We've come to the end of a week at Chautauqua with flowers, sculptures, music and family. Now it's time to do one last load of laundry, pack really carefully and hit the road. We'll finish our trip around the world with a flight from Buffalo to New York, then non-stop to Hong Kong and one final hop to Kaohsiung. Too many mixed feelings to write them down at the moment. Instead I'll enjoy my last day here and reflect on the summer as a fly back home. Home, hmm.

We've arrived for our last week of vacation at the fabulous Chautauqua Institute in western New York. Each of the nine weeks of the summer season has a theme. This week is "arts and politics" and this morning's lecture is on the political influences on popular classical music. Tonight we'll go to the symphony, with time in between to walk around the grounds, maybe go for a swim, work on a puzzle in the living room. There's no wifi in the house we're staying in which means I have to work a little to get connected which is kind of nice. (This morning's "work" is to sit on a bench in the dappled sunshine at Bestor Plaza in order to access the library's free wifi. It's hard work, let me tell you.)

What a nice time we had in Philadelphia. It may not be the nicest city to live in but it certainly has its charms. We walked around a bit, despite the admonitions of the weatherman. Heat? You call this heat?

We went to the Magic Garden and, while it was nice enough, it's a bit over rated, in my opinion.

It would be a cool place to have a party though. I would enjoy wandering around with a glass of wine finding people to chat with about the artwork but to just walk through like it was a museum was a tad uninspiring.

There's a nice new park along the waterfront with food trucks and paddle boats that was really quite lovely. They have lots of hammocks hanging from the tree trunks (Boston, take notice, they have LOTS of hammocks) and sell beer along with funnel cakes. What more can you ask for on a summer day?

We had a very decadent brunch on Sunday in the heart of Drexel University's campus. I finally got to see their dragon statue. (Extra points if you can tell the difference between these two photos.)

Many years ago at Chautauqua my aunt took us to visit a friend of hers, the sculptor Eric Berg. At the time, he was working on a clay model of this dragon in his studio. We have a nice photo of the boys listening intently as Mr. Berg explained the difficulty in deciding where the wings should attach to the spine of a mythical creature. It was great to see the full size result of his thinking, although I think the wings should attach near the front legs. How else can there be enough muscle mass and articulation in the shoulder joints for such a big animal to be able to lift off the ground?

(Spoiler alert: Cierra is walking by in the first photo, Lee in the second.)

This week has been mostly hanging-out-with-Dad week although on Wednesday I took time in the afternoon to do some things just for me: a bike ride, weaving and time planning for the upcoming school year. I've been doing some of all of those things while I've been in Amherst but Wednesday was a very lovely balance of the three.

Today we head down to Philadelphia to visit with Zach and Cierra. We'll be seeing them at Chautauqua in another week but I'm looking forward to having them all to ourselves for a few days. We've been down to Philly many times over the last five years, ever since Zach started at UPenn, and I've enjoyed the city although I've hated the drive down. By the time we come back from Taiwan I don't expect Zach and Cierra to still be there so it's probable we may never go visit the city again. I realize there's more to see in Philly than just my kid but that's always been the major pull.

By this time next year we'll get to visit them in some other locale. Another adventure for all of us!

Last week we spent a couple of nice days in central Massachusetts at our friends lake house, including some time paddling in the canoe. Here's Lee with our friend Joey.

Since then we've settled into Amherst at my dad and sister's house. It's the first time since we left Taiwan on June 12 that we've spent more than four consecutive nights in one place. We're here for two weeks with a quick weekend trip in the middle to visit Philadelphia.

It's that time in the summer when teachers inevitably turn their thoughts towards the new school year. Hard though it is to believe, there's less than a month until the first day of classes.

We had an absolutely wonderful day in the Portland area on Tuesday. We took the ferry to Peaks Island and rented bikes.

We rode all around the island, enjoying the views. The weather was gorgeous. Even the artwork on the side of the road was delightful.

I think this area needs to be on our every-summer-vacation-destination list.

I just spent an hour this morning reading on the porch of this lovely inn on the coast of Maine. Joining me on the porch was a young woman who spent the time tending to the hanging plants. What a wonderful summer job, trimming petunias in the sea breeze with the sound of the surf in the background.

The Fourth of July.

My extended family has been getting together every 4th since the 1960's at a sort of cabin-in-the-woods in Leverett, Massachusetts. I think the first time I attended was about 1980 so I was quite late to the party. The family has grown and shrunk through all these years and travel plans have gotten in the way of attending, but I think my cousin Mary has been to every 4th except two. That's pretty impressive. My attendance has been spotty, at best, but I did make it this year, along with 44 other relatives of one sort or another. The branches of the family tree have reached as far as fourth cousins.

Unfortunately, it was quite soggy so the usual outside crowd was missing as everyone crammed inside.

We did manage to find space for everybody around the table for a sit-down meal.

Dad found it to be a bit chilly but he managed just fine.

Lee and my brother Chick made good use of the rocking chairs, which usually dot the lawn but were relegated to the porch because of the rain.

I don't think our travels plans for next summer will have us back in the US by July 4th but it's nice to know that the Elder clan will be gathering once again at Rocky Rest.

Catch-up post: Here's a recap of our lovely, last-day-in-Simsbury hike with our Sheldon/Cox friends.

It was a beautiful day and the company was wonderful.

We've had a wonderful few days here in Simsbury, staying at our friend Nicki's house. The bike riding has been splendid with no ill effects on my wrist. The hiking as also been very nice. We just got back from White Memorial Conservation area in Litchfield. It was lush and quiet, except for the droning of the many mosquitoes. It was well worth the drive out there to be able to take such a nice hike.

Nice lean-to accommodations for campers.

Old ice house structures in the woods.

Bantam Lake

This afternoon we're going to hike up Talcott Mountain for a wonderful view of the Farmingotn Valley.