Let it snow



Dateline Oaxaca. Mexico. Where Margaret had her birthday party last year. We couldn't resist when our Seattle friend Valerie said she was going to be spending a couple of weeks here in February. We'll be here just one week. Looking forward to no commitments, no schedule, and most of all no cold. 

Yes, snow and cold dominated not just family news but national news. We had our biggest snowfall since I've lived in Pittsfield, and judging by what we saw and felt driving and flying here, I'm pretty sure there were superlatives used to describe the weather everywhere. Heck, even in Dallas where we laid over for a few hours, it was 28 degrees. 

Something about a snowfall is exciting and fun. Watching it come down and then checking its progress every hour, gauging accumulation against some physical marker (a fence post or a lawn ornament), calling up or texting friends and family to compare - it's really magical.  We even ventured out. Mary wanted to shovel the walk, and it was so light, that the height didn't seem to matter. I, stupidly, walked over to the lake, trudging through a foot or more and listening to the tall pine creak and groan. Before falling on me, I imagined the obituary. 

Anyway, Chicago was spared the snow but got the cold; Fairport got snow from the storm and the lake, Washington got snow, then ice, and Princeton somewhere in between. 

The best part of the snow is grandchildren. Nobody enjoys snow like a kid. We loved taking the phone outside to show those folks in London or India what they were missing. We sent photos to Margaret who was on the beach in Mexico for a friend's birthday party what she was missing. Her photos that came back were of sun and sand and infinity pools. 

Worst part of snow? Ask Andrew S who spent 90 minutes digging his car out of the snow/ice. Or school cancelled but not work, or at least telework. 

Shoveling for us was almost easy until the plows dumped their slush at the end of our driveway that turned to ice in the negative temps. I didn't need to go to the gym that day. What a workout. 

When we look at the weather in Pittsfield this coming week, the temperatures won't get above freezing. Neither in Newark where we parked the car in a snowbank. I shudder to think what we'll face on our return. 

In the meantime though we'll enjoy the respite. 

Love to you all from aqui, abojo. 

John Dickson

Happy Pongal

 Picking up from last letter, I mentioned that everyone we knew was sick except for us.  Not no more.  Not for Mary. Down for the count with a fierce bout of flu. Moi, my advice is to buy stock in Airborne and Zicam. I'm okay for now but not so confident for the future. Right now, it's all Zicam and Airborne.

We're pretty sure the sickness didn't come from Washington DC where we joined Margaret and family for her birthday. No one there was sick. And, we had fun. From ice cream cake and presents to swim lessons and Simon-sitting, hide-and-seek to walks and naps, a good time was had by all. Margaret and Andrew went out for a karaoke party; hence the picture with Melodie, taken by Jeff who I understand doesn't sing. Doesn't sing?  Everybody sings.

We're hoping the London group is finished with their sicknesses.  Back from Portugal, Joe started his new job at the Embassy, so everyone there is off in different directions each day. Joe is working with someone who was in Toronto when we were in Ottawa. In Brazil, he worked with people we knew from Mexico City. Small world.

In India, it's Happy Pongal all around. You'll have to Google it, but you won't find mentioned that it's Annie's favorite celebration. She and Sankar just hosted their first sustainable living workshop, on avocado tree grafting.

Closer to home, we see videos of Ronan walking across the room.  Time certainly does fly. Pretty active boys in that household.

Up in Fairport, the news is all about home maintenance. They are putting on a new roof, with emphasis on the present tense. Now, in the middle of winter. Imagine climbing on a roof in this temperature. Anyway, given the racket and David and Paula's sleep schedules, we hope that it's finished quickly.

Pretty chilling temps in Chicago area as well, but they already did their roof replacement in the fall.  They had a long chat with Daniel who talked about his trip to Edinburgh and Amsterdam over the holidays.  Must have been good since his buddies are coming over for a multi-country tour of Europe once he's finished with his course.

The temperatures also hit home when we went to New Bedford for the annual Moby Dick marathon that they schedule for January because that's when a 21-year-old Melville departed on his first whaling voyage. All we could think of walking around that frigid city was setting out on a ship at that time of year. No way. Couldn't they have waited until May?

The marathon was fun, and not just for me. Mary enjoyed the enthusiasm and the arrangements.  People cheered and read with dramatic emphasis. I got to read in French. I knew it was crowded compared to ten years ago when we were there, but the whaling museum wrote afterwards and said over 3000 people participated.

From New Bedford, we headed to Boston for Mary's cardiologist check-up (all good) and on the way we stopped in Taunton Mass. We had four ancestry clues to look up and struck out on each of them, but we did find a Deane Street. Uncle All's old hand-written genealogy, now updated by cousin Jay, takes the Deane family in Taunton back to the 1630s. We'll have to go back when the local history museum is open to find the John Deane and Nathaniel Deane houses as well as the former's tombstone.

Speaking of ancestry, Mary got a calendar in the mail that one of her cousins puts together that also tells family history.  Pretty interesting stuff. Our house sits on but two of the 50 acres her family once owned on this street.

The days are indeed getting longer, so we're heading in the right direction, even if it will take a while.

Love from up here. Stay warm.   

Ring out the old

Dateline. Times Square. 

Only kidding. But once upon a time we were that crazy. More than once. It was when we got spooked at the crowd and getting trampled that we said, "no more."

It's quiet here. Our fun tonight will consist of raiding our stockpile (4) of Guinness non-alcoholic. Maybe a movie. Maybe not midnight. But after packing it in since November, at least one of us is ready for a breather. Or, as Annie said, time to get our social battery recharged. 

Our last letter saw us in London with a few days to go. One of those days, grace à our sneaky children, we went with Joe and Thomas down to the Weat End to see Les Mis. Fantastic. It's our third time seeing it on stage and this might have been the best. The longest running musical in London. 

We got back home with a few days to spare before Christmas and did lite decorations. We had a tree and a few items around the house make it seem Christmasy here. 

How was your big day?  Joe and family were in Portugal with Leonor's expansive family. Lots of cousins for Thomas, John and Luisa. Margaret and Andrew, after opening presents, headed to Jeff and Melodie's for brunch. Should I mention Simon's stretching out in the pew for Christmas Eve service?  Oops I just did. 

Annie and Sankar were with us in spirit and on the phone. Physically, they were in Chennai and found a church service and a favorite restaurant meal. 

We heard that in Fairport they had somewhere between 18 and 30 people over for dinner. (My bad memory.). Nice traditions

Claire made it a party out in East Dundee. And her kitty too. Great photos from Colorado I should add. 

And we saw other pictures of Kiernan and Ronan opening presents and hosting Johanna and Janet who drove down for a visit. 

Back here, we had a Christmas Eve dinner with Corinne, Michael, Maura and Elsie, Dan Boyle's daughters. Lots of laughter - interesting to hear the mostly unvarnished perspectives of their parents. Pretty sure our children don't talk about us, but i learned that Joe, Margaret and Annie have their own WhatsApp group. Now why would they need that?  

The next day, we went to church, maybe the first time in decades that we actually went on Christmas Day. Later, Colleen, Robbie and his partner Kim came over for cookies and tea!! More laughter. That's what Christmas is about too, right?

The rest of the highlights come down to weather and illness. David, Marilyn, Joe, Thomas, Luisa, Laura and probably unnamed others came down with some versions of cold, flu and even Covid. We too got sick in London (probably shared it with Joe) but we recovered by Christmas. 

It's cold outside and we've joined many of you in hunkering down through various forms of precipitation. Uggh. 

So 2025 is a wrap. Put a bow on it and move on to a better year ahead. 

Love from the frigid north. 

Dateline London

There's been an awful lot of datelines recently that have not read Pittsfield. But we actually have been home, enough to experience our first real, plowable snowstorm. And I think we missed another one yesterday that folks in DC, Baltimore, and NJ may have enjoyed. 

But here we are in Blackheath, a suburb on the south side of the Thames. There's something to be said about quality of life. Almost storybook here, what Joe and Leonor have found. Or, cinematic, since at times we've felt like we're on the set of Love Actually. Did you know that was my favorite movie?

So far, and we're only a few days in, we've gone to a Christmas concert, a ballet class, a rugby practice, Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral, a tea shop, a cafe, a pub, a farmer's market and a double-decker bus. Three days. 

And we bumped into Daniel too. Ok, it was prearranged, but it was wonderful to see him here. He's working hard in his class, and it sounds hard. He joined us for a pot roast dinner at the local pub. 

We actually started the fortnight out in Washington, at the end of a fantastic Thanksgiving with Margaret and Andrew. On our way home, we stopped in Princeton where we saw Peter who filled us in on all happenings in his family. He took us on a tour of the campus that saw us spending time around Grandma and Pop's stone in the chapel. Then the biggest tuna melt sandwich I've ever eaten. And I did eat the whole thing. 

Three days at home was too long so we took off for Boston. After some medical appointments and tests (all good), we had a quick chat with Kathleen who tracked us down, thanks to the fob monitor they give you when you check in. We spent two nights in Boston to take in a swim meet and you'll never guess who swam. Not me. But Mary did, per usual, and she left with her usual cache of ribbons. 

Another three days back at the ranch before we headed over here. 

We heard from Annie and Sankar who are back at their ranch (I think that's what I'm going to call it now.) They recounted a funeral ceremony they attended that turned out a little harrowing with a flash flood by the river. 

A lot of Christmas preparations at this time of year. We have not gotten a tree yet but seen two trees fully decorated in DC and London. I think I saw on line a joyful scene outside Jeff and Melodie's house. 

We head back this week so we'll still have a few days to catch up on the decorations and preparations front. 

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas. 

Love from way over here. 

Giving thanks

Dateline Washington DC

Happy Thanksgiving!  Still Thanksgiving weekend so I think I can still say it. 

We came down here for turkey day in a new house! And it worked out well. Andrew made the turkey and Mary and Margaret made a ton of sides. Guests brought more sides and you'll never guess how many pies we had. Let's just say we had three pumpkin pies as a starter with others as well as a plum pudding. I bet you all had similar memorable meals. I know at least two households did not have turkeys. And speaking of turkeys, Peter found an article about Larison's Turkey Farm in Chester NJ. I know we had some Sunday dinners but maybe not Thanksgivings

And in the middle of that celebrations, there were birthdays!! Ronan turned one!!  A big one. Sankar and Andrew S also had birthdays. And we were here for Andrew's birthday party that featured a rainbow cake that Simon picked out. 

We had barely caught our breath from our Daytona trip before we turned around and came down here. Mary's brother had a successful neck/spine surgery and is home now. Mary had set up a caregiver to check in a couple days of week and transformed his home to sparkle city for his recovery. 

We stayed with Marilyn who went above and beyond the call of duty in hosting us and feeding us and chatting with us. She was going to spend Thanksgiving with Robbie and his partner. 

There was a big meal in Fairport with both Matthew and Jeffrey and families there with Paula's sister. Claire joined her parents for the big meal while her brother celebrated with Joe and Leonor in London. All over the place. Annie and Sankar were with friends at a wedding celebration. 

We head back tomorrow and then we're off again but you'll have to wait for the next letter to read where. 

Hope the winter storms won't get in the way of people heading home today and tomorrow. Out in Illinois, they're hunkered down and waiting the end of the snow. Pretty yucky out here but should be good travel day tomorrow. Safe driving. 

We just got home from church, the first day of Advent. And Margaret, Andrew and Simon just decorated their tree!  Ready for the next big event. Are you?

If not, stop wasting your time reading this letter and get to work. 

Live from down here. 

     

Ides of November

Dateline Charlotte. On our way to Daytona. Mary's brother is scheduled to have neck surgery on Monday so we decided to go down and provide support or assistance or just get in the way. We almost didn't make it but Mary had the presence of mind to check the plane reservations I made. Good thing. Genius boy here had looked at the third Saturday in December, not November. After genius boy had a meltdown he changed the flight. With Mary looking over my shoulder all the way. 

Speaking of support, David came to Pittsfield for an afternoon and dinner. He had a meeting in Albany and was kind enough to take a detour to visit. He packed his trunk with some burls that had come off one of our downed trees. By the way, we're going to open a P & G museum with all the nick nacks we've acquired. He filled us in on their Thanksgiving plans that sound full with Jeff and Matthew and families. 

We'll be in DC for Thanksgiving hosted by Margaret and Andrew. Their big news is that the closing on their old house went through, on the same day they went back to work. And Simon got his first honor roll card. That's right, kindergarten honor roll. The only thing I remember doing in kindergarten is lining up for the bathroom nicely. 

Speaking of bathroom …. No I better not. But it has been three weeks since my last treatment. Still got a ways to go. Did they radiate my brain too?

We got this photo from London this week. What do you think they're looking at?  See below. 

Halloween reports. Simon donated his candy to his dentist. John was a spitting image of Harry Potter and Thomas looked like a wizard and Luisa a princess. 

And Ronan was a soccer goalie. Like his grandfather. And he's coming up on birthday soon. 

I think I missed some birthdays last time around. Hope your days were wonderful, Billy and Kathleen. 

Annie and Sankar off on another trip to other parts of India. Hope there are no leeches. 

Did anyone else get snow? Andrew did but that's because he put the driveway snow poles out. Me too, and I put snow tires on the car and put the snow mats down in the entry way. Yup. It's a welcome mat for snow. 

Other than that, Mary had a swim meet and I almost finished the other fall chores, like putting the porch furniture away. Reminds me of Pomfret. 

Getting close to boarding for our last leg to Daytona. Love from down here. 

(Daniel and Thomas are watching a premier league game.)

Dateline - Rt 20 Tire

It was dark this morning when I went to Panera. So dark I thought I must have set my alarm for five instead of six. Nope. Come Sunday it might be light at that hour but not for long. So, I'm now sitting in the tire shop getting snow tires for the car.

But we're home. One week now, and my body is slowly returning to normal. I even ate some candy corn yesterday. Too much, and it made my mouth sore. But what a treat. And that means it's trick or treat day. Every 5-year-old's favorite day of the year. And every grandparent's too! 

We keep buying candy in the expectation that someone will venture back to our house. Or maybe knowing that no one will, and we just want to indulge ourselves.

No trick or treating for Thomas, John and Luisa. They're actually in France visiting friends from Brazil. Now how many people can say that?  Anyway, I learned a new phrase: half-term. That's the mid-semester break that the boys - and the rest of England - were on this week. So, Joe took them for a road trip - to Stonehenge, to castles, to their future university (Oxford) and other points. We went with them too, at least vicariously through the photos.

All this after spending a day with Daniel last weekend who has touched down in London for a few months. One day, we'll meet up with Daniel in this country, not just India and England.

No trick or treating for Annie and Sankar, but they did have plenty of sweets for Diwali. And they had some sad news as Sankar's grandmother passed away.

Lots of Halloween in DC for Simon. An extended, looooong lead-up. We saw him in his skeleton pjs, but he may also have a dinosaur costume. Big decisions for a five-year-old. He also moved up a lane for his swim lessons having figured out the backstroke and the breaststroke!  In the midst of furloughs and Halloween, Margaret and Andrew have a contract on their house so that chapter may be nearing an end. Phew.

I think David and Paula may have the ideal neighborhood for Halloween. They might just as well back up a dump truck full of candy for the hundreds of scary kids knocking on their door. David has been busy doing some consulting for his old firm.

Andrew and Lur wouldn't take my call last week. They were busy unloading their car at Green Lake. They went up for the weekend at Ripon, football and soccer and Claire joining them for the day!

Guess who came to lunch?  Lyn Bidwell and her husband Jack who started dating in Indian Hill high school. They had driven east to Boston and stopped here on their way out and back. Did you know there's a Bidwell House in the Berkshires?  Anyway, we reminisced and Lyn remembered her classmate, Peter!

One more guess. Who's that little boy running in the photo below? It's Theo, all grown up, training for the NYC marathon.

We've settled back in our routines, happily. We've met with the students we tutor, returned to French conversation and hiking groups, started back up with history committees and of course resumed swimming. The last six weeks were kind of a blur, but we're at the other end and hope for good test results come December.

Happy Halloween everyone. Love from up here.