But it's not decorated yet. Wreaths are up, candles in the windows, and more than a few trips by the UPS guys to the front door. And, we've finished three candles on the advent wreath. And there's a fair amount of white stuff on the ground.
Not in Boston, though, We headed over yesterday for the New England master's swim meet, where Mary swam in three individual events and two relays. In one day. She did well, beating her personal times and giving some younger swimmers a bit of a chase. But in Boston, we actually saw the yellow round thing in the sky. Seems like it's been a while since the sun popped out here. And sure enough, as soon as we hit the Berkshires on the turnpike, we lost the sun and clouds took over, with a major drop in temperatures. It felt like we had gone to Florida for the weekend. No coats, gloves or hats. We even saw in the paper today people in short sleeves in Washington. Anyway, we touched base with old roommates, dinner out with Mary's high school friend Judy, and we stayed with my college roommate, Steve, who is head of school in Chestnut Hill. A tough job.
David and Paula got creamed with a major snowfall this week. More than a foot.. Fortunately for us, by the time it got here, most of it was rain, before it turned cold, just dropping a few inches of snow. We kept hearing in the fall about how much snow we would have this winter, and, though I'm not sure how they knew, the predictions have come through. Oh, and it's still technically fall.
Sounds like everyone had great Thanksgivings. Ours was quiet but special and relaxing. Joe and Annie came up by train, and it was a bit of an adventure driving over to Hudson New York to pick up Joe in a snowstorm. But the trains were running, and my last minute snow tires mounted in the morning did the trick. I saw four cars off the side of the road on my way over.
The storms here saw a lot of branches come down, including one off our flowering hydrangea tree in front. We got off easy, as Johnny lost some huge branches off his pine trees. Joe and I went over to help him haul the stuff out of his back yard so that someone could take it away. This was part of a string of bad luck for John and Marilyn who were in accidents in each of their cars, as the result of other drivers. Long repairs and insurance discussions.
Thanksgiving up here also included movies, with kind of a food theme, or at least hunger theme. We wanted to see the new Mockingjay movie, but we had to watch the second installment before, so it was a Hunger Games weekend for us as well.
It's end of college semester time for many of us - Claire, Annie, Margaret, Sean, Maura, and Tina. Am I missing anyone? Do you hear the sighs of relief? Last year this time, it was me, and it is not fun. A lot of hard work. For Tina, a special shout out, since she not only finished the semester but graduated. Congratulations. A long haul, but you made it.
Margaret celebrated by heading to Austin TX with Andrew. She had a work commitment there, but they spent a few extra days taking in the city's great music scene. And, on the travel scene, we see Bill and Jen headed for Los Cabos after Thanksgiving with Miles and Auden. Warmth!
And there's more travel coming up. Joe's heading over to London this Friday; he'll be in Portugal for Christmas. And Annie is off to South Africa the day after Christmas with Greg; and we are putting final preparations for our trip to Gabon, leaving January 1.
Before all that, we're going to New York this weekend for a couple of nights. The city is wonderful this time of year, a little crowded, but with all the lights out, and the stores full, it's fun. Look for a photo of Christmas decorations from New York in the next letter.
Hope everyone is enjoying the season. Love from the north.
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