Not too distant memories…

Life moves a fast some days, and what seems like just a couple of weeks ago, quickly turns into a month…or more.

At the beginning of June, my family held a special party in Maryland: our “aught party”. The occasion was the celebration of several decade birthdays and anniversaries. We had one 80th birthday, a 70th anniversary, a few 60th anniversaries and birthdays, and so forth, all the way to my brother and his fiancee celebrating their zero-th anniversary this year. (Let’s not forget MY upcoming 40th birthday!) In all, we had over 15 decade anniversaries and birthdays…with every decade covered from 1927 to 2007.

The location: St. Michaels…where my grandmother lived, and her two sisters still live today. Prior to the main event, the three families held pre-parties at their homes. My family and I settled into Whiskey Hill…my grandmother’s home. This is still one of my most relaxing places to visit.

The pre-party at Whiskey Hill ended with a fantastic lightening show across Edge Creek. This was always a fixture of our summers in St. Michaels. The dramatic approach of storms across the water until they crash upon you with wind and rain.

The day of the Aught Party was absolutely perfect. Sunny. Warm. Light breezes. The perfect setting for family to arrive from far-flung corners of the country: Georgia, North Carolina, California, Washington, and of course Virginia and Maryland. We descended on our hosts Deb and Doug and their inviting home on Solitude Creek.

Specially designed blue tee shirts abounded…one for every celebrant. As you can see…there were quite a few 🙂

One of the highlights for the younger generation was the ol’ mentos in cola trick. My uncle Jim, a proud NASA engineer (and a skillful teacher), helped the kids to craft multi-mentos drops to send the soda streams even higher into the air. On one occasion, there was even a cola battle!

The party was fueled by a seemingly endless supply of fresh corn on the cob and expertly-grilled steak. I was put in charge of assembling the party soundtrack…a carefully researched mix of hits from 1927, 37, 47, 57, 67, 87, 97, and 2007. Throw all that into an iPod playlist, and WOW…instant party. Its quite fun to hear Kay Kayser and Frank Sinatra next to the Beatles and Bon Jovi.