Farewell to 2013

And hello next year!  

It's quiet around here.  The kitty is wondering where everyone went, but doesn't really mind.  He has his house back to himself -- and the two people he occasionally pays attention to when he's hungry.  And he doesn't have to worry about sharing the house with a dog, who pretty much ignores him.

We had a wonderful Christmas, with Annie, Margaret and Andrew here for a few days.  We had met up in New York City in 70 degree weather.  Mary and I had gone down for our anniversary and to celebrate the end of the semester and take in a show.  The city was packed, especially as we wandered around mid-town, between Broadway and 5th Avenue to take in all the Christmas sights, with the millions of smart people who had the same idea.  It was still fun to see the skating, and the light shows, and fancy stores, and the singing and dancing and bell-ringing Salvation Army Santa Clauses and elves.  

On Annie's advice we headed down to the High Line which is an elevated train track converted to a path, starting next to Madison Square Garden and going south.  I think the same people who were at Rockefeller Center the day before went here.  Or maybe it's just a big city.  Anyway, the trail is very nicely done, and little neighborhoods are springing up all around it.  We had our choice of restaurants when we finished and chose an authentic Mexican one.  It was all helped out by the warm weather. We saw Newsies, a musical about a strike by newspaper boys in the 1890s against Joseph Pulitzer's paper.  The singing was good, but the dancing was phenomenal.  Very entertaining.    

We tried to connect with Peter and Janet for Sunday brunch but it didn't work out.  We actually had brunch at a sidewalk cafe (in December!) with Margaret, Annie and Greg before heading back to Pittsfield.  The warm weather had reached up here, melting almost all the snow.  We had a dusting Christmas morning so we could claim a seasonal white ambiance.   

Andrew came up the next day on the plane, and we had a Christmas eve supper with John and Marilyn. They were having a houseful the next day.  In case you're wondering, the picture here after that supper was not posed.  Just candid. 

Joe called several times, from London and once from Paris.  His girlfriend had gone over to spend Christmas with him, and was generous enough to carry over gifts for him, for his birthday and for Christmas.  He had had Christmas dinner with a friend he met one summer working at the Embassy in Ottawa.

We touched base with almost everyone in both Dickson and Boyle families, from Mexico to Illinois, Rochester, Stonington and New Jersey.  We thought a fair amount of Pomfret at this time of year, and while those days are receding faster than we want, the memories of that happiness, are still fairly close to the surface.  We all crowded in, ate lots of food, played football, sledded, and pretty much made a wreck of their house.  

Each year, on return, we all got a letter from Grandma and Pop, thanking us for making the trek north and east, and reminding us, as if we needed reminding, how special that time was.

So here's a resolution for 2014.  Let's try to get together!  Any ideas?

Love from up here.     

How can it get any more Christmas-y?

The tree is up, so are the wreaths, Mary has been making cookies, the UPS guys are here too much, there's fire in the fireplace, and.... there's snow on the ground.  Where are Currier and Ives to paint a picture?  We have a few more things to do, like write a Christmas letter and .... and....and..... The list never ends.  But it's fun.

And one thing that is not fun, is I have one more paper due this Friday.  Then we'll have fun.  We're off to NYC for a couple of nights.  Wanna come?  We'll see Annie, and bring her home.  Margaret's also planning to be up in that neck of the woods for the weekend, before coming north.

Our big news was the first big snow of the year, which I bet folks in Pennington also got.  We know New York City got a lot since Annie sent us a photo.  Out in Rochester and Chicago we have a long way to catch up.  Anyway, it snowed all day Saturday, but teeny flakes, and then got a little more serious over night, so we woke up to about 6 inches of the white blanket.  Even though it was Sunday, we had our own little snow day and stayed home, except for a walk in the woods with snowshoes.  Exhilarating.  

We remembered that this was the weekend we had panned to go to Boston, for Mary's swim meet, but we cancelled since she had not been feeling well and so wasn't swimming.  So, good thing we didn't go since we probably would have gotten caught up in the mess.  Things work out.

Margaret finished her semester handing in her last paper.  She and Andrew are going to celebrate by going to a Beyonce concert.  Why didn't I think of that?  When is Beyonce coming to Pittsfield?  

We had a long chat with the Chicago folks who were getting ready to go out to Michigan to pick up Claire for the winter break.  Lur's parents continue to struggle health-wise.  Apparently, Myles is keeping everyone in good spirits though.  We have to see them!  We have to see Daniel dunk a basketball.

Out in Rochester, it sounds like the deer are taking over or at least feeling right at home in David and Paula's back yard.  They are expecting Jeffrey and Melodie up from DC and Matthew, Tina and Oliver on the big day.

Joe sent us a photo he took on his way to a Christmas party.  He was wearing his new kilt, along with Pop's tuxedo jacket and a bow tie.

And Peter wrote with some sad news that one of their friends from McCarter Theater has been accused of embezzlement.  He was a big supporter of Janet's work with the blind.

Another first to check off the bucket list - an auction.  Mary and I went to our first live auction with the fast talking and everything.  No pork bellies or cattle, but we did get a small rug.  We were outbid a few times on other rugs, and left before the furniture came up.  An hour plus was about all that I could handle.  

Other happy events?  Does the dentist count?   Finishing the second season of Homeland?  John and Marilyn came over for tea and cookies yesterday.They have been walking six miles a day.  Not sure what the snow will do to their hikes.  David says the path by the canal where he walks is plowed.  

At some point, I will have to tell you about our project to go back to Gabon this summer.  And about my thesis on historic preservation.  But they're still in the planning phase so we'll wait until they're a little firmer.

And that's all the news from up here.  We hope you all enjoying the anticipation and the joy of the season.

Love.  

Turkey and stuffing

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We checked in around the Dickson/Boyle nation, and it sounded like everyone managed to get to their destinations despite weather and illness really trying to undermine get-togethers.

We decided to overlook Mary's lingering cold and the Weather Channel's dire forecasts to depart early Wednesday morning (really early) for the drive first to New York to pick up Annie and then on down to Washington.  Driving rain meant slow going, but we kept imagining what it would have been like a few degrees colder.  I am sure we would have turned back,  But we arrived, with the weather turning south of New York, for an easier drive the rest of the way.  

We are starting a new tradition of some kind of Asian food on the night before Thanksgiving, so we had take out at Margaret and Andrew's place.  We were staying at Mary's friend Gerry's house, where we also had a spectacular turkey dinner with four pies (two pumpkin made by Annie and Margaret.)   We certainly missed Joe this year, but he called to say he was at work, but leaving to go have Thanksgiving dinner with his boss in London.   

Friday, Annie returned to New York, and we went to a movie "Nebraska" with Gerry, Andrew and Margaret.  Kind of depressing, but Andrew had the best review: it should be rated PG-55.  Kind of an old folks getting older movie.  But the son takes care of the Dad.  (Are you listening out there, sons?)  We weren't the only ones who went to a movie as we saw on Facebook that Janet and Johanna had gone to the new Hunger Games movie.  Probably a better choice than Nebraska.

The photo is from the previous weekend when Peter and Janet trekked up for the weekend, and Peter and I kept on trekking all the way to Dartmouth to go crown the Ivy League football champions, Princeton, in what should have been a rout.  Unfortunately, I proved to be a jinx, and the Tigers lost, but they still kept a share of the Ivy title.  Did I mention it was cold?  And that the field was pretty much all white with heavy, wet snow by the time Princeton decided to mount a comeback?  Mary and Janet had a warmer, "Lenox" ladies day, going out to lunch and shopping in quaint old Lenox.  

David and Paula had a quiet Thanksgiving, but also one filled with white stuff as they did not escape the storm.  We understand Matthew, Tina and Oliver were heading out to Cleveland for the day and that Jeffrey and Melodie had Thanksgiving nearby DC.

The Dundee Dicksons were all together with Lur's family, and Claire making the trip home for the holiday.

John and Marilyn had a houseful as well of daughters and their families.  He also sent us this link to a brief TV news item on the robotic arm which Brian, Kara's husband, has been working on.  Pretty incredible: http://www1.whdh.com/video/player/top-video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9582968

Did anyone notice that there was no mention of shopping on Thanksgiving?  Or the day after?  Until now.

I was surprised to go to church on Sunday and see that it was already the first Sunday of Advent.  You know what that means!  

With that, we'll close with a thankful appreciation for all our families.  

Love from over here.