December 2003 Update

Good Grief, where has 2003 Gone:

I cannot believe the entire year has passed. Have to admit it has been a busy one, and several times I have visited the site and mentally made a note to do an update earlier. Just have not gotten there. Tis thanksgiving morning and we are off to David and Sally's (Sophie's nephew and family) for dinner. I have made three trips back to California, got the Porsche out here by August and finally Sophie and I spent several weeks in Ridgecrest during September and October. 

We have both become "politically" active in Seabrook and because New Hampshire operates on the Committee system, we have both become "new blood" in town and are currently in demand. Let me list the ways, Sophie has been appointed to the Economic Development Committee, and we have both attended conferences and workshops for this committee. Sophie chooses to go slow and has not gone overboard, however as usual Dickie is the proverbial "fool that rushes in." Actually I become a consultant to the Environmental Commission four years ago, and appointed to the Water and Sewer Advisory Committee six months before we moved here. I was recently sworn in as an alternate to the Town Planning Committee, which mostly reviews and recommends action for development, lot splits and building plans. This committee is a good way to get a hurry up orientation to what is going on. 

Back in August both Sophie and I were asked to be Vice President and President of the Seabrook Beach Civic Association (new blood again), and Sophie demurred and I agreed to accept the VP position. 

We do not lack for things to do and because Sophie's large extended family have been doing makeup of attending sporting and school functions of nieces and nephews as well as a regular sisters visit to Foxwood on a regular basis. 

Will get back to the site later.........

December 17, 2002 Update

Sophie and Dick departed Ridgecrest on Saturday, December 7 for their new abode in Seabrook NH.

The moving van left Ridgecrest on Thursday afternoon, and after about 20 hours of cleanup, the Dodges were on the road at five a.m. Saturday. Arrived in Seabrook on Wednesday the 11th and traveled on dry pavement the entire trip. The moving van arrived the following Monday and we are in the process of unpacking 17 years of accumulation, less about 10,000 pounds of stuff we disposed of (and filled the barn and a storage locker) at garage sales, donations and gifts to appropriate agencies. We will be back in Ridgecrest in March/April for a few weeks for some business events for Sophie and some farm chores for Dick,  as well as collecting the remaining stuff, notably the Porsche. The 356A came out of the paint shop on 12/03, was mounted on a rotisserie in preparation for a bottom undercoating and time just ran out. The engine was not yet completed by Competition Engineering (Lake Isabella, CA), so decided to leave all behind until the Spring in the hopes we can finish the restoration and reassemble the running gear and get it rolling again (at least on a trailer). If not, the rotisserie will serve as the 356 hauling cradle and the job will be completed in New Hampshire. 

Heading down to Maryland to spend Christmas with daughter Katie, and some of the west coast Dodges, and will be back in New Hampshire for a New Years celebration with Sophie's extended family. 

Packing boxes beckon so will shut this down for now, and redo the site after the first of the year. HAPPY Holidays to all, no cards are going out this year.

Pre December 2002

    Dick and Sophie currently reside in Ridgecrest California where they have pursued their active lives since 1976. Leaving Washington D.C., where Dick was the Director of Education and Sophie was the Departmental Administrative Assistant for the American Institute of Biological Sciences, was not such a great transition for Dick, who is a third generation Californian and a desert dweller since graduate school in Arizona, however Sophie, raised in Lawrence Massachusetts and working in Washington D.C. for the 19 previous years, upon arriving in the high Mohave Desert on a hot August day remarked, "you have two years to get me out of here!" 

    Getting out of here has yet to occur, though we are close to moving to our retirement home at Seabrook Beach, New Hampshire, where we have been spending as much time as possible in recent years, especially in the summer months. Christmas in New Hampshire is a delight and we are looking forward to a life of four real seasons, walking the beach and welcoming our friends and family to New England. 

    We now live with two retired greyhounds and they make the transcontinental trips with little effort and look forward to visiting their cousin in Maryland where our Grandson Michael lives with Daughter Katie and Son in Law Mike Danko. Though Grandsons Kyle and Grant Dodge will remain in California with their Dad, Rick, they look forward to visits to the East and you can be sure that their Grandparents will frequently return to the West Coast.

    Sophie is still active in business, politics and community affairs, and Dick, though retired has maintained an active professional role, teaching, ecological consulting and pistachio farming. The task of leaving business, farm and home in Ridgecrest has been Herculean, is progressing and we look forward to the transition as soon as possible.