Happy Halloween

Snow in October?  Say it ain't so!  But it was.  In Pittsfield, in Hightstown and Princeton and even in Maryland! 

 

Peter and Janet (and Dasha) had come up to Pittsfield for a late fall foliage weekend, and it's too bad they weren't there the weekend before when it was almost an Indian summer moment.  Instead, we got socked with well over a foot of very wet snow.  Fortunately, the plow guy came early Sunday morning and a quick shoveling out job meant they could get on the road to go home.  Unfortunately, they had an unpleasant surprise when they got home as the power was out and their basement had flooded again.  

 

Did it dampen the weekend though?  (Pun intended.)  Not so much, we hope.  We had a great time, with a pre-snow hike in the woods and a delicious pot roast dinner and our first fire in the fireplace!!  John and Marilyn came over and helped regulate our new heating system.  We saw them again on Sunday and checked up on their new bathroom renovation project.  Looks great.

 

The weekend started with a mad dash (is there any other kind) up to Boston to pay back taxes on the car so we could renew registration.  I was able to combine that trip with a taxi ride (I was the taxi) taking Joe to the airport.  He was on his way to Michigan for a football weekend with Tamara.  Then, it was a rough ride over to Pittsfield in, you guessed it, a pre-blizzard snow storm.

 

We checked in on Grandma several times over the past few weeks.  She is in the nursing care facitility, trying to get back her strength to return to her apartment.  She is feeling better but is still pretty weak.  She has started walking again.  She loves all the calls from everyone, even if they're short!

 

Mary and I had gone up the previous weekend to see her.  We decided, on a lark, to go to NYC and see if we couldn't catch a play.  We parked the car and five minutes later we were in the matinee for Memphis, which is a wonderful song and dance musical about the R&B beginnings of rock 'n roll in that segregated southern city.  We headed downtown to lend our moral support to the Occupy Wall Street protests and after a dinner in Little Italy, went back to Meadow Lakes for the night.  We hadn't been to New York in a few years and were reminded how much fun (and how expensive) the city is.

 

We saw a number of photos of next generation'ers in Halloween get-up.  Looks like a fun weekend for everyone.  Margaret's dog D was dressed as Steve Jobs. 

 

We talked with David and Paula a few times; they are now in Hightstown after their own trip to the city.  Andrew and Lur are slowling getting better, and we hear big news on Daniel and his volleyball team (seems like they won state championships) and Claire and her oboe performances.  

 

The last entry for PWL was Melodie and Jeffrey's wedding.  Hard to put in words how wonderful that grand event was for us, but the pictures say a lot.  It was so nice to see everyone - Matthew and Tina and Oliver from NY and Jen and Bill from Illinois, whom we don't get to see as often.  Congratulations to the wedding couple for putting together such a memorable ceremony and party!

 

Love from down here.