Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year.

 

Ron continues to talk with fellow ham radio friends all over the world, and continues to design new antennas, and rent a “man lift” to install them!  

 

Looking this over, where did the year go! It’s been a quiet one with lots of home time and house projects: painting the storage building, new asphalt driveway, and processing the vegetables from our neighbors’ large garden.  Now that Mom is gone and so many friends are gone from Staten Island, there isn’t a reason to fly up there any more.

 

January: Flew to New York City to join fellow Alumna Beatrice Kingston to go to the Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center to see Puccini's Tosca. Spectacular, and so was the pre-theater meal. See the video below. Ron and I also enjoy the HD opera presentations from the Met at a movie theater nearby. 

We had the pre-theater dinner at Rampoldis. Only two in the world, New York City and Monte Carlo.

 

Cocktail: Whiskey-sour like with marinated cherries

Bread selection. With Canadian butter and extra virgin olive oil and selection of olives

Appetizer: Yellow fin tuna carpaccio, guacamole, tomato chutney, olives; 

Beatrice had tuna tartare

My slices were so transparent you could almost see through them!

Entree: Wild Salmon, Asparagus, mustard cream sauce, onion, zucchini

Best salmon I ever ate, a large portion cooked perfectly medium rare

Dessert: Glace à lavande de Provence.

House made yogurt, lavender ice cream, pistachios, sugared nuts, truffle honey, 

dark chocolate coin

Wine: Burgundy. Domaine Chanson Père et Fils, “Le Borgogne”

 

September: Flew to Chattanooga for the International Bluegrass Music Association festival and met up with banjo buddies Lauren from Florida, and Robbie from New Zealand. My Kermit the Frog backpack was a big hit everywhere. In the exhibit hall we ran into Billy Strings! Photo with Robbie below.

 

Those were the only trips. Our health could be better. Ron had replacement knee surgery; I had another operation for afib on November 19 and developed pulmonary edema in the hospital; this has gravely impacted my lung capacity and I now have oxygen at night, and a portable.  Recent CT scan still shows lung fluid and two "bits" on lung have increased in size, so there's a Pet scan coming up to check for malignancy.  (Update: January 2026... good news, not malignant). I don't think I'll be traveling any more unless this improves. I also got a pacemaker. On another sad note, my best friend from high school, Norma Sullivan, passed away on December 3. You know it’s the end of an era when I sold my tap shoes on Ebay!

 

We still have the 4 cats, Freddy, Angel, Elsie and Molly. I have sold 3 of my heavier banjos, so down to 4 from 7. 

 

Bought an Apple watch, so many applications! Who would have thought years ago that your phone would be a still camera, a movie camera, your record player, your novel reader, your gps, your alarm, your calculator, your flashlight and loads of fun apps (want to identify the stone in your ring? want to see yourself in a different hairdo? want to make a video of an animal speaking what you say?)

 

I bought an excellent app called Photomyme. They also send you a prop that clips to the counter and holds your phone and scans old photos. I made a photo of history of me from a baby til now, which shows a lot of the places I’ve lived (and boyfriends!!!) . Nancy Dickescheid Bentley

 

After making this video, my curiosity led me to check out the purchase price, sale price and current value of some of the places where I lived. Pretty stunning.

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1979 Bought 1789 Karameos Court, Sunnyvale CA     $139,500      Current value $2,836,000

1977 Bought 31322 SW Parkway Ave., Wilsoonville OR   $75,000   Current value $792,000

1986 Sold 15591 Montebello Road, Cupertino CA        $385,000      Current value $3,110,400

1987 Bought 1553 Latham Street, Mountain View CA $160,000     Current value $1,858,500

1988 Bought 1452 SE 52nd Street, Portland OR          $59,000       Current value $756,800

2015 Sold 4288 Kinkead Road, Ripley OH                    $400,000     Current value $763,000

1998 Sold Forest Service Cabin, Rd. 35, Lot 155          $90,000       Current value $370,970

2020 Sold Mom's home 18 Elsworth Pl., Holmdel NJ $545,000      Current value $790,000

Where I grew up, 355 Eighth St., Staten Island NY                          Current value $966,500

 

My porch goose has 2 new outfits...  a

medal-winning chef and dress w/fancy hat

for Kentucky Derby.

 

Learned today that the Oyster Bar in

Grand Central has closed…

was a great favorite of mine. 

 

If you would like to share this letter, the link is at

tarheelstate.wixsite.com/ron-nancy/Annual Holiday Letters

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