Happy New Year 2014

Despite my best intentions for an annual letter, I am left with reporting all that has happened in the last few years, a formidable task for an aging memory.  So, here’s what’s going on now, at least from my limited point of view.

Francois graduated from Plymouth State University in 2011 with a B.S. in Marketing.  He has become an avid bass guitar player and was in a rock band named “Acrida” for a while. We were happy when he got a day job as a Manager Trainee with Enterprise that summer. That job lasted two years until he was offered what he thought was a much sexier opportunity in NYC.  Big marketing firm, office with a view of the river, and a two-hour commute in each direction.  He is now back in Westchester working twenty minutes from the house.  Much better.

Caroline graduated SUNY Purchase with a B.F.A. in drawing and painting.  She has started working on a graphic novel and received third prize at the Annual Armonk Art Show last September.  She has landed a day job working as a framing consultant for A.I. Friedman's in Port Chester.  A graduate degree, a teaching certificate, and script writing have gone to the back burner for now.

Veronica is a junior at University at Buffalo.  She is pursuing a  double major in Media Design and Computer Science with a certificate in Game Studies.  

Matthew is a senior in high school.  He is an accomplished drummer, captain of his PF debate team, and an Intel STS semifinalist.  As of now, he is waiting to hear from colleges.  

Nicholas is in eighth grade.  Nicholas is a published author as we have collected his handwritten stories over many years and bound them in a single hardcover novel.  We expect to do a promotional tour soon.  A few years ago, he had to work on a composting project for his science class. He and his father created a 6 x 6 foot space in the backyard with tree logs where they dumped leaves, grass clippings, and vegetable scraps from the kitchen.  Now, that wonderful fresh compost will be added to Louis' new vegetable garden project this spring.  He wants to drop off the grid and grow our own food.  Lou still works at IBM.  The company keeps moving jobs to China, India, and Brazil.  It seems that we are expected to be on the company network both at work and at home, but everyone is happy to be working, so there is little complaining.  On the home front, the downstairs bathroom is currently taken apart and slowly being put back together.  In his spare time, Lou works on a scheme to beat the stock options market.

  

I am still working at the local public library.  I keep busy taking occasional trips to Canada, knitting and taking care of our small menagerie composed of four small fluffy animals.  On a sad note, our aging Collie, Lucky, passed away in the early morning hours of Monday, December 27, 2010.  He was surrounded by the people who loved him most, and we still miss him dearly.

So the stream of life continues on its winding journey.  Thank you for being part of my present and I hope your “now” finds you surrounded by joy and love.

Suzanne and family 

Our Trip to France (Where We Actually Ended Up)

In October 2012, Lou and I traveled to France to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We arrived in Paris and then took a shuttle to Bordeaux to visit our friends Corinne and Guy. Upon our arrival, they both greeted us at the airport and proceeded to show us the city of Bordeaux.   Of course, Bordeaux is a historic region that gained great wealth producing and selling its wine, particularly to England.  The English and French endured centuries of history in this area including many wars and changes in political control. 

We stayed with Corinne and Guy in Bernos-Beaulac, a village near Bordeaux where coincidently Mitt Romney was involved in a fatal car accident while doing his missionary work there.

Next we visited the Pays Basque (Basque Country) including the sea resorts Biarritz and St. Jean de Luz.  The Basques are the indigenous people of Southwestern France and Northern Spain that sometimes have separatist leanings.  They have their own cuisine and the facades of their buildings are colored decoratively.

The next day we visited the vineyard village of St-Emilion and the Petrus winery. We bought a nice bottle of wine at St-Emilion, and I learned that the French wine culture included not only knowledge and taste for particular wines but also the memories of the people with whom the bottle is shared.  I thought it an interesting and cordial tradition.

We took the train to Paris were we stayed in a 200-square-foot, one room, six-flight walk-up apartment for about four days.  All that climbing was worth it because the front door of the building was across the Seine from Notre-Dame.  A walk along the Seine the next day brought us to the back door of the Louvre.

We visited the Louvre, the Champs, the Cathedrals of Mary Madeleine and Sainte-Chapelle, the Musee D’Orsay (with a fine impressionist collection and “Whistler’s Mother” in the attic), Montmartre, and Sacre Coeur.  However, we spent most of our time in Paris “flâner,” e.g., walking around various neighborhoods aimlessly with periodic interruptions at a number of cafes.

On one walk, we ended up on an inclining street that was lined with shoe stores, one more expensive than the next, until we got to the Prada at the top of the hill where you can get a pair of sneakers for bargain prices over $450.

We left Paris for the Normandy region.  Here, as in Brittany and other places, we found a common theme.  Most sites, especially the religious ones, were destroyed in the French Revolution and then again in WWII.  Of course, the war destroyed large parts of many of the cities in these regions, in particular Rouen, Caen, and Cherbourg.  Entrance fees from the tourists are used to renovate and maintain these sites.

This region is no stranger to war and strife. In the Rouen Cathedral, we saw the place where the heart of Richard the Lionheart, of Crusade fame, is purported to lie. The rest of him is scattered in other places.

Joan of Arc had a bad day or two in Rouen. She was tortured and burned at the stake there. Down the road in Bayeux, we viewed a 23o-foot-long, nine-century-old embroidery depicting the events ending in the Norman conquest of England at the Battle of Hastings. This changed English history and made ½ the words in the English language difficult to spell.

One of the high points of the trip was seeing the beaches where the WWII invasion took place. Before the invasion, the Germans controlled all the deep water ports in Europe, giving them complete control of the continent. The allies had to construct 3 deep water ports by towing concrete structures from England and sinking them off the coast in order to dock cargo ships to support the troops. After the invasion a hundred-year severity storm destroyed some of the constructions nearly causing the invasion to fail. Viewing the 50 miles of beaches and feeling the force of the wind from the sea impresses on the mind the ingenuity, bravery, and determination the allies mounted with thousands of ships along this coast.
Moving South down the coast we came upon Mont Saint-Michel, a city/cathedral/fortress surrounded by tidal water, now connected to the mainland by a causeway. The monks were able to travel to the mainland by foot at low tide but invaders were strongly discouraged from attacking the town by the up to 46 foot tides. It was a long climb we made to the top. The building stones were raised by a rope and large pulley connected to a large human “squirrel cage” driven by (let’s not call them slaves) people who were being compassionately re-educated in their religious beliefs.

We had the opportunity to sample Calvados, the famous apple brandy of the region. Frank enjoyed the bottle we brought back for him.   While I’m sure it was enjoyed by many a soldier/liberator as well, I was thinking of using it to clean my car radiator. 

We turned Southeast and headed to Loire Valley and the Dordogne Region.  On the way we visited the Chateau de Chenonceau on the River Cher.  During the 1500’s, King Henry II gave the Chateau to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, a royal favorite and beauty of the time. (However, Henry’s wife, Catherine de Medici, did not share this view.)

Don’t be fooled by the Chateau’s “modest” entrance, there is at least a two-story part of the building that extends over the river in the back. Here, the privileged “1%” had lavish parties while the other 99% toiled in the kitchen or delivered game that was hoisted from boats on the river into the pantry below the party rooms.  After Henry’s death from a jousting wound, Catherine maneuvered Diane into comfortable exile and generally out of recorded history. Diane’s remains were not treated kindly during the French Revolution. 

We met up with our friends again in Sarlat. We stayed with Corinne’s mother and were treated to a gourmet dinner of foie gras from her kitchen.  The “foie” do their “gras-ing” near the walnut tree groves in the Dordogne Region where she lives.

We also visited the caves of Lascaux. The museum there had a reproduction of the 17,000-year-old cave art.   In a neighborhood nearby, we saw La Roque-Saint-Christophe, dwellings used by Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon man for over 50,000.  The vistas and a system of sentinels warned inhabitants of intruders coming from miles away.  No one is living there now.  The rents for rooms with a view are probably too high.

Well, when you get to the point where people you’re talking about are old enough to make you look young, it is time to stop. Thanks for taking the time to read my reminiscent screed.

First Snow

Always magical.

What We Plan To Visit In France

TH OCT 18 Day One : BORDEAUX.  Recover from jetlag, visit Bordeaux (Corinne will meet us at the airport)
FR OCT 19 Day Two : SAINT-EMILION. 
SA OCT 20 Day Three : PAYS BASQUE. 

SU OCT 21 Day Four : TGV to PARIS. Staying at : Quai Saint-Michel 11, 75005 Paris
MON OCT 22 Day Five : PARIS.  Reversing the morning and afternoon activities on this day also works well, because the Champs-Elysées Walk leaves you near the Louvre (above center) — but most people have more energy for museums in the morning. Morning: Tour the Louvre (arrive 8h40 which is 20 minutes before opening) the museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Late night openings on Wednesdays and Fridays until 9:45 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. Take the Guided Tour “Louvre's Masterpieces” which starts at 11am. Tickets en vente exclusivement sur place le jour de la visite, Le départ des activités s'effectue à l'Accueil des groupes, dans le hall Napoléon (sous la pyramide)  Have lunch or coffee at Café le Nemours (across the street, on Place Colette). Afternoon: Follow the book's Champs-Elysées Walk from the Arc de Triomphe downhill along the incomparable avenue de Champs-Elysées to the Tuileries Garden and possibly the Orangeries Museum. Evening: Enjoy dinner on Ile St. Louis, then a floodlit walk by Notre-Dame (above right).

TUES OCT 23 Day Six : PARIS.  Morning: Tour the d’Orsay Museum (above left) (arrive 15 minutes before opening) open from 9.30am to 6pm daily, except Mondays. late night on Thursdays until 9.45pm. Midday: Take the book's Montmartre Walk (above center), featuring the Sacré-Cœur basilica Afternoon: Visit Pere Lachaise Cemetery (above right), relax at Café du Marché near Rue Cler near hotel.

WED OCT 24 Day Seven : PARIS, CHARTRES.  Day trip to Chartres (above left). ??? Getting there : Early train to Chartres.  Not sure yet.  If so, Lunch at Bistrot de la Cathédrale, Le Serpent, Café des Arts, Le Cloître Gourmand, or Le Pichet.  Early afternoon: Return to Paris. In the afternoon, follow Historic Paris Walk from Rick's Paris guidebook, featuring Ile de la Cité, Notre-Dame, Latin Quarter (above, second from left), and Sainte-Chapelle (above, second from right). If we enjoy medieval art, we visit the Cluny Museum (above right).

THURS OCT 25 Day Eight : Normandy’s Capital of ROUEN.  Check into hotel and spend at least two hours exploring city’s ancient core.

FRI OCT 26 Day Nine : CAEN, BAYEUX.  Drive toward Bayeux, stopping en route to visit Abbey de Jumieges, one of the most evocative ruins in France. Also stop to visit Abbeye aux Hommes, founded by William the conqueror. You will get to Caen (above left) by lunchtime. Afternoon: Continue west towards Bayeux (above right) visit le Musee des Tapestries de Bayeux (above middle).  Eat at Le Pommier, one of the most appealing restaurants in Bayeux. Reasonably priced.

SAT OCT 27 Day Ten : D-DAY BEACHES.  This day is reserved for exploring the D-day beaches (above left). From Bayeux, head east to explore the coastline. Start at the seaside resort of Arromanches les Bains (above middle), where you can visit the Musee du Debarquement, Omaha Beach, and the Normandy American Cemetery. You can have lunch in the town of Grandcamp Maisy at Hotel Duguesclin (4 quai crampon 02 31 22 64 22), later checking out Utah Beach. That evening, drive to Pontorson, near Mont St-Michel (DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME : ROLL BACK YOUR CLOCKS)

SUN OCT 28 Day Eleven : MONT SAINT-MICHEL.  Mt St Michel (above left). The great Benedictine monastery founded in 966 is best enjoyed by taking an English language tour that covers the highlights. After viewing the abbey, drop in at La Mere Poulard for a legendary omelet. In the afternoon, head to St Malo, Dinan (above middle), Sleep in Quimper (above right) (3 hrs away). 

MON OCT 29 Day Twelve : COTE BRETONNE.  Visit Quimper, Carnac (above left) and head to Angers. Chateau d’Angers (above middle) dating from the 9th century was the home of the comtes d’anjou. Visit the castle to see the Apocalypse Tapestries (above right), stretching 328 ft. Stay in Hotel d’Anjou.

TUES OCT 30 Day Thirteen : CHENONCEAUX. Leave Angers (above left) and head for a visit at Chenonceau (above middle).  Late afternoon, head out to Limoges (above right).

WED OCT 31 Day Fourteen : SARLAT & DORDOGNE (Sleep in Allas Les Mines)  (Limoges-Sarlat-AllasLesMines is a 3-hr drive)   Morning: Drive to Sarlat and meet Guy and Coco for lunch.  Afternoon: Go directly to le village de Allas-Les-Mines (chez Coco).

THURS NOV 1 Day Fifteen : DORDOGNE.  Morning Beynac-et-Cazenac (above left), Sarlat (above middle), Afternoon La Roque-Gageac (above right).

FRI NOV 2 Day Sixteen : Dordogne Visit Domme (above left), Lascaux (above middle) or St-Cirq-Lapopie (above right).  In the late afternoon, drive back to Bernos (Allas Les Mines to Bernos is a 3-hr drive).

SAT NOV 3 Day Seventeen :    DEP 13h20 Bordeaux Terminal B AR 14h40 Paris (CDG)   DEP 16h35 Paris (CDG) Terminal 2E AR 19h55 New York (JFK).

Can't wait to get started...

Bread, wonderful bread

Despite the hot weather outside, I still crank up my oven since I bake constantly. I am quite the minimalist when it comes to bread: I like doughs that require minimum intervention on my part (a resting period and a few folds and they are on their way) and yield loaves that bring smiles to everyone's face while providing good nutrition (the more whole grains the better). My kids see me mix dough just about every day of the week, usually when they are having breakfast. Maybe one day, when they are all grown-up and crave honest bread, they'll remember that all it takes is a big bowl and two hands and they'll want to learn how to make their own. One can only hope, right?

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

(a) 1/3 cup warm water + 1 tsp sugar + 2 tsp. active dry yeast

(b) Approx. 7 cups of bread flour + 3 cups of warm water (between 80 and 115 degrees F.)

(c) 1 tbs salt

Method: (hand-mixed)

Using an 8 oz measuring cup, mix (a) yeast into sweetened water and let rest for five minutes (that's called "proofing" the yeast). Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix (b) flour and water until no dry flour remains, incorporate proofed yeast, and let rest, covered, 20 to 40 minutes. Add the salt. Cover the dough and let it rest, doing as many folds as necessary to obtain medium soft consistency. When the dough is ready (it takes about three hours hours at my house with folds every thirty minutes), transfer it out of the bowl on a floured surface and shape it into three medium-sized loaves.

Preheat the oven to 450°F

Let the loaves rest for 30 to 45 minutes, then bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack. Enjoy!

Here's Summer

“How,” a friend asked me recently, “is June going for you? Hate the transition from the school schedule devil-we-know to camp and the devil-we-don’t.”

Picking up the pieces of three work weeks shattered from the impact of midday school events, early dismissals, half-days, and a school year that ended for two of my children a month earlier than the other two, I could only send a quick, impassioned agreement. June, as no general ever said but every mother knows, is hell.

It’s hard not to love summer, what with the fresh tomatoes, the sunny days, the swimming pools and the aura of freedom that hangs over it all.  But that freedom for my children comes with a high price tag for me, and for every other working mother I know: even the most free-range of young children cannot be left to roam the house and neighborhood unsupervised all day.

I say “mothers” advisedly. In families where both parents work or there is but one working parent, summer and the end of school means a scramble to find somewhere else for children to spend their days (or a caregiver to stay at home with them).  Mothers are disproportionately the ones who cope with that scramble.  Fathers do join in this form of summer “fun,” but what dads are missing is that sense that children who aren’t at school should be in their mother’s care.  Many of our neighbors sign their kids up for ten full weeks of assorted camps or day care minus the family vacation; I am the one wringing my hands over whether that’s “too much structure.”

Except in those few communities where year-round school has somehow won out over the forces of nostalgia and inertia that leave most children available to help out with the harvest, working families at every income level cope annually with the long summer school holiday.  I imagine most feel some level of my ambivalence.  I do love summer.  I love the heat, I love leaving boots and coats behind, and I love that feeling that the world is slacking off just a little.  My in-box is already less full, and my calendar full of lovely white spaces.

But the need to suddenly create and manage a different structure for family life is as oppressive as a string of 90-degree days.  I know children spending weeks with grandparents, weeks at day and sleep-away camp, children at home with a mother’s helper, children in summer school, and children who (like mine) will spend their summer hopping from one to another of these varying activities, meaning that every week presents a new opportunity to sort out and screw up a new schedule of pickups and drop-offs and lunches and hats and sunscreen and but-wait-today-we-were-supposed-to-bring-water-shoes.  Which is fine, and even fun, under one condition:  that we all recognize that this is the season when parents are in all-hands-on-deck mode.  Everything will take longer, everyone will respond more slowly, and four hours of full-attention work followed by an afternoon at the pool should be considered more effective and efficient than eight hours of “work” interrupted by constant calls from children asking if they can run through the sprinkler and if you know where the dog is.  Summer should mean adults without children can find time for family and friends without guilt, and that we all make an extra effort to recognize the difference between a real emergency (brain surgery) and a manufactured one (FedEx deadline).  In summer, flexibility and tolerance should prevail.

In an ideal world, some of those summer rules would always apply, and we would all, mothers and fathers alike, speak up more boldly about the moments — like June, July and August — when the scramble to raise children and to financially support them conflict.  As Anne-Marie Slaughter wrote in “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” for the July/August issue of the Atlantic, the more up front we are about our need to lead a balanced life in which family and work both play a part, the more the adjustments we make to our schedules to accommodate both will become the norm.

Meanwhile, the days are long, but the summers short, and I can’t really bring myself to wish for them to be any shorter, no matter how antiquated our national accommodation for a bygone agricultural life.   How did June go for me? Too crazily, and too quickly, but we will adjust.  July and August promise to offer some time to breathe.

I rarely put myself first

Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy taking care of family or friends -- but forgetting to take care of myself is a disservice to myself. Sometimes when I spend my day helping others, I am so exhausted I often turn to food thinking that it is the only “nice” thing that I can do for myself. I can certainly take care of others as long as I don’t lose myself in the shuffle.

I make sure to eat breakfast. I take the time to sit down and enjoy my first morning meal. It fuels me for the morning, and I am off to start my day. Look out world, here I come!  I prefer to pack my lunch and snacks for the next day the night before so that there are no decisions I need to make at 6 a.m. in the morning. I do whatever I have to do to make sure I have snacks with me in case I get the munchies. You should see my desk drawer at work.

That was the idea when I joined the local gym last spring. I wanted to make exercise part of my day. I prefer to exercise before I eat breakfast, so I thought I would be sure to get it in and start my day off on a good note. I lasted two months.

Back to the drawing board...