It is (or was) the residence of Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York, where they lived for many years before moving to the state house in Albany and later to the White House in Washington. After Franklin died in April 1945, it was to this house that Eleanor Roosevelt returned to spend the rest of her days, leaving it only on those rare occasions when she needed to sit with the U.S. delegation to the United Nations or make television commercials for margarine. I remember one that began with her saying, “When you think about the starving people of the world...” and until she said that I hadn’t thought about the starving people of the world at all.
From 1965 until 1968 we lived just a few miles away from Hyde Park in Poughkeepsie, New York. Here are my two oldest children and their two cousins from Florida sitting on the front steps of FDR’s home. My older son is on the left and my younger son is on the right. In the middle are their cousins. From left to right, these four individuals are now 46-1/2, 46-1/2, 45 (today is his birthday), and 45 (his birthday was a couple of months ago), respectively.
Here is a slightly closer view, and a little more off-center.
The fuzziness, of course, is in my cell phone, not in my memory. I used my cell phone to take photos of a snapshot, and you see the result. The dadblamed phone simply would not focus. Actually, you now know how I see everything when I’m not wearing my glasses.
Here is how I see things when I am wearing my glasses:
This is not my children and their cousins from Florida. This is Jethro, my dog. I do not know if his memory is a bit fuzzy, but everything else is.
Fuzz comes to all of us eventually! :)
ReplyDeleteI've said before and I'll say itt again I love the way you write and your sense of humour always brightens my day! And I agree a beautiful house , I'm a bit of an architecture fan too! Oh and lovely dog as well.
ReplyDeleteU.K. contingent heard from loud and clear! Thanks, Jinksy and Emma!
ReplyDeleteMy new definition of success: Fending off the fuzz as long as possible.
If you were wondering the dog's breed, it's Havanese. He will be seven in June.
He's a lovely looking dog, our beloved Labrador retriever died last year aged 14 and at the time we said we would never get another dog but a year on, we all kind of want that extra family member and have been looking at different breeds for size and temprament I think that might be one to add to the list
ReplyDeleteYour dog is super cute! The house is amazing but I've only seen pictures. I haven't been following you long but I agree with Emma ps I love the way you write!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hatchet Hollie! How did you come by your moniker? Maybe inquiring minds don't want to know!
ReplyDeleteNothing murderous promise! I just listen to this record label Psychopathic Records their slogan is running with a hatchet. The double H's sound nice together. I thought about Hollie Hatchet for awhile but it was to close to Molly Hatchet and that's not even close to Psychopathic music.
ReplyDeleteEmma, I didn't mean to skip over your comment, it just sort of happened. We had a white poodle named P.J. (short for Pierre Jean-Jacques Dubois) who at 13 had a stroke in front of our eyes and died within an hour. Mrs. RWP and I were so traumatized we couldn't even think about another pet for four years, and the house seemed so empty, even when it was full of people. Eventually we were given 2-year-old Jethro, who has become the love of our life. I'd say get another dog as soon as you are ready. One thing the Havanese breed have going for them is that they are hypo-allergenic (translation: they don't shed).
ReplyDeleteThat's what we're ideally looking for , a breed that doesn't shed, that was the one thing about our Harvey we took a bit of him with us every where! We were still finding random hairs months after he died
ReplyDeleteEmma, I perceive that this comment thread is turning out to be about Jethro. He has a sweet temperament, is a people person, loves everyone, will lick you to death in a heartbeat, and gets along with other dogs. He gives cats a wide berth. He doesn't require much exercise; in fact, if we don't take him for a daily walk around the subdivision, he goes berserk for a minute or two running through the house from room to room like a wild man, and then he returns to his normally docile self and plunks himself on his favorite armchair.
ReplyDeleteOne of our sons has a black lab, very sweet also, but all he wants to do is retrieve tennis balls. And I know what you mean about the hair.
I have the same dog. Aren't they wonderful??
ReplyDelete