Beginnings

Dear friends and relations,

After weeks of preparation we are nearly ready to begin our adventure. Creating this blog will provide a needed link to home and favorite people, while also affording both of us a handy means of responding to all that we do from now till February. It will be a (sorely needed) aide memoire, a window into our passions, plus a living photo album to display our aesthetic appreciation of this world.

Congratulate me for creating this blog, learning to use an iphone, and generally becoming more tech saavy than anyone would expect.

Gloria just called again to say that the plumbing in her house is suddenly non-functional. She says we are 'rugged' so shouldn't mind, but in case we do the repairman is scheduled for tomorrow morning before she flies to Chicago. Yes, she will be away our first week in Boston - leaving us house and car keys, a freezer full of food, and even $ to pay cab fare from Logan Airport to her home. Her neighborhood is confusing, addresses difficult to find, and cabbies speak little English. So, if we do find our way to Brookline St. and find the keys she has hidden, and if the plumbing is functional - all will be well.

On to more departure prep. Packing our two carry-on suitcases is nearly done. It's true, we each take only one for 3 1/2 months! Even though I can now read on the iphone, I am stressed about which books to include - all readers know this feeling. I'll let you know the final selection later.

Thank you in advance to our dear friend Amanda who will watch over our sweet little abode while we are gone. We leave it in good hands, confident that it will be here as always to welcome us when we return next year.