Monday, August 11

Medina, NY

Sister brother reunion
Marcus and Adrienne are in play as the saying goes : they have recently sold their house and moving to a suburban block where Adrienne knows 12 neighboring families. Adrienne continues to kick ass and raise money for Niagara University (home of a Sweet 16 basketball team) and Marcus the Director of a refugee organisation in Buffalo. They are in process of adopting a child. I stand still around them.

Following a tour of Buffalo including two Frank Lloyd Wrights and a Louis Sullivan, we end up at Adrienne's cousin's house for a High School graduation party and backyard BBQ (taped to the beer chest: "Must be 21"). The Shakespeares overcome their fatigue and bashfulness and engage in the teenage action while Sonnet and I enjoy our extended family, including Patrick, who is implementing Obamacare in NYC and owns a tall building in Manhattan's East Village, and Judith, who creates costumes and hires out stock for films, theatre and television.

Sonnet and I bike along the Erie Canal (363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, 36 locks, total elevation differential of 565 feet. Opened October 26, 1825, an engineering marvel).

Madeleine: "You owe me five dollars. Can I have it?"
Me: "Since when ?"
Madeleine: "Two dollars that you borrowed. One dollar for walking ten feet with a plastic cup on my head. And the rest is interest."