On the verge of spring

Happy birthday David!  And belated happy March birthdays to Daniel and Lur.  It's our favorite month - we have the windows open here, the first flowers are blooming and the buds are starting to give the empty branches some added form.  Granted this may not be the case for friends in Illinois or Rochester or Pittsfield, but it's coming.  Hang in there!

Our big news is we bit the bullet and made reservations for China!  End of June.  Now all we have to do is get our visas, rob a bank to pay for the tickets and then learn Chinese before June.  Not impossible.  This time we will approach travel a little differently and do a modicum of research about what to do there before we go.  Luckily, Annie is doing a little for us, and John and Marilyn are also heading to China at the end of the month, to advance and scout out for us.  

This month, I have been attending a retirement course, which means getting up every day and commuting down to Northern Virginia for the day.  I miss retirement.  But, apparently I wasn't doing the whole retirement thing right, so I had to go back to school to learn how to retire.  Not exactly, but the previous times they offered the course, I backed out and this was my last chance.  It has mostly  been helpful and both opened up prospects and narrowed my focus a little.  Speaking of focus, I learned that the University of Massachusetts has made a big mistake and accepted me as a graduate student in their Public History Program. 

And, we learned that Sean was accepted into Rutgers Law School, the first of the schools he heard from.  Congratulations!

Margaret called last night from New Orleans where she is taking care of a group of Iraqi university English teachers, who are here attending the TESOL convention (teaching English to speakers of other languages.)  She loves New Orleans, but worries that it is too risque for this group of Muslims.  She comes home next Friday.

Earlier in the week, we met up with Joe and his friend Tamara for a book signing by David Brooks, the NYT columnist who has written a book about emotional intelligence called the Social Animal.  It was at a famous lefty bookstore called Politics and Prose, and Brooks, a moderate conservative, admitted he was in the wrong crowd, saying he knew people came not so much "to hear him speak, but to listen to themselves."  He was funnier and more insightful than he usually is in his columns and on the News Hour, and was well-receSpring ived.  

Spring also means the end of hibernating, meaning we have even been a little social.  We hosted a couple of Canadian Embassy colleagues who were on their way back after spending a month in Florida.  And we've had dinners with friends from Peru and Arlington, Charlie came up from NC, and this week a colleague from Mexico is staying with us.    

We haven't seen the Pittsfield house since early March, but understand they have put up the sheetrock inside.  I'll drive up this weekend to check it out (and write checks) and maybe even paint a little, if I don't break my leg on my second day of skiing!  

Well, that's all for now.  Hope you all are well.  Love from down here.  

We made it!

To March.  The temperature is going to hit 60 degrees in Maryland today, and flowers are pushing through the garden.  But when I left Pittsfield a week ago, temps had been in the teens and the snow fall was wet and heavy.  I wonder why I have decided to stay down here for most of the month of March.  Actually, I will be taking a class, and we have a pretty regular list of visitors, which is always nice.

A lot has happened since I last wrote.  Seared in our memory was our attempt to get to Ottawa over Presidents' Day Weekend.  The weather (again) had called for light snow tapering off mid-day.  John and Marilyn and I were to drive to Syracuse to pick up Mary who was flying in and then proceed on to our old haunts.  Half way there, we were forced off the Thruway by white-out conditions, and Mary's flight was canceled.  With the benefit of cell phones and mobile weather apps, we saw it wasn't going to get better so we turned around, Mary got her flight changed to Albany and we returned to Pittsfield.  And, while we didn't skate on the canal, we did get a taste of winter with skiing and snow!

On the way back to Albany to drop off Mary for her return flight, we got a call from David who was in ...... Albany!  So we had a nice dinner together in a downtown haunt where David seemed to know all the customers and the bartender!  Hmm.  (Just kidding)

In the mail this week came invitations!  To a wedding!  (Actually, elegant hold-the-date bookmarks!)  October 16 it is!  Congratulations Jeff and Melodie!

Grandma seems to have recovered from her bout with pneumonia.  Enough to go down to eat in the cafeteria, which is where we went last Saturday for a cheese steak and a cheesecake.  Grandma was more sensible with a salad.  She had an eye doctor's appointment that Peter said showed stability, not deterioration.

Annie has started her new job, at Burston-Marsellers, and she sounds happy and excited and eager to learn so much. (She modeled her anti-pollution mask last week on Skype; there's another one on her blog: http://3rdculturekidinthe3rdworld.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/beyond-index).  Joe has moved to a new place, a nice apartment in downtown DC where he can walk to work and to school.  He has mid-terms this week.  Good luck.  And Margaret starts a three week trip to Amman Jordan and then to New Orleans on Monday.  She'll be in Jordan for Mardi Gras and in Louisiana for Lent.  (Shouldn't it be the other way around?)  

Work on our house in Pittsfield continues fast and furious.  While my work consists mostly of writing checks, I did do a little painting and dry wall taping/sanding last week.  It's a dirty, dusty place, but our heat bills fell by over $100 the first month we got insulation, and stopped heating Berkshire County!  And we found out we definitely need a cat.  Or two.  

Mary has been busy at school and keeping up with visitors, including two from Ottawa who spent a couple of days with us on their way back from a month in Florida.  It will be 2 degrees up there this week.

Here, maybe a bike ride, today.  That's progress.  Love from down here.

 

It had to happen

All birthdays must end.  The build-up is great; the day is wonderful, culminating in cake and ice cream.  And then it's over.  No more pampering; phone calls or e-mails.  And this year was no exception to any of that.  It was wonderful.  Why can't they last a whole month?  Thanks so much for all the notes and Facebook entries and calls and presents and pampering.

I had to hustle back to Washington in order to take full advantage of all the festivities.  I had only been in Pittsfield for a couple of nights, as Peter convinced me to stay in Hightstown and go to a Princeton-Penn basketball game.  Good thing.  First because they needed all the cheering they could get to win in overtime.  And, it snowed and the wind blew so much in Pittsfield, I'm sure it would have been a hard drive up and an even harder time getting into the house that night. So I had the warmth of comfort of Meadow Lakes instead.  Thanks Grandma.  She, by the way is slowly recovering from her pneumonia, but is very cautious about pushing too hard.

The next day it took me an hour and half to shovel two weeks of snow for a walk around to the front of the house.  The mailbox was all but covered up.  But there's progress; it's hard to believe the workers are out there in the cold and the snow.  And it's not all work, as I joined John and Marilyn for a dinner at a new Indian restaurant in town.  Nice.

Joe and Margaret joined us for the festivities Saturday night - meatloaf!!  Joe is busy, at work and at school.  He found a new place where he will move in April.  Margaret is also busy, studying for the GREs and getting ready for trips to New Orleans and possibly overseas with a group of Iraqi teachers.  

We spoke with Annie on Sunday and got an e-mail from her today, that she started her new job.  She had lots of stories from her trip to Shanghai and from Chinese New Year.  But you'll have to go to her blog to see the video for yourselves (3rdculturekidinthe3rdworld).  Wow.

We heard news from Dundee, which included a happy Super Bowl Sunday (remember that?) and season ending basketball games for Danny and Claire.  We also heard Claire is beginning to get mailings from colleges.  Claire, you're growing up!

David calls every now and then, usually in the middle of a blizzard after a 6am meeting in Syracuse.  I think he has a dog sled instead of a car to get him back and forth in that part of the world; a dog sled with bluetooth anyway.

Did everyone have a great Valentine's Day?  Did you know that spring training starts this week?  The days are getting longer and that means, even though it's the middle of February, we are seeing warmer days, at least here (it was -15 in Pittsfield last Friday morning.)

Love from down here.  

Groundhog Day

And if Pennsylvania got hit like Chicago, or Rochester, or Massachusetts, then I don't think Punxatawny Phil the groundhog even came out of his hole.  The weather, or the threat of it, made me rethink my trip up north this week.  As it turns out, I probably could have made it, but why chance it, if you don't have to?

It would have been good to see Grandma who has caught pneumonia, for the first time in a year and a half, or more.  Each time we call she says she is better, but we can still hear the tired-ness and rasp in her voice.  Peter went over to see her last weekend.  David and Paula were supposed to go down last week, but with snow and sickness they headed back to more snow in Rochester.  

I hope to go up and see Grandma tomorrow.  

Last week was a week of weather as well.  Mary worked only one day.  Wednesday the weather came in rain and sleet.  People all around lost their power, but we were fortunate.  Only until Thursday, when we lost our power and heat.  It didn't come back on until Saturday at noon, and we recorded a 48-degree temperature inside the house.  My best guess is there were at least two factors behind this.  First, I happened to be cleaning out a box of memorabilia and came upon an "award" Grandma and Pop had given me in 1973 when the power went out in Wilton for four days, and then there was a fire in the chimney!  I found that document about 30 minutes before we lost power.  Then on Sunday, we read the beatitudes in church, and I figured that we did not qualify as blessed since we had not suffered enough.  So we got to suffer a little.  A real little.

What else is new?  We went to movies to stay warm - Barney's version (very good) -- and to Dunkin Donuts and Barnes and Noble.  Joe has moved out, to get closer to his work and school, down in DC where he is housesitting for a friend.  Margaret has started her GRE classes, and we think Annie has started her Chinese New Years trip to Shanghai.

We spoke with Andrew and David and the talk was mostly of weather.  Must be winter.   Love from down here.  Stay warm!  

Mark your calendars

In six months time, I am hoping as many of the Dicksons as possible can congregate in Pittsfield to celebrate Grandma Dickson's birthday.  That means of course that we better have a house finished and that we have good count of numbers so that we can set aside rooms at a nearby ski resort, Jiminy Peak.  Grandma and I had gone to the resort in October and found it had plenty of summer things to do, along with spacious, comfortable suites with kitchenettes.

This past week, I checked out the winter side of Jiminy Peak by going downhill skiing for the first time.  John Boyle was instructor and guide, greasing the way to free rentals and much service lifting me up from my countless falls.  I did get over a hump in figuring a little out, and falling less, but I think it will be many more times before I get off the novice trails.  Did I mention being sore?  Why does it look so easy for other people?

When I returned to Bethesda, Mary had it in mind to go skating.  Remembering the wonderful experience of skating on Ottawa's canal, we found a place on the C&O Canal where we saw some skaters.  Well, the ice was very choppy -- downright dangerous -- so we packed it it and went to the local rink,  And had fun.  All of this will help us get ready to spend a weekend back in Ottawa next month.

Joe took the train to Pittsfield from trips to New York City and Boston with his friend Tamara.  Because of the threat of coming snow, we just headed south and spent the night in Hightstown where there was some snow, but not what they had further north, allowing us to get back to Bethesda easily on Friday.  Grandma is well, coming off a couple of doctors' appointments showing she is maintaining her health.  She is looking forward to the Trenton Opera Company rehearsing Madama Butterfly at Meadow Lakes.

Joe is back to work this week, and starts his classes tonight at Johns Hopkins.  Margaret is also in a grad school frame of mind and is taking GRE prep class.  And I start my Bible study tonight!

We spoke with Annie on Sunday and she told us about an excursion to a winter carnival that had some humorous and cross cultural overtones.  She finishes her tutoring work this week and then heads out on a short trip to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Last weekend, Mary flew up to Pittsfield for the long weekend.  We went skiing, boxing (by way of The Fighter) and mourning (by way of the Jets beating the Patriots.)  Since she had flown into Hartford, I drove all the way to Stonington to see her brother Dan before picking her up at the airport.  Dan recently broke his ankle when he slipped on some ice.  

And, to wrap it all up, we saw our last of the main Oscar movies, the Social Network this weekend.  For us, we liked the Fighter and King's Speech, followed by True Grit and then the Social Network.  Which ones are on your list?

Finally, we hear there is big news out in Illinois.  Maybe they can make their own news, here first on Pops Weekly Letter! 

 

That's all from down here, love!  

Cincinnati -- Bing Maps -- Memory Lane

I went to the Bird's Eye photo feature of Bing Maps.  You should, too.

1.  The new house built where the Wrights'/Kites' house stood is garish and over the top and absolutely humongous.  It has a fake turret.  It makes our house at 9655 look puny.

2.  The house once owned by the Donisis -- downhill from 9655 -- built a stable and riding ring behind our house -- no more long toboganning from our old house.

3.  The Fleischman estate on Blome Road looks intact, and the gate house seems unchanged.  (Follow Cunningham to Given Rd, left on Camargo Road, cross the railroad tracks, turn right onto Blome Rd.  The Fleischman estate driveway is the continuation of Keller Road across Blome Road.)  But there is a very large parking lot at the estate mansion, so perhaps it is no longer used as a house.

4.  Both our old Given Rd house and the Hagists' house across the road were torn down and replaced by mansions.

Ring in the New

The joys of air travel. I just left Dulles Airport after dropping off Annie to catch a flight back to Beijing.  I had earlier this morning left BWI with Annie as her flight from there back to Beijing was cancelled.  We had no snow here, but since the plane was going through Newark, where there apparently was some snow, her flight was cancelled.  She made out though, on two counts.  First it looked like a direct flight to Bejing and second, she got a Cinnabuns treat at Dulles after checking in.  Of course, I had to join her.  You know the rule about eating Cinnabuns alone.

Working backwards, we had a farewell dinner for Annie last night which was punctuated by a kitchen sink problem.  Hope to get that sorted out momentarily.  Earlier in the day, I stopped in to see Grandma, and Peter came over to join us for lunch.  Grandma is well, and has these chocolate covered pecans which seem to multiply every time we leave.  News from Peter includes: new crowns for his teeth (ouch), new convertible top for his car and new comfortable chairs.  

My week was spent in Pittsfield, tearing down walls in yet another bedroom.  Progress continues in the addition with electrical wiring and framing continuing. We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Just one more room, and we will have torn down the walls in every room in the old house.  I went over to John and Marilyn's for dinner, and they shared this wedding photo of Colleen and Pauline from a month ago.  Congratulations!

Mary flew.  She left on New Years Day, to come back and have a full day of recovery and restoration before she headed back to work.  While up north, we hosted Cliff and Sheila to ring in the new year (playing Sequence and watching The Town helped us to stay up past midnight); we went skiing; Annie and Margaret and James (and D) joined us for camping out in the construction site, and we went out to eat with John and Marilyn.  The next generation all left on New Years eve, with plans to spend time in New Haven (Margaret) and NYC (Annie).  Margaret saw Kathleen who broke the news about her father's broken ankle.  He had slipped on the ice while walking and broke it in a couple of places.  Ouch.  We talked this am, and he is still in pain and discomfort.

And, still going backwards, we had spent the night on the way up with Grandma, postponed by a day because of the big storm in NJ, but nothing in MD.  It looked like anywhere between 1 and 2 feet there, but the roads were good the day we got up there.  Fortunately for Grandma, she didn't lose her power or have to deal with the Governor Christie's awol-style of managing a crisis on the roads.

And before that, we celebrated Joe's birthday here a day early.  He turned 28!  On the 28th!  We reminisced about all the birthday celebrations he enjoyed with cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles in Pomfret.

Speaking of Pomfret, I am now Facebook friends with Margie Huoppi, who posted photos of a Christmas tree in the big room, celebrating with her grandsons.  Seems very familiar.

Tomorrow is Jeffrey's birthday, and we understand from Facebook again, he and Melodie enjoyed Christmas in Minneapolis, but maybe not the flight adventures

 getting there.  They plan on going to Rochester this weekend.  

And Sunday is Margaret's birthday.  She philosophized that she will be closer now to 50 than she is to her birth.  

Yesterday was Three Kings Day, the 12th day of Christmas.  It was a wonderful holiday this year, and we are glad to have connected with so many of you.  

Love from down here.