As Fridays tick by like the beat of a metronome – click, it’s Friday! Click, it’s Friday again? – you know you’re getting older. How do you slow down the click of the metronome? Sometimes I’m not even sure what day it is… “Fat paper, hum, must be Sunday” hardly works any more. Any suggestions?
Quote of the year:
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi, labeled Goldman Sachs “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." That sums up 2009 quite nicely, don’t you think?
Now, news closer to home… like Bangkok
Jenn, on temporary assignment to Bangkok last year, got a promotion that requires that she remain for 2-3 years. So, in February, Roy and Jenn gave up their apartment in Arlington along with Roy’s job at Search for Common Ground and moved to Bangkok. After helping Roy pack and move stuff to storage, he and I rented a car and drove across country with their dog, Suki. Then Roy and Suki flew to Bangkok, via Tokyo. (I worried more about the Dog’s hydration during the flight than I did Roy.) Living in Bangkok and traveling in Thailand, with side trips to Manila, have been an adventure – they are fast becoming citizens of the world, even Suki.
In April, Joan and I went to Italy for a too-short, two-weeks vacation. After visiting friends Sheila and Alan in London, we spent a few days in Rome and the rest of our time in Perugia, Umbria, 100-miles north of Rome. Like many ancient Etruscan cities, Perugia sits atop a hill with spectacular 360-degree views. We could take 5 escalators up through centuries of history, literally, from our hotel to the piazza, on the central plateau. Of course, we walked… Much less touristy then Rome or Tuscany to the west, Umbria struck us as much friendlier – patient with our imperfect, halting Italian. One waiter joked good-naturedly, “Lei parla un poco, poco l’italiano, si?” (… a little, little Italian) We laughed, “Si, parlo l’italiano molto male!” (Yes … very badly!) This was the linguistic high point of the trip; unlike our experiences in Rome and Florence, where natives switch to English as soon as they get sight of you. (Must be our Land’s End wardrobe…)
Roy returned to NH at the end of June for a planned family vacation at Silver Bay. Unfortunately, Jenn couldn’t make it – Suki got [extremely] ill and Jenn didn’t want to leave her. (The good news is, Suki recovered and both Jenn and Roy will be here for Christmas.)
In mid-October, Joan and I spent a few days in the White Mountains hiking in early snow – what were we thinking! – and then ... Wow! Roy made another 10-day trip home – to surprise Joan on her NNth birthday (I’ve lost count, but I never thought I’d be married to a 66 year old woman… ops!) And, yes, she was surprised! Jess and her highly-significant one, Brendan, came up from Boston for the celebration.
And, yes, our favorite daughter Jess is doing very well; three-fifths of the way through a 5-year program at Boston Architectural College and, in June, promoted to an interior design position at her company, Architectural Resources Cambridge (fortunately, they’ve been hiring while other firms are firing.) Brendan headed out on his own this year as “Brendan Haley Design/Build” and, even in this difficult economy, he’s doing great, a testimony to his skill and business acumen. Anyway, we’re proud of both of them.
Roy spent most of the year in Bangkok freelancing and doing volunteer work while searching for a job, which he landed this month at the Freeland Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the prevention of wildlife trafficking. He’ll be doing communications and grants writing. (He says that Freeland will be featured in the next issue of National Geographic.)
My father, Ernie, is going strong in NJ at 94½, enjoying working in the yard and keeping up with world events – he loves CSPAN; “history in the making”, he says. My response is, “So is grass growing…” Anyway, I’m helping him edit his energy book, which he drafted a few years ago and is now revising. That will occupy most of his time during the winter months. I fly down to visit once every few months.
OK, wrapping up… This year has been the best (Obama) and worst of times (the Party of “No”), calling for patience and active participation, in equal measure. I won’t list the issues that occupy my thoughts, they’re probably the same that occupy yours, and I’m already out of room, because …
This was a lot more than I intended to write – and more than I can expect anyone to read.
Or, maybe, sensibly, you just skipped ahead to these words…
Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Stay well.
Love and Best Wishes,
Joan and Paul
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