Adios 2017

Trying to squeeze in one last letter before the clock strikes midnight.  Plenty of time.

Where to start?  How about the weather?  John and Marilyn sent us pictures today of them playing golf and later swimming.  They had obviously returned to Florida from a week or so up here with their children.  We talked to them and they were enjoying their week of winter, but obviously eager to put away the fleeces and head back to outside warmth.

Elsewhere, frigid cold.  Today, we reached a high of 5 degrees.  Haven't felt like this since we left Ottawa.  One of Mary's friends from there wrote her and said it was minus 30.  That ought to make you feel warmer already.

We had a full household, including Annie, who came in from Oakland - via Boston - and then headed out to Nicaragua for a friend's wedding.  She too has sent pictures of the beach there and sea turtles.  Andrew and Margaret (and D) drove up, and they got to stay in our newly renovated basement suite.  And the little electric heater works.  They went into NYC to see Bruce Springsteen on Broadway one night, which sounded terrific.  

They they left, with an incomplete jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table.  Not sure we're going to get around to finish it.  But, we'll make sure we send a photo to prove it.

We talked with Joe and Leonor, and even Thomas, quite a few times this past week.  It sounds like Thomas was a good passenger, but had trouble adjusting to the new timetable.  They are renting an apartment for a month in Lisbon, right around the corner from Leonor's mother.  Wonderful to see Thomas surrounded by his large Portuguese family - so happy.

The Dundee Dicksons were all home for the holidays, including Daniel and Claire, and Bill and Jen.  We even got to hear the voices of Miles and Auden shouting Merry Christmas (Elliot not quite yet talking.)

Remember when it was warm, just a couple of weeks ago?  Mary and I spent a long weekend in New York City, living it up.  We saw a play called The Band's Visit (recommended, and we saw it featured on the PBS News Hour a few days later.)  We exhausted ourselves in the Met art museum walking through with 25,000 of our closest friends the Micelangelo exhibition.  If that were not enough, we went to a bar and watched football, and then went to a movie about Churchill, The Darkest Hour.  The next day, we had our meeting at the UN on refugees and migration.  Too much fun, too much money.

 

We've been to a couple of other movies up here, it being the good movie season.  We all went to the new Star Wars movie, the day after Christmas and had another celebrity siting - Al Roker.  Then, we watched Get Out at home.  We still have a number of others we want to watch, but not the one Al Roker went to: Jumanji.  Really?  Yes, you heard it here first.

Anyway, we will try to brave the cold tonight to go to a New Year's party.  Marj and Lew are here, and we'll see if the cars start so we can go to Bob and Jody's.

Got any resolutions?  Of course, you do.  It's what we do.  

We saw some wonderful Christmas celebrations from around PWL world on Facebook.  We'll close with a couple from Fairport and NJ.

Happy New Year.  Stay safe.  Love from up here..

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The Best of 2017

Seems like there's a best of 2017 everywhere you look these days.  So why not do that in Pops Weekly Letter?  

We know what the best book was, right?  Berkshire County's Industrial Heritage!  And we know who the best quarterback is, right?  Don't even have to write that answer.

How about best new member of the family?  A tie - Erin and Thomas.  

We also know the best swimmer.  At least she proved that last weekend at the New England Master's.  Mary entered 11 events; she (or her relay team) placed first in all but two.  One relay set a New England record, perhaps even beating Michael Phelps.  I did watch quite a bit of the meet, but I also got a chance to explore Worcester a little.  A lot of changes in 17 years, since we were last there.  I set out looking for Spag's, thinking I might even be able to include a triple header this week,  Unfortunately, I couldn't find it, so I checked my best friend who knows everything (rhymes with frugal) and found that Spag's went into bankruptcy in 2004.  It had to be they couldn't stay afloat without Pop's weekly trips to buy toothpaste, shampoo and deodorant. As you saw in Facebook, the building was torn down and replaced by Whole Foods.  Could you get any different from Spag's?  Sadly, I didn't get a haircut either, but I did go to an almost dump - Habitat Restore to drop off a couple of cabinet doors that we replaced in our bedroom.  Also in Worcester, I went to the city art museum where they had a Winslow Homer exhibition.  Beautiful.

Do we have a vote for the best vacation?  I bet there are quite a few nominees, including near (Fairport and the Finger Lakes, Shenandoah, Holland MI, Eastern Shore of Maryland, Poconos) and far (Guadeloupe, Italy, Oregon, India)

How 'bout best political event?  Not gonna touch that one.

Best reader?  We saw three nominees on Facebook last week - Donald, Elliott and Thomas.  Best movie? (We just saw a good one, that we thought was a bio-pic about "Lady Bird" Johnson.  NOT.)  Best TV show?  Best song? Best book?  Best cereal?  I could go on and on.

What about concerts?  Stephen Stills and Judy Collins is a runner up to Claire's conducting performance, I suspect.  (Speaking of Claire, she got a job, teaching music at two elementary schools in Allegan, Michigan.  Her student teaching ends in December so the timing is perfect, and she doesn't have to move!)

Best celebrity sighting?  Margaret saw Big Papi in the lobby of the hotel she was staying at in Santo Domingo, and John gave a tour at Shaker Village to Natalie Merchant.  Any others?  I'm sure there are.

Best animal sighting?  I spotted a bobcat in our back yard last week, which was better than the two raccoons on our screened in porch.

Lots of bests, since it was, all in all another wonderful year.  Hard to believe how much gets packed in during the course of a year.  

And final best for this letter:  Best mystery photo of 2017.  Whose feet are these, at the Poconos?  Love from up here.

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