I knew it. It was all a big fake-out – warmer temps, bike riding, green lawn, buds on trees, shorts, raking the mulch off the flowers. We are expecting to get six inches of snow tonight and tomorrow. I just hope the plow guy doesn't have to come – I've already spent two days of raking the gravel out of the lawn from the previous snow plows. What happened to April showers?
John and Marilyn are supposed to show up here tomorrow, and I bet this snow is just confirmation for them that they made the right decision to relocate to Florida. They came up because a) they've gotten their vaccines b) their daughter Heather just bought a new house and c) they miss snow. (Answer: a and b, but not c.)
We had a wonderful Easter, and I suspect you did as well. Margaret and Andrew came up on Good Friday, just in time to see Annie and Sankar who were starting their trek south to Asheville. Sankar delayed his departure by one day since he was riding his motorcycle and he woke up on the day of his scheduled take-off to snow on the ground. Shh – don't tell Grandma, except that Annie drove her car.
Simon was here with us for a whole week, and we had the pleasure of watching him during the day while Margaret and Andrew worked. He's just on the cusp of walking and is working out on any number of baby toy walkers which play Rockin' Robin as motivation. Now I know where Peloton got its ideas for its bike workouts. And, as I say, the weather here was very nice, as it probably was chez vous as well. It allowed for us to spend a lot of time outside with him, walking to the lake, and around the yard. The sun was so bright I was even able to start brainwashing Simon with a Cincinnati Reds hat.
We touched base with Brazil a few times, and all is well down there. Leonor is starting a job next week at the Embassy, so their routines will shift a little, I mean a lot. We've been watching Thomas on the drums and Baby Joao waving.
Oh, I almost forgot the biggest news. Vaccines. Joe, Leonor, Margaret, Annie and Sankar have all gotten their vaccines. I think Andrew had an appointment, but not sure when. Which reminds me that I forgot to mention in the last letter that Jeff and Melodie got their vaccines. Out in Illinois, Andrew got his first shot as well.
David and Paula have had theirs, and they celebrated with a crew over for Easter. And, Oliver brought along his girlfriend. At one point, that would have meant endless teasing in the Dickson household, but we're now much more mature than that. NOT. We also saw young Donald channeling his inner Beethoven at the piano.
Speaking of vaccines, we have decided to postpone our annual retreat to the Poconos for another year. Even though many of us will be vaccinated, it seemed best to err on the side of caution, as this illness keeps surprising us. It does certainly look like it'll be a summer different than last year, even if it's not back to the same old whimsical, carefree, spontaneous happiness. Sigh.
Speaking of happiness, I've been enjoying getting an inside peak at what Johanna does for work, from the client side. You all have seen me brag about my book on history and foreign affairs that has just been released, published by University Press of Kansas. They are making it look like a real book by a real author. It's been kind of fun to see my daily ranking on books sold on Amazon. At one point I came in at 585,647th of all books sold. I don't think that qualifies me for the New York Times bestseller lists. I should add that Amazon had me confused with another John Dickson, the Christian evangelist writer. Maybe that's helped sales. I promise I won't devote any more space in the weekly letter to that topic.
And, before the next letter there will be a birthday celebration in NJ - happy big day Peter.
So, on that note, we are sending along our best wishes for your continued health and anything else that brings smiles to your faces.
Love from the frigid north,
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