Wonder Years with Chris and Wendy

My reading was up slightly from 2024, I read over 190 books this year, a few were books for middle grade children, so that padded the number but most were books for adults. I have picked my top ten fiction and nonfiction to share with you and hope that you will share what you have been reading with me.  FICTION Big Novels         The Wind Knows My Name   by Isabel Allende In telling this intertwining story of immigrants, Allende begins with a young Jewish boy who is sent alone to England when his family is being destroyed by the Nazis. Samuel is alone but for his violin. His life continues with music playing a large part in his happiness. Many years later, he is again alone but this time he is wealthy, divorced, and  living in California. His life intersects with Anita Diaz, a child refugee from Ed Salvador, separated from her mother. Allende’s prose is poetic and mesmerizing. She gives a voice to the thousands of immigrants wandering our world today. ...

      Dear Family & Friends,                                                           December 2025        We live in very sobering times. Two thousand years ago a very powerful nation dominated a good part of the territory around the Mediterranean Sea and beyond. They dictated the rules. They did not tolerate dissent. Power, strength and wealth were the most desired qualities for the empire and its leadership. It's a lot like today in our conflicted country. Back then, as impossible as it is to believe, a devout woman gave birth to a little boy who would end up giving us a chance to change everything! You might say that we are still praying for th...

 Wendy and Peace Corps friend, Marcy, went to Italy for two weeks in October. This was a fantastic trip with one week spent in Ravello, high above the Amalfi Coast and a second week spent with Walking Women tours in Sicily. We loved both weeks and met some wonderful women along the way. Here are some highlights.  *** While in Ravello, we enjoyed simple Italian food, hiking up and down the mountain, and making friends at our local market.  We also visited a lemon farm in Amalfi, which was beautiful and fun to experience, especially the Limoncello! The second half of our trip took place in and around Scilcli, Sicily. Here are some typical scenes from Amalfi to Sicily. We took a ferry and the a train; to get from the mainland of Italy to the Island of Sicily, the train went on another ferry. Our final train was canceled and we had to take a taxi to the tune of 347 pounds, but the week in Sicily was definitely worth it! While Wendy was in Italy, Chris was celebrating with his...

We have had a busy fall season, traveling back and forth to Baltimore, Maine, upstate New York and down to Charleston, SC. Lots of miles on the car and a few plane trips, and amazingly, we are still speaking to each other. Here are a few highlights! *** We spent one weekend in September at Sunset Beach with friends from Baltimore. We didn't meet Rosie and Yitzy until we all got to NC, but we have enjoyed many trips to their home at the beach as well as several visits here in  Burlington. We also connected with some mutual friends from Baltimore as well as (randomly) some old friends from our time in Wyoming. You can see in the pictures why it is aptly called Sunset Beach! *** One highlight for us was a visit from our dear friend Loren. We first met Loren 50 years ago while we were serving in the Peace Corps in South Korea. Loren was also serving in South Korea as a volunteer from Stanford at a private school in Wendy's county. Our  friendship has been long distance since those...

 August is coming to an end. It has been a hot summer and we have had many days when we just relaxed and floated in our local pool.  Time continues to fly by so quickly and we are grateful for the time we have to spend with our families and our friends who are like family to us. Visits have gone both ways, with time together at our home and at the homes of so many that we treasure. Here is a timeline of some of our summer doings! Kip's New Home We had a great time visiting with Kip and Vinod at their newly renovated home in New  York. Kip did an amazing job of designing the renovation and the added rooms to meld with the original 19th century farmhouse. I love the flow of this house, the decorating and the library, with its cool breezes and flowing curtains. And of course, I love the pool. Chris was a huge help to Kip in putting in the finishing touches. Here are a few shots of us with some special relatives.  Visits to Boston and Maine We went to New England twice t...