thank you.
In my eyes, YOU are complete.
Thank you for sharing this journey with me. I'm glad you're here with me.

The light, the heat--that's the spark Albert Schweitzer talks about : "At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."--Albert Schweitzer.

You've all rekindled a spark for me at some point. May I have done the same for you.
Love,
M.