Last letter before Christmas

Only ten more sleeps 'til Christmas. Anticipation is what I remember most of Christmases in the past – mostly of Pop putting the clock on the stairs and setting it for some terribly late time (probably 6am) before which we were forbidden to go downstairs to see what Santa had brought.  

 
This year, we are trying something a little different.  Annie suggested a secret Santa arrangement and, of course, there's an app for that.  So, we'll see how that works out this year. I'm still going to be the lone guy at the top of the stairs waiting for the 6am alarm to go off.

It has made the lead-up a whole lot easier.  We got our tree last Saturday, at a nearby farm where we got to pick and saw down the one we wanted.  Unlike Pomfret, the farmers gave us saws, so we had more than a Swiss Army knife to cut the tree we picked out.

Unfortunately, there is still only one ornament on the tree so far.  The workers putting in our new bathroom have blocked the crawl space where we store the Christmas boxes with table saws and radiators (remember, Joe?) and other assorted items.  The one ornament?  A wooden chair, that Lur found, to commemorate the chair Andrew and I designed and built for his senior year at Lawrenceville.  I have a sneaking suspicion that that chair is still there since it would be too heavy for movers to lift.

Speaking of Andrew and Lur, they saw Johanna this past weekend who was out their way for her in-person learning at Northwestern.  Andrew passed along her good news on the grades, and the plight of students trying to learn in this time of pandemic.  I understand there were free tests involved.

Down in Brazil, Joe and Lenor went through the painful process of moving house.  No rest for the weary couple who had just managed to see two parents out of town before they took on this ordeal.  Anyway, they survived.  Tomorrow, they head over to Portugal for the holidays.  Leonor sent around ultrasound pictures of the baby, in color no less!!  Oh my.  What a miracle.  Comments from the sisters included references to resembling Thomas.

Erin who is even further along must also have her own collection of these photos.  A different kind of anticipation, and undoubtedly more consequential than a child's memory of sitting at the top of the stairs.

This past weekend, we went to Worcester for Mary's first swim meet in a long time.  She did very well, but looking forward to next year when she moves into a new age bracket for the Masters' events.  One small benefit for getting old.  

Trains, planes and automobiles this weekend.  Annie and Sankar taking the plane, and Margaret and Andrew and Simon braving the turnpikes.  John and Marilyn will also be braving the traffic to come north.  So, who's taking the train then?  Nobody I know, but I'm sure they'll be packed.

What this means is one full day of clean-up here and trying to put the rooms back together again as the crew clears outta here on Friday.  Mary and I have been hanging out in the basement, living out of suitcases, and kind of enjoying a change of scenery. I did say kind of.  What we enjoy more is seeing the progress each day, although Mary keeps saying she's afraid to look.  But with winter approaching, we'll be glad to have a tub, to soak in after a day of x-country skiing or hiking.  

Look what's for sale – 550 Ridgefield Road in Wilton.  The outside looks recognizable, but I am having a hard time placing any of the interior photos.  I thought I saw a Locke lawn mower in one of the outbuildings.  And, while I'm at it, the Kroger home, our neighbors in Indian Hill, is also for sale.  Anyone want to take up a collection?  

And with that, it's a wrap.  Love from up here, and Merry Christmas….Kermit

Back home

And we almost didn't make it. Mary and I rushed across terminals at O'Hare after a red-eye, ten-hour flight from São Paulo to make it to the gate for our final leg to Albany. No worry, since it was delayed. So we sat down and got immersed in on-line puzzles and card games, before Mary saw the departure lounge empty. We were barely seated on the plane when they closed the cabin door. Live and learn is Mary's new motto.  

But, what a time in Brazil. Joe and Leonor were such great hosts, opening up a country we have never fully or even slightly appreciated. Until now. One thing is for sure. We couldn't have done five percent of what we did without them. We were both surprised at how little English is spoken there, and how little our rusty Spanish worked. Obrigado.

Rio is an unbelievably beautiful city, as stated last letter. Brasilia has a reputation for a boring city, but we found it easy, clean, safe and green. Joe and Leonor took us on two side trips to smaller towns with touristy appeal - Parati on the coast and Pereonopolis, a quaint, historic town with a water park/hotel for children .... and Mary. We met their friends and co-workers, two of whom had worked with me in Mexico City.  

We had a small world experience.  A woman at the water park introduced herself to Leonor as having met her before Covid, as they live on the same street.  She and Mary were chatting in the pool, and she mentioned her father had been in the Foreign Service in Nigeria when we were there too.  Turns out we didn't know him then, as he was in a different city, but I did work with him back in Washington.  What were the paths we took to meet up in a pool in Pereonopolis?

Still, the whole point was to reconnect with Joe and Leonor and two grandsons, who are thriving in their environs. We played our grandparent roles to the hilt - reading and giving presents and treats, telling pirate stories and shadowing around the yard, fooling around, walking to school, and then collapsing for naps.

We even had Thanksgiving, with what we thought was a chicken (it did say "frango" on the wrapper) but turned out to actually be a turkey. Those sneaky Brazilians.

We followed other Thanksgiving events virtually, only to find out Simon spent some time in the hospital with a case of croup. Jeff and Melodie joined Margaret and Andrew and Andrew's parents for dinner, while Simon continued to be under the weather. Out in Oakland Annie and Sankar had a Friendsgiving complete with turducken, if that's spelled right. 

How bout chez vous? We heard Daniel and Claire came home for a quiet Thanksgiving, that Billy and Jen celebrated at her parents before checking in at Roslyn Ave.  We saw on Facebook a meal delivered to Matthew and Tina's house, we think???  And chocolate cake for Black Friday.  But, we also saw the word "quarantine" pop up.  Hope all is okay.

Speaking of Black Friday, I was surprised to see my first billboard announcing Black Friday in Brazil.  Joe and Leonor said, yes, it's a thing, and lasts a whole month.  Another great American export.  Couldn't they have picked Thanksgiving?

While away, work proceeded on our master bathroom/closet project. Having such a major change take place when we weren't present made us nervous, but it is actually coming along quite well. Hope it will all be finished by Christmas. It better be, as we are getting dates of Annie and Sankar's travel and the DC contingent plans for that time period.

And, we arrived home to snow.  Our first plow of the year, too.  That meant a fire in the fireplace, and a return to our quiet evenings.  Too quiet. Sigh

Love from up here.