To March. The temperature is going to hit 60 degrees in Maryland today, and flowers are pushing through the garden. But when I left Pittsfield a week ago, temps had been in the teens and the snow fall was wet and heavy. I wonder why I have decided to stay down here for most of the month of March. Actually, I will be taking a class, and we have a pretty regular list of visitors, which is always nice.
A lot has happened since I last wrote. Seared in our memory was our attempt to get to Ottawa over Presidents' Day Weekend. The weather (again) had called for light snow tapering off mid-day. John and Marilyn and I were to drive to Syracuse to pick up Mary who was flying in and then proceed on to our old haunts. Half way there, we were forced off the Thruway by white-out conditions, and Mary's flight was canceled. With the benefit of cell phones and mobile weather apps, we saw it wasn't going to get better so we turned around, Mary got her flight changed to Albany and we returned to Pittsfield. And, while we didn't skate on the canal, we did get a taste of winter with skiing and snow!
On the way back to Albany to drop off Mary for her return flight, we got a call from David who was in ...... Albany! So we had a nice dinner together in a downtown haunt where David seemed to know all the customers and the bartender! Hmm. (Just kidding)
In the mail this week came invitations! To a wedding! (Actually, elegant hold-the-date bookmarks!) October 16 it is! Congratulations Jeff and Melodie!
Grandma seems to have recovered from her bout with pneumonia. Enough to go down to eat in the cafeteria, which is where we went last Saturday for a cheese steak and a cheesecake. Grandma was more sensible with a salad. She had an eye doctor's appointment that Peter said showed stability, not deterioration.
Annie has started her new job, at Burston-Marsellers, and she sounds happy and excited and eager to learn so much. (She modeled her anti-pollution mask last week on Skype; there's another one on her blog: http://3rdculturekidinthe3rdworld.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/beyond-index). Joe has moved to a new place, a nice apartment in downtown DC where he can walk to work and to school. He has mid-terms this week. Good luck. And Margaret starts a three week trip to Amman Jordan and then to New Orleans on Monday. She'll be in Jordan for Mardi Gras and in Louisiana for Lent. (Shouldn't it be the other way around?)
Work on our house in Pittsfield continues fast and furious. While my work consists mostly of writing checks, I did do a little painting and dry wall taping/sanding last week. It's a dirty, dusty place, but our heat bills fell by over $100 the first month we got insulation, and stopped heating Berkshire County! And we found out we definitely need a cat. Or two.
Mary has been busy at school and keeping up with visitors, including two from Ottawa who spent a couple of days with us on their way back from a month in Florida. It will be 2 degrees up there this week.
Here, maybe a bike ride, today. That's progress. Love from down here.
No comments:
Post a Comment