There's a lot of regular news to catch up on, since the last two letters were about stork arrivals. And we start by hoping those arrivals are treating their parents well. And will continue to do so for the next 20 years. Or more. Parenting never ends.
At least that's what Annie and Sankar found out, as Mary and I descended into their abode in Oakland over the course of two long weekends. We packed it in, helped out by their suggestions for hiking, for Sunday brunch (at a Thai temple), and restaurants and craft beer and winery (Melody, you've been there). They live in a co-housing complex of apartments, which works quite well, as we met the friendly owner and neighbors. The second weekend, we arrived while they were away, for a skiing adventure at Lake Tahoe. Annie said she had graduated to the blue trails, and Sankar sticks to the black diamond ones. Yikes. I never even got off the bunny trails.
Wedding update - Annie and Sankar filled us in on the latest on their wedding planning. They are off to India in April for about a month where Annie will meet Sankar's family.
In between these two long weekends, Mary and I headed south, to Mexico. Truth be told, we were a little reluctant, due to the pandemic and other priorities for our travel escapades. And more truth, we are glad we went. We spent a week in San Miguel de Allende, where our friend Valerie had rented a place for a few weeks and invited us to join her. The occasion was her 85th birthday, and all her other invitees had backed out. More truth, we too had thought of backing out. We're glad we didn't, and not just because she would have been alone. We had fun. A lot of it.
When we lived in Mexico, we had frequently gone to this town, home to many expats, and arts and crafts and a beautiful plaza with battling mariachis at night. Every corner reminded us of our previous stays; we had good food, and walked a lot, and it was t-shirt weather! Before departing, we spent a couple of nights in Mexico City, where we saw some Mexican colleagues from the Embassy and had breakfast with our former Ambassador. And the best part - no incidents, no robberies, no illnesses. We even figured out how to get our Covid test before getting on the plane to come home.
Wait a minute – there was an incident. It was the last flight from Newark to Albany where the turbulence had us both thinking that we were not going to make it. Scary and unsettling.
We thought the daffodils would be up when we got back. Not really, and there have been two snowstorms and two plows in the week we've been back.
Wonderful photos of the next generation included here. Miles was, according to the objective grandfather, the star of his team – nothing but net. Billy was the coach.
Does anyone remember where they were a month ago? How could you not? Super Bowl Sunday. And, we're all happy (mostly Mary) that baseball season will be getting underway, after the strike was settled. The Mets look pretty fierce this year, with Max Sherzer joining their rotation.
And, Sunday was another important milestone. The clocks changed, which means spring is just around the corner.
So, it's back to our routines. Happy to be home, happy to have gone away.
Love from up here.
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