A Room at the Top of the World

Looking down on the world below...The view from 18th floor of my sisters condominium tower, next to the elvators.


What follows is a some photos and short captions capturing a bit of my life on vacation.

Below are a couple of shots of the view from my sister's apartment.


The view at night.



And here's the inside:

Walking in the front door. Welcome to my room at the top of the world.

Looking into the kitchen from the dining area.

Entering the living room area

Looking back from the balcony.

Note the flat screen TV in the background. Nice.


Dawn and boyfriend Jim, at Sabbath lunch at Uncle Robert and Diana's house. Saturday, June 17, 2006.

Uncle Robert & Diana

My cousin Yvette at Uncle Robert's house.


This is the last of the family homes. . .Uncle Robert lived in the last home from our childhood. When we were kids, Uncle Roland and Aunt Colleen lived in this house about ten minutes from where we lived. Their kids, our cousins Nicole and Landon grew up there, and Uncle Robert lived there as a young bachelor. When Uncle Roland and Aunt Colleen moved away, Uncle Robert stayed on. The various other houses were sold, until only this one remained. And now, at last, Uncle Robert and Diana are moving as well, and this Sabbath marked our goodbye to the last physical space connecting us to our childhoods. Pictured here are my mom, my brother seated on the couch, Dawn and Jim, and Uncle Robert on the edge of the right frame.


My mom's brother, my Uncle Roland, and Jim.

Here I am with my old college friend, Kim. She happened to be in Orlando visiting with family and we got together for a dinner and memories at Amigos restauarant. The picture was taken by my good friend Greg, who joined us for dinner. Greg and I go all the way back to high school. Like me, he's a teacher.


Tea Time! One of themes for this summer has been TEA! Not the Assam black tea of Saipan. Not King Car Lemon Tea or Green Tea with honey. We're talking hot tea served up British style, with lumps of rock sugar, loose leaf Earl Grey and Darjeeling steeped using steeping spoons. We're talking expensive white teas purchased in small brick red bags from Teavana. I wish that I'd gotten a photo of the tea party proper we had last Sabbath afternoon, June 24. But, as often happens with me, I didn't think of it till it was too late, much like all those snappy comebacks you think of after the argument is over...

Anyway, Sabbath's tea party had a dozen different teas, two kinds of sugars, multiple mugs, and a lot of hot water all spread out on Dawn's coffee table. The celebrants were Dawn, Mom, Yvette, Greg, and myself. Picture above was a smaller affair, just Greg, Dawn, and Me. That's Greg's hand pouring the hot water. (He refused to give me permission to post his image on the web, so we must be content with his hands). Below is Dawn working the water.





High school pal, Carissa Berard Cotta and her son Aidan. Greg and I went out for dinner with her and her sister-in-law Stacy and Stacy's husband Shannon, and their daughter. The only person missing was Carissa's husband, one of my closest friends from high school, Chris Cotta. Chris is back home in Alaska working hard--summer is a busy time for Alaskans who work in the fishing industry as Chris does. Carissa, being a teacher, has vacation during the summer, and so has been making the family rounds showing off the new addition. Aidan is unquestionably the cutest baby I've ever seen. He is so good looking! When he smiles he just lights up the world!