California dreaming and.....

(almost) all the leaves are brown.... and we turn back the clocks this weekend.  An extra hour of sleep will only slightly soften the blow that we are headed into the season of mittens and boots every time we venture outside.  

Time has really stopped for Matthew and Tina.  Through Facebook and phone calls, we have been able to keep up with the ordeal of Matthew's spinal infection that sent him to the hospital for emergency surgery and now a long re-hab.  The postings tell a story of interrupted lives, of small signs for hope and of a wonderful network of friends and family.  David and Paula have spent long hours over at the hospital, keeping him company and even bearing gifts for the nurses taking care of Matthew.  Jeffrey is up there this weekend, and it sounds like he pulled diaper duty for Donald.  It sounds as if there have been a number of complications for Matthew, but we are grateful every time we read a post from him, since we read he's sitting up, and well enough to type.  We especially liked hearing of his "enthusiastic" physical therapy team, and the goal to move to a chair.  We're all pulling for you Matthew.   

In between phone calls with David, we headed to Washington for the weekend, staying with Annie in her new apartment in Queens on the way down.  More spacious and a great neighborhood.  She is contemplating having to move by the end of the year, though.  Then, we headed to lunch in Lawrenceville with Peter, who told us that Janet's brother broke his leg while on a trip to India.  The flight back in a cast must have been excruciating.  Peter later informed us that Sean passed the bar exam.  Congratulations Sean!

In Washington, we stayed at Joe's new house, and he and Leonor have been busy making it a home.  It's on a surprisingly quiet street, for a house in the city.  Leonor cooked us a Portuguese dish for supper one night (wonderful!), and then Mary and I went to our friends, Gerry and Dennis, for Indian food.  The next night we had Eritrean food at Margaret and Andrew's.  Lest you think we need a visa for all our meals, we did go to a bar for hot dogs and wings to watch the Patriots win.  That never gets old, especially against the Jets.  

My summer of work ended this week, with my last days at Hancock Shaker Village. It was a long seven months, more than I wanted in my retirement, but the opportunity to learn so much was in the end worth it.  And now my next project starts, a photo book on industry in the Berkshires.  But I think I will be able to get some naps in while doing that.

We spoke with Andrew a few times, and learned that Lur is also busy, with all her volunteering activities, at the hospital and for a group of Dundee boosters.  We hear as well that Billy is going to be setting up his own company - go Billy and happy birthday, belated.  I also think I jumped the date last week on Daniel's college tour by a few weeks.      

Our trip to Washington coincided with a memorial service for a colleague who I worked with in Peru, the man who went on Jeopardy while we were there and won five consecutive games earning two Corvettes and a boatload of cash.  Chris was a real character, and his daughter, in her remarks, talked of his Friday the 13th phobia, and how he used to send postcards every month saying that "this month Friday the 13th falls on a Tuesday."  A little joy on a very sad day.  Next month, by the way, Friday the 13th actually falls on Friday.

So, it's a little hard to write about this other news when we are preoccupied with Matthew's recovery.  So we'll close with a major league, world series "You gotta Believe" for Matthew.

Love from over here.  

​ 

10 best

Pop's weekly letters had a regular feature, beyond stories of Spag's and haircuts and the dump.  He would regularly mention that they were enjoying one of the 10 best days of the year.  I am not sure how he kept track, if he marked them on the calendar or not, or if had a criteria-based system giving points for weather (temperature, sun, foliage colors, breeze, humidity, sunrise and sunset, dewpoints) or for activities or get-togethers with family and friends or lottery jackpots.  I suspect it was a decision of the gut.

What made me think of this is we are coming off of three of the ten best days here, and my criteria is mostly weather based, but also foliage.  We are at the very peak of the season, a little late due to warm weather.  The colors are tremendous, and seem to surpass last year.  I suspect the same was true for everyone here, from Chicago to DC from Rochester to NYC.  (Do I sound like the Shirelles singing "Dancing in the Streets"?)  How about Florida?  Hope your long weekend was spectacular.    

Last letter mentioned all the birthdays, except for Janet's (today) or Auden, who turned two and whose picture is included here.  Who do you think liked her birthday more?  I think it was equal.

It was a big weekend up here too, that included the world premiere of the movie I have been working on.  Unfortunately, when we turned it on Saturday night to watch, the tv station messed up something and the quality made viewing impossible.  They have since fixed it, but with the nice write-up in the Berkshire Eagle, anyone trying to watch probably got discouraged.  Not us though, we had a dvd and watched it with a group of friends here.  I will try to upload it on to YouTube so you all can sit through the 84 minutes and see what the all the commotion is about.  Not really, but it was a long haul and I'm glad it's finished.

Other activities from my stupid crazy summer are coming to close as well.  Today was my last day at Arrowhead and this week I will finish with the last of the Fulbright applications as the deadline is tomorrow.

It looks like others have been busy as well.  Johanna was off in Paris, and from her postings it sounded like she was staying at the Ritz with all the famous people she was running into.  Nous aussi aimons Paris.  John and Marilyn were off to a different French city, New Orleans and posted photos of cafe and beignets.  Nour aussi aimons les beignets.  We heard that Andrew and Daniel were off to Michigan this weekend to look at colleges.  Margaret and Andrew had a non-French weekend up in Lancaster, and Joe welcomed back Leonore who had stayed on in Portugal for a few weeks with her family and friends after their trip in September.

The garden is producing only a little, but we have yet to dig up the potatoes.  The last of the cherry tomatoes are coming in, and we have pulled up other veggies and many weeds, getting ready for next spring.  

Lots of baseball watching around here, and some great series.  We are here rooting for the Royals and Blue Jays, Mets and Cubs.  Not sure, though, who Mary is rooting for.  Michael Phelps, I believe.

Here's to a happy, full and enjoyable fall.  Love from up here.  

​

Birthday central

Today is Tina's birthday, and yesterday was Paula's birthday.  We spent the first part of the day with Paula and David, before they drove home in order to be there for Tina's big day.  And this week is Johanna's birthday.  Happy birthday to all.

David and Paula took off for a fall swing through Vermont and New York, before landing here for the weekend.  They joined us at Hancock Shaker Village on Saturday where it was country fair, with all kinds of crafts and demonstrations of oval boxes and timber frame building and quilting and...... a talk by John on the Shakers at Hancock.  We went out to eat Saturday night, and found a wonderful Italian restaurant we had never been to.  Another place for the "36 hours in Pittsfield" update that will never appear in the New York Times, but should be on your list of things to do when visiting here.  And we love visits.  And it was great to see David and Paula over here.  They filled us in on their house work, including a new landscaping and walkway in the front of their house.  Next up, they will tackle their kitchen.  Paula also made some copies of family histories, including Uncle All's work that takes the deans back to the 1620s in Taunton Mass.

The previous weekend, Mary and I headed north to Maine where we joined the Dan Boyle family to spread his ashes in parts of the Bar Harbor area that he loved so much.  We started out with a tradition to see the sunrise at Cadillac Mountain, the first spot on the continental U.S. that the sun hits.  It was a beautiful view that the photo included here hardly captures.  But it is worth seeing.  We then went to his plot of land on a lake called Molasses Pond.  There were remembrances and memories of Dan, and catching up with everyone.  And we ate, lots of seafood, lobster rolls, chowders, etc.  Another place to visit, even if it is a long drive.

Phone calls with folks in DC during the week informed us of all the happenings with the Pope and the Chinese Premier, a man whose named is pronounced "she."  It's a little confusing when the news announces talk about "she", and then refer to "she" as "he".  The last premier was pronounced "who" which leads me to think of an update to the Abbot and Costello skit about "Who's on First?"  No, Who's the Premier of China?  

But I digress.  Sounds like Joe, Margaret, Jeff and Melodie all got days off because of the throngs to see the Pope.  I wonder if the same was true for Annie and Johanna in New York.

The temperatures have fallen to the 30s in the evenings here, but the house continues to stay warm.  It's a good thing since we are reluctant to turn on the furnace in September.  But those temps have pretty much made the hillsides full of color where there was just barest of colors last week.  The temps have slowed down the grass growth, but not enough to stop mowing altogether.  And the garden is slowing down its production, with the last of the beans and tomatoes coning in, leaving just the potatoes and carrots and maybe a few onions to harvest.

One more month of busy-ness, and then the seasonal tour guide commitments close down; I've completed two of my six classes for the Lifelong Learning Institute on historic preservation and I should have just another hour of work to finalize my movie about the restoration of the Anthenaeum.  Hopefully, by the next letter I will be able to include a YouTube link so you can watch my first (and undoubtedly last) full length movie.

So, this has been the quickest September on record; and hope that the next month will slow down a little for us to enjoy it.

Hope you all are well; love from up here.  

"September, I'll remember"

Where's that quote from?  (Read to the end of letter.)

I hardly remember the last few weeks, another whirlwind of travel and activity.  And not just for us, but it looks like for many of you as well, taking advantage of the long Labor Day weekend to.....

Move.  Annie moved to her new apartment in Queens and while the move seemed more drawn out than it should have been, she loves where she is.  She came up over the weekend to pick up stuff she had kept here, and to pick up a car.  Because....

We bought a new car, or I should say Mary did.  It was also a more drawn out process than it needed to be, because over the course of the past two months we actually purchased three cars, and two of them fell through.  Anyway, Mary finally got to choose a car she wanted -- riding in style and comfort in a Honda Accord - leather seats.  I have to admit is nice.  We took it on a test drive over Labor day weekend to.....

North Carolina.  On the way down there, we stopped over and stayed with Andrew and Margaret and heard all about their trip to South Africa.  We headed south to Chapel Hill to visit our Peace Corps friend Charlie and his family and drove his son all the way back to Williams in one day.  I guess we do love the new car.  Sometimes I catch Mary out in the garage just hugging it.  We also went to a wedding for a young man whose parents we knew in Peru....

not Portugal which is where Joe was these past two weeks, traveling all around that beautiful country.  He came back after Labor Day, and spent this past weekend also moving, into his new house, also harder than it should been.  What has been easy, though, is....

catching up on Facebook news, with the Peter Dicksons attending a wedding for Kieren (sp?) and Sean going skeet shooting; Jeff and Melodie headed out to Minnesota, and some fishing, it looks like; Bill and Jen and family went up to Door County (been there?); and Janet marking the third anniversary of her broken leg (still hurts.)

Mary's friend Marj and her whole family were in Pittsfield this weekend for her mother's memorial service and then for Marj's sister's 50th wedding anniversary.  Nice to see a family come together for major life events.  Lots of singing, laughter, eating and love.  We'll have to get the singing together next summer in the Poconos.

What else?  We heard Matthew has started his graduate studies, so he will be a busy somebody in a busy household the next few years.  Margaret began her last semester of school.  John and Marilyn also have a new car, switching from the practical, politically correct Prius to the stylish ride of a Cadillac.  That's 180 degrees.  

Lots of baseball, with the Mets surging, the Reds eliminated and the Yankees closing in.  And football has started, but who's watching anything but Tom Brady's court case?

So, we have a whiff of fall weather right now, enough to know what's ahead.  Hopefully not for a few more weeks.  Hope you all are healthy, happy and safe.  Love from up here.

(and the quote is from Simon and Garfunkel "April Come She Will.")

Where has August gone?

What happens around here when the calendar turns from July is we realize the end of summer is approaching so we have to pack everything in that we had been too lazy to do in the first weeks of the glorious weather.  I hope the summer has not gotten away from you like it has up here.  All this to explain why the weeks have gotten away from me and no letter written for a while.

And pack it in is precisely what has happened.  We have been hosts to Maura and Elsie for a weekend, pictured below on a walk though of the gardens at Naumkeag, an historic mansion in Stockbridge; to Marj and Lew who came with us to dance at Jacob's Pillow and Dreamaway Lodge, to Jan and Peter Lochery who were here to open up their new house they bought in Richmond, to our Peace Corps friend Monette, who we took to a rained out evening at Tanglewood and a Van Gogh exhibit at the Clark among other places; to a few of Mary's high school classmates who were here for her 45th reunion this weekend.  

We were also dog-sitting for D, while Margaret and Andrew were on their trip to South Africa.  They returned yesterday, and I drove down to NYC to hand over our guest for the last two weeks.  He was glad to see them, and it sounds like they had a spectacular and uneventful (in the negative way) trip.  They looked good after just getting off the long 17 hour flight.  Andrew starts a new job in September at Congressional Quarterly.

We had breakfast with Annie, who has spent the last couple of weeks apartment hunting, a joyless task in NYC when trying to work as well.  But she did land one in Astoria, Queens which she's really happy about.  She moves next weekend, which she's not so happy about, the physical move anyway.  

And, we spoke to Joe as he was heading to the airport with Leonore for vacation in Portugal.  He's been at ground zero on the China devaluation and financial situation these past two weeks as well as trying to organize his new house to move in when he returns after Labor Day.   

Big news from Rochester, as Matthew came out on top of a competitive process with his company for an MBA leadership program through RIT.  Sounds like their household just gets busier but this is a wonderful opportunity.  Congratulations Matthew. 

Out in Dundee, Claire returned from her summer camp job for a short while before she heads back to junior year at Hope.  Daniel starts his final year in high school this week.

Gleaned from Facebook:  looks like Melodie hurt her foot and may qualify for a Berenstein Bears book entitled "Too Much Fun;" Johanna got a cute haircut; John and Marilyn had a great visit out to Colorado.

Other stuff mostly about baseball.  Drove deep into enemy territory this weekend by attending a game at Yankee Stadium, with Lew, a die-hard Yankee fan who had never been.  Worth while to have some fun as the Reds may not win another game the rest of the season with their all rookie starting rotation who look like they are AA most of the time.

On the garden front, the weeds are thriving, but we are also harvesting lots of beans and a few tomatoes and zucchini and lettuce every now then.  Incredibly enough, we found a groundhog hole right in the middle of the zucchini and potatoes.  No wonder my carrots were getting eaten.  Can I get my money back on the fence?

So, hope you all are well and enjoying the remaining days of warmth and green and sun.  Love from up here.

 

Too short

A week later and the verdict remains the same.  Wonderful.  Wonderful to see everyone, especially Donald, for the first time for many of us.  Wonderful to chat, to play games, to swim and to fish and make meals and to chat again.  Wonderful to just be close enough to everyone to walk over and share a cup of coffee.   If anything, it was too short, but as Mary says, it's better to feel that way than to feel it was too long.  We should do it again.  WE ARE!

Here are a few things I learned about our family this past weekend.  That Sean who could not make it is taking the bar exam in two states, and still has a sense of humor about it.  That Jeffrey recently had surgery to correct some stomach issues.  Now he can eat as much as he wants.  That Daniel is playing tennis, and is now the tallest Dickson, taking over from someone who held that claim for 40 plus years.  That Donald can sprint across a room on his hands and knees, that he loves cars and plastic rings.  That we can make a lot of noise, just by talking.  That we know how to plan for and prepare great meals.  That Janet takes a group of middle schoolers to NYC every year.  That Matthew and Tina are both so patient parents.  That we take our "Heads Up" games quite seriously.  That Lur is busy volunteering at a hospital.  That Melodie is game for learning how to fish.  That Oliver is a boy scout and can now clean a fish.  That we all get along so well.  

And there were some things I have known for a long time.  That David knows how to catch fish.  That Mary knows how to swim.  That Peter knows how to play the guitar.  That Andrew D. knows how to make everyone laugh. That Paula knows how to organize meals.  That I know how to eat, and eat everything in sight and to eat fast.  That Andrew S. knows how to play golf, and recruited Daniel to play a round with him.  That we all know how to post pictures on Facebook, with one possible exception (who?  you know who you are.)  

The weekend was a welcome respite for those who work, even if it was a little complicated getting to the Poconos.  Joe had this past week closed on his first house, so he was ready to relax.  Tina has long, compacted hours at her new job, so she was eager to just hang out.  Annie had just finished her first pay period at her new job, so she was ready to kick back.  Margaret had completed many weekends of Fulbright orientations, so she was primed for a few days off.  Johanna had brought some work reading with her so she could work and relax at the same time.  

Friday was Mary's birthday, and she celebrated in style.  She spent much of the day on the phone and computer with all her well wishers.  Marj and Lew met us at Tanglewood for an all Beethoven concert; and then in the birthday weekend tradition, we had a pizza cookout on Saturday and a fire in our fire pit.  Today she went to a play "Bells are Ringing" and out for dinner with her girl friends, at least they became friends when they were young girls so I can still call them girlfriends.

I am sure each of us has our own slice of memories of the weekend.  We reached a unanimous verdict to try again next year, and David was already hot off the mark and has reserved a weekend early in July, but is holding out for one later in the month, around the same time.  We'll confirm early next year.

Thank you all for taking days off and for making the long drives from all directions.  We have grown up with the Poconos so it has a special and familiar feel for all of us.

Love from up here.

AWOL

Been a while.  And there's been so much news that we need to get a letter off before the big family reunion.  The next letter will be all about the Poconos.

July 4.  Baseball for some, fireworks for others, parade for some, strawberry margaritas for some and lots of food for all, I bet.  Here, it was a soggy parade, that I helped capture on tv, as a volunteer cameraman for the local tv station.  Most of the time though was spent holding an umbrella.  Mary rode her bike down in the rain for the parade.  In the afternoon, we went over to Bob and Jody's for a picnic, and fortunately the rain had ended and even the sun had come up.  Someone there told us about the fireworks on the lake, so at dusk we went over and saw an incredible show.  I can't believe we never knew about it.  Five or six houses around the lake were competing and put on a long display.

We had a nice long visit from John and Marilyn who came up to escape the heat and to go to high school graduation for Haley, their granddaughter (Heather's daughter.)  They were back and forth between Albany and Boston area, before settling here.  We went to a play -- "Thoreau," a one man show -- and out to eat one night.  Then when we went down to Washington last weekend, they stayed and watched the kitty.....go in and out all day long.  Colleen and Pauline, along with Julie and her fiance Tommy joined us for a barbecue one night, yes, in the rain.

Yes, we went to DC, to go see another play, "The Book of Mormon," with Margaret and Andrew.  It lived up to its billings, very creative, entertaining, funny, good music, and edgy.  But a lot of fun.  We went to a barbecue at Joe and Leonore's to round out the weekend.  I took the train home, and Mary stayed in DC to catch up with her friends.

David and Paula had a few days in NYC where they saw the play "The Kind and I," which they recommend highly.  We see on Facebook pictures of Donald (with glasses) coming up on his first birthday and of Oliver the track star.  There may be a foot race or two in the Poconos.

Peter found an article about the monstrous house next door to our Cincinnati home, that burned down a few years back and that he snuck into last summer.  As we all expected, the firse looks like arson for a house that got out of hand.  And, we may have some NJ peaches in the Poconos.  Can't wait.

Annie got back from her month long train ride across America, and she used up all 18 train trips, from Chicago to San Francisco to the Grand Canyon, New Orleans and Washington DC, and lots of stops in betweeen.  She returned in time to come up here for a day and then she started her new job last Monday.  And she likes it!!   And, she had a birthday on Sunday.  Wonderful.

What else?  All star game, women's soccer, tour de france, toe surgery (you don't want to know) and bad coughs.  Rounding out the weeks.

Photos above are from Bill and Jen's boat with their house in the background.  Andrew and Lur and Daniel had gone up to Green Lake for their annual vacation, where they saw Claire who is working at a camp on the lake, and loving it.  

Some sad news; Marj's mother passed away last week.  Marj had been taking care of her at home, unwilling to put her in a nursung home, and gave her extra years, and it was an awful lot of care and work for Marj.  

We are looking forward to seeing almost the whole clan this weekend.  Love from up here.