The Year 2011 in Review

Greetings from Ben & Carolyn

As we look back at 2011 it’s been a busy year…

In January, we got a late Christmas present by going to Jamaica. January 8th, Carolyn, Asha, Deva, Jai, and Ben flew to Montego Bay, and after long delays, due to snow storms, and were met with cold Red Stripes and driven to our lovely villa. We stayed for a week at a house called Tia Maria in the Silver Sands community on the north coast. Our cook made us ackee and saltfish, red beans and rice, Johnny cakes, callaloo, and twice we bought dinner from the lobster man, John Wesley, who came by daily. We all went zip-lining, snorkeling, kayaking, splashed around in the Luminous Lagoon, and the kids jumped off a cliff at Ricks Café in Negril. It was a wonderful trip! There are pictures online.

Later that month, Deva graduated from the Presidential Management Fellows program, and became a permanent employee of the Dept. of Interior Bureau of Land Management. When his office moved a couple blocks from Nationals Park and the Department of Transportation in Southeast – it was close enough for Ben and Deva to meet for lunch. Having Deva in DC also meant we had a chance to get together with him and his girlfriend Gloria regularly, and by the end of the year they managed to cut housing expenses in half by moving in together!

Thanks to Asha, we got to see and meet The Civil Wars in February at a small Virginia club just before they all went to Paris together and proceeded to get really big. By November, she was with them at the Grammy Awards Nominating Show where they were nominated for 2 awards. Also thanks to Asha, we got to see and meet Josh Ritter, Pink Martini, Madi Diaz, and Blind Pilot this year. In May we went to Nashville TN to visit, dine, and met lots of Asha friends; even enjoyed the Country Music Hall of Fame and recording studio.

In March Ben gave up alcohol for Lent and forgot to take it back up. We became regular members of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in College Park and ended up co-chairing the Stewardship Commission. Ben especially enjoys brunch after church at Plato’s Diner before going home just in time to see the Redskins lose another one. Having run out of book space, Ben also discovered the local library again, especially digital loans. At the new Arena Stage we saw Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? – powerful stuff.


We visited Jai and Tommy in Richmond in April, and saw a big Picasso exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Art, and returned several times to see Jai as Cecile in Dangerous Liaisons, Cordelia in King Lear at Agecroft Hall, and solo as herself in Elephant Epiphany. They both came to visit us several times this year too.

In July, we took our annual summer Road Trip – this time to upstate New York – stopping in York to see Ben’s cousin Eric Menzer, family, and the York Revolution baseball team on their way to becoming 2011 Atlantic League Champions (Eric is the general manager). We then visited Harrisburg to see Keith; and the Corning Glass Factory, Cooperstown, the Catskills, Hudson River towns, Woodstock festival site, and Dunn’s in New Jersey. Ben collected more maps.

Nieces Hannah and Holly visited in August and we all wore ourselves out in DC on a Metro ride, the Air and Space and Natural History museums, and carousel. Later in the year Ben watched the girls all by himself! He had lots of fun and is still tired. Jamie’s daughter Rachel visited too.

In September we began our annual Maryland Terrapins tailgating season with Brenda, Alan, Dave and other friends and family. Even though the team was less than stellar this season, it was still fun to see friends and enjoy some great Saturdays in Lot 1.

At the end of September, Carolyn was deployed by FEMA to assist with Hurricane Irene recovery. After a few days back in Albany, NY, she was sent to New York City to work with city and State elected officials. She was gone for almost 6 weeks and both Ben and Jai were able to visit during that time. One plus of being is New York was getting to see lots of Broadway shows and visiting with her brother and family.


For Thanksgiving we made our regular trek to Montclair, NJ. Tom and Susan Dunn hosted 18 guests. We contributed 7 – Ben, Carolyn, Deva, Gloria, Asha, Jai, and Tommy. We had a great feast, wonderful fellowship, and a fierce game of Demon to round things off. Ellen still wins every time. After Thanksgiving Jai, Tommy, and Asha came back DC and we began our annual cookie backing marathon. Over the course of the next few days, we produced more than a dozen kinds of cookies. Cookie baking has continued throughout the next few weeks.


In December, we had the great privilege of seeing Jai perform in a solo show that she wrote, produced, and performed as part of her senior project. We are looking forward to her graduation in the spring and what will come next. Christmas preparations are well underway at the Dunn/Gribbon household. We just swapped our dining room and living room – that we rarely used. Now we have a cozier living room and bigger dining room, with more room to have you over if you find yourself in Hyattsville anytime.


We hope that this Christmas and New Year’s finds you and those you love well and happy. We hope that we have a chance to see you soon. Until then, we are thinking of you and sending prayers and good wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Peace,

Ben & Carolyn