September, I'll Remember

Just about every month about this time, Mary and I look at each other and say, "I can't believe we're half way through……September."  The days, even in the era of Covid, go by quickly.  The weather sure feels like it though.  Cool nights, down in the 30s, and crisp, sunny days.  Still need the rain as the Mayor has instituted conservation guidelines for water.  It doesn't matter as much for our garden as it's days of production are largely over.  We have large bowls of plum tomatoes that we need to get the canning equipment out soon.

Mary continues to swim in the lake, though, venturing out the other morning when it was 39 degrees.  She insists the water is warmer and loves it. The bed, under the comforter, is even warmer.

Our Covid isolation days are slippng a little.  We spent a few days in the Northeast Kingdom.  Don't know where that is?  Northern Vermont, near the Canadian border.  We were with two public health friends, Charlie and Annie, who wore masks in the house.  And, we certainly did not come into contact with anyone up there. 

We even took an old people's day trip over to Plymouth to check out the living museum there.  I am going to be teaching a course on the 400^th anniversary of the Pilgrim landing this fall, so I thought I better get some background information.  It was very helpful and also nice to do something like we used to be able to do, even though everyone, including the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags were just slightly out of costume.  Did they have surgical masks in 1620?  One other sign of the times: the place used to be called Plimoth Plantation. This summer they changed the name to Plimoth-Patuxet. 

This week, Cliff and Sheila, our other socially isolated friends from Maine, have stopped in for a visit.  We have done some retiree outings, including to have lunch with Annie and Sankar, a trip to a local distillery to taste some gin and whiskey, and a few hikes.  Another sign of the times. The distillery is selling its own brand of hand sanitizer. I got some, along with a bottle of American whiskey.  Annie and Sankar had just come back from a weekend at the beach in Gloucester.

And, we had a visit from Gerry and Dennis, from Virginia, but they actually followed the rules and got tested before setting foot in our great state.

We talked to David and Paula, and they were finishing up some house projects, not the glamorous kind but painting bathrooms and foundation work.  They were expecting to see Matthew and Tina and the boys, one of whom starts school this week.  We also heard from Andrew who passed along his late summer Covid reflections listed below.  They continue to be in the throes of caring for Lur's parents.

Down in Florida, John and Marilyn continue to be well, hunkered down.  They said that Brian has started a new job and Sage is starting her senior year in high school…..in front of a computer.   

Over in Portugal, Leonor continues to be surrounded by family and friends, all willing helpers with two little boys, who seem to be having the time of their lives.  They will be heading back to Brazil before the end of the month.  Joe has been able to catch up on reading and running.  Must be lonely.

And back to DC, Margaret and Andrew had the unfortunate discovery of a flooded basement after a torrential rainstorm, and they had the unhappy task of mopping and shop-vaccing up the basement that they just refinished.  It sounds like nothing was ruined, luckily.

September is a season of travel.  Sean and Erin are back east, as evidenced by this photo.  Claire has returned to school, a bit warily and rightly so.  Colleen has moved from Pittsfield to Long Island, got a new job and a new house.  She doesn't waste time.  Billy and Jen have bought a house in Dundee so they will be moving soon, back closer to Andrew and Lur.  We see Janet is also back at school.  And Timmy is days away from his move back out west, this time to the state of Washington, far from the fires. 

And, here are Andrew's reflections:

" Some deep thoughts from this week. Too much free time?

-Wow! Update on the Carleton library children's book selection. Huge selection, no doubt courtesy of the Dickson boys. Good job, guys!

-You know fall is near for when you let the cat out, everything but the tail goes out.

-Your car gets three weeks to the gallon.

-Newspaper cartoons aren't funny anymore.

-I got two issues of the New Yorker in one day. Hmmm.

-Got a letter from Lawrenceville announcing they got hacked. Oh no, the Russians will find out how I did in French. I still blame it on Mr. Megna.

-Biggest challenge of the week: Reading labels at the grocery store with my glasses fogged up. Love my mask!

-Anybody want tomatoes?

-You know your dog is getting old when you are waking him up."

And with that, our love from up here. Stay healthy.  

So long, farewell

We've noticed a few trees turning color in our yard, and around the city.  It seems like this year the changing foliage is a little later, perhaps because of the heat wave, or perhaps because we haven't been driving around as much.  Our suspicions of a dry month were borne out when the city announced water restrictions this week.  Not California restrictions, but no watering between 7 am and 7pm and only on alternate days.  Two big rain days have helped.

We've had visitors.  The beds in our guest bedroom still have flannel sheets, to show you how few people have made their way up here this summer.  But Andrew, Margaret and Simon spent the past week here, working remotely, and the grandparents doing their best to babysit.  Or should I say the grandmother?  We figured out the time grandparenting was about 80-20 in Mary's favor, but the 20 that I had was ….. how shall I put it?  Pretty easy.  He's a good baby and easy to please.

Margaret and Andrew went down to Great Barrington to visit Annie and Sankar, and then they came up for a return call.  And so did Kathleen, on a day trip out from Boston.  Nice to see her and hear her news – Pat is fixing up the shed behind their house in Stonington to make it a rentable tiny house, and Mary Forte is doing census work.

And we had one other overnight visitor, a friend from Peru who was on his way to Vermont for a week of sailing on Lake Champlain. He had taken a test (negative) before he left the DC area. We're all pretty careful, and there's plenty of space.  No bro-hugging or air kisses either.

Leonor and the boys are in Portugal, surrounded by her family and friends.  Lots of cousins to play with.  Portugal figured all this illness out early on and has been largely spared our dystopia.  Photos show happy Thomas and baby John at the beach and in the yard.  We talked to Joe and he seems pretty lonely, maybe even bored. If you think you had a bad airport experience, ask Joe or Leonor about trying to fly out of Sao Paulo to Lisbon.  Old news, I think – Joe and Leonor sold their house in DC as they couldn't get a renter.

And we have a house next door for sale. Anyone interested?  Remote work?

Some of you probably saw on social media this photo of Peter who ventured out to Brooklyn to check up on Johanna.  Not sure they've seen each other since the start of all this.

We had a long chat with Andrew and Lur, after her father fell and landed back in the hospital for a few days.  He's doing better, but have not checked in a few days. They have some overnight help for a few days a week to give Lur a break.  I asked Lur which was harder – taking care of grandchildren or elderly parents. Not even close, she said – parents. 

Timmy is planning his next big move, heading out to Washington state in a few weeks to look for a place to live.  He's been packing and finding all kinds of things. He came over one night with a slowcooker full of ribs for everyone.

The garden has been not as good as past years, but still we manage to get enough for meals and to give away a little.  Looking forward to the plum tomatoes that are ripening as we speak. We had a bumper crop of peaches this year, and couldn't keep up.  Mary made some peach cobbler and then the squirrels finished off the last dozen or so.

One thing we do seem to be raising are groundhogs and deer.  They're taking over and don't seem to mind the mad man waving his arms and shouting at them.

David and I got a mailing from Mountain Springs offering a discount for fall stays.  I thought about it, dreamed about it, then put it on hold till next summer.

Happy September everyone.  A different kind of summer, and hope this finds everyone as well as can be expected.

Love from up here.

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.