Writing Life

Nope, I’m not talking about the A&F chain, but about a fantastic restaurant that my in-laws took us to this past weekend. Located across from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Meyerhoff Hall, Abercrombie is actually a bed and breakfast with a fine dining restaurant partially below the ground floor. They’d been there once before, prior to seeing a BSO show with another couple. We went on June 22nd in order to celebrate two birthdays, an anniversary and Father’s Day! June is a busy month.

We ate in the rounded back room, with ceiling-level windows looking out to the sidewalk. Tea candles filled small niches along the walls. I’m sure they’d be stunning on a cold winter’s night. On this visit, the air conditioning and fan were broken, so it got a bit warm, but never too uncomfortable. Service was superb.

We started with a appetite-whetting chilled soup of melon, mint and orange juice. It was served in a small container, sort of like a screw-top, single serving of jam or jelly you’d find on a room service plate. It was so refreshing, especially on a hot day in June. Diane & I had a house Mac & Cheese for our first course. This wasn’t Kraft Cheese and Macacroni. It was parmagianno reggiano and gruyere cheese served over Cavatappi pasta in a small cast-iron pot. Diane’s parents each had a Caesar salad.

For the second course, the three of them had wild salmon that was succulent and juicy. I had steak frites, where the steak appeared to be tenderloin medallions and the frites were potato wedges in a delightful crunchy batter with pepper. We drank a wonderful bottle of French red from the Languedoc region, one of my favorite areas between Bordeaux and the Rhone. Up until the last few years, it was a hidden treasure. Sadly, for me, it’s become better known and the prices have skyrocketed and the availability has plummeted. Regardless, this was a wonderful bottle and reasonably priced. If you go there, I’d highly recommend it.

For dessert, we ordered a Milk Chocolate Panna Cota, which was made with Mascarpone cream, brownie stuffed phyllo purse, and espresso prailine. We also had an order of their version of Milk and Cookies. Our server brought out four complimentary glasses of 20 year-old tawny port that was stupendous. It had character and wasn’t simply sweet. It was a great gesture and the port was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

We topped off the evening with a great performance of Beethoven’s 9th by the BSO’s Music Director Marin Alsop. The show opened with Joan Tower’s Concerto for Orchestra. Ms. Tower herself introduced the piece on stage, with some give and take between her, Maestro Alsop and the orchestra. That was so cool, since so much of the classical music I’ve seen is by composers long dead. It’s nice to see it as a living art and to have a connection between the person and the performance.

As a writer, I’d have to be excited about how Indianapolis has recreated itself. But, I’ve got double reason to be excited. My father-in-law had a great letter published in response to that article (see the first letter on the web page). It was published in today’s Travel section in the Washington Post.

No, that’s not a typo but a salutation to our new kitty, Page! We adopted her this past weekend from the Animal Welfare Society of Howard County. She’s just over one year old, with a birthday of March 24th. She’s an adorable, playful and beautifully marked tabby, just what we wanted. We were originally looking for a male, to keep the matched set with our older kitty Xicco, but Page called out to Diane and I. We’re so glad to have her home, and are going through the separation period between her and Xicco while Page fully recovers from an upper respiratory infection (treated before we adopted her but better to be safe with any potential for infecting Xicco) and to allow the two cats to acclimate to each other. It was nice to be able to save an older cat instead of just getting a kitten. We got our first (and wonderful) kitty Buddy when he was 8 weeks old. We got Xicco at 6 months and now page at 13 months. Below is a cute picture (take note of the picture in the background, it’s our beloved Buddy).

It is with deep sadness that Diane and I share with you the passing of our very first kitty, Buddy.

He’d been suffering from mast cell tumor cancer and, more recently, diabetes. In the past few weeks, his health deteriorated and over the last few days it had gotten significantly worse. After much discussion with our cat oncologist and our fabulous regular vet, we decided that the time had come. His quality of life was no longer there and we didn’t want him to continue to suffer. He passed away quietly, peacefully, surrounded by us and the staff of our vet, who’d watched him grow up from a kitten so many years ago.

Buddy had turned 17 this past Saturday (July 7th). He was born exactly two weeks before Diane & I got married, although he didn’t join the family officially until he was about eight weeks old. Diane picked his name and never was there a better choice. Buddy was always at your side: when you were in the shower, on the toilet, doing your hair, eating, sleeping, crying, laughing, or just staring off into space. Always. Loved by all, feared by few, he was the bestest kitty ever.

We miss Buddy tremendously, but he’ll always be in our hearts and in the hearts of everyone who’d ever met this greatest little guy in the world. Keep us in your thoughts and if you have a kitty, puppy, or other furry, non-furry, big or small member of the family, give them a hug.

This past weekend, my mom’s cousin, Fr. Bill, celebrated 50 years in the Catholic priesthood. Our family got together in Scranton (PA) to celebrate over the weekend. It was a blast!

Trivia: Fr. Bill had married my parents one week after he was ordained. They’d waited for this to happen. Fr. Bill also married Diane & I, though obviously not at the same time.

My honey, Diane, surprised me with a birthday party that brought together so many of my close friends. Thank you so much to everyone who came from near and far; and so many thanks to Diane for making it so special. I was totally surprised and blown away (speechless, if you can believe it!).

Thank you all!

It’s not always about politics or rants on this blog. Here’s a photo from dinner tonight. Diane & I, her parents, and our dear friends Stacy and Marc pose before the tripod. Most excellent evening of talking, eating, and laughing.

In today’s Baltimore Sun!

Turf Valley needs more access roads

Early in the morning in January, during one of the high-wind days, there was a traffic mishap on Turf Valley Road. An automobile went off the road and into the golf course pond. The automobile ended up totally submerged. All traffic in both directions was unable to pass for close to one hour while emergency crews hooked up and extracted the automobile from the pond. The lines of traffic extended as far as the eye could see in both directions.

This issue seriously demonstrates just one of the many concerns of the nearby residents. Before any additional building takes place within the Turf Valley properties, other access roads need to be built. This comment does not exclude other issues, as well.

Suppose for a moment that if a person in one of the dwellings in the complex had a heart attack, or a house was on fire, or some other tragedy had occurred. The well-being of those involved in such a situation would be seriously impeded if not outright compromised.

This is something that the Howard County Planning Board seems to have dismissed out of hand during all of the long hearings that have taken place relative to the desired build-up to capacity of the Mangione Family Enterprises property at Turf Valley. It seems to me that the Howard County government ought to start acting responsibly when it comes to the issues facing the community in the region.

The consequences of not doing so are formidable to the people, the region and the county government. Failure to do so may well create a problem which it might be very expensive and very difficult to resolve.

People need to be assured that they are not facing a problem of massive congestion in the area. For a change, the members of the Planning Board need to practice that rare virtue of thinking before they collectively decide the fate of so many people.

Robert W. Hertz
Ellicott City