Anglophiles

First, a weather report.  I just got off the phone with David and Paula, and they reported they had 7 inches of the white stuff, the heavy, wet version that he recalled Pop naming "heart attack snow."  While the temperatures here got up to the 50s yesterday, the ice was still so thick I saw 8 trucks on the lake yesterday.  The snow Rochestter got was pouring rain here, but not enough to melt the snow in the yard.  Not spring yet.

But, we did get a glimpse of what's ahead this past week when we went to a warmer climate.  Not south, but north (and east) where the Gulf Stream ends.  London was still chilly, but it was nice to be outside without a hat or gloves.  But, that wasn't the best part.  That was reserved for seeing Joe, and Annie who had arrived a few days before us.  Joe was a great host, and was able to take some time off from a busy work schedule to take us on some walking tours down to the Thames, Buckingham Palace, lunch in the Parliament, Greenwich Maritime Museum, Jack the Ripper's neighborhood (that I ad read about at UMass,) Trafalgar Square and St. Paul's Cathedral.  He has a loft-type apartment near a couple of local pubs!  We also met up with two of his mates, one from his boyhood days in Durban and one from Ottawa.  Mary, Annie and I also went to the British National Museum which climbed to to the top of our personal rankings of world class museums.  We saw there the Elgin Marbles (Parthenon), and incredible Mesopotamian sculptures, probably a little controversial now as those countries want them back.   

I should mention as well the soccer game.  I met up with members of the 1974 Princeton soccer team I played on, for the weekend which included a dinner and then a Manchester United football game.  I have been to World Cup games, professional and college games in the U.S. and outside, and to Mexico-U.S. games; nothing prepared me for these fans.  I think you could draw a direct line from the Roman gladiator fans to these guys.  I saw only a couple of women; the men sang songs, on cue, throughout the game, laced with obscenities, about the other team, about their own team, about the refs.  My real problem, though, was I was not sure they were singing or speaking English.  I had to ask one guy near me to repeat his request, which went something like "Make sure no one nicks my seat, mate" when he left to rid himself of a few of the pints he had been drinking before the game (no alcohol within eyesight of the field).  You can bet I let no one near his seat for fear of the consequences afterwards.  We lived to tell many tales and had many laughs. 

Enough of London. I am looking forward to hearing of Peter and Janet's trip to Berlin, which we saw a few pictures of on facebook.  We also saw a few photos of Jeffrey on the road, in California I believe again. We've seen a number of photos of Auden as well, including this one with her Aunt Claire, who was home from college for spring break

Speaking of travel, Margaret and Andrew went to Miami for a long weekend, and Margaret was ready to move there.  That's what happens on a good vacation,  Their wedding plans are proceeding, even if she is plugging through school and work at the same time.]

Annie had big news at school; she and a few classmates had entered a consultant cybermetrics competition on recruiting and selection procedures for Teach for America, and her team was chosen as a finalist to present in Philadelphia this past weekend at a conference on "People Analytics."  Sounds like applying Moneyball type statistics to the field of talent selection  She said her team presented for the General Manager of the Philadelphia Eagles, Google and others.  Different world (I'm not sure I got all the terms right Annie.)

So, we hope everyone is doing well, and getting ready for green.  And I'm not talking tax rebates.

Love from up here.