While we were away

A lot can happen in a week. Last week at this moment, we were on a bus, winding through the streets of Oakland to get to a theater to watch Inside with William Dafoe (recommended.) Over the weekend, we went up to Point Reyes with Annie and Sankhar for a hike and lunch, and then off to a thrilling come-from-behind Warriors game.  On Sunday we twisted Annie and Sankhar's arms to take up back to a Thai Temple for their weekly outdoor buffet brunch – fabulous. 

We squeezed in two lunches, one with our Peace Corps friends out there (Ethiopian) and the next day with Jay and Marianne Dean at their yacht club. So fun to catch up with them, after 40 years. Jay is doing a lot of extensive Ancestry genealogy work, and is still working as a tech coordinator for Walmart. Marianne has an idea for a start-up to help people our age connect with employers – kind of a Linked In for Seniors.

We got home on Monday, or should I say Tuesday morning? We flew into Hartford, and then made our way to long-term parking around midnight.  No problem we thought, since we'll still be on west coast time. Then our car wouldn't start. No problem we thought, we're still on west coast time. By the time we got home, around 3am, it had become a problem. Except if we thought we were still on Hawaii time.

It dawned on us when we got home that we are the ultimate moochers, when we travel.  Gone 25 days and only five of those in a hotel. More generously, though, we like to spend our vacations with people – family and friends – and even in the case of one place in Hawaii (Dragonfly) with strangers. We did do our share of sightseeing – volcanoes, beaches, history of Hawaii museums, but the highlights were hanging out with everyone.

One other thing we came across were a few heroes, or good Samaritans. One man rescued us after our kayak tipped over in the ocean, near the Captain Cook monument. He stabilized the kayak while we lumbered back in, and then dove down to retrieve a couple of lost items on the ocean floor(about 12 feet deep).  Another was the employee at the Bradley Airport parking lot who hustled over and jump-started our car. And then there were those who picked us up at airports.  Thank you Annie, Madi and Dale, along with those who put us up, and who put up with us, as we tried not to overstay our welcome.  Maholo.

And, a lot can also happen in a month.  Especially birthdays.  First was Daniel at the beginning of the month, then Lur a few days later. David had his big day, leading the way for the rest of us, and we were able to talk to him – they have phone service in Hawaii.  And then Simon, turned 3. His birthday was more like a birthweekend. Looked like he was having fun. Hard to believe, but when you see how fast Luisa and Kiernan have grown over the first year, it does move fast.  Ask Lur about how fast Daniel has grown!!

And, a lot happened here while we were gone. That snowstorm I wrote about last time really left its mark. Even if most of the snow had melted, the damage to the yard was evident – three trees down and our beautiful hydrangea tree lost multiple limbs due to the weight of the snow and the plow managed to push not just snow, but a whole lot of gravel. On the upside, awaiting us in the mail was a card from Annie and Sankhar – their save-the-date, which I suspect has come your way as well.  (Forgot to mention earlier, we spent one evening in Hawaii on our phones, buying our tickets to Chennai. Yippee.)

A lot happened down in Daytona as well. John and Marilyn played host to Colleen and Laura and then Kara and her family came down to get away from the north.  They went on a cruise in the Caribbean, and were joined at the last minute by Colleen and Laura.

So, we're happy to be back to our schedules, routines, diets, and activities. But, it was great to have a break, a memorable one at that!

And the good news is we'll play hosts here to Annie, Margaret, Andrew, Simon, and hopefully Joe in a week's time. Love from over here.

 

 

Illinois news

Lots happening in March for the Flatlanders. Started with Dan's 25th birthday, which he spent a long day at work. Then, Lur and I attended a Christmas present concert from Claire, taking in a favorite old British band, Wishbone Ash. Dan got to see one of his favorite guitarists, Eric Johnson, with his buddy Satchel, courtesy of his parents.

We both had doctor visits, and although slowing down, we were both labelled "acceptable". But we are working on concerns and getting thousands of steps a day. Lur obviously more than I. Lur got in a reunion lunch with a college friend. My guess lots of laughter.

Talked with David on his big day. My comment to him, "you made it with plenty of years to spare. Good job!"

I had a nice lunch with a fraternity brother at the Grumpy Goat. John and Mary will remember our dinner there before the Tower of Power concert. I had my monthly breakfast with the church boys. 7:15AM. There's another whole world out there at that hour.

Truly enjoyed a quick trip up to Michigan to see Claire and her old high school classmate perform at the Ludington Arts Center. The Black Cat Ensemble. Quite a treat. They spent the day up at Claire's school helping out and mentoring Claire's students. It appeared to be quite a successful day. Her principal had rave reviews. The high school band got to perform too. (Photo below of Claire conducting!) And even better news. Claire will be here this week with "The Cat RBG". Yes, the famous one.

It was nice to shoot downtown to take Daniel out for his annual birthday dinner. He chose a super Italian restaurant. Very Italian. I kept my eye on the bathroom to see if Michael Corleone might come out. Impressive meal. But that's Chicago!

Baby Theo is pounding up a storm, and growing. Miles just finished his basketball season with Dad as his coach. Fun season, and plenty of highlights. Jen is doing well and they are starting to get some progress on the house repairs. Billy now sets his attention to softball season with Auden and Elliot. Should be fun. And, the tarp just came off the trampoline. Spring is here!

It is the end of March, and it is snowing. I checked some old weekly letters, and found out we aren't unique at these dates. Guess we'll have to wait. All our best. Love

Fwd: A Tale of Two Climates

It was either the worst or the best storm of the year, depending if you like snow. It certainly was the biggest, maybe since we moved to Pittsfield. Seventeen inches was the tally. And it looks as if David and Paula got some of this storm before sending it our way.

And where were we? In Hawaii. Not complaining mind you, but I am a little worried about the house. Big winds today and heavy wet snow means trees are down and power is out. We just don't know. At least we don't have to shovel. Absent photos of our cold, here's one of Tina enjoying the outdoors in her frigid neck of the woods.

And best to just be happy where we are. And, in fact, we are. Immensely. We arrived a week ago after stopping in Seattle for a few days to visit Foreign Service friends. We spent one night on Bainbridge Island and four on Capital Hill and took in many local sites and stops.

In Oahu we are staying with Peace Corps friends who are giving us a grand tour. All the places you've heard of but could never pronounce. Their house is a block from Kailua beach so you can imagine we've been spending much time there. The climate is wonderful, and they kind of live with one side of their house open to the outdoors.

We went down to Pearl Harbor on Sunday and before touring the museum there (quite sobering) we had coffee with Alden Kline Watts, her husband and two boys. (She's from the Kansas Shields side of the family.). He's a Captain in the Navy and they live on the base across the street from the museum. Alden was in the Peace Corps in Mauritania (gasp) and lived through the 2011 earthquake in Japan. We crammed in lots of stories with them.

Right now, we're on the big island, which I guess I had heard people talk about but never really understood. The last two nights we spent up in the volcano park.

The one word about this state is geography. Pretty spectacular forests, waterfalls, coastlines, mountains. Everything changes so dramatically, so quickly. Stunning.

Enough about us as there's a lot more news. First, Annie and Sankar have set their wedding dates. Hooray. Say it again, HOORAY. It's a three day affair from November 18-20. I'm so excited that I'm jumping the gun as Annie says the "save the dates" are in the mail. We're now focusing on plane tickets.

Next comes Kiernan's first birthday which also looked like it might have been a three day affair. Janet, Peter and Johanna were on hand to celebrate with Sean and Erin. Johanna was also celebrating a big promotion at work.

They did have some sad news as Dasha passed away. Very hard to lose a pet, especially one who was part of the family for so long.

Joe has finished up his assignment in Brazil, as he returned to take up his new job in DC, working on all things East Asia, meaning principally China. Leonor and the children will stay longer in Brazil so as not to move in the middle of school calendars. Sad time but also a new chapter to look forward to.

Across town, Margaret and Andrew are also trying to start a new chapter, one that has Simon reverting back to regular sleep patterns. Any ideas?

Out west, we see that Auden was taking part in a theater camp and enjoying it immensely Photo below

So, today is the Ides of March, and I think we're supposed to be are of something, but I can't for the life of me think of what this is. Something about staying away from Brutus. And snow shovels.

With that, wishing you all well. Love from way out here.

Days are getting longer

I finally figured out why February went by so fast. It's the shortest month. (Hand to forehead and Homer Simpson "duh!") Especially welcome when the pension shows up on the first of every month.

But, despite its shortness, there's a lot of Dickson news. 

Birthdays are always a good place to start. Luisa turned one year old, yesterday. We had a celebratory call, and she hammed it up, applauding for herself and doing her best Queen Elizabeth wave, and showing us how she stands and crawls and withstands two older brothers running around her and squirting her with water guns.  Must have been where my sister Ann got her resilience, from two older brothers. 

And later this week, Kiernan will turn one. Growing up fast.

Back down in Brazil, we had the first family member, and maybe the last, to report from Rio de Janeiro during Carnevale week. I can't do justice to Joe's first hand description, but he and Leonor braved the crowds, the all-night reverie, the noise, and bacchanalia (sp?) and, go figure, really enjoyed themselves.  Leonor's mother was back in Brasilia with the children and a schedule of round-the-clock nannies and helpers. Their return flight was cancelled, and they had to struggle to get a new reservation, but they made it back the next morning. Nice to live vicariously, as I'm fairly confident that this is not in our cards, not this lifetime. We have not heard of Sankhar's experience, up the coast near Recife.

Wanna hear about our Mardi Gras blowout? In bed by 8:30, succumbed to a cold and hoping Mary doesn't get it.

Annie packed for a different climate for her weekend and headed out to Tahoe for a weekend of skiing. Another on my ain't gonna happen list but love to live vicariously list. She, by the way, is nursing a cat right now, who had gotten hit by a car and required surgery. Sounds like it will pull through, but with the loss of an eye. Poor kitty.

Out in Illinois, baby Theo is home, and it looks like Jen's photographer Mom had a chance to get some great "studio" shots. Also, Andrew continued his concert tours, this time taking in a blues guitarist recommended by Daniel – Eric Gales.  And Daniel went with him to the concert.  A must see is the review from the two Dicksons.

In Rochester, Paula has been struggling with a lingering cough, and David is contemplating jumping back into a couple of projects on insurance and housing for seniors. 

Mardi Gras wasn't the only holiday, but also there was President's Day.  We enjoyed the holiday in the President's home town, and to visit Margaret, Andrew, and Simon. Margaret was still struggling with shingles, Andrew had a bad cold when we got there (recovered quickly), and Simon was his usual last-man-standing. A lot of fun.  Walks and playgrounds and smoothies and "muffin-mans" and races, but no naps.  Not for Simon anyway. He's been adjusting (or not) to new sleep routines, and now that he's no longer in a crib, so his escapes occur at all times of the day and night.

We left scarily early spring weather in DC, with daffodils, crocuses and tree buds out, to come back here to seasonal cold and snow. Just in time for our trip this week, to points west, and then even farther west.

And, so our next weekly letter will have a different dateline.  Love from snowy New England  

Birth Day

This month there was a birthday.  A real birth day.  One where Jen gives birth to a baby boy, Theodore Edward Jones, on February 1.  Congratulations. There's some wondering about his name – will it be Ted or Teddy. We've already seen Theo.  Or Theodore? Sounds wonderful any which way.

I used to say that the world stops for a new baby, but out in Illinois, nothing stops Auden, who appeared in a play shortly after her little brother's birth. 

Speaking of pregnancy, how many of you can claim that you were serenaded by Rihanna on your birthday?  Privately, I may add. Yes, Rihanna sang on my birthday, just to me. And 130 million other people, but I had the distinct impression that she was singing just for me. If only I recognized any of her songs. 

Still, it was a super birthday. Charlie and Annie were here with Josh and his friend, Rodrigo, a political scientist from Mexico who is spending the semester at UMass. We went for a long walk, took long naps, had a long, never-ending meal, and watched a long game.  And we had a nice Zoom-in with folks from Brazil to Oakland to DC. 

On that call, we heard about Margaret's case of shingles. I remember weekly letters from the distant past where Pop mentioned his bout and how painful it was. I remember it so well, that I have had three different vaccine shots.  Well, they don't give the vaccine to people under 50, and Margaret got it.  And she can confirm how painful and uncomfortable it is.  And it lasts for way too long.

When I mentioned to David that she had shingles, his first response was, "She's too young."  He's right, but apparently this vestige of chicken pox can come out in times of stress. And Margaret has her fair share of that in her new job. She, by the way, was involved in the recent release of Nicaraguan political prisoners to the U.S., and was on hand when they arrived in DC.

From the Pop's Weekly Letter archives is this note from 1993 – "We talked to Margaret, and we learned that what she wanted for her birthday was snow and 'scabs'. It seems that Joseph, Margaret and Annie all have chicken pox, and they are all anxious for the scabs to appear, signaling the end of the darned thing." (01-11-93)

So, the moral is – watch out for stress.  And see if you can get the vaccine before 50.

On the health front, Timmy had an operation, on his neck, to clear a carotid artery, something that might run in the family as Johnny had that done a few years ago. And, down in Florida, Marilyn is training for a mother-daughter marathon. You go! 

Winter has been kind to us, at least as far as snow shoveling. We have not gone skiing yet, but Charlie and Annie were so desperate we went on a 90 minute search of Pittsfield for snow.  We finally found a little in a nearby park, and for 45 minutes of trudging through slush and across fallen pine branches, we did manage about 30 yards of nice skiing.  It looks like that may not be the case out in upstate New York and Everett and Donald have found plenty for sledding.

Looking ahead, we have some one-year birthdays on the horizon – Luisa and Kiernan are fast approaching that day. Luisa is pulling herself up to standing position, and there was a great shot of Kiernan holding on to a dog leash, ready for his walk.  Joe and Leonor will be heading to Rio for Carnevale and Sankar will be in the Recife area, where he says they have already started.

Right here, we can't wait for Lent to start. It's past time to cut back. I saw in the newspaper that Super Bowl Sunday is replacing Thanksgiving as a family get-together, but I see Super Bowl as an opportunity to eat all those things you don't eat the rest of the year. In this house, that means Fritos. We went through two bags here.  There is some debate whether Fritos are vegan.  Annie says they may be accidental vegan food. If that's the case I might go on an accidently began diet, along with Oreos, she says. 

And on that note, love from up here.  

 

 

Winter's flying by

January is over.  One more month of winter.  Then spring.  Of course, maybe more spring in DC and NJ than IL, NY and MA.  And FL never really gets winter, unless you count going down to 60 degrees at night winter. You might have to actually wear sneakers there rather than sandals. But give up the shorts?  Never.

So, the big news of the last two weeks was, you guessed it: a late push of the KC quarterback who was already out of bounds that sent the wrong team to the Super Bowl. It wasn't the big news for everyone?  Mary thinks it was.  Right? Just one more question on this.  Who feels sorry for the guy who pushed him?  Not Patrick Mahomes, I bet. There's always next year, but I was shocked to read an article titled – Why are the Bengals So Annoying?  Really?  Have we become the Patriots? I could only wish.

Back to family. Looks like there was a brief hospital stay for Everett who was experiencing some stomach issues that wouldn't go away. From the looks of him in the hospital bed, I might even say it was a case of fake-itis, that got out of hand, except he'd have to be at least five years older for that.  Glad to hear he's okay, and that he's not Ferris Buehler.

We're getting ready for our trip to points west, which means a phone call to Oakland.  Annie had just become certified as a professional coach, and is hanging out her shingle for clients looking for new careers, jobs, etc.  She and Sankar gave us a few tips on where to go and what to see in Hawaii.  Sankar is still in Brazil and loving it.  Who wouldn't?

Speaking of Brazil, Joe has a departure date to return to Washington. He'll be coming back in March, while Leonor stays down there for a few more months so the boys can go to school/day care. Here's a photo of Thomas in the shirt he designed. The adults in that family are planning a trip to Rio for Carnevale. Sounds like fun, when you're of a certain age.

Down in DC, we hear that Simon has new names for his parents.  Margaret and Andrew.  Not Mommy, Daddy. And we pass along a photo that will be in his bio when he surpasses Alex Ovechkin for most goals scored.  

We had a couple of phone calls with the folks in Port Orange, but mostly about a hot water heater.  Yes, and you can imagine, there's a little story and maybe a lesson. You wouldn't remember our Christmas letter that talked about living in this house for ten years, and things beginning to break. Well, the hot water heater that Johnny installed 16 years ago went kaput, a good eight years after its estimated life span.  The lesson, though, is don't go to the movies. We had fir the first time, I think since Covid, gone to our local cinema to take in A Man Called Otto (recommended by the way).  When I went to put the cat in his sleeping quarters – the old basement – I couldn't help but notice WATER!  Pretty much everywhere. I grabbed the shop-vac and started scooping out the water, and then saw it was coming out in spurts from the bottom of the hot water heater. The story doesn't end there, but I see this has already gone on too long, and, suffice it to say, we were without hot water for almost a week. The actual lesson is - we take for so much for granted. And, also, it's nice to have a plumbing consultant at the other end of the line, who will answer the call. Thanks Johnny.

Mary did her annual one-hour swim with her team this past week, and topped it off with a team potluck dinner (not here, fortunately.) She won the award for most times swimming the 500in practice  – 20 laps. Also in the pool was John, who took the award for being officially old.  He's signed up for deep water aerobics, and he and the teacher are the only men in the class. 

So dry-er (or damp) January is almost over. What does that mean for February?  We find we're not so keen on jumping back into wetness. 

With that sobering news, we'll sign off, sending our love from up here.

Hibernating

It seemed like a good idea.  Until I got outside.  Walk over to the lake and take in the view of snow-covered Mt. Greylock in the late afternoon sun.  Of course, it was cold, but I didn't take in the wind off the ice. There were three groups of fishermen, but they were all on the other side of the lake with, perhaps, a little protection. Anyway, venturing out of hibernation helps with cabin fever.

So does getting tickets for Hawaii! That's our destination for March, with a stopover in Oakland to see Annie. Now, we just have to avoid FAA glitches, Southwest Airlines, weird weather, and illness. Yes, we got travel insurance.

Illness also seems to go hand in hand with January. Paula's gone a couple of rounds with cold symptoms, Simon had a stomach bug, and Margaret had pink eye. We both finally tested negative for Covid since the last letter, but we feel close to the edge of something pretty much every day.

Weird weather is what Annie is getting out on the west coast. She says her house is okay, as it sits on top of a hill, but there's flooding everywhere. Her electricity was out one day, and she drove to work, and the roads were eerily empty. Sankar is missing it all, finally leaving the Brazil beaches this week.

Neither weird weather or pink eye prevented Margaret from heading back to Mexico City to help out with the "Three Amigos" summit. It sounded like a 75-ring circus, or maybe that was a 75-car motorcade she was in on the way to the airport to meet Air Force One.

The Brazil folks weathered an insurrection, just a few miles away, but they were safe.  They are taking advantage of this long weekend to go back to the beach, a different one, near Fortaleza. We did see in the annual NY Times 52 places to go in 2023, there were two from Brazil. And, yes, Luisa is crawling!  Look out.

It took me a while, but I finally figured out the method behind Sean and Erin's Friday Tinybeans postings of photos of Kiernan in a diaper, marking the weeks since his birth. It will make a wonderful time lapse. I can't wait to see them all in one video. Of course, he may not be willing to pose in his underwear when he turns 14, or 27.  Or, maybe he will.  And, yes, Kiernan is crawling too!

The first part of January marks important events, like Jeffrey's and Margaret's birthdays, and when we called down to DC last night, Jeff and Melodie were over visiting, bringing Hopper along for Simon and celebrating, most assuredly.  Remember that cold day in January in upstate New York for Tina and Matthew's anniversary?  Happy days.  We also remembered sister Ann (who would have turned 70) and Grandma Boyle on their birthdays, and Grandma Dickson who left us in the first days of the year.

How's everyone doing on their resolutions?  Happy to report from here – not so well. Hope that makes you feel better. 

Other highlights? It seems that January is a good time to go to the dentist. Both Mary and I had successful visits, if you count success as not enduring much agony. I had two fillings removed and replaced.  Big deal.

We do notice the days getting longer, little by little, which means we're heading in the right direction.  A direction that includes - mark your calendars - the Poconos, from July 20-23. It was Andrew who noticed that the man accused of those terrible murders in Idaho was picked up near Mountain Springs. I said near, not at cabin 29. 

Finally, we thought we lost our kitty this week. He has gotten a little more adventurous braving the cold weather, but we couldn't find him all day after he ventured out in one morning.  Right about dark, I turned on the light on the screened-in porch, and saw his head sticking out from under a tarp I had covered the picnic table with.  He was hiding from the cleaners and their loud vacuum cleaner. Still. They had left eight hours earlier. 

And with that, happy Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

Love, from up here.