THis morning Elizabeth and her family headed home . It had been a great visit !  we look forward to gettign them back here . 

After they left we got our bikes out and went for a ride down river road.. we have my parents old bikes.. not fancy.. but fun !.. the  wind from riding kept us cool. We ae so lucky to have these beautiful rides just outside our house !

Tonight I started to check out my science gear. this coming week is a major nerd fest. I have 4 science shows and one fluffy show .. it’s going to be crazy !.. I love doing these shows.. though I dont do them as often as I used to.. so I decided to check out my gear.. as fate would have it.. lots of my gear was not workigng and needed repair … my insultinator wont insult, my van de graaf wasnt sparking very well, my small tesla was acting up.. and even my trusty  pickelometer wouldnt turn.. I had to rebuild most of the stuff.. including making a new pickeolemter on the base of my old one . I just happen to have a spare variac siting around.. It was fun and important rebuilding this stuff. 

Looking forward to thsi week. 

as we were headign to bed, dinae got an aurora alert.. there was a high chance of seeign the northern lights ! It was cloudy.. so I didnt think I saw anythign..  but I took some pictures anyway…

I dint see it till just now.. but I think I got a blury picture  of them !

nite all, nite sam 
-me

Our niece Elizabeth and her awesome kids Mason and Emma are in town.for Mason’s a soccer tournament. They were here last year   too. It was really fun hanging out with them .  we went swimming, made pasta.. and talked. Emma brought a friend with her.. so they hung out in the yoga space .. we had the air conditioners going because it was so hot !!


We went in to Essex to watch Mason play. He’s the goalie.. It was fun watching the teams communicate.. .. and fun watching the parents  too . lots of sidelien coaching.. lots of love. 

We went hoem and hung out soem more.. turns out that Mason is teaching himself piano.. .. i

its reat having elizabeth and her kids around.. .. 
nite all. nite sam
-me

TOday we held the funeral for my wonderful Aunt Brigette.. or Brig as we called her.. She was an amazing woman.. funny, snart.. and opinionated !.. She was born rin Lens France ight as WWII was staring i. Her parents moved to Paris where her parents were deported by the Nazis.  She  spent her first 2 years in a concentration camp. THe sotry I know is that her mom managed to hide herweddign ring and used it to bribe a guard to let her and Brig go.. they were found cominog out of a forest by a Swiss guy on a bike.   I knw they escaped to a couple of different countries… and somehow ended up in Monroe Louisiana. THere she met my uncle JM (Bird) y dad’s brother. THey were married in 1964 or 1965  (I think) .. I remember there wedding in Monroe    Brig  was such a beautiful bride. I  must have been 5 . I remember going in to a liquor store with my dad and grandpa Dave.. Dave and the liquor store guy immediately recognized oen another. My grandfather was born in Nicaragua.. and moved to Honduras.. thats where he lived when my dad was born.. My grandpa and grandmother came up to Georgia for him to be born.. then they went back to La Ceiba Honduras where my dad and his brother lived until my dad was 3. 
She and her mom were really cool and exotic.. I think they spoke French to each other.. or it might have been German.. I wouldn’t have known at the time.   Brig and my Uncle raised two kids, Lisa and Jeff.  and also my cousin Leslie who was from JM’s first marriage to Carol.. who we were also close to.     We grew up with Leslie Lisa and Jeff.. we saw more of Leslie since Carol moved to Houston. 

Brig and JM were super social.. they were active in Touro Synagapog where my Grandpa as the President.. then JM became President of the brotherhood and Brig was President of the Temple sisterhood. . 

We would see them pretty often in NoLa.. It was always fun.. Bird was super in to Mardi Gras,,, he collected doubloons and had them in albums.. each one had a story. 

My uncle died in 1998.. I remember my folks were in Alaska on a cruise when they heard..it was tough.. 

Brig continues to live in their home in Metarie until it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.. I remember walking through what was left of the house.. it was down to the studs.. all the sheetrock was waterlogged and had been torn down.. it was just a shell. .. it eventually was taken down like the rest of the neighborhood.   

Jeff and Lisa had kids and that became Brigs life.. whe was a wonderful grandma.. and so proud of her family. She eventually moved up to Mandeville across lake pontchartrain to be with lisa and her family.. 

We always loved seeing  Brig.. she was always so funny.. always remembered birthdays.. kept up on where everyone was.. 

Im really going to miss her

This  morning my cousin in law Brett and his granddaughter Kennedy met me in the lobby of the hotel. Unfortunately my cousin Lesslie got really sick yesterday and she didnt feel well enough to go with us this morning. I know she wanted to be there… 

It was really nice to hang out with Brett.  and get to knwo Kennedy.. shes 10 and super sweet and poised. I really enjoyed gettign to know her. Kennedys Mom Rachel ,Leslie and Bretts daughter died in 2017 of opioid use disorder.. Kennedy now lives in Utah with her dad.. and comes to stay with Brett and Leslie  every summer.. tehy have a great relationship.. 

The service today was very simple.. only about 15 of us all mostly  her kids, grandkids and great grandkids.. and a couple of close friends. we Were  was in Hebrew Rest cemetery.. same place my uncle, my grandparents and my great grandparents are buried.

Brett and I took turns holding a phoe using Facetiem so Leslie could watch the service.. 

The service was short.. and really meaningful. The Rabbi was from Touro.. same place my family  has been part of for nearly a century. .. he new Brig well.. and told soem fun and heartwarming stories..  

it was hot.. really,. really hot.  and humid . I know this is weird to relate.. but when they lowered Brig’s coffin ..  next to JM’s .. . the water table is so high there was water at the bottom of the grave.. it was kind of cool.

We then all shoveled dirt  into the grave.. and said good bye.. 

Afterwards we took a walk around the cemetery to see the graves of my  n
grand parents madelyn and dave, , my great grandparents julius and hannah .. 

then peepole left to go to to a reception that Brigs best freinds Daughter was holding. I couldnt go because I had to catch a plane. I spent a couple of minutes cooling off in the car with Cuasin Brett and Kennedy. as I waited for the Uber.   It was great seeing gettign soem tiem with them.. I was sad not have gotten to see Leslie 

Rest in Peace Brig !!!

nite all, nite sam
-me

early this mornign, Diane our friend Mel and I took a fast hike up to the Duxbury window.. It was greta bing outside and catching up with Mel.   she told us abotut he part of her job that involvesbeing in a wetsuit in Lake chaplain counting invasive mussels ! 

later this afternoon I got on a plane again and headed down to New Orleans for my Aunt Brigett’s funeral. She diea on Sunday the 15th.. She was an amazing person.. saw so much in her life. i’m glad to be able to say goodbye to her and see family.

man its hot down here !
nite all, nite sam
-me