Hibernating

It seemed like a good idea.  Until I got outside.  Walk over to the lake and take in the view of snow-covered Mt. Greylock in the late afternoon sun.  Of course, it was cold, but I didn't take in the wind off the ice. There were three groups of fishermen, but they were all on the other side of the lake with, perhaps, a little protection. Anyway, venturing out of hibernation helps with cabin fever.

So does getting tickets for Hawaii! That's our destination for March, with a stopover in Oakland to see Annie. Now, we just have to avoid FAA glitches, Southwest Airlines, weird weather, and illness. Yes, we got travel insurance.

Illness also seems to go hand in hand with January. Paula's gone a couple of rounds with cold symptoms, Simon had a stomach bug, and Margaret had pink eye. We both finally tested negative for Covid since the last letter, but we feel close to the edge of something pretty much every day.

Weird weather is what Annie is getting out on the west coast. She says her house is okay, as it sits on top of a hill, but there's flooding everywhere. Her electricity was out one day, and she drove to work, and the roads were eerily empty. Sankar is missing it all, finally leaving the Brazil beaches this week.

Neither weird weather or pink eye prevented Margaret from heading back to Mexico City to help out with the "Three Amigos" summit. It sounded like a 75-ring circus, or maybe that was a 75-car motorcade she was in on the way to the airport to meet Air Force One.

The Brazil folks weathered an insurrection, just a few miles away, but they were safe.  They are taking advantage of this long weekend to go back to the beach, a different one, near Fortaleza. We did see in the annual NY Times 52 places to go in 2023, there were two from Brazil. And, yes, Luisa is crawling!  Look out.

It took me a while, but I finally figured out the method behind Sean and Erin's Friday Tinybeans postings of photos of Kiernan in a diaper, marking the weeks since his birth. It will make a wonderful time lapse. I can't wait to see them all in one video. Of course, he may not be willing to pose in his underwear when he turns 14, or 27.  Or, maybe he will.  And, yes, Kiernan is crawling too!

The first part of January marks important events, like Jeffrey's and Margaret's birthdays, and when we called down to DC last night, Jeff and Melodie were over visiting, bringing Hopper along for Simon and celebrating, most assuredly.  Remember that cold day in January in upstate New York for Tina and Matthew's anniversary?  Happy days.  We also remembered sister Ann (who would have turned 70) and Grandma Boyle on their birthdays, and Grandma Dickson who left us in the first days of the year.

How's everyone doing on their resolutions?  Happy to report from here – not so well. Hope that makes you feel better. 

Other highlights? It seems that January is a good time to go to the dentist. Both Mary and I had successful visits, if you count success as not enduring much agony. I had two fillings removed and replaced.  Big deal.

We do notice the days getting longer, little by little, which means we're heading in the right direction.  A direction that includes - mark your calendars - the Poconos, from July 20-23. It was Andrew who noticed that the man accused of those terrible murders in Idaho was picked up near Mountain Springs. I said near, not at cabin 29. 

Finally, we thought we lost our kitty this week. He has gotten a little more adventurous braving the cold weather, but we couldn't find him all day after he ventured out in one morning.  Right about dark, I turned on the light on the screened-in porch, and saw his head sticking out from under a tarp I had covered the picnic table with.  He was hiding from the cleaners and their loud vacuum cleaner. Still. They had left eight hours earlier. 

And with that, happy Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

Love, from up here.