From 35,000 ft

On the way home from Oakland.

 

Was there ever a weekly letter written from 35,000 feet?  Probably, but not 35,000 feet on an I-Pad. Maybe a yellow pad.

 

We left sweater 60 degrees to head back to coats, gloves, wool caps and a snow storm?  Yes, but not totally willingly.

 

Five days seeing the world of Annie.  We went to movies, to the Presidio, to Sausalito and to the Oakland art museum, to Trader Joe's and to Coit Tower. We averaged 7 miles a day on foot and figured out the BART.  We ate so much we had to skip a meal each day.   She has a nice apartment overlooking a California type courtyard with a palm tree with a pullout couch and an air mattress!  Make your reservations!  Fun!

 

We missed big rainstorms on the east coast, but looks like temperatures will drop and did I mention snow?

 

Not all happy news.  We were sad to hear about Janet's uncle Brendan, but the tributes in the paper showed his wonderful sense of humor.  They talked about his many accomplishments, but what we will remember are the occasions he was with his family, all of them. 

 

We were sorry to see Jeff and Melodie had to put their best friend down over the weekend.  Nice tributes on Facebook.  Andrew and Margaret went over to their house to watch the Patriots game, and Tom Brady and the Vikings, too, helped them cope, a little, we hope.

 

We talked to Joe and Thomas who were in London- Leonor was out with friends at the time.  Boys night in.  He's getting so big, rolling over, holding his head up – Thomas, not Joe.  Joe's last day of paternity leave was yesterday, and soon they'll be heading home.

 

Since the last letter, Jeff and Margaret have celebrated birthdays.  Mary's mother would have turned 100!   We also heard that Sean has a big trial coming up where he's facing my college roommate in court.  Go Sean!  Changing of the guard.  And Claire is getting her first paycheck as a teacher!  And Johanna must have been busy publicizing her new book – Fire and Fury.  But I bet she got some free publicity – we looked for it in bookstores at airports and in Oakland, but no copies available.

 

So, back to our cabin fever.  Mary's teaching swimming, and signed up for a class called Americans in Paris. We have a couple of Oscar-worthy movies left to see.  I'm working on a local history exhibit for the library, and we're making small steps in our preparations for a trip to Gabon at the end of February.

 

And, we'll probably spend a few our hours shoveling snow before that.

 

That's all from up here.  Way up here.  Lots of love.