This is the lunch scene at Thyme, a nice restaurant in Roslyn, a community about 5 miles from us. We haven't been there for a while, and I was surprised that it was mobbed. Fortunately, we had made a reservation. Every table was taken, with overflow on the narrow outdoor balcony. Pam, a friend who lives in Woodbridge; Sandy, our lovely daughter-in-law; Harvey, our oldest son; Merwin; me (am I really that tiny? Probably the camera angle, right?}, and Laura, our oldest grandchild, now near the end of a PhD in organic chemistry (a field my father studied for his M.S.).

Dear friends and family,

Busy eventful days. Sonia came on Friday because the Writing Group came on Thursday, and we went for a long walk, the whole Sycamore walk, which I haven't been able to do. She and I also prepared a lot of foods for final prep as needed. This is a big help for me.

On Saturday, Dawn visited with her friend Arvan (sp?), a student of medieval literature who has snagged a job at Yale. This will be a wonderful stepping stone to the rest of his career. He is a Vegan, so all I had to offer him was my gazpacho, salad and fruit. The rest of us had those things plus a delicious casserole of noodles, cheese, green beans, and cherry tomatoes. I think I did pretty well since though I knew they were visiting, I didn't know they would be having a meal with us.

Arvan is clearly the kind of person that people immediately like and want to help. He has garnered an impressive list of mentors. I enjoyed telling stories about my career as a medievalist. We tried to tempt Arvan to take my medieval books, but only three or four appealed to him: he already has a great supply. He is writing about Piers Plowman, which is one of the works I was interested in writing about when I was a medievalist. When he settles in New Haven, Dawn will introduce him to Harvey and Sandy, who are always so welcoming to young scholars.

Later that same day we had a surprise visit from Lincoln; he called to arrange to come but didn't show up until after 7 p.m. I think. We had tomato, vegetarian bacon and lettuce sandwiches. Do you think I am rather food crazy? It seems to be the most important topic on my mind, food and the people we share it with. I had to go to bed right after the meal, and Lincoln cleaned up the table and swept the floor. What a help that is to both of us.

Merwin's fatigue continues apace, but his last radiation treatment will end on Wed. We're looking forward to that.

On Sunday, the group in the photo at the top arrived a little after 10:00 a.m. Pam had never been to our house before, and we love showing people around. Harvey and Sandy took us all out for a very enjoyable lunch, full of stories and talk, political and otherwise. Later as we were sitting in my study, Laura turned to me and asked how I stayed so happy, smiling and bubbly. It is a gift from my mother: both my sister and I shared her upbeat personality: “What me worry?” I don't think about it, but it was sweet to be asked about it by Laura, but also sad that she said she wasn't like that. She always looks calm and cheerful, so I am not sure she is right about herself. She certainly is caring. She was thoughtful enough to pack up two quarts of the frozen yogurt that I love, made only in a store near her in Boston. Yum. Sweet (but not very) and sour. She backpacked that on the train from Boston to New Haven, then from there by car to my grateful hands. And she makes me the most delightful earrings. What a sweetheart! Not just with me, but in general.

There was little time over the weekend for work on the Measure for Measure copy-edited draft. Disappointingly, I have many corrections to suggest. So it's slow going. It doesn't help that instead of working in the evening, we have gotten into the habit of watching movies. Last night it was My Name is Khan. Do you know it? We liked it. We know high functioning Asperger's people in our family, so it was good to see a full, though fictional depiction.

Now I should return to work. Though I don't mean to "should" on myself: I want to return.

Love to all,
Bernice