Peggy sent us some old photos and this was the email chat on Easter morning.
This was taken around 1973 at a pig farm Dad rented for a month in Normandy (or Brittany), France.
Greg Chris MR Dave Dad
The pigs there were HUGE — like the size of cows.
The liner we had taken across the Atlantic dropped us at Cherbourg, France, and Helene’s sister Noelle was working nearby at a funny farm (she was doing her physician’s internship at a local hospital). Helene was staying somewhere close by and would visit Dad daily.
We would play bocci ball in the evenings and, when Helene wasn’t looking, Davy would drive her little deux chevaux around the yard. The stick shift came out of the dashboard.
Helene’s Deux Chevaux
The daffodil photo was taken at Trent Park, London, where Dad was working (before Chris worked there years later) during Dad’s and Gill’s honeymoon when Peggy was babysitting. MR said, “I think Christy is wearing a headband knitted by Timmy. (No, seriously, Timmy used to knit with multi-colored yarn.) And we were laughing because Chris was talking into the daffodil as if it were an old telephone.
Chris Talking Into Daffodil Phone
“We went to the zoo and were kicked out of the monkey exhibit because a monkey was jerking off,” Peg chimed in. “We all crammed into a tiny car and drove to Stonehenge.”
Franky Sandra Greg MR Jeremy
The hottie with his arm around me? Mmm mm! Jeremy Ironside, New Zealand hottie who I met him on the ship. Called him up. He lived in South London, so took the tube up to visit while Peg & Billy Hutch were babysitting.
Jaysus — how many did we have in that green Renault 16?
Five in back + Peg & Bill Hutch in front. The steering wheel was on the English side, so that must be Peg’s long hair on Jeremy, because I remember Hutch was driving.The girl to Greg’s right? Sandra Young. Last week she What’sApp’d about Tea for the Tillerman, a Cat Stevens album we used to listen to at that time 🎵”I’m being followed by a moon shadow” 🎶
Greg Frank MR Dave Chris Gill Dad in the Fall, 1976
Franky said, “The photo with Chris in the Navy uniform was taken in Shirlington, VA where we briefly lived [when we returned from France]. I was a senior at Bishop Ireton boys school and worked stock at Sloan’s Furniture. Later Dad and Gill moved again and I was housed by the Richardson family around the corner until I finished high school and went to Radford U.”
MR chimed in, “I was going to Northern Virginia Community College at that time.” [If Franky was a senior at Ireton, Greg must have been a junior.] “Greg was going to O’Connell, but Dad shipped him off to Connie & Dave’s [in Bellingham, Washington]. Around the same time, he put me on a Greyhound Bus (with rotten chicken he had cooked) to Peg’s in San Rafael.
“Dave, I believe, was the maintenance guy at the apartments in S. Arlington. Gill worked at the jewelry counter at Woodward & Lothrup. Dad discovered Sizzler Steakhouse, so put on all the lbs. he had lost in France.”
Chris said, “I was in D.C. for two weeks the end of September/October time 1976.”
Bob’s wife, Eva, and their daughter, Susie, had just left for Sicily when Bob hosted a potluck get-together at his home. Because asparagus was in season, I wanted something to serve cold that would be easy to eat with a fork. No hand-twirling asparagus spears in hollandaise for people standing up holding plates! I combined two recipes from the 
To really look like asparagus on a crowded buffet table, it needs to be bright emerald and half “spear tops.” I should take it out of the boiling water as soon as it turns emerald. It will cook a few seconds more before cooling, and marinating it overnight will make it taste “cooked.” Marinating the pasta will also soften it, so cook it al dente. Chilled dishes should be a little crunchy. I substituted seasoned (salt and sugar) rice vinegar for white vinegar, and whole-seed Dijon for smooth which did not improve it. The honey is important for the body of the dressing so I am showing the original recipe because that’s probably the best.
Linda treated me to a visit to the Sonoma County Art Museum to see the feminist art exhibit. It was great and had much more READING than I expected. My favorite was the video of balloons pinned to a wall, each with a different positive personal attribute including “sexy” and “cute.” Eventually, all the unnecessary attributes were exploded except the only ones that count in a patriarchal, narcissistic, addicted world. It was funny. 
What went well: the low flower arrangement that we could see over. Instead of spring colors, I might have picked up the blue of the tablecloth and the burnt orange of the plates. 
