Northeast Gardening: Happy Birthday PollyK!!!!, 1 by bbrookrd

bbrookrd wrote:
Thanks Polly, I wish I had your collection of Syringa to smell and to see. Must be something to behold. I have added a few, but still haven't gone to Syringa Plus as you suggested, but I must, someday.

So nice to read about your grandson and his multidimensional passions. Before becoming a chef our son was totally into marine science and diving. He started out as a "lab rat" at age 8 collecting water samples from the harbor to test for the town. Then before going off to boarding school he worked for a couple of years after school at a research shell fishing farm on Nantucket that was propagating seed scallops. He got an internship for 3 summers during high school at the Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos. After graduating from HS he was given a paying position to continue working for them for a whole year. He then started college but that was interrupted after one term when he was asked to work as a diver for Ocean Alliance on their research vessel, The Odyssey, a 93-foot steel sailing/motor vessel. They were doing a round the world study of ocean contaminates by sampling sperm whale skin and blubber. So he spent 6 months in the Pacific in the waters around Kiribati and Papua New Guinea diving with whales. Too Cool. He finally got back to school and got his degree in environmental science and was planning on going to law school to focus on marine environmental law. While in college he worked part time teaching diving but also worked at a restaurant as a cook and bartender. It was then that he had an Epiphany and decided that he really wanted to go to CIA and continue to cook professionally. He ended up getting a duel degree in Culinary Arts as well as one in Baking and Pastry. He uses more of the Culinary at the moment in his job, but he still loves to bake. He excelled in math in school and I think he likes doing all the necessary conversions that are used in Baking. It is more like being back in the marine lab.

He does miss the diving, but he can do that someday again recreationally and he can always go back to grad school. He now will always be able to have a job that he loves and eat well at the same time. He use to study fish, now he cooks them. Strange, and who knew, but then I was planning on attending law school too and instead opened up a bookstore. My DH was a lit major at Harvard and ended up running a boat yard. Our son figured out what floated his boat and so will your sweet grandson, which is all that matters. We loved visiting our wandering son, especially in Ecuador and Papua New Guinea and then later in New Orleans where he was a chef for 2 years and now in NYC. He better pick a good spot to go next. I am hoping abroad. France would be nice.

Here is an old shot of him in one of his Pizza dough making moments when he was about 8. We should have known he would end up in a kitchen as he was always cooking at home, school, on the research vessels even though they always had a hired cook. He is taking a group of friends up to Vt to our house this weekend to ski and on the way up they are stopping in New Haven at one of the worlds best Pizza joints, Frank Pepe Pizzeria. It is funny that New Haven is world renown for Pizza. We go there often. Your grandson would love it. A true Pizza mecca as there are at least 3 great choices besides Pepe's. There is Sally's Apizza and one called Bar Pizza that serves an amazing salad too which is across the street from Louis' Lunch, birthplace of the burger. Tell him to think Yale. Of course we are fans of Boston's Santarpio's.

Kudos on Jamie's good school work and getting his 2nd degree Black Belt. That is very impressive at his age and it shows he is a very focused kid. My 11 year old goddaughter just got her brown belt in aikido and balances that out with singing with the Brooklyn Youth Choir and taking Hip Hop Dance (odd combo) and is, delightfully for me, a serious reader and interested in science and math. You never know where he might go with his life, but hopefully it is joyous trip and that you are continued to be included.

I hope you aren't slammed in the latest snow storm. We had snow this morning, but now it has turned to rain. Only a dusting on the ground now. Snowdrops out. Patti

This message was edited Feb 1, 2011 1:46 PM