Well, Spacers, the theme of this edition meshes perfectly with Abby’s submission and, coincidentally, with our lead photo so let’s hear from Abby first.  Here she is: 

Hi Spacers - Quick update from DC.  Mandy and I just returned from sunny Kauai.  MAHAOLO!  I found out I could fly through Honolulu on my way back from a work trip to South Korea and immediately asked if I could please, please debark the plane there for a few days.  But once I realized that a few co-workers were planning to do the same thing, I immediately booked a ticket to Kauai instead.  Lucky for me, Mandy decided to come meet me. It just wouldn’t have been the same trip without her. I’d rented a cherry red jeep and met her at the airport.

Our very first night we met a group of really nice locals who offered to take us kayaking and hiking the next day to a secluded waterfall.  Lucky for us, they turned out NOT to be serial killers.  From that moment on, Mandy and I decided to let the vacation gods lead the way.  We hiked out to this huge, beautiful waterfall and swam behind it.

After that, our new friends took us up a hidden trail (read: we needed ropes to get up and down) to another waterfall directly above it which was spectacular.  On the way back we braved a rope swing and survived a faux pig attack – one of our new friends playing a joke on us and we went all Lord of the Flies.  Yeah, he got us but good.  That night, we drove out to a secluded beach for a bonfire party and ate smores and played glow-in-the-dark bocce. NOTE: We must invest in a set for the next family reunion.  It was a funnnnnn night and, while I won’t get in to too much detail, I was in a drum circle – enough said.

The next day Mandy and I drove to Hanalei Bay on the North side of the island.  We picked up a very small hitch-hiker on the way who told us about this remote cave called The Blue Room that we should check it out.  We spent the day applying and reapplying 50 spf sun screen and enjoying the gorgeous beach.  Eventually we managed to find the Blue Room, which was………terrifying.  Essentially you hike up to this cliff face and then below you is this giant, hidden cave that is, well, dark.  Very dark.  At one time, locals could swim through an opening in the rock and emerge in a room that was turqoise.  Unfortunately the water level isn’t high enough anymore so now it’s a giant pool in the back of the cave and the water is incredibly clear (you can see how clear even in the dark) and apparently pristine.

We thought there would be some tourists or locals there but it was just Mandy and me, hysterically laughing out of panic that we were actually going to swim in it.  NOTE: Mandy and I share a very real, perhaps somewhat irrational fear of deep, dark water . . .  or what could potentially live in deep, dark water.  We understand that we should stop watching movies called The Descent and The Cave and Jaws.  Still, we persevered, waded in up to our knees, and then jumped in.  Of course we immediately jumped back out but we did it, Spacers, and we can’t talk about it for a little while.

The next day we had signed up for a surfing lesson but the company wasn’t able to confirm an instructor (or even call us to tell us that – we’re told this is called “Hawaii time”) and so we went hiking instead.  We managed to find a little-known trail that everyone and their mother wasn’t hiking and the views were amazing.  Mandy almost slid off the face of the mountain but damn it if she didn’t pull it together for a great sister bonding photo anyway.

Our last full day we hung out on the beach in a vain attempt of get tan and then attempted to find the place where they filmed the movie Jurassic Park.  Luckily I’d rented the jeep when I first arrived (our sweet cherry ride) because that movie was filmed in 1993 and off-roading was required.  Mandy was almost bounced out of the window a few times (are you seeing a pattern emerge??) and, while we weren’t able to find the spot where they built the giant Jurassic Park gates, we had a blast driving through streams and through the jungle on the “road” that remained.  NOTE: Kauai is actually about 80% uninhabitable – the center of the island is all jungle and almost all the residents live around the periphery.  Anyway, we had to make it back to the North side of the island for our surf lesson and, while Mandy and I had been told there was a 15 foot tiger shark named Barnacles swimming in the bay, we both managed to stand up on boards . . . probably because, despite the fact that our instructor had a tattoo that protects him from sharks, we weren’t sure if that applied to us….again, too much Jaws.  Still, it was a blast and we’re planning to take safe lessons in Costa Rica next year.

Our last day, we grabbed bikes and bagels, and rode up to a quiet bay about three miles from our hotel.  We ate breakfast looking over a beautiful cliff and then rode back for one last dip in the ocean before packing up and checking out.  It was hard to leave and very hard to return our sweet cherry ride.  We may or may not be looking into jobs and housing in Kauai.  You’re all welcome to visit!  Highly recommend Kauai for anyone looking to go somewhere warm and beautiful but not touristy.  Sign up for travel zoo or trip advisor deals, people!  You won’t regret it.

Love,

Abs

Well, that was exciting.  And stay tuned for a Kauai sunset photo – or maybe sunrise (but what are the odds of that?) – at the end of this edition.  But we now move on to academic pursuits and publishing events courtesy of Patrick.   Hi Patrick!

Hey yall,

About to graduate from Loyola U in New Orleans this May.  I’ve started a literary journal called Bellow.  Our (my) first issue is set to come out in mid February.  It’s looking like it’ll be around 200 pages.  When it comes out, I think I’ll send a free PDF of it to everyone on the SIS mailing list.  BUT–hint hint, we’re raising money for Issue 2, as Issue 1 was paid for completely out of pocket.  The second issue will come out Summer 2012.  Here’s the website, \

www.bellowliteraryjournal.com

And here’s the ‘official’ fundraising site

http://www.indiegogo.com/Bellow-Literary-Journal.

It should be noted that we’re having a launch party, complete with kegs, New Orleans food and readings from the journal sometime in February.  This event, or my graduation, which is May 12th, would be great excuse to come check out New Orleans.  All are invited to both!  Let me know,

with love,

Patrick

Mark down those dates, Spacers, but first read on to hear what’s happening with Mary and Fred.  Here’s Mary to bring us up to date:

 Dear Family,

Happy New Year to All–may it be filled with good health and happiness!  I think it is going to be a great year for all of us–I am very optimistic!

Breaking News–A New Family Member- Erin and Josiah are the new parents of Ashlin Mary Rowe, born on December 23 at St. Vincents Hospital in Hartford.  Ashlin arrived ahead of schedule (by 2 months) and weighed 3 lbs. 7 oz. (I believe), and is doing well.  I understand she is 4 lbs. now.  Erin is doing well and she and Josiah are spending much time at the hospital with Ashlin until she is ready to come home.

We very much enjoyed Thanksgiving as we celebrated with Kathleen, Jen, Liz and families and Ali, Robert and Kevin and Ed, Sharon and Eddie stopped by (another highlight). At Christmas Ali, Jen, Jaxon, Georgie, Dylan, Liz, Mila and Samson joined us so it was wonderful.  Jen stayed a week both times so we really had lots of time to enjoy them and get acquainted with little Dylan Dodger Wolf who is such a happy baby–smiles all the time unless she is tired or hungry. There were some good football games going on (I witnessed Jaxon tackling Georgie Grace (dressed in ruffles) but she survived and we took lots of nice walks in the woods and enjoyed some nice meals (if I do say so myself).

We celebrated Jen’s 40th b’day when she came at Thankswgiving and the month of December is always a very busy b’day month in this extended family–belated happy b’day to Dana, Matt, Eva Claire, Kimberly, Leslie and (not belated–Alice Ginsberg, Mila, Natalie, Matthew and Ali–I hope I didn’t forget anyone.

We also spent a weekend in VT visiting Kathleen & Mark and family and were honored to be invited to Natalie’s karaoke party and Matthew’s Star Wars party.  The 9 year-old girls danced and sang the night away and the entire Doehla family dressed up as star wars characters to celebrate Matthew’s (4 years-old) b’day with lots of little boys running around the house with light sabers and playing games–lots of fun!

Now we are into January and are celebrating Brian W., Jaxon Julius Wolf, and Fred’s b’days–again I hope I didn’t forget anyone.  Happy B’day and happiness and good health all year long!   We are looking forward to Kimberly and Michael’s wedding next July and it will be wonderful to see many of you there and to celebrate this wonderful occasion.  That’s it for now.

Love to all!  – Mary

Next up a short note from Ed Jr. with a literature tip.

Here I am with another semi-contribution.

For I received a Kindle for Christmas.

The first book I bought for the Kindle was this:

http://www.amazon.com/Beast-Garden-Predators-Suburban-America/dp/0393326349/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326380944&sr=1-1

My thought, for SiS, is just to mention that it could be a good book to read, before travelling out to my sister’s wedding this summer.  The book happens to be almost entirely about Boulder, Colorado, but it mentions the parks of California several times.  Mountain lion attacks are very rare, but we will be in a forested area, near where they are known to live, and I just think that reading the book could serve to prompt any otherwise unwary Sugrues to exercise appropriate caution.

That’s all for now!  See you, -Ed (1967)

Okay, Spacers, “Forewarned is forearmed”, as someone once said. Also, “Don’t wander at night in lion country carrying raw meat”, as someone should have said.

Now a message from Tom (Sugrue) on health issues and family reconnections:

Hello,

I have a little real life drama to report.  As some of you know, prostate cancer and I have been going at each other since Feb.  Before that, it was just the cancer going at me – in such a sneaky, cowardly, way that I didn’t even notice.  But now it looks like I have the upper hand.  The report from the last check, about a week or so ago, indicated that if I have any cancer left, it’s undetectable, that is my PSA is “less than 0.05″, which, as all you PSA junkies know, is the limit for detection.  The next check comes in late March.  We’ll see, but so far, score one for the humans!

Speaking of humans, we Schuyler Ave humans scored a rare, and ’til now unreported sighting of the Kathleen and Mark wing of the tribe.

We got to see, and even converse with them and they got to witness some branch cutting heroics by Matt, the Ed Sugrues and me.  The whole affair was over in about the time it takes to nurse a good cup of coffee, but it was good to verify that they still exist and even speak the same language.  And good to use that common tongue to catch up a bit.

Sometime after Christmas, I also had a short visit with Jennifer and and her entourage at Mary and Fred’s, witnessed by Mary, Fred, Ali, Lizzy and Lizzy’s posse.  As always, it was too short, and with so many short people – and short people’s needs to attend to – conversing was a bit disjointed, but we can all pick up the loose strands in 20 years or so.  Except for “Fire! Evacuate the building!” does anybody have anything so important to say that it can’t wait a decade or two?  Or three?

Another visit: Dana and I were treated to a holiday dinner at a North Haven Italian resturant by Rosemary and Chiranton, with Bill Creighton as an added bonus.  No diapers had to be changed, nor toys retrieved, so we sat there for hours eating really, really good food.

Different, but still good.

And so,with that, and with the editor in chief breathing down my neck to get this in before yesterday’s extended deadline …

Love, Tom

Well, Spacers, while SiS staff were twiddling their thumbs waiting for Tom’s submission, Ed Sr. contacted headquarters to offer still another submission.  News hounds that we are, the Editorial Board ruled in favor of a publishing delay until Ed’s missive arrived, which it did and is presented here.     

Hi All!

Sharon and I got home about two weeks ago from a wonderful trip over the holidays, to California and Iowa. We flew to Oakland in early December and stayed for 3 weeks in the same home we’d rented last February, near Brian and Heather and team and about 25 minutes from Kim and Michael. Also, Ed joined us for a little over a week so it was just great to get everyone together and enjoy good family holiday togetherness. And, Brian arranged a family photo session with a professional photographer friend shortly after Ed arrived.  That was something we really wanted to do and it was a lot of fun – especially the part where with Brady posing for every picture and the photographer telling her not to pose; kinda hard for her to do… Anyway, we just got the proofs and we were happy to see that there are lots of good pictures to choose from. Should be fun! Afterwards the nine of us went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and a pitcher or two of margaritas. Great way to kick off our visit with the team!

Unlike previous visits, on this trip we didn’t do any travelrama adventures but instead mainly just hung out in the greater Walnut Creek / Oakland area, primarily at either our place, Brian and Heather’s or Kim and Michael’s, where we enjoyed lots of good food and drink, played many board games (& were amazed at Brady’s memory, and my lack of same), and spent some quality time in our hot tub with Brady and Keeley. We also got to have a little picnic and walk around a botanical garden in the park where KIM and MICHAEL WILL BE GETTING MARRIED (beautiful spot!), as well as take in a couple of Brady’s basketball games (she’s one of the “twin towers” on her team), watch Keeley and a bunch of other 4 year olds cavort around for an hour or so in their tap and ballet class, watch Brian, Brady and Keeley enjoy a couple of hours of ice skating at an outdoor rink, enjoy seeing how excited the girls were about seeing Santa Claus and getting the house ready for his arrival.

Sharon and I also got to visit Kim at school and maybe helped her a little, but mainly as always we just enjoyed watching her perform / teach her 29(!)  first graders and then get lots of hugs from them at the end of our visit.

Ed, Sharon and I flew out on 12/27, with Ed heading back to Boston and Sharon and I heading on to Iowa. We spent a few days in Sharon’s home town (Scranton) with her mother and then drove to Ames where about 45 members of the family gathered, as we do every year, for a couple of days of celebrating the holidays together. We stayed in a hotel with an indoor pool, where many of the 15 – 20 kids spent lots of their time, while the adults, all three generations of ‘em, enjoyed grazing on the tons of food everyone brought, playing cards and board games, watching the bowl games, and just renewing acquaintances with each other. From there, we drove back to Scranton and spent a few more days with Sharon’s 93 and 3/4 year old mom, before heading home a few days into the new year.

And, since getting back, a highlight was a visit from Jill, Christian and team last weekend. As always it was great to see them, especially since we usually get to spend some time together with them over the holidays but didn’t this year due to our travel schedule.

Well, that’s all for now from Brewster. We’re hoping to get in a little cross country skiing within the next few weeks since rumor has it that there might actually be a little snow on the ground somewhere up north. Hope we can find it…

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy 2012!

Ed and Sharon

Now a few words from Falls Church – and be sure to stick around for that sunset photo we promised:

‘Not a great deal to report, Spacers, except that we had a wonderful holiday season with Jody and Tom, Molly, Abby, Mandy and boy friends Evan and Sean.  Food, drink, board games, hikes and general fun.  A highlight for Leslie and me was the gift of a trip to Paris and Mallorca in May from Jody, Tom, Abby, Molly, and Mandy.  We’re really looking forward to the spring!

Leslie and saw Billy Elliot the Musical at the Kennedy Center recently and highly recommend it if it comes your way – or if you can catch it in NYC.

That’s about it from here for now.  Let’s all hope 2012 turns out to be a much better year than the last one, which was hardly fit for polite conversation.    Love – Bill

And that’s about it for this edition, Spacers.  Be well – and don’t forget to RSVP any wedding invitations you’ve received – hint, hint!

Next edition in about a month. 

And to close this edition out here’s that Kauai sunset photo we promised.  – Bill

It was October 26, 1996, Spacers, when Kathleen launched SiS. It was conceived as a way to keep family members in touch with each other as we multiplied and moved around the country and beyond.  Kathleen set the inimitable tone of SiS and led it through its formative years then passed the baton to Ed who took it through the middle years before turning it over to the present management team.  Helping engineer the hand off to its current incarnation, Jody converted SiS to a blog and established the format that we have used ever since. 

 So congratulations to all of us on our 15^th anniversary!  Let’s keep it going!   Speaking of which, here’s our first submission of the next fifteen years.  It’s from Mary and is appropriately celebratory.  So, let’s get started:

Happy 15th Birthday, SiS!  What an accomplishment–an electronic family news letter that has lasted that long, and thanks to Kathleen for starting it and Ed and Bill for keeping it going!  It is really a tribute to this family that everyone cares enough to send news from time to time and keep this communication going.

Fred and I were happy to see Ed and Bill a week+ ago when they came to New Haven for the annual football game.  We had a couple of hours to catch up which was great and after they left Fred and I did our annual Bear Mountain hike.  We visited Tom the weekend before and I am happy to report that he is doing well–maybe he will include a report in this anniversary edition.  (Ed.’s Note – He does! Stay tuned.)

We are very much looking forward to Thanksgiving this year as Kathleen, Mark, Natalie, Gabby, Matthew, Jen, Brian, Jaxon, Georgie, Dylan, Liz, Mila, Samson, Ali, Robert and, maybe, Kevin, and Alice will be with us for the holiday.  Jen and family will be arriving the Thursday before Thanksgiving and I have TG week off so we will have a lot of fun.  I wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving and I hope to see many of you in the not too distant future.

Love, Mary

Now we hear from Tom with a weather update, a (hopeless?) quest to recapture the past, commentary on the culture of Halloween, and more.  Here’s Tom:

Hello,

I was thinking that it would be pretty cool if we could comb through our records, find all the past issues of SiS, send them in to SiS headquarters and produce an anniversary edition.  A printed edition, with all the pictures.  A lot of family history has unfolded during the last fifteen years – including the births of quite a few additional members of the Spacer community – and it would be nice to be able to literally page back through it.  I mentioned this to our editor and he pointed out that as people discard their computers the SiS editions stored in them go too. But he can be a crusty old coot  (Ed.’s Note: ????!!!!!), and an expert at avoiding extra duties to boot, so… perhaps it is still possible?  Readers?

Thank you to everyone who wrote, emailed, called or visited during my recent encounter with cancer.  I can think of more pleasant reasons to be in contact  - I bet you can too! – but it was very thoughtful and supportive of you to get in touch, and it felt good to be on the receiving end of so much love.  There are some rather indelicate details of the recovery process that I’ll spare you all, but generally I’m doing better than expected.  Actually quite a bit better, thanks partly to getting in pretty good shape before surgery and following the doctor’s advice, but mostly thanks to Dana’s vigilant support and care.

Maybe for the first time ever, Halloween was snowed out around here.  The Sat. before the big day we got about five inches of snow in Middletown, but other places in the state got well over ten inches, and it was wet and heavy, knocking down trees and power lines.  We had no power from Sat afternoon until Tues morning, then we lost it again for a while Tues afternoon. The candles were pleasant enough, but the loss of communication (cell and home phone, email, TV, radio, even the daily newspaper) was a bit inconvenient, but no heat was the real attention getter when the night temperature went below freezing.

It was kind of fun watching the elected officials dance around the limits of their power when it came to Halloween.  Since it’s really a people’s holiday, not a state one, they have no authority to do anything about it. The CT governor pretty much declined comment when asked what he was going to do and the Middletown mayor sent out a phone message reminding people , the few people who had phone service anyway, that the streets had fallen trees, downed wires, no street lights and no porch lights.  Our neighborhood didn’t get the message until Tuesday, but most of us have windows so we pretty much saw the situation for ourselves.  Power to the People, and all that stuff.

Love,

Tom

Moving right along, we now hear from Rosemary on celebrations, travel old manuscripts – with a surprising addendum.  Plus a Halloween photo.

Autumn greeting to all faithful SIS readers and contributors-

Chirantan and I are getting ready to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this week and are looking forward to a four night visit to beautiful Charleston, SC one of our very favorite cities. We will return in time to go trick or treating with Akira and Sloane and of course, their parents.

Chirantan has now been to Mali in West Africa four times and will continue to do so each month until the airport job is done. He is slowly turning around a stalled job with his experience, persuasive skills, and patience. This is no small feat since he speaks no French and works through an interpreter. The last visit he met the president of Mali who is stepping down after two terms, but would like to have this airport project finished.

We enjoyed several weeks in CT in August visiting old haunts, and new places (for us) like the Westport Country Playhouse. Lee, Sonia and girls joined us for a few days and we took in the “duck pond”, dancing on the West Haven boardwalk,  Lake Quassy, East Rock and Fort Hale Parks, and of course, Hammonasset.

We hope they will return again for a visit next summer.  We shared a dinner with Tom and Dana the night Irene arrived, and visited Mary and Fred one quiet evening at their lovely home, and visited Eva Claire in Wellesley where she now works as a project manager for Cross Fit.

This may not be for everyone, but Baltimore’s Walters Museum is hosting an extraordinary exhibit of the long-lost, oldest manuscript of the writing of Archimedes, the father of modern physics. The manuscript had been turned into a Greek religious book in the Middle Ages by scraping off the earlier writing. An anonymous donor bought it at auction over 10 years ago for 2 million dollars, gave it to the Walters for conservation, and study. That was front page news in the NY Times at that time. The work is done, the story of the international scholarship is explained for the interested museum visitor. It is a mystery that combines ancient history, scientific principles, and the most modern scientific instruments. I have visited the exhibit  twice and for anyone in the DC area this holiday season, this is so worth seeing, but it ends on Jan. 1. We will likely go again. The attendance has been very good. Let us know if you are planning to view it because we have some favorite restaurants nearby.

We are here for Thanksgiving, and wish everyone good health, and beautiful autumn days.

Love,      Rosemary

And now we hear again from Rosemary with a surprising, maybe hair raising experience on their Charleston wedding anniversary visit.  Read on:

Chirantan and I returned from our four-night visit to Charleston, SC. The architecture is lovely, delicious seafood, southern cooking, and GHOSTS. We stayed in a old inn and on our last night experienced the ghost of the former proprietress who is said to restlessly roam the upper floors. All very harmless, but at the front desk in the morning I inquired of the occupants of the room over our room. I said they were moving furniture in the night, walking back and forth, and tapping with a rod or cane especially between 1AM and 3AM. He pointed out the couple who appeared to be our age and no sign of a cane; the host said they retired early. Chirantan and I were kept awake by the constant walking in hard sole shoes and noise. The host said we had probably experienced the ghost of the former owner. The lovely fishpond at the inn lost most of the beautiful koi that night because of the (likely) thoughtless behavior of a  “guest” who had thrown something (alcohol) in the pond. I suspect the ghost was disturbed by the death of nearly all of the beautiful koi.  Chirantan stands by this story 100%.

There you have it, Spacers. We report it as we hear it.  Now here’s that Halloween photo we promised.  Rosemary reports that Lee was dressed up as a daddy so he got to take the photo.

Next we hear from Eva Claire with an update on her CrossFit and travel adventures.  

Spacers! Greetings from Boston!

Thankfully some changes have come my way.  I’m now working for CrossFit full-time and stoked about it! I’m a Project Manager helping with the seminars for future CrossFit trainers.  The seminars take place all over the world every weekend. I do still work some of the seminars, but have cut down a bit to keep travel at 1-2x/month.  The change has been great.  I love what I’m doing, and also love having one job. Sanity!

Not sure how much you know about CrossFit… But they’ve been showing the CrossFit Games (like our version of the Olympics) from this past summer on ESPN2. Various times, but pretty cool for our sport to get that coverage. You might see me too…. I was NOT competing, but was a judge for many of the events.

I recently got back from a vacation! I had free tickets to most anywhere for myself and a companion anywhere British Airways flys.  I had yet to go to Spain, and chose Barcelona.  We were there for a little over a week and had a fabulous time.  Lucked out with the weather – all sun and high 70s. Loved all of Gaudi’s craziness, the old underground Roman city, the mountains of Monsterrat, Dali’s larger than life museum in Figueres, his bizarre house in Port Lligat, and the seaside beauty of Cadaques and the Cap de Cruese. We had a great apartment near Park Guell and a fabulous balcony overlooking the city.

Hope you all are doing well, and have a Happy Halloween! Costume pictures are a must.

EC

(Ed’s Note: See Halloween costume picture above.  We anticipate our members’ needs here at SiS.)

We now hear from Ed Jr. on his and Ali’s day on the Charles.  Or near it anyway.

Ali came to Boston for the day, and we went to watch the Head of the Charles Regatta.  When I did my little program at Harvard, I did intramural crew for Dudley House, but I never did the Head of the Charles.  Anyway, it’s pretty fun to see.  There are dozens of colleges represented, and hundreds (maybe thousands?) of college kids walking along the river.

We walked from where Ali parked, near Boston University, on the south side of the river, across the BU bridge, and along the north side of the river to Harvard.  There were crowds and boats all the way along the walk.

Interestingly, that was a pretty long time to be on our feet, not TOO long, but we did walk about 5 miles.  This is what they tell us is a decent MINIMUM amount of walking, that everyone should try to do, EVERY DAY, for healthy living.  Good Lord.  If you have ever heard of that Japanese ideal of walking 10,000 steps a day, well, that’s just about 5 miles.  Personally, I would say that I have no prayer of reaching that goal on a regular basis unless I am jogging at least 3.5 miles a day.  Food for thought.

We also stopped at a little pond in Brookline, called Halls Pond.

Ali has some more pictures, on her camera, so look for them on Sugrues in Space!  Hers are probably better than mine, so don’t miss them.  I was having battery problems, and she just generally looked like she knew what she was doing, more than me.   – Ed

(Editor’s Note:  Look for those additional photos in a future edition of SiS, Spacers.  Cuz we never got them.)

Now Ed Sr. brings us up to date on his and Sharon’s travel adventures and his highly imaginative version of what transpired at the 10^th Annual Edgewood Park Football Reunion Classic in New Haven October 23^rd.  Clarification will follow.

Hi All,

After a wonderful summer with lots of family and friends visiting us here on the Cape, Sharon and I and a couple of friends took a two week trip to the southwest part of the country in late September that was really fun. We flew out to Las Vegas then rented an SUV and drove to Zion National Park in southern Utah. From there we went to Bryce Canyon, then the Moab area where we visited Arches and Canyonlands NPs. From there we drove down into the Navaho Reservation in northeast Arizona (as big as the state of West Virginia), where we visited Canyon de Chelly and took a 4 hour jeep ride into the canyon with a Navaho guide, where we saw the ruins of 5 or 6 ancient dwellings. From there we went to the Grand Canyon, visiting both the North and South Rims, seeing a beautiful rainbow over the canyon and getting in several nice hikes – none to the bottom of the canyon – as we did at most of our stops. From there we drove down to Sedona where we spent the last 3 days of our trip, staying at a very nice inn, right by the downtown area of this very pretty little town in major red rock country. This was our 4^th or 5^th trip to this part of the country, camping in our van and tent camping as well as staying in inns and motels, as we did this time so if any other SiS subscribers ever want to plan a trip to this area we would be happy to help. Beautiful part of the country to visit!

A couple of weeks later I went down to the greater Middletown – New Haven area to participate in a full weekend of activities, all centered around the 10^th annual Edgewood Park Football Reunion Classic, graciously hosted again this year by Yale University, and surprisingly enough, not televised this year! The weekend kicked off with the usual excellent carbo loading meal the night before the game at Tom and Dana’s house where both local Connecticut athletes and those from such far flung places as Florida, Virginia and Massachusetts came together for a great meal, courtesy of Tom and Bill, and lots of reconnecting, updating of each other of recent operations and illnesses and reminiscing of days and years gone by. Nice night and great kick off to the weekend.

The next morning, in keeping with tradition, Bill and I went down to see Mary and Fred for some words of encouragement to get ourselves in the proper frame of mind for the game. It was then off to the gridiron for 4 quarters of rock ‘ em sock ‘em / take no prisoners football. Tom and I ended up on the same team with 3 other athletes while poor Bill was by himself with only 4 teammates. It was a game of non stop up and down the field action with unstoppable offenses going against immovable defenses and it was too bad that anyone had to lose but, in the end it was just too much for Bill, being the only Sugrue on his team, to beat the other team, stacked with 2 Sugrues, who came away with the 48 – 45 victory on a last minute field goal, jointly kicked by Tom and me… as I recall. A real nail biter and a game that everybody who watched it, actually both people, will never forget.

From there it was on to Abates Restaurant on Wooster Street for the traditional post game pizza feast where there was only the proper amount of gloating as well as the enjoyment of a beer or two and sharing of 4 huge pizzas before we said our good byes, wished each other good luck in the coming year and confirmed our intentions of doing it again next year – possibly without the football part.

Tom, Bill and I then headed back to Middletown where we spent a pleasant evening into the wee hours of the morning chatting with Dana and Will, before Bill and I headed south and north, respectively, the next morning.

Well, that’s all for now. Luckily Sharon and I missed the heavy snowfall that much of New England got over the weekend. We did get winds here with gusts up to 70 mph, lost power for a short while and also lost a pine tree in our back yard but compared to many areas, we came through it pretty much unscathed. 6 more weeks ‘til winter!! – Ed

Now, finally, a few words from Falls Church:

Greetings, Spacers.

First off, let me correct the more egregious assertions in Ed Sr.’s submission, all of which relate to the Edgewood Park Football Reunion Classic X.  This year, as in several others, the Good Guys won a truly outstanding moral victory over their soulless opponents.  While the Bad Guys concentrated on collecting “points”, merely arid numbers really, seeking an arithmetic “victory”, the good guys, as always, devoted every ounce of strength, every facet of athletic skill to achieving a clean, pure, aesthetic and moral triumph – successfully!  A big picture victory is how bystanders described it.  Or should have. Our opponents didn’t know what hit them.  See if you can pick out the winners from the losers in the photo below.

In other news, we joined the Belk family in Ocean City on a September weekend to reconnect and to scatter Leslie’s mother’s ashes in the ocean, per her request. As it turned out, the waves were too rough and the visibility too poor to do that but we did take advantage of the chance to spend some time together and maybe start a new tradition of Belk family reunions.  Here are a couple of photos from that weekend.

And here’s a photo of Leslie and me at Hemlock Overlook Park shot by Jody at our own little family reunion in October.

Abby, as many of you know works in the Legislative and Public Affairs Office of USAID, the foreign aid agency.  USAID is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year and one of Abby’s responsibilities has been to manage events marking that milestone.  The grand finale was last Thursday, marking 50 years to the day since President Kennedy established USAID.  I was invited to the event and it was really spectacular.  Abby managed to get Caroline Kennedy to participate, introducing an introductory short video with JFK’s voiceover, and a closing speech by Vice President Biden, a live performance by a Grammy Award recipient (Angelique Kidjo) plus taped acknowledgements by Hilary Clinton, Robert Gates and others.  The theme was to thank the many USAID staff who, over the years, have helped make President Kennedy’s vision a reality, or sought to.

I just want to share the JFK voiceover video since it caught the sprit of the event.  The link below should get you there:

http://50.usaid.gov/50-years-of-progress/

Finally, here’s a hard working sand piper at Ocean City.

That’s it from Falls Church.  Love – Bill

And that’s it for this historic edition of SiS! We’ll shoot for a next edition in the Hanukkah/Christmas/New Years season. Meanwhile Happy Thanksgiving to us all!  -  Bill and the entire SiS staff          

Well, this is a mini edition, Spacers. For quite a while we had only one submission to build this edition around.  Then, inevitably, a second submission poured in and we’re in business.  The photo above, entitled Beach Ladies at Dusk (Mandy, Kim, Sharon, Leslie and Abby), relates to our short comments from Falls Church so let’s start there.

A few weeks ago Kim and her fiance Michael came east to spend some time on the Cape with Ed and Sharon so Leslie and I, along with Mandy, Abby, and Abby’s boyfriend Evan drove up from Virginia to see Kim, celebrate her engagement, and – let’s be frank – pass judgement on this Michael character.  Somebody had to do it on behalf of the Spacer community.  We were lucky enough to run into Ali who was just leaving Ed and Sharon’s when we arrived; she had to leave because she was due to start her new job (‘always something) but we did all get a chance to catch up for a little while anyway.  Back to Michael.  We’re pleased to announce that he’s great guy and we had a lot of fun in the usual ways – preparing and eating seafood, frolicking on the beach, biking, and drinking around the fire pit in the evening.  Some even danced around the fire pit as depicted in the following action shot of Kim, Abby and Mandy.

Here’s a shot of Beach Guys at night – we went down to the beach to see the moon and your editor is here pointing it out to the confused.

Finally, here we all are sitting around the table at which so many of us have enjoyed so many meals over the years.

And that’s about it from here – except to note that we survived Hurricane Irene with only a momentary loss of power but the monsoon style rain that just ended turned our street into a fast moving river and our basement into a magnificent underground lake. And that’s it from here. – Bill

Next, an update from Mary:

Hi Everyone,

Almost finally, a message from Ed Jr. (or Ed 1967) which is a little dated, referring as does in a topical way to Hurricane Irene.  Not Ed’s fault. We held it, hoping for a second submission to bulk up this edition.  With that, here’s Ed:

I was thinking of composing a Sugrues in Space entry last night, but I couldn’t break away from the news.  Also, I felt like sort of an idiot, trying to sound funny while half the people who read Sugrues in Space were probably in fear for their lives, from Irene’s flooding.  I was happy that Ali got back to me, when I e-mailed her to check in.  She is safe in Andover, MA!  As of now, I have not heard back from Mary and Fred, or Kathleen and Mark, or various Connecticut Agostinellis and Iameles from my mom’s side of my family.  Mandy went on Facebook and made some lighthearted observation like “oh no, twigs and leaves all over the ground, someone save us!”  Thanks, Mandy, for letting us know that you guys in Falls Church are ok!  I assumed that Emily, Rosemary and Chirantan, Leslie’s sister Grace, and other allied Sugrues, or near-Sugrues, or honorary Sugrues, in the nearby Baltimore area are also ok.  Upon reflection… what a stupid assumption to make.  I hope they are all ok.  I also almost called Tom and Dana, in CT, but it was getting late and I wasn’t sure if I should call.

If anyone would like to read a book that may help contextualize this type of weather event, I want to recommend “Eaarth,” by Bill McKibben, the founder of 350 dot org.  That’s Eaarth with two As.  He thinks that we have altered the planet so much, that we need to stop thinking of it as the same planet that we were bequeathed, when we were born.  Alarming stuff, but… food for thought.  Bill McKibben has now probably had his home and office, in the Ripton and Middlebury, Vermont area, severely damaged by floodwaters.  We can hope that he will now redouble his efforts.

Stay safe everyone!
-Ed (1967)

Ed added this brief message just before we went to press: If any Sugrues along the East coast need an extra pair of hands to help out with post-Irene rebuilding in their yards, houses, etc, they can  e-mail me.  I could probably get free for two or three days, sometime in the next month or so, as long as I have some warning. –Ed (born in 1967)

And that’s about it, Spacers, except to add this photo of Mandy and Jody at the U.S Open a few days ago.

And that’s it for this edition.  Next one due in about a month. – Bill

.

Huge News from the West Coast, Spacers!  This edition’s caption provides a strong hint to the perceptive among us but here’s Kim to tell us all about it:

Hi Spacers,

Well, it’s official. The oldest remaining bachelorette cousin is engaged!

When your mom tells you someone is perfect for you… I did what most good daughters do and said “no way”. After several years, I finally figured out she was right. Michael and I have spent the last year commuting 2 hours every weekend and when we decided to move in together, the universe decided it was a good idea and things started falling into place. Within 3 weeks…Michael was hired in my school district (teaching preschool children with autism), we rented a house, and I was re-hired (after another lay-off).

Michael decided to make an honest woman out of me before we moved in. Exactly one year after our first hike together in Big Sur, we hiked up the same trail together. We sat down off the trail to eat lunch and were talking about when we knew this was it..he said he knew then, a year ago, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him.

We are very happy together and I can’t wait for you all to meet him. We will be visiting my Dad and Sharon on the Cape from August 9-16 and would LOVE to see any Spacers.

Love,

Kim

Here’s a photographic message, shot on location in Cape Cod, from senior Spacers to the happy couple.

Next up, a message from Ed, Jr. describing the recent gathering on the Cape and plans for future travels.  Here’s Ed:

There may be some overlap between my submission, and those of others who attended the Cape Cod gathering.  I was able to get to Brewster to see my father and Sharon, Mary and Fred, Tom and Dana, and Bill and Leslie, a couple of weekends ago.  Others were invited as well, but their prior plans got in the way… these things happen.  We made it to an antique show/yard sale sort of a gathering, in a beautiful field featuring a huge, picturesque old windmill.  We also found time for seafood, beer, a visit to the Cape Cod National Seashore, and a walk down to a local beach, the latter two of which, of course, are always particular highlights to those of us who don’t live near beaches.  Beer, it goes without saying, is also always a highlight.  Some of us were commenting on various oddities of the plants and trees of Cape Cod… if anyone would like to touch base about that, please e-mail me!  I contacted a forestry professor about our questions, and she was very helpful.

At the moment, I am trying to pack for a trip to the left coast, to see various Sugrues who have homesteaded the frontier.  I am looking forward to a visit to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, to catching up with family, and to SEEING KIM’S NEW HOUSE, AND HER NEW LIFE PARTNER.  (Capitals mine).  Welcome aboard Michael!  I am also very much looking forward to enjoying a few more days of what little time may remain to me, in my current supreme exalted lordly status as someone who is taller than both Miss Brady Kate and Miss Keeley-bell Sugrue.  I am looking forward to passing along certain books that I always loved, to them, as I have also recently passed them along to Lily of the Shrewsbury Ryans, and to Natalie of the Stowe Doehlas.  No hints!  They still don’t know what’s coming.

Whew!  I made it through a whole submission without saying anything the least bit nervous-sounding about global warming leading to tornadoes annihilating towns in Massachusetts, dust storms swallowing Phoenix, or the fact that hurricane season is just getting started… whoops-a-daisy.  Stay safe everyone.  Ed out.

Now for a complete change of pace, a visit to the 1950’s – via a short film.  This five minute classic was filmed in about 1958 in New Haven at 11 Brownell Street and in nearby Edgewood Park.  It stars Betty (about 16 years old), Ed (15), Tom and Bill (14), Mary (11) and Jim (8), our dog Flash and our parents Mary and Ed (47), plus a cameo by our friend from those days Peter Ong.  It was the 50’s so there’s dress up. There’s music too so turn up your speakers.

Now back to the 21^st Century and a message from Tom on spinning, the Cape, visiting the West Wing of the White House, and related topics.  You’ve got to read it.

Hello,

First a bit of dizzying news.  Or, at least, news about being dizzy … and me.  The last three weeks or so I have had a case of vertigo.  It’s just about gone now and I don’t think I’ll miss it, although it has had a sneaky habit of leaving and then coming back so, if I do miss it, it may not be for long.  The medicine I have been taking usually lessens the spinning sensation, but doesn’t make it disappear, and sometimes doesn’t seem to affect it at all.  I don’t recommend acquiring vertigo, but if it sounds like something you’d enjoy – “pursuit of happiness” is something Jefferson and the boys would applaud – try spinning around and around as fast and for as long as you can, then sit down quickly and try to read a book or walk down the cellar stairs.  Or just have a phone conversation. No fair having somebody dial the number.  Try that for three weeks and see how the pursuit goes. As I say, I’m just about over it, I think, but good luck to you.

A few weeks ago, Dana and I had a nice weekend at Ed and Sharon’s place with Bill, Leslie, Mary, Fred and Ed.  Yes, that Ed.  I spent part of the time spinning, but it was fun getting together.  Two weekends ago Dana, her cousin Maryann and I went to Montreal.  I spent a good deal of the time flat on the floor, but it was a nice floor and I did go out a couple of times.  We came home to a visit by Hilary and Matt.  On a good day (balance wise) Matt, Hil and I went to investigate a path I had read about which follows the upper Hammonasset River. I wanted to see if it would be a good place to take Lily Rose, Elizabeth and Drew. It is!  Lots of little pools to get wet in.  In fact you could pretty much walk the river instead of the trail.

This past weekend Dana and I made a lightening strike trip to D. C. to have a tour of the West Wing of the White House conducted by my old friend Jay Resnick.  Jay works at the White House and is able to conduct small, private, group tours.  Bill, Mandy and Jay’s daughter Anna and her husband Abe joined us.  The Oval Office looked smaller than I had pictured it.  The halls were surprisingly narrow and, as Bill commented, the place had the smell of an old house turned into a museum or antique shop.  Teddy Roosevelt still casts a large shadow on the place. It seems his pictures are everywhere and his Congressional Medal of Honor and Nobel Peace Prize (an odd combination of honors for one man to achieve) are on display in, you guessed it, the Roosevelt Room. Our tour included the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (adjacent to the White House), which almost stole the show.  Beautiful on the outside, it is simply dazzling on the inside. Thanks, Jay.

Since this submission is being submitted several days late, I’m feeling a little submissive in the imagined glow of the editor’s ire, so I think I better stop here and submit.  So, …

Love, Tom

                                     Here’s Mandy and your editor at the entrance to the West Wing. (No photos allowed inside.)

                                                                                                                        Tom, Jay, and Bill

The entire group (minus Jay, the photographer) in the old War Dept in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It was intended to dazzle visitors and it did.

Now we hear from Rosemary with update from Baltimore:

Hi family and friends,

Summer is so far rather uneventful here in Baltimore and that is a good thing especially in Baltimore.

Chirantan and I were recently in CT for a week-end and made it to beautiful Woodbury just 45 minutes from New Haven for the day, but did not have the time to visit the Cape Cod contingent of the family although we would have really enjoyed doing so.

Chirantan heard while in CT that he had a trip to Mali in West Africa ahead of him. Airport design issues – I have heard from him several times and it seems like clients are pleased he is there, and work may well move forward. He said it reminds him of India minus all the people. He will be home this Sunday evening July 10.

I went to Wellesley, MA to help Eva Claire with some furniture selections for her apartment in an old home. The area is so lovely and we accomplished  much in two very full days. Wellesley is SO charming that they don’t have public trash pick-up so she takes her trash to the town dump which has very limited hours. She also has to separate her paper into 6 categories! Imagine getting people in Baltimore to do that!

It is pool time here and between our neighborhood pool and Lee and Sonia’s neighborhood pool, Akira and Sloane will stay cool in their many very cute swimsuits.  It was hard to be away from them for even a week.

Chirantan and I plan to be in CT much of August and Lee and Sonia plan to visit us there with the girls August 17-21 when Sloane will turn two. We will keep them busy and they will do the same to us! Can’t wait.

Stay cool all and be well-

Love,

Rosemary

Here are a couple pictures sent in by Rosemary:

                                                                                                               Akira and the Hydrangea

                                                                                                                     Sonia and Sloane

Well, since we’re on the subject of Baltimore, why not stay there – sort of – with a message from Matt.  Here goes:

Hello Spacers,

It’s been some time since I last submitted, and the time just feels right to send something in.

Since May, I’ve been spending some time in Baltimore visiting with Hil who’s down from Montreal for her internship with the Johns Hopkins Physical Medicine and Neuro-rehabilitation Center.

Having Hil only one hour away has been great, instead of having to venture the normal 12 hours north (usually traveling to visit feels like embarking on a smaller version of the Lewis and Clark expedition). As an added benefit, I get to see Emily just about every weekend and it’s been fun catching up and just hanging out with her. Except when she goes out of town for the weekend to visit people who are not family, an action that frankly I don’t understand, and drops off her lovely, yet apparently incontinent, pit-bull named “Manly”. But I digress.

It’s always touching to see how visitors from America’s top hat (i.e. Canada) really blossom when they are able to throw off the shackles of the Queen in England and be experience a truly free society like ours. Of course, sometimes they find the feeling of true freedom so heady that they play fun little practical jokes, such as locking Emily and I on the back patio of a Baltimore apartment, at night, and alone with the cockroaches and two dwindling bottles of Raid.

Luckily, some quick thinking led Emily to climb on a patio chair and me to erratically dance in a circle, thus saving ourselves until a kind soul took pity on two poor wretches and unlocked the door. Thankfully no one was hurt; although, US-Canadian mistrust did run a little high for the next few hours.

International incidents aside, it really has been fun to see Baltimore with Hil. It’s a fantastic city for food and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Even taking care of Manly was good fun, since it led directly to a situation where I engaged in a five minute conversation about pit-bulls with a large bearded man whose sternum the top of my head just about reached.

Anyway, that’s all for now.

Love,

Matt

An action shot of Matt and Emily.

Now, to almost close out this edition, here are a couple of photos of Massachusetts athletes just after the Foxboro Against Diabetes 5km road race.  No definitive word on their times, but SiS Sports Staff analyzed the photos they way they do and estimated that the groups depicted here crossed the finish line at, or very near the front of the pack.

Christian, Lily Rose, Elizabeth, Jill, Drew and Ed

Drew, Ed, Lily Rose, Jill, Elizabeth, and Ed

Now, before we close out this edition, let’s go full circle and end where we started, with Kim.

Congratulations to you and Michael, Kim, from the entire SiS staff – hell, from the entire SiS community.

And that is it, Spacers. Next edition in about a month. Have fun, stay safe, and take notes.  Love – Bill

Well, Spacers, Tom and Jody have just returned to NYC from what seems an exciting culinary, historical, geographic and cultural trip.  So let’s get right to it and let Tom share some of the highlights. That’s a Corsican mountain vista (above) by the way. Here’s Tom:

Well, we did it.  Jody and I survived another trip abroad together.

We just returned from Corsica which truly is a beautiful island.  We were astonished right from landing at how quickly we continually traversed from beach to rocky mountain pass, to high altitude pine forest, to grassy savannah and back again.  The narrow roads hug the cliffs and presented a fantastic opportunity for Jody to savour darting up and down in a tiny, manual transmission car.  She was truly at home and generally, after I regained consciousness, I would have trouble telling her apart from the locals.

Picnic in Tiuccia

A heart attack moment f or Tom

We really let ourselves relax and gorged on local cured meats, seafood, wines, cheeses, pastries, chestnut jam, and even chestnut  beer.  The Corsicans love their chestnuts.  And they have good pizza too.  On our way out through the city of Ajaccio I dragged Jody to Napoleon’s birthplace.

Prior to that we were in Paris where we saw all the usual suspects, but the top hits were the Rodin sculpture garden, the military museum  at Les Invalides where Napoleon is buried, and our extensive walking tours punctuated by long naps in the jardins Luxembourg and Tuileries with baguettes and croissants and great coffee.  We took in a day at Roland Garros for some French Open tennis with an old friend from university who lives in Paris and works for the OECD.  My bosses were also in Paris at the same time and we were able to meet them for a Kir (white wine with black currant liqeur) at their beautiful hotel, the Hotel Meurice… which was apparently beautiful enough for the Gestapo to select it as their headquarters during the German occupation of Paris.  I used the washroom here — it was a really nice washroom.

In summary, I was truly excited by the symmetry of having followed Napoleon from grave to cradle on our travels… Jody, less so; people only laughed at my French once; Paris was Paris — which is great – but Corsica really blew our socks off and we wholeheartedly recommend it; Jody is back and work at Showtime today and so far I’ve heard no reports of its destruction in her absence… but it’s early yet.

Porto hotel room view

Tom and Jody

(Ed.’s Note :  Not so much to add anything but just as a point of emphasis, Jody’s post card, just arrived in SiS headquarters, notes “I got to drive a standard shift on winding mountainous roads (in Corsica); Tom is still recovering.”  We sympathize with Tom, remembering that Jody learned how operate a motor vehicle in Central America and has always brought a bit of “Guatemalan heat” to her driving. It can be exciting to be along for the ride, even just going for bread and milk at the Safeway.)

But now we move on for an update from Tom (Sugrue) in Middletown. 

Hello,

Let’s see, what to report …

Oh, last weekend Hilary came up from Baltimore to spend the long weekend.  Matt was at a conference in Vancouver.  Jill, Christian and company came by on Sat and we went for a hike at Gillette Castle, a state park that was formally the estate of William Gillette, an actor who performed in late 19th and early 20th centuries – most notably as Sherlock Holmes.  The estate used to have a miniature rail line and train – still functioning when I was a kid – but they have been allowed to deteriorate.  We followed one of the old lines past where a sign warned of DANGER and informed us that the trail was closed and we should go no farther.  And yet we did, encountered no danger, saw a deer, threw rocks in the CT river, and even returned to the official safe area alive. All of us!

On Sunday, Hil, Dana and I drove up Rt 91 to the Canadian border, crossed the border, did a u turn and came back, all the way back, to Middletown.  Why?  Because Hil, before she could start working as an intern at Johns Hopkins this summer, had to have some sort of “visa thing” taken care of and it could only be taken care of at a border crossing.  It seems that nobody in Washington DC, capital of this republic, one hour down the road from Baltimore, and home to every government agency imaginable could do it.  Nobody.  So, …  there you have it.  (Ed.’s Note: SiS is sure the government has its reasons. Why just a year or two ago Jody and Tom almost crossed into the U.S. from Canada with a tangerine in their snack bag. It was seized of course but just think of the possible consequences if it had slipped in? Anyway, now back to our story.)

The update that you’ve all been clamoring for:  Dana and went down to Sloan-Kettering last week, I went through several procedures that would have counted as molestations if the perpetrators weren’t in scrubs, and we met with a surgeon.   The result is that I’m having surgery on Sept 12 to rid myself of this pesky little cancer my prostate has been hosting.  Bye bye cancer and bye bye to my traitorous prostate!

A while back I ripped up the wall-to-wall carpeting that covered the inside stairs and upstairs hallway and discovered why the guy we bought the house from covered them up.  They were very badly worn, with the stairs pitted and even split and a plywood patch in the hall where it looks like a heat vent had been.  (The house was built in 1880 so there have been quite a few takes on how things should be.) A company wanted $3000 to tear the stairs out and replace them, but I’ve been rebuilding the stairs one at a time like the guy who built them 131 years ago did – with oak I had milled for the job (7/8 inch) and with the advice and massive help of a friend, George Macaruso.  And today might be the day we finish the major work.  I’m thinking of having a stairs party.

I’ll keep you in the loop.

Love,  Tom

Now a few words and a few photos from Falls Church and we’ll call it an issue.

About three weeks ago now Leslie and her sisters held a very pleasant low key get together to memorialize their Mom whose passing was noted in our last edition of SiS.  It was mostly a family gathering with lots of home made food and a wonderful display of photos that Jody put together and made available to any family members who wanted them.  It was an opportunity to see each other and to share stories and memories and take pictures. It was also an  opportunity for everyone to see the beautiful backyard garden that was Margaret’s passion over the years. Here’s a photo of the entire group, minus Ed and Sharon who unfortunately had to leave before anyone had the idea to shoot a group photo.  You can spot Tom and Dana, Matt and Hilary, plus Leslie, Jody, Tom, Abby, Molly and Mandy and maybe Leslie’s sisters Grace, Ann, and Teresa if you met them at Jody and Tom’s wedding.

Here’s a photo of our smaller group. And another one of three distinguished and very stylishly dressed gentlemen who caught up with each other in the back yard.

Another night in mid-May several us went out to our favorite Tex-Mex place in Falls Church to celebrate a birthday.  See if you can pick out the birthday girl below.

‘Hate to close on sad news but I can’t not mention that our wonderful fifteen year old cat Oscar just died yesterday.  Severe heart disease.  But it was all very sudden.  Friendly as dog, able to chase and retrieve balls, Oscar was svelte at 17 pounds but sometimes inched up to 22 lbs.  Loved his food, laps to sit on and, seemingly, Jeopardy since he jumped up on the couch every week night at 7:30 when it came on.  He was also a close friend of our two dogs when they were still alive. And he was always very affectionate with us as well. We miss him but know that he had a good life and, as a part Maine Coon cat, outlasted his life expectancy by several years. Here’s a few photos.

Oscar’s favorite pose

Probably Oscar’s second favorite pose

And that’s all the news from Falls Church for now.  Love – Bill

And that’s about it for this edition of SiS as well, Spacers.  Next edition due out in about a month.  Until then, enjoy the summer and stay in touch.  

As always, standing by for your next submission. – Bill

Leslie and her sisters lost their mother, Margaret Belk, and Jody, Abby, Molly and Mandy lost their grandmother, recently.  So we start this edition with a commemoration of Margaret’s life:

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come.”  Proverb 31:25

Born Mary Margaret Terry on March 27^th, 1926 in North Carolina to Velma and Walter Dewey Terry, Margaret died April 6, 2011 from heart disease complications.

Margaret was born into rural poverty just before the start of the Great Depression. Her father abandoned the family when she was a child, requiring her to leave school in the 9^th grade and go to work to help support her younger brother and sister and keep the family together. Despite her limited formal education she read widely all her life, never missed the daily paper, worked crossword puzzles in ink, and was virtually unbeatable in word games such as Boggle and Scrabble.

Toward the end of World War II, on June 8, 1945, at nineteen years old, she married George Miller Belk, also the product of North Carolina poverty, and together they resolved to rise above their humble origins. Margaret worked while George, a World War II Navy veteran, completed law school on the GI Bill. George then started his career as a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, predecessor to today’s DEA.  Margaret was his partner at every step of the way as, without strings to pull, high-level connections or mentors, but a wealth of intelligence, charisma, and integrity, George rose through the ranks and retired as the highest-ranking career officer in the Bureau.

As George advanced professionally Margaret raised their five daughters, managed their home, entertained neighbors and high-ranking officials with grace, warmth and hospitality, and orchestrated their many family moves to New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and several other cities before settling finally in the Washington area.

She had a gift for landscaping. Flowers and gardening were her joy wherever she lived and the garden she leaves behind reflects that love.  She was thrifty, yet generous. A person of strong convictions and great personal dignity, she was elegant, but hardworking. She maintained life long friendships reflecting every phase of her life. But her greatest passion was her family, especially her daughters and her precious grandchildren, and on them she freely lavished her wisdom, guidance – plenty of strongly held opinions – and her care.  Her loss leaves a huge gap in the lives of Belk family members and of those lucky enough to be associated with them.

She is survived by her sister Marie, five daughters (Leslie, Teresa, Lynn, Grace, and Anne) thirteen grandchildren (including Jody, Abby, Molly and Mandy) and three great grand children.

Now a message from Rosemary on the pursuit of spring and other adventures to come. Here’s Rosemary:

Spring, Easter, and Passover greetings to all SIS family and friends,

What seemed like a long winter really was not so bad at all and the miracle of spring is simply that. Every flowering tree here is in perfect bloom – cherry, pear, magnolia. Dogwood everywhere we look. Forsythia has been brilliant for weeks. As if all this color is not enough, Chirantan and I are heading south to Nashville, Asheville, and Chapel Hill for eight nights of seeking more spring. Asheville will be new to us, and we are looking forward to a brunch and overnight with Betty and Bernie O’Neil in Brentwood, TN and seeing old friends in Chapel Hill.

Chirantan has made many trips this winter to Houston and Dallas while I have been spending my days with Akira and Sloane and enjoying every minute. While Sonia is home most days around 3PM, the weeks she or her students are performing are very busy. Feb -April are the busy months for sure. Lee’s business is doing well and it is good to give him a hand with the girls.

Eva Claire is moving to a new apartment this week in Wellesley, MA and I plan to get there in May to do some  shopping for her apartment with her.

This summer Chirantan and I hope to spend more time in CT as he can work from the apartment there and fly out of Bradley when needed.

Be well all –    Love,   Rosemary

Here’s a photo from Chirantan’s birthday in February.

Now some serious news from Tom (Sugrue), who with Dana, just passed through SiS headquarters on their way south to Edisto Island, SC for a week of camping and relaxation: 

Hello,

Boy, oh boy, do I have news.

When I walked into Wilbur Cross high School on Feb, 17, I noticed that the front page of the local newspaper announced that 16 cops were being laid off. As I walked to my office, I thought about what it would be like to be told one day that you no longer had a job.  Several hours later I found out.

At 10:30 AM a teacher stopped by the in-school suspension room, where I was talking with a student, to tell me that the principal wanted to speak with me.  So, I went to the main office and was told I had a meeting at noon at the board of ed building.  At noon I, along with 10 other people, were told, “Your position has been eliminated as of tomorrow.  You will receive 2 weeks severance pay.  Your medical benefits will end March 31.  Do not return to your schools. If you have any personal items you want to retrieve call HR next week (a vacation week, so all co-workers and kids would be gone) and some one will escort you”.   So, the people who made this decision assumed, and intended, that we would never again see the kids we worked with.  Not to mention communicate with the people we worked with.

Since the whole job is based on human interaction, they displayed a remarkable amount of ignorance and/or indifference.  Not surprising, of course, but still, remarkable.  The motto of New Haven Public Schools is “Kids First”, yet everyone they laid off that day – about 40 people altogether – worked directly with kids.  None of the “downtown” administrators were laid off, even though they have no contact with kids and are have virtually no influence on what goes on in any classroom.  And thank God for that at least.

The first thing I did of course was to go back to school.  I said a few good byes and several days later sent the following note to the people I worked with:

“Dear members of the Wilbur Cross community,

 “As some of you already know, last Thursday I was told to report to a meeting at the Bd. of Ed’s offices in the Gateway building.  Once there, I was told that my position was being eliminated as of the next day

 “I have been very lucky over the years to have found myself with useful work to do.  Twenty-two of those years have been in New Haven, the last 16 at Wilbur Cross. When I used to work with the Senior Buddies, I’d tell them that there would be no public recognition of their work, but that was ok because we were there to help freshmen and, “if you didn’t do you’re best, all the applause in the world couldn’t wash away that fact. But, if you knew that you had done your best, you didn’t need any applause.  Just a changed look in one kid’s eye was good enough.”  I know that all of you have seen that changed look in a kid’s eye as a result of your, almost always unsung, efforts. Every day great, if mostly unnoticed, things happen at Cross – because of you. We have shared the quiet pride of those who know that they are doing the work that schools are built for.  If kid’s are ever first,  they are so primarily to us. I’ve often thought that the ultimate reward for all of us doing the real work in the kids business, in spite of the all the challenges and obstacles, is simply this: we get to have meaningful lives.  

 “It has been my pleasure and pride to work with and among you.  Your forbearance and generosity of spirit are inspiring.  But I think that when I look back on my years at Cross, the memories I will carry with me most vividly are the laughs we have shared.  Not just in spite of the difficult, even surreal incidents, conditions and expectations, but because of them.  In- your-face, eyes locked together, all out laughter.  Grace in the work place! I’ve loved this experience and will miss being part of it for a long time to come.

 “Thank you -  Tom”     

Two weeks later I found out I had prostate cancer.  In fact, I still have it.  It is apparently Stage 1 (on the scale where Stage 4 is the really bad stage) and not particularly aggressive.  On May 13 I’m going down to Sloan Kettering in NYC and they’re going to tell me what has to be done get rid of it.  I’ve been assured that the process will be unpleasant – how could it not be? –  but most likely successful.

That’s it.  Isn’t that enough?  Love, Tom

‘Seems like enough to us here at SiS.  And that’s it for this edition. Watch for the next edition in about three weeks or a month, and let’s make it longer and with more photos, and with some more positive news if we can uncover some.  Work at it, Spacers!  Love – Bill

At least at SiS Headquarters they are.  Can the daffodils be far behind?  Maybe. Who knows? Meanwhile, out on the left coast, Spacers have been busy. Here’s Ed Sr., then Brian to bring us up to date:

Sharon and I are just winding down a wonderful month-long visit to Walnut Creek, CA and will be pointing our car east in just a few days. We headed out on this trip on January 21 and went south to avoid the bad weather much of the country was having then. After stopping to see Tom, Dana and Will and then Bill, Leslie, Mandy and Matt, we power drove to Galveston, TX in two days where we spent three very pleasant days right on the Gulf. Pretty town and water views, with lots of dolphins and pelicans frolicking about!

We then drove to Yuma, AZ where we visited Sharon’s brother and his wife for a couple of nights, and got in our first ever dune buggy rides on the desert, staying just north of the Mexican border.

From there we drove to Walnut Creek where we rented a home (with a hot tub) – and a llama (Keeley and I named Larry) next door – less than 3 miles from Brian and Heather’s home. It’s been very convenient so we’ve made it a point to have meals together at one of the houses nearly every night. Pretty much every day was a highlight for us but, in no particular order, things that especially stand out include:

Meeting Kim’s boyfriend, Michael, seeing how happy they are together and, as far as we know, not ruining their relationship

Having Ed with us for a little over a week

Losing many games of Clue to Brady and not being able to find her or Keeley in the many games of hide & seek we played

Celebrating Keeley’s birthday at the place she takes gymnastics classes, with about 8 other 4 year olds, give or take, and lots of cake and ice cream

Going to Kim’s 27 student first grade class a couple of times to see her perform and help her out. One of the little girls asked me “Why are you pink?” and later, “You’re Miss Sugrue’s Dad? That’s funny…”

Celebrating Brian’s birthday on Super Bowl Sunday and enjoying ‘burgers, hot dogs and vast amounts of potato chips and dip, all washed down by Fat Tires and Sierra Nevadas

Getting a 7 AM call from Brady inviting us to come over and help her prepare properly for Parents Appreciation Day (PAD, as it were), whereupon Sharon and I drove over, and Sharon helped Brady prepare a pancake breakfast while I assisted Keeley in putting up red,yellow and green streamers, all while Brian and Heather slept in, pretty much unaware of what their children and friends were up to

Picking up the girls after school most days and then spending time together with them, either at our house or theirs, or at a playground or on a hike, with weather generally in the 50s – low 70s. On one of these hikes we were interviewed about the “cold” weather they were having and appeared on the evening news.

Going to the Jelly Belly Factory with Brian, Ed, Keeley and Brady for a fascinating tour and taking advantage of the opportunity to sample many free jellybeans, as well as buy lots more jellybeans and other good for the teeth candies

Three guys with Jelly Belly hats

Driving out to Sacramento with Brian, Ed and Kim for a “Crab Feed” to benefit hemophilia research

Tonight, Ed, Brian and I will be going to a Celtics – Golden State b’ball game that I’m guessing will end up being worthy of being designated a highlight.

“Crab Feed” scene

On the flip side, Heather’s had to put in a lot of travel since we’ve been here due to a recent promotion she received so, while it’s great that we were here to help out, it was too bad we didn’t get to spend as much time together as we would have liked. Then, to cap things off, yesterday after Kim, Ed, Sharon and I returned from a hike we took in the Oakland hills, we discovered that a window in our car had been smashed, the trunk popped and Sharon’s and Kim’s pocket books had been stolen. We called the police but, as Kim predicted, they didn’t come out and we were instead directed to make an on-line crime report. We’re pretty sure that the criminals will be brought to justice rapidly…

Well, that’s about all for now. We’ll be pointing the car in an easterly direction on 02/27 and depending on the weather, should be home around the end of the first week of March.

Love to all and looking forward to reconnecting!

Ed and Sharon

Here at SiS headquarters we’re confident that the trunk popping, purse stealing miscreants will be jailed shortly, what with the online crime report and all. While waiting for confirmation on that we move on, as promised, to Brian (Sugrue) for more on Ed and Sharon’s visit and much more.  Here’s Brian:

Hey Spacers,

Walnut Creek CA in the house!

We’ve been enjoying a great visit with Grandpa, Nana  and Uncle Ed.  Adventures range from Purse Stealing (victim, not perp) to Pretty Princess games with all sorts of action in between.  Pretty Princess photos attached, no photos of the Purse Stealing… or we would have it back and thus no story to report.  I’m going to defer each of these stories to Ed Sr or Jr. (See below to find out if they stepped up to the plate.)  (Editor, hook me up with appropriate placement)

Appropriate Placement #1

Appropriate Placement  #2

Other News

Keeley cracked the ever elusive 4-year old barrier on February 2nd and she’s been enjoying her new found status as an official “big girl”! Twice the fun with half the whining is our stated goal.

Brady Kate has been working hard on a Science Project regarding the melting speed of ice in relation to the shape of the ice.  After a grueling data phase including 174 photos taken of 4 ice shapes in two minutes intervals over a 102 minute period of time she is delighted to be preparing the display for presentation on Thursday.

Heather has been travelling extensively due to a pesky promotion.  Currently she is in the Oh so glamorous Concord Ohio getting reacquainted with snow and other science type stuff that most of the rest of us couldn’t quite get our arms around if we tried.  She is very excited about the opportunities in front of her and is exhausted by the pace as she settles in to her new position.

Brian has FINALLY officially cut the cord on his financial planning life and is recovering nicely.  An absurdly long departure process has finally come to an end.   In addition to vastly increased duties on the home front, I’ve been doing some work for a few nonprofits in the area and I am happy to report a rapidly increasing bounce in my step and an increasingly cheery demeanor.

Vlad the Leopard Gecko is iffy at best.  I’m working on it.

Also, I will be in New Haven on Monday the 1st for the day.   Sadly this is related to settling the estate of Heather’s Father, Ian and I will only be in town for a very short time.  I’ll have to use some of the time to visit my Moms Uncle Joe who hasn’t been doing so well but I’d love to find a time slot to at least share a meal with Spacers.

Thats all for now.  Miss you all!  (not you Dad, Sharon and Ed.  I just saw you a few minutes ago.  I do feel a little twinge but I think its probably gas.)

-Bri

Next, an update from Abby, accompanied by some artsy photos of the Big Apple submitted by Mandy. Here’s Abby:

Hi Spacers – Quick update from DC.  Selfishly thrilled that Mandy has moved to the area. I’ve pretty much stopped hanging out with anyone else – she’s my gym partner, brunch buddy, cocktail and movie friend.

She and I went up to New York City two weekends ago to visit Jody and Molly for a 2011 Sister Weekend Extravaganza!!!  It sounds exciting but mostly we just shopped the local thrift stores, watched movies, drank cocktails, got pedicures, and ate good food.  The family is slowly moving closer together – all part of my master plan.

The ladies do NYC

For those of you who don’t know, Jody recently accepted a position as Creative Art Director at Showtime where we’re confident their design/multi-media projects are going to greatly improve.  Mandy moved to DC to accept an Account Executive position at Fenton, a public interest communications firm with international and domestic clients from MoveOn.org to Ecuador – yes, the country.  She’s kicking some serious ass in social media.  Molly and I are still trucking away at the Ryan Center and USAID but we frequently bond over our desire to quit and buy a small island where we’ll rule benevolently and fund substantial family planning programs and child/maternal health initiatives.

Hope everyone is doing really well and we can organize a much-needed family reunion soon.  Someone get married already!

Love,

Abby

Finally, a (very) few words from Falls Church:

It’s been pretty quiet in these parts recently.  At least for us.  Last weekend there were simultaneous demonstrations in D.C. – one in support of union workers, the other for Planned Parenthood.  Leslie and I did the Planned Parenthood one and then wandered over to the National Art Museum East Bldg. for lunch and to visit three special exhibits – one on Venice landscapes, one on Gauguin, and a third on Impressionism into modernism or something very similar to that.  If this tempts any Spacers to come to Washington for a visit, why not give in to that temptation and budget some time to visit with us?   It would be great to see you!   Love – Bill

And that’s about it for this edition of SiS.  Next one due out in few weeks.  Here’s wishing pleasant spring weather on us all. – Bill

It took Spacers a while to engage for this edition, what with post holiday fatigue and the distraction of heavy snow that seemed to be falling everywhere.  But, Spacers, you rallied!  Above, please see a photo of Tom (Sugrue) sort of dealing with the 30 inches of snow that fell in Middletown. Below Tom’s letter see a snowy scene sent in to SiS by Ed Sugrue Jr., about whom more later. For now, here’s Tom:

Hello,

I would like to claim that I didn’t send anything off to SIS earlier because I knew there was going to be a pretty big snow storm several days after the usual Sunday deadline, and I intended to ask the editor to extend the deadline so I could cover this event for the meteorologically inclined readership…so, I think I will claim that.

Getting right to it: it started snowing here about 10:30 last night and, with about 26 inches on the ground, it’s still coming down. A snow plow just made a first pass down the street, making the road a little more passable while, at the same time, blocking all the shoveled driveways with four feet of compacted snow, assuring that the neighborhood cars will make no use of the newly passable neighborhood street… and the snow continues.  Our tax dollars at work!  Your tax dollars will be at work paying me tomorrow for not going to work for the second day in a row because New Haven schools are closed.  Again.  Thank you!!

We got to see Matt for a few days before Christmas and Christmas day, then he went up to spend the rest of the holiday season with Hilary and her family in New Brunswick.   Dana, Will, Matt and I went up to Shrewsbury to spend Christmas Day with Jill, Christian, Lily Rose, Elizabeth, Drew, Eddie, Sharon and Eddie ( the other Eddie, that is).  As always, it was a wonderful family day.  We had a similar day on Thanksgiving with the special addition of Hilary who came to visit for a few days.

A few days after Christmas I went back to help Lily Rose and Elizabeth paint doll cradles and doll bunk beds we had given them. We did it right! A high grade white primer coat and a light cream color for the finish coat.  We also left archeological evidence of the event – white and cream – on the floor.    I’m sure Jill and Christian wish we left this on the living room rug, but, alas, you’ll have to visit the cellar to view it.  That’s the way it should be anyway. After all, archeological artifacts belong under ground and the living room rug already sports respectable coloring.  And  now, so does the cellar floor, coming as it does in three colors (gray, white and cream).  First tri-colored cellar floor in the neighborhood!

By the way, Matt gave me the newly published first volume of Mark Twain’s autobiography for Christmas.  It’s great! Pick up a copy and wade in!

And, that’s it for now, so…

Love, Tom

Now we hear from Ed and Sharon, just back from a whirl wind Midwestern swing:

Hi All!

Just wanted to send a quick note to wish everyone the very best in the new year and to let you all know of the fun times we spent with family and friends over the holidays.

A few days before Christmas, Ed came over, and we had a really enjoyable few days together, taking a couple of walks down to the ocean, taking in a movie (The Fighter) and enjoying some nice nibblies by the Christmas tree and in front of the fire followed by a great turkey dinner on Christmas eve, as well as a fried dough and sausage breakfast Christmas morning, pretty much all of which, courtesy of Sharon.

Christmas afternoon we all went over to Jill and Christian’s for a delightful afternoon, evening and dinner with them, their team, Tom, Dana, Will and Matt. We especially loved seeing how excited Lily, Elizabeth and especially Drew were as they showed us their gifts and opened new presents. A few days later, we hit the road, driving to Iowa for the Tolsdorf family annual holiday get-together (47 people this year), with stops along the way to see my (getting old) college room mate in Buffalo and then in Oak Park to spend a couple of days and nights with Ann, Joe, Emily and Patrick, as well as Ann and Joe’s nifty new international dog, Sienna and Emily’s pit bull terrier, Manly.

Then, after the family get-together in Coralville, IA, we spent 3 fairly quiet days in Scranton, IA with Sharon’s mom who is quickly closing in on her 93d birthday, still driving, living by herself and enjoying an active social life. One of the fun things we did there was spend a couple of hours tape recording an interview of Sharon’s mom about her memories of life growing up in Scranton, where she’s spent her entire life. Pretty remarkable..

From there, we booked on home – 22 hours of driving over two days – in order to miss a storm that hit upper NY state shortly after we passed through.

About two weeks from now, we’ll be hitting the road again, driving out to Walnut Creek, CA, where we are renting a home for the month of February that is just a few miles from our grand daughters, Brady and Keeley, and their friends, Mom and Dad and Auntie Kim. We can’t wait!

All for now and again, best wishes to all for a great 2011!

Ed and Sharon

NEXT,  some publishing news.   It seems Patrick has been publishing poems in various journals around the country.  He’s shared some with SiS and our Fiction and Poetry Editor selected the following for this edition:

(published in Seven Circles Press, publication: CircleShow)

Moonscapes

But, I mean, I am enchanted by you

And in no full way am I planning on

Having any dreams tonight.

I know mathematically speaking I’ll live

Until 2064.  Long

Enough to see the civil rights movement begin.

World war two will be over, Korea too (just wait for ho chi

minh, kids)

I’ll tell my children to doubt me;

Calling a woman a flower is to

Say she isn’t yours, and never was.

That’s true.

I’ll tell them to watch how I acted before they were born,

And to tell their mother too, that

All I did

Was make faces at the moon

And note

How different people have pronounced my name.

(published in the Literary House Review- Fall 2010)

Growing Pains

I always thought that we

Were coming to something.

There was a place where I would

Enter your life

And your laugh would

Sound just like my voice.

We would live in America

And make quirky friends.  There would

Be a balcony with magazines in the city

And we’d scrape by together,

Accumulating coffee rings and newspapers;

Ashtrays made of shells.

I didn’t think,

While I grew without you

(My feet always becoming too small

For your feet)

Now, for a change of pace, the ONeil family Christmas Newsletter reproduced here in its entirety.  A first for SiS:

Dear Family and Friends,
This is a first-an O’Neil family Christmas Newsletter!
The end of September brought a move for Bernie and myself to a retirement
center – The Heritage at Brentwood. Our new address is: 220 Mint Spring Circle,
Brentwood, TN 37027. We now have a three bedroom, three bath villa with a screened porch, two car garage and absolutely no stairs! Luckily this retirement center allows pets so our 105 lb. dog Franklin and our two cats Virginia and Felix are enjoying their new accommodations. Also, the only thing I miss is our one acre fenced backyard for the dog but our villa is across the road from the walking trail so both Franklin and I are taking several walks per day to keep our weight under control.
Bernie is still working full-time for FTI Consulting and doesn’t plan to retire until Eve finishes her studies at the University of TN school of Veterinary Medicine in spring 2012. He is also motivated not to retire by the impending imposition of OBAMA Care and the horrors that will create in the medicare program. Keep your private insurance in force for as long as you can folks and avoid going on medicare for as long as possible.
Erin and Si are in Knoxville, TN until next July. Erin is completing a years internship in internal medicine. They will return to Cheshire, CT next July when she will start her radiology residency. Si is fitting in well in Knoxville singing in their church choir and securing a lead in the play: A Few Good Men. They are definitely enjoying the lower cost of living in TN – from housing to utilities and food. Your dollar goes a lot further here.
Eve as previously stated has a year and a half to go before she finishes vet school. She will be doing several externships in the next year with dairy cows in Texas, veterinary opthalmology here and veterinary pathology – site unknown. She hasn’t really decided on a specialty yet.
We had a very pleasant Thanksgiving in Knoxville at Eve’s condo and will be repeating same for Christmas and New Years. Bernie and I enjoyed meeting Eve’s boyfriend over Thanksgiving. He is a third year medical student at UT.
It’s hard to believe but I celebrated my 50th high school reunion mid-September back in Conn. Mary and Fred kindly put me up for a few days in their lovely new home. Some of my classmates hadn’t changed much in 50 years but others – who is that person?
Bernie and I will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary next July – God willing. It’s amazing how time flies!
I wish you all a festive holiday season and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Penultimately,  an excerpt from a message Ed Sugrue JR, sent to SiS headquarters not long ago, not a submission precisely but  a . . . let’s call it a sharing.

hello, Merry Christmas to the Falls Church Sugrues!

I wanted to suggest something for Sugrues in Space –  the existence of another fount of cyber-wisdom in Falls Church?  I’m talking about Tom Whipple’s regular column in the FC News Press.

http://www.fcnp.com/commentary/national/8087-the-peak-oil-crisis-the-time-of-the-demagogues.html

What do you think?  In the meantime, happy pre-Christmas.

-Ed (1967)

OK, Spacers, true – that arrived before Christmas.  But this is our first edition since then so let’s leave it at that.

Now a few words from Falls Church.

We had a very nice holiday season.  Jody and Tom, Abby, Molly, Mandy, Leslie and I were all here for Christmas – with Jody and Tom arriving in time for breakfast Christmas morning.  The boyfriends – James, Sean, and Evan – arrived as the week progressed so by New Years Eve all ten of us were here and we had a really fun if rather early (but not early for me!) New Years celebration.  We had a lot of fun during the week between Christmas and New Years preparing delicious meals, eating, drinking, playing board games and chess, touch football and basketball, watching movies and just enjoying each other’s company. It all went by too fast.

Yesterday, Jan 16, I went on an Audubon bird watching excursion to the Black Water National Wildlife Refuge with my friend Jay Resnick.  It was freezing cold and a brisk wind blew off the Chesapeake Bay all day long but the upside was that we saw dozens (literally dozens) of bald eagles, and tundra swans, thousands of snow geese and blue geese, plus many kinds of ducks – shovelers, pintails, black ducks, mergansers – plus, kingfishers and many other bird species and a fox squirrel, an endangered species of squirrel about 50% larger than the common grey squirrel.

Below see a photo of snow geese lifting off a wetland when a bald eagle flew over.  Take it on faith, they’re snow geese, not dust bunnies.

And that’s that from Falls Church. Love – Bill

And that’s for this edition of SiS, Spacers. Watch for the next  one due out in about three weeks. – Bill

Well, it’s fall, Spacers, and you’re sending in reports of adventures so let’s go with that theme and let’s start off with the adventures  of Abby, in Afghanistan.

Here are the links:

Next up, Ed Sr. on adventures in disguise and on the football field.  In the latter, he preens a bit but with excellent reason.  Here’s Ed:

Greetings, in particular, to any reasonably young-ish cousins.  I just wanted to make a grocery shopping-related suggestion.  Just a little heads up, to employ this forum for something that could benefit your weekly/monthly budget.  Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about MONEY.   Here goes: did you know that lentils, brown rice, garlic and extra virgin olive oil can save you up to thousands of dollars per year, if you eat them as a staple, standard meal?

If I had really understood this fundamental meal, and how inexpensive it is,  I would have had it regularly in my twenties, or even my early thirties.  I would bet that many Sugrues in Spacers have blown an astronomical percentage of their student loan money, or other income, on meals that they may not even like, and which are vastly more expensive than necessary.  That is money you could be saving, or spending on rent, beer, electronic gadgets, beer, travel, beer, books, or whatever.  Or beer.  Anyway, the trick is to get in the habit of having the following meal, as often as possible.

Boil water, dump in a handful of long grain brown rice, and a handful of lentils, (and, optionally, maybe some garlic, or half an onion, for various health benefits), and then let it do a slow simmer for 35 or 40 minutes, then splash some extra virgin olive oil on it.  If you want, you can put a little margarine, or other pseudo-butter, in the boiling water.  This creates an entire meal that you could literally survive on for months, if you have it regularly.  If I had really understood this when I was 20 years old, it would have been a truly humongous budgetary help at that time of my life.

In addition, of course, you should also exercise, and have as many fruits and veggies, and perhaps low mercury fish, as you can afford, but the core requirements of protein, carbos and fat (the olive oil) are amply covered by this single VERY cheap, excellent meal.

Just a heads up!  I suspect the world economy will be in rather rough shape for quite awhile, looking ahead, so we all need to be pondering and pooling ideas like this.  If anybody feels like topping this idea… please do so, in next month’s edition of….  Sugrues in Space!

–Ed

Now we hear from Brady Sugrue who just signed on to the SiS rolls two short weeks ago and has already sent in her first post, perhaps shaming those who have been Spacers for years and never send in anything.  Perhaps not of course and we’ll maybe get to that complex issue later. Probably not though. Anyway, here’s Brady:

Hi Spacers 

its Brady in Walnut Creek! I  wanted to tell you 2 things.

1 check out  this  website to see a picture of me while I am 8. Its cool!! I am the one in the black jacket.

http://www.walnutcreeksd.org/wcsd/site/default.asp
2 please  pledge money to support my  school!! I walked 5 laps and got 10 stamps and people donate money for each lap.

Thank you.
Love,
Brady

(Parental note:  YES this is a post event solicitation.  Yes, that’s Dad’s fault.  Yes, CA is broke…school is closed this Friday strictly due to budget issues.  YES Brady is generally a rockstar fund raiser.  She sold wrapping paper to the principal of her school during the last money grabbing event.)    
For anyone who would like to support an elementary school roughly 3000 miles away where you have, at the very best, an itty bitty interest.   Please make checks payable to PERC and mail to Brady Sugrue.   Tax ID: 61-1459498.  Thank you all very much! -Dad.

Well, Spacers it’s always a big deal – huge, really – when a new Spacer makes an entrance.  This is one of those times, this is one of those Spacers.  Here’s Mom (aka Sonia) to tell us all about it:

Hello all and Happy Fall from The Synkowski family of 4!  We are pleased to introduce you to Sloane Ilene Synkowski — born 8.19.2010 at 12:20am — 7 lbs, 1 ounce and 21 inches in length.  Sloane has tons of reddish brown hair and weighed exactly the same as her big sis Akira at birth.  2 red heads in the family…should be interesting!  We are enjoying the newborn phase much more the second time around and adjusting to life with 2 wonderful baby girls.  Akira is now almost 18 months old and is FULL of life.  She has almost 100 words and soooo fun to see in action.

We were able to take our first family vacation with the girls to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in early September.  The weather was beautiful; the beach was a block away from our townhome; and we had a great time playing in the family friendly beach town.  My mother, Sally, joined us for the week to help with the kiddos.  Rosemary (Muhkima) and Chirantan (Mukhipa) joined us for the last few days and were also a welcome addition.  Hope you enjoy a few of our beach photos!

As if that weren’t exciting enough, Lee is also preparing a NEW location for his business.  He is now both a business owner and a building owner.  On October 2nd, Baltimore Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will have its grand opening at a new renovated location in east Baltimore County.  He had been working non-stop to prepare for the move, and we couldn’t be prouder.  His website will remain the same — www.baltimorebjj.com

That’s our big news!
Sending our love from Baltimore,
Sonia, Lee, Akira, and Sloane Synkowski

(Note: Photo credit for Sonia & Sloane – Rosemary; other photos – anonymous paparazzi)

Next, a message from Rosemary which, in part, corroborates  Sonia’s message.  Here’s Rosemary:

Hi Spacer family and friends,

We made it through the snowiest of winters and this hottest of summers. Chirantan and I are grandparents for the second time with the birth of Sloane Ilene Synkowski on August 19th. She weighed in and measured the same as her big sister Akira (now 18 months old) and both have beautiful red hair. Sonia and Lee are coping admirably with all the baby issues and they even took a week’s vacation to Rehoboth Beach, DE when Sloane was two weeks old. We joined them for a wonderful week-end.
Chirantan and I spent the first two weeks of August in CT and returned for another week in September. With all our many trips to CT, many sites, parks, museums, and galleries remain new to us and we try to check out as many as possible. We visited with Mary and Fred in their lovely new home and shared  Yom Kippur break fast with them and family and friends.  Our next big adventure is a trip to southern Spain from October 3-18. We are eager to visit Gibraltar, Seville, and the Moorish architecture of Cordoba, and Granada.

We enjoy our babysitting opportunities with Akira and Sloane so much. Akira steals the show with her antics, but she will have Sloane in shape in no time as big sis teaches little sis.  The photo (below) was taken today 9/25 here in Baltimore as we had a goodbye summer outing with Akira.
Be well all-
Rosemary and Chirantan

Next up, a message from Mary – a simple, unadorned, flat out invitational reminder – and wish:

We invite all SIS readers to Thanksgiving at our home in Woodbridge.  I will be looking into local hotel rates next week and you can let me know if you need information on accomodations.  We are very much looking forward to a fun-filled Thanksgiving holiday with lots of family members.  Please let us know ASAP if you would like to join us.

Love, Mary & Fred.

(Ed.’s Note:  Mary’s message included the address but, since this is technically a public site, we don’t include that kind of info in SiS.  If you need to know, please contact SiS headquarters – operators are standing by – or just check with Mary and Fred directly.)

Now we hear from Tom (Sugrue) on a thrilling, rather recent athletic event – and what an event! Read on:

Hello,

For those who have searched high and low, but have been unable to find the results of this year’s Not Since Moses race in Economy, Nova Scotia: this report is for you. The rest of you can tag along.

The race is held on the flats exposed when the approximately 50 foot tide goes out.  You start by running across 200 yards of muck, then swing right to round a headland in ankle deep water – ankle deep because they start the race before the tide has completely gone out so you won’t get caught by the incoming tide if you’re a little slow coming back.  Looking up while rounding the headland reveals the high tide mark about five stories over your head.  Contemplation of what that says about the near future can turn a trot into a scamper, especially since the muck has now been washed from your shoes and a wide sandy expanse invites you to change gears anyway.  There are high, Mars colored cliffs on your left all the way to the turn around markers – one for the 5k race and one for the 10 k. (That’s 3.1 or 6.2 miles for any Americans in the readership.)

I ran the 10 k and Dana held one of the flags marking the course across the flats.  She was also the most supportive of the support personal.  Not only that, she composed and recited a poem about mud at the post race mud poem contest held hard by the beautiful expanse of just recrossed muck.  She didn’t win, but she sure should have.   I’m not quite as sure that I should have won the race.  But, I didn’t.  Next year.

And I think that’s it from Middletown right now.  So . . .   love,   Tom

Dana flagging on the runners. (Credit – SiS staff photographer)

Now a few words from Falls Church:

We celebrated Molly’s transition to 30 by renting a beautiful, big country house in upstate New York and partying away for the weekend. Jody drove down from Toronto, Molly took the train upriver to Hudson where we picked her up, and Mandy’s boyfriend James drove down from Burlington – Mandy was visiitng Leslie, Abby and me in Washington so we all crowded in the car and drove up together. The place was built in 1850, sits  on 45 acres and has a kitchen so big you could drive a Volkswagon around the center counter.  OK, I exaggerate but you  take my point. We drank wine, cooked meals, ate out, played games, hiked to the top of the hill, visited the wonderful farmers market, sat around the big stone out door fireplace on a chilly evening, and just generally hung out and enjoyed each other’s company for a long weekend.

Jody had a movie-worthy arrival.  She got into the area late at night and, following the inaccurate directions Google provided, turned onto a narrow gravel road and followed it uphill through the woods, and past the old cemetery. She paused to let a big black bear silently cross the road then came on what she thought might be the house. It was big, but in darkness.  Undeterred, she got out of her car, went crunching up the gravel path, and tried the front door -”Helllooo . . .”  An owl hooted mournfully in the deep woods.  Only then did she realize that this was the classic movie scene where the audience is divided between those who say, “Get back in the car! Get out of there!” and those who say – “No one would actually do that in real life.”    (OK, I made up the part about the owl – but wouldn’t that have been great?)

Anyway, everything worked  out fine and the weekend ended much too soon. Here are a few photos.  love – Bill

And finally, to close out this edition, we’re sharing a two-photo series sent in by Rosemary a month or so ago.  We call it peek-a-boo:

And that’s that, Spacers!  Next edition due out in a month – after the Edgewood Park Football Reunion Classic VIII.  And if you don’t know what that means you haven’t been paying attention. – Bill