Year-End 2007

Hello from Brooklyn where it’s snowing as I write. Last year I told you I’d be opening additional space in our ER this spring; well, not yet, but perhaps in a few weeks. As with the house renovation I’ve learned again that hospital construction will take twice as long and cost twice as much as expected. We proved it again to ourselves when the greenhouse kit Simone purchased turned out to need a custom roof and custom floor in addition to the kit. Simone is using the greenhouse through this winter and looking forward to adding chicks to our Brooklyn “farm” in early May 2008. Modifications, including an automatic door and feeder will make the greenhouse serve the dual purpose as a chicken coop come Spring.

Masha, graduated Friends Seminary, and served as one of the two leaders who produced an outstanding yearbook for her class. Masha spent the summer prowling the city, taking photographs and otherwise relaxing. Masha has started at Bryn Mawr College and though she laments it’s not New York she’s fully engaged in the college experience and visiting with friends and family in Philadelphia on her down time.

We didn’t vacation as a family this summer as Zoey was living at Grandma Claire’s house and waiting tables on Long Beach Island. He finished his restaurant experience there working in the kitchen at lunch—a well deserved promotion. Zoey returned to Penn in the fall and is considering taking courses in Beijing next summer.

Simone continues as a site coordinator with the Cobble Hill Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that supports local farmers and supplies us with fresh produce. Find a nearby CSA at http://globalcircle.net/flgroceries.htm or http://wsare.usu.edu/csa/csasearchTesting.cfm.

She continues the Brooklyn branch of the German Shepherd Dog Rescue that she helped establish when we were in Philadelphia (http://www.gsr-sp.com). She just placed a pair of puppies that had been fished out of a farmer’s manure pond by a passing Good  Samaritan. Our old shepherd Hillary’s became much more energetic with their arrival—and seems to have maintained that energy since their departure.

We’re fortunate that our mothers remain active and mostly well though not without some of the challenges of great age. These family tidings remind me of friends who are struggling with their health and life itself. I hope you are taking care of yourselves and enjoying the world around you. We would love to host your visit to New York in 2008.

I’m sure each of us seeks our own way to succor those with less and those caught in seemingly unending violence in these times and so we wish you all the best for a joyous 2008.