My first US government job was at the FBI back in the late 1950s. Yep, I am that old. We lived on Kenyon ST NW in Washington, DC and neighbors of ours were Cubans. We weren't that close of friends, but we did talk a little when we saw them on the street.
One day the Cuban neighbor invited me to a party at his apartment and said he was having a special guest in attendance. I accepted his invitation and then found out it was Fidel Castro. Fidel had been to the UN and was stopping by Washington, DC on his return trip to Cuba.
He showed up in his fatigues and drew a large crowd of followers and onlookers. Most of the party was held on the sidewalk and road. I still remember seeing Fidel sitting on the hood of a car eating chicken legs and smoking his big cigar. He just threw the chicken bones in the street when finished with them. At the time I thought he didn't leave a good impression of a leader of a country.
I've often wondered why the US embargo of Cuba was so effective since they were free to trade with other countries. The Russians supported them for many years until the Russians were broke. Same with Venezuela. It will be interesting to see what happens on the Island now that Fidel is gone. His brother Raul has been the ruler since 2008 so I don't expect to see any big changes in the near future.
Due to my job I decided it wouldn't be a good idea partying with Fidel Castro, given he was a Communist. I didn't want to have to explain why I was there in the chance someone recognized me from the Bureau. We viewed the party from our front steps and found it quite interesting being that close to Castro.
Sabillasville, Maryland farm
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Sunday, November 13, 2016
We Are Still Here
It's been a while since I last blogged but ran into a serious case of "writer's block". I had things to say but just didn't feel like blogging so I took some time off.
In the last blog I mentioned we attended the wedding of our grandson Jared to Hannah, the love of his life. We've been to many, many weddings over the course of our lives but this one was really one to remember. The wedding venue was directly in the path of Hurricane Matthew and the wedding on October 8 was when it hit us. We had almost 9" of rain and winds around 25-30mph all day. Since the wedding was outside under a canopy and on grass, it quickly turned into a quagmire of mud and rain.
It was touch and go if the wedding would even be held since the canopy company would not assemble the cover if the wind was over 30mph. Their concern was the 100' X 50' canopy would come down. The caterer had 8 events that day and 7 of them were cancelled. Since we were lower and had trees to shield us a little, they went on with the wedding.
Barbara and Henry were beaming with joy to see their last child getting married. They were on cloud nine all day and it showed in their smiling faces.
Aw mom, do we really have to do this? Yep!
Our granddaughter Stephanie and grandson Sean were in the wedding party along with Taylor (Sean's wife). Picture below.
We even got into the picture taking. This picture was taken with our camera and I think the photographer may have a better one. She wanted us all scrunched up close much like she did with all the other ones.
It was a mess walking from the covered porch area to the canopy in the rain. We were shielded a little by umbrellas that kept some of the rain off of us, but not the sideway gusts. After we got under cover we gave the umbrella to an assistant who carried it back to the porch for the next use.
The dance floor was in the center of the tent and that is where the wedding party entered. It was slow going since the grassy area we had to walk on quickly turned into a mess. It looked like a herd of cattle walked in ahead of us.
The buffet meal was served at the other end of the tent and that entailed walking in the mud up there to get our meal. I decided early on that one trip was going to have to do for me and I got two glasses of wine. They also had light beer for the beer drinkers but I've never liked light beer so wine was my drink of choice.
After the meal we enjoyed the music of a great DJ and the younger generation danced the night away. Of course grandma Gerry joined in on the dancing and had a ball. I don't know where she got the energy but she does love to dance.
We had a great time at the wedding and loved seeing our grandson get hitched. I wore my dark tennis shoes and didn't worry about the mud except to help Gerry navigate (pun intended) around.
The very nice large house for the wedding wound up having water come through the walls and puddle up. The floors were covered in mud and I can't imagine how much work will go into cleaning up the place. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be a problem, but these weren't in that category.
Like I said earlier, it truly was a wedding to remember. We drove back to the motorhome and had to drive around downed trees and the closure of I-95. (THE 95 for those of you from California). It was strange to be on the highway with no traffic. Luckily, the closure came at our exit so that wasn't a problem for us.
It was a relief to get back to the motorhome, get out of our wet clothes and sit by the fireplace.
That was our day, how was yours?
In the last blog I mentioned we attended the wedding of our grandson Jared to Hannah, the love of his life. We've been to many, many weddings over the course of our lives but this one was really one to remember. The wedding venue was directly in the path of Hurricane Matthew and the wedding on October 8 was when it hit us. We had almost 9" of rain and winds around 25-30mph all day. Since the wedding was outside under a canopy and on grass, it quickly turned into a quagmire of mud and rain.
It was touch and go if the wedding would even be held since the canopy company would not assemble the cover if the wind was over 30mph. Their concern was the 100' X 50' canopy would come down. The caterer had 8 events that day and 7 of them were cancelled. Since we were lower and had trees to shield us a little, they went on with the wedding.
 |
| Gerry, me and Barbara (proud mother of groom) |
Barbara and Henry were beaming with joy to see their last child getting married. They were on cloud nine all day and it showed in their smiling faces.
 |
| Henry, Jared & Barbara |
 |
| Jared & Barbara |
Our granddaughter Stephanie and grandson Sean were in the wedding party along with Taylor (Sean's wife). Picture below.
 |
| Shawn, Stephanie, Henry, Barbara, Jared, Hannah, Taylor, Sean & Ryan |
We even got into the picture taking. This picture was taken with our camera and I think the photographer may have a better one. She wanted us all scrunched up close much like she did with all the other ones.
 |
| Jared & Hannah 1st dance of the evening. |
It was a mess walking from the covered porch area to the canopy in the rain. We were shielded a little by umbrellas that kept some of the rain off of us, but not the sideway gusts. After we got under cover we gave the umbrella to an assistant who carried it back to the porch for the next use.
The dance floor was in the center of the tent and that is where the wedding party entered. It was slow going since the grassy area we had to walk on quickly turned into a mess. It looked like a herd of cattle walked in ahead of us.
The buffet meal was served at the other end of the tent and that entailed walking in the mud up there to get our meal. I decided early on that one trip was going to have to do for me and I got two glasses of wine. They also had light beer for the beer drinkers but I've never liked light beer so wine was my drink of choice.
After the meal we enjoyed the music of a great DJ and the younger generation danced the night away. Of course grandma Gerry joined in on the dancing and had a ball. I don't know where she got the energy but she does love to dance.
 |
| Typical mud trail under the tent. |
The very nice large house for the wedding wound up having water come through the walls and puddle up. The floors were covered in mud and I can't imagine how much work will go into cleaning up the place. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be a problem, but these weren't in that category.
Like I said earlier, it truly was a wedding to remember. We drove back to the motorhome and had to drive around downed trees and the closure of I-95. (THE 95 for those of you from California). It was strange to be on the highway with no traffic. Luckily, the closure came at our exit so that wasn't a problem for us.
It was a relief to get back to the motorhome, get out of our wet clothes and sit by the fireplace.
That was our day, how was yours?