South Hadlley, Massachusetts

Saturday, October 31, 2009

After a restful night in Bettina's and Michael's pleasant house, we were served a nice breakfast including Swedish knackebrod. Michael had to work and Bettina took Jalil and me sightseeing in her brand new diesel Jetta.

First Bettina drove through Mt. Holyoke College, where Michael and Bettina teach. This is walking distance from their house. Bettina is teaching at Harvard this year.
It is a beautiful campus. Next, she drove to Northampton, where we checked out the Farmers' Market. She needed to make a salad for the dinner party they were going to that evening. We bought apples and bell peppers for our cooler. Nearby was Smith College. Bettina needed to return a book and I found a pair of earrings - gray stone. I could not find my jewelry bag that morning. I thought that I had left it in Plymouth - not true. Then we had to check out their new restrooms. There had been an art competition to decorate the restrooms! Bettina talked us in to see them and I took some pictures.

On the way we saw an unusual veterans memorial honoring soldiers from all American wars, it seemed.

Our next goal was Historic Deerfield further north. Deerfield was settled in the 1660's and was the northernmost outpost of English colonial civilization. This is now an outdoor museum with historic buildings. Some of them were moved there from elsewhere. We walked around in the nice fall air. The fall colors were not at its peak any more but still pretty. In the gift store, Bettina and I bought some glass earrings. I still believed that I did not have any.

We were now getting hungry so Bettina took us to the Bookmill in Montague next to a small waterfall. We were able to sit outside even though it was raining a little - a unique place. Bettina and I had an unusual warm brown rice salad with lots of green leaves, carrots, and beets.

By the time we got home, it was time to fix the salad Bettina and Michael were bringing to their French movie night. It was Halloween, so they got dressed up. Their dog - do not remember his name but it had to do with the Dalai Llama - also was dressed up - as a bumblebee.

Jalil watched an important baseball game and I tried to track down my father's relatives in Rhode Island using a 10-year old letter and the internet. I contacted two different persons. One was unfriendly and the other was pleasant when I tried to convince him that he was Swedish. "No", he insisted, "I am Portuguese!" I gave up. Should have done this a long time ago. My dad had many cousins in Rhode Island and I visited them in 1965 but since cousin Gunhild died, I have lost contact.