Saturday, December 18, 2010

Merry Christmas 2010


Joan Leaps Tall Buildings- Joan flew in SchliebenAir to Charleston, SC in April.  This is a monumental event.  Given her former aversion to flying in anything resembling a glorified aluminum cigar tube, this was the equivalent of a deep space adventure packed in a sardine can.  That Joan did not deposit predigested unpleasantness on the control panel is even more remarkable.  We stopped in Cape May the first night and stayed at the ‘Southern Mansion.’  This inn I highly recommend.  On the other hand, the ‘Pilot House’ restaurant avoid like the plague, or maybe dysentery.  Worst food on the planet!   Probably the universe.  Mrs. Paul’s Fishsticks would win, hands down.  The next day we flew to Charleston, rented a car and spent three nights there and then three nights in Savanna.  Both are wonderful tourist cities – easily traversed on foot and friendly – and, with Savanna’s beautiful squares every three blocks or so and its streets lined with magnificent live oaks and magnolias, one could almost imagine living there (except summers.)  (Savanna’s economy got a big boost with the publication of John Berendt’s book ‘Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil,’ in the mid-90s.)  We also had the best fish dinners we’ve ever had – and I mean the best ever – in the Chart House along the Savanna River.  Its décor? standard issue Georgian country club, but the food was fantastic.  During our return flight, we stopped in Chapel Hill, NC to visit friends, and stopped again in Trenton for an overnight with Dad, then home.  All together we overcame Joan’s worst fears.  The weather cooperated and we didn’t run into anything more unforgiving than – splat! – bugs.   Who knows?  We might even do it again, someday.  Bangkok, in one-hour increments.
Our Summer Vacation (When your retired, sounds doubly redundant)-
We spent a delightful two weeks at Silver Bay, NY in July.  Roy, Jenn, Jess and Brendan were with us the first week.  Grandfather Ernie and his friend Margie spent three nights there at the end of the first week, overlapping their stay with his grandchildren.  A highlight was an cruise down Lake George on the Silver Spray.
Jess: Interior Designer Extraordinaire / Studentessa Perpetua- Jess is working at one of the few Boston firms that hired staff during this recession.  Lucky her!  Since all design work these days is computer-based, she says she lives in her computer, or at least spends most of her day there.  In the spring, Jess will complete her fifth year at Boston Architectural College and next year (yes, just one more year!) she will complete her master’s thesis.  Ask her about wayfinding and site-lines… she’ll regale you for hours!  Brendan Haley, Jess’s significant other (should that be in caps?) runs a design/build business (BHaley Designs) and has been busy designing and renovating restaurant and condo interiors.  If you want to start a restaurant in the Boston area, call Brendan!
Roy and Jenn Keeping Their Heads Down in Bangkok- In Thailand now for over two years, Jenn continues as Assistant Chief of Station at AECOM, an international development consulting firm, and Roy has been saving tigers (well, not single-handedly) as a communications officer at Freeland Foundation, whose mission is to prevent wildlife and human trafficking.  Life in Bangkok got a little tense this spring during the Red Shirt uprising.  When the barricades went up on their street, they relocated to a hotel away from the action but, fortunately, it didn’t last too long.   Life is less chaotic now.  Oh yes, they’ve adopted another dog, Hop-along-Cassidy (Cassie for short.)  Cousin Ken would have named her ‘Tripod’, but he missed out on that one.  They now have two dogs and a cat.   They expect to be in Bangkok through 2012.
Acadia- Each year Joan and I spend four or five days in Maine’s Acadia National Park, hiking, recovering from hiking, eating with abandon, drinking in moderation—all, timed around Joan’s birthday.  Yes, Joan is a year older again.
Our Life In General- Other than the foregoing, Joan and I spend an inordinate amount of time just staying healthy.  I walk and work in the yard; Joan walks and attends a weekly Tai Chi class.  It’s amazing how much time and energy is consumed just moving one’s body … that, and reading the paper and all of life’s daily chores, like opening and closing the refrigerator door… good, nothing’s escaped.
Joan has always been an avid reader and enjoys a variety of subjects and genres.  She continues to be Paul’s book filter; sorting books worth his time from books to be sold back to the bookstore for pennies on the dollar.  She’s also been known to watch an occasional episode of ‘House’ and ‘Desperate Housewives,’ “the best program on TV,” she says—“sad commentary,” Paul says.
In addition to writing the occasional short story, essay and poem, Paul enjoys being able to think and write about the books he reads, and he posts his writing on a blog he calls ‘Synaptia:  The Random Firings of a “Maturing” Mind.’  (Paul notes that he shares an enthusiasm for Barbara Kingsolver with his sister-in-law, Barbara Reed.)  Additionally, flying for Angel Flight, household chores (indoors and out,) cooking, eating and imbibing (red wine, an organic health-food high in omega-3) fill out his busy week.

So, there you have it.  While our hopes for peace and national sanity have taking a hit this year and our imperfect union made more so by the Supreme Court’s disastrous “Citizens United vs. FEC” decision, we remain inexplicably optimistic.

Best wishes for a joyous holiday with friends and family. 

Paul and Joan