So long, farewell

We've noticed a few trees turning color in our yard, and around the city.  It seems like this year the changing foliage is a little later, perhaps because of the heat wave, or perhaps because we haven't been driving around as much.  Our suspicions of a dry month were borne out when the city announced water restrictions this week.  Not California restrictions, but no watering between 7 am and 7pm and only on alternate days.  Two big rain days have helped.

We've had visitors.  The beds in our guest bedroom still have flannel sheets, to show you how few people have made their way up here this summer.  But Andrew, Margaret and Simon spent the past week here, working remotely, and the grandparents doing their best to babysit.  Or should I say the grandmother?  We figured out the time grandparenting was about 80-20 in Mary's favor, but the 20 that I had was ….. how shall I put it?  Pretty easy.  He's a good baby and easy to please.

Margaret and Andrew went down to Great Barrington to visit Annie and Sankar, and then they came up for a return call.  And so did Kathleen, on a day trip out from Boston.  Nice to see her and hear her news – Pat is fixing up the shed behind their house in Stonington to make it a rentable tiny house, and Mary Forte is doing census work.

And we had one other overnight visitor, a friend from Peru who was on his way to Vermont for a week of sailing on Lake Champlain. He had taken a test (negative) before he left the DC area. We're all pretty careful, and there's plenty of space.  No bro-hugging or air kisses either.

Leonor and the boys are in Portugal, surrounded by her family and friends.  Lots of cousins to play with.  Portugal figured all this illness out early on and has been largely spared our dystopia.  Photos show happy Thomas and baby John at the beach and in the yard.  We talked to Joe and he seems pretty lonely, maybe even bored. If you think you had a bad airport experience, ask Joe or Leonor about trying to fly out of Sao Paulo to Lisbon.  Old news, I think – Joe and Leonor sold their house in DC as they couldn't get a renter.

And we have a house next door for sale. Anyone interested?  Remote work?

Some of you probably saw on social media this photo of Peter who ventured out to Brooklyn to check up on Johanna.  Not sure they've seen each other since the start of all this.

We had a long chat with Andrew and Lur, after her father fell and landed back in the hospital for a few days.  He's doing better, but have not checked in a few days. They have some overnight help for a few days a week to give Lur a break.  I asked Lur which was harder – taking care of grandchildren or elderly parents. Not even close, she said – parents. 

Timmy is planning his next big move, heading out to Washington state in a few weeks to look for a place to live.  He's been packing and finding all kinds of things. He came over one night with a slowcooker full of ribs for everyone.

The garden has been not as good as past years, but still we manage to get enough for meals and to give away a little.  Looking forward to the plum tomatoes that are ripening as we speak. We had a bumper crop of peaches this year, and couldn't keep up.  Mary made some peach cobbler and then the squirrels finished off the last dozen or so.

One thing we do seem to be raising are groundhogs and deer.  They're taking over and don't seem to mind the mad man waving his arms and shouting at them.

David and I got a mailing from Mountain Springs offering a discount for fall stays.  I thought about it, dreamed about it, then put it on hold till next summer.

Happy September everyone.  A different kind of summer, and hope this finds everyone as well as can be expected.

Love from up here.

Questions

Who drives to the beach during a hurricane?  We did.  The remnants of a tropical storm, anyway.  For a while, it looked like a mistake that we would regret.  Mary had a follow-up appointment in Boston, and we decided to go the night before and ended up in Gloucester, where our friend Cliff's family has a beach house.  We probably should have waited and just gotten up early the next morning, but it was fine when we headed out.  Not so fine as we were driving, though.  We made it, obviously, and lived to tell the story of no visiblility, driving rain, passing trucks.  I kept saying better than snow.  Or was it?

Who knew of Gloucester?  I vaguely knew the name, but had no idea of its importance to early America and the fishing industry.  I was so ignorant that I actually bought lobster salad in Great Barrington to take to Gloucester.  Anyway, the storm made the for beautiful skies and weather the next couple of days.  So nice, in fact, that our plan to drive to Maine was canceled and we just stayed put and enjoyed three nights at the beach.  Almost like a vacation, unexpected, and who needs a vacation when you're retired.

What's a derecho? I knew that word in Mexico when I asked people which direction to go, and if I needed to go straight ahead, they would say, "derecho."  When used with weather, it means a storm that is so fierce that the rain comes straight at you, almost horizontal.  You may ask, why bring up this weather sidebar in the weekly letter?  Well, good question.  But Andrew and Lur experienced a derecho that went through the Midwest and left a lot of people without power.  Not Andrew and Lur, but her parents.  And, Andrew did a little reenacting of his favorite childhood job – pick up sticks.

What's up in our family? We've seen Annie and Sankar a couple of times.  It's hard to believe they're into their second month here already.  We have our reading times with Thomas in Brazil, and things in that country may be even more chaotic than here.  School and day care is opening, then it's shut down.  It looks like Leonor and the two boys are going to head to Portugal for a while, to spend time with her parents where it's a little safer, more reliable and more open.  And, we're making plans for a return visit by Margaret and Andrew and Simon up here before the end of the month.

Here's a question.  Which Dickson made the television news since our last letter?  Young Donald, practicing on the piano.  Move over Elton John.  (Please don't say, who's he.)

Another question.  What have you been doing with your extra time during coronavirus?  I know that Claire hasn't been lying on the couch, popping chocolates and watching reruns of Friends.  She started her own small business, Northern Knots, with her hobby, macramé.  You may have seen some of her work on Facebook, and she has her own site on Etsy, where you can buy her products (click here: Northern Knots Studio.)  And, news has reached this reporter that Claire has items for sale in a store in Grand Haven.  Look out Worlds of Wonder, here comes Claire.  (Worlds of Wonder, for all but four of us, was the name Grandma gave to her little crafts shop she started with a few friends in Wilton.  That later became the antique business in Pomfret.)

Other than that, we're staying busy, and still have time for naps most days.  Mary's back swimming, in lakes, I'm doing tours (with masks) at Arrowhead.  One highlight of the past week was an unknown car driving in the yard while we were sitting by our fire pit.  It turns out it was a high school student Mary tutored a few years back, a young Ghanaian who came by to say hi.  Just to check in with his former teacher.  Makes it all worthwhile.

And one final question: what's up with your family?

That's it from up here, stay safe and healthy, love.

Birthday central

Last year in the Poconos, we had a birthday party for Donald, Thomas, Everett and Mary, all in one. This year, we'll have to make do with a Happy Birthday shout-out to those four.  We did have a couple of birthday zoom parties, something that last year I would never have dreamed of.  Zoom that is.

And, we actually had an in-person party here, or should I admit that Mary actually had three parties on her birthday?  She may have even outdone Thomas who had one in-person party and two zoom parties. 

Timmy joined Annie and Sankar for an evening celebration of lobster rolls and cake and homemade ice cream (finally getting down a serviceable product) for Mary's in-person party.  Mary reminded Timmy that she used to go on the Sheila boat around Pontoosuc Lake with her friends for her birthdays.  Timmy didn't seem to remember any parties that he had, and then the aha moment hit everyone that perhaps the only girl just might have gotten a little special treatment.  In that vein, trying to remember any birthday parties I might have had.

We saw on Facebook a few parties in upstate New York for Donald and the construction of a playground in Matthew and Tina's backyard.  Looks like fun.  And hard work, with Oliver making the adjustments from on high.

Thomas had a party with friends on the Sunday before his actual birthday, and then "Tias" joined us for a zoom call with a candle blowing and unwrapping presents on his birthday.  Superheroes, construction pajamas and air guitars are what qualify for presents for three-year-olds. 

Changes and disruptions like long-distance birthdays are the easy ones under this pandemic. The Brazil clan learned that their pre-school will remain closed for the foreseeable future and Margaret and Andrew dealt with putting Simon in as safe a day care facility as possible while they both have returned to work.  Watching their turmoil over these decisions drives home the widespread impact of this pandemic. Saying it is historic and will be remembered for many years doesn't help the here-and-now disruptions. Just thankful that we as an extended clan continue to be healthy.  Knock on wood, or on the screen.

We hear Sean and Erin are finishing up their year in Texas and looking to head back east with big decisions on where to settle eventually.  Johanna nicely sent along a book on Hitler and Stalin to add to my stack on my bedside table, near my reading chair, in my office.  I think they're taking over, like a Covid invasion.  Johanna remains holed up in NYC, but says the publishing business is flourishing in this divisive climate - people buying books to try to make sense of what the heck is going on, or people buying books cause they're in lockdown and have run out of tv shows to binge. 

Out in Dundee, Billy and his clan ventured out for a visit to their grandparents, bringing some smiles to relieve the lengthy care that Lur is offering for her parents.  Claire, like many teachers, is awaiting decisions on how her school will reopen, with not a little trepidation.

A couple of leftover items from last time.  Margaret told us that Melodie and Jeffrey had come over for a socially distanced introduction to Simon. And, we here in Pittsfield have joined the ranks of the unplugged, cable that is. So far so good.  I remember a long time ago visiting Jeffrey and Melodie in their apartment on Capitol Hill and saw they had no cable TV and wondered how it could be done.  Especially now with no sports, it's pretty easy. When there's a live news event we want to watch, like yesterday's John Lewis funeral, we tuned in on the radio.  By the way, Mary reminds me I have already spent the savings from dropping cable for the next several years.

That's about it from up here.  Can't believe it's August already.  Enjoy the summer while we have it.  Love from up here