We both agree… these 30 years have flown by.  And we both remember so clearly that lovely August day in Ann Arbor when we were married at the county jail.  To celebrate we got a big suite at the Suncadia Lodge overlooking the mountains and Cle Elum River.  We had a scrumptious dinner at the Hoist House Restaurant at Swiftwater Cellars.  This morning Trisha rode with me for 18 holes on the Rope Rider golf course then she retired to the spa for the afternoon while I played a pathetic second round of golf on the Prospector course.  Even with the crumby golf, it was a delightful 48 hours in a picturesque setting to recall the past thirty years and contemplate what the next decades hold for us.

My nephew Ryan, not yet 21 and already a Marine vet, got married today to his sweetheart, Alexa.  It was a lovely ceremony held outside in rural Delaware.

To celebrate our 29th anniversary we had an early breakfast at Salish Lodge then spent a few pensive moments in the mist from Snoqualmie Falls.

Last month, after years of monitoring stamp sales and auctions, I came across a collection of mint Spanish from 1993 through 2009, almost exactly complementing my previous holdings covering 1956-1991.  I just ordered the 1992 stamps from a dealer in Spain and when those arrive I’ll be nearly current.  I now have the big task of transferring the newly acquired items to my style binders and cataloging the some 1500 stamps.  It’s tedious and will take a couple hundred hours, I expect.

Processing Spanish stamp collection

We accompanied Tessa and Bo and Katie to Millersville, PA to attend Brian Bocage’s graduation.  The weather cooperated and the ceremonies moved along nicely.  It helped that the stadium concession stand was open and I could get a chocolate chip muffin to hold me over until lunch.

Brian at MU