Let’s get started
It’s been awhile since our last post and I’ve realized that one of the barriers I created for myself is thinking everything I published had to be a long-form, polished piece. Those take time to produce – at least for me, they do. And they’re easy to postpone for days, weeks, or as we see now, even months!
So I’m taking a cue from the folks who create “digital gardens” – places on the web that “aren’t refined or complete – notes are published as half-finished thoughts that will grow and evolve over time.” This is an experiment. I’m starting it here – the key word being “starting”… not waiting for the perfect time or perfect content.
Like so much else we’ve done right, this was Mary’s idea
While we sat on our patio on the evening of “Day -1” (see below), she said “I think that wherever we go this year, we should tell people we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary”. And, like I usually do, I agreed. Then I decided that I’d like to write about how we celebrated, which brings me to this post.
I started this post on May 24 (Day 1) with a couple short vignettes about how we’re celebrating this year. Then I added some additional notes as May ended. I’ll add new posts like these as the year progresses and will keep going until the year ends or I run out of gas. (It’s an experiment, after all.)
Here we go!
Day -1: May 23,2026
Our anniversary is May 24, but we had a lovely time the evening before at the Rivaura Winery in Juliaetta, Idaho, about 17 miles from our home. Mary had been there a few weeks earlier on a girls’ night out with a couple friends and had been waiting for a chance to take me there.
The winery estate vineyards are located on both sides of the Clearwater River, northeast of Lewiston. The tasting room, where we sat, has one of the best views we’ve seen anywhere.
We enjoyed a bottle of Rivaura’s 2024 Viognier. It’s a white wine varietal that we like, but don’t often find in regional wineries. Along with the wine, we had a charcuterie tray prepared by a food truck that was on site.
After we got home, we sat on the back patio with another glass of wine and took advantage of the warm, quiet evening.
It was a great way to kick off the anniversary year.
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Day 1: May 24, 2026
This morning, after we ate breakfast, Mary spent 30 minutes reading me jokes posted on Bluesky by a guy named SeaTea. We both laughed our asses off. Starting your day with that kind of endorphin rush pretty much guarantees it’s going to be a good day.
Here’s a sample.
And another.
I’ll stop now or we’ll be here all day.
I wasn’t looking for another social media account, but decided that I should sign up for Bluesky today. You can follow us there:
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Day 4: May 27, 2026
On this Wednesday morning, we were both awake and up early. We had things to do and places to go.
We spent 2 1/2 hours cleaning the house, getting ourselves cleaned up, and doing the final pass at packing for a trip.
Our son Will drove us to a local dog-sitter’s house, where we dropped Lily off for an extended stay. We knew she’d be happy – Ashley has two big dogs, the kind Lily likes to play with.
Then Will dropped us off.
After a couple hours, we boarded the first flight of three we’d take over the next 22 hours. By the time we reached the hotel at our destination, we’d been up and moving for 29 hours.
Where did we go? Keep reading to find out.
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Day 5: May 28, 2026
Our first flight yesterday took us to Salt Lake City, where we spent 5 hours in a very nice airport lounge. Then we got on a second flight that flew overnight to Amsterdam. We spent an uncomfortable night in cramped seats and got served terrible food. (Thanks for the ice cold omelette, KLM!)
Our final flight took us to our final destination: Warsaw, Poland! We’re spending 10 days here, first doing some sightseeing in Warsaw and then on to Kraków, where we’ll see some more sights and then participate in the annual WordCamp Europe conference.
Our friends Nancy and Denise flew in from Portugal and met us at the hotel. We had a raucous reunion over dinner – our first taste of pierogis – and finalized our plans for tomorrow, our first full day in Poland.
We’ll share a few snippets from the trip in these notes, and then follow it with a more detailed retrospective.
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Day 6: May 29, 2026
We began our day with a walking tour of central Warsaw and the historical area known as Old Town. Our guide, Taisa, gave us a multi-layered introduction to Warsaw’s history, architecture, and culture.
Another Paragraph
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There’s more to come.
We’ll be adding new vignettes as the month progresses. We hope you’ll visit this post again to see what we’ve done to celebrate.
Until next time,
Mary and Mike
The Cook and The Writer
How have you celebrated the major milestones in your relationships? Which ones are coming up? Leave us a note in the comments below or via the Contact Us form, so we can celebrate with you.
