John
and Barbara's 2012
First Grandchild Maya, London East End,
Christmas in Colorado, Thanksgiving in Tucson, a new battery for John, and a
new knee for Barbara. Add in work,
bridge, cooking, jewelry-making, and
side trips, and it was again a full year.
We started 12 months ago with a 2011
family Christmas in Estes Park. Karen,
Brian, Matt, and Rachael flew in early, and there was a short appearance by
Anne and RC. The weather cooperated
with a beautiful snowfall, providing the opportunity for some to snowshoe the
Emerald Lake trail in Rocky Mountain National Park on a bright sunny day
(common) without wind (not so common.)
The usual wildlife was accented by watching a bobcat nap right under
Karen's bedroom window, so close you could touch it but for the glass!
In the spring of 2010 Barbara had
bought (at a great price) a week in a London Condo through a silent auction in
Palm Desert, but we could not get the time free until January. We were a little concerned about doing this
in the winter, but from experience knew the weather could not be too
terrible. The good thing about flying to
Europe in winter is that we managed to get tickets with frequent flyer
miles. To simplify things and spare
Barbara's arthritic knee, I arranged for a driver to meet us at Heathrow and
take us directly to Ipswich in East Anglia where Barbara was going to start
some genealogy research. He dropped us
at the Ipswich genealogy center for the afternoon returned later that evening
to take us on to our Hotel in Lowestoff on the East Anglia coast, where Barbara
planned additional genealogy research. As it turns out, David, our driver was
from one of the small towns from which Barbara's ancestors immigrated, and his
mother was also a Dickerson; so he and Barbara were almost certainly related.
Small world! Before taking the train to
London, we had a wonderful evening with some of our daughter in law's English
uncle and grandmother. (Here is the post for that trip.)
The flat we had for the week was in
East London, and even though we had lived in England for three years and have
visited London numerous times since, this was a whole new part of the city for
us to explore. The “East End” is
historically, socially, economically, and culturally complex. Over 100 languages and dialects are spoken in
this area. Our condominium was close to the large East London Mosque, as well
as next to an historic Jewish synagogue.
Barbara, of course, found a theme to guide our explorations - Jack the
Ripper. We explored alleys where murders
occurred, pubs that were inns occupied by prostitutes and victims of the times,
and the Spitafield church where prostitutes were offered shelter in its
basement. There were only a few typical
English pubs remaining in this area, but restaurants serving foods of Turkey,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern
Europe were numerous . . . and delicious!
Clive Moore, a dear friend we first met
almost 40 years ago in England, made a trip into the city, allowing us to have
a wonderful day with him. We were also
hosted by an online physician friend of John's,
Anthony and Christine Campbell, for a most enjoyable dinner. ( Anthony's
blog - http://www.acampbell.org.uk/serendipity/ ) Brian Bruns, a young man who spent much time
in our house as a friend of our children in high school and who is sort of a
second son to us was in London to receive a literary prize, so he took the
spare bedroom of our condo and spent 3 days with us. It was on this trip that Barbara realized
that she had finally become limited in travel by her arthritic right knee, and
it was time to do something about it beyond the injections which had provided
only temporary relief. More details and
some pictures of this trip are available in John's blog ( http://blipsinthecosmos.blogspot.com/2012/02/back-to-uk.html ).
In February and March we returned again
to our RV Park in Palm Springs, with John commuting to work in Iowa. Local
trips included a drive to San Diego so we could spend some time with Barbara's
brother Martin, who had come down from Alaska. On our return to Iowa, we stayed
two weeks in Tucson at Catalina State Park.
We returned briefly to Phoenix in May
for Anne's graduation from Mesa community college (she is now finishing her
bachelor's degree at Northern Arizona University,) and in June made a fun
weekend run to Joliet and Chicago. John also had a new pacer battery pac
installed. The first one only lasted 7
years, but after its first check, the new one says it will last 12 years. While
Barbara started preparations for her knee replacement on August 7, John flew to
Portland, for a short but wonderful visit with Matt and Rachael during Fleet
Week and the Rose Festival.
In early August, Karen flew out from
Tucson and kept Barbara distracted for several days prior to surgery, and flew
home two days after surgery. After that, Anne and Dana Fritz separately came to
Cedar Rapids assisting Barbara's recovery.
(John did a few weeks of laundry, cooking, and personal assisting as
well.) The rehabilitation for knee
surgery is a long and arduous process and continues even today, but she has
worked diligently and is doing very very well.
We also had wonderful visits from cousin John and Donnice Cochenour from
Ft. Collins Colorado, and from Rod and Char Mann, friends that date back to Air
Force days in San Antonio in 1978. In
October, as Barbara continued her convalesence, John drove to Estes Park for a
week to check on things and visit with friends.
This November, we rented a house for
three weeks in north Tucson and hosted a
family Thanksgiving reunion. Matt
and Rachael flew down from Portland, and Anne and RC drove down from
Chandler. Our first grandchild (adopted)
was born on October 23, and went home with Karen and Brian on October 24,
Karen's birthday. Adding to the
festivities, Brian Bruns drove down from Las Vegas for a few days. On
Thanksgiving Day, our family joined Ron and Judy Longenbaugh and a number of
their family members for a big Thanksgiving feast at their house; it was a lot
of fun.
John is working through Christmas and
New Year's holidays this year, it's his turn, so we will take the opportunity
to hole up in our nice warm condo and scheme for the coming year.
Our best wished for each and everyone
of you this year; we keep you close in our hearts.
John & Barbara
