Questions

Who drives to the beach during a hurricane?  We did.  The remnants of a tropical storm, anyway.  For a while, it looked like a mistake that we would regret.  Mary had a follow-up appointment in Boston, and we decided to go the night before and ended up in Gloucester, where our friend Cliff's family has a beach house.  We probably should have waited and just gotten up early the next morning, but it was fine when we headed out.  Not so fine as we were driving, though.  We made it, obviously, and lived to tell the story of no visiblility, driving rain, passing trucks.  I kept saying better than snow.  Or was it?

Who knew of Gloucester?  I vaguely knew the name, but had no idea of its importance to early America and the fishing industry.  I was so ignorant that I actually bought lobster salad in Great Barrington to take to Gloucester.  Anyway, the storm made the for beautiful skies and weather the next couple of days.  So nice, in fact, that our plan to drive to Maine was canceled and we just stayed put and enjoyed three nights at the beach.  Almost like a vacation, unexpected, and who needs a vacation when you're retired.

What's a derecho? I knew that word in Mexico when I asked people which direction to go, and if I needed to go straight ahead, they would say, "derecho."  When used with weather, it means a storm that is so fierce that the rain comes straight at you, almost horizontal.  You may ask, why bring up this weather sidebar in the weekly letter?  Well, good question.  But Andrew and Lur experienced a derecho that went through the Midwest and left a lot of people without power.  Not Andrew and Lur, but her parents.  And, Andrew did a little reenacting of his favorite childhood job – pick up sticks.

What's up in our family? We've seen Annie and Sankar a couple of times.  It's hard to believe they're into their second month here already.  We have our reading times with Thomas in Brazil, and things in that country may be even more chaotic than here.  School and day care is opening, then it's shut down.  It looks like Leonor and the two boys are going to head to Portugal for a while, to spend time with her parents where it's a little safer, more reliable and more open.  And, we're making plans for a return visit by Margaret and Andrew and Simon up here before the end of the month.

Here's a question.  Which Dickson made the television news since our last letter?  Young Donald, practicing on the piano.  Move over Elton John.  (Please don't say, who's he.)

Another question.  What have you been doing with your extra time during coronavirus?  I know that Claire hasn't been lying on the couch, popping chocolates and watching reruns of Friends.  She started her own small business, Northern Knots, with her hobby, macramé.  You may have seen some of her work on Facebook, and she has her own site on Etsy, where you can buy her products (click here: Northern Knots Studio.)  And, news has reached this reporter that Claire has items for sale in a store in Grand Haven.  Look out Worlds of Wonder, here comes Claire.  (Worlds of Wonder, for all but four of us, was the name Grandma gave to her little crafts shop she started with a few friends in Wilton.  That later became the antique business in Pomfret.)

Other than that, we're staying busy, and still have time for naps most days.  Mary's back swimming, in lakes, I'm doing tours (with masks) at Arrowhead.  One highlight of the past week was an unknown car driving in the yard while we were sitting by our fire pit.  It turns out it was a high school student Mary tutored a few years back, a young Ghanaian who came by to say hi.  Just to check in with his former teacher.  Makes it all worthwhile.

And one final question: what's up with your family?

That's it from up here, stay safe and healthy, love.

Birthday central

Last year in the Poconos, we had a birthday party for Donald, Thomas, Everett and Mary, all in one. This year, we'll have to make do with a Happy Birthday shout-out to those four.  We did have a couple of birthday zoom parties, something that last year I would never have dreamed of.  Zoom that is.

And, we actually had an in-person party here, or should I admit that Mary actually had three parties on her birthday?  She may have even outdone Thomas who had one in-person party and two zoom parties. 

Timmy joined Annie and Sankar for an evening celebration of lobster rolls and cake and homemade ice cream (finally getting down a serviceable product) for Mary's in-person party.  Mary reminded Timmy that she used to go on the Sheila boat around Pontoosuc Lake with her friends for her birthdays.  Timmy didn't seem to remember any parties that he had, and then the aha moment hit everyone that perhaps the only girl just might have gotten a little special treatment.  In that vein, trying to remember any birthday parties I might have had.

We saw on Facebook a few parties in upstate New York for Donald and the construction of a playground in Matthew and Tina's backyard.  Looks like fun.  And hard work, with Oliver making the adjustments from on high.

Thomas had a party with friends on the Sunday before his actual birthday, and then "Tias" joined us for a zoom call with a candle blowing and unwrapping presents on his birthday.  Superheroes, construction pajamas and air guitars are what qualify for presents for three-year-olds. 

Changes and disruptions like long-distance birthdays are the easy ones under this pandemic. The Brazil clan learned that their pre-school will remain closed for the foreseeable future and Margaret and Andrew dealt with putting Simon in as safe a day care facility as possible while they both have returned to work.  Watching their turmoil over these decisions drives home the widespread impact of this pandemic. Saying it is historic and will be remembered for many years doesn't help the here-and-now disruptions. Just thankful that we as an extended clan continue to be healthy.  Knock on wood, or on the screen.

We hear Sean and Erin are finishing up their year in Texas and looking to head back east with big decisions on where to settle eventually.  Johanna nicely sent along a book on Hitler and Stalin to add to my stack on my bedside table, near my reading chair, in my office.  I think they're taking over, like a Covid invasion.  Johanna remains holed up in NYC, but says the publishing business is flourishing in this divisive climate - people buying books to try to make sense of what the heck is going on, or people buying books cause they're in lockdown and have run out of tv shows to binge. 

Out in Dundee, Billy and his clan ventured out for a visit to their grandparents, bringing some smiles to relieve the lengthy care that Lur is offering for her parents.  Claire, like many teachers, is awaiting decisions on how her school will reopen, with not a little trepidation.

A couple of leftover items from last time.  Margaret told us that Melodie and Jeffrey had come over for a socially distanced introduction to Simon. And, we here in Pittsfield have joined the ranks of the unplugged, cable that is. So far so good.  I remember a long time ago visiting Jeffrey and Melodie in their apartment on Capitol Hill and saw they had no cable TV and wondered how it could be done.  Especially now with no sports, it's pretty easy. When there's a live news event we want to watch, like yesterday's John Lewis funeral, we tuned in on the radio.  By the way, Mary reminds me I have already spent the savings from dropping cable for the next several years.

That's about it from up here.  Can't believe it's August already.  Enjoy the summer while we have it.  Love from up here

Where are you?

In any normal year, for the past five years or so, we'd be planning and shopping and texting and organizing and packing and making all the last minute arrangements for a departure to Pennsylvania, tomorrow, Thursday, the third weekend in July.  You know, who is preparing dinner what night, which musical-chair/cabin assignments need changing, who will arrive first to pick up the keys, where to drop off the dogs, checking out the weather forecasts.  All of the above.

Thanks a lot Covid.  Maybe next year.

Another reason to thank Covid is that today is tax day.  Did anyone hear a roar?

Well, we can thank Covid as well for Annie's presence in the Berkshires for a few months.  She and Sankar arrived on July 4 weekend and set up shop in a large house in Great Barrington, with lots of room for their two cats.  Yes, the cats fared well on the drive across country.  They have lots of stories, including a surprise haircut for Sankar, surprise at least to Daniel who did the honors in his gentlemen's establishment.  Claire, by the way, finished up her work at the Green Lake camp, and returned home to Dundee for a while.  We continue to see beautiful macramé projects that are keeping her occupied.

Margaret and Andrew and Simon made the trek north again, this time to help celebrate Annie's birthday and to help Mary in her heart recovery project by allowing her more time to play with Simon.  He's growing, he's smiling and engaging, and even sleeping almost through the night…. sometimes.   OK, a couple of times.  Maybe once.  At least I'm sleeping through the night.

Timmy joined us for Annie's birthday party, that we had outside, with an elongated picnic table, all healthy.  Until we all forgot that blowing out the candles on the ice cream cake may not have been approved by Dr. Fauci.  Oh well.  All for one…..

We've had some Zoom moments with Brazil, and Joe started back to work this week.  Upstairs.  It will be challenging for all, especially for Leonor as she juggles caring for Baby John and Thomas.  Thanks a lot Covid, again.  But, we do get a big kick out of our Zoom reading sessions with Thomas. 

Peter passed along a message he got from an old neighbor on Given Road in Cincinnati.  In this age of e-mail and instant messaging, it only took Peter Hagist nine years to respond to Peter's original query. Still, it was a blast from the past – how do you catch up on 60 years in one email? 

And from this week's old letters:  "Among the other highlights were two trips to the dump! This has got to be the only place in America where children cry because they are not going to the dump in the van." This was in a letter written on February 29, 1989 after an all-hands on deck weekend in Pomfret, before we caught a plane to start our assignment in Durban.

Saving the best news for last, Mary's heart valve replacement procedure went well. She spent the night in the hospital, and, since the hospital had just opened up for visitors I was able to spend a couple of hours with her in the recovery room. She's gone from groggy to tired, cautious to bouncy, and tomorrow will be two weeks since the surgery – a magical point on the timeline when the doctor said she could start swimming.  Guess where she will be first thing in the am?  On the medical front, she has reported feeling no angina tightness since the procedure, even after walking and light gardening.

Well, we'll miss seeing everyone at Mt. Springs, miss the loud talking-over conversations on the porches and the quieter chats as well, miss the board games and reading and swimming and fishing and walking along the path, miss the messes and the good food and group photos. 

That's it from up here.  Love

Rain

Rain.  I will never complain about rain again, and I welcome the last week where it seems to have rained every day.  I don't even mind the water in the basement.  We had such a dry stretch from May into June we had to water the gardens. Never done that so early. And, even that still didn't help our asparagus and strawberry output.  Measly.  We have lettuce though, and for the first time cabbage heads are forming.  So far, we've been able to keep the groundhogs and rabbits at bay, but I did see a hole inside the garden today.  Stay tuned.

Any fathers out there?  Was yours the best Father's Day ever?  It was here.  We zoomed with children and grandchildren, and our friends Charlie and Annie were here for a social distanced dinner. They just bought a place in Northhampton, so they will be dividing their time between North Carolina and Mass.  We have a new member of the fathers club – welcome aboard Andrew S.

We heard Daniel came home for the big day out in Dundee.  Claire is up at Green Lake, I think at the camp, but not with any campers.  Andrew and Lur have hired some people to help out caring for Lur's parents in the evenings.  They had to cancel their summer ritual of Green Lake this year.

Right now, Annie Dickson is somewhere east of Idaho and west of Illinois.  She and Sankar packed up their apartment, put their things in storage and loaded up the car last Thursday.  They have sent photos of two kitties exploring the car, hopefully not while on Rte 90 going 75 mph.  Anyway, they expect to be here shortly after the 4^th and move into their short-term lease in Great Barrington.  Can't wait.

Today's a big day in Washington.  Margaret went back to work, or at least went upstairs in their house to turn on the computer and log into work. Andrew has a few more weeks of leave, before he too starts back up, also working virtually from home.

Meanwhile, down in Brazil, Joe has a week or so more of his baby leave.  Young John is putting on weight and he's just about the weight he would be if he went full term, which is today.  We had some fun reading times with Thomas, over Zoom.  Leonor looks strong, but tired.  Wish we could go there, but I think Brazil's leaders are trying to vie with the U.S. for biggest coronavirus fumble.

My weekly letter slow-going scanning project unearthed this tidbit from August 1988 – "It was a busy week – with one very emotional moment. When we watched David and Paula drive from here on Tuesday morning (they had spent the night here), we were happy, so happy, to see them off together for a new home – all together.  But it was surely sad, after all these fine years of picnics, pinochle, dinners, celebrations, etc, to know that one era was ending and another was starting…..."

What else? Mary is getting ready to head to Boston for her valve replacement procedure this week (Wednesday.)  She has been on the phone with doctors and nurses with last-minute details. She also has been sewing corona masks with whales on them to sell at the Arrowhead shop whenever they open up.  More importantly, she's back in the water, swimming in the lake, and smiling whenever she gets back home.

Down in Florida, John and Marilyn are just hunkered down, with strict following of social distancing.  John has taken up early morning swims in place of going to the gym to workout.  Tim has come over for dinner a few times.

We saw a good movie the other night (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and are in the middle of season three of Ozark – why are my favorite shows about drug traffickers? We finished another one with gripping endings to every show – Dead to Me.

That's about it from here – Happy 4^th of July, everyone.  Love from up here.

 

June is busting out

One of the unexpected pleasures of Coronavirus has been my decision to use the time at home to scan old weekly letters.  Back when they actually were once a week, that means it's pretty slow going.  I've only done a couple of years this time around, to add to the ten years or so I had scanned back when we were living in Canada.

Anyway, I come across interesting tidbits.  Here's one from September 1989:
"We talked to five grandchildren last week! Actually, I am sorry to report that I hung up on one of the calls. I picked up the phone and heard this voice and figured it was a child playing with a phone… it was a child alright, it was Johanna and she was calling to tell us that she was about to move into Ann's old four poster bed."  Seemed an appropriate memory on this day of remembrance of a shocking June 15 back in 1978. There are many other memories, but I'll take the fancy bed with a canopy in Ann's room. I'll try to pick out a passage every now and then from the old letters.

There are other advantages to Coronavirus.  One is that Andrew and Margaret were able to take the time off and come spend a week with us in the glorious days of summer. They brought along a surprise – Simon!  He has kept us happily occupied with the excitement of naps, poops, eating, and even smiling. This is a good age, when the parents have started to figure out what calms him down.  The good news is he slept through the night a couple of times. That means they might come back!

They had the run of the place to themselves for a night last week while we made our way to Boston for Mary's angiogram. All went well, and fairly quick.  Back home by 4pm with a bout of nausea on the way home. Now, we're just waiting to hear when the valve replacement will be scheduled.

News from Brazil is Joe bought a car, so that he could make his way to and from work, whenever work starts up. No more Uber, and Leonor will have her own car to shuttle two boys around. Little John is gaining weight, which is good.  What's amazing is that he still hasn't reached his due date. And, here's a photo of Thomas at Zoom story time. They also decided to put their house on the market, as they couldn't lock in a renter.

And another positive Coronavirus outcome is that Annie has signed a lease in Great Barrington. She's due here in early July, but we haven't heard final confirmation of their travel plans.  Can't wait.
Last week, I handed out a stock tip on Mike's Lemonade.  Here's another one – weed whackers. I have been investing heavily in weed whackers and still can't find one that works, or at least works for me.  I spent an hour on Sunday trying to start my latest version, and I have two blisters to show for it. It still doesn't work.  Any ideas?

Opening up story – Daniel has gone back to work in Chicago, as things open up ever so cautiously.  Stay safe there buddy. In case you're wondering, here's the website of the business he's working for, with his photo on the tab – Meet the Team.  Lur and Andrew have decided to hire someone to come in for a few nights each week to help with her parents. Difficult decisions.  

Our garden is coming in, slowly, but, without much rain, we are having to water it every night.  We've had a couple of harvests of lettuce, and our first strawberry.  But, there is a mystery: what happened to the asparagus this year?  Hope it comes back next year. 

What else?  We've had a couple of dinners with Timmy over, and we've even ventured to have friends over to sit around the campfire.  Easing but not anywhere near where we'd hoped to have been – going to plays, concerts at Tanglewood, museums etc.  

Of course, the news is pretty depressing. What happened to our country?  I guess, our new normal for a while. Memo to the next generation: sorry about that.  

And sorry the news is so one-sided. Have to do a better job in getting your news. Last week, we were hacked, so I had to change the email for posting to the website.  I guess you could send me anything directly for posting.

Love from up here.  
   
  

Here's Johnny.....or rather John.... or rather Joao!

Welcome John (Joao) Fontoura Dickson.  Even if you arrived a month early.  You're still welcome.

Leonor and Joe saw the doctor last Friday, and she thought the baby was still set for a late June arrival.  But, Sunday, Leonor started having contractions, and when they were three minutes apart, they scrambled for the hospital.  When the baby's heartbeat slowed down, the doctor opted for a caesarian procedure, and 15 minutes after the epidural, baby John appeared.  

 
He's small, 2.2 kilograms (4.6 lbs) and he even lost a little weight in the first couple of days, which I'm told is normal.  After a small gain in weight, Leonor and baby John came home, on Friday.  Thomas greeted them with a poster and a kiss and a good start to the new normal in their house. He was so happy to see his mother!

I've said it before, but the world stops on news like this, even when things look so bleak outside, on the news.  We saw one cute picture of Joe and the baby that showed Joe reading to the baby until the baby fell asleep.  Joe was sleeping and the baby's eyes were open.  Must be a Dickson thing.

The whole experience brought back memories for Janet who remembered bringing Sean home to his toddler sister after a caesarian.  In pain, tired (exhausted) and just pushing through those first few hard weeks.  Her advice – get as much help as you can, Leonor.  Unfortunately, they had hoped that Leonor's mother would be able to come, but corona got in the way.

Other news – Annie's looking into moving back east, Great Barrington to be precise.  She and her partner, Sankar, have been told they're going to be working from home for a while, so why stay in the big city?  They're looking at furnished apartments around here, and we went to check out a nice one they found in Great Barrington.  Keeping our fingers crossed.  Maybe the first of July.

Annie's not the only one considering moving.  Timmy is thinking of a late fall move back to the west coast, Washington state, perhaps.

Simon's growing, and seems to have turned a little bit of a sleep corner.  And a smily corner.  Margaret and Andrew are also considering coming up here in June for a short time.  C'mon up!

There's a photo here of Andrew with a corona beard.  They are happy to have Daniel back home for a short while, to help out while Lur is taking care of her parents.  We know how all consuming that period is, with no easy answers.  

Here's a stock tip – Mike's Lemonade.  Whenever I talk to David, he seems to be refreshing himself after hours in the garden with a cold Mike's.  Around here, I see more Hard Iced Tea cans on the side of the road than the lemonade version, along with lottery scratch cards and donut cups. 

On the nature front, my annual battle with the groundhogs has started.  So far, no damage to the garden, but I am filling up holes with ammonia and moth balls as soon as I see a new one.  We borrowed a large have-a-heart trap from friends, and I looked outside last week and saw that it had sprung.  With a brown thing inside.  When I went closer, I noticed it had a white underbelly.  And a long snout.  An opossum.  I later told Mary that it looked dead, and, without any ridicule in her voice, she reminded me that's what they're known for.  After a Homer Simpson slam to the head, I read up and saw these creatures were by and large harmless. So I just opened the door and let him out.  He continued to play dead.  A little while later, I went out and he was gone.  Or was it a she?

Florida is gradually opening up, but John and Marilyn are being very cautious.  Marilyn hurt her back and is slowly recovering.  A few of us know what that's like.  Sorry.  

Mary had a doctor's appointment in Boston for a stress test for her heart valve situation.  The doctor told her he's looking at replacement surgery, sometime in the next 4-6 weeks.  We go back on Monday.  

One thing we found ourselves saying a few times this week – wish we could be there.  To help out, to just see you guys. 

 
Love from up here.  And, welcome again, John (Joao).  

   
 

John Dickson

Encore de la Paix

A new chapter - coronavirus diaries

The long-term forecast doesn't show a temperature below 32, or even 39, day or night.  Does it mean it's safe to plant in the garden?  The lettuce I put in there two weeks ago gives me the hairy eyeball eavh time I enter the garden – why did you do this to us, they seem to be saying when they look up at me.  Today, though, there's new growth, and they were nicer.  Wait til I pick them, and eat them.

Spring has finally sprung up here, and while I wouldn't say it's worth the wait, it sure is wonderful. 

Coronavirus means, we're spending more time at home, so we're actually way ahead of where we normally are – with beds mulched, flower boxes planted, garden roto-tilled, lawn mowed, etc. 

That got me to thinking.  With no travel and with no visitors, what else has changed?  I notice we have a little more money in the bank account (hard when so many people are suffering, but we have more than spent our stimulus funding on charitable giving, both near and far.)  Speaking of money, we haven't gone to the ATM in quite a while, still having the same cash in our wallets from weeks ago.  We pay for everything with plastic, and that means that our Visa bill is higher each month.

The other day, I noticed a sliver of soap in the dish.  It was smaller the next day, and gradually got even smaller in the course of a week.  With visitors, we never would have allowed that sliver to remain.  You may remember Grandma Dickson, in a depression-legacy practice, used to bond old soap slivers to new bars. 

Other changes – with no meetings or classes outside to attend, I end up not putting my hearing aids in until dinner time, and sometimes not even then – living in my own little cone of silence.  We talk an awful lot more about haircuts than normal.  The electric bill is higher, probably due to more time on the computer.  And, I've figured out how to borrow books from the library, for my Kindle reading pleasure.

In addition, the social distancing has had a nice side effect for us – we have managed to avoid the colds we usually get this time of year.  In fact, Mary remembers that from January to March she had a long, lingering cough that has gone away. 

And one more thing, Mary and I our both taking on tidying up, cleaning out projects.  She has been going through her sewing materials in the basement, which has led her to start making corona-masks, using African fabrics (photo included.)  My project is to take up the digitizing of Pop's Weekly Letters, that I had started way back in 2005, before I ran into a brick wall since it was so slow and long.  It still is, but there's always wonderful nuggets in them.  Here's one from September 1990:  "The quote of the week belongs to Sean, who after walking too long at the zoo said: ''My feet are getting crowded.'"

Enough about us. Please feel free to add your own corona diaries, as Janet did last week.

Ooops; I almost forgot one more big corona-related family news item.  We have pulled the plug on the Poconos this year.  Mountain Springs was nice enough to roll over our reservations to next year – July 15-18.  Janie, Rell and Susan Pratt are all ready to join us next year.

Out in Illinois, Lur and Andrew are totally given over to taking care of her parents.  Her father is home from the hospital, and Lur has been sleeping most nights at their home.  Daniel came home, and has been social distancing with his high school mates.  Nice photo included here.  And, I hope all of you have seen Claire's macramé projects on Facebook/Instagram.  Beautiful work.

David, like many of you, continues to keep up his walking regimes, and has also been attending to spring gardening prep.

In DC, Simon is growing well, and beginning to fall into a manageable sleep routine.  In Brazil, Thomas is working hard at potty training, and Leonor is into her final weeks of pregnancy, understandably tired.  Out in Oakland, Annie is entering a new job phase with an undetermined length of time for working from home, any home, any place.

One final comment about our next generations.  Most of you fit the demographic of "knowledge workers" and are coping reasonably well.  In our conversations, you seem to have adjusted to the new realities, better than one would have thought.  My only hope is that these are not permanent; that we can emerge and give you the lives that you all want, for you and your families.

A few birthdays – Elliot, Sean and Matthew – a few anniversaries – Peter and Janet, Andrew and Margaret.  Anyone else? 

That's a wrap – stay healthy, love from up here