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My partner Joyce and mother Maryann celebrate birthdays on October 3 and 4 respectively. Each year we take the occasions to drive to Akron, Ohio, where I grew up, to visit with Mom and relatives. This time was special, Mom's boys together in the same place for the first time in years.

In the photo above, lower left from left to right, Dale, Ohio, Larry and Tom, Florida and moi, Ed, New York State, with Mom at her Fairlawn, Ohio, residence. Upper left Larry and Mom trying to decide how high is "up". Top right Tom, retired Navy Lt. Commander, opts for a more relaxed uniform. Lower right Mom with Paula, Dale's partner, and Joyce at the the entrance to Mom's apartment block. Bottom center, Joyce and I making nice on the buildings veranda. Later that afternoon Mom enjoyed a party attended by grand and great grand family members of all sorts.

After a three-year Covid break we took first tentative steps beyond our immediate NY home range returning to a favorite destination, Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario, Canada. In the photo, left, Joyce at the entrance of our B&B, The Stocking House located two blocks from Queen Street, the main shopping venue. As we've come to expect the other couples staying at the B&B provided lively talk over breakfast. As a bonus the B&B features two large fluffy white dogs and a cat with a penchant for sleeping on stairs leading to the upper floor. I suffer from night blindness. Our hosts provided transportation to evening theater presentations, nice.

While in town we attend two plays of the Shaw Festival at The George Theater including Blyth Spirit by Noel Coward, Village Wooing by Bernard Shaw and, at the Festival Theater, Gypsy, music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Aside from Joyce the most enjoyable times of my life have been on and around horses. She treated us to a carriage ride courtesy of Sentinal Carriages. In the photo, right, In the photo, right, Joyce, "Bo" and I get acquainted. A slight drizzle kept the carriage top up limiting our ability to share the royal wave with the common folk as we rode by.

Joyce and I discovered the Rail Trail early in the summer of 2023 and it quickly became a favorite haunt. Built atop the abandoned roadbed of a NY portion of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad it's flat and straight as a die with lots of benches for breaks. It lies between the Vestal Parkway and I86. Heavy brush along both sides isolates walkers and wheeled contrivances of many types from highway noise. The Coal House, above, lower left, includes a snack bar offering high calorie goodies to fortify walkers before hitting the trail. Above, center, Joyce graces the trail start marker. Lower right, one of five resident woodchuck who've setup house along the rail. Upper right Joyce and I enjoy a break before the return trip to the trailhead.