In September, we had a visit from Noah for a couple of weeks during the late summer Covid lull in rates, and Maddy flew out over Labor Day as well. We had a great dinner at our local, favorite Thai restaurant where we had the place to ourselves. Dave did the annual Bob Willis Memorial reunion via Zoom... the first time since 2007 we didn't get together in person at RPI to remember our friend Bob. We took a trip down to see Will, Carley, and of course, big goofy Cooper, their 85 pound puppy (yes, he is still growing!).
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Also arriving on the scene was Gigi, who Rick and Elizabeth adopted from Dirt Road Rescues after a little "oh hey, look at this dog" from Alison.
Mid-September, again taking advantage of the lull in Covid rates, we flew out to California to visit Paul and Carol after not seeing them all year. The visit included what will be forever known as the "The Famous Scotch Taste-Off of 2020" between Dave's favorite scotch, 16 year old Lagavulin, and Paul's, the 15 year old Dalmore. The Dalmore won. The competition was so successful that we had to follow it up the next day with a Martini taste off... or, more specifically, a vermouth taste off between a martini made with Dolan vermouth and Martini and Rossi vermouth. The Dolan won that one hands down. San Marcos is a pleasant little community outside of San Diego and we enjoyed walking through the foothills, seeing the a-tad-early Halloween decorations and some surprise visitors from the nearby lake. Alison also made a special Key Lime pie for fun.
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From there, we drove north to "liar liar pants on fire" Pasadena. Most of SoCal was seriously burning the prior week. While San Diego and as far north as Disneyland (where we stopped for some shopping, of course) was fairly clear, by the time we reached Pasadena everything was hidden in a haze so thick that the weather app simply described the "weather" as "smoke."
We stayed at the Langham, where we were married five years ago (since Maddy now has a housemate and also because... well, it's the Langham!). It was eerily empty, and we literally felt like we had the entire hotel to ourselves, which felt in turn like The Shining with Jack Nicholson. You know, where creepy twin girls appear outside the elevator and "Wendy, I'm ho-o-ome."
The emptiness apparently turned out to be because they had made a mistake by renting a room to us, because the LA Dodgers had supposedly rented the entire place out for a team retreat. It was mostly funny because the day after we arrived, a small number of other people started showing up at the pool, and we were trying to figure out why the Langham was full of young couples with small children instead of old fogeys like us who could afford it. Alison also had a private elevator ride with a dude who she later recognized as one of the Dodger's pitchers - they joked about the self-described "self-cleaning" elevator buttons.
 Happiest place on earth. Even when it's closed. |
 Downtown Disneyland, with shopping, was open |
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Maddy and her housemate Brenna joined us for breakfast in the mornings and for swimming in the afternoon. Bruce, Lisa, Anne and Nick came by for lunch as well. And we went to the South Pasadena house to see Maddy's cats, Winston and Franklin.
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We were only back in Massachusetts for a week before we headed to Arkansas, then a Covid hot spot. There was interest in adopting lap dogs by both Alison and Brie, and Dave insisted it couldn't happen sight-unseen, so we went down to both visit Dirt Road Rescues and to meet the respective pups.
Dave's only requirement was the dog's name, which after careful consideration was declared to be "Optimus Prime." Fortunately for all involved, the dog answered to "Zuzu" and that stuck (as a nickname).
Brie's dog was christened "Pippin" after the hobbit of the same name.
Optimus, as it turned out, was a happy, cute little pup despite being found wandering down the road with a giant scar the length of her body and a dislocated hip before the rescue place took her in. She took an immediately liking to Alison, but she then she loves people somewhat indiscriminately because she seems to like Dave as well.
Lisa, the owner of Dirt Road Rescues, and her husband Kenneth, were super nice people. It turns out that while Lisa runs her fabulous rescue operation with Kenneth's support, Kenneth also collects stone arrowheads and fabricates impossible-to-find machine parts for old appliances on a 3D printer. Plus has a succulent business online and built a garden sanctuary. While we where there they were taking care of thirty different dogs, the youngest of which were located in the house... most of the house, actually.
We also took the opportunity to tour "Rock Town" brewery, which makes the only Arkansas-based bourbon in the state.
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 A pile of puppies Optimus Prime / Zuzu after a haircut  |
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As we moved into the holiday time, Will, Carley, and Cooper came up for a visit (they were spending Xmas with Carley's family). We went to see the Stone Zoo "Zoolights" evening show, which was fun. We also had a FaceTime call with Maddy and Noah every single night of Hanukkah to light candles and say the blessings.
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Around the house, we put out the Christmas village, dressed up the dogs, decorated the tree and started playing Christmas tunes. Zuzu found a spot under the tree she liked, and we left that space void of presents so she could be our Christmas dog.
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Right before Christmas, on December 21st, Alison's folks arrived from San Marcos to move into a retirement community in Lincoln, 15 minutes from our house, called "The Commons." It's a lovely "continuing care" retirement community that starts at independent living and scales up as older couples need more support. We celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Alison's parents.
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And closing out the year, we had a late Christmas dinner with Brie and Aidan at their apartment, where Brie made a fabulous meal
and the world's best dessert (Grand Marnier Soufflé). We exchanged gifts, including a "Cthulu" painting that we've been passing back and forth for two years -- we cleverly disguised it as a game this time so that Aidan didn't suspect a thing before he opened it. Hah!
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And that finished out the year of (Almost) Nada. I read a internet meme that 2020 is proof time travel is never invented because otherwise someone would have come back and cancelled it, but I prefer a more optimistic view:
