Spring break

Mary's on spring break, so we hopped in the car and drove south.  Or we crawled, for the first three hours.  It was a Saturday for crying out loud.  Once the traffic started moving, the rain and, as we found out later, the tornadoes came.  We had gone to spend the weekend in Chapel Hill NC with Charlie and Annie, friends from, you guessed it, the Peace Corps.  We made it, and once there, the sun came out and we could see it getting greener while we were sitting out on their back porch.

While there, we met up with a couple they knew from Northampton Mass, one of whom teaches at UMass.  We went for a long bike ride, which ended conveniently at a local (and crowded) ice cream stand.  (It was Sunday during Lent, and our minister said that Sundays are feast days while the rest of Lent is a fasting time.)  

We found ourselves in some culture shock situations, being in the South.  The hardest was the accent of the people who could understand us, but when they launched into a 12-minute response for a simple comment or question, we did not understand them as we would smile and beat a retreat to the car.  Reading a book now about the Civil War, where there's a quote:  "North, East and West are simply directions; South is a state of mind."

I saw Grandma on Friday, when I drove back from a few days of work on the upstairs in the old part of the house in Pittsfield.  She is patiently awaiting a wheelchair, as she feels she can no longer get around on her electric cart due to her eyesight.  She has a couple of friends who are bringing food and mail, and then when she gets the chair, she'll be able to get out easier.  We have now set aside July 28, 29 and 30 as the dates for her birthday reunion in Pittsfield.

Today was a banner day, as we sent three different e-mails to Annie.  She has updated her blog, and changed its name and it has all kinds of new bells and whistles:  http://3rdculturekidbetweenworlds.wordpress.com/.  Speaking of China, John and Marilyn are back from their two week trip there.  We will hear more about it when we go up this weekend, but it sounds like they had a terrific time there.

Margaret has closed the deal on a new apartment which is near her work.  Sounds really nice, and is close enough that she can come home during lunch to walk her dog!  Dee will be happy.  She started her new job working on teacher exchanges.  She joined us last night at a Passover seder with friends who had been with us in South Africa and live close by.  A special night with a family with many connections. 

Joe is busy, busy.  He has been accepted at Tufts, and is seriously considering a move north in the fall.  He is looking at exams coming up at the same time he has to finish a project proposal for work.

Closing out, we understand a young man from Dundee is back in DC for a class trip!  And, happy birthday to Peter!

Love from down here.

March went out like a lion

It's cold, but there are daffodils.  It even snowed a little today.

Lots of news, beginning with the Dundee clan trip east to see Grandma.  We caught up with them in the middle of their visit, after they had spent a couple of nights at Meadow Lakes and a meal or two with Peter and Janet.  Andrew and Daniel had gone to a lacrosse game with Peter, but they didn't cheer hard enough as Princeton lost in a come from behind game against some team from Connecticut.  We all went to dinner at Capuano's, and once again the meal did not disappoint, nor did the company!!

Mary and I stayed at Peter and Janet's, but a miscommunication saw us leave before Peter could return with breakfast!  A rain check?  We were there long enough for a standing ovation from Dasha, which is how she greets her most favorite visitors.

We headed back to Meadow Lakes in the am and hung out.  Mary and Lur went for a long walk to counter the Dunkin Donuts and hot dog lunch!  Some of us don't need anything to counter that healthy food.  Daniel is into his IPod with tons of apps, including some which distort photos, making people look old and fat.  Very funny, but I don't need an app to make me look old and fat.  In any case, it was nice to see everyone, and David called while we were there!

I had been in Pittsfield and came south, while Mary drove up from MD.  Up there, I did the minimum amount of work, met with the contractor and went skiing!  Johnny persevered, and got me to the top of the mountain, and even harder down the mountain on skis.  In my view, mountains are mountains and they're high and steep.  I did make it down with some good encouragement and then even went back up for more.  There is lots of progress on the house, including dry wall, and a sump pump when the basement flooded a couple of times.  Better now then later.

In the travel department, John and Marilyn left for China, but their travel companions had to back out at the last minute when one of them had a medical issue.  Kathleen is about to head off for Tanzania where she'll spend three months working at an AIDS and drug rehab clinic.  Margaret is back from New Orleans where she had a great time escorting a group of Iraqi English professors to a convention.  She is right now on a train back to DC after meeting another group of Iraqis in New York, but before they arrived, she did have a chance to catch up with Johanna.  I am pretty sure they shared dog stories.

In the health department, Grandma has been having a hard time with her eyesight, and is ready to make new arrangements for getting around Meadow Lakes as she is having trouble steering her cart.  

And in the education department, Joe was readmitted to Tufts, so he has another tough decision to make.  And I was admitted to the UMass history program.  I am headed up there tomorrow for an orientation program on Monday.  

I had spent the month of March here in Maryland, going to a retirement seminar, which was on the whole useful.  One concrete result was I started another blog, to take a step toward my new reincarnation as a historian.  I took a message from David Brooks in his talk, saying "Fake it before you make it."  My blog can be found here:  http://timecapsulepilot.wordpress.com/

The next two months will be important in finishing the house in Pittsfield, in time for a July get-together.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

The other finger crossing exercise is about baseball, as the season started this week.  Lots of hope and promise!  

That's all from down here.  Love!!