Remember this tune?

I'll be with you in apple blossom time. I'll be with you to change your name to mine. Of course you won't remember this song because they were singing it in the 1940's after WW2 began. Here I am in front of one of our apple trees in full regalia.(the apple tree, not me)

Spoke with daughter Lauren this morning. Both she and Chuck have arrived in California at their rustic cottage in Monte Rio, a small town in the Russian River area of Sonoma County where they plan to remain until October. Hopefully, we'll get together in Austin at Aubrey's graduation sometime in June.
John,Jenny and Peter have been visiting us since Wednesday April 24 to celebrate Mother's Day

and my 87th birthday to be. So far we have hiked part of Cienega and the Sulphur Canyon Trail.

Of course, we ate lunch at Monroe's in Albuquerque and today after a visit to the Georgia O'Keefe

Museum we lunched at Maria's in Santa Fe. Rember, it is there where you can eat real New Mexico cuisine while watching the talented ladies manufacture the house tortillas.

The Crest Road

I hope you can see the lady in the picture. Naturally, it's dynamic Annabelle Rosenbluth posing in front of

the 3 mile sign on the road up the mountain. This is our turn around point before heading back to our

car near mile marker 2. We try to hike 1 mile up and struggle to make it back in decent shape. All along the

way people in their cars shout out words of encouragement such as " Get a horse" or" Do you need a ride

back?". We bravely wave them on and with our teeth gritted, trek cautiously ahead, fully determined to

reach our goal and prove to all that we're not weaklings.

March winds in April

The southern view of our

Pine Ridge house and a

forsythia shrub in bloom

on the westside.

We have to forego our walk

this morning due to high winds. Fortunately, the temperature is moderate so maybe the fruit trees will have

a better chance to produce this year. In the meantime we

bottled the 2011 wine crop which was meager , about 15

bottles, when we usually get

50 to 75. However, since both

of us have a hard time getting down on our knees to cork the bottles, I'm not sorry for the

small amount. Looks like this will be the final edition of Rougeon Wine after 28 years of harvesting.

The time for the cruise to England and beyond is fast approaching. After we leave Barri, John, Aubrey and Walter in Chelsea, we head to Harwich on the east coast for 6 days to await the ship that will take us through

the Baltic passage, stopping at several ports along the way with a final destination of St. Petersburg. Russia

requires a visa for entry even for our two day visit but we have to wait at least 45 days before departure to

apply.

On this evening's news, one item caught my attention. It was a report that a photo was taken of several

US soldiers posing in front of dismembered Taliban fighters. Everyone including the Secretary of Defense

are now falling all over each other apologizing for the incident. All this uproar is amazing to me since we are

fighting this war against a vicious foe who have few qualms about beheading our soldiers when they get their

hands on them. Our leaders seem to think that we should fight an antiseptic war and expect our men to be

polite before as well as after we kill the enemy. I wonder why we ever get involved in these scrapes when

we don't want to do the dirty work of war. That's one reason we can't finish these wars and have to run off

before the job is done. This didn't happen in WW2. We did everything possible to the enemy including

their families. I vividly recall a big marine, who I met after Iwo Jima, proudly sporting a long string of ears

he sliced off the Japanese soldiers after he killed them. Everyone around, including the officers in charge,

were all over him, shaking his hand for the job well done. Harry Truman didn't hesitate a minute before

giving the go signal for the atomic bombing of Japan which ended WW2 quickly. He never apologized for

this act that killed 100,00 Japanese. He wanted to end the war and most of all he felt that we should be

victorious. I think war is a terrible condition but if we choose that route then we ought to take the gloves off

and go all the way. Perhaps we should bring back conscription which would require all young people to be

subject to military service. It would make our leaders think carefully before they embark on these military

adventures.

I think it must be Spring

Hyacinths poking out below while some daffodils who weathered the snowstorm the other day are trying to revive. Today was back to Spring and we took our two mile walk up the mountain road. It was our first attempt at making the full trek since returning from Austin which is practically at sea level and quite easy after hiking at 7000 feet

for almost 30 years. During our rest time while listening to a Chopin

waltz played by Arturo Rubenstein I drifted back almost 50 years

when we lived in Levittown and Darrell, age 7 or 8 and quite a gifted

pianist at that time, joined us in the living room while we were watching Rubenstein on the TV live, actually performing. Although,

I can't recall the piece, I do remember Darrell running up to the TV

and exclaiming that the great Arturo was not following the score as it

was written. I commented, " Dar, if you think you are right on this,

why don't you write him a letter about his performance." Darrell did

and promptly received a response from the great man himself also

inviting us to a concert he was giving in New York in the near future.

We attended the concert and Darrell was escorted behind the stage

curtain to meet with Rubenstein who said that Darrell's perception of

the piece was accurate, however, sometimes the artist is allowed to

inject certain phrases, if he feels the urge, which does not follow the composer's score to the note. He also commented to Norma and I, his proud parents, that Darrell had a wonderful future ahead of him in classical piano.

We have to get a visa for our voyage from Harwich to St. Petersburg, Russia. Although we will be stopping at

different ports on the way through the Baltic, Russia is the only country which requires a visa, despite our

short two day stay in St. Petersburg. During my last trip to the then Soviet Union in the 60s with the Principal'sAssociation the requirements were overwhelming and involved close supervision by the Soviet Intourist group which was an arm of secret police. Hopefully, our visit this summer will spare us from the scrutiny I received under the Soviet state.

April Fool........sort of

26 Pine Ridge Road, Sandia

Park, New Mexico. We should have stayed in Austin for another month. In the

meantime, I'm hauling in

logs to feed the wood stove.

However,the temperature is

not much above freezing and

when the sun breaks through

tomorrow as predicted the

snow will be just another memory. Unfortunately, some of our fruit trees were

in bloom so we may not get

a good harvest.