Summer vacation was a three-part trip. First was Long Island to celebrate Marty’s 80th birthday. Second was Vermont to join Rosie and Zach’s wedding. Then Portugal, with #friends4life Schwartzberg clan.

Coronavirus made it bumpy. The guest list for Marty’s birthday was shorter than planned. A particularly important guest, Alison, tested positive and spent the week feeling crappy, at the Stony Brook holiday Inn Express. It was a great party but not the same without her.

Marty’s big bash was located at the historic Setuaket Neighborhood House on a beautiful, rather humid, summer day.

At least we had Alison for a bit at her parent’s place before the symptoms appeared.

Vermont 🔗

Quarantine continued in Vermont at the Waybury Inn but Alison, with some other infected guests, joined the wedding from a safe distance outside. The wedding was lovely. Max was part of the groom’s party, and made friends with some boys his age. We saw our cousins, aunt / uncle, and friends we haven’t seen for a long time.

Things went back to normal, virus-wise, in time for a family boating trip on Lake Champlain. Thirty years ago, when I lived in Burlington, I never spent time on the lake. It’s huge. 200 km long, 20 km wide, with almost 1,000 km of shoreline that span New York, Vermont, and Quebec.

Portugal 🔗

In Portugal the virus returned. This time Jeremy and his daughter, Maya, suffered the fever and headaches. Then, later, Hena came down with it. We had a great time anyhow. We celebrated Alison’s 36th birthday in Porto, sailing on the Duoro river.

The year begins again 🔗

So that’s it. Summer is over. So far so good. The kids back at school, Alison and I on Zoom calls, the dog barking at deliveries, while the cats paw at him and hiss.