Hard to know where to begin when well over a half century of memories come into my head at all manner of places and times. Stories from the early years need to wait, my 3 full days on this Amtrak trip with John and Mary Stec need to be recalled now, while fresh in my mind.
Mary has been affectionately called Mare for as long as I can recall. I wish I had photos from those early years. If you weren’t told, you might have a hard time recognizing John and me in those late ‘60’s photos, but not Mare. She won the Vermont State individual gymnastics championship in high school. She was a very attractive and athletic young woman who has grown into a beautiful woman in every sense of the word.
I wish I could say I helped Mary prepare some of the meals. I tried to offer, but she has that under complete control. Our first night she prepared the best halibut I have ever eaten [no picture], along with a scallop and mushroom soup, fresh asparagus, potatoes and salad. The chicken parmigiana, spaghetti with homemade sauce and salad, pictured, was on my last night. I had that again for lunch before heading into Portland for my train.
Mary became a professional florist working at a top Burlington, Vermont shop. Beautiful flowering plants are all throughout the house year round and outside in season.
I wasn’t able to capture how warm and inviting Mary has made every single room in the house. That even goes for the guest bathroom, with tiny lights that are magical after sunset.
Everyday Mare and I walked around the neighborhood or in a park along the Columbia River. I slowed her down, but every one of the walks was special.
John has always been a great lover of the outdoors. Somehow, I suppose as recognition of his outdoorsmanship, he became Trapper John, although I never recall ever hearing of him setting a trap for any animal — perhaps some mental traps for me. He spent many years off on wilderness trails, on lakes, streams and the ocean. That’s become physically impossible to do in the manner to which he became accustomed.
He replaced the outdoors with his current pursuit, carving. I hope he doesn’t mind, I snuck some photos. He is very skilled, with fine details. I wish I could have captured his carving studio, full of fine tools. John’s become a true craftsman.
In the evenings we found some excellent films to watch. I brought up Martin Scorsese’s ”Killers of the Flower Moon” from my Apple TV+ account. We watched the entire 3h 36m, start to finish, maybe just one quick bathroom break. Mare and John surprised me and brought up “The Holdovers”, staring Paul Giamatti. Mare remembered how much I enjoyed it from a Facebook post.
I’ll try to get some of the early times we spent. There were weekends at Mary’s family camp in Barton, XC skiing, parties, bridge games, a camping trip to The Maritime Provinces… the list is long.
