Let's start out with congratulations to Johanna who finished her Master's degree work at Northwestern. Peter and Janet flew out for the graduation, with Andrew and Lur also in attendance. They got together with Bill and Jen and family for a barbecue to see their growing family. Jen is all better from her bout with Lyme disease.
Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? Or at least Margaret? Three guesses. No? Norway., until yesterday. Was she the first Dickson to go to Norway? She was there for a week, with friends attending a wedding. The original plan was for Andrew to go and us grandparents to watch Simon, but somewhere along the way that got changed. The two men stranded in DC seemed to be enjoying themselves, at least from the perspective of Tiny Beans.
We see that Donald was attending and having a blast (at least from the perspective of Facebook) a summer camp. Wonderful. Also, from the same perspective, Peter and Janet were also having a blast hosting their grandson. Jeff and Melodie were having a similar blast in the Shenandoah region. Were they really spelunkers as well?
They also posted a garden haul to be envied, at least by me. The weather turned cold and dry last week, and we have still not gotten a red tomato, our cukes shriveled up, the groundhogs ate the zucchini plants and the blueberries are through. Lots of green beans and second crops of lettuce and radishes in the ground.
Annie and Sankar are still on track for their travel plans. Sankar is taking a leave of absence from work, and he sold his motorcycle, in anticipation of leaving the Bay Area. Grandma would be happy, about the motorcycle (as if I needed to say that.)
Down in Brazil, life is getting back to normal. Almost, as John has had his sleep patterns disrupted and is vying with his sister for most number of middle of the night wake-ups. Speaking of Brazil, we bought our tickets for Thanksgiving. So did Annie and Sankar, and so did Margaret and Andrew (and Simon).
And, in Daytona, John and Marilyn have been under the weather, and not just the heat of Florida summers. They have been battling Covid and a cold, respectively.
Two items of note came in the mail. First, a collection of odds and ends from David, including buttons, old Christmas cards and report cards. One read, "John is the finest human being I've ever encountered." Okay, I exaggerate. Maybe it said something about studying harder and speaking up in class. The other were three drawings from Rell, of the Poconos. Speaking of which, I'm still looking for pen and ink drawings of paintbrushes, garden chair under a tree, eyeglasses, the dump, leaf raking, garden, Mickey Mouse, etc. Merci.
Here's a story I'm not particularly proud of. Mary was pulling out of the vet's the other day, when a man in a truck behind her got out of his car and approached the driver's side window. He held out his hand and showed her a cellphone that had been sitting on top of the trunk of her car. It was mine. I had inadvertently left it there, and she had driven at least ten miles with it on the back of her car. She has since reserved a spot for me in the memory unit.
Speaking of memory units, turning 70 ain't so bad after all. Mary graduated this week to an electric-assist bike, and loves it. She cruised by me the other day on a hill, so maybe they're not just for the 70-plus age group.
Travel and visitors round out our two weeks. We hosted friends who were in South Africa with us and down the road from us in Bethesda. Highlight – Teo's hot dogs. And then, we headed up to northern Vermont for our, now almost annual, retreat to Charlie's cabin on a lake. In the process, the temperature dropped thirty degrees between Pittsfield and the northeast kingdom as they call it. Highlight – Was it the two moose (picture below) we saw on our way to April's Maple, where they sell syrup and a soft serve called Maple Creamie. Why are the highlights about food?
Hope your August is full of highlights.
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