Rachel is our friend, a sophomore at the University of Redlands, CA. We know her as a friend of the Wilson family in Skokie, near Chicago. She and her parents, Linda and Bill, and her brothers Daniel and Jeremy have been close friends of Steve, Rick's brother, and his wife and our nieces Elizabeth and Diana, and nephew Richie for many years. We got to know her when we went to Chicago in May for ceremonies in memory of Steve. Rachel and her boyfriend Scott picked us up at the airport in Chicago, and we became close to her as we shared the difficult five days. Rachel was homesick in Redlands, and needed a break from the college environment. We were honored and pleased that she called us to be close to family and to spend a night and a day with us in Pasadena!

After a relaxed dinner Friday night at our favorite Thai restaurant, we came back to talk and watch a DVD documentary about the making of 'When Harry met Sally', one of all of our favorite movies.

Rachel was fascinated with Rick's flute collection. She said she tried flute for a week years ago. She looks good holding one. This is an ivory 6-key flute by Richard Potter, London, c.1790.

Rachel did not know about Rick's collection, so he enjoyed showing her many interesting specimens. While she holds the Potter flute, Rick shows her a glass 7-key flute by Claude Laurent, Paris, 1834. In the background, under our water bottle, you can see Kathy's collection of mostly percussion instruments. On the upper left, you can see some of Kathy's 'creatures.' Most of the 'creatures she has found were returned to the ocean where they came from. But some survive, and are around our houses along with their 'portrait' photos taken where they were found. You can see some of Kathy's 'readymade oceanworks' by clicking here.

Here, when she asked about 'modern' flutes, he showed her a silver Boehm flute by Alfred G. Badger, N.Y., c.1880.

, She had never heard Rick play, so he gave her a little concert. He played Variations on "Die Feldflasche" by Raphael Dressler, on Copy of c.1825 8-key Triebert, made by our friend Rod Cameron of Mendocino, CA and Nairn, Scotland. Later, Kathy sang while a Scottish song with words by Robert Burns, 'The Banks o' Doon'. Rick accompanied on copy of 1-key Scherer, by Rod Cameron.In the background, near the top of the picture, you can see another of Kathy's creatures, posed in a pothos plant that has grown two long strands to our delight, from a cutting from our dear friend Lisa Turetsky's kitchen in Richmond, CA.

It was a sunny Saturday morning, and after a refreshing sleep and breakfast at home, we all walked out to show Rachel the beautiful Caltech campus.

The pool at Caltech was full of frogs. No, these are not frogs, but we saw some.

We had a great time together.

After our walk Rachel left, saying she was happy she came to Pasadena, and we hope she visits often. Her Mom and brothers will visit her in two weeks and all of us we meet in Pasadena again for a happy reunion.