Sunday I woke up feeling down. Regular readers may recall that I partied rather heartily (for my age) with friends on Saturday and may infer that I was hungover. Since I did not spend Sunday in acute physical misery (or even moderate misery), I feel that I was merely tired and a little let down that I was no longer hanging out on my deck amidst laughter and love.
Fortunately for me, relieve was close at hand with members of my wonderful family, most particularly our newest member. Steven and I drove into Chadwicks for church with my sister, Cheryl, her daughter Dana, Dana’s husband, Dan; and Dana and Dan’s delightful eight-month-old son, Shepherd.
It was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for a drive through the country. We set out up Higby Road, admiring the scenery. I could not help contrasting the drive with another time I went out Higby Road, and the weather was against me (I believe I wrote a blog post about it). We found the church with no problem. Being my usual dithery self, I first pulled into the parking lot then decided to park in the street (point and laugh if you must; it made sense at the time). As I was walking back up the church’s driveway, a car almost ran me down.
“Get out of the way, old lady!” my sister yelled.
“Oh just run me over,” I said. “Then you can go in there and pray for forgiveness.”
Dana and Dan were surprised to see Steven and me, because Cheryl had not told them we were coming. As for Shepherd, he is almost always smiling.
Not surprisingly, Shepherd is a pretty popular guy. The pastor came over to say hello before mass, confiding that he loves Shepherd to pieces. I saw two young boys a few rows ahead of us turn around and smile at him, pointing him out to their mother. As for Shepherd, he smiled at everyone, making unintelligible but friendly remarks.
Church almost always gives me a good feeling, especially when we sing one of my favorite hymns, which we did. I didn’t know any of the other hymns, but since I vaguely remember how to read music, I managed to sing along.
After church we went to Salvatore’s Italian Bakery and Bagel Shoppe in New Hartford for breakfast. They offer a wonderful pizza fritta (fried dough, if you are sadly unfamiliar with the delicious Mohawk Valley treat) on Sundays, but I opted for an everything bagel with cream cheese, which turned out to be just what my stomach needed. Steven got egg, cheese and bacon on a French toast bagel. I was impressed by the amount of bacon on the sandwich and fascinated by the idea of a French toast bagel, which I had never heard of before. Dana had a bagel with cream cheese while Dan and Cheryl enjoyed sandwiches with ham, egg and cheese. Shepherd shared a little of the egg from Cheryl’s sandwich, although he did not seem particularly interested (I think he was still hoping to munch down on the beads I was wearing around my neck).
After breakfast (and an unsuccessful attempt to sneak Shepherd into our vehicle), Steven and I headed back over Higby Road. The views are even better going back towards Frankfort. When you are at the top of the hill coming down, you can see for miles: farmland, trees, mountains. Steven was happy I was driving, so he could look his fill. I managed to enjoy the scenery while still keeping us safe.
I arrived home in very good spirits, although as the day progressed I felt tired, hot and unable to write (see yesterday’s post). However, it had been a wonderful morning, and I hope to have another one like it soon.
Salvatore’s Italian Bakery and Bagel Shoppe is located at 9270 Kellogg Road, New Hartford, NY, phone number 315-737-5757. They are open Tuesday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
