Farewell to 2013

And hello next year!  

It's quiet around here.  The kitty is wondering where everyone went, but doesn't really mind.  He has his house back to himself -- and the two people he occasionally pays attention to when he's hungry.  And he doesn't have to worry about sharing the house with a dog, who pretty much ignores him.

We had a wonderful Christmas, with Annie, Margaret and Andrew here for a few days.  We had met up in New York City in 70 degree weather.  Mary and I had gone down for our anniversary and to celebrate the end of the semester and take in a show.  The city was packed, especially as we wandered around mid-town, between Broadway and 5th Avenue to take in all the Christmas sights, with the millions of smart people who had the same idea.  It was still fun to see the skating, and the light shows, and fancy stores, and the singing and dancing and bell-ringing Salvation Army Santa Clauses and elves.  

On Annie's advice we headed down to the High Line which is an elevated train track converted to a path, starting next to Madison Square Garden and going south.  I think the same people who were at Rockefeller Center the day before went here.  Or maybe it's just a big city.  Anyway, the trail is very nicely done, and little neighborhoods are springing up all around it.  We had our choice of restaurants when we finished and chose an authentic Mexican one.  It was all helped out by the warm weather. We saw Newsies, a musical about a strike by newspaper boys in the 1890s against Joseph Pulitzer's paper.  The singing was good, but the dancing was phenomenal.  Very entertaining.    

We tried to connect with Peter and Janet for Sunday brunch but it didn't work out.  We actually had brunch at a sidewalk cafe (in December!) with Margaret, Annie and Greg before heading back to Pittsfield.  The warm weather had reached up here, melting almost all the snow.  We had a dusting Christmas morning so we could claim a seasonal white ambiance.   

Andrew came up the next day on the plane, and we had a Christmas eve supper with John and Marilyn. They were having a houseful the next day.  In case you're wondering, the picture here after that supper was not posed.  Just candid. 

Joe called several times, from London and once from Paris.  His girlfriend had gone over to spend Christmas with him, and was generous enough to carry over gifts for him, for his birthday and for Christmas.  He had had Christmas dinner with a friend he met one summer working at the Embassy in Ottawa.

We touched base with almost everyone in both Dickson and Boyle families, from Mexico to Illinois, Rochester, Stonington and New Jersey.  We thought a fair amount of Pomfret at this time of year, and while those days are receding faster than we want, the memories of that happiness, are still fairly close to the surface.  We all crowded in, ate lots of food, played football, sledded, and pretty much made a wreck of their house.  

Each year, on return, we all got a letter from Grandma and Pop, thanking us for making the trek north and east, and reminding us, as if we needed reminding, how special that time was.

So here's a resolution for 2014.  Let's try to get together!  Any ideas?

Love from up here.     

How can it get any more Christmas-y?

The tree is up, so are the wreaths, Mary has been making cookies, the UPS guys are here too much, there's fire in the fireplace, and.... there's snow on the ground.  Where are Currier and Ives to paint a picture?  We have a few more things to do, like write a Christmas letter and .... and....and..... The list never ends.  But it's fun.

And one thing that is not fun, is I have one more paper due this Friday.  Then we'll have fun.  We're off to NYC for a couple of nights.  Wanna come?  We'll see Annie, and bring her home.  Margaret's also planning to be up in that neck of the woods for the weekend, before coming north.

Our big news was the first big snow of the year, which I bet folks in Pennington also got.  We know New York City got a lot since Annie sent us a photo.  Out in Rochester and Chicago we have a long way to catch up.  Anyway, it snowed all day Saturday, but teeny flakes, and then got a little more serious over night, so we woke up to about 6 inches of the white blanket.  Even though it was Sunday, we had our own little snow day and stayed home, except for a walk in the woods with snowshoes.  Exhilarating.  

We remembered that this was the weekend we had panned to go to Boston, for Mary's swim meet, but we cancelled since she had not been feeling well and so wasn't swimming.  So, good thing we didn't go since we probably would have gotten caught up in the mess.  Things work out.

Margaret finished her semester handing in her last paper.  She and Andrew are going to celebrate by going to a Beyonce concert.  Why didn't I think of that?  When is Beyonce coming to Pittsfield?  

We had a long chat with the Chicago folks who were getting ready to go out to Michigan to pick up Claire for the winter break.  Lur's parents continue to struggle health-wise.  Apparently, Myles is keeping everyone in good spirits though.  We have to see them!  We have to see Daniel dunk a basketball.

Out in Rochester, it sounds like the deer are taking over or at least feeling right at home in David and Paula's back yard.  They are expecting Jeffrey and Melodie up from DC and Matthew, Tina and Oliver on the big day.

Joe sent us a photo he took on his way to a Christmas party.  He was wearing his new kilt, along with Pop's tuxedo jacket and a bow tie.

And Peter wrote with some sad news that one of their friends from McCarter Theater has been accused of embezzlement.  He was a big supporter of Janet's work with the blind.

Another first to check off the bucket list - an auction.  Mary and I went to our first live auction with the fast talking and everything.  No pork bellies or cattle, but we did get a small rug.  We were outbid a few times on other rugs, and left before the furniture came up.  An hour plus was about all that I could handle.  

Other happy events?  Does the dentist count?   Finishing the second season of Homeland?  John and Marilyn came over for tea and cookies yesterday.They have been walking six miles a day.  Not sure what the snow will do to their hikes.  David says the path by the canal where he walks is plowed.  

At some point, I will have to tell you about our project to go back to Gabon this summer.  And about my thesis on historic preservation.  But they're still in the planning phase so we'll wait until they're a little firmer.

And that's all the news from up here.  We hope you all enjoying the anticipation and the joy of the season.

Love.  

Turkey and stuffing

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We checked in around the Dickson/Boyle nation, and it sounded like everyone managed to get to their destinations despite weather and illness really trying to undermine get-togethers.

We decided to overlook Mary's lingering cold and the Weather Channel's dire forecasts to depart early Wednesday morning (really early) for the drive first to New York to pick up Annie and then on down to Washington.  Driving rain meant slow going, but we kept imagining what it would have been like a few degrees colder.  I am sure we would have turned back,  But we arrived, with the weather turning south of New York, for an easier drive the rest of the way.  

We are starting a new tradition of some kind of Asian food on the night before Thanksgiving, so we had take out at Margaret and Andrew's place.  We were staying at Mary's friend Gerry's house, where we also had a spectacular turkey dinner with four pies (two pumpkin made by Annie and Margaret.)   We certainly missed Joe this year, but he called to say he was at work, but leaving to go have Thanksgiving dinner with his boss in London.   

Friday, Annie returned to New York, and we went to a movie "Nebraska" with Gerry, Andrew and Margaret.  Kind of depressing, but Andrew had the best review: it should be rated PG-55.  Kind of an old folks getting older movie.  But the son takes care of the Dad.  (Are you listening out there, sons?)  We weren't the only ones who went to a movie as we saw on Facebook that Janet and Johanna had gone to the new Hunger Games movie.  Probably a better choice than Nebraska.

The photo is from the previous weekend when Peter and Janet trekked up for the weekend, and Peter and I kept on trekking all the way to Dartmouth to go crown the Ivy League football champions, Princeton, in what should have been a rout.  Unfortunately, I proved to be a jinx, and the Tigers lost, but they still kept a share of the Ivy title.  Did I mention it was cold?  And that the field was pretty much all white with heavy, wet snow by the time Princeton decided to mount a comeback?  Mary and Janet had a warmer, "Lenox" ladies day, going out to lunch and shopping in quaint old Lenox.  

David and Paula had a quiet Thanksgiving, but also one filled with white stuff as they did not escape the storm.  We understand Matthew, Tina and Oliver were heading out to Cleveland for the day and that Jeffrey and Melodie had Thanksgiving nearby DC.

The Dundee Dicksons were all together with Lur's family, and Claire making the trip home for the holiday.

John and Marilyn had a houseful as well of daughters and their families.  He also sent us this link to a brief TV news item on the robotic arm which Brian, Kara's husband, has been working on.  Pretty incredible: http://www1.whdh.com/video/player/top-video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9582968

Did anyone notice that there was no mention of shopping on Thanksgiving?  Or the day after?  Until now.

I was surprised to go to church on Sunday and see that it was already the first Sunday of Advent.  You know what that means!  

With that, we'll close with a thankful appreciation for all our families.  

Love from over here.  

Panic time

We've come to that time of the academic semester best known as PANIC time. It's the moment when you realize you've been on auto-cruise and if you're going to finish everything by the end of the semester, serious changes in lifestyle have to be made.  Like skipping meals and sleep and just sitting at the computer and typing.  The good news is that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, at some point in mid-December when all of a sudden you become human again.

Needless to say, despite knowing it's panic time, I am still planning on going to Dartmouth this weekend with Peter to watch a football game and then going down to DC next week for Thanksgiving.  What's that the say about denial not being just a river in Egypt?  One paper down, two to go.  I think Margaret, Annie and Sean are in the same boat, but I think everyone else remembers those days.  

On the good news front, John and Marilyn have returned from Florida for the season's holidays.  They were greeted back the day they arrived with our first snow of the year.  Good timing.  Mary and I had dinner with them ad heard about their enviable schedule and Johnny's surfing attempts.  Sounds like one of those things better off having started at age 6.

More good news - Annie secured an internship this summer at Bank of America.  She had gone down to Charlotte NC for an interview and then heard last Friday, just in time to really enjoy her weekend.  We also enjoyed her good news up here.

To a certain extent.  We conducted our fourth "cleanse diet" last week, and so there was a limit to partying.  We each lost weight again, and hopefully got back on track, adding another food item to our no-no list.  Let's see if we can keep that list intact through Thanksgiving.

We spoke with David who had gone to Albany; he has been doing some expert witness testimony for legal clients.  I wonder how I can be an expert witness, for raking leaves.  Sounds like a good gig.

We also got a photo from Margaret who had gone to the White House to go bowling.  Really, the White House.  She was unimpressed by the bowling alley, but it looked like they were having fun.  I think there's a story there, but hopefully not so big a one that lands her in jail for trespassing.

We have gone to see two very good movies we recommend highly: Captain Phillips and 12 Years a Slave.  Actually, I am not sure Mary recommends the latter as it was so disturbing.  But it really brings home the brutality of slavery that no book has ever quite captured so glaringly.

Mary got together with Boyle ladies the other night - Marilyn, Erin her niece, Pat (nephew Michael's wife) and Annie (brother Michael's wife).  We also got our car "detailed" by Robbie (Coleen's son) who managed to get the stains out of the carpets and the seats that the pros in Maryland couldn't do.  Thanks.

Other than that, it is swimming, hiking, teaching and studying, hiking, teaching, swimming, studying, and then start all over again.  We have had a bit of a weather reprieve, though.

Hope you all are well, and an early wish for a Happy Thanksgiving.  Love from up here.          

It's Dark

So, we got to sleep an hour later.  Was it worth it?  It's 5pm and it's dark outside.  I remember not so long ago working in the garden until 9pm.  I did enjoy the extra hour though.  I think I'll enjoy the longer sunlight come spring.

Speaking of garden, we are eating the last of our lettuce tonight, with one small cherry tomato.  We still have to harvest some carrots.  It was a fantastic garden year.  Unfortunately, the deer have moved in, and while they seem to be focusing on the apples, we have seen them near the flower gardens. 

We just returned from a packed weekend in NYC, Princeton and Washington DC.  (The extra hour came in handy.)  Friday morning we got an early start and met up with Annie for coffee near her dorm.  She told us about Halloween in Philadelphia at an old prison turned museum, turned haunted house.  (See photo, in case you didn't guess.)  She also filled us in on her internship search for the summer.  We next went to Princeton where Peter joined us for a talk with the university preservation architect and a tour of the buildings designed by William Potter, the architect who did the old library in Pittsfield.  We were going to go to the library, but had to cut that short to make....

Dinner in Washington with Margaret and Andrew, and our friends, the Schwartz's, who we knew from South Africa and marathon days.,  Larry, at age 61, just ran in the Marine Corps Marathon.  A challenge.  Mary went to a sleep-over with her Peru friends and I had dinner with Peace Corps friends.  We are talking about a return trip to Gabon next summer, with a small group of people, hopefully to fix up one of schools which Peace Corps built in the 1960s.  Lots to do on that front, and more to tell later as those plans get off the ground.

We met up with Margaret and Andrew on Sunday for brunch/lunch and football watching/chatting.  They had just spent a week or so at Jeffrey and Melodie's watching their pets, in return for them watching D, while Margaret and Andrew went to Mexico.  Jeff and Melodie had gone to Honduras, for some island fun.  The photos on Facebook looked great.  

We headed back home on Monday, but stopped in Princeton one more time, to look at a file in the university archives on the architect - not much there.  But we did get a chance to see Peter again and have lunch.  Peter said Johanna was starting a new job, and that David had seen her last week when he was in NYC for a meeting.

We talked to Joe a few times.  He had gone to Jordan for a brief visit to see his girlfriend, and she had come to London for a return visit.  Nice to be close and jet-setters.  Joe thinks he has found an apartment.  

Lots of college football talk, from unusual quarters.  Hobart is not just a lacrosse school, and is seeking a spot in the playoffs for Division III (?).  And Peter was talking about how good the Princeton team is this year, which was confirmed when we saw the college football wrap-up on Sunday with the Princeton quarterback throwing for an NCAA record of 29 straight completed passes.  Princeton scored over 50 points for the fourth time this fall.  Where have I been?  UMass lost.

Some left-over news:  We had a nice visit from Mary Fort who had stopped by for a lunch as she was up here for a weekend on Mount Greylock. 

And the big news of the week was Mary's swim meet. She did well for her age group in breast stroke, but her relay team placed in the top ten in the country. My big news is that I was able to squeeze in a nap.

And on that news.....love from over here.

Official-dom

It's official, the outdoor furniture is stored away, and we are expecting our first frost this week.  No complaining, though, as it's been a pretty spectacular fall, with glorious sunny days.  In fact, the weather has been so good, it's hard to sit in a dark office and do school work.  

It's also official that I am now a member of the Pittsfield Historical Commission, and I have my first meeting tonight.  Will Garrison, the curator I worked with at Arrowhead this summer, is the chair of the commission, so he nominated me.  Mary and I went to the city council meeting where they approved the nomination (by unanimous vote - or maybe pro forma) and then I was sworn in and passed the on-line ethics course.  I am not sure all it entails, but I do remember submitting our own demolition request to the commission for a waiver before we could start work on this house.  

What else is official?  Okay, I gotta say it. It's official, our government is dysfunctional.  The Red Sox and the Cardinals are in the World Series, that's pretty official.  

Joe is officially in London now.  He left at the beginning of the shutdown.  We spoke to him last night, after two weeks of work.  He's working for the U.S. representative of a European bank.  The work sounds hard, as it's multilateral, meaning that he has to find common ground with other countries to get anything accomplished.  It used to be easier when we ran the world.  Of course, running our own country used to be easier.

Margaret, as I write, is on her way back from a weekend in Mexico.  She and Andrew had gone down for the wedding of one of her high school amigas.  We got a couple of photos, and it looked like she was having and fun and visiting a few of our old haunts.  

Annie had a weekend course, and she is busy with homework.  She still finds time for catching up with friends from Hamilton and Pomfret.  A nice benefit to being back in the U.S.

Birthdays this time of year are for Claire, Billy and Kathleen.  Wonderful.  

Mary is enjoying her new job, and likes the part-time status.  She got a little bored with Mr. Gotta-read-all-the-time and went down for a girls' weekend with Marj in Rhode Island for a night of giggling, I think.  

We talked to David who says their bathroom project is done, very quickly as well.  And, best of all, it looks nice.  

Anyone else with leaves?  Anyone need a leaf blower?  I found in our basement Pop's old leaf blower, the subject of his famous story about having a discussion with Mom over whether to buy one or continue to use his trusty rake.  He wanted the rake, Mom the leaf blower, and he ended his story by telling us he'd let us know how much the leaf blower cost. He told it better.

We actually have a natural leaf blower, the wind, which moves all our leaves into the woods. Pop's line about leaves - the family that leaves together, stays together.   

And on that note, love from over here.    

Hello Auden

The world stops with the birth of a family member.  Cares, worries, jobs, to-do lists, errands, they all come to a screeching halt.   Even baseball.  Wow.  Wonderful.  Congratulations to the Illinois clan. Everyone looks so happy, and Miles looks so big.  When did he grow up?  And Auden is beautiful.  And Jen looks strong and ready to go!  

Unfortunately, the government also came to a screeching halt.  But I have yet to read that this was due to Auden.  Margaret kept working, as her contract was already on last year's budget.  Joe was furloughed, and that had huge implications as he was set to move to London.  He was told one day that he should go to London, put a downpayment on an apartment and that he would get reimbursed.  Oh, and by the way, he would still be furloughed.  I thought he should call up his old St. Andrews classmates (Andrew and Kate) and stay with them, for 50 years.  Well, eventually all got sorted out, and he was packed out on Thursday and left for London on Saturday.   We heard he had arrived safely.  A new chapter, at least for the next 6 months.  Margaret and Andrew threw him a going away party Saturday night.

Births also remind us of birthdays.  Happy birthday Johanna, Janet and Paula.  David and Paula came to Pittsfield to spend her big day.  And Peter and Janet came up from NJ to join the festivities.   Mary baked a birthday.....strawberry rhubarb pie, and Peter made dinner the following night.  Thanks!  We brought out Grandma and Pop's photo albums from high school and college, and I even found my old honor cards from Far Hills Country Day.  Peter was a good sport.  

We had spent the day at Hancock Shaker Village for their fall country fair.  It was a beautiful, sunny, fall day and there were lots of exhibiters - Quilts, Shaker boxes, timber frame construction workshops, furniture.  Special.   Peter and I went for a hike into the state forest across the street, and the ladies went to Stockbridge.  At least one the guys went home for a nap.  ME!

David and Paula stayed over Sunday night and met up the next day for my tour at Arrowhead before heading back to Rochester.  Thanks!  

Cliff and Sheila were here this weekend, and we also went through photos, this time from scotland, reliving our adventures this summer.  Cliff also brought his chain saw, and we cut down about ten trees, and we have firewood for next year.  I have been splitting wood this summer, and we're ready for this winter.  And it's coming.  We turned on the heat this week, but we still have not had a frost so the garden continues to produce.  

We had many nice photos we wanted to put in the weekly letter, of Johnny surfing in Florida, of Paula's birthday, of Margaret outside the Bengals' bar for the patriots game, the woodpile, but this space was reserved for Auden.   

Love from this corner.