Class Note 1975
Issue
May-June 2021
I hope that by now many of our fellow classmates have received both of their Covid-19 vaccination shots. The curve appears to be bending downwards and, although we are not out of the woods, we may be turning the corner. At least that is the way it feels in Texas.
However, just when you think the problems are in the rearview mirror, Mother Nature throws a once-in-a-100-years cold snap at us down here. Thankfully, my New England upbringing kicked in and Eliza and I were able to power through. That does not mean our kitchen didn’t dip to 43 degrees or that we lost one pipe, but we made it out the other end with minimal damage. Given that there are a number of classmates in this area, I checked around with a few of them to see how they did.
Jeff Barndt actually beat me to the punch and asked how we were doing. They were smart and bugged out for a couple of days. Looks like no burst pipes, but dead plants galore.
Bill Meili had one broken pipe, one flooded garage, and five days without running water. Sounds like one of his Army outings. Like the rest of us he was back up and running on the Sunday after the Monday power outage. The best news is he got his second Covid shot the next day.
Walter Evans had his hot water tank and pool system replaced, but according to the doc, “No one died.”
So, all in all, sounds as though these folks and the Grays made it out alive with a bit of damage and discomfort. If that is all we have to endure for five days during the winter, I think we can take it. Those who remember the coldest days on the Hanover Plain are probably chuckling at us Texas wimps, but this area is built for heat, not cold. Insulation is a luxury down here.
Speaking of cold, I heard from Robbin Derry, who is a professor at the Dhillon School of Business at the University of Lethbridge, Calgary campus. I suspect she has insulation. She continues to teach and has amassed an impressive one-year supply of sabbatical coming up. Robbin describes that as a generous incentive, but I also suspect she has earned it. She reminded me that she is one of the freshman soccer team inner sanctum.
As the story goes, “I’m included these days in a 20-person list of Dartmouth soccer players from our class (who had an undefeated freshman year). Since I dated one of them and stayed in touch with a few of them (Michael Caldwell, Drew Remignanti, Steve Buglione, Al Barstow), now I’m part of this group. So I am on the ‘Hey Guys and Robbin’ messages and Zoom calls. I participate in the many, many debates about who scored which goal in which game and who was on the field when that one goal by Norwich Academy was scored—the only goal against all season.”
Okay, ’fess up, which of you guys gave it up?
Vox clamantis in Tejas.
—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com
However, just when you think the problems are in the rearview mirror, Mother Nature throws a once-in-a-100-years cold snap at us down here. Thankfully, my New England upbringing kicked in and Eliza and I were able to power through. That does not mean our kitchen didn’t dip to 43 degrees or that we lost one pipe, but we made it out the other end with minimal damage. Given that there are a number of classmates in this area, I checked around with a few of them to see how they did.
Jeff Barndt actually beat me to the punch and asked how we were doing. They were smart and bugged out for a couple of days. Looks like no burst pipes, but dead plants galore.
Bill Meili had one broken pipe, one flooded garage, and five days without running water. Sounds like one of his Army outings. Like the rest of us he was back up and running on the Sunday after the Monday power outage. The best news is he got his second Covid shot the next day.
Walter Evans had his hot water tank and pool system replaced, but according to the doc, “No one died.”
So, all in all, sounds as though these folks and the Grays made it out alive with a bit of damage and discomfort. If that is all we have to endure for five days during the winter, I think we can take it. Those who remember the coldest days on the Hanover Plain are probably chuckling at us Texas wimps, but this area is built for heat, not cold. Insulation is a luxury down here.
Speaking of cold, I heard from Robbin Derry, who is a professor at the Dhillon School of Business at the University of Lethbridge, Calgary campus. I suspect she has insulation. She continues to teach and has amassed an impressive one-year supply of sabbatical coming up. Robbin describes that as a generous incentive, but I also suspect she has earned it. She reminded me that she is one of the freshman soccer team inner sanctum.
As the story goes, “I’m included these days in a 20-person list of Dartmouth soccer players from our class (who had an undefeated freshman year). Since I dated one of them and stayed in touch with a few of them (Michael Caldwell, Drew Remignanti, Steve Buglione, Al Barstow), now I’m part of this group. So I am on the ‘Hey Guys and Robbin’ messages and Zoom calls. I participate in the many, many debates about who scored which goal in which game and who was on the field when that one goal by Norwich Academy was scored—the only goal against all season.”
Okay, ’fess up, which of you guys gave it up?
Vox clamantis in Tejas.
—Stephen D. Gray, 3627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550; (650) 302-8739; fratergray@gmail.com