MLB Home; Dachshunds Rule! Italian Sushi? Winners Lunch; Black and Blue; Buckets of What? Another Photo Quiz!

Good news: My Lovely Bride had a great time visiting family in West Chester, PA, and has returned home from the Frozen Northeast (Pennsylvania), but not without enduring a snow event, her first in several years. This was the view out of her window – coincidentally, the window of her childhood bedroom – in the very house in which she and her sister Janice had grown up. I asked her what it was like sleeping in her old room; she said it was much smaller than when she was a child. I think we have all had that feeling when returning to childhood homes and neighborhoods…

While there were many differences between West Chester and The Villages, one of the similarities was that Suzanne got to enjoy two wonderful Dachshunds there… her sister Janice is owned by Rusty and Tiki, and Tiki was especially persistent in making her feel at home, following her everywhere around the house, sitting in her lap and giving her lots of kisses. (Gretchen and Rudy would later accuse her of treason for hanging out with other dogs and coming home with their scents on her clothes…) That’s Tiki on the floor with his legs splayed and Rusty on the sofa.

The only wrinkle with Suzanne’s trip home was having to undergo de-icing of her airplane at PHL, which added a ground delay there and got her into Orlando (MCO) at 5:30 PM, an hour late. This would not have been much of a hassle, except that I was S-T-A-R-V-I-N-G by that point. We made the mistake of going to an untried sushi restaurant a few miles from the airport, instead of simply getting some survival rations (Ding Dongs or Tastee Cakes) at a 7-11 to last us until we got back to The Villages and our favorite sushi place, VKI Japanese Restaurant. I hate to say this, because of my family background, but the sushi bar had formerly been an Italian restaurant, and even my credit card receipt was labeled “DaVinci Sushi”. The experience in Orlando was underwhelming, and that is putting a good face on it. After several disasters, we have learned to order one dish, in this case a spicy tuna roll, and a beer, and then decide if the sushi is up to standards; if not, we order something less hard to mess up, like Teriyaki chicken or Tempura shrimp. Even those were only average, but what can you expect from a sushi chef named Guido? (Note to self: check provenance of restaurant before trying paisano sushi.)

Back in TV, we got together with our latest Photo Quiz winner, Ann Stewart, and her husband Bob, for lunch at Panera in Sumter Landing. The Stewarts have lived in TV for 14 years, and when Ann saw the photo of the door in last week’s blog post, she recognized it right away. (Thank goodness we had a winner, because I am often kidded for publishing “obscure” or “mystery” photos.) Bob had recently had surgery on his right index finger, and has been reduced to being a lefty for several more weeks. He is an avid cyclist, and fortunately has been able to keep up his daily regimen on a bike trainer until he is given the okay by his doc to ride on the roads again. Ann is an avid bridge player and quilter. They were great fun, and we look forward to seeing them again when we return from our summer tour.

As I was heading out for my run today, Suzanne took this photo of my bruised thigh from my mountain biking fall 10 days ago. It looks a lot worse than it feels, but for 8 days I couldn’t lie on my right side. My Lovely Bride suggested that I take a course in defensive cycling… and maybe get one of those inflatable Michelin Man suits for self-protection. She is such a card…

I was going through Suzanne’s photos from her trip, and I was a bit befuddled by this one. I thought she had gone to a paint store… but these were buckets of wine at one of the Brandywine vineyards! I asked her, “Hey, why didn’t you didn’t bring me one of those?” All I got was some lame excuse about TSA and it not fitting in her carry-on bag. Sigh…

Finally, here is this week’s Photo Quiz. Give me your best shot at identifying it; send your answer to ftgiesemann@aol.com. Please give as detailed an answer as you can; the winner gets lunch for two with My Lovely Bride and Your Faithful Correspondent.