Vive la France!

We had a truly wonderful sixteen day trip to France, made possible in part by cashing in ten years of frequent flyer miles. We had a lot of Claude Monet (in Giverny, Rouen and three different museums in Paris), a lot of D-Day (Omaha and Utah Beaches, an American and a German cemetery and several museums), six glorious Loire Valley chateaux (Aizy-le-Rideau, Chambord, Chenonceaux, Amboise, Chaumont and Cheverny), Leonardo's tomb and last house (Amboise), some World Cup antics (I watched the Russia-Argentina penalty kicks courtesy of Johanna via Face-Timing her television), four full days in Paris and best of all for me, two of the most transcendentally beautiful holy places I will ever see, Mont Saint-Michel and the massive Chartres Cathedral.

We had interesting hotels and great meals. We drank rosè at every dinner. We went up and down endless spiral and irregular stairs and did a great deal of walking. Just about every Loire Valley chateau figured in a very long-running complicated feud between Catherine deMedici, a queen of France, and Diane de Poitiers, the king's mistress. I still can't figure it all out. We saw other Gothic masterpieces in Rouen, Bayeux and St-Chapelle in Paris. (Notre-Dame in Paris was ridiculously mobbed and we left.) The Bayeux Tapestry is not a tapestry but an embroidery.

Our rental car's navigation system made some weird decisions and spoke with a proper English accent, and Janet named her Clementine, in honor of Winston Churchill's wife. We also experienced ample amounts of today's travel headaches: long delays at airports both ways, uncomfortable flights (why do they even bother to serve such awful food?), glitches on everything technological, a card problem with our bank, crowded Metro cars in Paris (Parisians still do not use deodorant). The weather was much hotter than the forecasts had predicted, but we had no rain on any day, thank goodness for that. When we spoke with people from England, or Belgium or Canada, their subject was, well, you-know-who, which was annoying (I usually answered "I'm on vacation," but we couldn't avoid the subject altogether).

The French:
- are polite drivers, who obey speed limits
- have well-maintained roads
- have way too many narrow roads
- do not rush meals, which in the U.S. would be called "poor service"
- will not bring you a meal check until you ask for it; it's considered an insulting request to leave if you are given the check without asking
- tolerate many many rude tourists
- are much more polite than their reputation
- do not believe in shower curtains
- believe in hand-held showers
- actually understood my French! (well, mostly)

It was the fifth time in France for each of us. We've seen all but a small portion. What made this trip work was planning, and not trying to do too much, so that it was relaxing and we were never in a hurry. About 75% of the trip went as planned and the rest are now stories.

Mt. Springs, the sequel

A week ago tonight, we were eating a wonderful dinner put together by the Paula-Lur-Melodie-David-Andrew-Jeffrey team.  Do you remember what it was?  

If you don't, that's okay since all three days folded into one another to make for a delightful time together, with so much packed into such a short period of time.

What were your highlights?  Ticket to ride, Asia?  Walks around the lake?  Fishing?  Saving Russians?  Catching up with cousins?  Meeting Thomas?  Swimming to the dock?  Teasing each other? Seeing and fleeing from a bear in the woods?  Eating non-stop?  Surviving the rainstorms?  Happy birthdays?  I know one that was not a highlight - hitting traffic on the way home, probably for each of us.

Here are a few observations.  

-- The noise level on the porch the first night surpassed the other two evenings, leaving me to conclude we were all enthusiastic about seeing one another again. 

-- We did miss Matthew and Tina, and are looking forward to seeing all their family next summer.  We'd also love to see Claire and Daniel out here again, and we hear that Bill and Jen have a bus/rv so maybe that would make it easier for them to come out next year.  

-- Small ones, like Donald a couple of years ago, and Thomas this year, are hard work for the parents but just wonderful for the rest of us, to engage in the silliest of ways, to stare at for hours on end, to try to get the smallest reaction from, in the form of a smile, a tongue sticking out, a wave, or a "bbbbbbbbb" of a car-type sound.  (That may be Thomas' first word.)

-- Mary and I weighed ourselves on Monday morning and saw numbers we had not seen since February.  It will be a long haul back, and we're still not making much progress (King Cone is to blame.)  I suspect we may not be the only ones who indulged these three days.

-- Mountain Springs has all the right arrangements of cabins and proximity to lake and each other that gives us, yet again, the freedom to get up and go to bed and nap when we want, to visit each other and even to hide from each other, if we need to.  No names.

-- There's a bit of familiarity with the place and the area so we almost feel like its "ours."  We know the drill and even know where the glasses are kept in the cupboards.

In all the chit chat, we learned about new jobs and highlights from those jobs; we learned of wedding plans; we heard about trips to France, and to Gabon; we talked a little politics, but not sure we learned anything new there; we cracked jokes and told stories.

All that said, we also signed up for another year.  Mark your calendars.  Thursday, July 18-Sunday July 21.  We have reserved five cabins, in the event we are able to lure everyone there.  

In the other stuff happens besides Mt. Springs, Annie prolonged her trip east and came back to Pittsfield with us for the week.  She just left on her way to a couple of nights in NYC before she heads back to Oakland on Sunday.  She did a little work here, and joined my college roommate Steve and his wife, for an evening at Tanglewood and a barbecue and more extended conversations.  She even got us over to the lake a few times for swimming, reminding us how we don't take advantage of that scene enough.  Also, Timmy showed up on Monday night, having decided to move back to the area, at least for the warmer months.  He's looking for a place to call his home over the next few weeks.  

And, this week is a new birthday week.  With Mary and Donald on the 24th and Thomas on the 29th.  There will be another one soon, a real birth-day, as we're awaiting news from Tina and Matthew.  Happy days to all of you.

It's hard to believe it's almost the end of July.  I saw a little golden rod, this week, but still no leaves turning, thankfully.  We want to slow down the time and enjoy the sandals and shorts weather.

So wonderful to see all of you.  The time passes so quickly on these three days together, but when we're in the middle of it, I somehow can't appreciate that it will have to come to an end. 

I can't leave on that sad note, so I'll just point out he obvious how we treasure the time together.  Love from up here.  

And check out these two pictures; first the posed one, and then the one waiting for instructions to pose.      

Dateline Rhode Island beaches

First of all happy birthday to Andrew and happy anniversary to Lur and
Andrew! Memories a very fun weekend in Illinois around that big
event!

More memories too as we drive around the beach towns in Rhode Island
where we had five summer vacations, with picnic suppers of lobster and
corn on the cob, squeezing into Grandma and Pop's station wagon with
children and beach accessories to save money on beach parking, walks
to see the snapping turtles at Trustom Pond, closing our eyes at
Moonstone Beach, dancing to Billy Joel with vacuum cleaners as air
guitars and mikes. We thought they would never end. Well, they
didn't; just a different venue: the Poconos!

Anyway, we came down for a weekend of beach, AAA baseball, good food
and good company. Staying at Marj and Lew's and continuing to explore
the area.

Joe tracked us down yesterday for a FaceTime chat with Thomas who took
his first independent step yesterday. We saw a few photos of him in
the pool yesterday. Leonor also had a bom anniversario last week.
(Excuse the bad translation for happy birthday.)

Annie also tracked us down as she was driving back to the Bay Area
from a weekend in LA, where she said the thermometer hit 118. She
said it felt like an exhaust fan blowing hot air. I bet that was even
hotter than it got in Florida, where John and Marilyn usually receive
the summer heat awards.

I think heat was a common theme for almost everyone, with the
exception of Peter and Janet who were blissfully unaware as they
toured around the French countryside, castles, cathedrals, museums and
good dining offerings! Quelle chance!

We had talked earlier with Margaret who recounted Washington heat
stories as well as Leonor's birthday party that Jeff and Melodie also
attended. Despite the heat we see photos of baseball games and porch
parties. Does anyone work? Why don't people post photos of work on
Facebook? I think I know the answer.

How was your 4th of July? I think I know the answer to that as well:
hot. It was hot at our parade, hot at fireworks and barbecue. Mary's
high school friend Judy joined us with her daughter Bridie and husband
Tom, who enjoyed a more rural respite from the eastern part of the
state.

The garden has been a little disappointing because of a family of
groundhogs who figured out how to squeeze through the fence holes.
So, I declared war, put out peppers, did my best imitation of farmer
Magregor (from Peter Rabbit) and then pulled out the two useless
haveahart traps in the basement. Final result, two young groundhogs
have a new home miles away, and the garden is coming back to life. I
was afraid my garden was going the way of Pop's who finally gave up
and just left the gate open.

Other big news: Claire got a job! Her first teaching job, in
Michigan, near Luddington. I know, she had been teaching, but that
was connected to her student teaching, I think. Anyway, what a
relief. We also saw a short video of her on Facebook playing a silly
game. Looks like fun.

We've been to Tanglewood a couple more times and I finished my summer
lecture requirements. And a few too many trips for ice cream!

This is what we wait for all year long. Summer! Hope yours is super enjoyable.

Love from up here.

Summer's here!

At last.  We made it and are making the most out of the short time.  I hate to say short; in a few weeks we'll be lured into the trap that it's always like this - shorts and sandals, windows and doors wide open, playing in the garden, outdoor hiking, swimming in the lake, daylight stretching into the night hours - you get the point.

So, what do we do when summer comes?  We get in the car and drive away from here.  Last week, we celebrated Father's Day in Washington, with a new member of the club, Joe.  Thomas is growing up so fast, he's a different person every time we see him.  This time, I sharpened my left tackle skills, blocking his crawling path to parts unknown (dining room, stairs) and we took him on a couple of wonderful walks where he proceeded to pretend to show us the sites - he had just learned how to point his finger.  While there, we joined Leonor and Margaret at a downtown pub for a World Cup game, Spain vs. Portugal, which the paper said the next day was a game for the ages.   Can you guess who Leonor was rooting for?  Yup, that's right, but she was magnanimous enough to invite a friend from Spain to join the fun.  Fortunately, it was a tie and everyone left happy.  If you haven't seen it yet, watch Ronaldo's third goal on YouTube.   

The next morning we put on our painting clothes and went over to Andrew and Margaret's to paint their new back fence, and put together a picnic table.  They have done a great job and will be able to spend much time out there. We had a wonderful meal that Joe put together; first time I've ever had brisket, I think.  On the way home, we talked with Annie who has been putting in many miles on long hikes in the Bay Area.  I went for one the other day that was just 7 miles, but Annie easily doubles that and has come close to tripling that, I believe.

On the travel schedule, Joe took a week off and headed to Spain for a friend's wedding; Leonor's mother came to get some quality Thomas time; Jeff and Melodie are out in Chicago (I think, from Facebook, for a wedding); John and Marilyn flew up to Albany for their granddaughter Natalie's high school graduation, and Peter and Janet are getting ready to take off for an extended vacation/tour of France.  Bon voyage.  We know a great place to get chocolate croissants: pretty much everywhere.  

Andrew and Lur are right now up in Green Lake for their annual retreat, that coincides with a Ripon reunion every year.  Clair is nearby at summer camp, but Daniel had to remain in Chicago to finish up his year of school/apprenticeship.

We send congratulations to Peter for winning his big case, and to David and Paula for their wedding anniversary.  From Tina's photos on Facebook, we see their big day approaching.  

After an exhausting month of May getting the garden ready, we are nor reaping some of the early fruits of that labor, literally.  At first, we were able to beat the chipmunks and rabbits to the really red strawberries, but they have since become smarter and faster.  I think they like the white berries, before they ripen.  Strawberries means picking rhubarb for Mary's great pie.  We haven't had to buy asparagus or lettuce.  The other stuff will take longer into the season, but looking forward to tomatoes, beans, squash, cukes, and beets.  I think I mentioned that last time, and will likely raise it again later in the month.

Other than that, we're enjoying the many cultural offerings around, including our first evening at Tanglewood this summer to watch a radio show.  Yes, Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me was performed live here, and while the radio show only lasts one hour, their live version takes a couple of hours, before it's edited down.  Very funny, and what a great spot.  We also went to a bird lecture at the top of Mt. Greylock, and were lost after about ten slides.  I gave mill talk in Dalton to an SRO crowd of 15 or so.  Still fun.

Anyway, Poconos is less than a month away, and we're looking forward to seeing you all   But there's lots more between then and now.

Enjoy the summer. Love from up here.    

​

Reunions!

My 45th Reunion has come and gone and left many, many sweet memories. Princeton Reunions are like none other in the world and go on for four days, although most people only attend the Saturday festivities. I was part of the planning for our class's Reunions this year and came to appreciate how much planning and work is involved. One roommate and friend, Hugh Thompson and his wife Judy, came to their very first, which was very special. I also got to see other old friends and quite a few I did not know as a student, including that digital age phenomenon, those I only knew from social media and met in person for the first time. Lots of fun conversations: who did what as undergrads, who has done what since then. I especially love hearing about things I had forgotten. There were a few sad stories, too.

My additional treat is to see and hear from former students, several this year. On Sunday at the farewell brunch, I had a funny meal with a classmate whom I did not know as students, and whose son had been in a precept with me. The son was there, too. A bit awkward at first, because the son had been lazy in class and I wrote him a somewhat caustic note at the end of the semester. But it was years ago and I obviously didn't bring it up and we all had a pleasant time.

In what is apparently a first, the P-Rade, in which all attendees march in order through the campus in front of the other classes, all dressed in their orange and black garb, and many spectators, and which normally takes two hours, was canceled one hour in as thunderstorms rolled in and lightening threatened. A little rain, but nothing to get worked up about. Lovely fireworks on Saturday evening after a concert from the University Orchestra. Our Saturday night music was a group called the Blushing Brides, who have been doing Rolling Stones covers for forty years and whose lead singer does uncanny Mick Jagger moves and dances (and voice, too). At the Friday dinner, I became a class Vice-President, something I would not have predicted in several million years. As we have usually done, Janet and I danced the night away on Friday and Saturday nights.

In the very small world department, the student crew for our class's Reunions was headed up by two football players, one of whom was Tom Johnson, an All-Ivy linebacker last fall. I happened to mention to him that Erin was a sideline doctor for last fall's home games, and he said that she had stitched up his leg at halftime in one game after a cleat gash. She confirmed it.

It goes without saying that these friendships old and new gather new meaning and depth of emotion as the years go by. And they get better, too. One of my favorite parts of the year.

Happy Memorial Day

Remember when Memorial Day was always May 31, no matter which day of the week it landed on?  Let's go back to those days.  No long weekends.  I think I'll run for office on that premise.  See how far I get.  Actually, even though the holiday was last weekend, it was nice to see everyone celebrated/commemorated the day in different ways.  I seem to remember it was one of Pop's favorite holidays, and he always participated in the Pomfret parade and ceremony.

We hosted Marj and Lew who had come up from Rhode Island for a memorial service for a friend/neighbor of theirs.  We had a barbecue and watched two basketball games.  We saw that Joe and Lenor had gone off to the eastern MD shore for a few days, and that Thomas enjoyed eating the sand.  Playing in it as well.  Margaret and Andrew spent the weekend in Charlottesville, and Annie headed south to Big Sur.  Wow.  Other travel??

It's been a busy month for gardening, and for us Memorial Day means planting time.  We were just in time to get flowers and vegetables in on Monday, and hope to be enjoying lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, beets, beans, cukes and squash later in the summer.  For now, we've been harvesting asparagus and rhubarb, for Mary's famous strawberry/rhubarb pie.  We ordered four cubic yards of compost and have been enjoying the back-breaking work of filling wheelbarrows and hauling it around the yard.  It sure looks good, no matter what my back feels like the next day (week).

David and Paula hosted cousin Debbie and her husband Rod for a few days.  They had come up from Houston for a visit, and they took in Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls, the Welland Canal and other sites.  David said that he and Paula had also gone to New York City for a meeting and city fun stuff.  They were awaiting the influx of visitors for the annual Lilac festival.  

Yesterday, we headed south to Princeton to attend a memorial service for my college roommate's mother.  Mrs. Tobolsky passed away at the age of 99 just shy of her 100th birthday.  The ceremony was in the Princeton Chapel with a reception at Prospect House afterwards.  Sound familiar?  Mary and I got the chance to walk around campus a little, and saw a number of Princeton and Lawrenceville friends.  We stayed in the Palmer Inn on Rte 1 (sound familiar?) and Peter joined us for a free breakfast.  He filled us in on Johanna's new job and Sean's jury trial that had recently finished.  I had seen Sean's legal opponent in that case, another college roommate at Steve's memorial service, and Joe Krakora passed along that Sean was a "sharp" lawyer.  This weekend is reunions, and as a class officer, Peter is busy with all the planning that goes into that.  We saw a lot of preparations as we walked around campus.  I could not stay so that I could coe back here and attend the Berkshire Community College graduation where a young immigrant student I've been mentoring will receive the school's highest honor tomorrow.   

John and Marilyn are back from their trip/cruise to Cuba which they enjoyed, but said they wouldn't recommend.   

 

The photo this week is of a new friend, or couple of friends, who have placed their nest right outside the kitchen windows.  Last year we had a robin's nest on the back porch; this year, it's nice and easy to see the pair of cardinals tending their nest.  I do need to clip the hedge they've selected, but it can wait.

Summer is here, and the only sad part as we sit out on the porch, walk outside in sandals, hike outdoors and eat barbecues, is that we know it will all end in a few months.  Still, we have a lot to look forward to, including seeing you all in the Poconos.

Love from up here.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Week!  It's a celebration that never ends.  It looked like a big Mother's Day barbecue down in DC, with David and Paula visiting Jeff and Melodie who hosted Sean and Erin, as well as Margaret and Andrew and Leonor, Joe and Thomas.  One of Mary's best Mother's Day gifts was to see Thomas in a little play pool at Jeff and Melodie's.  She went out right away and bought him the latest infant Speedo racing suit and goggles.   Look out Michael Phelps.  It looked like a fun afternoon.  A prequel to the Poconos in July.  I think it got even more fun for Andrew and Margaret who were later seen by the paparazzi at a David Byrne/Talking Heads concert in DC.  

Sean and Erin had come down for the weekend, that must have been a sorely needed rest for both of them.  They spent the weekend with Joe and Leonor, and were able to get around and see some DC sites.  Later, we saw that Sean's big, terrible murder case returned a guilty verdict.  Congratulations Sean on justice served.  

What was your Mother's Day like?  We had a barbecue, too, and went for a bike ride, punctuated by a deluge of phone calls.  Or should I say a trio of calls.  A trio is a deluge for us, except for around supper time when the robo-calls start coming in.  We took a trip to a local nursery to start our garden planning, and, with warm weather finally, it does seem like we're almost there.

There have been a couple of birthdays - Sean's and Elliot's.  Big days.  And probably before our next letter, Matthew will mark another year.  Congratulations to all.  

I neglected to mention in the last letter that Annie had attended a conference in Chicago and she made a point to check in on her good friend from Mexico days.  She had kept up with Nicole for a few years, and thanks to Facebook she has been able to maintain the thread of her relationship.  Speaking of Facebook, we're seeing photos of Oliver in track meets and Tina growing!!

Since our last letter, Mary and I have concluded our spring fling trip down to DC and Daytona.  We had a great visit with John and Marilyn and went to a baseball game (Reds farm team) and the beach every day there. Good waves meant hours on the boogie board. They have a nice new home, with guest bedrooms!  They, by the way, are off on a cruise to Cuba this week.

We also checked in with Charlie in North Carolina on our way back.  He had been in Gabon with us this past March, so we rehashed those experiences, including a memorable trip back to the village where he had been posted in the 1970s,  On the way back, we had lunch with our friend from Seattle who was in DC for a few days.  Valerie is volunteering at a school for refugees and immigrants, so we shared stories.  I have been drawn into the Peace Corps refugee project a little more, so you'll see more, probably too much, from me on that.

Mary stayed a few extra days in DC, hanging with Joe and Leonor and Margaret and Andrew.  And did I mention Thomas?  Anyway, she saw first-hand how full all their lives are, working and studying and doing errands and daycare and commuting and exercising.  I'm sure it's the same for that whole generation.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  

I missed all that as I drove home in order to attend a meeting where we handed out the funding for the first Community Preservation projects in Pittsfield.  This was the first slate of projects since the referendum passed in 2016.

Speaking of projects, Margaret and Andrew are having their back yard done over, with a new fence and patio.   

Finally, it's allergy and tick season, so we're popping all the pills and spraying ourselves up here.  At least, we're not shoveling snow.

Love from up here.