Home again

We're home.  Barely. Joe and Leonor once told us TAP Airlines (the Portuguese company) is short for "take another plane."  And we did just that. But TAP also gave us a Marriott to stay in while waiting and a bunch of meal vouchers.  But we got in very late Sunday night, and decided to drive home from Newark. Seemed like a good idea at 11pm. We were both awake. Not such a good idea once on the Taconic Parkway with no motels anywhere near.

Unfortunately, the delay meant we were going to miss Luisa's baptism, since our plan was to arrive and head to DC for the ceremony the following day.  Joe, and the minister at the church, were nice to postpone the baptism until we could be there. That didn't stop the party though as Margaret and Andrew and Simon headed over to join the cousins at the party. Leonor's brother was also there.  Looked like fun. FOMO.

Seems like everyone in the family was hiking these past two weeks. We have Colorado photos of Bill and Jen and family in the woods; Annie and Sankar are off on 5-day hike in rural Japan (yes there is such a thing as trees in Japan); and Joe and Leonor headed out to West Virginia for a taste of the country. Everett got a close encounter with a bird of prey on his outdoor adventure. And, I may have this wrong, but it looked like Jeff and Melodie were in the Minnesota woods (and lakes.)

We did a lot of walking in Austria, but really only one hike in the woods, up a mountain near Innsbruck. We didn't go all the way up the mountain, but for a while it seemed that's where we were heading. We can now check off hiking in the Alps on our non-existent bucket list. Most of our walking, up to 10 miles a day, was around the beautiful towns and cities, checking out museums and shops, palaces and shops, churches and shops. And restaurants and coffee houses. Since we had walked so much, we mistakenly felt we could splurge.

Food in Austria turned out to be a highlight. From beer gardens to a civilized lunch on the Danube River. But there were other highlights as well. The views obviously; going down, into a mountain, to see the oldest salt mine in the world; the Klimnt exhibit at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna; the medieval fair we happened upon outside of Innsbruck; meeting up with my childhood friend Steve Bidwell who took us under his wing in his adopted hometown, Wien (German for Vienna.)  Lots of memories, lots of photos, and few extra pounds. Despite the walking.

Once again, we were not the only ones traveling. John and Marilyn were on a cruise, with Colleen and Laura, but they were back in time for Milton the hurricane. Fortunately, they had only a little flooding on their street as they waited out the 80-mile winds. I should mention that it was a hurricane (Leslie) that caused our 36 hour delay in Lisbon. Never heard of Leslie the hurricane? Neither had I, as it was stalled over the Atlantic, right on our flight path home.  (I may try to get the copywrite for changing the way we name hurricanes – from Hurricane Milton to Milton the Hurricane. Sounds so much more combative, like a pro wrestler.)

Speaking of sports, I bet there's some joy somewhere on the streets of Jersey with the Mets defying all odds and surging at the right time. Not much joy somewhere on the streets of Dundee as the Brewers lost again in round one. Maybe even some joy in Fairport with the Yankees.

Let's close out with a happy birthday wish to Janet. 

Love from back here where we belong.

 

Europa

Dateline Salzburg

I had every good intention to do a letter before September ran out but I've either lost track of the days or lost track of everything. We closed out our Portugal chapter and have moved on to our Austria adventure. 

I used to say that after three days in a new country you're an expert and after three years you're an idiot. So now I'm in the expert phase in Austria. We know why Andrew and Margaret loved this place 

It's such an odd pairing - Portugal and Austria. Warm, sunny vs cold, cloudy, rainy. Understanding a little of the Romance language in Portugal to being completely befuddled by German. Wine vs beer. Drought vs. floods. Fish vs sausage. Our pairing came about only because of travel companions, different in each place but it made sense for us to combine especially as the airlines gave us an additional stop for free. 

Both wonderful though. Some highlights:

• the butcher shop in Pinhao where we found the same butcher who was in a photo with Annie and Margaret eight years ago. He remembered us and showered us with free samples that led me to buy smoked sausages that have become my cologne on all my clothes.
• Lunch with Leonor's family. A long, lingering, outdoor affair. Everyone there except Sebastian who had just landed in DC and was with Joe and Leonor. Would've liked to spend more time but ….
• We had soccer games to go to. I think I'm done with European soccer leagues. I'll tell you later about the noise and the hooligan (playfully called ultras) gauntlet that I had to manoeuver through
• The walk through vineyards and wine tasting in Pinhao … the evening of Fado that ended with the 79-year-old soccer teammates singing Old Nassau on request from the crowd
• Should I mention our broken suitcase and repacking in the airport in a new costly one? No best leave that one out.

We met up with our Pittsfield friends yesterday at the airport and after a brief, costly panic at the car rental place, we were off to Salzburg. Next time we'll fill you in on this place.

We're not the only ones traveling. Annie and Sankar are making their way to Japan and sites nearby. Today they're in Singapore for a brief layover. And John and Marilyn are off on a cruise.

They managed to escape the worst of Helene on the east coast of Florida. But we have two sets of friends in Asheville who were hit hard, living through the devastation we all saw on tv, news feeds. Unbelievable. These disasters all seem remote until you know someone. I did check in with Rell but she's in Italy and missed whatever tore through Alabama.

Andrew and Lur hit the road as well, meeting up with a Lawrenceville friend in Wisconsin. They passed along this cute photo of Theo. Looks like Colorado agrees with him.

Today, we're going to have dinner and concert at the Salzburg castle. But to get there means a scary ride up a furnicular (fancy term for scary cable car/trolley). I'm pretty sure it won't be my last altitude encounter in the coming days.

So time to sign off with that scary thought.

Love from over here

Road Trip

We love a road trip, we have come to realize. Our second road trip of the year took us to see brothers and friends, and children and grandchildren. And a niece. You could say we packed it in.

It started with a stopover in Fairport. Over tea, we caught up with David and Paula, recounting the Poconos that they missed (sad face emoji here), health concerns, and gardening (their yard looks fantastic.) We went into East Rochester for a wonderful dinner. Over breakfast the next day, David filled us in on a commendable project he's been helping guide, senior housing with dozens of new units.

From there, we crossed through Canada to reconnoiter with Andrew and Lur in Midland, Michigan. My goal of getting a Tim Horton's double-double added 45 minutes or more to our trip, due to Canadian love for red lights. And the coffee wasn't even as good as I remember. Anyway, back to Midland, a town Lur had suggested as a midway point, which makes sense due to its name. We found our air b&b with some difficulty as it was in the middle of NOWHERE! But it was great. Turns out that Lur chose the town, not because of its catchy name, but because of the Dow Gardens there, which were really spectacular and worth the visit. Equally worthwhile was the cute town center, where we had lunch at Café Zinc, an uninformed choice that turned out to be excellent.

We headed east while Andrew and Lur turned west, since we wanted to spend a little time on Lake Huron, though the beach we found was technically on Saginaw Bay. We found a diner for lunch, and I mention that since I ordered a milkshake that came in one of those old-fashioned metal containers. Yum. Still dreaming of it.

And then up to Traverse City, on Lake Michigan, where a Peace Corps friend has a house. I had kind of heard of Traverse City before, but really only because he bought a house there. But, I should have heard of it. Cherry capital of the United States, with wineries (not vineyards there), a national park (Sleeping Bear Dunes), and shops and shops. So many shops that were not franchises, except for Orvis, which gives you a sense of the prosperity in that area. They even turned an old insane asylum (that's what it was called) into an indoor mall. We went hiking and Mary got to swim in Lake Michigan. I have to mention Cherry Republic, a store there that sells everything cherry, and has buckets of free samples. Someone spent a little too much time in front of the chocolate covered cherry bows.

Along the way, we decided to extend our trip by returning via Washington to catch up with Joe and family, and Margaret and family. We made it to Pittsburgh as a layover, where we discovered that this is a sports crazy town, fanatic over their home teams. When we left the hotel early the next morning, we discovered it was not quite early enough, as we were at the end of a long line of tailgaters who had arrived the night before for what we assumed was a college football game.

In Washington, we got our grandparent "fix," watching boys race around Sherman circle on bikes and scooter, and Luisa trying to avoid getting run over. I have to share John's question at supper that night, "What was the best thing that happened today?" Hard to choose.

The next day, I headed out, but Mary stayed on another night. My adventure took me to the sporting capital of the U.S., New York, where I had to avoid Giants football traffic and the US Open tennis final to get to Citifield to see a baseball game with Peter and Johanna, who wisely took public transport to get to Queens. It would have only been better if the Mets had beaten the Reds (but I wasn't complaining.)

Mary stayed on in DC and joined the crew for services the next day at our old church in Bethesda. It was hard to get the youngsters interested, but it sounds like the kind of church service I would have really liked at their age. They arrived as the congregation was singing the ending recessional, as they had changed the timing of the services for church picnic. So everyone went out and stayed for two hours, for food and bouncy house and playground. Later that day, Margaret came over to Joe's, as Andrew and Simon had headed up to his parents' house for the day.

A week has passed, and we have caught our breath, but only momentarily. We squeezed this road trip in before we head over to Portugal and Europe for three weeks.

One thing that the road trip made me remember is how big and diverse our own country is, how much each state has to offer that we've never heard of. But, we also know that the best road trips are the ones that take us through your home towns!

Love from up here.

Things Fall Apart

If there was a motto for the last few weeks, it would be "things fall apart."  Specifically, washing machine, lawn mower, blender, airplane schedules, and maybe a few other things, but fortunately not our spirits. And that has led as well to my retiring from retirement all over again.

For I have hired someone to mow our lawn. A big step, as Margaret said, life-changing. I actually like sitting on the machine and spacing out, but the new guy has come a couple of times, and the yard looks nice, maybe even nicer than before. My ride-on that I had bought used 5-6 years ago had broken down for the fourth time this summer. When the repair guy came, he asked me how old I was, one of the criteria he was suggesting for the choice of repair or buy another one. After recovering from that indignity, he had a point. And, as we were going to be gone for a few weeks coming up, I explored a lawn service. I didn't have to go far. There was a sign down the road that said "You grow it; I mow it." And now we have a lawn service. Too much information? Sorry.

I have another story about the washing machine breaking down, but I can't convince Mary to get a laundry service. So, waiting for the machine and the accompanying dryer has meant she has made several trips to the laundromat, and she is reenacting 19^th century laundry techniques of a clothesline. Fortunately, we bought the house next door, so there are trees close enough to hang a line, the same trees Mary's mother used.

Speaking of the house next door, we had two barbecues, one for the Boyle family and the other for friends, to come and see the house and take away any souvenirs they want. Both events were fun, and a number of items have been stripped and hauled away – spindles from porch railings, sconces, hinges, pencil sharpener, bottle opener, wall paper, shingles. We are just waiting now on the asbestos removal, that appears to be more extensive a project than originally thought.

As I write, Annie is on a plane somewhere between Washington and Chennai. Her original flight was canceled due to a bad storm in DC, but she's finally on her way. While in DC, she was able to get together with Jeff and Melodie (see photo.) Joe and Leonor also had the misfortune of a delayed flight, and they too were on their way to the airport when they found out, but they got to extend their vacation a couple of days. Hard to do with three young children.

Margaret and Andrew were here for almost two weeks, and we can report the good news that they didn't get the Covid that they found in the house when they arrived. Simon kept everyone busy, fun busy with marshmallows and water balloons and excursions to every playground in the area.

This week was back to school week, which means for Thomas it was first grade!  Wow. Exciting times and going too fast. Hoping that everyone else's back to school transitions went well. 

As soon as I stop writing, I'm going to finish packing for our road trip, that will take us to Fairport, Midland Michigan (where we'll see Andrew and Lur), on to Travers City to visit a Peace Corps friend, back to DC to check in there, up to NYC for a baseball game with Peter and Johanna and then home. I'm already tired, but it will be fun to see everyone.

Love from up here.    

Ice cream

Halfway through August, and there are hints of fall in the air.  It's a little chillier in the evenings and a few trees are looking orange. Too soon? Yes.

In fact, the first part of this month has been a bit of a blur. We were supposed to have a visit from John and Marilyn and then a Boyle family barbecue to say goodbye to the house next door, but Covid interrupted our plans. Mary was very sick, a little scary even. I had mild, cold-type symptoms, and Annie gave us the care we needed for a couple of days, until she got sick too, despite our sincere attempts at quarantining and masking. She was pretty sick with fatigue and cold symptoms.

None of this Covid household deterred Andrew and Margaret from making their way north. But the time they arrived, I was in the clear, but we continued our segregating efforts. So far, so good. Simon has a wee hint of a cough, but we hope that's just from all the exertion he puts forth every day, every hour, every minute.

Where are Joe and Leonor, you might ask? As far away from the Covid household as possible. Portugal, to be precise. They spent some time in Lisbon before heading out to a beach in the south. Everything looks fantastic. They're supposed to be coming home next week.

Annie had recovered enough to join Margaret in NYC for a play and an overnight. The play was about Lincoln, Mrs. Lincoln to be exact. "Oh Mary." Pop might have been happy if it actually had anything to do with Lincoln. Annie and Margaret said it was very funny and worth seeing. Apparently, the playwright did no research at all on the Lincolns, and made everything up.

There was also a birthday, an August birthday, for Everett. Surely, it was a great day.

And, there was another birthday.  Herman Melville's.  August 1. It too was a great day, and I gave two talks, one at the library and one at the top of Mt. Greylock, and I only saw one person sleeping. Mary and I also participated in the annual Moby Dick marathon reading.

What do you do in the summer? Eat ice cream, so we have some ice cream pictures to share. I snuck one in of Kiernan eating fluff, but it looks enough like ice cream, and I'm pretty sure there was ice cream Everett on his birthday.

We've been swimming in the pool and in the lake, going to splash parks and playgrounds and the library, playing baseball and tennis, and doing projects around the house.

Speaking of the house, the permitting process for the demolition next door is moving along, as it has cleared three different city commissions. There's an asbestos removal component and then a pest control abatement, and then we're good to go. They sure don't make it easy.

The garden is producing a lot of cucumbers, and tomatoes are right around the corner. We can't eat the beans fast enough, and I'm not even sure I like beans that much. We gave away a lot of peaches, and I figured we split the harvest 50-50 with the squirrels. Andrew sent along a picture of his garden.   

And that's a wrap.  Enjoy the remaining days of summer.  Love from up here.

Poconos Redux

When the calendar reads August, I still think of my teaching days since it meant that the summer was over.  Sometimes, though, I think of soccer practices starting. Now, though, I think mostly of the vegetable garden and what we're going to do with all the cucumbers.

But end of July means our bash in the Poconos is still fresh in mind. Every year I say best ever, and this year is no different.  From the weather standpoint, it was wonderful, with just one brief storm on our last evening that only slightly affected the last dinner together. We all had different slices, but here are some highlights

-- grandchildren tops my list.  They had so much fun, especially the first night, when they ran and ran and ran around the pirate ship playground with Donald chasing the younger boys, and even Luisa. Normally, we hang out around the supper cabin, but everyone followed the youngest set down to the pirate ship. I have included a few pictures; looking at them, I cringe when I imagine this crew ten years from now.  No, I don't cringe; I welcome it.

How do you measure success? Here's one measure – exhausted children sleeping in the cars all the way home. Here's another – I took a couple of books and magazines and might have read a couple of paragraphs.

-- swimming to and jumping from the dock, endlessly, exhaustingly

-- wildlife, including deer, bear, heron and snake sightings. I think Jeffrey caught a few fish too; I know Simon caught a worm. Anyone else?

-- boat rides. Mary and Margaret stretched their diplomatic skills to make sure Thomas, John and Simon all got their share of boat rides.

-- endless chatter among generations, between generations. We picked up a lot of newsy items, most of which will go in the other letter – not for Pops Weekly Letter. But, it's important to catch up; so much happens in a year.

-- the multi-birthday party for Mary and Donald, Thomas and Everett. I managed to make my way through way too many desserts that night.

-- Rell's perseverance through computer shutdowns and plane and rental car delays to get there late at night.

-- visiting each other's cabins, exercising, napping, tv downtime, babysitting, board-gaming, wandering, tether ball and see saws and Oliver's yoyo contraption, sand castles.

We missed people too.  David and Paula, Janie and her crew had to take rain checks for health reasons. Next year, fingers crossed.

Mountain Springs really is an ideal place for gathering with people in their own cabins, in easy reach of the lake and sandy beach and playground, and so picturesque, with the view from cabin porches of the sun spotting through the trees with the lake in the distance.

With that in mind, put it on your calendars for next year – July 17, 18, 19. I reserved Sunday night for two cabins as well; let me know if there's more interest in one more night and I can reserve more.

Non-Poconos news: Billy and Jen made it to Colorado and then boarded a flight for Cabo San Lucas for a rest; Daniel took his parents to a concert, and Claire is heading home this weekend. Paula and David entertained with a few of Paula's college classmates they hadn't seen in years.  Joe and Leonor and little friends are in Portugal for a two-week vacation where they celebrated Thomas' birthday on his day. Annie is back in Pittsfield, but, not for long, as she heads to Boston next week. And Colleen and Laura got married.

I should add it's also Herman Melville's birthday. August 1, 1819.  But you already knew that. 

Love from up here. 

Castles in the sand

Once upon a time …. we went to the beach in Delaware.  The end.

That's how my stories to grandchildren all start out. They are not impressed.  Not sure why.

Anyway, we spent the last week at a beach house in South Bethany, Delaware. The "we" is Joe's family, Margaret's family and Annie, as well as Mary and me. Impressions? Fun, first of all. The house was great, and would have been greater if there had been an outdoor place to play. It was a block away from the beach, which we ventured towards every day, sometime around 9 am. The weather cooperated, and despite calls for rain several days, we managed to avoid the worst of the deluges. That allowed us, mostly little boys, to play in the sand, build castles, dig, jump off the erosion "mountain", and with the help of a parent or grandparent withstand the crashing waves. And they did crash. Pretty rough at times. But, we did give it our best. Margaret and Annie were supposed to go surfing, but called it off due to the weather and the consequent rough waves.  Mary and I also managed a beach walk each day, using Pop's tried and true method of walking into the wind first, and returning with the wind at your back.

The town and its boardwalk provided other entertainment, with shops and ice cream and French fries and racing and shouting. Leonor and Andrew took three rambunctious boys to "Funland," and Margaret took a couple of the same set to a water park to blow off steam.

And, we celebrated Annie's birthday, a thirty-something affair. Margaret made her an Oreo ice cream cake, vegan and everything. Unfortunately, I didn't hear the dictum about not eating the Oreos, so I had to go out and find more for her to complete her masterpiece. The photo included here shows Luisa ready to pounce on anyone who comes between her and that piece of cake.  Annie is still eating it, back here. That's right, we packed up Saturday and Annie came back to Pittsfield with us, after spending her first week or so in DC, alternating between Joe and Margaret's houses. Now if we could just get the sand out of our hair, our car, our clothing, our shoes. When will someone invent a beach without sand?

We weren't the only ones to travel. Trying to piece together clues (and photos) from Tinybeans, it looks like Sean and Kiernan joined Erin for her annual medical conference, somewhere that you had to take a plane to, and somewhere near a beach. It was Kiernan's first plane ride, but he might have liked the trains between the terminals the best. Sticking with the NJ clan, we saw that Peter, Janet and Johanna went to a US Women's Soccer game.

Claire is also traveling and will stop in Dundee and deposit her kitty for a few days. Andrew and Lur report that they won a couple of awards from their community garden, including a ten-year award. They have their first tomatoes. Lucky! And both Claire and Daniel were there for Andrew's birthday.  Happy day!  Before Andrew and Lur leave for the Poconos, they will have a farewell dinner with Bill and Jen who fold up their tents a couple of days after the Poconos.

How was your 4^th? Hot? Yes.  But fun, too, I bet.  Jeffrey and Melodie caught a Nationals baseball game. Fireworks impressed the children at Joe's house, but over at Margaret's not so much. Simon had noise-cancelling earphones because there were a lot of booms right on their street. We went to the parade in Pittsfield, that featured a youth marching band all the way from Ireland. We withstood the heat to go to friends' barbecue, but I went home early for my ritual 4^th of July nap!  Once a year.  Maybe.

We also saw Tina and at least Donald headed to Niagara for a French and Indian war reenactment, which looked very realistic!  Last of the Mohicans. Who by the way re from the Berkshires.

Our next letter will include a recap of all things Poconos. The excitement is building.

With that, we'll sign off with wishes and kisses. Love from up here.