Home

It was a nice long ride home, with Annie and Greg part of the way, and we re-lived Saturday night's reception.  And then we relived it all again with an evening phone call with Margaret.  I think the unanimous verdict from those asked was that the weekend went by too quickly.  I know Mary and I wanted to hit the pause button so many times.   It was really wonderful to check in to Facebook when we got home and see all the photos.  We were so caught up in the moment that we did not take one picture.     

These life events are so important, and we were so happy that everyone made an effort to be there and share it with Margaret and Andrew.  The smiles on their faces in this photo tell the whole story.  Joy.  Most of all because you all were there!  To dance, and cheer and whistle and chat and eat and enjoy a little bit of Mexico in Washington.  

We arrived home kind of late Sunday night, to our smoke alarms beeping.  Back to the real world.  And, the poor kitty who had to listen to that beeping every 30 seconds or so.  Of course new codes require that all of the alarms be connected so you can't just replace one battery, but all of them.  So, instead of settling down to watch football and world series and unwind in general, I had to get in the car and go out to buy batteries.  Is this too much information?

In the middle of this we gleaned some important info:

-- Daniel has surpassed me to become the tallest Dickson, and he can dunk a basketball.

-- Peter is taking a course on Chaucer in between his big court cases.

-- Dan Boyle is getting his lifeguard certificate this fall.

-- Bill and Jen are interested in moving to Colorado.

-- Johanna and Janet love the zoo, the pandas and the otters.

-- Jeffrey still gets carded because he looks so young.

-- Andrew and Lur want the next wedding to be in Scranton PA (but I suspect they have traffic there as well.)

-- David and Paula look like they've been on a health kick, as do Jeffrey and Peter.

-- It was the first time ever in DC for Sean's friend Jess.

-- A couple of coincidences - Mary Forte Boyle reunited with some homeboys from NJ and Joe found out he worked in London with Annie Chamberlain's cousin.

-- Kathleen had the 9th anniversary of her 21st birthday.

-- Young Donald either roars or snores.  But most of all he is a very happy baby.

-- Joe can really dance, with the side slide, and so can a few other Dicksons and Boyles.

-- Annie can sing rap, and give a pretty darned good speech.

-- Sean's in his final weeks of law school.

-- Jeff and Melodie must own stock in Uber since they use the service so much (and thanks for the help.)

-- No one wanted to play football except for me.  Not even Mary.

-- Margaret and Andrew are prepared for another party since they have so much liquid refreshments left over.  Next time, might be a little more spontaneous.

So when do we get together again?  Overheard at the wedding was a bit of a challenge:  the brothers (fathers) couldn't get their act together this past summer to organize a family reunion, so the next generation (cousins) might take things into their own hands.  Okay, game on.

Anyway, thanks again and congratulations again to Margaret and Andrew.  

Love from up here.  

See you this week

We're packing and getting ready to jump in the car tomorrow and head to DC, for Margaret and Andrew's big event.  We are so looking forward to it; should be a lot of fun to be together again.  I am going to bring a football in case anyone wants to have a revenge touch football game on the mall.  You think the old guys could still take the next generation?  Perhaps, if we shorten the field, and outlaw running.

Anyway, it's all about collecting memories, and we'll have a lot more for the next letter, based on the events that Margaret laid out in her recent e-mail to everyone.  We spoke with her a few times to iron out some details; she's had weekend classes and dance classes on top of her planning.  

Sorry we'll miss Mathew and Tina, who have their hands full with young Donald and trying to get the closing for their new house.  And Claire who has school work.  Speaking of Claire, we pass along the big news that she was accepted into the Hope College orchestra.  That is wonderful.  

We've had a busy few weeks, but at least I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  My tours at Arrowhead end next Tuesday for the season, and my class at the lifelong learning institute ends on Monday.  So it looks like I am heading toward my second retirement.  I have a number of postponed jobs around the house and some planning for our trip to Gabon.  Speaking of which, we bought our tickets for the month of January.  We also bought travel insurance and will work on getting our visas when things quiet down a little.  Our fund-raising is going very well and just a little bit away from reaching the goal we set to allow us to buy the materials to repair the school.  Mary added swimming lessons on to her schedule, as she is helping a young doctor from Nepal learn how to swim.  Mary's had some shoulder issues, so she has slowed down here swim regime (and taken on some interesting new stretching exercises.)

Sounds like Joe has been busy as well.  He had a lot of preparation for his boss' trip to China to attend the APEC finance minister meetings.  Sounds familiar, preparing all the papers required for these meetings.  He had a special visitor last week from Portugal/London and is settling into his new apartment.

If you're looking for things to talk about this weekend, ask Annie about her new job offer.  She has a tough, but wonderful decision to make.  We'll be picking her up tomorrow and then driving to Philadelphia so that Greg can hop on board the wedding reception express south.  Also, congratulate Kathleen on her big birthday Saturday, and Billy who passed that milestone a couple of years ago.  And ask Peter about his court case at the state Supreme Court - his one comment was he loved the intellectual exchanges.  And ask David how is it that he always calls me when I'm driving?  What kind of drone does he have watching me?

Cultural happenings include a trip to the Clark Museum in Williamstown to see the Magna Carta on display there, a movie at home called "Mud" that we recommend, and a local play, on Edgar Allen Poe's last days, and an art exhibit in Worcester by an artist/monk friend of Mary's from years ago.  Spectacular collages and discussion.

We are awaiting John and Marilyn's return to Pittsfield the first week of November.  Kind of hard to believe time went so fast.  We look forward to hearing more about their trip to Peru.

Other than that, a lot of baseball watching, enjoying the Kansas City Royals (except for last night's lopsided defeat.)   

Oh and wanted to pass along this wonderful fall foliage map that shows the peak seasons around the country.  How did we ever survive before the Internet?

We know at least cell phones will come in handy this weekend.  Look forward to seeing you all.

Love from up north.  We share a picture of Daniel from 2010.  Wait til you see him this weekend.

  
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Letter from Dundee, from Hope

We went up to Holland to see Claire and take in a few sporting events and dinners. Daniel decided to stay home and dog sit, and all was well when we got back.

We had a great dinner Friday night at a restaurant that featured local farms, with impressive veggies and meat. Saturday afternoon, we watched the number one ranked girls volleyball team in Division 3 play, and we really saw a show. One girl tied a national record for kills in a single match. We really felt sorry for the other team, but we rooted for Hope. 

Later, at night, Claire and I took in the soccer game, another win for Hope. Lur stayed in to stay warm, as it got into the 30's.

And the big news, Claire was selected to the Hope woodwinds orchestra, a high honor. We will go back up in a few weeks to see her first concert. The nice thing is we will get to see the great western Michigan colors again.

When we were up in Holland, Daniel got a temporary job with his friend doing electrical assembly. Welcome to the real world.

Saturday morning, we went the Holland farmers' market, a massive display of fruits and vegetables. It is the largest farmers' market in Michigan, and my guess the midwest. It was huge. And it included food trucks, which we decided to do the philipino cuisine. Quite good.

All in all, the weather was great, the colors were great, and Claire was great. Dan probably liked us gone, too. 

Peak season

Peak season for ...... birthdays!  Happy birthday Paula, Johanna, Tina and Janet.  And now Auden who turned 1 on October 2. I read an article recently about the advantages of fall babies.  Based on our small sample, you all made the best of whatever those advantages might have been.

It's also peak season for fall foliage up here.  Some glorious days, especially for hikes, but not yesterday.  It was pouring rain, but that didn't stop me from a climb in Pittsfield State Forest yesterday.  Soaking wet and when I passed a young man he asked if I was crazy.  At least I had on a poncho.

It's also peak season for wood chopping, getting ready for fires this winter  Fortunately, we've had some major limbs fall down, giving us enough firewood for the cold, snowy days.  Not a bad workout either.  Who needs a gym?

And, it's peak season for baseball.  Not much going the way I would like so far; we heard of a marathon viewing party at Jeffrey and Melodie's for the Nats game that went 18 innings.  And the pitcher who lost the crucial game a couple of years ago, lost it again in the 9th inning last night.  Sorry guys. 

OK.  Enough of peak seasons.  Mary had a reunion of sorts here last weekend, bringing together a group of friends from her community college days, including her maid of honor Marj.  They had come to celebrate the life of a friend who had passed away in June.  Lots of singing and reminiscing, and of course good food and drink.  Marj was here through the week with her mother and sister.

We heard from David who had a big meeting in New York City where he had to make a presentation on insurance fraud.  He talked about staying downtown, and some wonderful meals in Little Italy.  Paula couldn't join him; seems that Donald has started smiling.  David said that Matthew and Tina were closing on their new house.  Lots of changes in that household, good ones.

Peter had big news of winning a major case he had been working on for some time involving a stalled real estate development project in Hoboken.  He's arguing a case this week at the NJ Supreme Court on eminent domain again, and you can watch it live on Tuesday at 10am; here's the site - http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/webcast/index.htm.  He promises the discussion will be "lively."

We spoke with Joe and Margaret and they are still settling in from their recent moves.  Joe also told us he saw the recent episode of the intruder at the White House, and I was glad when he said it wasn't a friend of his.

We also heard from John and Marilyn who had just returned from Peru for a vacation to Lima, Cuzco and Macchu Picchu.  They were on a group tour that kept them very busy.  

Other than that, I've finished three of my six classes in my teaching at the lifelong learning institute.  Seems to be going well as they've asked me to think of doing another class next year.  Not sure, what a lot of work.  Mary has started tutoring at a second school, so her days are filling up.  The garden continues to wind down, as we've seen the last of the tomatoes.  Still a few squash and lots of potatoes and carrots to come.  A new I-phone for John; we attended the Arthur Miller play "Enemy of the People," with too many books on our reading lists.  

That about rounds it out.  Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks in Washington for Margaret and Andrew's party.

Love from up here. 

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First day of fall

I've been dreading today, since it means winter is coming and summer is over.  But today we went on a hike to an old granite quarry in Becket and saw the early glimpses of color, and it was wonderful.  Another place to check out on your next visit to the Berkshires.  Fall is nice too, especially when the weather hits the mid 70s.  Unfortunately, we had to turn on the heat this past week, when it dipped down into the 30s at night.  On the other hand, still no frost, so our garden continues to produce - zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots.  We bought our first lettuce since July this past week, and our bumper crop of beans this summer is now officially over.

We realized today that this has been our first weekend without visitors or travel since we went to see Andrew and Lur at Green Lake in June.  (That was fun, by the way.)  Exhale.  We miss you all, though.

Last weekend we went to New York to fulfill a birthday gift to Mary to go see the play Wicked.  It was superior.  The last couple of musicals we had seen (Newsies and Avenue Q) were good, but not great.  Wicked is.  Highly recommended.  

We drove down with a car load of stuff for Annie that she had stored here over the summer.  We saw her new place (very nice) and then went out with her and Greg and Greg's mother at a Mexican restaurant that evening.  The next morning we went to St. John the Divine for church, but also to see the Xu-Bing sculptures of Phoenix suspended from the cathedral ceiling.  Those sculptures had been at MassMoca and they are magnificent.  We're kind of Xu-Bing groupies now.  But, we're also groupies of the Hungarian pastry shop across the street from the cathedral.  Should I mention that the church service was as long as the one that Joe, Margaret and Annie remember, and we didn't quite make it to the end.  We heard voices; they were the pastries calling us.

We understand that David was also in New York this week, for his long awaited hearing on insurance fraud - do I have that right?  Hope it went well.  The big news up in Fairport is the new cat/kitty.

Joe and Margaret helped each other move into their new places last weekend.  No fun, but it sounds like everything went well and now they just have to unpack everything.  By the way, rumor has it that Margaret and Andrew have a guest bedroom - without a bed, but soon to be remedied.  We talked with them both a couple of times, gearing up for the end of October bash.  

Speaking of gearing up, Mary and I have been busy getting ready for our trip to Gabon in January.  Lots of activity and lots of hurdles still to cross.  Not as much activity as my class I started teaching last week at Berkshire Community College for the local chapter of the life-long learning institute.  It's on history and foreign relations.  

Mary has started her tutoring of the Ghanaian high school boys, and has lots of stories, about their adaptation adventures here in Pittsfield.  She still has the best stories from her teaching.  And one more achievement for her - she found out this week she is the 11th best in the nation in breast stroke for her age group. OMG - and who knew that when I married her?  

One last funny story.  Last night, we went to the movies (Most Wanted Man, with Philip Seymour Hoffman, recommended) and afterwards we went to Baba Louie's for pizza dinner.  We were on our way to our table when the waiter told us to go back since the table wasn't quite ready.  In the door walks another couple, roughly our age.  Mary asked them if they had just come from the movies, because she wanted to chat about the movie we just saw.  They had, but they saw a different one, and as we talked the guy looked awfully familiar.  I said to him, you're not from Pittsfield, are you?  He admitted as much, and then I asked him if he was Peter DeShazo, a foreign service colleague of mine.  I didn't know what I would say if he said he wasn't the guy, but it was Peter!  He and his partner were out in Lenox for the weekend from Boston, and we ended up sharing a table and getting reacquainted.  Not sure whether to put this in the small world category or the what would have happened if our table had been ready category.

One more funny story - Joe wrote this week, and said he saw a guy at the Department of Treasury with a Black Panthers t-shirt.  Think about that for a minute. 

Let's end with another photo from Cincinnati.   Love from up here.

I remember...

I think those were the words most often voiced this past weekend in Cincinnati.  Although, truth be told, Andrew didn't remember much, as we left Cincinnati after he had just turned 6 and the last time he was there was in 1978.  

He did remember Tiger Kite.   How?  When we went to Indian Hill Church for, as always an emotional stop, we wandered inside the church, and Andrew came across a young man wearing a tie.  I should note here that none of us came close to that kind of dress, and Andrew with his bright blue shorts and yellow windbreaker, certainly looked out of place.  Anyway Andrew struck up a conversation with the young man who turned out to be our next door neighbor, on Cunningham Road, and best friend of Tiger Kite, the boy who grew up on the other side of our house.  It turned out the young man he met was not so young, seven years younger than me.  It got me remembering the baby born next door while we lived there.  Had to have been the same guy/baby.  

Anyway, there was one more coincidence worth sharing.  When we walked out of hotel to the game, we had barely made it one block when I noticed the sign on the other side of the street - House of Adam.  We have had many laughs over the years about the clothing Pop bought me in the African-American disco store in 1978 when we were looking for something respectable to wear.  That we should be so close to it and that it is still open, catering to the same African-American clientele, but 40 years older, must say something about larger forces at work in our universe.  

Did I mention the baseball?   The Mets thumped the Reds in the first game and the Reds squeaked by the Mets in the second game.  Needless to say, two of the three of us care way too much for these outcomes than we should at our age.  But how do you get it to stop meaning so much?  I will say this, I have never been to a game where the crowd was standing up for the last half inning.  Exciting (at least for me.)  And overall a most fun weekend.  

So where was David for all this?  Preparing for some big meetings, but more importantly, getting a new kitty.  Hardly a kitty, who weighed 16 pounds when they picked him up.  Another Maine coon cat (did I get that right?)  David pointed out that the cat weighed more than his grandson, Donald.  And will for a while longer it seems.  

David was keeping everyone in the loop about Aunt Georgia who had fallen a broke her hip.  She is still strong, and so had two hip replacements it seems and is recovering well.

So, where were Mary, Janet and Lur?  Staying at home, alone and missing their hubbies?  NOT.  Mary took advantage of the freedom and went to visit Marj in Rhode Island; Johanna got out of the city and had some quality time with Janet, and Lur was busy trying to keep Daniel from buying a new car.  

The stars have aligned in such a way that Joe, Margaret (Andrew too) and Annie have all moved into new apartments.  Buy stock in College Hulks Move Stuff. When we saw Margaret and Andrew in August, they were troubled by the infestations in the place they had just moved to.  So they were able to convince their landlords to release them from the lease, since they wouldn't take care of the critters.  We'll go down and see Annie's place this weekend, delivering some stuff she had in Hancock Rd storage.  And Joe has been in temporary housing since his return but has just found a place.

John and Marilyn came over before the weekend for dinner, as they were set to leave for their southern quarters.  They'll be back in November, which means they did not sell their house up here.  Strange.  

The week before Cincinnati, Mary and I went up to northern Vermont for a few days at Charlie's camp on a lake there.  Very rustic; we got an early peak at what the fall colors are going to be like.  We played dominoes with Charlie and his family, and Mary continues to dominate.  However, we have to watch her closely since Andrew found a domino on the floor under her seat out at Green Lake, where she also won.

It's September which means back to school, for Mary and for Annie and Margaret and Sean, Daniel and Claire.  But not for John.  That's naaaaiiiice ( as Borat would say).  I will be teaching an adult learning class for six weeks.  Mary's new teaching gig is at Pittsfield High School.

Oh, one more thing.  A young woman came into my office at UMass this week and wanted a Fulbright scholarship to Argentina to study chronic nappers and the effect on their cognitive abilities.  I raised my hand and said she did not have to go all the way to Argentina.  But she was adamant that she did because people here are discouraged and disparaged from napping.  Even ashamed.  Imagine that.  Boy, does she have that wrong.

And with that, have a wonderful weekend and a start to the fall.  Love from up here.

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Well done, John

Hey everyone, you should go to the website John put together on the Mills of Pittsfield. It's very well done and informative, and I enjoyed reading about how Pittsfield was once a very important industrial center, and about how many of the buildings have been adapted for new uses. I did not know, for example, that one driver of the city's development was access to fast moving rivers for water power. Check it out.

http://milltour.org/