It's a jungle out there

Two woods diverged in a family – one in Maine and one in Brazil.

Well, actually, the one in Brazil was more than woods – it was the jungle, the Amazon.  We got a text from Joe saying he was going into the jungle. At first, I thought he meant Thomas and Joao's room.  When Mary asked for clarification, he wrote back and said "the Amazon."  Well, I've heard that the Amazon is quite a big place, and that there are places in it that no one has actually gone to, or other places that some have gone into but never come out of.  Hmm.

Long story, to note that the photos Joe and Leonor sent back from their long weekend in the Amazon were spectacular, and I share a couple of them with you all.  I hope the two young boys will have some memory of it.  

The other woods was the Maine woods.  Mary and I went up to see our friends Cliff and Sheila, who live about an hour from the NH and Quebec borders.  Way up there.  Cliff told us that they were in the middle of a drought, and I pass that along only as an explanation for why the fall foliage colors were so spectacular, in comparison to what we're seeing around here, with all our rain.  Our leaves are turning….brown, for the most part.

Anyway, it was a beautiful drive up there, north of the White Mountains.  We were led on a walking grouse-hunt (no shots fired) by Cliff, and toured a local history museum.  But, what do I remember most?  The first Philly Cheese Steak I had in years.  Imagine that, a Philly Cheese Steak in Strong, Maine at the White Elephant Restaurant.  Almost as good as Fred's Café in Pocotello, Idaho.

Other big news out of Brazil is a girl.  Leonor and Joe found out today, confirmed, they are having a girl.  They have a name, but I've already spilled too much of their news to tell.

Out on the west coast, Annie and Sankar have moved into their new apartment.  Unfortunately, the day before their move, one of their kitties, Petta, was hit by a car.  Annie found him in the road; he is making a slow recovery.  

Speaking of slow recovery, we're pleased to note Peter's good doctor news last week.

Down in DC, the big news is Simon has mastered a playground slide.  All by himself, with squeals of delight, I would add.  Of course.

Birthday wishes galore for Janet this week, whose birthday used to be shared with Columbus Day, but now Indigenous People's Day.  How 'bout that for a lifetime of witnessing change?

And, this week, coming up is Claire's birthday, followed closely by Kathleen and Billy.  I do remember calling October birthday month.  And I forgot to mention that Auden also had her 8th birthday, the day after Johanna.  She had an old-fashioned tea party, that reminded me of a tea party Ann had when we were living in Indian Hill for her birthday.  I wasn't invited.  And I know why.

What else?  Mary went down to NYC for a day-visit to the Botanical Gardens to catch before it closed an exhibit by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama that looked sensational.  I wasn't invited to that either.

It meant we played host to Marj and Lew and had a string of breakfasts and dinners with Mary's high school crowd, and then watched the nail-biting Game 5 which the Red Sox pulled out.

I mowed the lawn today, and hope it's the last one of the season, but with the temps still in the 70s during the days, I may be mowing through December.  Ugh.  Is it better than shoveling snow?

With that, love from up here.  

Babies and babies

By now, hopefully, everyone has seen Sean and Erin's big news, expecting a baby in February next year.  They posted other news on our Facebook group, about their new house in Maryland and new jobs, but the baby was the big news.  Just wonderful and congratulations!

Right on the heels of that announcement, Leonor slipped into her Tiny Beans photo posting that she and Joe were expecting again, with the due date in March next year, right on the heels of the Maryland birth.  And also wonderful and congratulations.  Being the practical guy, my thoughts go to reserving more cabins at the Poconos!!  And a wider lens to take a photo of the growing clan.  

Not sure there's anything worth reporting after those FANTASTIC updates.

But, here goes.  Mary and I spent the weekend down in Washington with Margaret, and Andrew and a certain young man named Simon.  A barrelful of laughs and wonder; the little guy changes seemingly right in front of our eyes.  We were able to squeeze in visits with a couple of friends and return to our old church, where the minister remembered us by name, even with masks on!  I had a senior moment in ordering a Door Dash meal when Andrew and Margaret escaped for a night out.  I had the meal sent to Joe's old address in DC, so no wonder I couldn't find the meal on the front porch when I received the alert text.  I called the delivery guy (dasher) and overheard him talking to the people at Joe's old house who were complaining that that wasn't what they ordered!

 
There seems to be a common thread in the letter thus far – social media and the gig economy.  And, it continued when we had a conference call with our Encore de la Paix friends as we explored another Gabon project.  After discussing libraries and containers full of books, we settled on putting together a project of teaching English over Zoom.  That way, no travel, no heavy lifting, and, more gigabytes.

Out in Oakland, Annie and Sankar are settling back to their routines, and have found a more permanent home that they will occupy this weekend.  It's in an intentional community, and we look forward to hearing more of what that entails.  Down in Brazil, Leonor's father and step-mother are into their final days of visit, and this past weekend they all traveled to a nearby park full of waterfalls, parrots, swimming holes and hiking trails.  

We also heard from Timmy who was in the midst of his move from Washington to Montana.  And we checked in with John and Marilyn who are doing well in their Covid-free bubble down in Florida.  And from Dundee, we hear that Miles has started basketball practices.  I hear there are scouts in the stands already.

And it's birthday season.  Today is Johanna's big day, and we passed by both Tina's and Paula's.  Happy celebrations to all.  And to mark the occasions, I offer up the following portion of the October 5, 1983 letter, that adds a little to the famous cut-short fishing trip in the Adirondacks:  "It's fun to get calls from Washington.  Mom called last night to relate one more 'progress-things are getting better' report.  She had seen Johanna and was so glad to describe all the emotion of seeing a bright little girl.  Peter and Janet had held her during the day and so normalcy seems to be taking over,  Thank God……. "

Since I have scanned all the weekly letters in the files I kept, I am now going through old boxes of letters and envelopes I saved for the stamps and carted around the world for the past 40 years. I have unearthed a few stray weekly letters that didn't make their way into my files. Better, though, it's been fun to open up letters addressed to New Hampshire, Arlington VA,  and Lagos, many from parents, brothers and sisters-in-law.  First, I need to thank you all for writing over those years, since, as you might guess, getting a letter was so much fun and so special.  Second, though, it points to a bygone time when we actually spent more than a few seconds to reach out to friends and family and even wrote real stuff that mattered in relation to things that were going on in our lives. There was one quote in a weekly letter from Pop who hadn't heard from his sons during the week and asked if we needed pens.  A lost art form unfortunately.

Closing out, the photos here are of outings that parents plan in order for their young children.  Can you spot Donald?  A taste of what's coming your way, Sean and Erin.  Fun and memories.

Love from up here.
.  

Nantucket and beyond

Sometimes a weekly letter just writes itself, there is so much to report.

Once again travel is high on the agenda.  First to Nantucket, where the David Dickson family retreated (advanced?) as part of the 50th wedding anniversary celebrations.  Looks like they had good weather, and the posts on social media showed lots of sand, sun, fun and food.  Wonderful.  Jeff and Melodie left their dog Hopper with Margaret and Andrew, which resulted in this wonderful photo here.  Tina, by the way, replied to my question from the least letter that she is staying at Strong Hospital in "outpatient testing," that has more normal hours and less stressful Covid interactions.   

 
And then there was a trip to Chicago.  Johanna headed out to start her graduate program at Northwestern, that requires her to go out there a few times a semester.  And, she has a place to stay while out there!  Chez Daniel.  Andrew and Lur caught up with Johanna, hoping for dinner in the windy city, but settling for a ride to the airport.  Also, out in Illinois, Claire organized an outdoor concert for her parents in a place I never heard of, but probably should have – Ravinia, and the group performing which I am also told I should have heard of was Lake Street Dive.  Spotify here I come.

Another newcomer to in-person college was Sage who started her first year.  It wasn't a long trip, distance wise, to Berklee in Boston, but I imagine it was long in metaphorical ways.  Exciting adventure in music ahead.  Spotify look out!

Annie and Sankar made their way up the coast of California back to the Bay area.  They seem happy to be back, but need to find more permanent digs.  In the meantime, they are doing yet another month of air b&b until something opens up the first of October.  Quite a year of travel and adventure as well for them.  And their kitties.

Down in Brazil, Joe and Leonor joined Leonor's father and stepmother on a trip back to the state of  Bahia along the east coast of Brazil.  Funny that they were able to rent a place for a week that Leonor's father had lived in for many years.  The beach photos from there look spectacular.

Speaking of Brazil, Mary and I took the plunge and bought our tickets to Brazil for November, where we hope to spend Thanksgiving with them.  Pretty sure by then this Covid stuff will all be cleared up.  Ahem.
And, speaking of Covid and optimism, I took another plunge and rented a sixth cabin for the Poconos next July, since Bill and Jen said they might be coming.  Mark your calendars – July 14-17.
It has occurred to us that we have one week left of summer 2021.  As a result, we have a whole long list of things we wanted to do all summer long, but weren't able to.  So in the past few days, we pulled out the canoe and headed over to the lake for an evening paddle; we reserved a campsite in Pittsfield state forest last night for what could have been our best camping weather ever (almost hot this morning); we are trying to convince some contractors to put up gutters, seal the house from pests, and finish painting the porch, but everyone is so busy; we had our first and last lobster rolls of the season; and finally, I headed over to Wow Cow and had my first and last "Wizzard" with vanilla ice cream and Butterfinger pieces.  All I can say is, why did I wait so long?

On a more serious front, we signed up for teaching English to the 60 or so Afghan refugees who are supposed to be coming to the Berkshires at some point.  We took our cue from Margaret who spent a few nights in the past week at the in-take center near Dulles airport, greeting and processing the first arrivals.  She has pretty incredible stories of families, both relieved and nervous, about what lies ahead.
Our weekly hikes show more leaves along the paths and the first breathtaking colors to help us ease into the next season.  

Stay healthy – love from up here.
 
 

Where are your children?

Do you know where your children are?  Apparently, we do not. 

Except for Margaret.  She and Andrew and Simon just spent a glorious two weeks here, glorious for us anyway.  More on their visit later. 

But, as you can see from the photo, Annie clearly did not get her father's permission to go cliff hiking or canyon climbing or whatever.  And I thought Simon was "Johnny Danger."  She and Sankar were in Kanab, Utah on their one-week, different-city trek across the country, after spending a week in Santa Fe.  I reluctantly add that it sure looks fantastic, the scenery and the two adventurers. This work from home and air bnb stuff seems to be working for them.  And they have figured out how to do all this with a motorcycle and two cats.  Cover your ears Grandma when I say motorcycle.

Meanwhile, down in Brazil, Leonor is playing nurse for baby John who contracted some form of foot and mouth disease.  Looks painful for both parties. Joe is missing out on that fun, as he traveled for work and then went to an old colonial city called Ouro Preto in the state of Minas Gerais.  Anyone ever heard of those?  No?  Joe said Ouro Preto was once larger than New York City. 

 
It hasn't been a good summer for pets, particularly in Dundee and Washington DC.   Jeff and Melodie had to put down Codger, their long-time cat, as they join Andrew and Lur who lost both their dog and cat this summer.  I did see a whole bunch of Facebook posts for a day I never knew existed – national dog day.  What planet have I been living on?  So, here's to Brigitte and Molly and Hopper.  (Match the dog with their owner.)  Anyone else out there?

In the category "I wish we knew more," I see that Tina has a new job and congratulations are in order.  Hmm.  I have questions.  WHAT IS THE NEW JOB?  And second or third hand, I hear that Sean and Erin have moved, close to Baltimore.  More questions.  IS THERE A NEW JOB AS WELL?  What's the attraction  in Baltimore?  It can't be the longest losing streak in major league baseball this year?

You won't have any questions about the past two weeks here.  Margaret and Andrew came up here to work from home and enjoy the "cool" Berkshires.  This time they flew. That meant Mary and I helped out on the day care for Simon, but both parents were always in ear or eye-shot in case we (me) muffed up.  So, what's this little boy up to now?  He's walking a lot, those toddler walks with both arms up for balance. He has a few words, that parents understand, like more and again, and uh-oh.  Our morning trips to the end of the driveway to pick up the paper gave me another word, a version of "paper."  He likes cows and blueberry picking, big trucks and boats, eating while standing up, and grocery stores.  He sure made us laugh a lot. and had all four adults trying to figure out what he wanted on a few occasions.  Andrew and Margaret got short breaks for a few evenings out, golf, bird-watching, swimming, kayaking and museums. 

 
It's a lot to ask a small baby to change routine and environment, but we are thankful to have the opportunity to spend extended periods of time with all three!

Out in Dundee, Andrew and Lur are harvesting from their plot at a community garden near the hospital where Lur volunteers.  They missed the weather from Henri, but it looks like NJ got soaked, as did we.  None of the other dire forecasts for here panned out, fortunately. 

 
On the garden front here, we harvested enough beans for many meals with Margaret and Andrew, and the blueberries kept vanishing almost as soon as we picked them.  Lots of squash, and we are looking forward to four pumpkins.  I want to pick them right now but Mary is standing guard to save them.

Pumpkins means fall is in the air, and while we'll miss summer, it's nice to see the cooler temps and then the glorious foliage.

Love from up here.  

Superheroes

Starting this letter on Friday the 13th, but I'm just superstitious enough not to post it until tomorrow.  But not superstitious enough to postpone writing it.  

Mary's off on a ladies' night out with her book club group that consists of eastern Mass folks, but has been able to meet over the past year plus via Zoom.  Sounds like she had a good time, when she checked in this morning.  Glad that at least one of us did.

It's hot here, as I am sure it is wherever you are.  Rainy to hot means tons of mosquitos.  Out in Dundee, Andrew says they have been experiencing the impact of nearby tornadoes, with downed trees in the neighborhood.  Claire had been there, on her way to a return stint at the Green Lake camp to fill in for counselors who had to leave early.  

We also checked in with the Fairport gang, to hear about their upcoming trip to Nantucket in September.  Their stay is all part of their 50th wedding celebration, and Jeffrey, Melodie and Matthew and Tina and the boys will be joining them.  I told them we'd go down to the Mass Pike and wave as they went by.  And then, the voice of Donald echoed on the phone.  He had been staying with David and Paula while attending a day camp for music.  Going in to second grade this year, he has been doing choral and voice lessons this summer, but he mostly wanted to fill me in on all things superheroes.  His excitement about Black Widow, Spiderman and Black Panther reminded me of a young Matthew and Star Wars.  Or even Thomas.

I got a text this week from an unknown number, but fortunately Billy identified himself and asked for details of the Poconos next year.  He almost committed to joining us next July 14-17, which means we may need more cabins.  It would be great to see his family who are all grown up/growing so fast.

Paula had wondered that we probably could have made the Poconos work this year, but I suspect we would have been right on the edge.  We are back to wearing masks here when we're indoors.  Could be the new normal.  It was fun going around unmasked for a few weeks.  

Sickness seems to be a theme in DC and Brazil.  Simon has been missing a few days from day care which makes it hard or impossible to work with a sick baby at home.  He is really moving around on two feet.  And Margaret said in the midst of all that she had a root canal.  Down in Brazil, they have been passing around a stomach virus which as you can imagine doesn't sound pretty at all.  Fortunately, no positive tests for Covid anywhere.

A big thank you to Janet for putting me on to DeerScram.  It seems to be doing the trick, along with netting, coffee grounds, and spray.  All out war, or almost all out war – no guns.  Yet.  Anyway, they are leaving the peaches and blueberries alone and we are the beneficiaries.  This year I gave up a big chunk of the garden to two pumpkin mounds, and they are trying to assume control over the whole garden.  We do have three nice big pumpkins.  

What else?  We had visitors from DC, foreign service friends from South Africa, and we're looking forward to a visit from Margaret and Andrew who are coming up on Sunday.  With Simon of course.  
Also on the road were Jeffrey and Melodie who looked to be out In Minnesota, and Annie and Sankar who have finished up one-week stays in New Orleans and Austin, and are on their way to Santa Fe.

We had a busy Herman Melville week as well, with the annual marathon reading and the hike up Monument Mountain.  To everyone's surprise, Paul Giamatti, the Sideways and Billions actor, jumped on via Zoom, and we convinced him to read the ending for us.  Quite a thrill for our little museum.  In the process, I learned that he is the son of the former Major League Baseball Commissioner and President of Yale and literature professor, Bart Giamatti.

I have finished as much as I have for scanning Pop's Weekly Letters, but Johnny sent me his old photo scanner that can digitize slides and negatives.  A new project.  Thanks, Johnny, I was almost getting bored.

With that, hope you all are well and taking care – Love from up here.

  

Going too fast

The summer is going too fast.  The temperature this morning here was 48 degrees.

Some garden news to start off.  It's been a tough year, with the rain and pests.  Our harvest remains minimal, and we remain jealous of Andrew's and Jeffrey's tomatoes down in DC.  Our plants here are rotting, and those that have made it through are getting devoured by slugs, and we have now found we are host to the famed Asian jumping worm.  Mary pulled out a whole nest of them the other day from her flower garden.  They're enough to give you nightmares.  And I didn't even mention the deer, but Janet gave me a tip on deer repellent, which we were unable to use because of your week at the Jersey shore.

Did someone say Jersey shore?  I've been hearing about it for years, and even though we lived five years in the state as children (and Peter and Janet now for many more years), the only time I remember going there was a cold, spring vacation day when Pop had the big idea to take the family there, and Andrew stepped in dog poop. 

Nevertheless, we now know why people consider it so nice.  Long, unending beaches, manageable waves, warm water.  We rented a nice big house in Brigantine, which is on a spit of land just north of Atlantic City.  A block and half from the beach meant that we could come and go as we please and not have to coordinate rides or struggle with parking.  And we did go to the beach, as often as possible, even the day it rained.  Thomas gets the gold star for spending hours and hours in and out of the waves and the sand and then collapsing at night.  But Baby John and Simon were right there behind him, and of course parents.  Grandmother may have come in second to Thomas for time in the water.  Grandfather somehow disappeared every day shortly after lunch.

The house was full of activity, or should I say chaos?  Games and tv, toys and books, cheerios and apple slices and sippy cups.  There was a big kitchen island that was, within minutes of arrival, the repository for all things edible, drinkable and otherwise.  Leonor found a "shark park" nearby home to a ship and castle and a slew of other entertaining obstacles and swings and slides, and that became part of the daily routine, followed by smoothies and/or ice cream. 

Simon went from a couple of tenuous steps walking to a marathon of tenuous steps, and Baby John was cruising around, only to really take his first independent steps after returning to Brazil!  Other memories included Thomas' stories conflating Captain Ahab and Starbuck, with Gilligan and the millionaire and Captain Hook.  All fun.  Margaret had given Annie a surfing lesson for her birthday, and Sankar joined them.  The first day, they could barely get the hang of it; the second time they went out, they were pros, standing up and riding the waves repeatedly and endlessly.  I suspect more than one of them wants to quit working and become a surf bum.

And amidst all the chaos, sat Sankar with his headphones at the table getting his work done.  Quite an office. 

The week prior, we were happy hosts to the Brazil gang up here, that included toughing out some rainy days.  The sun finally emerged, and we were able to put out the small wading pool, and we even went swimming in the lake with fearless Thomas.  Joe and Leonor were able to get out a few times, as two grandparents, mostly Mary, were happy to hang with our homey little friends.

On Mary's birthday, everybody returned home from the shore, and Joe and Leonor have a trip to forget, I think.  But we were so glad they made the trek north.

Today, Annie and Sankar are supposed to start their trek back to the bay area, taking a month to wander through New Orleans, Austin and Santa Fe for a week of remote work at each place before moving on.

Timmy came east, and was able to stay here and attend to all of the kitty's many needs, mostly consisting of opening and closing the doors to let him in and out several thousand times a day.  He headed back shortly after our return to relocate to Montana.

Another traveler who was living the dream was Natalie, Heather's daughter, who is a college student and bought a used "retro-camper" for a trip around the country.  She stopped in Florida to see her grandparents and then on to points west, south and north.   

It looks like Tina has found yet another conveyance, as we see many pictures of her on the water in kayaks and canoes, along with Donald, who's getting so big!

Out in Dundee, Andrew and Lur helped Daniel move to a new place in the big city, as his roommate, his childhood friend Satchel, is moving to Detroit.

Birthday wishes to close out – Mary, Thomas and Everett. 

Love from up here!

THE YEAR UNLIKE ANY OTHER…

(This is Janet's account of the past year of teaching in the time of Covid.  The photo is a drawing by a PDS student that appeared in the school newspaper and is on their website.  Thanks, Janet for this and for persevering. )

 

Princeton Day School closed for spring break on March 6, 2020. We had warnings that the school might not reopen after the break, so students were told to clear out their lockers and take home anything they would need if we had to go remote.

And in fact, we did. We were remote until September 2020. It was a very difficult time for all. We started out working with Google Meets. Getting attendance in the morning was a nightmare. If the students did show up to homeroom, they usually turned off their cameras. I would tell them I knew what they were doing… turning on Google Meets, turning off their camera, and going back to sleep. A couple of them admitted that I was correct.

There is no doubt that even though this is a private school that endeavored to keep up to date with New Jersey and CDC regulations while making every effort to create a learning experience, a lot of learning was lost. It was a tremendously difficult and frustrating time for both teachers and students.

Summer programs are PDS's big money maker. They offer all types of programs, in class academics, outdoor activities, outdoor sports. They are always overbooked. Well, not the summer of 2020. Teachers were asked to come up with programs that could be offered virtually. I worked with my library colleague, Sheila on a couple of books clubs for younger kids. Not the greatest experience I have ever had. But! We did it.

School opened in September 2020, right after Labor Day, as usual. Because the pandemic seemed to be lessening and following CDC regulations, PDS opened to hybrid learning. Those that wanted to attend school, came. Those that wanted to stay remote, did. No more Google Meets. Now we had Zoom. Not only did we have Zoom, each room had a DTEN, a very large screen. Each morning we opened up our homeroom Zoom and were able to see our advisees at home, while they could see all of us in the classroom.

PDS, as I said, is a private school. To work within this pandemic and its restrictions, they dotted every "i" and crossed every "t." The school divisions were in "bubbles." In the middle school where I work, each grade had its own entrance. Grades could only mix on the playground for recess. Lunches were outside in different places. If they had to be inside, they were in homerooms. Each classroom has a DTEN, as I said, no desk for the teacher, and tables that were bisected with plexiglass, enabling four students to sit at each table. Masks were required except when eating and no one was allowed to talk while eating (which I pointed out was rude manners to begin with). Social distancing was enforced. Middle school students were not allowed upstairs in the upper school, or in the lower school. We library people had to do double duty as the lower school had no librarian. One of the assistants was present in the lower school classroom, while a librarian taught the class remotely. I teamed up with Nadia, the library assistant, and together we taught one Pre-K class and three K classes. Well, actually, I didn't teach, Roary did. Roary is the library lion. He is also a puppet. I just did his voice. I often had to go to lower school library to deliver books or to help out. I could not take the short way through the upper school. I either had to walk outside or go under (the Middle School is one level below the Upper School). No one was allowed in the library to browse the books and I desperately missed all the student contact I had in years gone by. Four teachers taught classes in the library. My part of the circulation desk had plexiglass running along the exterior of the desk. I still had to keep my mask on if anyone was in the room.

Every three weeks or so, students who no longer wanted to be remote, would return to school. By the end of the school year, there were not a lot of remote students. I had two advisees who returned toward the end of the year. Remote learning will not be allowed this upcoming school year.

It was exhausting. We had to be constantly on guard to make sure masks were on and social distancing was observed. We had to spray every table after every class. It was so sad to watch kids who love to interact with each other, love to play contact games with each other, love to fool around be constantly told to stop. Some teachers were very emphatic with the kids, I found myself apologizing to them. They all tried very hard to comply with all the new rules.

To add on to everything, George Floyd was murdered. The head of school advised us to all look at "Black at (name of school)" on Instagram. The stories were heartbreaking. PDS and Lawrenceville stories were filled with racism and just plain meanness. Our head took it to heart and called in a consultant. We spent the entire year in bi-monthly department Zoom meetings. A teacher was named DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) Coordinator. He, in turn, asked all of us to be on different task forces to explore and analyzed behavior at the school. It was a very full year.

I usually do work in the library during the summer, but this summer the Middle and Lower school libraries are being renovated to add a STEAM center to each. The "A" stands for Arts.

I know how lucky we all are at PDS. We are in a private school that has the money to make the school safe. It hurts to see schools struggling, losing students, not able to cope. I so wish it could be different.

Not sure what this year will bring, but having survived last school year, I am ready for anything. I hope.