A Concert

Dear friends,

Surprisingly, it has been Thursday night since I last posted a blog. The days and nights are hastening by but I hope everyone was able to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we have experienced the past couple of days. Just before sitting down to blog writing I asked Bernice, "What happened on Friday?" Both of us drew an initial blank before we managed to recall some events of the day. I went to the JCC in the morning and went shopping with a list Bernice created partially from referencing those weekly multi-colored publications put out by the supermarkets. The checkout receipt said I had saved $13 fro my frugal shop. It was a quiet uneventful day I suppose and in some respects that is good and means it provided another healing day for Bernice. Under her guidance I learned how to wash, bread, and prepare flounder fillets for our dinner.

Saturday began productively at 9:15 when Bill the PT person came and went through exercises with Bernice. He continues to push and after a brief warmup he guided Bernice down the front walk and into the street with only her cane helping her. With a little effort but no real trouble Bernice managed the steps. Later in the day son Harvey arrived and he stayed until midday on Sunday. He was a great help in every way. In the late afternoon his daughter Michelle arrived and returned on a late train to NYC. It is interesting and refreshing to hear the activities of a 25 year old granddaughter. Michelle is a designer and is presently working 3 days a week for one firm and two days for another. She works on things like creating the store displays for products and the deign of items for the table like dishes, cups, and vases. I think I have that right. Much of the design work is done on computers (mostly Macs).
What was more interesting was to get insights into the interactions of people and how Michelle fits in. As expected by experienced grandparents, Michelle is seeing a few hard working competent contributors, more just treading water but good enough to get by, and a few who make little contribution but through a mix of talk, bravado, and pretense seem somehow to survive. Our supply of frozen meals in the freezer helped provide delicious repasts for all.

About noon I managed to contact our dear friends Michèle and Raymond for an iChat (Apple version of Skype) which is a video conference by computer. We sometimes have hour-long conversations where we can view and hear each other on our computer screens. Until things change, such exchanges are free. Our friends live outside of Rouen in France and both are retired Shakespearean professors. We have travelled with them in France and in the US and we carry on a lively email and iChat communication. They are like family. Harvey joined in for a bit of our conversation. Michèle, like Bernice, is retired but continues to publish and present papers. We discussed a quandary coming up this week. Michèle has an invitation to speak in Montpellier which at the opposite corner of France from where they live in the NW and their plan is to arrive there on this coming Thursday. They will travel by TGV the high-speed train which moves along at speeds upwards of 260 mph. These trains in France and Germany have almost eliminated short range domestic air flights. The trains leave and arrive from city centers but planes still require a significant time of travelers to get to the airport. There is a problem this week for train workers are striking against some of Sarcozy's policies regarding pensions. Will our friends venture forth? Will the trains arrive in time? Could they get stranded across their country? We wish them a successful journey and a well-received paper for Michèle.

The most notable event today was that we went to a concert! Today was the first in a season of Baroque concerts we have attended for many years. The venue is a church in Oyster Bay with good acoustics and it happens to be the church attended by Teddy Roosevelt and family. Music was by Locatelli, Bach, Vivaldi, and Bruhns. I pulled the car right up to the steps and, with the aid of her cane and a little help from me, Bernice was seated. This is the first non-doctor outing. We left at the intermission but we both deemed it a success. Our ride down Chicken Valley Road and its lovely Autumn views enhanced the whole experience.

Good evening all,
Merwin