10/19/23

 Thursday, October 19, 2023

In bed at 10, awake at 4:35, up from lzb at 5, 52°, high of 60°, partly cloudy day with drizzle expected @ 5 pm.  AQI=33, wind SSW at 8, 6-13/22, 0.1" of rain in last 24 hours, 0.05 expected in next 24.  Sunrise at 7:10 at 103°, sunset at 6:02 at 257°, 10+52, solar noon altitude at 37°.  Venus is solely visible at @ 45° altitude and @ 100°ESE.  I let Lilly out at 5:20 onto wet ground but no rain.

Lyn's wake is this afternoon.  The plan is that I pick up Cam in Wauwatosa at noon and drive to Crestwood for the wake at 3, hoping to spend some time with Ed early and to leave by 4 to minimize night driving in the expected rain. I'm more than a little apprehensive about driving in rush hour and perhaps with rain.  I have fleeting thoughts of  The Straight Story movie about Alvin Straight driving 240 miles on a John Deere lawnmower from his home in Iowa to Mount Zion, WI in Crawford County to visit his estranged brother who had had a stroke.  There is no comparison of course but I am nonetheless concerned about how I will do today.

. . . . . .  

I had a hard time finding Cam's condo but eventually succeeded.  We arrived at the funeral home at 2:30 and immediately met with Ed.  We were there until 3:45 and spent a good deal of time with Ed and with 4 of his 5 daughters.  The wake was a very traditional Chicago Catholic one, with open casket, an amazing array of flowers, and an even more amazing display of photographs mounted on display boards.  Ed and his daughters were very gracious with Cam and me, especially Edie and Suzy.  The oldest, Mary Fran, took a photo of Ed and me and hopefully will text it to me.  I thought as I sat with Cam during a quiet moment how good and steady a friend Ed has been to us for almost 65 years, such a blessing.  I have so many memories of him at Mr. and Mrs. Cordes' Notch House on 16th Street, at the Queen Anne Apartments on 29th Street, and on Vine Street, in our night jobs stuffing Milwaukee Sentinel boxes at bus stops in the middle of those cold Milwaukee winter nights,  our driving to and from the Navy's amphibious base at Little Creek, Virginia, hitchhiking from Corpus Christi, Texas back to Little Creek, the moonshine donor, knockout drops for Tom, Hattiesburg, Mississippi (". . .'ceptin' n______"),  camping at Acadia National Forest in Maine, wondering if his old Ford with the hole in the floor covered by a pie tin would make it up some of the Adirondack mountains, the crazy trip to New Orleans in Ed Hanrahan's Oldsmobile, the Silver Dollar Hotel on Iberville Street, his fish tank on 16th Street, his bachelor party, my Buick LeSabre with the top half-open the next morning, Father John Holbrook threatening our graduation for refusing to make the annual retreat, . . .

The drive back to Milwaukee was difficult with quite a bit of rain, darkness, and almost invisible land markrs.  A semi-truck narrowly missed sideswiping my Volvo, changing lanes in front of us and misjudging distance.  I said to Cam that our guardian angels must be looking after us.  I got home at 6:40, 7 hours after leaving, wiped out.  My dear Geri was ready for me with a bowl of her homemade beef vegetable soup, some fresh peach slices, some quiche, and 2 freshly baked dinner rolls.  I am blessed.