One month down

One winter month down. One more full on to go. And in two days we await the groundhog. Which means nothing in this part of the world. Today, though, we saw a temperature above 32 degrees for the first time since we got back from DC on January 20.  It's been cold.

And quiet. Kind of.  For those of you on Facebook, you will have heard my story of the Afghan (wounded warrior) refugee I am tutoring or trying to tutor in English. This man, who's Annie's age, came to the U.S. in November and has been struggling to get any of the resources that his countrymen all received in 2021 and 2022. People were lining up to help them then. Not anymore. Each time I meet him with a plan to do an hour of English teaching, it turns instead into 2-3 hours of some social service – looking for a job, filling out hospital intake and insurance forms, drivers license, and then housing. In the past three days, because of decisions to cut all government grants, the refugee assistance program he finally started receiving last Thursday, was cut the following day. He was going to be forced to leave his apartment, and over the course of a couple of hours was going to go to Texas, Springfield, and finally staying here in Pittsfield. Just awful how these decisions play out at the individual level. And he's got the bullet wounds to show.

Our other excitement around here was that, against that backdrop, I won a 50" television. I was returning my old modem and router to our Internet provider, and the clerks in the store told me to go spin the wheel off to the side of the lobby. And, with a feeble push, the wheel stopped on …. the television. I wonder if I showed the proper level of excitement. I had just bought a new television a few weeks earlier and didn't need one.  We (they) loaded into the car, and I came home and told Mary we were going to put it in front of the fireplace and watch a video of a fire.

We talked with Joe and Margaret each this week to get a sense of how things were going in Washington. You can imagine, but their reactions were a little mixed. They are away from the chaos that we're reading about.  So far.

We heard about Thomas' first basketball game, Simon's excitement and then disappointment over the Commanders appearance in the NFC championship, and a trip to the dentist for John and Thomas.

I got all excited when I saw on Facebook that Tina was in Lima with Everett, but I didn't even need to check the map to see if there was a Lima NY.  

Not Lima, but Hampi, India, is where Annie and Sankar headed after her return. I hesitate mentioning her horrendous flight back, since a) it might bring up PTSD and b) might discourage others from visiting them.  She says that Hampi is a town full of ruins from the 1500s. Wikipedia says it was  "the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565 (as Vijayanagara), when it was abandoned." Remember that for Jeopardy Daily Double.

What else passes for excitement around here? I'm teaching a class at the lifelong learning institute (foreign affairs), taking a class on Dante's Divine Comedy at the same place, we saw a movie called Thelma (which meets Andrew's PG-65 test, and we recommend it, but he might be right, it's better if you're over 65), we had a visit from our North Carolina friends and went skiing. We also got a note from Marjie Huoppi and a photo of a retaining wall in front of the old homestead. 

Other than that, it's hunker down, eat a lot of soup and chili, and watch the fire.  Lucky us.

Love from up here.   

Birthday destination

Dateline Washington DC.  No, we're not here to storm the Capitol. We're here to help out while the 40^th birthday party takes place in Mexico. Whose birthday? Margaret's, and she organized a destination birthday party. That's a first, for me anyway.

Where is this birthday party? In Mexico, first in Oaxaca and then part 2 in Mexico City. Leonor went down for stage 1 and Andrew went down for the second leg. In other words, the first stage, for us, was at Joe's house, and then we headed across town to Margaret and Andrew's house to watch Simon, or maybe it's the other way around. 

The photos back from Mexico have sent us into FOMO land, but we have enjoyed our time here as well. It has been the longest time we've spent in this area since we moved away in 2012. And we like it. We have gone swimming, of course, but also to our old church (Joe's new church), watched football games, visited friends, and play, play, played.

We came down here a few days after Bill and Jen headed back to Colorado after spending time in Illinois over the holidays. They opted for a return drive on the edge of a major snowstorm, but must have made it back in okay shape.  Daniel and Claire had come home  for Christmas as well. I should add that I got in trouble for the last letter when I mentioned Andrew and Lur had gone to some rock concert when they had also gone to see Claire conduct her school orchestra. I should add that Peter found online and shared a video of a Hope College concert featuring Claire in the front row.  Beautiful Christmas music.

Speaking of sharing online, David is into unearthing auction items of sports memorabilia from a Cincinnati website. Very tempting, and it makes me wonder about the value of my few remaining Reds baseball cards.

Speaking of Cincinnati, I learned that Mrs. Bidwell passed away last month. She was a brave woman, rearing six children after divorcing her husband. She remarried and moved into the city, but also spent a lot of time at a home in Colorado the entire clan owned together.

Wonderful photos of a very proud Everett showing off the gaps in his front teeth. Other wonderful photos show a rapidly growing young Ronan. Sean, by the way, has started a new job. Get the details at the Poconos.

Speaking of the Poconos, the dates this year are July 17-20.  Mark your calendars. We had seven cabins reserved, but I just added an eighth. So start planning now.

We talked to John and Marilyn who had spent Christmas up in Massachusetts with Kara. Johnny was recovering from gall bladder surgery, just in time to stand in as home care giver for Marilyn who will have knee surgery in the spring.  When it rains it pours.

And, there were other birthdays.  Jeffrey's for example.  And we also remembered on their birthdays, Ann and Loretta.

This weekend is Annie's last in this hemisphere, for a while. Before heading to Mexico for the birthday, she spent a quiet week with us, mostly trying to get through and over a cold. Too bad, but at least she didn't have it over the holidays or for the birthday.

She'll miss the snow this weekend. We won't.  Hunker down, and love from down here.

  

Happy New Year

The weather outside was frightful, at least for a while. It's been a long time since I saw the thermometer read 2 degrees. But it did, and hovered there for a while. It didn't deter three intrepid boys and their little sister from trying to play in the snow though. And, when it did snow again, it was a little warmer and more fun outside. But the lake froze, the stream behind the house froze, and my toes froze.

But no complaints. We had hoped for snow for Christmas, and we got it. Not too much. Good enough for some sledding. Then it really warmed up, and all the snow went away. Until today.

Joe and his family were first to arrive, leaving DC at around 4 in the morning to get here by mid-day Saturday. Margaret and her family came up the next day, the same day that Joe drove to Boston to pick up Annie whose flight from India was on time!

As was probably true chez vous, there was some excitement and lots of speculation about Santa – his arrival, the fireplace, the toys on the floor that might cause him to trip, the reindeer tracks, the cookies and carrots, the letters. Oh, we also went to church Christmas Eve, and that too added to the overall excitement.

Christmas Day was predictable: surprises, chaos, gasps of wonder, paper, and then serious "some assembly required" work. All fun.

Mary spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing meals; Leonor made her duck rice dish for Christmas Eve, and Annie added her own vegan recipes.

These days remind me of Pomfret when we all descended (ascended?) after Christmas and the same pandemonium and fun reigned over the house. Pop always wrote about how special those days were, wishing that when we were grandparents we would be able to experience the same. The contrast with the normal quiet in the house is welcome.

Some other highlights – nice to see Simon and John playing so well together; nicer to hear the pleases and thank yous, especially directed at Mimi/Avo Mary; nicest to have quiet time for naps for Baba/Avo John (and a few others as well); fun to go swimming and to the movies to see Sonic (Joe said the book was better); funner to sneak in some excursions to Dunkin Donuts, Panera's and our favorite pizza place; and funnest to play with Luisa's karaoke microphone present … that she will be taking home with her.

Yesterday, it was a return to quiet, as Joe and family did a reverse early am departure. Margaret and Andrew and Simon had already left on Saturday, braving an ice storm which we hope had turned to rain; and Annie escaped to go to Boston to visit friends. Hmm, she doesn't want to spend New Year's Eve as 5 Hancock.

Worthy of mention as well was Joe's detour on his way back from Providence to see a friend from St. Andrews. Where did the detour take him? 233 Pomfret Street, and he knocked on the door, and the Huoppis invited him in. He said that they mentioned a few times they were pondering putting the house on the market. Any buyers?

I hope the Dickson brothers' families all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did, with lots of joy and laughter and togetherness and marvel and singing and stepping on toys and puzzles and games. Speaking of games, did you know that Thomas cheats at Trouble? So do Simon and John. ( Maybe me too.) They have totally adopted the Vince Lombardi approach – winning is everything.

So, New Year's means resolutions. Got any??  I do. Or at least did. Maybe I'll do an every day but New Year's Day resolution. Let's see how long I can keep it.

Today is my sister Ann's birthday. She would be 72. She always complained about her birthday being too close to Christmas, that people just held over their Christmas gifts for her birthday.  Joe didn't complain, though since he probably got extra presents when we celebrated in Pomfret, with everyone there.

With that, love from up here.