was so nice to talk with her and to reminisce. Joy was in Boulder, Colorado, with Carlin and Amy for a long weekend in early September. The highlight of the trip was a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park to look for elk. In early October, she went to visit McGill friends in the Eastern Townships and the Laurentians and had a lot of fun with them. She also celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with friends from England. At the end of the month, Joy and her sister, Chris, went to Aruba for a relaxing week. Joy’s son, Carlin, Amy, and the two grandchildren will be at Joy’s for Thanksgiving, and will join Amy’s parents for a large family dinner. And lastly, Joy is going to take the train to Seattle, Washington (with a stop in Portland), to spend Christmas with Elaine and her two boys. “That should complete the year!” she said. She is very involved in helping the Parkinson’s group named after Michael J. Fox to develop a cure for this dreaded disease that robbed her brilliant husband, Laurie, of his life. As for me, Valerie Banks Lane , we are enjoying our little village, walking every day, puttering around the house. Our sweet old Maine Coon cat, Mister Smarty Pants, passed away on October 4 and we are very sad about losing him. He was almost 17 and a most wonderful cat. As I am no longer a board member of the Red Lily Pond Project Association, I now have more free time to read and work on little projects around the house. I repaired an old quilt that my grandmother and her sisters made for me when I was a baby, appropriately called “Grandmother’s Fan.” The material had gotten worn, so I spent months mending it, cutting and hand-sewing new pieces to cover the old ones. I replaced some of the white border, and put a new teal bias edging around it, and it looks beautiful now at the end of my bed. It has now had new life breathed into it. Good for another 80 years! I’ve also been knitting socks— the yarn is vari-colored and comes out in colorful stripes—one is done and I’m on the second. I have been reading the New Yorker s that have piled up; am writing a cookbook memoir, an ongoing project; and I’m trying to read the many inherited books in my bookshelves that belonged to my parents. I love starting the day with Wordle each morning and doing the
music-making and performer-training organiza-tions. I am still somewhat bi-coastal, and have just returned from a week in Berkeley, California, to help a dear friend who had a knee replacement. It is always good to travel and then to get home to one’s own nest. Carole, yours will be restored in good time! Onward! It was great fun to gather eight of us for a recent impromptu Zoom. All the best to all of you—TS
for them. I have met some amazing people there, and we all gather strength and ideas from each other.” Sally and I, Valerie Banks Lane , met during the summer at Mashpee Commons and had lunch at Bleu. It’s great to spend time with my friends from DPH each year. Phoebe Ellsworth said, “All is well here. I had COVID, but if I hadn’t gotten tested I never would have known it. It was just like a cold. I’ve wracked my brain for interesting news, but can’t think of anything. I suppose at our age no news is good news!” Malitta Knaut sent, “Hi! Sorry to hear you will be turning 80. I’m sticking with 39! My family is well, my great- granddaughter will be turning three and is cute as a button and my show ponies are the loves of my life and keep me active. Hope everyone else is doing well also.” Julie Allen Thiele wrote that she loves my cheery, energetic emails, especially with my recognition that in the midst of our lives we are aware of the existence of the world’s problems. “But you’re right—I concentrate on my own very fortunate life, the little bit of help I can give to others, and the unimaginable notion that I will be 80 in February! 80!” Yes, it is a jarring thought, isn’t it? Sara Hemphill wrote, “I guess I’ve had my fill of ‘moving around’: Paris, England, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, France, Spain, Russia, and Alaska!” She is happily living with her daughter and son-in-law in Greenfield, Massachusetts. “Cheers!” she says. Anita Fahrni-Minear returned to Mongolia in May for a monthlong working visit, her first since the fall of 2018. Three additional books of hers—short stories in English for Mongolian young people—were published in the spring, each in an edition of 10,000. Schools in seven provinces are now distributing these books free to all pupils. The seventh book, Khaliun and Kate , has just come off the press. In October, Anita spent nine days in Valencia, Spain, with her daughter Elisabeth for an international conference on sharks and to present a paper on her work in Bangladesh for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Elisabeth, Rubai, Dylan (12), and Amaya (9) were in Switzerland during the summer. Daughter Jennifer, a doctor of vascular medicine, opened her private practice in Frauenfeld in August. Joy Haley Rogers called to wish my husband and me a happy 60th wedding anniversary in November. It
1961 HGS Bob Kessler bobkesslerib@gmail.com 1961 DPH Valerie Banks Lane capecodwoman43@gmail.com
I’m thinking about all of you as I write this column today a few days before Thanksgiving. I give thanks for all of you. To begin, Ellen Powley Donaldson came to Craigville, Massachusetts, in July and she and I went to lunch at the Hyannis Yacht Club, eating on the deck overlooking the Hyannis harbor. We always have a great time when we see each other. Unfortunately, it is not often enough. I’m glad that she still comes to the Cape every summer from her home in Palm Springs, California. Carol Miller Rand signed up for a lot of book groups/lectures this fall and is reading like mad. She emailed, “I love the two lecture groups because we read four to five books by a single author and really get a feel for the writer. But I have three books due in a few weeks and it almost feels like being back in school… but it is stimulating and interesting and keeps me busy. Also, I have a Wordle group with my children which we check in on every day. We celebrate together when one of us gets a 2 or 3. Fun! If you haven’t tried Wordle, it takes only a few minutes each day and is a good mind bender. Let’s keep our brains healthy!” Sally Hendrickson Shaw wrote, “Not much news from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Currently, we are both healthy and enjoying our children, grandchildren, and grand-dogs. I’m still active with the local Council on Aging exercise group, book club, and knitting group, and also do some volunteering
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2023 • ISSUE 1 | VIEWS FROM THE HILL
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