Trip to Spain

European Vacation

Friday Stop in Iceland Calling flat Shuttle to train Train to Victoria Tube to Gloucester Walk to flat Arghhh Dinner with David & Jane Boys to pub Saturday Tube to Picadilly Walk to Trafalgar square Walk to Eye Boat cruise Walk to pub for lunch Walk to Shakespeare Globe Theater Walk to London Eye Walk Walk - Feathers pub...then to tube to Hereford Arms for dinner Sunday Tube to Hyde Park corner Walk to Marble Arch Bus ride to Oxford Tour of Christ Church Big rain Walk about - bought CCD t-shirt bought fudge looked through Oxford castle bus back MCD & I got dinner at Earl's Court pub boys ordered pizza Monday slept in for boys tube to Tower of London tour boys took off MCD and I walked to St. Pauls walked to Picadilly Circus for Spaghetti House dinner - boys met us there. Saw Book of Mormon Tuesday Met Pernille - Barry Thomas' wife at the Westminster Palace, where she's a tour guide. She gave us a very in depth tour of the rooms and the history of the building and the Houses of Parliament. We wandered about in the neighborhood and found a pub to have lunch in. We let the boys off on their own and we wandered down to Buckingham Palace and then on around St. James Park to the Churchill War Rooms. It had rained while we were inside and had cleared up enough there was now a bright late afternoon glare though some spots We had dinner plans with Barry and Pernille and needed to get back to the flat and freshen up. From the tube stop, I met an old friend, Sue (Green) Colwell for a drink at Earl's Court Tavern. Martha and I then went to Victoria station and found Queen's Arms Tavern and our dinner partners. Barry was in good form - if not a little grayer and we had very nice visit, covering books, politics, memories and cultural American-Brit quirks. Sad to say, we left with an impression that things have not gone well for Barry and he's a bit strapped. Really felt quite bad for him. Wednesday Our transition to Paris. We had to get up quickly enough to pack, clean up the flat, get connected with the manager - for keys and, hopefully, some part of the deposit. And since we were leaving from Kings Cross/St. Pancreas station we also needed to give ourselves enough time to see the Harry Potter 9 3/4 train track and gratis pianos in the foyers for Patrick to play. A gleaming station - though the Potter track turned out to be an overcrowded tourist attraction and the pianos we're beat-up, out-of-tune uprights. It was a very fast two hours going through the British countryside, through the Chunnel and across the French landscape. There really was quite a difference in the look and feel of the French villages and development from the Brits. The English side seemed a bit more industrial, while the French, from what we could see, was mostly small towns. Both though seemed to share the U.S. and universal habit of piling their refuse and grimy industrial backdoors along rail routes. Landing at Gare de Nord we fumbled our way to the metro station and figured out buying five day metro/bus passes. Faced with a completely different language we had to now navigate through a new map system as well. We were all somewhat dependent on Martha's guidance from earlier visits and her bits of French. We'd hoped Nathan might be able to help with some translation - but that didn't happen. Whereas the London tube lines were a bit like New York, a bit gritty with serpentine tunnels and connections, the Paris Metro was dirtier and with surlier characters. Martha advised we stay on the buses. We found our way to the Rambuteau stop and our Paris flat overlooking the George Pampidou museum and square. A bit busy and noisy- but so is just about everywhere - and it turned out to be a great location. We were greeted by Ireana who went over all the features of the flat - which included a dishwasher and dryer! (vs. our London flat) When we were a bit settled Martha and I found the neighborhood grocery store - G20 - for some supplies. A small and really packed little store and clearly wasn't about buying in bulk. The largest milk was only a liter. For dinner we wandered about in the streets nearby a bit indecisive and finally just landed on something that seemed like something Americans would typically patronize. Thursday We slept in and never really got completely on Europe time. By late morning we decided to split up. The boys walked all the way to the Eiffel Tower. Martha and I walked to the islands and crossed over to through St. Germain and wandered through some darling side streets. We stopped at a cafe - that seemed like a French diner - and had eggs and a 'milkshake' which was more like whipped chocolate milk. Our the Champ Elysses and walked over to the Louvre. Then went over to the Bastille area to see Cathy's old apartment - sat in the Sully Cafe for some wine and ran into a couple other Americans. Then walked though Place des Vosges and back through the Marais district. Boys and I went to the store and picked up odds & ends for dinner; mostly cheese, sausage, sweets and wine. Then figured out where we were going the next day. Sunday - traveled to Provin by train - Chris stayed in Paris. Sunny but cold. Took at train to the end of the line and crowded on to a shuttle to that took us to the Medeival village - it was a French version of a Renaissance festival and a bit touristy -- and pretty crowded. We tried to find some place for lunch and ended up walking through the old town to find a cafe. It was a cute little place, the waiter didn't really speak English and Patrick ended up without his food -- and had to pay cash. We walked back into the old section and got some chocolate and meandered down to a 'show' of knights and ladies on horseback fighting evil trolls; like the 'Medieval Times' but more quaint and certainly more authentic since it actually was in the shadow of real medieval castle. A bit cheesy and hard to follow, since the dialogue and narration was in French, but we generally got the idea and appreciated the spirit. We caught a bus back to the train station, then back to Paris. Patrick and Nathan didn't want to go out for dinner, so they grabbed some sandwiches near our flat while Martha and I went to Le Cavalier Bleu on the corner. Monday - Last day so we decided to go brave the lines at Notre Dame, which was a short walk from our flat. The day was bright and cloudless and though the line was long it moved along quickly enough that we inside in fifteen minutes. The boys joined the line afterwards and then took off for another attempt at climbing the Eiffel Tower. Martha and I wandered through Isle St. Louis, listened to a band on the bridge, ate a sandwich, sat by Siene, admired the lock bridge, strolled back to our neighborhood, where she bought a necklace and some earrings, then picked up a couple things for evening nibbles and lounged back at the flat until the boys came back. They'd only made it up to the second floor; but that was some 600 steps. Nate had also gotten tricked by some street vendor. Martha went out again to the Pompidou museum. Tuesday - return home.

The Year Recapped

Procrastinating again; so here are some recollections of highlights for the latter part of the year. As we wound into summer Patrick and Nathan did their usual three-week trip to Camp Highlands. It was Patrick's last year as a camper. In 2015 he'll be a counselor in training. Chris, of course, couldn't do camp since he now has a full-time job.

After they got back from Camp we did our usual drive out to Castle Park - again without Chris, who had to stay home and work. We were joined there by Jamie who we had fly out for a break. He was able to play golf and tennis with Patrick and Nate and visit with his grandmother and Uncle Da-Da.

While I was in Castle Park I set up Nathan's electronic drum kit in Ernie Kelly's garage and went over to practice the 'picnic tunes' each day. It was quite a nice part of a routine that included jogging, swimming and bike-riding with Marth. After we got back it was a brief three weeks before I drove back to Chicago for the annual picnic routine - this time in my car rather than the van. It turned out I had a business event (with FARE) in the days before the picnic gig. So I went out earlier and first stayed out at Hyatt Rosemont and then moved to a hotel off Michigan Avenue downtown where we had the conference. And then stayed at Dan's for the weekend. The 9th Annual Neighborhood Picnic was another success, thanks to everyone who pitches in for it. I contributed the video cameras -- one of which was toppled by some over-hyper little urchin. With a few exceptions, my songs and performances came off relatively well. I'm coming to gauge both the selections and scripting better each year -- and balancing out literal and spontaneous interpretations. And so I'm also enjoying it more.

Shortly after returning, I switched jobs; leaving FARE and starting with the National Patient Advocate Foundation. In many respects it's a bigger job with a bigger organization (on paper). But even though it was smaller, FARE was a much more professional organization. NPAF is racked by an institutional structure and personal legacy issues that have stifled it's growth, professionalism and even competence. And it's much too dependent on drug company money. On the boys; Nathan was selected to be in The Immortals - the Loudoun Music Instruction's top band made up of the most dedicated and talented students. We had to debate some time whether to pursue sports or make this very sizable commitment. Nate essentially made it himself, realizing that now in high school he'll have limited ability to make it in the sports teams. And he can still pursue tennis and do some intrumural basketball. He was also selected by Loudoun Valley Jazz Band, which means that both he and Patrick are in it. We are extremely proud. As part of his drama class, Patrick and the other students competed in the Virginia Theater Association against 50 other Virginia high schools with an original play called "The Trial of Ygor".....and won first place!! They are now going to Chattanooga in March to compete in nationals -- though we have to find ways to raise quite a bit of money to support it. Otherwise, Patrick decided against doing the big fall drama production at school -- which was the Addams Family. He felt it was a little too 'cartoonish' and hasn't been getting along with the drama director (and neither have many of the other kids and their parents). So he decided to do community theater, in a production of Oliver. He played the Artful Dodger and did a marvelous job (see video). His grandmother and Uncle Dave came out to see it and were justly impressed.

Patrick also loved the directer, Karla Louis, who runs a theater production company. So when she asked him to be part of a Christmas Pageant, he jumped at it - performing "Let It Snow" as part of a large and touching production. For Christmas we had Jamie come out for about a week and it was nice to have him here for the holidays.

About The Books

I just added some 'recent reads' on the right and they are not all I've read recently. Usually I try to stick to a regiment of one 'serious' book - history, biography, social commentary, etc., followed by a fun, fiction book. Sort of like having a meal and dessert. Since most of my books are from the Loudoun Library and checked out on my iPad, they have a 14 day limit. Some of the serious books can be such a slog that I don't get through them that quickly. In which case, I don't highlight them. On the other hand, I whip through some fiction books so quickly and voraciously that I don't list them either. In particular, I've become a huge fan of Lee Child's Jack Reacher series and read almost every one. But it would be an embarrassment of gluttony to admit that.

Legally Blonde

Early last month Loudoun Valley staged Legally Blonde, with Patrick playing Warner, the jerk boyfriend. It was a wonderful production and helped solidify Patrick's commitment to drama.

Monocle Reunion

Time flies -- for good and ill. A few months ago I got together with the 'ol Dixon crowd at our traditional watering-hole, the Monocle. They included Charlie Smith, Wade Nelson, Katie Lamb-Heinz, Maria Petaros and Paul Stilp. A warm, but restrained evening. We're not as wild as we used to be.

Trying to Keep Up

The year is already flying by. Jamie had been out for Christmas and the New Year. He's now taking some classes in Oakland and finding an academic/career path for himself. With Martha's help, Christopher landed an apprenticeship with a HVAC company and he's doing marvelously well at it. He gets up early every morning and is out the door by six thirty. If he keeps it up he'll rise in the ranks, make some very respectable bucks and have a solid road ahead of him. It was because of this new job that we had to leave Chris behind when Martha, Patrick, Nate and I went to Park City, Utah at the end of February.

It was our first trip west to ski and despite the warmer than usual weather, we had a wonderful time. Patrick has already been the lead in a school play - The Crane Wife - as a lead character. He's also done his first Shakespeare; A Midsummer Night's Dream - and is now in the high school musical, Legally Blonde. He just did an interesting p.r. stunt at Dulles Town Center to build attention to it. He continues to advance on the piano and has now gone through two more teachers trying to find the right direction. Nathan went through a season of basketball - house league - and they won the 'championship' though it was colored by a ball hogging player who was the coach's son. He's since started ice hockey where he's struggling. He's never done it before. It's cost us some big bucks, so he better stick with it. He's also doing lacrosse and is part of a team with all his buddies. He's also been invited by his music teacher to become part of The Immortals - the premier band in the school. He's torn because it would take a lot of time and compromise his sports. It's his decision, but we've been trying to point out that in high school his sports opportunities will be more limited. So maybe becoming a better drummer is something he can aspire to. Marth is now in Florida with her mom and the boys and I are being decadent for a few days.