Summertime

First week of retirement is under my belt.  And it was active and busy.  Hope I can upload the video which in 25 seconds gives a flavor of the week.  Jim Dickmeyer, a friend who joined the Foreign Service with me, decided to end it with me as well.  He is going to continue working though.

Anyway, Jim and I spent a week of work and play in Pittsfield.  We tore down walls in what will be the new master bedroom, and we put in a small garden, complete with fence after we saw woodchucks and rabbits.  We also canoed across the lake to go to Mr. Donut for coffee; drove up to Mt Greylock, the highest point in Mass; went to a Pittsfield Colonials baseball game; took in some live music at the Guthrie Center (formerly Alice's Restaurant - really) and the Dreamaway Lodge; and did a culinary tour which included the last two establishments and Theo's hot dogs and Jimmy's restaurant.  Lots of errands and spent a little money.  And that's not all.  John and Marilyn invited Jim to play golf so they went out to the links for two rounds.  My own personal history of golf in Saratoga and Stratford remains seared in my psyche so I did not join.

A mystery. The car smelled terrible; Jim said it was his leather golf bag. When we got home, Mary also thought it smelled of a dead animal. After the car was all cleaned out, I looked in one of the wells in the back and found a dead mouse. How did it get there?

And Mary stayed behind and had to work.  She has just two more weeks of work before her summer break.  She was not idle at home as she cleaned up our office area, to make room for her new rug-braiding materials.  

We stopped in to see Grandma going and coming.  She reported on long conversations with Dundee and it sounded like the Illinois crowd had a great week at Green Lake.  Also talked with David who had tracked me down on the road, on my first full day of retirement.  Grandma said they are heading out to the Vineyard soon. 

Margaret spent the week in Kansas City at an international student advising conference, which usually draws about 20,000 people.  She was with the group of Iraqis who are setting up international student advising centers, and had some reverse cultural insights with people experiencing the U.S., most for the first time.

We also spoke with Annie who is winding down her job and planning on coming to Bethesda for a weekend in a couple of weeks.  Then, she will get her visa to move to China.  Yikes!

And we got a text message from Joe who was in Denver (?) and an e-mail saying he made it to the next level of the Foreign Service test.  He is in his final weeks of work.  

So, some busy weeks ahead, of driving anyway and trying to do a little work on the house.  And then I really need to start planning our trip out west.  

Hope you are all well and enjoying the start to the wonderful season.  Love