Sometimes a weekly letter just writes itself, there is so much to report.
Once again travel is high on the agenda. First to Nantucket, where the David Dickson family retreated (advanced?) as part of the 50th wedding anniversary celebrations. Looks like they had good weather, and the posts on social media showed lots of sand, sun, fun and food. Wonderful. Jeff and Melodie left their dog Hopper with Margaret and Andrew, which resulted in this wonderful photo here. Tina, by the way, replied to my question from the least letter that she is staying at Strong Hospital in "outpatient testing," that has more normal hours and less stressful Covid interactions.
And then there was a trip to Chicago. Johanna headed out to start her graduate program at Northwestern, that requires her to go out there a few times a semester. And, she has a place to stay while out there! Chez Daniel. Andrew and Lur caught up with Johanna, hoping for dinner in the windy city, but settling for a ride to the airport. Also, out in Illinois, Claire organized an outdoor concert for her parents in a place I never heard of, but probably should have – Ravinia, and the group performing which I am also told I should have heard of was Lake Street Dive. Spotify here I come.
Another newcomer to in-person college was Sage who started her first year. It wasn't a long trip, distance wise, to Berklee in Boston, but I imagine it was long in metaphorical ways. Exciting adventure in music ahead. Spotify look out!
Annie and Sankar made their way up the coast of California back to the Bay area. They seem happy to be back, but need to find more permanent digs. In the meantime, they are doing yet another month of air b&b until something opens up the first of October. Quite a year of travel and adventure as well for them. And their kitties.
Down in Brazil, Joe and Leonor joined Leonor's father and stepmother on a trip back to the state of Bahia along the east coast of Brazil. Funny that they were able to rent a place for a week that Leonor's father had lived in for many years. The beach photos from there look spectacular.
Speaking of Brazil, Mary and I took the plunge and bought our tickets to Brazil for November, where we hope to spend Thanksgiving with them. Pretty sure by then this Covid stuff will all be cleared up. Ahem.
And, speaking of Covid and optimism, I took another plunge and rented a sixth cabin for the Poconos next July, since Bill and Jen said they might be coming. Mark your calendars – July 14-17.
It has occurred to us that we have one week left of summer 2021. As a result, we have a whole long list of things we wanted to do all summer long, but weren't able to. So in the past few days, we pulled out the canoe and headed over to the lake for an evening paddle; we reserved a campsite in Pittsfield state forest last night for what could have been our best camping weather ever (almost hot this morning); we are trying to convince some contractors to put up gutters, seal the house from pests, and finish painting the porch, but everyone is so busy; we had our first and last lobster rolls of the season; and finally, I headed over to Wow Cow and had my first and last "Wizzard" with vanilla ice cream and Butterfinger pieces. All I can say is, why did I wait so long?
On a more serious front, we signed up for teaching English to the 60 or so Afghan refugees who are supposed to be coming to the Berkshires at some point. We took our cue from Margaret who spent a few nights in the past week at the in-take center near Dulles airport, greeting and processing the first arrivals. She has pretty incredible stories of families, both relieved and nervous, about what lies ahead.
Our weekly hikes show more leaves along the paths and the first breathtaking colors to help us ease into the next season.
Stay healthy – love from up here.
Once again travel is high on the agenda. First to Nantucket, where the David Dickson family retreated (advanced?) as part of the 50th wedding anniversary celebrations. Looks like they had good weather, and the posts on social media showed lots of sand, sun, fun and food. Wonderful. Jeff and Melodie left their dog Hopper with Margaret and Andrew, which resulted in this wonderful photo here. Tina, by the way, replied to my question from the least letter that she is staying at Strong Hospital in "outpatient testing," that has more normal hours and less stressful Covid interactions.
And then there was a trip to Chicago. Johanna headed out to start her graduate program at Northwestern, that requires her to go out there a few times a semester. And, she has a place to stay while out there! Chez Daniel. Andrew and Lur caught up with Johanna, hoping for dinner in the windy city, but settling for a ride to the airport. Also, out in Illinois, Claire organized an outdoor concert for her parents in a place I never heard of, but probably should have – Ravinia, and the group performing which I am also told I should have heard of was Lake Street Dive. Spotify here I come.
Another newcomer to in-person college was Sage who started her first year. It wasn't a long trip, distance wise, to Berklee in Boston, but I imagine it was long in metaphorical ways. Exciting adventure in music ahead. Spotify look out!
Annie and Sankar made their way up the coast of California back to the Bay area. They seem happy to be back, but need to find more permanent digs. In the meantime, they are doing yet another month of air b&b until something opens up the first of October. Quite a year of travel and adventure as well for them. And their kitties.
Down in Brazil, Joe and Leonor joined Leonor's father and stepmother on a trip back to the state of Bahia along the east coast of Brazil. Funny that they were able to rent a place for a week that Leonor's father had lived in for many years. The beach photos from there look spectacular.
Speaking of Brazil, Mary and I took the plunge and bought our tickets to Brazil for November, where we hope to spend Thanksgiving with them. Pretty sure by then this Covid stuff will all be cleared up. Ahem.
And, speaking of Covid and optimism, I took another plunge and rented a sixth cabin for the Poconos next July, since Bill and Jen said they might be coming. Mark your calendars – July 14-17.
It has occurred to us that we have one week left of summer 2021. As a result, we have a whole long list of things we wanted to do all summer long, but weren't able to. So in the past few days, we pulled out the canoe and headed over to the lake for an evening paddle; we reserved a campsite in Pittsfield state forest last night for what could have been our best camping weather ever (almost hot this morning); we are trying to convince some contractors to put up gutters, seal the house from pests, and finish painting the porch, but everyone is so busy; we had our first and last lobster rolls of the season; and finally, I headed over to Wow Cow and had my first and last "Wizzard" with vanilla ice cream and Butterfinger pieces. All I can say is, why did I wait so long?
On a more serious front, we signed up for teaching English to the 60 or so Afghan refugees who are supposed to be coming to the Berkshires at some point. We took our cue from Margaret who spent a few nights in the past week at the in-take center near Dulles airport, greeting and processing the first arrivals. She has pretty incredible stories of families, both relieved and nervous, about what lies ahead.
Our weekly hikes show more leaves along the paths and the first breathtaking colors to help us ease into the next season.
Stay healthy – love from up here.
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