The Continuing Adventures of Alex and Cati*

…while you’re busy making other plans.”  John Lennon

This past weekend a group of our friends from the capital district in Upstate NY came to visit us for a weekend of chatting, shopping (for the ladies), eating, drinking, and having fun enjoying NJ.  The vast majority of our guests drove for around four hours to get here, so they all planned to spend the night after the shopping and dinner.  So, all in all, there were nine adults and six children under one roof.  Fun, right?  Well, then the snow came. Wet and heavy on the leaf filled trees.

Soon, all the plans we had suddenly changed.  Roads became inaccessible due to felled trees and limbs obstructing roads.  There were power lines down as well.  The quietly falling snow and the characteristic silence that comes with it was constantly pierced with the sound of cracking branches and popping power lines from all directions.  We jokingly called it “Treemageddon.”  So our town’s infrastructure was shut down.  We had no electricity after about 3PM, and the heat went with it.  Fortunately, our hot water heater and stove top are gas powered and they remained functional.  Take a look at the photos below for an idea of the damage in my neighborhood.

Roads were completely blocked.

Power lines were touching the ground on what seemed like every street.

An anecdote goes with the photo above.  In the center of the photo above, you can see where my foot prints end.  It was from that spot that I stopped and took the preceding photo of the grey house before turning around.  I walked about 30 feet and my friend T and I heard a loud crack and spun to see a tree limb fall very near the place I had just been standing taking pictures.  You can see that the tree limb in the photo is only a few feet from where my foot prints end.  Close call, eh? It was about this time that we decided our little tour should end and we went home.

We had ordered food from one of our favorite Italian spots, but the restaurant had lost power and we weren’t sure we could get there even if they could make the food.  We called them and they confirmed that they were unable to get us the food.  So we headed for the local grocery store to find it closed.  So we kept looking and eventually found another grocery store that was “half-open.”  That meant we could access the produce and food aisles, but not the frozen food cases.  That was fine.  We loaded up on pasta, sauce, milk, bread, and produce and made dinner for all.  Of course the dinner was served by candlelight (and lantern light– thanks to our always-prepared friends).

Before you go feeling sorry for us, y’know what?  We had a great time.  The food was good, we had plenty of libations, and the nine adults seemed to generate enough body heat for us to not really notice that we had lost central heating.  We spent the night, gabbing, and catching up with dim lighting and cold beer.

We all had tea in the morning and toasted bagels on the stove.  We jokingly referred to our weekend as “urban camping.”

The next morning we dug out the cars, said our good-byes, and saw our friends off.  We’re gonna miss ‘em.  That’s for sure.

I took the photo below from my backyard.  That’s my neighbor’s backyard.  The tree took out the fence– serious stuff.



Cati and I celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary recently.  A lot has changed in our lives (life?) in the last five years. It’s easy for me to see that cultures that subjugate women are often prone to higher incidences of violence and zealotry.  It appears that when some societies’ collective male psyche is left unchecked by the feminine counterpoint, we see a sort of frat-boy mentality played out to extremes.

Okay, “what the hell is he talking about?”– I am making a point.  Women make us men better men.  This happens on a societal and, for me, a personal level– I have seen the benefit.  Cati has pointed out that it’s a two-way street– hence the title of the post.  She and I are in this together and we’ve completed the first 5 years of the program .  We have both grown and changed.  Some of our opinions have mellowed over the years and others have strengthened. Sometimes we agree; often we don’t. I always like to have a drink before an argument to reassure me about how right I am. I know, Cati is a lucky gal. 

We decided to spend the actual evening of our anniversary at home.  We put the peanuts to bed and I cooked dinner while Cati worked on a scavenger hunt through the house to find her anniversary gifts (she just loves that– really).  I made ajo blanco for the first course to be enjoyed with a glass (or two) of Veuve Cliquot (man, that stuff is good).  Then we had oven roasted asparagus and grilled bone-in ribeye steaks from Whole Paycheck Foods.  I made a chimichurri to go with the meat– it kinda stole the show (for me).  We enjoyed a bottle of Spanish red from Ribera del Duero called Pesquera that our fine friends gave us as a gift [Thanks, J and A].  The best part of all is that we had this great little dinner outside on our deck and enjoyed the cool evening weather. 

I also enjoyed the view; who wouldn’t? [wink wink]

Prior to this dinner, I had the chance to take a Harley for a spin.  My friend just bought a 2011 Nightster.  It’s been a while since he has ridden and he was uncomfortable making the 30-mile trip back from the dealership to his house. I, being the giver that I am, volunteered to ride it for him. I know, I know, I’m practically a martyr, ovah here.  It was great fun speeding through the evening on a fast cool bike.  I think about getting another motorcycle from time to time, but I know it will just be a garage ornament as I wouldn’t make time to ride it (too much other stuff to do).

In fact, a look at the photos below demonstrates why I can’t make time to ride motorcycles.  Our weekends and evenings have been filled with trips to the beach, bike rides on NJ trails, cool evening walks through the neighborhood, visits from friends, Independence Day parades, impromptu backyard pool parties, and bicycle rides through Manhattan (sans babies).  See? Busy times are these.

As Cati and I were walking, I happened to look up and notice the intersection at which we were standing.

Naturally, my brain went right to this:

P.S. Still singing it.