For whatever reason, we have few photos of Christmas and New Year 1992-1993 (perhaps they are hiding elsewhere). In January of 1993, Barb was invited to the inauguration of Bill Clinton by virtue of her making a contribution and being a member of the Saxophone Club. She didn’t go to the inauguration itself, but did go to a Saxophone Club event, she reports (Larry and Ashley went to the actual inauguration).
I wish I had been smarter about her invitation to the Blue Jeans Bash which featured an array of terrific musicians including The Band, Bob Dylan, Clarence Clemons, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Stephen Stills and more…a quasi re-creation of The Last Waltz some 16 years later (lo and behold, the Internet now has the whole concert available to stream…which introduced me to CV.org, a bottomless resource for live concerts).
We pick up with a scattering of photos from January and February. Barb took in a Shakespeare play in DC, probably with Donna who had season tickets. I never have been to the Shakespeare Theatre in DC, an oversight I should probably correct at some point.
Barb and Patti took a weekend girls’ getaway to the Coolfont Resort in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. It seems to me that one other time we went there with Patti and Lee, probably a few years before this, before Jimmy was around.
Fred and Fran sent greetings from their early March ski trip to Alta in Utah. By this point, they were spending a lot of time at Fran’s house in Kalispell, Montana, in addition to her home in San Mateo, California.
March 13-14 of 1993 brought a blizzard, which became dubbed the “1993 Storm of the Century” (I think if you have to add a year to the title, then it’s not really the Storm of the Century). We rode it out at home and dug out afterward, not too terribly the worse for wear.
By the end of March, things had thawed out fine and we prepared for the interment of Louise’s ashes at Arlington National Cemetery. Fred and Fran came east. We took some time at Betsy’s to celebrate my birthday a few days early, which was enjoyed most vigorously by Sara.
We gathered at Arlington on March 26 for the ceremony, on a thankfully clear, crisp day. The memorial guard do a tremendous job of making each service respectful, somber and personalized. The ceremony began with a reading and an intense, wordless ceremonial folding of the American flag over her remains.
The flag was presented to Fred, followed by a 21-gun salute.
We moved over to the Columbarium where Fred laid Louise’s ashes to rest in her “niche”. Fen Babcock read a poem he’d written for Louise. It was a moving ceremony all around. We are proud that Louise has a place of honor at Arlington.
A few weeks later, and Sara and Betsy came up to see us for Easter. Joe too, probably, but he didn’t get in any of the pictures.
The following week, Barb hosted a wedding shower for her work buddy, Lyn Crozier who was about to marry colleague Stuart Langbein. An office romance that actually worked out…I think they’re still married though they both eventually left the office for private practice. I don’t know where they ended up, but for a while we liked them both.
Soon enough, there was another man yue at Auntie Mary’s house, this time for Barb O’Neill Douglas and her month-old child who will go unnamed because I don’t know it. We used to enjoy seeing Barb and Brad at Auntie Jessie’s Christmas Eve parties over the years, where Brad often led the carol singing on piano. After they moved to Kansas City, we didn’t see much of them or their kids. So, until someone corrects me, the baby and the older sister will have to remain unidentified. It was a fun party, though, and we took many pictures.
From one baby to another…we visited Mary Salhus and daughter Julia Ricotta. Babies were a recurring theme at this time in our lives, in case you hadn’t figured that out.
Meanwhile, we chugged along at our home on Davidge, installing a nice new door, painting the shutters ourselves (mostly Barb, who loves to paint things, it turns out, though I was the one climbing around taking them down and putting them back up), and working on the yard (tulips! no deer!).
Fred sent along some pictures of the new cabin on Flathead Lake, Montana, not far from Kalispell, that he and Fran renovated, and the boat he bought. As Barb noted, there went his pension.
Barb decided to join her book club friend, Anne Fresia, on a Windjammer cruise in the Virgin Islands. I don’t remember who Anne was, but I know I wasn’t invited, possibly because of work, or maybe it was just set up as a girls’ trip. I would have liked to have done the sailing cruise, I think. They were on the Flying Cloud out of St. Thomas, visiting St. John, Tortola and Virgin Gorda, April 18-24. Barb had a good time, but has never shown much interest in doing a similar trip. She had a hard time finding a quiet place on deck to get her traditional sunburn — the bowsprit netting was fun but there was competition for the space. She also reported that many of the passengers (and crew?) were looking to hook up. I’m glad she took that as a negative.
Barb and I celebrated our 10th anniversary with our first visit to the Inn at Little Washington. It already had the reputation of the best restaurant in the region and we were excited to try it. Even then, you had to book months and months in advance to get the date you wanted; we booked our May 8 dinner and room back in October, 1992. I think the princely sum of $540 covered the room, dinner and breakfast the next morning. We stayed overnight in the suite on the top floor and were thoroughly enchanted with the whole experience. The meal was great, the service impeccable, and I especially remember enjoying lounging on the little upstairs balcony with a peaceful view of the Shenandoah hills. We vowed to return.
Back in Maryland, we paid a visit to Charles and Kris Bailey, and soon-to-be- baby Katherine.
In our more adventurous days, we went on two rafting trips with Patti and Lee, one of which produced this picture in June of 1993. One of the trips was rafting the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania, tied in, I think, with a weekend at the nearby Seven Springs Resort. That was a fun time, as I recall, and I suspect that’s when this picture was taken. I have a single memory of staying in a little A-frame cottage with Patti, Lee and Jimmy who was barely one and not yet walking…but he could sit up and Patti would roll a softball to him which he would catch and roll back, over and over. I thought it was a preternatural skill for someone that small. I also thought Patti was a little bit crazy for already coaching him toward a baseball career.
Another more ambitious rafting trip was to the New River Gorge in West Virginia which I think may have been the next year in the springtime when they let the (cold) water out of the dam upriver. We went through some pretty impressive rapids, got very wet, very cold, and very tired. I think that was our last rafting trip. The river pretty much won. We also had a camping trip at some point to Westmoreland State Park in Colonial Beach, Virginia. Lee assured us we would have a nice cabin to play cards in, but it was way too rustic for Barb. It looked better in the brochure. We had more fun, however, touring around the birthplaces of George Washington and Robert E. Lee. Maybe photos and more exact dates for these journeys will pop up, but I figured I’d mention them here. Patti and Lee tried to get us outdoors, and we made the effort for a while, but over the years it became much easier to just see them on Boxing Day and eat prodigiously.
In August, Donna Eden and Henry Goldberg were married. Here is our invitation, but we weren’t able to attend because we were taking a special trip, another 10th anniversary celebration. We went to Hong Kong with Larry and Ashley Harder, then came back through Hawaii, staying at Mauna Lani on the Big Island. More details and photos in a separate post.
We returned home to share stories of our adventures with Betsy and Sara.
September saw the return of Barb’s office sports, softball and the Social Security Soccer Bowl (more pictures).
Patti and Lee’s 4th annual pig roast, still out on their land in the Shenandoah.
Lee did a great job on the pig this year, thanks to an assortment of helpers other than me.
Unfortunately, the pit beef did not fare so well, overcooking into two large, expensive chunks of carbon-based material.
There’s still time for softball in the field…watch out for cows.
There’s also time for hanging out.
October brought a new kitten, Max, for Barb’s birthday.
Max helped welcome Larry and Ashley, Sara and Grandmom (among others, I’m sure) for Thanksgiving.
We got news that Frances Marshall and Dave had their own set of twins, Nathan and Kevin, on December 7. What are the odds of two sets of twins from different fathers?
On December 11, we made a visit to Patti and Lee, in lieu of our traditional Boxing Day visit since we would be out of town at that point. It might have also been for Jimmy’s birthday, notes Barb.
We would not be in town because we, along with Betsy, Joe and Sara, were invited to spend Christmas in Montana with Fred and Fran. We headed out a few days before Christmas, spending time mainly at their home in Kalispell. Fran and Fred split time between this home in Montana and Fran’s home and work in San Mateo, California. This was the first chance for us to spend a significant time with Fred and Fran on their new (mainly Fran’s) territory. There was hope, mainly on Fred and Fran’s part, that we would begin to form a grand extended family.
Fran scripted the itinerary for the whole visit, beginning the first night with a (very cold) sleigh ride.
The next day was spent mostly in Kalispell, with Barb tormenting Sara just a little, capped off with an evening splash for some (not me, thank you) in Fran’s hot tub.
The next day, Christmas Eve, featured a field trip to Fran and Fred’s summer cabin on Flathead Lake, about 30 minutes south of Kalispell. They wanted to show it off both because it was dear to their hearts and to entice us to come back in the summer. It looked like it might be pleasant in the summer, but not in the dead of winter.
That evening, we conjured up the erstwhile traditional Fisher Christmas Eve dinner of spring rolls and more spring rolls. Barb was in charge of the fryer. We had brought some of the key fixings, especially the wrappers, with us.
Christmas Day brought the extended opening of presents and a day together in Kalispell, capped off with that other Fisher tradition of roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and popovers.
Fran gave Fred a collection of poems from Robert William Service, the “Bard of the Yukon.” Fred regaled us with a reading of his most famous poem, “The Shooting of Dan McGrew.”
A day or two later, we went about an hour north of Kalispell to the Big Mountain (now called Whitefish Mountain) ski resort for a day on the slopes. The weather was a little milder and actually pretty pleasant.
Standing still is my best position.
Overall, the trip to Kalispell was mostly uncomfortable. It’s always a pain in the neck to travel over Christmas, and it was worse for being on tenterhooks with Fran and, to some extent, Fred. We didn’t have any real battles, and it was good we were there with Betsy, Joe and Sara who made things lighter. But I heard either while there or shortly after that Fran had diagnosed each of us — I was clinically depressed — and slotted us into character roles. We were being watched and judged. The trip didn’t serve to bring us closer and instead built up walls. It was clear already that Fred was wholly committed to being part of Fran’s life and family. We were invited to be included on Fran’s terms, and we uniformly declined.
When we got home and caught up with mail, we had a variety of other family photos and news from friends. Sue and her girls spent Christmas with Mom and Dad in Singer Island.
There was time for one more round of Christmas with Sara, Joe and Betsy at their house in Virginia.
For New Years, 1994, we joined Larry and Ashley for First Night in Annapolis. We got rooms at the Annapolis Marriott near City Dock and had a fine, mostly alcohol-free evening listening to music and seeing street performances. The weather was decent and we had a good time. I think we did First Night with them one other time, and tried one New Year’s in Baltimore, but have not been motivated to be out in the crowd since.
Jump ahead to Easter, 1994, with Sara at our house. Barb did the dyeing, I did the hiding, and Sara did the finding.
Not necessarily at the same time, Sara got a new book to read, “Five Little Kittens.”
In April, I had a work conference in Phoenix at a nice resort near the airport called The Buttes. Barb came out for the weekend for some sun at their terrific swimming pools. We went to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West which was impressive. I later organized another big work conference at the Buttes and rented Taliesin for a special evening reception.
In May, Barb and I celebrated our anniversary with a weekend at the Willard Hotel in DC. I believe we had a tea there, and also dinner at the nearby Occidental Restaurant which was one of our favorites. For the occasion, we got a postcard plus a welcome note from the manager.
May was also birthday time for Betsy, Joe and Sara. We celebrated at their house along with some of their friends.
For a number of years, I was an active tennis player in Columbia, including joining several USTA leagues. Henry Goldberg actually helped drag me into the community, and I got to know a number of others through Saturday morning doubles groups, Columbia Association tournaments, and mixed doubles blocks. I even won a handful of trophies along the way.
The spring and summer of 1994, our USTA men’s team won the local league and went to the state championships in Baltimore. That was the farthest one of my teams progressed. I can only remember the names of three of the guys on the team, but the one on the left is my main doubles partner, Rich Ward. He was a very nice guy whose wife, Joan, was also a good tennis player and would become our real estate agent for our next two moves.
After another couple of years, I soured on the USTA leagues — I didn’t like the competitiveness, schedule, and sometimes pettiness of the ingrown community. I scaled back to occasional doubles games. It would be a few years before I met Deb Dettmer and got more involved again.
In June, 1994, Maggie graduated from Friends Central in Philadelphia, where Laurie was a teacher. We went up to celebrate the fine day, along with Mom and Dad. David was also there and it was the first time we met his new wife, Lettie. That made things more than a little awkward, but it was nice to see everyone and we were all proud of Maggie.
Leila Carp was still working with Barb at the time she found this postcard which she felt was appropriate for us. I never have been able to get a leash on Barb.
We made a weekend road trip in July to Cleveland with Gerard, Chris and a few other of Barb’s work buddies (Tony? Larry and Ashley? Don Kosin?) to see the Cleveland Indians play the White Sox at the Indians’ new stadium, then called Jacobs Field. It was our first trip to Cleveland and we had a good time together. A highlight was wandering over to the Flats where we saw Robosaurus eat a car or two. I’d never seen such a thing. Cleveland rocks!
The following week, we were sad for the passing of John O’Neill. He had been ill at home in Reston for several years, so in some sense it was a blessing, but it was a difficult time for the O’Neill family to whom we had grown increasingly close after Louise’s death. All too soon. We attended the funeral mass in Reston in August.
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