Family Mellmann

Twenty-two years ago we became first-time landlords when I moved from Illinois and turned my home into a rental property.  Three years later we bought our second rental property and realized that we were probably going to be doing this awhile so we created a business; Covered Bridge Apartments. We needed a logo, but neither of us could draw.  We could set up record keeping and learn accounting.  We could establish workflow and create a corporate identity, but design a logo?  Time for some professional help.  Joerg asked his dad, a cartography professor by trade, if he could draw a pencil sketch of a covered bridge.  We used the Pulp Mill Bridge as a model. As you drive to the community where our first Vermont rentals are located, you turn off just before crossing the Pulp Mill Bridge.  We see it every time we visit one of our units there. Here is a picture of the bridge today.  It was rebuilt in 2012, long after we used it as a model for our logo....

 We live in Vermont. It is the middle of November. This was inevitable. Though not entirely welcome (by me), I have to admit it's pretty.  And, now I have the perfect excuse to stay inside to sew and knit (after I get my other work done).

As I was preparing dinner this evening, I saw this sunset view out my kitchen window (although to take the picture, I went around to the sliding glass door so I didn't have to shoot through the screen).  As the sun was setting, it just lighted up the red leaves of the maple trees.

Our family likes adventures.  We have camped.  We travel internationally.  We've road tripped and rail traveled.  We scuba dive.  We ride motorcycles.  Now, we can say we have flown (half way) across the country in a small plane...piloted by our favorite son (we only have one so we can say that). Now that our kids are old enough to not need us, we have the freedom to do things on our own - like visiting parents.  I planned for a short trip to Grand Rapids to visit my folks.  Since Patrick became a pilot, we have talked about having him fly us to there to see them, but the schedule just didn't work out.  Maybe this time would be different.  I booked a round trip commercial flight (just in case) and Patrick set up a rental. I flew west on a commercial jet.  Queue lines, constant reminders to not let my bags out of my sight followed by a trip through security where they promptly separate me from my bags.  Cramped seats.  Snip...

I couldn't get them to stop talking long enough to look at the camera so I just took their picture anyway.  This morning's random group of riders (the group varies slightly from Saturday to Saturday) gathered at our local BMW shop and then rode for about 90 minutes along scenic, windy roads to a lovely breakfast spot in Rochester Vermont. After breakfast we scatter and everyone goes home or on for more riding.  It was a lovely ride and a lovely day to be on the motorcycle.

I spent about six hours in the garden on Tuesday and another six hours today.  I used yesterday as a do-something-productive-that-requires-sitting day.  I really like being able to see some progress in getting the garden cleaned up for the summer.  The weeds, having free run of the place since spring, were...out of control.  Some of them were taller than me. :(  Now the weeds (the ones I haven't pulled yet) are tiny by comparison, but I'll get those, too - just not this week. I also got to reap the rewards of work done last year.  Around my compost bin, the weeds can get unruly, especially when  I'm not available to tackle them early in the season when they start to emerge.  This year, I wasn't able to get in the garden until now (school year ending, Katherine graduating, and then a family vacation) so many of the weeds were...picture Little Shop of Horrors (a musical where the carnivorous plant tries to eat the humans).  It was pretty bad....

This is the LAST last day of our vacation.  Yesterday was the last travel day.  Today is the Home and Horizon Day; come home, do laundry, put luggage away, recover the lawn (mow and water after two weeks of no mowing and little rain), process pictures, stories, and experiences, and then turn toward the horizon; begin planning for “re-entry” - back to jobs, chores, schedules, and routines. Jörg and I went to a local diner for an early breakfast (jetlag means we beat the rush and arrived when they opened) where we recapped this vacation.  There is a sad but excited recognition that this was our last family vacation as Mom, Dad, and Kids.  From now on it will just be Husband and Wife.  Both kids made it very clear that they are done going on vacations with us and are ready to do their own thing.  It’s normal.  Not unexpected.  Appropriate.  But still comes - for this mom - with a hint of sadness.  After all, we have been on some epic advent...

Today we took a day tour to see the Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands (Inisheer, the smallest of the three islands).  We joined our tour group in downtown Galway and boarded a tour bus. The bus took us on a 90 minute drive to the coast where we boarded a ferry bound for Inisheer.  On Inisheer we rented a horse and buggy for a tour of the island. When the tour was over we stopped for a snack before getting back on the ferry. The ferry took us past the Cliffs of Moher before returning to the harbor. The cliffs are quite stunning, impressive in their size. At their southern end, the cliffs rise 390 feet above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head.  Five miles to the north, they reach their maximum height of 702 feet.  The cliffs are home to seagulls, puffins, and many other sea birds. We return to the bus to begin our journey home, but first a stop at the cliffs from a different perspective. Now that we had seen them from the water, we got to see them from above by walking on...

After hunting down ruins, cathedrals, and castles, it was time to do something different.  Patrick found a flight school and aeronautics museum about an hour outside of Galway.  The real attraction was a Boeing 737 flight simulator in which he could take a lesson.  He practiced takeoffs, landings (at several different airports), and even had a little weather thrown in for a challenge.  To cap off the experience, two of his flights included engine failures one of which was known as a V1 engine failure.  V1 is the point in takeoff where you past the opportunity to abort; your only choice is to take off and return the airport…tricky, but not impossible.  While we waited for his time in the simulator, we stopped for a snack at the Cafe Solo nearby.  What a great name for an airport cafe! And, since pictures can’t tell the whole story, here are some videos. https://youtu.be/s2DpJeujhC8 https://youtu.be/qgXxK73RYeQ https://youtu.be/0T5fTo13WQ8