Memorial Day

The gardening columnist in the Berkshire Eagle (yes, they have one) last week warned his readers not to transplant seedlings before June 1, despite the warm weather.  It was already too late by the time I read it.  The voice in my head responded that may have been true 10 years ago, but not now with climate change.  Well, guess what?  Temps went down into the 30s this week, but luckily no frost, so far.  Plants are struggling.  But the heat is back on, we fired up the fireplace last night, and probably again tonight.

The good news is that the cold came with badly needed rain, so everything is looking wonderfully green again.  We're almost finished with our May projects of compost and mulch and weeding.  We have even had a couple of harvests, from the disappointingly meager asparagus corner and one spinach plant that I think Annie and Sankar planted and has sprung alive this year.

Birthdays, though, are the big news, not cold weather.  Happy days to Matthew and to Joao-John.  From photos on Facebook and Tiny Beans, their days looked as if they were passed in grand, happy style.  
And Matthew's birthday is forever linked to Peter and Janet's anniversary, which in turn calls up one of the greatest photos in family history.  Happy anniversary.

And, I guess, there's another birthday of sorts, at least above ground.  The cicadas are back, in DC, in NC and NJ, too?   Andrew S. passed along a few photos worthy of science.  

In Brazil, Leonor's mother and step-dad arrived for a long delayed trip.  That means that Thomas and Joao-John are sharing a bedroom now, with mixed results, that look cute from here, but, with sleepless nights there, maybe not so cute.  I think I forgot to mention that Leonor started her job at the Embassy, in the same public diplomacy section that I worked in, headed up by a guy who I worked with in Mexico City.

Down in DC, Simon has been struggling through a few days at home with fever, coupled with the heat and the cicadas make for some uncomfortable days.  We spoke with Annie a couple of times, and she is back to work and dreaming a little of future plans.  She also sent photos of a bear wandering through her downtown neighborhood in Asheville.

David called, and the topics barely got beyond baseball (the miserable Reds) and lacrosse, before Mary pulled in the garage, just back from the dentist with news of her broken tooth.  He pulled it out, and she is bracing for an implant in the near future, but calls herself Snagglepuss for the moment.

Last night, Ms. Snagglepuss made a toast to our post-COVID world, which I hope isn't a jinx.  It's so refreshing to see long lines of cars at traffic lights and go out to eat, which we did this week, indoors and all.  In fact, we are about to head off for church, for the first time without masks or on Zoom since March last year.  

 
And speaking of no masks, we see Jeffrey and Melodie have been venturing out to baseball games, probably wearing masks, and perhaps even seeing the Nats play the Reds.  But still, baseball, in person.
And, here's another story from old weekly letters.  Perhaps too long.  This week, I came across a handwritten letter from Pop, from the ICU, from June 17, 1977.  It read, in part, "I drove down to the City on Thursday for a 10 AM meeting with Mr. Rahr of the Alumni Council.  About 10:30 I began to feel weak and have chest pains, and by 11:00 AM, after a wild ambulance ride from the Princeton Club, I was in a room with nurses and doctors swarming all over me.  And the head doctor was Princeton '60 – and you can't beat that can you?"  On the back of the letter was another note that read: "This is the letter we sent you in June!  It was just returned."  Another letter, dated August, spoke of a phone call from Libreville, where, upon my return from a lengthy tour of West Africa, I finally got a number of letters, all mentioning how much better Pop was feeling, with no reference to an "event."  So, I called to find out what happened, and it was then we figured out that I had not received the first letter from the NY Hospital ICU.

 
I kinda feel sad for next generations who will never have such a tale, since a) no one writes letters any more and b) while mail still gets lost, such important news travels instantly, to even the remotest places.  Two years ago, I was in a remote corner of Gabon, when Mary called me on WhatsApp to ask me how to work the remote on the TV.

With that, wishing everyone a happy day off on a day of solemn remembrance.  Love from up here.  

Grins and pride

Let's start this letter with three cheers for mothers!  A week late, but maybe it should be mothers' month instead of a day.  We did a Zoom mother's call, and of the four frames on the screen, two were quiet and civilized; the other two seemed a little hectic, trying to keep up with one-year-olds.  Pretty amazing how fast they can move. And fall.  One of the photos here is of Thomas with a cast after he hurt his leg (no breaks) falling off a jungle gym awkwardly.

And next, we'll shout out birthday greetings to Sean and Elliot.  How great are May birthdays?  Hope your days were special.

Speaking of birthdays, I came across a social security report for the top names of 2020 – for girls, it was Olivia, Emma and Ava and for boys it was Joey Votto, Johnny Bench and Tom Brady.  What!  Didn't fool you?  OK, for boys, it was Liam, Noah and Oliver.  No Simon or Joao/John, but there was a James (number 5).  And we did check the box with Oliver, slightly ahead of his time.

We were home on Mother's Day, but only by a day or two, following our week-long trip to parts south – Washington and Asheville.  It was great to get in a car and drive without worries, but even greater to get to our destinations and see everyone – Margaret, Andrew, Simon, Annie, Sankar.  Pleased to report that everyone is healthy – Annie and Sankar got their second shot while we were there, as did Andrew.  Did I hear Mel Gibson shout "Freedom?"

I certainly felt positively giddy with the maskless news this week, and a little awkward on my walk, not having to step aside when people passed by or mask up.  And the signs of a return are certainly evident on the road, as we sat in our first, genuine parking-lot traffic jam in Delaware in over a year.  It was almost fun. 

Asheville is nice, and I know a few of you have already experienced its charms.  Annie took us to the Biltmore, which makes Cunningham Road look like a shed.  The gardens were magnificent, and we had a great day for the visit, after a day of rain which saw us wander around the shops downtown.  I think Annie and Sankar like it so much, we heard them dream a little about real estate. 

Signs of spring around here and the coming season means jobs.  May is job month – started cutting grass, Mary is raking the beds, I rototilled the garden, and this week our dump truck of compost arrives.  Our own small compost pile gave me four wheelbarrows full of black stuff, but that's not enough to feed everything else.  And, we set up our new hammock, so if you hear screaming from up here, it's Mary and me wrestling for naptimes outside.

Food was a topic of our conversations, with grilled fish out in Illinois, Joe taking on grilling fish covered in salt (not sure I have that right), Annie making falafel (delicious), and our annual Mother's Day steak dinner here.  And, of course, we shared wonderful food stories and pictures of Simon and Baby John trying out different delicacies, wearing and dropping more perhaps than the amounts actually entering their mouths.

My weekly letter project has me jumping around the years 77, 78 and 79.  Reliving these momentous years, with big changes (first year at Pomfret with weekly visits by David and Paula, Peter's clerkship, Andrew's graduation from Ripon, first mention of Mary), a heart attack and then, sadly Ann's demise.    Here's a selection about attendance at the Ripon graduation:  "But the highlights were the comments about Andrew!  The stern and old fashioned Dean of the College said that Andrew was "a fine, decent, friendly gentleman": and he obviously meant it.  Andrew's History advisor normally has a reception at his home one evening for his history seniors, but this year asked only Mom and I to join Andrew for a visit after one of the concerts.  And the President had some great words about Andrew's soccer and lacrosse exploits.  Now can you imagine our grins and pride?"

And, of course, we all know now the feelings of grins and pride that children bring, at all ages.

Love you all! 

May day

May day.  May day.  May day.  Happy birthday Elliot (yesterday.)

We are on location, in our nation's capital.  I am here, interviewing for a position …. as grandfather. In the Simon administration. 

We are taking a week-long trip – and it feels positively wonderful.  Almost normal.  Even the traffic, unfortunately.  We have hit traffic jams and heavy volumes here and on the way. Still, it's nice to feel safe and secure, pulling into a rest stop.  It's real nice to be on the road again, and looking forward to going back to the future and travels.  Hope the recovery holds. 

We see more family members vaccinated – Johanna, now, and Margaret and Andrew getting their second shot coming up.  Joe and Leonor had their second shot down in Brazil.  Phew.  Sounds bad down there, but we have to remember, it actually was worse here.  The news down there is Leonor has started her job at the Embassy.

And great news from Johanna, that is probably old news for everyone.  But worth repeating – Johanna will be starting graduate school in communications at Northwestern University in the fall.  Sounds like a lot of it will be hybrid, with quarterly visits to Chicago.  Hey, we know people in Chicago, too. 

We leave here Monday, and continue our road trip to Asheville NC, to check in on Annie and Sankar.  They've been there a month already (who knows where the time goes) and seem to be enjoying the area.  What's not to enjoy?  We've seen photos of them at the Vanderbilt home there, and other spots.  This past week, they played host to Melodie and Jeffrey, and the photo here is on a hike.  Probably to work up a thirst to head out to one of the dozens of breweries in town.  Or all of the breweries in town.

I noticed right away that Jeffrey shaved his relief pitcher beard.  You may also remember an earlier Covid photo from Chicago that showed Andrew with a beard.  Well, he also shaved, but it looks like he kept his moustache.  The very popular Wilfred Brimley look.

We had a nice visit from John and Marilyn, and we were able to celebrate Johnny's birthday with Colleen and her children and partners.  Again, everyone vaccinated, and it sure feels great to sit around a full dining room table again.  We even went out to the Hot Dog Ranch for their famous little weiners and tater tots.

The next weekend, two more visitors showed up – Foreign Service friends Jim and Kristin.  Both of them had major operations recently (shoulder and brain) and they are doing well.  Remarkable, this modern medicine.

Speaking of medicine, Mary has undertaken another round of ointment to remove pre-cancerous skin cells.  She did this once before in Mexico, and it is uncomfortable.  But it works, and the alternative is worse.  She'll be ready for a summer that promises to be almost back to normal as well.

I had a long conversation with David, with a trip down several memory lanes and family history.  I pass along here a copy of Grandpa Dickson's passport.  I had mentioned to my friend Jim that Pop's father had been a coffee broker.  A genealogy fanatic, Jim then looked all this up and came up with the passport that showed his travel to Brazil to buy coffee, and also some other tidbits, including on Grandpa Dickson's father (Robert), born in 1860 in Scotland, near Glasgow, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1880.  In 1890, he married another Scottish immigrant, Isabelle, a year after William Gordon was born.  William's siblings were George, Robert and Isabelle (Anibelle, who we knew best.) 

All this background on Scotland fits with the book on my reading shelf now, on Andrew Carnegie, who also came over, a few decades earlier, from Dunfermline. 

With those nuggets, let's welcome May and the beginning of summer!  Love from on the road.