Calendar Time

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Dear friends,

This is the time of year when there is a culmination of many currents of activity. During the past few weeks there has been an increasing trickle of 2011 calendars arriving in our mailbox, many lovely ones promoting their charity and hoping for a yearlong stay posted on one of our walls in full view. As I usually do, I have already selected one depicting wildlife and nature scenes and I have already marked it with the dates of forthcoming concerts, operas, and doctor appointments. But, in this final flood of calendars we look forward to a special one generated by son Harvey. Using some of Apple’s sleek software and his store of computer images he composes a wonderful calendar highlighting family pictures of the just ending year but projected into the year to come.

The lovely picture I have posted today graces the cover of this year’s calendar. It is good size — about 13 x 10.5. The picture was taken last winter when this family group spent many days on the island of St John in the Caribbean. We were invited also but such a trip was not practical for us. Let me try to identify the luck participants of this stay in tropical paradise. By all means click to enlarge the image and click again to zoom in even further. At the very right are three of our granddaughters with 25-year-old identical twins Michelle and Rachael at the far right. Rachael, at the end, is wearing high heels and has long hair while Michelle is almost always in flats and keeps her hair short. These external differences makes distinguishing them easier for everyone but telling them apart on the phone remains a challenge. They both work in Manhattan and share a lovely apartment. Next from the right is our oldest 27 year-old-granddaughter Laura who lives in Boston and is her forth and last year of PhD program in organic chemistry. Next are son Harvey and our beloved daughter-in-law Sandy. Next to Sandy is her Dad, Murray, who, unfortunately lost his dear wife, Lee, of more than 60 years during the past year and was making his first big outing after that sad event. On Murray’s right is his son Lawrence. At Lawrence’s right are Sandy’s sister Barbara and her sweetheart Matt. Barbara is a former dancer and next to her at the left end of the group is Tony, a dance colleague. The group is posing in the framed opening of the patio of the small villa they rented that has direct access to the tropical water via a flowered path leading downward.

The calendar has other notable features including upper pages that are collages of special family photos taken during the year. The calendar pages themselves have the traditional notations like Valentine’s Day or Memorial Day but sports thumbnail photos at the birthday sites of all family members and notes friend’s birthdays with their names at the spot.

We will keep and cherish this new calendar and put it with others of past years where it is readily available when company arrives in our home to show some family pictures in an easy-to-take format.

The solstice is approaching and it will be all uphill from there.

Love to all,

Merwin