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.
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