 |
| Popopa and Izta at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago Photo credit: Harvey Hayes |
This matrimonial year began with our long-anticipated Vermont Inn Walking Tour. We had a medical emergency on the second day, but still managed to share a great adventure, to see some old friends, and to meet a couple new ones. We even had a close-up view of a beaver dam and lodge for the first time ever.
Right after the hike, we drove north to Burlington, to visit our good friend Korin in her family's new home there (new to them and to us, but a vintage house similar to what they left in Massachusetts, though decidedly more in-town). It was a lovely visit, and we stopped for an underwhelming exploration of the filming location of Beetlejuice on the way there.
We then celebrated Pam's birthday in Maryland, as has become our wont. May is full of celebrations for the Hayes-Bohs!
We each participated in the prestigious visit of Mandela Fellows to BSU. Pam gave a lecture on fake news, which the Fellows found very interesting and useful. James again set up EarthView and the Africa floor map. This time one of the Fellows came up with the perfect way to photograph the entire group on the map. Pam has been invited back for the July 2023 program.
In July James also led a week-long course on coffee for in-service social studies teachers with our friend Judy Otto at Framingham State University.
Also in July, an inattentive driver totaled our beloved Gretel (2008 Mercedes E350 wagon). James had minor back problems for a few months as a result. Our friends at Motorcars got us into Angela (as in Merkel), a 2013 E350 wagon -- much slicker, but we were happy with the old one and a bit bummed by the savagery of the insurance industry.
We got the new car just in time for a drive out to see Harvey in Chicago. Another knucklehead -- this one on a motorcycle eastbound in our westbound lane -- did his best to total Angela and himself. I am still not sure how we managed not to Darwin this fellow.
We enjoyed a visit, including some museums we had not seen before, and took both Harvey and Lia to visit family in Appleton, Wisconsin. We always love our times there, and this was no exception.
Just after that motorcycle near-miss, we had enjoyed a stay with our friends Ben and Emily in Muncie, where we admire these stalwart progressives in the land of eroding civil liberties. We also know we can count on them to show us the best pubs in town.
On the way back from Chicago, we visited Detroit for the first time ever (even though James teaches a class on the city every fall). We stayed less than 24 hours, but learned quite a lot!
From there we went to Poughkeepsie, where our friends Jeff and Yoyo introduced us to the amazing student dining hall (overlooking the Hudson) at the Culinary Institute of America. It was especially interesting for us, since a book about one of their more famous (and slightly deranged) students was among the many we read to each other recently.
Throughout the summer, James had the amazing opportunity to mentor a project through Sea Grant at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Carolyn King's project continued under different auspices at the academic year and was well regarded campus-wide. It is culminating in a story map that will be used at Cape Verde-related museums on Cape Cod and in Cape Verde.
We ended the summer with a blissful few days in Niantic, staying near the waterfront and near our friend Lisa's family house. We enjoyed the boardwalk, and amazing Mexican restaurant, and an even more amazing used book store. James has been daydreaming of this stay ever since.
A routine dental visit resulted in a referral to a dermatologist for James, and ultimately to three surgeries for basal cell carcinomas, including the very specialized Mohs surgery on his nose. This is the mildest form of cancer, but it had James -- and Harvey -- very much in his head for several months. Harvey flew home to drive James home from the surgery. Pam and Harvey took excellent care of James throughout, including his shaken mental state.
Part of spiritual preparation for the surgery was a day Harvey and James spent at Maribett Farm with our good friend Ron.
We had the wonderful treat of a visit from our friends Jeff and J.P., who had moved from Cincinnati to Denver not long ago. They were visiting several people in New England, and we were glad they started their vacation with us. They had dinner with us in Bridgewater and then stayed in Whaling House before continuing their tour. Years pass between our visits with these two, but we always find so much to talk about.
In October, we went to Veteran's Hall in Providence to see David Sedaris. It had been the site of James' last big-crowd outing before the plague (having seen Angelique Kidjo there on February 22, 2020), and it was the first return to a crowded venue for both of us. The caustic wit of David Sedaris was a perfect way finally to return from lockdown.
Because the One Book One Community read was about potatoes -- Stephen Puleo's Voyage of Mercy -- James was asked to give a talk on the tubers. Far from becoming the potato maven he had hoped for, he did manage to give a popular talk on potato geography for the community in October. James took another digression from his usual focus on coffee in public talks, by teaching a BSU Senior College course on the geography of migration early in the fall semester.
He then jetted (well, drove) to the 100th annual meeting of NESTVAL, this time being hosted at Salem State. He very much enjoyed a stay with our "Gang of Six" friends Judy Otto and Brian Cacchiotti.
We spent Veteran's Day weekend in what might be a new annual tradition for us -- we walked across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We had done this walk when it was a much rarer and informal event. This was highly organized and secured, and really a treat. We walked with our SIL Teresa, and stayed at Bob & Teresa's house near the eastern end of the bridge.
Harvey visited again, this time for Thanksgiving -- a very welcome return to our traditional Thanksgiving with the Water-Rue. We were glad to have him back in the roost a month later, this time for Christmas. One reason he came back so soon was to meet our newest family member: Crumpet, named for the David Sedaris alter-ego in Santaland Diaries, and adopted after a bit of a hard start to life in Arkansas. Pam and James had spent a year not even able to talk about adopting a dog after the loss of Perry, but once we were ready, a new space opened in our hearts (all three of us) for this lovable goof.
January 1 was the beginning of Pam's much-needed and much-deserved sabbatical, beginning to official countdown to her retirement at the end of June 2024. She has spent the time recuperating from bad management, welcoming our new dog, and doing important research on media narratives around the January 6, 2021 insurrection/riot/tourism.
While Pam and James both had some time off from school, Harvey returned to help with some household chores, as we took some preliminary steps toward downsizing.
In March, we had another delightful visit with friends near the sea, this time staying in the spare house of our friend Jody Kluver and visit her family in Westerly, Rhode Island. It was a very welcome and relaxing break.
After spending a lot of time with her online throughout the pandemic, we were delighted to see the amazing Margaret Atwood in person at Sanders Theater at Harvard -- where we had first seen David Sedaris many years ago. Being in a room with her was electrifying.
Next in this very busy year: James presented a paper at the AAG meeting in Denver and we both took full advantage of the opportunity to see some sights in and around the city and best of all to visit friends. We had some wonderful meals and stayed a couple days with the aforementioned Jeff and J.P. We also saw our friend Falu and had a brief mountain hike with our friend Camila and her beau.
We both very much enjoyed a visit from Diane in April.
James found ways to economize his involvement with end-of-semester academic work so that we could enjoy a 60th birthday road trip to Chicago, with a mini-roadtrip to northwestern Illinois and a day in Iowa. This was the best birthday James could have imagined; again, Pam and Harvey made him feel very loved.
The birthday trip also became our anniversary trip. Harvey took the photo above on our actual anniversary, and it began our new tradition. We begin each day with the greetings "Good morrow, My Lord!" and "Good morrow, My Lady!" because of a special anniversary gift Harvey got for us: a patch of land in Scotland!
Other Highlights of the Year
Early in the year, James was asked to give testimony at Town Council about the value of a tree committee -- not to join such a committee, but just to make the case. So yes, by the end of the year, James had been sworn in. It is both seriously good work and somewhat amusing, like a New England stereotype come to life.
Tragically, in January we lost our dear friend Alfredo in Nicaragua. He was the only person who had been part of all 12 trips James had led in Nicaragua, and Pam had stayed with his family on three of those trips. He was the light and life of his little community La Corona. Joining his funeral via Facebook was devastating.
We welcomed a new family member as niece Kate and nephew Fraser had the lovely Laoghaire in February, whom we got to meet at the end of May.
No comments:
Post a Comment