Bitterly cold and heavy snow in Providence

As we lurch toward the end of 2008, New England, rarely if ever confused with Old England, got blasted with an ice storm a little more than a week ago and then beginning this last Friday we were nailed with a major snowstorm. (OK, so the photo isn't Providence and there's no snow -- but it is Siena, which, after all, is the center of the known universe. And they do have snow. Sometimes.)

With temperatures in the single digits day after day and dropping into the minus column with the wind, we were also lashed with more than a foot of snow in Providence. Beginning last Friday afternoon we picked up about 8 or so inches and then another half foot on Sunday. Just a little north of us they got much more of course.

Johnson & Wales University wisely closed a day earlier, beating the storm and its attending hassles for driving, walking, being outside -- we're off until 5 January now. Susie is also off from Gracie's for a few days this week and then back this weekend for regular menu and getting ready for the big New Year's blast (more of that after the first of the year). Then she's off for two or three days after New Year's.

As I mentioned in my last note we're not going to Italy the first of the New Year. Aside from trying to find a reasonable airfare on an airline that doesn't have Alitalia in its name we both have work to do here in Providence.

And speaking of work we cannot emphasize enough how lucky we are to have work -- and not just work, the kind that makes one loath to even say the word, but the kind of work that is a real joy, being with people you like and respect.

One never knows how long things last of course, but, as someone we happen to like and respects often says, "we're just happy to be here."

Aside from the uncertainty surrounding Rush Medical Center's inability or unwillingness to do the right thing in the wake of having lost my dad's body, life is really very good. The coming New Year, which would have seen Dad celebrate his 99th year with us, will see us celebrating it with his spirit and memory. We often comment over dinner how Dad and Tunis are probably standing outside together, maybe on a tee somewhere, and Tunis is trying to tee up his ball but can't because dad keeps making him laugh and mom is sitting on a nearby bench -- she still hasn't adjusted to being able to breathe normally even in the afterlife -- watching these two guys with that knowing smile on her face.

Have a truly grand and glorious new year and, as the movie says, have a wonderful life.

We're certainly trying to. And until we see you again,

Buon Natale e Joyeux Noël et Merry Christmas!
Buon Capodanno e Bonne Année et Happy New Year!