Where are your children?

Do you know where your children are?  Apparently, we do not. 

Except for Margaret.  She and Andrew and Simon just spent a glorious two weeks here, glorious for us anyway.  More on their visit later. 

But, as you can see from the photo, Annie clearly did not get her father's permission to go cliff hiking or canyon climbing or whatever.  And I thought Simon was "Johnny Danger."  She and Sankar were in Kanab, Utah on their one-week, different-city trek across the country, after spending a week in Santa Fe.  I reluctantly add that it sure looks fantastic, the scenery and the two adventurers. This work from home and air bnb stuff seems to be working for them.  And they have figured out how to do all this with a motorcycle and two cats.  Cover your ears Grandma when I say motorcycle.

Meanwhile, down in Brazil, Leonor is playing nurse for baby John who contracted some form of foot and mouth disease.  Looks painful for both parties. Joe is missing out on that fun, as he traveled for work and then went to an old colonial city called Ouro Preto in the state of Minas Gerais.  Anyone ever heard of those?  No?  Joe said Ouro Preto was once larger than New York City. 

 
It hasn't been a good summer for pets, particularly in Dundee and Washington DC.   Jeff and Melodie had to put down Codger, their long-time cat, as they join Andrew and Lur who lost both their dog and cat this summer.  I did see a whole bunch of Facebook posts for a day I never knew existed – national dog day.  What planet have I been living on?  So, here's to Brigitte and Molly and Hopper.  (Match the dog with their owner.)  Anyone else out there?

In the category "I wish we knew more," I see that Tina has a new job and congratulations are in order.  Hmm.  I have questions.  WHAT IS THE NEW JOB?  And second or third hand, I hear that Sean and Erin have moved, close to Baltimore.  More questions.  IS THERE A NEW JOB AS WELL?  What's the attraction  in Baltimore?  It can't be the longest losing streak in major league baseball this year?

You won't have any questions about the past two weeks here.  Margaret and Andrew came up here to work from home and enjoy the "cool" Berkshires.  This time they flew. That meant Mary and I helped out on the day care for Simon, but both parents were always in ear or eye-shot in case we (me) muffed up.  So, what's this little boy up to now?  He's walking a lot, those toddler walks with both arms up for balance. He has a few words, that parents understand, like more and again, and uh-oh.  Our morning trips to the end of the driveway to pick up the paper gave me another word, a version of "paper."  He likes cows and blueberry picking, big trucks and boats, eating while standing up, and grocery stores.  He sure made us laugh a lot. and had all four adults trying to figure out what he wanted on a few occasions.  Andrew and Margaret got short breaks for a few evenings out, golf, bird-watching, swimming, kayaking and museums. 

 
It's a lot to ask a small baby to change routine and environment, but we are thankful to have the opportunity to spend extended periods of time with all three!

Out in Dundee, Andrew and Lur are harvesting from their plot at a community garden near the hospital where Lur volunteers.  They missed the weather from Henri, but it looks like NJ got soaked, as did we.  None of the other dire forecasts for here panned out, fortunately. 

 
On the garden front here, we harvested enough beans for many meals with Margaret and Andrew, and the blueberries kept vanishing almost as soon as we picked them.  Lots of squash, and we are looking forward to four pumpkins.  I want to pick them right now but Mary is standing guard to save them.

Pumpkins means fall is in the air, and while we'll miss summer, it's nice to see the cooler temps and then the glorious foliage.

Love from up here.  

Superheroes

Starting this letter on Friday the 13th, but I'm just superstitious enough not to post it until tomorrow.  But not superstitious enough to postpone writing it.  

Mary's off on a ladies' night out with her book club group that consists of eastern Mass folks, but has been able to meet over the past year plus via Zoom.  Sounds like she had a good time, when she checked in this morning.  Glad that at least one of us did.

It's hot here, as I am sure it is wherever you are.  Rainy to hot means tons of mosquitos.  Out in Dundee, Andrew says they have been experiencing the impact of nearby tornadoes, with downed trees in the neighborhood.  Claire had been there, on her way to a return stint at the Green Lake camp to fill in for counselors who had to leave early.  

We also checked in with the Fairport gang, to hear about their upcoming trip to Nantucket in September.  Their stay is all part of their 50th wedding celebration, and Jeffrey, Melodie and Matthew and Tina and the boys will be joining them.  I told them we'd go down to the Mass Pike and wave as they went by.  And then, the voice of Donald echoed on the phone.  He had been staying with David and Paula while attending a day camp for music.  Going in to second grade this year, he has been doing choral and voice lessons this summer, but he mostly wanted to fill me in on all things superheroes.  His excitement about Black Widow, Spiderman and Black Panther reminded me of a young Matthew and Star Wars.  Or even Thomas.

I got a text this week from an unknown number, but fortunately Billy identified himself and asked for details of the Poconos next year.  He almost committed to joining us next July 14-17, which means we may need more cabins.  It would be great to see his family who are all grown up/growing so fast.

Paula had wondered that we probably could have made the Poconos work this year, but I suspect we would have been right on the edge.  We are back to wearing masks here when we're indoors.  Could be the new normal.  It was fun going around unmasked for a few weeks.  

Sickness seems to be a theme in DC and Brazil.  Simon has been missing a few days from day care which makes it hard or impossible to work with a sick baby at home.  He is really moving around on two feet.  And Margaret said in the midst of all that she had a root canal.  Down in Brazil, they have been passing around a stomach virus which as you can imagine doesn't sound pretty at all.  Fortunately, no positive tests for Covid anywhere.

A big thank you to Janet for putting me on to DeerScram.  It seems to be doing the trick, along with netting, coffee grounds, and spray.  All out war, or almost all out war – no guns.  Yet.  Anyway, they are leaving the peaches and blueberries alone and we are the beneficiaries.  This year I gave up a big chunk of the garden to two pumpkin mounds, and they are trying to assume control over the whole garden.  We do have three nice big pumpkins.  

What else?  We had visitors from DC, foreign service friends from South Africa, and we're looking forward to a visit from Margaret and Andrew who are coming up on Sunday.  With Simon of course.  
Also on the road were Jeffrey and Melodie who looked to be out In Minnesota, and Annie and Sankar who have finished up one-week stays in New Orleans and Austin, and are on their way to Santa Fe.

We had a busy Herman Melville week as well, with the annual marathon reading and the hike up Monument Mountain.  To everyone's surprise, Paul Giamatti, the Sideways and Billions actor, jumped on via Zoom, and we convinced him to read the ending for us.  Quite a thrill for our little museum.  In the process, I learned that he is the son of the former Major League Baseball Commissioner and President of Yale and literature professor, Bart Giamatti.

I have finished as much as I have for scanning Pop's Weekly Letters, but Johnny sent me his old photo scanner that can digitize slides and negatives.  A new project.  Thanks, Johnny, I was almost getting bored.

With that, hope you all are well and taking care – Love from up here.