Kitty, RIP

First things first – the happy news.  Happy birthday Sean! Happy anniversary Margaret and Andrew. Both events have images seared into my mind, never to forget. Happy times. Then and now too.

And then there was Mothers’ Day. Best ever. Hope yours were too. We had calls and cards and flowers here, and then a pizza/movie party with a mother-type film – Remarkably Bright Creatures. We liked it, but it is definitely, as Andrew S. says, a PG-65 movie. We had both read the book which was even better.

And some sad news. Our kitty, sometimes known as Bubbles, passed away this week, He had been slowing down for some time, and then stopped eating and even moving for a day or two almost. The vet said he had heart failure, and his lungs and body cavity were filled with fluids. It’s sad. And we know it is part of having pets. We outlast them. David and Paula went through the same with their cat recently. We see pictures of an elderly, greying pup in Pennington.  We keep looking for our kitty, thinking he’s outside, waiting for us at the door, or sleeping on the stairs in a very trip-able spot.  He lived a full and good life, and so did we. Yes, we’ll probably get another one.

Our garden work is proceeding, one hour a day at a time. Here’s a too-late investment tip – mulch. By the end of this month, we hope everything is in place. Back-breaking, but boy it looks nice this time of year. I love the fresh green everywhere.

Around the horn. Over in London, Joe has the weekend as a single dad. Leonor went to Lisbon to check in on her father. And Joe bravely took all three children to Thomas’ rugby banquet. Tell me that photo doesn’t sum up everything you need to know about the UK. In Washington, Darcy continues to thrive, more and more alert, and she went to the pool for the first time. Mary bought her a bathing suit yesterday. Over in India, Annie landed in the hospital with some kind of stomach issue, perhaps a parasite. She’s home and better now.

Timmy is also home, getting an early release from his rehab facility. He lasted not one day, before he had to go back to the hospital. For fatigue and nausea. He stayed a couple of days and then returned home. He thinks (hopes?) he can get visiting nurses from the VA tio help out.  Fingers crossed.

Claire came down from WI for Mothers’ Day. A three- hour trip down and back. That’s devotion. Andrew and Lur are in the middle of a total bathroom overhaul. We all know what that’s like – not much fun, until it’s all over and then you can’t imagine how you ever lived before.

My two OLLI classes ended, one I was teaching on international relations, and the other I was taking on Thoreau’s Walden. I had read the book in college and found it hard. It is still hard, but valuable lessons.

Coming up - Mary’s heads down to Washington tomorrow, I then go to Princeton for my 50^th reunion, and then we meet up at Newark Airport to go to London. Hope they have enough jet fuel to get us back home. Our next letter we’ll be home again.

And that’s a wrap; love from up here.

 

 

May Day, May Day

Well, May crept up fast. Happily so. 

But we were in Fairport and Ithaca this weekend, and we saw snowflakes. For that matter, it also snowed here this morning. Fortunately I didn’t have to shovel. 

Actually I did shovel. In the yard, around the bushes in preparation for the mulch. It’s that back-breaking season. And we got our lawn mowed. And I got to try out my new battery-operated push mower. 

Mary got home last Tuesday after a week in Daytona, and it looks as if Timmy will actually be able to go home. He still has work to do (pt) but he’s walking a little. What a difference from a few weeks ago. 

Friday we headed west and our first stop was Fairport. We had”high tea” and covered a lot of catching up ground. Paula is psyched about winning the lottery to go to Antiques Roadshow soon. David has been in the garden and is doing some pretty intricate needlepoint. 

The next day we headed over to Ithaca for a wedding which was fun. Just one night away but packed it in. 

Before Mary went to Daytona, we were in DC visiting Darcy and Simon and their parents. And their uncle. Joe had flown in for a week of meetings. Darcy is well, putting on weight and checking out her surroundings, including her big brother. Andrew is back at work so Margaret is going solo at home. All is well in London, Joe reported, with John and Luisa starting ballet classes. 

Andrew cooked a great barbecue one day, and the next day, rainy and cold, Jeff and Melodie came over for dinner inside. Melodie was getting ready to go to San Diego which I hear may be her favorite place in the world. 

Did someone have a birthday?  Yes. Peter, and I learned from Facebook that he loves sardines. Who knew?  A sardine cake?  That would be too far. 

Andrew and Lur hit the road too, heading up north to see the spring concert put on by Claire’s orchestras. 

Annie and Sankar had their first visitor!  Who promised to come back. That’s a good review. They also got their landscape design plans back from the architect so they’re moving closer. 

All is well here; making plans for the summer. Poconos and visitors and short trips. Life is good

Love from up here. 

On the move

Happy income tax day. Except, for us, it’s not-so-happy income tax day for the first time in a long time we have no refund, but a hefty owe.  Hope you all got a refund.

I hope you’re sitting down because there’s so much news here it’s exhausting.

Mid-April must mean travel.  We see Erin and Sean and two little boys enjoying beaches and pools and water slides and even an airplane ride on their way to the Dominican Republic. Did you see Big Papi?  Before they went to the DR, they had a visit from the grandparents, in beautiful spring weather.

We also see Bill and Jen and four children at the Grand Canyon. First of all, those kids are growing up way too fast.  Second of all, the horseback riding brings back all kinds of memories. Third, the standing on a glass platform looking down over the canyon brings forward all kinds of acrophobia trauma.

Matthew and Tina were finishing up their excursion to Florida with an obligatory side-trip to Sea World.

Over in London, the two-week spring break saw the circus come to town, to Blackheath that is. Nothing like a circus for delight, even from afar when we see the happy photos.

What did you do for Easter? Did the bunny come and hide eggs? The bunny came here and left some chocolate that promptly disappeared. Down in DC the bunny came but so did Jeff and Melodie for an Easter dinner. By the way, we enjoyed a Sunday dinner at a place that some of you may recall – the Gateways Inn, where Mom and Pop hosted a rehearsal dinner on December 19, 1980, and where the Dicksons camped out waiting for the big day following.

Out in Illinois, Andrew and Lur met Daniel’s girlfriend named Sierra. They came for one of Andrew’s famous barbecue dinners. Not connected at all, but Andrew is still taking it easy from his operation.

Does mid-April also mean things fall apart? We were without water for the better part of Sunday when our hot water heater transformed into a geyser. We got cold water back and then because of one teeny tap that couldn’t be replaced, we had to have a whole new water heater installed. Fortunately, the old one wasn’t so old, so it was still under warranty. Then our laundry faucet went kaput, again fortunately since the plumber was here fixing the water heater. And we finally gave up on our fancy 8-in-1 toaster over, that did everything but toast bread.

Hooray!  Sankar finally has an appointment at the consulate for a visa to travel to the U.S.  His date, though, is in November, which means he can’t come this year to the Poconos. And there’s no guarantee that he will get a visa.  One step at a time.

Meanwhile, Mary is busy with one old pastime and a new one. She is the queen of sourdough bread in this neck of the woods, and even teaching the process to a few friends. She is also busy at work on a couple of quilts.

And April means garden work, plugging away at the annual list. Gravel is raked out of the lawn, we did our annual brush burn, had a tree removed, planted nine pine saplings next door, and a host of other small little odds and ends. Our forsythia is blooming nicely, and daffodils are poking out all over the place. 

And I do get the feeling there’s no turning back to cold weather. No coats, no hats, no gloves. Loving it.

And so love to you all from up here.

 

What is it with climbing?

It's spring! Let's celebrate!  I'd feel better if the temperatures were above freezing; today they dipped down, and the April showers show little bits of white in them. I've started raking the driveway gravel out of the grass, but with a little trepidation. I still haven't pulled up the plowing stakes on the sides of the driveway. Still fresh in our mind was the April Fool's Day a few years back when Sankar attempted to ride his motorcycle out our driveway in the snow and cold.

We do have little green stems poking their heads up, and even purple flowers on the crocuses, but every year they get faked out and pay the price. Still, I've bought some vegetable seeds and garden soil and even assembled my battery-operated rototiller.  Can't wait.

All this is proof that we're home, after a week in Daytona and then a couple of days in DC with Simon and Darcy. One of them is gaining weight, and the other is climbing around on a new playground set. Guess which is which?

And they both had a birthday! One turned six, and the other one month. Another guess? I should add that Jeff and Melodie came over to see Darcy and the other residents too.

Speaking of climbing, the London boys have a two-week school break, and Leonor took them to a climbing gym. Sheck out the photo of John below. Yikes. (Don't tell them about El Capitan in Yosemite.) Thomas also had a ballet recital and is off to rugby camp.

Billy was in Chicago for work recently and checked in on Andrew and Lur. All's well in Colorado. The Dundee folks ventured into Chicago for a late birthday dinner with Daniel.  Andrew continues the slow process of healing from his surgery.

The big news from India is Annie is official. She has her paperwork in hand, so she can travel back and forth. She's hoping to join us at the Poconos, and they are at work trying to get a visa so Sankar can come too.  Joe has bought his tickets home for the weekend, and beyond. Just a reminder – the Poconos weekend is July 16 – 20. I should add that Annie and Sankar have a walled structure on their land and even an outhouse! Progress.

Another birthday boy was David. He said that Matthew and Tina and the boys came over for a celebration. Best birthday ever. Paula is trying to get tickets for the Antiques Roadshow engagement in nearby Mumford. Fingers crossed. And, check out the photo below of Matthew and the boys and his in-laws. What are they staring at? Yes, the space launch from Cape Canaveral. They are down in Florida for spring break with Tina's parents. Marilyn also saw the take-off from her front porch. Historic.

Down in New Jersey, Peter's been auditing an English class/seminar at Princeton, and has his eyes on another one for the spring. A Moby Dick class. It's contagious. My book on Melville in the Berkshires is out, and the review is FANTASTIC. At least the one I wrote. Waiting for one in the NYTimes Book Review.

Other than that, we're happily back to our routines here. Mary's signed up for some strength-training classes, and back to French, swimming, tutoring, and hanging with her mates. Me, I'm preparing for my spring class at the life-long learning institute. And not staying out of trouble, at least the "good trouble" that John Lewis coined. We went to a protest rally last Saturday. It wasn't spring that day, but the turnout warmed us up.

With that, love from up here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ides of March

Dateline - Daytona. Or more specifically Port Orange.

We're down here to check in on Timmy, Mary's brother, who landed back in the hospital again after another fall. We flew out of DC where Mary has been spending the last two weeks helping out the parents, the big brother, and the teeny weeny girl, Darcy. It's hard to believe that she was born a mere two weeks ago. Life has certainly been totally changed since then. In a good way.

I had left DC even before everyone got home in order to keep a few medical appointments. Looks like I'm a candidate for cataract surgery soon. The checkup in Boston went well.

And it was a different planet in the first of March then two weeks later. And not just because of war. I came home to a couple of feet of snow and now it's almost all gone. I even saw our first robin. As you can imagine with all the melting, there's water everywhere. Lakes in the yard. Another sign of spring? The changing of the clocks.

It was a different planet for Kiernan, Daniel, Lur and Erin too. What do they have in common? Birthdays in the first two weeks of March. Wow! A record of sorts. Hoping each and every one had the best birthday ever.

Another hospital story. Andrew had hernia surgery and is on the slow road to recovery. But, no other choice.

It's official. Annie is the closest thing you can get to a dual national. India doesn't recognize dual nationals but it does have a category that comes close. She got word that her status was approved. So now she doesn't have to get a tourist visa all the time. Now if only Sankar could get a tourist visa to come here. They're working on it.

Joe and family are back from a trip of a lifetime. But that's probably not accurate since I suspect there will be another to top that by this time next year. They are back to juggling work and children schedules.

From the "Wayback" machine. I found a few notes in Grandma's handwriting this week. She was recording some family stories. Her mother Velma was the eldest of five children and the only one to go to college. She ended up a teacher in a one room schoolhouse and among her students were her brothers and sisters. She also got a job in an insane asylum. Then she went on a hike with a friend all the way out to California. And back. She then went to Washington DC and got a job in military intelligence which sent her to Bern Switzerland as a secretary. She didn't stay long and came home and worked in a retail store where she met a man five years younger than her and later married him. Talk about packing it in. Talk about an independent woman! Grandma wrote, "Pioneer."

In the months ahead, there are more wayback stories in this treasure trove.

We see photos of snowshoeing in New York State, rugby in England, brotherly love in Maryland and DC.
Two Dickson authors. Simon has written his first book. Spoiler alert. It's about Yoshi. And the same day Darcy was born I received 100 books in the mail. It's about Melville.

Simon wants his mother to talk about his book at her book club. He'll be a good salesman.

With that, we'll sign off with a wish that March indeed will go out like a lamb.

Love from down here

Two birthdays

Two birthdays on the same day. 

One was a real birth. Start spreading the news. 

The other was the fourth anniversary of a real birth. Happy birthday Luisa!

Andrew wrote this morning saying they were on their way to the hospital. Margaret's blood pressure was up and the doctor wanted to check things out. We were in Boston at another hospital (Mary had a stress test) and hurried home. By the time we got home, Margaret called and said the baby was going to be born today. A C section. She said "Luisa will have a birthday twin." 

So, we canceled everything and started to prepare for an early am takeoff. Simon will stay with a neighbor tonight. 

The world stops. Nothing else matters.  So happy for mother, for father, for brother and for baby sister.  Why is it always such a surprise, this miracle?  And check out the picture. Why is it always such a surprise, this teeny weeny size?

I had a whole other letter drafted in my head about the traveling Wilburys, I mean Dicksons, since Joe and family spent ten days in South Africa, Annie went to Jaipur, Jeff and Melodie were in Mexico, Daniel was touring Europe, Claire went to NYC for her band concerts. So did we, and Peter. Janet went to Hershey PA. 

So much going on and deserving of prominence each one. 

But another Dickson?  How wonderful. 

Love from up here

Oaxaca, Jaipur, Cape Town and Hershey

Home again.  We've been home already a week, and it really seems like we were in Oaxaca for more than a week. But we sure hit reality at Newark Airport at 2:00 in the morning. Minus something and minus something or other with windchill. But the car started the next day.

It sounds so boring when I sum up our activities – eating, walking, shopping, chatting, museum-exploring, and sleeping. Repeat. But what we like about travel is figuring a place out, going from being intimidated to owning it. Time to move on. On our last day, I said to Mary how much I appreciate Mexico each time I visit. We have many photos, but I'll just include one, a sample of the colors.

Since there are so many more important events. Joe and family are in Cape Town. What a setting. It's school break, and they have long planned to visit a friend of Leonor's who lives there. Her house is in the photo of Thomas below.

Daniel has left London, having finished his four-month course successfully. He's off on a European tour with friends from Chicago. His final project looked pretty awesomely complicated. Bill and Jen were supposed to go to London, but canceled, perhaps because his work trip fell through. They were busy with Theo's birthday party. He must be four?  Wow. 

Anyone else have a birthday?  Hope I'm not forgetting anyone.

Annie also traveled, to Jaipur, a city that is known for its textiles and international book fair. Also temples and palaces and elephants and camels.

Margaret didn't travel but is starting to feel contractions. The doctors moved up her due date to mid-March.

Janet also traveled, up to Hershey PA with a group of students from PDS on their winter project.

The weather continued to dominate our respective abodes. Peter said his driveway is still full of ice, and he had to get a plow in so the oil tank could be filled. The snow is piled high up in Fairport, and David shovels a little every day, because it snows a little (a lot?) every day. Andrew and Lur promised to send their warming temps our way, and it seems to be working. Thank you.

I saw our first bird in the window feeder today. We have seen evidence of dwindling stocks but this was our first actual bird. So, I decided to re-fill the feeder today which meant venturing over in the snow. Up to my knees.

So much more has happened – from Bad Bunny to spring training, from Valentine's Day to this long weekend.

Oh, now I remember. I had a birthday. Thanks for all your cards, calls and wishes.

Love from up here.