Pat & Dash's Memorial Toast

 
On Saturday afternoon, March 29th, a Memorial Toast was held at the Mexican Restaurant La Coscina in Apex/Cary to celebrate the lives of Patrick Adolfi & his best friend Dash.
Close to 50 people showed up to express their care & love for the twosome who have completed their Earthly journey.

Jason, Pat's good friend, orgainzed the event & Pat's best friend, Tim, spoke, sharing numerous stories, most very funny & goofy, of his great friendship with Pat. He told of Pat's love for Sinatra & Elvis, that he was a tradional man with high moral standards. Patrick loved people & was always willing to help anyone in need, while not caring to accumulate worldly possessions himself. He did struggle with alcoholism, along with Type 1 diabetes, a disease which gave him great pain, yet he never complained.

Outside the Restaurant white balloons were given to each person attending, which were all released as the Memorial ended. Somehow fitting to be outside near the Lake, all the walkers & joggers together, saying a last goodbye to two fellow travelers on the "trail of life".

Grief For Two Walkers

In the past years Pat Adolfi & his dog Dash were regular strollers along the Lake Pine walkway. I didn't know his first name till recently, and only read his last name this week)
Dash was a Mastiff, a huge gentle canine who loped along side Pat, and 'loping' is exaggerating; he moved slowly. I would always say to Pat "Dash is jogging in his mind":)
He'd laugh and agree.
Pat was friendly to all, always with a smile and a "good morning" for fellow trail travelers.
Sadly, tragically, Pat took his life sometime on 3/15, after losing Dash a few months ago.
There will be a gathering at the new Mexican restaurant on Lake Pine this Sat. afternoon at 3pm to honor and raise a toast to Pat and Dash.
One less ray of sunshine.
They will be missed:(


From the obits in Rome, NY:
Pat Adolfi passed away very suddenly in Apex, NC on March 15, 2008.

To this day, if we say our last name in Syracuse, someone will ask if we know Pat. Then they would chuckle at some fond story about him. Pat had a strong emotional effect on people.

He is survived by his parents, Robert and Rosemary Adolfi, his three brothers, Scott, Steve and Chris, along with six nephews, two nieces, three sister-in-laws, dozens of relatives and friends who will miss him forever.

RomeSentinel.com

My Friends in Purple Aprons:)

 

Love this photo of three of my sales associates & good friends at Hallmark;
Teresa, Kristi, and Shirley.




Happy are those who really enjoy their job,
care deeply for their co-workers,
like their customers,
and love their dear manager:)
I am blessed:)

The Lake Pine Swans

 
An update on the Lake Pine swans: they have begun nesting! So now all the walkers, runners, joggers, bikers, strollers, roller bladers, skate boarders, etc., will be watching, waiting & hoping for the successful arrival of "swannettes" within the next month:)

Our Time In NY/A Time In History

Keith & I lived in picturesque upstate NY for almost 4 years right after we were married (1969-1973). A few weeks after settling into our tiny caretaker's cottage overlooking a small lake in Olive Bridge, a HUGE music festival, Woodstock, took place nearby. The town Woodstock was about 30 minutes from our mountain cabin, and the festivities took place just a few miles south of there. I must admit it sounded a bit too rowdy & too muddy for the two of us, but on the news nightly we'd see camera shots of hundreds of people pouring into Yeager's Farm, plus the numerous bands playing. Little did we know it was an HISTORICAL MUSIC HAPPENING, in our back yard!

Recently I watched a special UNC program on Pete Seeger. We saw Mr. Seeger once while he was sailing up and down the Hudson River on his sloop the Clearwater. He and his crew were drawing attention to how dirty the river had become and the need to clean it up.
We went into Kingston to see him, & hear him sing & play. He was a delight:)
Pete Seeger is a legend in the music world. I'm not sure I realized how amazing & talented a gentleman he was when I was in my early 20's!

Our part in cleaning up in the early 70's? Our church youth group, kids we grew to love like a family, volunteered to sort glass at the recycling center at the local dump. Now that's a funky outing once a month, but we were doing our part when recycling was a new idea (once again).

There are more sweet memories of that wonderful time/place in our lives, but enough to ponder tonight:)

Puppies & Pots

 
Friday, on a pretty & mild Spring day, a few friends & I headed to Seagrove, NC, the pottery meca of NC:) We're all pottery lovers & we were excited about spending the day together, away, on a field trip:)!
We left about 9:15 & arrived in the tiny town/community by 11. Kathy had never been on a pottery shopping expedition so we couldn't wait to show her around:)I had not been in a few years but thought I still remembered the general layout. Overall I did ok, & Nancy filled in as navigator when needed (I had sent for a map, which is a good idea if you're thinking of going. These potteries are quite spread out through the surrounding countryside).

There were shops filled with 20+ potters' work (a feast for the eye!). There were tiny cabins filled with one potter's creations. There were fancy shops with glass shelves & spotlights highlighting gorgeous shapes & sizes of pottery. There were old dark barns filled with such elegant artwork you'd have to catch your breath to believe they weren't in Tiffany's! There were finely detailed pieces. There were plain & simple pieces. There was every color imaginable! Some pots were unadorned, others intricately detailed.

Towards the beginning we decided we'd buy each other our birthday presents. That way we'd be getting the others something we knew they'd love, and, since we're becoming somewhat forgetful, we'd be surprised again when it was given to us:)! What fun that was!!

A side note: almost everywhere we went, the potters had 'at least' one dog. Often the dogs greeted us before the potter:) A happy life for many a puppy:) Puppies & pots:)
We all wondered about those "happy wagging tails" around delicate pottery???

We ate lunch in Westmore at a nice restaurant right across the road from the local school. The food was very good, especially the coconut cake--yum:)!!

We arrived back home about 5:30, tired but happy campers, clutching our treasures after sharing a sweet day on the "Pot Tour"!!

Love and Peace

 

This is a sign of progress!
So sweet to see paint brushes, used paint brushes:)
I love to paint:)
Painting creates a clean surface & gives dull things of this world fresh color!
These brushes were used for the Habitat for Humanity House.
A brand new house for a needy family.
So these brushes have love & "Peace" all over them:)

A "Peace"ful Day At Habitat

 
This first day of March, bright and early on a Saturday morning, 11 folks from Peace church met and caravaned to East Raleigh to be part of a work team at a Habitat home.
The day was perfect; high's reached 60 degrees, which meant cool inside & comfy warm in the sun. We had been told we were to help build a deck, nail on siding and put up soffits, but most of those jobs had been completed by a college crew last week. So "Bob the builder", our house team leader, gave us new assignments: spackling, caulking, painting trim & doors, and nailing down plywood in preparation for flooring.
It was an experience!
All of us worked intently, even as we stepped over and around one another, doing our individual tasks. Once in a while we would check on the team's progress and offer encouragement.
Shirley had a grand time with the nail gun--she was cruising! And Alex & Bill, the "plywood flooring team", measured and cut all day long! I was the "spackling captain" for a time, doling out the spackle & making sure all the trimwork was covered:) Cameron & Tim were the "main caulking men" (and believe me, everything in that house was caulked!), while Skye, Ben, Jonathan, & Jeb were the "chalking crew" for the plywood. Heather was assistant to the trim guy, among her other jobs. Beth & Lydia arrived later so ended up helping do a punch list at a nearby home three door's down, then joined us at lunchtime.

What a priviledge to give time for such a worthy cause---working as a team to help a family own a home of their own!
Our Peace crew worked for the glory of the LORD.
Would you consider helping Habitat?