2023 Review

We started the year with a short trip to Ithaca to hang out with Celia and Dan at the farmhouse. Celia was recovering from surgery, so was not cooking up the usual 12-course meals, but we really enjoyed sitting around the wood stove in their kitchen and listening to Celia read some of her diary from when we all went to Australia in 1972. Fascinating! Sadly, their kitty Rosie was in very poor health and she died a week or so after we got home.

After that we hunkered down just a little in anticipation of our sailing trip to the BVI in early February – didn’t want to have a late-breaking case of covid getting in the way. All the preparations were going well and we were expecting an easy Saturday to finish up packing and the various small chores in advance of our departure early Sunday morning. But then our less-old cat, Artie, had trouble breathing in the morning. Three hours in the vet emergency hospital showed abdominal fluid accumulation not explainable by liver, kidney, or heart problems, so very high probability of a late stage cancer, and the prognosis was poor. The emergency vet would not commit to him living out the week, probably a few days. Artie’s own vet, reviewing the results (very kindly on the weekend) concurred. After much gnashing of teeth and a good deal weeping, we took Artie back for his final vet visit. Ariana was kind enough to drive us there, and hold our hands. We miss the little joker so much already.

We headed off to the BVI trip the next morning. Trip report is here.

More sad news came in early March, when our older cat, Casey, went into steep decline starting with a UTI. She came home from that and improved with antibiotics, but stopped eating and after finishing the antibiotics started showing signs of bladder distress once again. So we had to schedule her final vet visit, as well. With her departure it’s the first time in Ben and Kathy’s lives that we haven’t had at least one cat, and that really goes back to our childhoods, where there was usually a cat in our houses except for times when we were overseas. At this point, though, we’re planning some travel this summer and we’re not even considering the question of another furry beastie until sometime in the fall, and even then it is unlikely. Our cats have always represented uncomplicated love, so we’re pretty sad about their absence. But Ariana lives nearby with her kitties, so we can hope to get “fixes” over at her place.

Ben had an amusing opportunity to mix business and pleasure with an invitation to “Peak Pitch”, an event held annually at Sugarbush resort in Vermont. Investors and entrepreneurs are brought together for a morning of “chair lift pitching” (as opposed to elevator pitching) and skiing. Investors are given checks to hand out to the pitches they find most worthy, and everyone has additional fun skiing. A huge snowstorm came in the night before, continuing through the next morning, and the ski area lost power for over an hour, so some of the lift pitching was curtailed, but was still a lot of fun. Bn went up with skiing fanatic former college roommate, Mike, and we had a great time skiing together after the event and the next day.

In April had a lovely visit from our old friends and former neighbors, Ken and Elaine, now having their home in San Francisco. Toward the end of the month we drove up to Saratoga to celebrate Kathy’s Mom’s 90th birthday. Many of the gang were present, see the photo below.

We’ve been planning for some time to do a road trip around the Northeast, with our bikes in the back of the van and taking rides along the way. Our first attempt was in May, but we decided to reduce it to a weekend in the Berkshires with old friends Tim & Beth because Noah’s afternoon caretaker had quit and we wanted to be available in case babysitting was required. We did have a great time, hiking the first day and biking the second, with a lovely dinner at the Apple Tree Inn with a nice blues trio playing. Photos are here.

Trying again in June, we did get away for a very brief trip with the bikes in the back. We got a late start when Ariana’s kitty, Arwen, who has been surviving with a cancer diagnosis for three years, took a downturn early in the morning that we were due to leave. Because Ariana was still recovering from covid, we took little Arwen to the emergency vet and waited until she had been examined and a course of care decided – Arwen would stay in the hospital to see whether her blood values could be brought in line. And off we went with a ride near the Tappan Zee and a visit to Philadelphia. We had to abbreviate our trip again due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires. And in the meantime Arwen did not recover, and the vet hospital was kind enough to allow Ariana to come in to hold Arwen in her last moments. More details on the trip here.

As usual, Kathy and Ben have been kayaking regularly, most often with Mike & Pam. We hit upper Mystic Lake again this year, and there were tons of birds. The night herons were out in force, as they’d been last year at this time (see here), but also the great blues, sometime dozens in a single stand of trees, an osprey or two, plus duck with tiny ducklings, and swans with their cygnets. Ben only had his phone (GooglePixel 7a) so the telephoto shots are not particularly crisp, but here they are.

We took off to Canada toward the end of June, returning in early July. We were visiting our biking friends, Tom & Michelle. Full trip report is here. Ben broke the back wheel of his bike during the first ride, so he decided to splurge and replace the 15 year old bike with a new one, but not the newest, as Trek, the manufacturer, had decided that the 2021 model was too good, so they downgraded it (in Ben’s opinion) for the 2023 edition. Fortunately there were just a few of the old ones still available, and Ben snagged one.

In August we went up to Highland Lake in Maine for a relaxing time with our friends there. Then we went on a nice trip to Ithaca with Ross and Noah (poor Hollie had to work). We stayed at the Lake House and had many meals with Celia and Dan and enjoyed the pool and the lake. In the car going there and coming back Noah was a character, specifically the donkey in Shrek 2. But everyone survived the rides, even with a diabetes technology failure on the way home.

September was quiet, with more biking, kayaking, and some outings in the woods with Noah and his parents.

October featured Kathy getting sinus surgery, which had been needed for several years due to chronic sinusitis but had been deferred due to pandemic-related backlogs at the ENT. The surgery was successful despite a new infection that cropped up immediately afterwards that had to be treated with some serious antibiotics.

In early November we decided to get out of town in a bigger way and asked Pam and Mike if they’d like to join us for a week in the Azores. We had chosen it for its mild climate and easy access from Boston, just a 4.5 hour nonstop flight. It was wonderful; beautiful scenery, great food and wine, and wonderful friends to share it with! All the details and photos here.

Mid-November through Ben’s birthday in early January begins the crazy time of the year in our circle. With all our friends and family birthdays as well as holidays and holiday parties its a mad dash from one event to planning the next. We also enjoyed two visits in succession from Ariana’s friends, Mat and Lewis.

As a special bonus, niece Jessica and her husband Brant welcomed their new son, Evison, on Kathy’s birthday.

Kathy continues to be two people at once, herself and her mother, who is in assisted living. Kathy does all the financial management for her mom so has to have all that information in her head. Kathy is continuing her piano as her 94 year old teacher’s only student. In October Kathy performed a piano four-hands sonata by Mozart with Fern at a Lexington Music Club. Kathy also took on the role of webmaster for the club. In addition, we’re doing a good deal of grandparenting for Noah, and Kathy is the primary diabetes manager during those times. Kathy is also one of the leaders of the local chapter of Mothers Out Front, who are fighting against climate change. She has been facilitating zoom meetings for the town, as well as attending rallies against private jet expansion at Hanscom, our local air force base and private airfield.

Ben is staying busy with his angel investing and company mentoring. It’s been a very tough year for startups, with many investors closing their wallets, so helping portfolio companies navigate these waters had taken a good deal of time. But Ben is enjoying being able to learn new things from the folks he works with, entrepreneurs, colleagues at TBD Angels, and others in the local entrepreneurship community, as well as presenting in university classes about the investment process and current landscape. Ben’s investment focus has shifted to doing more good with his small checks, so he has been promoting alternative investment strategies (not just VC-style equity investment), which are more inclusive, and his equity investment is directed toward life sciences and “green” companies, both areas where a societal good is achieved as well as the hoped-for financial returns. And he continues to play hockey late at night as often as he can.

We’ve also really enjoyed all the kids being in the area, Ariana 10 minutes away in Billerica, Ross, Hollie, and Noah 15 minutes the other direction, in Lexington. We all get together most weeks for “sushi Sunday”, usually in Lexington due to Noah’s early bedtime. We also get to take walks together, usually with the three dogs (Edie, Percy, and Maeve). And, of course, Kathy and Ben enjoy being grandparents and taking Noah on outings, as well as just babysitting. The photo of Noah below is from December 30 at our local sushi restaurant, Ginger.