Instead of going to London again for Fall Break – I didn’t write about that but last October Michael and I spent 4 days in a lovely hotel in Kensington, had some great meals at fantastic restaurants, saw three wonderful West End shows, an amazing special exhibit at the V&A, and met with the folks at the Royal College of Music for Princeton Music Department business – this year we rented a dog friendly house in Brewster, near the beach on Cape Cod Bay. The weather was cool and windy but it was wonderful to walk on the beach a block away. We had many wonderful meals, including lots of oysters from the local oyster farms, and visited all our favorite places. I guess we haven’t been here since we spread my mom’s ashes in Blueberry Pond and at Nauset Beach ten years ago. Some things have changed a lot, like the parking lot and entrance to Nauset Beach, and the campus of the now gone Cape Cod Sea Camps, but many things look exactly the same, which is comforting in such a changing world. Our schedule was very relaxed which was good for Michael. We usually spent a quiet morning at the house, set off for a short outing in mid-day and then found a place to walk on the flats at low tide, which was at 3, 4 and 5pm this week. Then we would come home and relax before finding someplace for dinner. Very chill.
Louie had injured his neck again in agility and was on two weeks of restricted activity. It was fine not to have an enclosed yard and was good to keep him in the car for a lot of the time and take him on short walks in his new harness. He seemed to be feeling good, and by the end of the week we did let him run on the beach with a long 30’ leach. He even made some new dog friends in the neighborhood. It was sweet to revisit the old familiar places, and lovely to make new memories, visiting the beach below the lighthouse in Chatham, Cotuit harbor and marsh in Dennis, the Grist Mill and Herring Run in Brewster. It was also good to break the routine of being at home and just be someplace different.
On the way home we stopped at the Battleship Massachusetts in Fall River. Then on to Preston, CT to visit cousins Mike and Kathy Dickens at their farm. After a bit of grumpy barking and growling, Louie and Tessa had a nice reunion and enjoyed being together. Mike and Kathy were warm hosts and we shared delicious food and fun conversation to complete our lovely fall get-a-way.
It is Greece and Scotland again this summer! I think this is my 3rd trip to Scotland and maybe 4th or 5th for Michael. Each time we go farther and farther afield. I found a wonderful tour company that arranges self-drive itineraries to Shetland and Orkney – perfect for us. Since Michael did so well with the car on Naxos and Crete, I thought it would be fine here as well. Yes, we had driven in the UK on the wrong side of the road years ago, but for whatever reason, this time was harder. We flew to Heathrow and connected to Aberdeen where we picked up the car. We had upgraded the hotels and I guess they upgraded the car as well because it was a very fancy and huge Volvo SUV. We decided that Michael would do all the driving, which was probably a mistake, as was not asking for something smaller. Within 15 minutes of leaving the rental car lot, we got confused at a round-a-bout, avoided a head-on collision with a firetruck, clipped the side mirror of a parked car and got a flat tire as we bumped a curb. Luckily, we came to a stop near a local police station. The driver of the car we clipped was very kind helping our jet-lagged brains figure out what we should do, and a handful of brawny, highland police officers came to help us change the tire and make our way to a nearby tire store to replace the blow out. We missed getting lunch but thankfully made it to the ferry on time for our overnight sailing to Shetland. Yikes, what a way to get started.
Our ferry cabin was small but comfortable and we slept deeply in the gentle rocking after a filling dinner. The ferry crews were extremely helpful at guiding the loading and unloading of cars, and we learned how to use the fancy cameras and proximity warning lights on our Volvo. Luckily there was very little traffic at 8am when we drove into Lerwick and parked at the town wharf. We strolled around in a cool drizzle and eventually made our way out to Hillswick and the St. Magnus Bay Hotel. Once out in the countryside, the roads were wide with very little traffic. The landscape was rugged and desolate, but beautiful in a gray misty way. Michael took a nap in our homey and comfortable room while I went out for a walk around the Ness of Hillswick. With no trees anywhere, I could see the hotel most of the way walking around the sea cliffs and following the gently trodden footpath in the grass. There were sheep everywhere and many times I think I was on a sheep path rather than a hiking trail. Dinner in the hotel dining room was simple and delicious. The sun finally dipped below the clouds at 9pm and didn’t set until almost 10:30 but it never really got dark – the “simmer din” they call it.
The next three days on Shetland, thanks to all the wonderful information provided by the tour company, we drove to various recommended places to hike and walked along dramatic cliffs. There were also gorgeous and unexpected beaches that were mostly deserted. It was usually windy and cold with occasional sprinkles, and I was glad I had my winter riding jacket, raincoat, scarf and hat. We found the “Cake Fridge” a self-serve bakery in the middle of nowhere, met some fellow musicians with common friends at a wonderful restaurant in Brae, took four ferries out and back to the northernmost island of Unst, saw Gannets and Puffins, tasted whisky and gin, ate local fish stew and muscles, and saw Viking villages and Neolithic ruins. We also took naps and kept a relaxed pace.
After navigating the crowds in Lerwick from the Viking cruise ship in the harbor, we boarded the late afternoon ferry to Orkney and enjoyed a relaxing dinner and six-hour journey. It wasn’t really dark when we arrived at the Storehouse Restaurant and Rooms at 11:30pm, and we found our room arty and luxurious. The next four days in the Orkneys we walked on more beautifully deserted beaches and cliffs, ate local fish in lovely restaurants, tasted more whiskey, and poked in arty shops in Kirkwall town. On one amazing day we fit in ranger talks and tours at all the Neolithic sites: the Stones of Stennes, Ring of Brodgar, Maeshowe burial mound, and Scara Brae Prehistoric Village. It was a lot to take in but fantastic. The weather was warm and dry and Michael was finally relaxing with the driving.
We took a morning ferry from Stromnes back to the mainland and then had to drive three hours to Inverness where we would stay overnight. The drive was beautiful but stressful because there was more traffic and we had to manage the complicated and busy round-a-bouts getting into town. Inverness was cute and touristy with all the regular Scottish tartans and tweeds. We saw none of that up north where everything was much more Nordic in style.
The next day on the way back to Aberdeen, we actually got stopped in a small town by a policeman for not yielding in a round-a-bout. He yelled at Michael but let us go without a ticket. Yikes, we were so relieved to return the car and get on the plane to come home. But, shortly before we were to land in Newark, our flight from London got re-routed to Bangor Maine because of thunderstorms. Urgh!!!! We ended up spending the night in a Comfort Inn and getting home more than 24 hours later. Our checked bags took three more days to arrive. Sigh – I think I won’t go to Scotland again.
In early May, Michael and I joined a bunch of my friends from Morris Area Freewheelers on Crete for a week of riding and archeology. The three other couples and one single woman were spending several days on Santorini first, but Michael and I still had commitments at school, so we flew to Chania and joined them at a beautiful AirBnB villa in Kissamos. We had two separate houses on one piece of property with three bedrooms each, modern kitchens, lovely bathrooms and a gorgeous private beach right on the Aegean. Michael had a car, so we could go off on our bike rides in the morning while he could relax with a second cup of thick, sweet Greek coffee and then drive to meet us wherever we stopped for lunch. Like last summer on Naxos, the driving was mostly easy and Michael enjoyed his independence.
The weather was cool and sunny most days, perfect for riding though not quite swimming temperature. I went in anyway because it was too beautiful to pass up. The riding was challenging since wherever we headed, we had to go up into the mountains from sea level. The routes were gorgeous, passing groves of olive trees, goats everywhere, flowering shrubs, and views of sea and mountains. When we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, the food was fantastic, plentiful and inexpensive. Just when we felt too stuffed to eat another bite and asked for the check, the waiters would bring the house brew of dessert wine and some delicious sweets. One afternoon and evening we took a boat trip from Kolymvari to Balos Beach and Gramvousa Island. Another day we stopped at the Moni Gonia Monastery after a thrilling downhill ride along the coast. We all enjoyed socializing and getting to know each other better and everyone mostly got along well navigating the roads and the kitchens.
After Crete, our friends were heading to Athens. Michael and I drove three hours to Heraklion instead for a few days of archeology. The driving in the tiny, busy streets of the city was more challenging but we made it to our elegant and comfortable hotel. A student of mine from PU who lives in Athens had put me in touch with a local guide and we arranged to meet her for a late afternoon tour of the famous Knossos Palace archeological site. The air was warm and soft as the sun went down, and the grounds were amazingly deserted for our three-hour private tour. Karen was a fantast guide and paced the time so we could sit in the shade while she told us wonderful tales of 5000 years ago. The next day we spent the morning at the fantastic but busy archeology museum in town seeing the actual artifacts from the site and reading about a lot of the things Karen had explained the previous day. We spent the warm afternoon at the beach, only a 15 minute drive away. We enjoyed a delicious meal at a beachside café and Michael napped on a chaise under an umbrella while I swam in the turquoise water and walked on the white sand. It was easy to get to the airport the next morning for our early flight to Athens and then home. This was a fantastic trip which makes us want to return to Greece!
It has been a busy year of traveling, biking, and agility training and trialing with Louie. Luckily, I have been in great physical shape for all of it, until now. After a pause over the winter, Louie and I got back to trialing in the spring, and he earned his Open Jumpers with Weaves title at the Princeton trial in April – hurray! On one hand it is great to earn a new title and advance to the next level, on the other hand, then you have to advance to the next level where the courses are longer and harder and you are allowed fewer, or no mistakes. After Greece and Idaho, I had us registered for three weekend trials in a row in the hope of getting our Open Standard title at one of those events. It was a tremendous high to have a clean run and get a qualifying score and the third needed leg for the title on the first day back in the competition ring. The next weekend, we were finally with all the “big kids” in the advanced courses, and even though Louie did really well and stayed with me with minimal mistakes, we didn’t qualify in either the Excellent Jumpers class or our first time at Excellent Standard. The third weekend was a bust for Louie and for me.
We had this trip mostly planned for June of 2020 and my 60th birthday, but COVID struck, and we cancelled it along with everything else. Luckily, we hadn’t bought plane tickets or paid any money to the tour organizer. Then, one January afternoon in Maui as I meditated on the hillside overlooking the sea and islands, the thought floated into my mind, “I think it is our 40thanniversary this June…we should take that trip to Greece!” It was very easy to reconstruct the itinerary with the incredibly helpful travel agent, Takis, who plans trips for the Hellenic Studies Department at PU. Prices were more expensive than they were in 2020, but still very reasonable compared to the rest of Europe. Traveling in early June we were also very lucky with the weather, which was cool and cloudy before the blistering heat of the summer set in.
After an uneventful direct flight from Newark to Athens, we arrived in Greece on June 11, our anniversary day. We were met at the airport and taken to our lovely hotel, the Herodion, only a short walk to the Acropolis Museum and charming Plaka district. We walked around a bit and rested in the afternoon before a delicious cocktail at the hotel’s rooftop bar, followed by a magnificent dinner at the famous Dionysis Restaurant overlooking the south face of the Acropolis – a suitably grand way to celebrate this major milestone in our relationship!
I am writing this a number of months later, so the experiences have settled and softened. I have practiced with meditation teachers Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters for almost 20 years and have always wanted to visit their retreat center on Maui. With all of Michael’s health issues, it has been challenging to find a time when I could be away for a month, but December/January looked like it would work so I made the reservation last June and hoped for the best. As the holidays approached, everyone was healthy, including Steve, who was doing miraculously well five years after a glioblastoma diagnosis. Michael, Emily and I planned a family vacation for 4 days before my retreat. We arrived on Maui in a terrible rain-storm that diverted planes and cancelled flights. Luckily, we landed safely and stayed in a beautiful condo near the beach in Kihei. We only had one good swimming day after the storm, but we did a lot of driving around the Island and visited our old Princeton friend Maida Pollock. She had retired to her son’s farm in Kula, which was, amazingly, right down the dirt road from the retreat center! Michael and Emily went on to spend Christmas on the Big Island at Volcano National Park, and I started a monthlong retreat in Paradise.
I rented a cool and funky house in Berlin MD for a family beach get-a-way this summer. I was very happy to avoid a complicated trip to Europe, or anywhere that involved flying, especially after the travel hassles of Utah. I was even happier that Emily could join us. The house was attractive and comfortable with a fenced in area for Louie, AC, WiFi, and beautiful outside garden areas to cook, eat and even watch TV. The host lived in a trailer at the back of the property, with “Boyfriend” and three dogs. Louie made friends with Laurie’s dogs through the fence, and “Boyfriend,” a chef at a local restaurant, even shared some fresh off the boat tuna with us one night. Laurie was a warm and generous character with unending helpful advice about everything.
Coming home from Cape May, we settled back into our sheltering at home routine. Emily and the kitties were still with us, I was still doing a lot of online teaching, Michael was deeply into a writing project, and we had figured out the cooking and cleaning routines. In February it snowed, a lot. I took out my cross country skiis for the first time in several years, and used them every day, on many open space trails near home, and in the back yard as Louie bounded joyously through the deepening snow drifts. Skiing was wonderful, but I didn’t ride my bike, or see any of my few friends for socially distant rides or walks all month. The cold and gray and isolation started to take its toll and we all got a bit more edgy and short with each other. The vaccination was becoming available to more and more people, but appointments were hard to come by and some folks spent all hours of the day and night searching for spots.
Michael finally got an appointment for the end of February. We had to drive an hour to Holmdel. He waited in line for several hours while I stayed in the car and peed in the woods, as I had been doing all year on my bike rides. He felt weak and crummy for the first 24 hours but then bounced back and was so relieved and hopeful to be on his way to some protection from this crazy virus. His second Moderna shot was scheduled for the end of March. Meanwhile, I wasn’t even eligible yet, too young and healthy.
I took the plunge and reserved 9 days at a cottage I found on AirBnB a few blocks from the Delaware Bay beach in North Cape May. I wanted to go there alone and do a self-meditation retreat for a week. Michael would come down for a few days at the end. It sounded like it would work, but I spent most of December planning what food and cleaning supplies I would bring with me to make it feel safe in the midst of COVID. Finally, the day of departure arrived and I went to the market first thing and grabbed a weeks-worth of simple meals, loaded up the car, and drove the easy two and a quarter hour trip to Cape May. The host had told me that the house would be cleaned on Monday and then sit empty for three days before I arrived on Friday. That seemed pretty safe. Even so, I wiped down all door handles and light switches with Lysol and washed my hands before I unpacked and settled in. The cottage was adorable, with surf and sand decorations including crabs and octopi. The kitchen was perfectly functional and the sun coming in the windows filled my heart with warmth and joy. The neighborhood was very quiet and peaceful and the beach, really only two blocks away, was magnificent.
My 60th birthday trip to Greece was definitely not happening this summer. Thank goodness we hadn’t paid any money for it before the world shut down. Instead, we stayed home, safely enclosed by our fence, and had a lovely summer. Louie was the happiest dog in the world as he ran free in the back yard with his humans constantly home. The wildlife was plentiful as well, including turtles, a groundhog, and a hawk’s nest at the very top of one of the huge pine trees near the house. The three babies were awe inspiring to watch as they grew and explored our back yard all through June and July.
Emily did a two-week quarantine, got a negative COVID test, and came to stay with us for three weeks in June, and then again for seven weeks in August and September. She brought her two kitties, Buster and Moon, and we all laughed a lot watching Louie adjust to his new roommates. Emily and I did zoom yoga classes on the deck, went on long bike rides, and cooked amazing meals together.
