Dateline Berrias, France

We're visiting a village in France that we first came to in 1985, weeks after Margaret was born and after Joe had the cast on his leg removed. Our friend, Lawraine, who was in the same Gabon town as Mary, moved here and has lived here for a long time.

The last time we were here was 2018, but on one of our other visits here, Peter and Janet, Johanna and Sean, showed up and we stayed here for a week or so. What everyone remembers from that visit were that church bells that rang every hour. Yes, through the night.

The village is a 90 minute train ride from Montpellier where we are half way through two weeks of French classes. It was something we've been wanting to do for a couple of years, and we finally jumped in. After one week, even after one day, we knew it was the right choice. A lot of fun, and we might even be getting better in French.

We spent a couple of days in Paris before coming south in order to acclimatize. We stayed on the left bank, steps away from Notre Dame. I had been reading A Moveable Feast by Hemingway and underlining the names of the streets he mentioned. So on our first day, we found Gertrude Stein's house and his bar, too fancy for us but we had a cafe across the street and retraced his steps back to the Seine and the famous bookstore. Sunday morning we went to church at Notre Dame, quite beautiful inside, like there had never been a fire. We then hopped on the TGV for Montpellier.

Everywhere we've gone, everyone we meet, they all want to talk about the political situation in the US. A lot of head shaking, and that's not even us. They just can't believe their partner is cutting the ties that made both regions so prosperous and safe for so many years.

The weather is warmer here but not by much. Mary grabbed her winter coat as we headed out the door in Pittsfield, and she wears it every day. I spent an hour chopping wood for Lawraine as she had run out just like I have back home.

We've found a pool, went on a hike, did a walking tour around the town and hit the Monoprix every day. I missed class one day as I came down with a bad cold. All better now and luckily Mary did not get sick. Did someone say the French make good wine? Yes, we have done one formal wine tasting and a few informal ones.

What's up back home? We saw Erin had a birthday, and it sure looked like a happy one. David's got one in a few days and then it's Simon's turn. Timmy's back in Pittsfield taking care of the kitty and watching the house. Merci.

We've enjoyed seeing photos of Simon trying a violin, Thomas and John and Luisa doing yoga. We're expecting smooth, continued recoveries for Marilyn and Lur.

Two more days, besides David's birthday, is the first day of spring. We made it. Flowers and gardens and winter cleanup await us. Something to look forward to.

Until then, prenez vos soins et adieu

Dateline: our nation’s capital

It's birthday week. Four of them in one week. Luisa, then Daniel, next up Kiernan, and finally Lur. 

We drove down in time for Luisa's official party, but then we were also here for her party with friends. Someone's brave for having all these little children under the same roof. But it worked out well. Lots of parents keeping their eyes on their children. Everyone behaved, especially me. 

While down here, we saw the first of what we hope will be many basketball games, this time for Thomas. We had a couple of babysitting gigs with Margaret and then Joe which gave us plenty of opportunities to spoil grandchildren. I should say Mary had the babysitting gigs. 

Sharing a picture of Simon who wanted to be Barack Obama for his school's Black History Month fashion show. At their school Thomas dressed up in the colors of Nigerian and John in Kenya's red and black. And there's a picture of Theo reading his favorite book. Or should I say re-reading it. 

Friday, everyone was in school so Mary and I met an old Foreign Service friend at the USAID building and "clapped out" the workers who have been summarily dismissed. It was very sad; we've known many USAID families over the years which makes it very personal. We also took in the African American History Museum. Also pretty sad. 

Not sad are the warm temperatures down here. We even saw some crocuses and forsythia. Not for long as we headed home to single digit temps. 

Two of us had surgeries this week. Lur fell and broke her left wrist so she had an operation to line it all up the right way again. Then, down in Florida, Marilyn had her knee surgery and she is on the long road to recovery. Look out pickle ball!! 

From far away, Annie and Sankar have purchased a parcel of land. Big news. Sixteen acres that are about 5 hours away from his family's home in Thanjavur. It's up in the hill towns so it's a little cooler. Now they can start dreaming of what they want to put there. We vote for a guest house. 

A miserable weather day and a computer in the repair shop led me downstairs to tackle the mess in our basement closet. In one box I found two bags of letters that Grandma had saved. Letters that Mary and I had written over the years. I would say most of them were thank you notes, for one thing or another. There's a lesson in giving. Also buried in the papers were some old photos and two obituaries, of John Shields and Mary Law Shields. I'll have to get a good scan and share them with all of you. 

Finally, before leaving Washington, we went to our old church, Joe and Leonor's new church. They are ministering to a community in shock right now. But the minister had a nice message that can be summed up, "we don't need a map, but a compass."  

Our next letter will be postmarked Montpellier, France where Mary and I are heading this week to take French language classes. 

A la prochaine!  Love