Saturday, May 9, 2026

22 April 2026 St Louis: Flying to Saint Louis and Visiting With Tony2000

 


Tony's house is right next to the airport.  We got into our hotel and then headed over to Tony's.  There was a dispensary right down the street and we stocked up before walking over to his house.  His garden and pond is even better than the last time we saw it.  He told us about seeing a great blue heron in his pond and the the subsequent lack of gold fish swimming in the pond.  Tu, the beagle, was very excited to meet us and he even jumped up in my lap for a hot second or two.  We ordered a nostalgic set of pizzas from Imos and eventually bid Tony adieu.  



Tony's yard is a masterpiece of rock gardens and flowers


Big lavenday irises


A tiny bird house


Hearing a new story


Non-stop Tu


A home made chair


Vary rustic and comfy too


Pictures on the fridge!


The pond is alive and well


Check, pond is secure


Cheese


Bird nests


Peaceful


Iris


A smokehouse not an outhouse


Lilly of the valley


Peonies


Who will feed the birds?


Who will feed the squirrles?


Imos Pizza!


The last piece, the piece de resistance! 







Friday, May 8, 2026

21 April 2026 Baltimore: More New Beginnings

 


We tried to sleep in but the first night in a new place is always hard to get settled into so we woke up early.  We met Devin for lunch and were planning on going to an art museum in Baltimore, unfortunately the museum was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  We had another non-stop gab-fest until the restaurant had to close.  Devin is a delight and her artistic endeavors are quite extraordinary.  After the restaurant closed and we were asked to leave, we walked back to our hotel and marveled at all the Baltimore sights.  We had a zoom call with our Spanish lawyers and had made an early night of it.  Off to the "Lou" in the morning



Our lunch spot


A funky coffee, sandwich and record shop


Back out in the sun!  We say our good byes for now....


Churches



Old folks crossing


Flowers


Statues


Kids will splash


In the mount Vernon neighborhood we found a Washington monument


Quite patriotic


Gate Appreciation worthy


Rowwwwrrr!


Lions in the park


Big bulls


Another church


An odd wrapping on this statue


The Engineers club


Back to the very elaborate lighting fixtures


Hi!  Pleased to meet you!



 It has been 3 years and 316 days since we began our Migration

20 April 2026 Baltimore: My Daughter Devon

 


Almost five years ago, on Fathers Day, my daughter bought an Ancestry DNA kit and took tha leap into the unknown.  Being donor conceived, she had always wondered who her biological father was.  A DNA kit was the only real way of finding out, so she went for it.   My sperm donations were strictly confidential and all she had was a short blurb that I had written down at the clinic in 1989 in Rochester NY.  Meanwhile Leslie, her mom Vera and I took Ancestry DNA tests at around the same time but had marked our results private.  My niece Roxanne also took the tests but marked her results public.  As such Devin got a 25% match with Roxanne and began some expert sleuthing.  She was able to look on the family tree that Roxanne had built where she noticed that the next level up from Roxanne had Lisa, Kris and John Olson listed.  Devin reached out to Roxanne but she did not know how to respond while keeping my privacy intact.  Further exploration on facebook identified that Kristine Olson was now  Kristine Ousley and she had a brother, Fritz Leip. So Devin continued to research and found Fritz Leip in a few places.  First Fritz Leip on Facebook where she sent a Facebook message that I did not see for a year or so later where I finally found it.  Then she found the Fritz the Artist website and the Fritz Leip the Artist instagram page.  Eventually she found my aol email and the rest is history.  We communicated back and forth and finally met each other in Baltimore MD!


Two different stadiums


Right on the highway


With dive bars at the ready


Golden glove on the Brooks Robinson statue


Very Victorian


Staying at the Indigo


A very busy frame


Of all the gin joints in Baltimore we meet Devon here


A flight of gin!


A most fancy drink!


Fly like a gin flight


Tasty items


Some hot stuff


Some toasty stuff


Another flight!


The proprietor is very persuasive


We sat and talked for three hours


At 8 we had to move to the bar


What a bar it was


Much too much


Time too call it a nigh


A most delightful evening and the first of many meetings to come




 It has been 3 years and 315 days since we began our Migration