Today was Father’s Day and also the summer solstice, which is the official start of the summer season. Climatologically and culturally, at least in this part of Michigan, summer is more closely aligned with the period from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. The summer solstice is, of course, the day with the most hours of daylight but it is not the day with the earliest sunrise nor the day with latest sunset. Regardless of that detail, one of the things I like about this time of year is that the evening twilight lasts for a long time and fades to the blackness of night very slowly. By contrast, the sun seems to set quickly in the winter and it gets dark very quickly after that.
Linda arranged for our son and daughter, and their families, to come over for brunch today. It was a combination Father’s Day and happy birthday gathering as our daughter was out of town last week on her 34th birthday. Linda spent last evening cooking, which minimized the amount of work required today. I requested pie for Father’s Day and she found an excellent recipe for a vegan apple pie with a crumb topping. She also made a dozen small chocolate birthday cupcakes. The star of the show, however, was a Baked French Toast made with French bread and topped with streusel of ground pecans, cinnamon, brown sugar, and nutmeg with vegan “butter.” It soaked overnight and all she had to do this morning was bake it. She made a large bowl of fresh berries (strawberries, blueberries, and black and red raspberries) and sliced up some cantaloupe.
Company was due at 10 AM so I made a full pot of our Cafe Europe half-caff blend coffee. We each had a cup and Linda transferred the rest of it to our insulated dispenser. I was brewing a second pot when Meghan and Chris arrived around 9:45 AM followed by Brendan, Shawna, and Madeline around 10 AM. Birthday and Father’s Day cards were exchanged but Madeline was the center of attention. She pulled out her toy box and built a Lego tower with her aunt Meghan. We walked around outside a bit, looked at the new roof and the cable entrance box, and played hide and seek in the backyard with Madeline doing the seeking, assisted by her mom. I was hiding behind our gas grill, which had a cover on it. Madeline saw my reflection in the rear door walls of the library, walked right past me towards the reflected image, turned away from my location, and was walking back towards Shawna before she spotted me. Reflections are one of those things that we have to learn about.
The French Toast was done baking at 11 AM and we sat down to a fabulous brunch that included Prosecco and orange juice. The Baked French Toast was outstanding and everyone had more than one piece. By 12:30 PM no one was hungry for dessert so Linda packaged up four cupcakes for Meghan and Chris and four cupcakes for Brendan, Shawna, and Madeline along with a quarter of the pie for each group. By 1 PM Madeline was showing signs of being tired, that being her normal nap time, so everyone gathered up their things and made their way to their cars.
After everyone had left we had some pie. It was also outstanding, as good as any non-vegan pie I have ever had and, frankly, better than most. Linda went for a walk while I settled in to finish the draft of yesterday’s blog post and start writing this one. When Linda got back from her walk she read for a little while and then took a well-deserved nap. By 4 PM I could not keep my eyes open and took a nap that lasted until 6 PM. I have never been into “Hallmark Holidays” but I like Father’s Day. 🙂
For dinner Linda made a salad and reheated the last of the angel hair pasta and black beans and rice. We each had one of the vegan cupcakes for dessert.
Today was my dad’s 90th birthday so after dinner I called to wish him a combined happy birthday and Father’s Day. He did not answer, which is not unusual as without his hearing aids he doesn’t hear the phone ring. I left him a voice message.
I have been busy enough with things the last two years that I have not read any of the magazines we receive as part of our various organizational memberships. Tonight I went through the July 2015 issue of QST, the monthly publication of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Although my main focus this summer is the remodeling of the interior of our motorcoach, I am trying to get ham radio antennas up and useable. We are also trying to get a base built for the 70 foot tower we bought last summer, get the tower assembled and erected, and at least get some sort of HF wire antenna attached to it.
Linda was tired by 10 PM and trundled off to bed. As a result of my nap I was not sleepy and stayed up using my iPad until well after midnight.