Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  What did you do today?  Eat chocolates?  Open a card?  Take a plane to Oakland?  Fix a dryer vent?

If you didn't do the latter, then you are really missing the whole point of St. Valentine's Day. 

We're down in DC with Margaret and Andrew (and SIMON), and among the many things that went wrong in their lives this past week, their dryer breaking was the last straw.  We hope.  More on all the other things later, but they bought a new dryer and then after hooking it up, they found out their vent was clogged.  I should add they still needed the new dryer.  Anyway, as you know, everything is on YouTube or Google, so Andrew ordered the snake/brush to clean out the dryer vent which winds through the basement ceiling about ten yards.  We may be half way there, but I suspect Andrew has a little more to do after we leave.

Long story, but, wait, there's more.  It has to do with their day care shutting down because a staff member tested positive for you know what.  Then Simon got sick with a high fever, and they spent more than a few hours in the emergency room.  His test, fortunately, came back negative, as did Margaret and Andrew's.  So we came down to help out, where we could.  He recovered, slowly through the week.

And there's still more.  Margaret has started a very strict, supervised diet to get at the root of her stomach issues.  So, while we all ate birthday cake and generally partook in all things festive to celebrate Lincoln's birthday, Margaret watched longingly.

And there's more.  We did a Zoom call with Brazil and Vermont, and all is well at those two weather extremes.  But Annie's storage area was in the way of a burst fire hydrant, so that flooded, and she and Sankar are on their way back to Oakland right now to assess the damage.  Thank goodness for USAA.

And let's hope that's it.  We drive home tomorrow, and expect bad weather, so we don't want any more stories.  I'll go for uneventful.  And my motto – "no hospitals."

There's been a lot of weather, from Chicago to NJ through Rochester.  We saw snow all the way down on the drive, a rarity.  We might have about two feet on the ground at home, and are expecting another 6-10 inches this week.  David said it's snowing a couple of inches almost every day.  In Dundee, Andrew can barely make it out to the grill.  Don't even compare Vermont – Annie said Sankar went skiing on Friday, and it was minus 20 or something at the top of the mountain.

There's no snow in Daytona, I'm pretty sure.  The news from there is that they had their first shot this week, and have their follow-up scheduled in March.  I kind of thought David and Paula would have had theirs, but they're weeks away probably.  David, by the way, is knee-deep in his senior housing project, which he has been selected to lead.

There's nothing but rain in Brazil it seems, as they're full on the rainy season.  Normally, they would also be full on Carnevale, but you can imagine even they have muted the festivities down there.  Not enough though to stop Thomas and John's day cares from having dress up parties.  Thomas went as Woody from Toy Story and John as a tiger.  I know someone who would be happy with the tiger choice.

We will also have a muted Mardi Gras up in Pittsfield.  Heading back to our routines of lifelong learning courses and winter sports, like shoveling.  And snowshoeing and x-country skiing. 

One other breaking news item.  You all will remember Susan Pratt, who joined us in the Poconos with her mother Janie and partner Fernando.  She just sent out a story that her son Harlin got published about playing chess in prison, inspired by The Queen's Gambit.  Here's the link: The Marshall Project.

So, wish us luck tomorrow on our drive back, and we wish you luck, good health and love in return.

  

Snowy days

Snow is falling at this writing in Chicago and soon coming to Washington DC, and maybe New Jersey?  It's about time to share the fun with the rest of you.  We've had enough to go cross country skiing, snowshoeing, walking on the lake, shoveling, and putting clamps on our shoes so we don't slip and slide and fall and end up in the hospital.  Still, it'll be a few more weeks before we're ready to give up on winter and fires in the fireplace, and the rush of cold air on our faces.  In March?  Not so much.

Dodging hospitals is our priority, but we have been taking a few risks with the virus.  So far so good.  Anyone get their vaccination yet?  Ours is a way off, as they just opened up to 75 and above. 

We went down to DC over Martin Luther King Holiday, and ended up staying through to watch the inauguration, on television, of course.  Margaret had hurt her back, and we thought we could help a little.  It was pretty clear that she and Andrew have everything under control, but we didn't need much of an excuse.  Simon is sitting up, and we're pretty sure we got him clapping a few times.  At least we were clapping, at the thought of him clapping.

We did a fair amount of walking down there, and even with a purpose, going over to visit Annie who was renting a place just a few blocks away.  She is right now packing up and getting ready to move on to the next destination – Newport, Vermont.  She will stop here tonight, and then we'll go up for the night with her to help unpack.  Sankar is coming back from India later this week. 

The Washington crew got together with Jeffrey and Melodie over the weekend – after we left, how dare they?  We saw pictures of a hike, and huddling around a fire behind Jeff and Melodie's house.  We'd show you the pictures but, as a change, I thought I'd include some photos of our furry friends, who are helping us stay sane through the pandemic.  Funny personalities.

Joe and Leonor also hit the road this week, as Thomas was out of "school."  To the beach at Florianopolis. When Leonor sent the weather forecast for the week (rain every day), we were hoping it just meant a short, tropical rainstorm each day, surrounded by sunny skies and plenty of beach time.  Nope. And rain turned to airline problems and food poisoning, and I'm sure there were a few other things to make theirs a memorable vacation, not in the way they would want. 

Speaking of inauguration, we were pretty moved at various points in the ceremony.  I suspect we weren't alone.  I'm sure everyone has their favorite moment, but mine was Lady Gaga, her entrance, her outfit and her rendition.  Nice to feel normal again.  

So, we're working our way through a few books.  Mary is hooked on the Wolf Hall series, and has joined a book club.  I have my stack on the bedside table, waiting for the New York Times Book Review section to ask me what I'm reading.  Since they're not, you get to be the first to know - a Pelacanos crime novel, a book on slavery, The Half that Has Never Been Told, and The Discovery of France. 

And, we're also working our way through streaming shows, like Line of Duty, Poldark, Godless, and Mary rewatched Wolf Hall.  And, when Joe was here for Christmas, we broke down and added a subscription to get football games, so we binged on playoff games last weekend.  Dare I mention Tom Brady, for the second letter in a row?  (Too late, he's practically family anyway.)

And on that happy note, wishing you all the best and safe and healthy days ahead.  Love from up here. 

What's your resolution?

Okay, let's start with the obvious.  We all would have wanted the first week of this new year to have gotten off to a better start.  The mob, riot, insurrection, storming (take your pick) of the Capitol on January 6 came closest to reminding me of 9/11 as any event since, that's for sure.  And guess what?  I was with Joe on both days.  Last time, we were flying to London on our way to Joe's first year at St. Andrews.  This time, we were driving to Newark Airport to drop off Joe and Leonor, Thomas and Baby John for their flight home.  Leonor looked at her phone, just as we pulled out of the driveway, and we turned on the radio and listened for the next three hours. At least I didn't get tired driving, especially since it was nap time.  It didn't seem to phase Thomas or Baby John who slept the whole way.  I think we will remember where we were on January 6, 2021 for some time.  Where were you?

It sounds like the rest of the journey back to Brazil didn't get much better, as a delayed flight in Newark caused them to miss their connecting flight and wait for a full day in Sao Paulo.  We saw them in their pool though shortly after arriving home.  

So, how is your new year resolution going?  Give up yet?  Never even try?  The New York Times did a nice thing the other day on resolutions asking readers to draw their resolutions: what they'd do more of, and what they'd do less of.  I've enclosed a snapshot of one of their entries.  A clever way of looking at resolutions.  I was struck by the high number of people who would do less with meat/beef this year. A sign of the times.  A few people put alcohol on their list, as I did on mine.  Less, that is, not more.  Here's a good article I found on the subject of mindful drinking. 

Some unfortunate news from Fairport where Paula slipped and fell and broke her thumb, right before Christmas. We talked to David and Paula the other night, and she said she has another week or so in a cast.  But she's on the mend.  They also mentioned they have hardly had any snow this year.

Who's had their Covid vaccine?  I bet the medical heroes in the family have.  John and Marilyn are eligible but have had a hard time getting an appointment in Florida where the wait times are up to a full day with long lines of cars.  We're hoping to have one by April, although I don't understand why tour guides at Herman Melville's home didn't shoot right to the top of the frontline workers.

Johanna found a house for sale on Columbia Blvd, Silver Spring on a real estate web site: her old house! In the world of coincidences, I had just scanned a weekly letter from April 29, 1985 with the following note: "Mom has been in Washington since Wednesday. I've talked to her each night and I gather that Peter and Janet's move was successful and they are happy in their new home.  I also gather that they have worked very hard – a move is certainly no picnic.  Although Mom pointed out that I was usually out of town during such events."    

We also saw a photo of Johanna with some coasters that she had purchased from Northern Knots Studio!  Go Claire - everybody needs coasters!  Peter sounds busy with his law practice.

A couple of birthdays – first Jeffrey's and then Margaret's.  And they had a party of sorts with Melodie and Andrew and Simon to watch a football playoff game.  Outside.  On a projected screen.  Guess who was playing?  TB! Which stands for both Tampa Bay and Tom Brady.  Annie was there too.  She and Sankar have made the move to DC, a few blocks from Margaret and Andrew. 

It's quiet around here now.  We've put away the children's toys and gear, and cleaned up and we're back to our old routines of exercise and reading and crosswords and Netflix and fires in the fireplace.  And we find we are filling our conversation with memories of the crew that was here and how wonderfully full those days were.  What a gift for any grandparent, especially now in these times.  

That's all the news that I can remember.  Love from up here.  

It's January already

Happy New Year.  A new year, new beginnings, new hope.

Many years ago, when Ann celebrated her birthday, we traded in Uncle All's Christmas gift of $10 to get Ann a present, sometimes a record or a poster or a pen.  Happy birthday Ann.

Let's go chronologically since the last letter.  One Sunday morning, Mary and I woke up in the dark, but not at 3am as we originally expected, since we found out the flight from Sao Paulo was delayed. Still, in the dark, we headed down to Newark to pick up four very tired travelers from Brazil.  The two boys slept pretty much the whole way home, even through a stop at Dunkin Donuts.  Everyone had gotten their negative test results while sitting on the tarmac, so they were good to go.

Luckily (I think) it had snowed a few days earlier – about 15 inches – and it was still on the ground.  So the first few days we spent time outside sledding, making snow angels, having snow fights, exploring and climbing over the plowed snow "mountains." 

Baby John ventured out but not as long as his older brother.  Grandma used to say that Uncle Andrew was such a good baby, just sitting in his playpen and watching the "show" all around.  I think Baby John has inherited that mantle - if Grandma were here she might even call him "chill." 

Annie and Sankar came up and joined us for Christmas, staying through the celebration of Joe's birthday.  Not quite as dramatic as the festivities at Pomfret, but still fun, with Thomas helping blow out the candles and unwrap the presents.

Margaret, Andrew and Simon celebrated with us via Zoom, following the quarantine rules for DC which would have meant no day care for Simon when they returned.  We missed them, but that's the kind of year it is.

We saw photos of Facebook of Christmas in other parts of the Dickson world, including musical renditions from Everett and Donald, puppy portraits from DC and Pennington, and a grinch in Albany (Natalie on Facebook with her face painted green!)  Claire was able to get home, but after Christmas, I think.  Bill and Jen and their children headed to Andrew and Lur's for Christmas eve and Daniel had ventured west from Chicago as well! 

John and Marilyn were hunkered down in Daytona and Timmy was on the road again, somewhere in southern California, the owner of a new Rav4.   

I bet you all partook in many of the same activities we did over the last week or so – walking, watching and listening to the Muppets, putting together jigsaw puzzles, playing board games, watching football games, preparing and eating wonderful meals by so many different cooks, returning to the stores to stock up on provisions, playing games on phones and singing songs.  'Tis the season…

Here is a winter season adventure and a tip.  Start with the tip – mice don't like dryer sheets so put a few in your car.  The adventure was a routine service trip that turned into an $11,000 repair to replace the wiring the mice had eaten in my car and the air bags they had nested in.  Ratatouille it was not.  Anyway, the other tip was that insurance might pay for it, and sure enough they did.  The claims agent told me he writes about 4-5 claims a week for mice, just in Toyotas who apparently had switched to a soy-based insulation for their wiring.  Hope this adventure doesn't become a tradition.  Hence the dryer sheets.

Breaking news from DC – just saw a photo of Simon on his hands and knees.  About to make the transition to crawling.

Just think, one year ago, we had no idea.  We were happy and unaware of what lay ahead.  Here's a toast to all the adventures that lie ahead this year, especially as we emerge from our hibernations.

Love from up here.  

Of haircuts and marathons

As I work my way through scanning all of Pop's weekly letters, I'm struck that they were actually weekly.  How did he have that much news to fill up a whole letter every seven days?  Part of the answer is all the references to "triple plays" – Spag's, haircut and the dump.  But their lives were actually quite full.  I'm up to (or down to) 1984, and here's a snapshot – I think David and Paula make every single letter, with references to David splitting wood, weeding, raking and games of pinochle which Mom and Paula won so often that on September 4, 1984, the letter finally read: "I have been required by two very firm gals that David and I won – and I really mean won." 

All this by way of introduction that I got a haircut last week.  Why doesn't that sound as interesting or as funny as when Pop said it?  Anyway, a new barbershop opened up the street this summer, so after two months after my last cut, I decided to try it out.  I'll be going back, but I have to wonder at the courage of starting a barbershop in the middle of a pandemic. Or is it desperation?  Tough times.

We finished our two weeks of quarantine after Thanksgiving and tested negative on our results when we returned.  We each had colds so we were worried, especially when we heard that Sankar and Margaret were feeling a little under the weather.  (Included here is a holdover photo of Rochester Thanksgiving Zoom, which has several interesting items including a possibility that Oliver has a beard!) 

Speaking of Covid, I remember being on a Zoom call with friends back in May when one of them asked if we actually knew of anyone who was sick.  Everyone on the call answered in the negative.  Well, now we have three people we know who have tested positive, one fine now, another at home battling the darn thing and a third back in the hospital for the second time.  With a number of medical pros in the family, it seems a good time to remember the work you do and the risks you take every day for the rest of us.  Thank you.  We should say it every day, and again – thank you.

Had a number of calls with Joe and Leonor and they are busy getting prepared for Christmas.  It seems that Thomas is fully ready, having already woken up one day assuming it was Christmas.  We also understand that Thomas is not a big fan of the big fella with the white beard with the red suit.  Can't blame him, cause if you stop and think about it…… (uh-oh, guess that qualifies me for the naughty list this year.)

Annie has found an apartment a few blocks away from Margaret and Andrew for the month of January, when their lease expires in Virginia.  She and Sankar then are coming back up this way, with a place they've rented in Newport, Vermont, not far from several ski places, and the Canadian border for that matter. Taking advantage of the proximity, Andrew and Margaret just spent the weekend out in Shenandoah with them again.

Out in Illinois, Bill and Jen have moved into their new house so they're closer to Andrew and Lur geographically.  

Mary checked in with Timmy this week, and he was on the road, back in southern California in a new car – a Toyota Rav IV.  All is well.  I took my Rav-IV in for a scheduled maintenance, and they found evidence of mice living in the liner, too close to the air bags.  Another repair, but I think insurance will cover a lot of it.

Among other news, Mary and I completed the Honolulu Marathon this week. No lie.  Of course, it was virtual, and of course it took us eight days of walking, but we did finish and we'll be getting medals to prove it.  If you're interested, you can still enter to "race" - https://www.honolulumarathon.org/home/2020-virtual-events.  The picture of me here was taken on our Honolulu marathon course.

And with thoughts of beaches, sending along our wishes of staying healthy to all of you.  Love from up here.

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Dateline Rileyville Virginia. First weekly letter written from here.
Maybe the last.

But not because we don't like it. We love it. Annie and Sankar found a
place overlooking the Shenandoah River, just a short drive from the
park. And we converged on them for Thanksgiving. And they're great
hosts, allowing us to totally disrupt their home and routine. I think
their kitties (Peta and Puli) may have been even more discombobulated.
Margaret, Andrew and Simon left their bubble in DC to join us, and Joe
and Leonor joined us via Zoom.

Here's a Thanksgiving quiz, with help from super sleuthing and social
media. At least two Dickson families did take-out, and another ate
outside. One had ham and another had lamb. More had turkey, but one
isolated dinner opted for turkey breast. One had chocolate cream pie.
Did anyone have frozen fruit salad? Or shop online? How many went to
a distillery? A new tradition? (We did, but not actually on
Thanksgiving.)

One more new tradition here - not one football game. No one seemed to
mind. We did miss the dog show and the Macy's Day Parade.

Here, we did try out a number of new dishes as we expanded from the
usual offerings to incorporate some new vegan takes on squash, cakes,
rolls, and rice. It did mean twice as much food, but we more than
managed to make a dent on the first day, and the fridge was full of
leftovers for the remainder of the visit. And full disclosure, some
of the vegan dishes were better than their animal-based counterparts.

I bet we weren't alone in taking walks every day, or eating leftovers.
We did hike up on Saturday to Mary's Rock in the Shenandoah Park. It
was hard, and it helped us burn off at least one piece of pecan pie.

A word about Simon. A cutie, but we're biased. Easy and rewarding to
get him to smile and/or laugh. I gave him the nickname "last man
standing" since he wore out six adults, but only kind of. He's a 15
minute kind of a guy, and will let you know when he's ready to move on
to the next activity. Did I mention he was teething? Still, so much
fun.

And a word about this part of the country. We had to be patient and
look hard, but we did eventually see one Biden-Harris sign. Not too
many masks either.

Sunday, we headed over to DC for Simon's christening, joined by Jeff
the godfather and Melodie. Annie's the godmother. Andrew's parents
came down to join us. And Simon wore a christening outfit that Mary
wore, passed on to Joe, Margaret and Annie. Now to a third generation.
Then we retreated to Andrew and Margaret's for a distanced outdoor
celebration that included opening a bottle of port from the Douro
Valley, 2016 edition.

Down in Brazil, Leonor started a new tradition, a Thanksgiving tree,
with leaves reading what we're thankful for. And that's all of you,
even if you're far away.

Love from down here

Stay safe

Today, we finished winterizing the homestead. Porch furniture in the garage attic, wood pile and kindling buckets stocked, picnic table and Adirondack chairs put away.  We did this the day after talking to Margaret and hearing they are still getting tomatoes from their garden.  I know, we chose to live here.

Yesterday, on a short walk over to the lake, I saw a neighbor who I hadn't seen in almost a year. I asked how he was holding up, and he answered, "Better than last week."  I wondered what had happened and then it dawned on me he was talking about the election.  Hard to believe it was just last week.  Seems like a lifetime ago.

Mr. Coronavirus is putting a kink in our plans.  We have reverted to isolation and quasi-lockdown, with a little instigation from children and our mayor.  We had been hoping to head south for Thanksgiving, and that is still our plan at this moment.  We thought we'd schedule a test, and contrary to what we've heard all summer long about anyone being able to get a test, we had a heck of a time trying to get one.  It ain't cheap either.  But it could be worse.  Stay safe out there everyone.

One reason to go south is to visit Annie and Sankar in their new digs, in a small town in Virginia, Rileyville.  They sent photos of their view, and as you can imagine since they're so close to the Shenandoah Mountains, it's pretty spectacular.  Did I mention they have a guest bedroom?  We talked to them, and they are in the process of unpacking and trying to work from home at the same time.

The other reason is to attend Simon's baptism, scheduled for the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Speaking of Simon, Andrew has a new job – with NIH, taking advantage of his graduate work in public health. So far, after one week, he likes the change of pace.

The other Andrew out in Illinois passed along I think the photo of the year, of Elliot having leaf fun. Surely there's a magazine out there that will want this one.  Bill and Jen have closed on their house in Dundee and are doing some work on it before moving in.  Andrew passed along a story that had Auden going to the hospital to get a plastic bead removed from her ear.  Sounded a little frightening.

Meanwhile, down in the southern hemisphere, Joe and Leonor and the boys are enjoying warmer weather, swimming outside, as they move into the warm, rainy season.   

We talked to John and Marilyn, and after reviewing the election and mask-wearing (or not, in Florida, it seems, except for J & M), we exchanged recommendations on Netflix and other shows.  Queen's Gambit was ours, and we're now watching one called Messiah.

Last letter, I mentioned that I picked up again on my scanning old weekly letter project.  Here's one item (out of many)  I got a kick out of and thought I'd share to see if anyone remembered this from 1986: "I then stopped in Marlborough to pick up Matthew and Jeffrey for a visit here.  On the drive home, I heard a whispering conversation and finally asked what was going on.  What was going on was a discovery by Jeffrey that 'Pop has hair in his ears.'" 

Grandma's blocks on the cupboard now read "John Tech Hero."  I bought a new printer and then spent a few hours on the phone with HP support to get the wireless feature working for Mary's computer.  Thus, the pat on the back.

Other than that, we've had the occasional Zoom meetings and phone calls and just happy to hear from people.  These are tough times, and they don't look like they're going to get better. The other night we heard on the news a Yale professor who said we won't be back to normal until the end of 2022. Even discounting for his error in choosing Yale, we still didn't feel like doing all this for another year, another month, another week.  But, as I said before, it could be a lot worse.

And with that, hope you all are holding up.  Love from up north.