The Calm

Need a break?  I know I do.  I thought it best to write the weekly letter, when I did not know the results of the mid-term elections.  That way, I could still dream, or pretend.  Last night I told Mary that it felt a little like Christmas, the anticipation, the waiting, the nervousness.  She scoffed and looked at me like I was sick.  That may be true, but when we watched the News Hour later, Amy Walter of the Cook Political report said, and I quote, "It feels like Christmas."  Amy may be sick too, but at least we're sick together.

So, on to the really important stuff.  Here's a poll.  Who's seen A Star is Born?  Put your hands down.  Who did a little internet research to see the old versions of the movie?  Okay, hands down.  Who bought the soundtrack and is listening to it right now?  Just me?  As you can tell, we loved it, and I've heard from a few of you that you did too.

A lot has happened since the last letter, since Erin and Sean's wedding.  Like Halloween.  Another poll.  Who buys Halloween candy, even if you know you won't get any trick-or-treaters?  Just me, again?  Hope springs eternal, or maybe I just need an excuse to buy candy.  I did get a Halloween costume this year.  They sure are complicated now, battery operated blow-up costume so that it looks like I was riding a chicken, or quite possibly an ostrich.  Anyway, from Facebook, it looked like the next generation in Rochester and in Washington and in Illinois was fully on board.  Wonderful.

We did go down to Washington recently, and are headed back that way this weekend.  We won the lottery and were able to do some babysitting while Joe and Leonor had a weekend away.  Thomas was on his best behavior: we went to a gala, we went to a park a couple of times, we played with Legos, we took naps, we read books, or at least individual pages of books.  We had a lot of fun, and the best part was that he survived, and he doesn't have enough language to tell his parents what really happened.  Joe and Leonor went to Lexington Virginia for a break from the city in the rural mountains during fall foliage.  We saw Margaret and Andrew a few times over the weekend, including for dinner at an Afghan restaurant with our Maine friends, Cliff and Sheila.  

The big news from California happened today, as Annie let us know that GE had sold her division, and it will remain intact, at least for a while.  That's good news, I think, as she can keep working as long as she wants and doesn't have to find a job right away.  

Some sad news from Dundee.  The Pomfret Ford Taurus station wagon is no more.  Claire had been driving it, but it needed a major repair, so she got a new car.  When she returned it to Dundee, Andrew took it to a mechanic who said it had rusted so much it was too dangerous to drive.  Lots of stories with that car.

We had a car story too.  An embarrassing one.  We had gone over to the other side of the state to see a museum, Fruitlands, joining Foreign Service friends at kind of a half way point from their home in New Hampshire.  On the way home, on the Mass Pike, we had a flat tire.  Fortunately, we were near one of only a handful of pull-in breakdown areas. I looked in the rear, and did not see a spare or even one of those little do-nut tires. I assumed that because it was a hybrid there was no room for a spare, as was true with our old Saturn.  (Are you bored yet?  It gets better.)   The state does not allow AAA on the Mass Pike, so we had to call the police and they sent out a registered tow truck, to tow us all the way home.  After a hefty bill for the tow, and another one for the new tire, I drove the car home and looked more closely in the rear of the car, lifted up a second tray and found a spare tire.  AAAAAGGGGHHHH.  

We see Timmy quite a bit, as he has moved back here and found an apartment.  It's nice that he offers to come over to watch kitty while we are away, and he has even made us dinner.  We went out to brunch for his birthday (November 2) and can recommend Otto's, a new (for us) restaurant on Park Square.

One more poll:  Anyone watch the World Series?  Anyone watch the Packers-Patriots?  Anyone sick of Boston winning all the time?  Not me.

So, happy November, happy end of daylight savings, and love to you all.  

 

Hooray for Erin and Sean

They've been married a week.  And what a wonderful wedding it was.  Something happens up at the altar, that makes a relationship of love different.  I'm not sure what it was, for me, but perhaps it was the making a commitment in front of friends and family. We are happy you found each other.

I think there are probably better people to do a re-cap of the wedding, but I think we all have our own slices of what we experienced, and taken all together, they add up to a pretty full picture of the entire affair.

First of all, on the fun-meter, it looked like the score was off the charts.  It was just plain fun, from the pajama-wearing bridal party getting their hair done, to the extended breakfasts talking about pretty much nothing and everything, to the crazy dancing on the terrace. Okay, there was that one brief moment when Janet was trying to track down Peter, who was at Target with David, but that's just one of the stories that make weddings, well, weddings.  At one point I heard Sean say he didn't like being the center of attention.  But he did a great job, and his sense of humor added to the overall fun of the event.

Second, on the thanks-meter, we add our voices to the many thanks to the couple for putting everything together.  I also heard Sean say that it was Erin who did much of it, even though she was quick to point out all he did do to help out.  We loved the photos on the tables of the two of them growing up, and the cakes that Erin made herself, and the tables that they put out themselves.  Thank you.

Third, it also scored high on the memory-meter.  For those of us of a certain age, who watched Sean grow up, and who just met Erin, it was really great to hear the stories from your friends. We are far away, and don't see you but once or twice a year, but these stories help us know you better. For being unscripted, Johanna's story also filled in a little background to how they, and their cousins, "played" with pets.

And of course, you hit the ball out of the park on the family meter.  It was nice to catch up with Janet's family who we had seen only occasionally over the years, some of whom we had a hard time recognizing, or was it the other way around?  It was really special to have another chance besides the Poconos to see everyone.  Mary did remark on the importance of the Poconos since we all just fell in with each other quickly.  And, you were so kind in your ceremony to mention those who could not be there to share in your joy.

It took us a few hours to get home, after dropping Annie off at the airport (and going to a small restaurant we recommend - Pop's Bagels.)  We jumped back into our routines, mowed the lawn one more time, watched the evening news, and then we got a text from Andrew and Lur that they had made it home.  That's a long drive.

Annie headed back to work but not for long  By week's end, she was on her way to Argentina and Uruguay for a short vacation.  Margaret and Andrew enjoyed Columbus Day, or as it is now known in Pittsfield schools - Indigenous Peoples Day - by going to see A Start is Born.  We went on their recommendation, and pass along the five stars to all of you, if you have not seen it yet. Leonor, Joe and Thomas spent the day in the park.

We close with a few pictures.  I know there were plenty of photos taken of both the wedding and the surrounding events, but here is at least one you may not have seen.

Love from up here.

Rain

I think I know how climate change will affect this part of the world.  Rain, and more rain.  The water over the dam at the lake is as loud as I can ever remember.  Our yard is swampy, and we even have had a little pond near our driveway.  The grass is green, and all the trees are healthy.  And we're still getting cucumbers.  

Anyway, I wanted to get a letter in before the big weekend, before Sean and Erin's big weekend.  Or is it Erin and Sean?  Then, we'll have enough material for another letter next week.  Looking forward to the big day, to seeing everyone again and to joining in Erin and Sean's happiness.  

This will be our third straight weekend of travel.  Two weeks ago we headed to Washington DC with Pittsfield friends, one of whom had never been there.  We arm-twisted Margaret, Joseph and Jeffrey into giving us tours of their respective government buildings.  I know they get used to it, but, seen with fresh eyes, they work in spectacular buildings, rich in history and, yes, even aesthetically pleasing.  I can only imagine what a foreigner must feel entering any of these buildings for meetings.  Thanks to each of them for their tours.  

We stayed downtown after joining a "consular club" that would admit us; they have a small guest quarters with reasonably good rates.  We spent another day doing Smithsonian stuff and eating food that was too good and too costly.  Fortunately, Andrew and Margaret invited us over for dinner one night, so we were able to eat more healthy and save a little cash at the same time.  Thank you. 

Did I mention Thomas?  Yes, we saw him, as Mary managed to "bump" into Leonor and Thomas as they were coming out of day care downtown.  He's more and more a boy, not a baby.  

This past weekend, we blew even more dough by going to New York City for the wedding of a college classmate, who was getting married for the first time.  These bankers know how to throw a party; I felt a little like Eddie Murphy in "Trading Places" as I entered their club for drinks.  Anyway, it was fun getting together with about a dozen classmates, most of whom were members of the soccer team.  And best of all, Mary seeemd to be enjoying herself.

David and Paula have also had busy weeks.  David attended the New York State Fair, where he ran a Shaker oval box woodworking demonstration for a few days.  His civic project, of building affordable housing units for seniors in Fairport, has also taken up a lot of his time.  They are still unpacking from their move, and find themselves in need of more bookcases.  Paula has helped out with some babysitting duties for Everett, who David says is the calmest, happiest baby in the world.  

Andrew reports that he has played his first round of golf in years, and did pretty well.  Good news, on both counts.  Daniel has been coming home on off days.  

One good piece of news as we approach this weekend's wedding is that I may be able to hear people.  Yes, I broke down and got hearing aids.  Very fashionable ones too.  Thank you to John Boyle for a tip that saved me roughly $1300 in the purchase.  They're pretty incredible pieces of technology, and I'll be happy to bore anyone with all the details if the conversation slows.

It's getting cold around here; we've had the heat on a few nights.  I've been chopping wood for our winter fires, and we're easing into other end of summer chores, but not too quickly, holding out hope for some return to warm.  The good news about the change of seasons is mowing the lawn may be coming to an end, sometime soon.

Happy birthday to Johanna!  and to Paula!  and to Auden!  

I close with a picture from Provincetown, on my first time ever to the Cape, to watch Mary swim across the bay.  We went out for a bike ride the day before along the national seashore, a quiet counterpart to the fun in the center of town.

Love from up here.  See you all this weekend!  

Dundee News

Our last few weeks have been about young people, ages 2 to 35. 

Over Labor Day weekend, we had the pleasure of three nights with Miles, Auden and Elliot. Brought back many memories of now older children, and Pop (Andrew's name) snuck a lot of kid food. MMMMMM! Plus, I now am an educated fan of Sponge Bob. All told, thank goodness for Lur, who took care of the hard stuff.

We had the kids because Bill and Jen went to Pennsylvania to attend to their new member of their family, an RV bus. We hope it provides them with many memories, but for now a work in progress. 

Daniel is now a working man, spending two days a week (an apprenticeship) at a high end men's salon in downtown Chicago. One of the salon's recent customers was a prominent Chicago newscaster. He is excited about his new job, and is expecting to do Barber school soon. Unfortunately, his roommates, who are college gymnasts, learned their program was being cut. Hopefully, the school will reconsider. 

Last weekend, we went up to Michigan to take some stuff up to Claire and check things out. She, and roommate friend, are renting an old house in Pentwater, next to Lake Michigan. Beautiful little resort town and a outstanding beach. Claire will commute to another little town to teach music in a little school. We visited the school, and saw the music room. Claire is it. Grade school to high school, she is Miss Dickson, the music program. We are pulling for her. 

We also had the experience of buying a car. Considering the location, Subaru won hands down. Don't tell Claire, but we plan on visiting a lot, but maybe not in winter. We stayed in a little motel a block from the water in Ludington. Nice little city with a ferry destination. 

Unfortunately, Bill and Jen experienced recently what everybody else has gone through. A flooded basement. It stinks, but they will get through it. We have had water in our basement recently, and diapers do a great job. Another great Lur idea. It is tough though lugging a bag of water-soaked diapers. Very heavy.

Some recent highlights: Another legendary Packer comeback, Willie's unfortunate conversation with a skunk, ribs on the grill, going through old files, getting the kids to let go of a lot of stuff to Goodwill, and starting to wear sweaters. Now the annual search for car snow scrapers.

I decided to not go through a letter without our new word which I have not heard before: lodestar. I guess I don't get out often.

 

September already, Ireland

Where did the summer go?  It's still here, as far as the heat and the thunderstorms and green leaves and grass cutting go. I'd consider ourselves lucky since normally the temps have already moved lower.  The days are certainly shorter, and a few of trees are starting to turn.  

All this by way of saying we here seem to have finally caught our breaths after a long stretch of summer activity going back to the Poconos.  We dropped off at the airport a Peace Corps friend on Monday and then have settled back into our routines, just the two of us.

We had a magical trip to Ireland.  There's no other way of describing it, and I think I'm not the first.  I can sum it up in three words: family, churches and pubs.  The magic part had to do with the Boyle family we encountered.  Our purpose for going was to attend a reunion of Boyles who came from Strabane on the border in Northern Ireland.  We found out that their town was kind of a ground zero for The Troubles, which confirms why Mary's father was even born here.  His parents came to escape capture.  Anyway, we all met up across the border in a town called Stranolar, that took me about a week to pronounce.  Right away, we connected.  We saw Boyles from Pittsfield even who we never see here.  There were Boyles from Australia and of course people from close by.  Lots of long talks, a little singing, and as always good food and did I mention Guiness?  

We then headed over to County Mayo and a town called Castlebar, (pronounced cas-el-bear, if you ever need to talk like an Irishman, or woman).  Mary was on the search for the home of family on her grandmother's side in a village which I can still barely mouth, Cloncundra.  (I finally figured out how to remember places like this - I took pictures of maps and road signs.)  The magic part of the trip came from Mary writing a letter to "the family of James and Ella Walsh" with an address that she found from her mother's address book, and a postal code that Joe googled.  Well, the day before leaving, she got an email from the niece of James and Ell who gave us her contact points and we arranged to meet.  Her niece, Ann, told us when we met, that the postal code was wrong but since one of her family worked in the post office, whoever was sorting gave the envelope to him, and the letter made its way to this, perhaps the smallest hamlet in Ireland.  I exaggerate of course, but you will never see its name on a map.  I did see a road sign.  

Well we found her grandmother's house, and spent a day touring around the area with Ann, packing in a church and a basilica (where the Pope had gone two days earlier), a pub (actually two, one of which where we celebrated Ann's birthday) , a museum, tea and scones, and a shop or two.  

From there, we headed on our own down a very sad road cutting over to Connemora, sad because it was completely desolate and because we learned of the fate of 600 people who walked a great distance to escape famine but whose plight was ignored when they reached the next town.  A memorial marker with a quote from a visitor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, told the story.

On our last night, in Galway, we were walking back to our B&B when another touring couple, lost, probably from Italy, approached us and asked how to get to the center of the town.  We told them, and then they asked if there were any pubs there.  "PUBS? How many do you want?" was our answer.  Blocks and blocks of pubs.  How do you choose.  Fun.

When we got home, we had a mini Peace Corps reunion of sorts, and I finally got to cut the grass.

And we were able to keep up a little with all your happenings.  Wonderful photos of Everett on Facebook.  He's home and already more awake and alert, from the photos, it looks like.  Daniel finished his year of school and has a job at a high end men's salon with people who pay tons of money for what Pop paid $2.50 for in Putnam.  But then again, I bet they've never had a tripleheader - haircut, trip to the dump and Spag's.  Claire has started her job where she's the sole music teacher in a K-12 school in Michigan.  Sounds challenging; she's trying to raise money for instruments - read about it on her Facebook site.  Andrew and Lur took their grandchildren over Labor Day when Bill and Jen went to Pennsylvania to work on their new project - the mobile home/bus.

We also saw a lot of photos from Portugal where Leonor, and Thomas, were able to spend a couple of weeks with her family and friends.  Annie spent Labor Day with China friends in San Francisco and Margaret was getting ready for a short trip to Mexico.    

John and Marilyn were also traveling, on a cruise along the Rhine, which sounded very nice were it not for the fact that they may have had a series of mishaps on their flight over that caused them to be delayed for 9 hours, or was it even more?  

Sean and Erin are closing in on their big day, and we're looking forward to that, and to seeing all of you again.

Love from up here.  The photo below is of the Mary and Ann checking out the Walsh family house, the grandmother's stone house in the background and James and Ella Walsh in front. Mary visited here in 1973. 

 

Welcome Everett

A happy day it was when we learned of Everett Lee's arrival. And that the birth went so smoothly, perhaps even too smoothly, as I understand Tina wasn't in the hospital long before he took his first cry of air! We spoke with the excited grandparents who tell us that Everett's name comes from a dear family friend. Special. Already looking forward to the Poconos next year, and if we're lucky, maybe even before then to see Everett. And, of course Donald has a little brother and Oliver another little brother.

I have been waiting to write this as my computer is out of commission for the moment, but I couldn't wait any longer or it will be October. So I'm writing on an iPad. Does it make a difference? We'll see.

We've been happily and summer-ly busy since the Poconos, first with a visit from Annie who helped celebrate Mary's birthday and joined us for an evening at Tanglewood. My college roommate Steve was here with his wife for more Berkshire cultural things including Thursday morning French conversations at Edith Wharton's museum home.

Then we went up to Vermont where our car broke down about an hour away from our destination. What could have been a disaster turned out much better than expected as a series of fortuitous incidents and very nice people helped us get it towed and repaired at a much lower than expected price. Anyway, we enjoyed being with Charlie and Annie at their lake cabin.

And then, Thomas arrived. So did his parents. Joe and Leonor were here for almost a week and we had a grand grandparent time with toys and books and strolls and hugs. We managed to take Thomas to a Moby Dick marathon reading, that both his parents and grandmother read at. I should add that Thomas did not last 26 hours through the marathon reading but a respectable 30 mins or so. Margaret and Andrew arrived too late for that but they joined us the next day for a hike up Monument Mountain where Melville met Hawthorne! 168 years ago.

Not everything revolves around Melville, though, and we have gone to a movie (Eighth Grade), a play (West Side Story), a baseball game, King Kone, more hikes and swims and canoe rides, and golf games. It's been raining quite a bit but that hasn't dampened our ability to rest and relax. Margaret and Andrew took a few days off and went to the Rhode Island beaches, and stopped at Pomfret and the Vanilla Bean on the way back here. We got to watch D while they were gone!

Mary's brother Tim has moved back to Pittsfield with the aim of staying here in the glorious warm weather months and then head back to warmer climes at the first hint of snow. He's found an apartment in town, and we have seen quite a bit of him. We even ran into him at the hot dog ranch one night.

We see that Janet, and I think Peter, were in Atlanta for her annual conference on audio description. Out in Dundee, Claire is back home from her summer camp job, armed with a big bag of juicy peaches. She starts her new job soon, and we hear Daniel has his first job at a high end men's salon.

The other day, we were outside a coffee shop, on our way to Northampton for the day, and Mary said out of nowhere, "this is summer!" That captured how sunny, warm, carefree, content, green, everything was. Hope you are having a little, or a lot of that.

And welcome again to Everett! Did you hear someone say "Fantastic?"

Love from up here.