Housing bubble

The economists are telling us that the housing market is back. And judging from the behavior of those reading this newsletter, we are proof!  Joe and Leonor, David and Paula, Margaret and Andrew, John and Marilyn.

And now Jeffrey and Melodie!  Great news.  Why do we put ourselves through such ordeals?  Stress and chaos, mess and dirt, work and exhaustion.  But then joy and pride, accomplishment and fun, new and hope. Figuring out a new neighborhood and where the spatula goes.  You can even paint a wall purple. It's yours ( and the bank's).  Makes it all worthwhile.  

We especially loved the photos and postings on Facebook especially Melodie's advice to clean up and clean out every few months. Or years?  Mary took that to heart as she is about to tackle kitchen cupboards. New year's resolution?  

I broke mine in the first waking hour of 2017. That broken vow came in the form of a cellophane wrapped muffin. So much for healthy eating. I have lost six pounds though since then. 

We spent New Year's Eve at Jay and Molly Unger's Ashokan fiddle retreat. We sand and danced part of the night away, contra dance, zydeco, Texas two-step. It might have even been more fun if we knew how to do any of those dances.  Good music though. 

The new year also brought birthdays for Jeffrey and Margaret. And new jobs for Johanna and Sean. Congratulations to all!  

And it brought protests. Mary and I participated in one here in Pittsfield on the 76th anniversary of FDR's Four Freedoms speech. The organizers thought they'd get 300 but we're hoping for 500. When 2000 showed up, we were worried!  Could everyone fit in the church?  The answer was no but even though it was bitter cold, people were ok, just happy to do something. Good speeches by Senator Markey and 11 others, including FDR's grandson. And Mary and I were in the local paper, which described our help with making signs.  Not sure if we can count that towards our 15 minutes of fame. No one seems to notice when I go grocery shopping yet.  

And more protests to come. This week we're heading to Washington for the Million Women March.  We know quite a few people from here heading down as well.  And I guess there are others around the country as well; Janet and Johanna are going to one in Trenton. 

One of our resolutions was to try to be more spontaneous in our retirement. So, when Annie called and said she was going to be in Schenectedy for the week, we drove over for dinner to see her. You'd be surprised to learn that I ate too much at the Mexican restaurant we chose. 

On a less happy note, out in Dundee, Andrew is suffering through some back issues and pain. He was going to have an MRI this week.  Hope it doesn't mean surgery as he's already had three but more important we hope he gets better soon.  

Our in-boxes this week carried news from David of the Poconos weekend set for July 19-23. There's hope for you!  

So with all that, happy new year and love from up here. 

Farewell 2016

What to say to 2016 other than farewell?  Actually, you don't say anything to a year.  Years can't hear.  So, with that in mind, we'll take the opportunity to wish for a wonderful 2017.

And hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Mary did her best in getting us into the Christmas spirit, and she succeeded: decorating the tree (and the house), making cookies, putting on John Denver and the Muppets music, going to carol services at church, taking us over to the Red Lion Inn to sit by the fire and the tree and listen to the harp, where we saw the carolers that Grandma used to have on the cupboard in the dining room.  I suspect there was a fair amount of all that going on in each of your houses.

The big wreath on the garage, the candles in the windows and even a decorated tree can be seen from Route 7, if you look hard enough.  There was a Norman Rockwell puzzle on the coffee table, and we even had snow on the ground to complete the mood.  

Annie and Joe were here.  Where were you?  Margaret and Andrew stayed in Washington, for work reasons, and Margaret was even interviewed on WAMC about people who stay behind.  Leonor was in Portugal with her family.  We know Jeff and Melodie were in Washington since they spent Christmas Eve with Margaret and Andrew checking out the decorated trees near the White House.  John and Marilyn went on a cruise, and Timmy was in southern California.  David and Paula enjoyed their first Christmas in their town home, with Paula's family and Matthew and Tina (and Donald and Oliver) coming over for dinner Christmas Eve.  We saw Peter and Janet's tree all decorated on Facebook, and I bet they had eggs benedict for breakfast.  Out in Dundee, Andrew and Lur hosted a big meal for the whole Knaack gang, including Bill and Jen and excited children.

Joe had to head back the day after Christmas, along with 300 million other travelers on Rte 95 between New York and Washington.  He did get to take a day off on his birthday, but I'm sure he prefers the birthday celebrations in Pomfret with everyone.  Annie decided to work out of Boston for the week, so we'll see her as she swings back through following New Year's Eve in Maine.

We went to a couple of movies, and actually we saw a few more at home.  Actually, we did the one with "actually" in the title.  But we also hit different ends of the spectrum, with Manchester by the Sea and Rogue One.  Guess which one Mary liked?  

We also attended an organizing meeting for a big "Four Freedoms March" that will be held in Pittsfield next Saturday.  That will get us all geared up for the trip to Washington later in January to say thank you to Obama and attend the million women's march.   

Finally, we stopped stepping on the scale until the second week of January, after we had a chance to fast and clean out our systems a little.  

That part is just the first of our New Year's Resolutions.  We have to think up some more.  Got any good ones?  

So, happy New Year's Eve and Day and happy all year long.

Love from up here.

It's dark outside

I just got back from a walk up along the lake that I began a little after 4pm.  By the time I got home it was night time.  Fortunately, our Christmas wreath is up on the side of the garage and can be seen from the other side of the lake!

 

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  What a great holiday.  It's unique.  I was always struck how other countries are beginning to celebrate Halloween but no one tries out Thanksgiving.  The Canadians have a low-key version that they mark on the same weekend that we celebrate Columbus Day (and Janet's birthday), but that's as close as it gets.  I think the world would be a better place if everyone gave thanks, even for just one day.

 

Our Thanksgiving week started with a 36-hour snow storm that left about a foot of snow here.  It was a snow day for Mary and that meant snowshoeing, hot chocolate and fires in the fireplace.  And only four more months of snow!  Ugh.

 

Wednesday morning, though, the roads were clear and there was little trace of the white stuff south of here.  We made it to DC with little problems, and first stop was Margaret's where we met the new kitties.  Very cute.  Now I know why some people end up having 20 cats: they want another kitten. 

 

We stayed with Joe and Leonor and prepared our contributions for the big dinner there.  Annie flew in from Cleveland and Andrew's parents joined us for the dinner.  Andrew and Margaret did a great job with the main courses, and their new house was plenty big enough for all of us. 

 

We saw on Facebook photos of a big gathering with several tables in New Jersey that Peter and Janet, Sean and Johanna went to.  David tells us that their experience of ordering out the turkey meal last year when Matthew was in the hospital convinced them to try that again this year.  Jeffrey and Melodie drove up to join them for the weekend.

 

Andrew also had a big crowd of Lur's family at their house.  Claire came home for the weekend, and reconnected with a high school friend to play oboe and violin at the Thanksgiving church service.  Andrew sounded like he was ready to cater the entire eventt next year, if not order out pizza.  Has anyone ever had turkey on their pizza?

 

So, we made it through Black Friday, small business Saturday, cyber Monday and giving Tuesday, and we even have a few dollars left in the bank. I'm trying to come up with other days and possibly make a million:  how about Barter Wednesday?  or Fasting Thursday?  Or send your money to 5 Hancock Road Sunday?  

 

The rest of the week up here has been pretty uneventful - new snow tires, a good movie (Moonlight) and an adult visit to Mass Moca, Mary's swim team party and some more garden work, now that the snow has melted.  

 

While our week was a little dull, Joe went to Hong Kong and China, Margaret was sworn in at the State Department (with my old boss who talked about serving institutions and laws, not individual people) and Annie moved to her more permanent quarters in Cleveland.

 

What's new with everyone else?  Anyone sleeping through the night yet?  I still wake up arguing with our new President.

 

Other than that, life goes on, and we are settling in for the winter.  Hope you all are well.

 

Love from up here.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving week.   Family and friends.  Preparing for the winter hibernation by eating way too much.  And talk at the dinner table.  I wonder what conversations will be about around turkey dinners this year?  Time to break out Saturday Night Live's sketch of Adele last year.

We are heading down to DC hoping for an early jump on the craziness of the roads.  Our system is an early start beats all traffic.  It worked last week when I went down for a night for an award ceremony for a former colleague from Mexico.  Worked in the wrong way.  I got a late start and Rte 95 was shut down north of Baltimore.  Closed.  Fortunately, GPS found a way around and when I returned to the road I saw tons of flashing lights and hazmat trucks.  If I hadn't stopped for coffee and cinnabon, what might have happened?  (Fact check - I didn't stop.)

Anyway, lots has happened since our last letter.  Johanna made the Associated Press with her stance on the safety pin following the election (photo from Facebook).  Joe traveled to Switzerland for an international banking meeting.  And, we did win one election!  Our campaign to collect a small surcharge in our property taxes to help preserve historic buildings and improve city parks.  

Margaret and Annie flew to Pittsfield and spent the Veteran's Day weekend with us, helping the economy and hiking and laughing and commiserating.  Marj and Lew came up for one night while they were here and we enjoyed a chili dinner, that the Locherys also came by to join in the fun.

This followed a quick trip we took to CT, RI and Boston the previous weekend.  We stopped in to see Mary and Patrick in Stonington/Pawcatuck where Patrick is helping to manage a brewery.  He's doing a fair amount of different jobs, including acting as creative director.  We sampled one beer he named Jan-cember fest, a play on Octoberfest beers but this one lasts the whole year, from January to December.  He helped design the label.  And it tastes good!. 

We headed to Marj and Lew's for the night where the highlight was watching a Sasha Cohen which was, can you believe it, rude.  We then ventured north of Boston for an extended lunch with the sister of a Peace Corps friend who had died in 1980.  Pretty emotional.  We tagged all those activities on to what was really a visit to Mass General to see if Mary had picked up any tropical disease.  Happily, she hadn't.

We touched base with brothers following the election.  All are well with varying degrees of opinion and forecasts.  On the way down to DC, I had an early lunch, late brunch with Peter, who mentioned that Johanna had spent the weekend with them and Sean was enjoying his new job.  As we saw on Facebook, Sean has a new interest in his life!

I stayed with Margaret and Andrew in their new house which is shaping up wonderfully.  I dropped off a few things over at Joe and Leonor's, and had a chance to chat with Leonor for a little - Joe was still in Switzerland.  They got their wedding pictures which turned out really great.  If you want to check them out, they are now available on ​t​he photographer's website, - go to the ​WEDDING ​tab and choose photo galleries ​L&J​ ​using the password: L&J 24SET16.

And, we found out this weekend why Andrew and Margaret moved to a bigger place. They needed room to house two new kitties. Kimchi and Taquito. Not sure if the spelling is right. My history projects are winding down.  The editor has my final version of my photo book on Berkshire County mills.  My last tour at Shaker Village was last week, and presumably I have one more tour at Arrowhead tomorrow.  With the campaign over, that means I have time on my hands.  Any ideas?

Mary is enjoying her tutoring job this year, and her big news was finding out the freestyle relay team she raced with this year turned in the eighth best time in the world.  Yes, you read that right.  In the world.

And, since I can't top that highlight, let's close this letter out.

Hope you are all well and have a memorably wonderful Thanksgiving.   Love from over here.

Look out Cleveland

And three photos for this posting! One with Annie making a funny face.

That's because of road trips, one to drive out to Cleveland with Annie
in her new car and the other that saw Lur going to Hope College to see
a Bill Monroe Tribute concert. And who's playing the mandolin?
Claire. Who knew? We knew about the oboe, but where did the mandolin
come from? Girl's got talent.

The great thing about the trip to Cleveland is Fairport is on the way!
So Annie and I stopped on our way out for a too-short look-see at
David and Paula's new house. And I can attest that it's everything
we've heard. Beautiful, wonderful, unique home in a great
neighborhood. They're in the long process of unpacking and sorting
out, but it looks great. Every room is an adventure!

Actually there were other great things about the trip. Annie started
her first day on the job a short sleep after arriving and later she
showed me around the campus of GE Lighting. Campus? Yes, it looks
like a university. Built in the early 1900s, old brick buildings,
gardens and trees and pond and fountain. That's the way they used to
do it.

They actually have classrooms though. There's an institute where
people come to learn how to light art, how to light retail, how to
light stadiums. Who knew?

So we checked out Annie's temp housing and also her long-term home. Very nice.

And, it was great to be there during the World Series. The "Go Tribe"
signs are everywhere as are hats and shirts. Here's what one couple
decked out in their gear told me in the elevator: if we have to lose,
I'm glad it will be to the Cubs. I think people from Ohio may meet the
Canadian level of niceness.

I haven't even gotten to the other great thing. The Lakeshore Limited,
which I boarded at 5:30 am for the trip to Pittsfield. And guess who
boarded in Rochester? See the photo. How cool is that?

We got together on the train but they had the sleeper booth and we're
heading to NYC. Fun

Other great things? We went to DC for a weekend and stayed with Joe.
Leonor had just finished two weeks of work travel and Joe two weeks at
his new job. We got to see Margaret and Andrew's new house and
neighborhood Very nice. Still unpacking, but they made a great
choice. And, Margaret just got back from a week-long trip to
Nicaragua and Honduras - she might be the first Dickson to go to
Nicaragua.

And great to see all the wonderful shots on Facebook of Halloween,
SCARY. David and Paula said they had about 200 people to their house.
We got shut out again.

So, hope all is well. Home again. And, feliz Dia de los Muertos.

Love from up here.

Peak season

When do you know if it's peak season?  Is there one day that the foliage is absolutely at its peak?  Impossible.  One hill looks as if it's past peak with nothing but bare limbs.  The hill right across the valley still has a lot of green.  It's all a motel conspiracy anyway, to convince people to leave the warmth of their homes and seek out the best view.

Which is exactly what we did the past two days.  And last weekend.  And every day in between it seems.  A little bit of driving, and a little bit of walking.  And, of course a lot of photos, that don't really capture the sense, even when some are complaining that we didn't have enough rain for the full color.

Anyway, that's a long lead in to say that while summer's over, the move to fall and the colors and the gorgeous days like today make it not so hard to miss, even though we know what's around the corner.  

So, let's see your favorite tree or hillside of the fall: send an e-mail to popsweeklyletter.bubba@blogger.com

Two weeks ago, we just arrived home from Portugal and we're still living off of the memories.  But, life moves on and back to work and projects.

Joe and Leonor came back to the World Bank meetings which meant work, work, work.  He has started his new job, and Lenor hit the road for two weeks of travel to 6-7 cities in the U.S. and Canada.  Margaret and Andrew have spent their first week in their house, with adjustments for the commute and the dog.  We heard that they are in no rush to unpack, as Andrew said they have 30 years to unpack.  We talked to Annie and she is in her final weeks in Boston, and will do a little car shopping this weekend for her trip to Cleveland over Halloween weekend.

David and Paula have unpacked enough boxes for the time being, and they might not have 30 years to unpack.  But they are comfortable, and it seems every call I get from David is from his porch with a lemonade in his hand.  He also found another house for sale that will bring back memories: 9655 Cunningham Rd.  Any buyers?? It looks very different (except the kitchen, ha ha.)  I think I saw my bedroom #22, the hallway/closet and recognized David and Peter's bedrooms but not much else.

John and Marilyn had an unscheduled adventure in Georgia, as they evacuated before Hurricane Matthew (no relation to our Matthew)  They were gone just a couple of nights and they returned to a house untouched.

It's been birthday October, and so far we have seen Johanna celebrating hers in Paris, and Janet spent hers touring the Clinton headquarters in New Jersey.  Sounds like a different way to spend your birthday, but worthwhile, given this year's unprecedented edition.  If I remember correctly, Auden also had her third birthday.  More birthdays on their way, with Claire, Bill and Kathleen.

We're still plugging away on our election referendum and the first draft of my images book is due this week.  That means the end is in sight.  I need a few more projects after that.  Any ideas?  

That's all from up here.  Stay healthy, Love

Portugal

By now, you have seen so many photos of Portugal on Facebook, it is hard to find one that has not seen the light of day.  But, here it is.  This is of the newly-blessed-wedding couple at the reception overlooking the Rio Tajo on its way to the Atlantic Ocean.  

Many memories.  Wonderful, happy, special.  

A few things stick out.

First was the generosity and hospitable-ness of Leonor's family.  They really rolled out the red carpet for us.  

Second, was the beauty of the country. Lots of history, and I mean 5-6 centuries old buildings and streets and alleys.

Third, was the weather.  We couldn't believe it but one day towards the end of the trip, the sky was overcast for a few hours.  Other than that, blue skies, sunny and dry during the day, with a slight chill at night.

Fourth were the grapes.  If the weather described above sounds ideal for grapes, that's because it is.  We drove the wine valley, and along sides its mountains, which made for spectacular views, but some white knuckle driving and riding.  We even sampled some of the wine and port.

Fifth, (and there were many more) was being together and sharing this time with Joe and Leonor.  

We know some of you were unable to make it, but we also know that because of number one above, there will be other opportunities to visit and get to know the trans-Atlantic side of our family.

We arrived home, turned on the heat, and slept for almost 12 hours.  Unpacking, doing laundry, and sorting through photos will keep the memories alive for a lot longer.

Congratulations Leonor and Joe.  Love from up here