April Fool’s Day

Some of what follows may actually be true.

Let's start with birthdays, of course. Simon turned five. Or was it four. He says five but his balloon says four. And I'm not sure there is such a thing as birth-days. I think they are all birthweeks. But he had so much fun.

We decided to come down for Easter but it would have been better to go for Simon's birthday a week earlier. A few minutes after leaving Pittsfield, Joe called to say he was just leaving urgent care with a diagnosis of strep throat. We momentarily thought of turning back but the car was packed and we forged ahead.

Not sure I've ever had strep but I know now I never want to get it. Sounds miserable. Margaret and Andrew graciously hosted us last minute. The next day Leonor went to urgent care as she was worried and feeling a little off. We offered to watch the boys while she was gone so we put on masks and headed over. Not wanting to spread illness back at Margaret's we left DC and abandoned our extensive Easter plans. We found a hotel on the Outer Banks and had a quiet Easter. We also found a Catholic Church that was packed. Overflowing.

Margaret and Andrew headed to Pennsylvania for Easter with Andrew's parents. Joe was feeling better so they had a proper Easter there.

Sounds like illness affected David and Paula's Easter plans as they had reduced numbers for David's famous grilled lamb.

We saw Peter and Janet (and Aunt Johanna) made their way for Easter with Kiernan. And Sean and Erin.

I think it was a quieter Easter in Illinois as Bill and Jen took the family west to Colorado for spring break.

Did anyone go to The Harvest? I should add that we drove by The Harvest when we were in Pomfret, and it is no more. Under new management with a new name. I hate change.

We spoke with Annie and she says it's getting hot now. They are still on their grand tour, staying at a farm south of Mumbai.

We took the blue highway route down to Charleston SC yesterday. I said I wanted to see America. Mostly we saw strip malls, car dealerships and fast food places. But also swamps and water and tree farms. We stopped at Myrtle Beach State Park which was a welcome oasis from the RV dealers.

And we had enough daylight when we got here to walk around this beautiful city, the historic part anyway. Some creepy parts, like the slave markets, the building where nullification was first promulgated by John Calhoun. We had to wonder how decimated the city was after the war and how they rebuilt it and preserved it. So much money.

We had planned to go on a Fort Sumter tour this morning but canceled last night so as not to have a hectic start. We'll save that for our next trip.

Today we get back in the car for a shorter drive to Daytona, to John and Marilyn's. Our third beach with a few more to go.

Looking ahead, we see snow in the forecast for Pittsfield and eclipse the next day. We like being away when it snows but last year we lost trees that could have been saved if we had been there to knock the snow off the branches.

Oh well. Hope it's melted by the time we get home. Hope our house is still standing. Hope the plow guy didn't push the gravel back to the lawn that I had raked back on the driveway. Little worries.

Better yet, hope you all are well and healthy! Love from down here.

(Actually there were no April Fools jokes in this letter.)