Because you are reading this, we can only assume that you like reading Christmas letters. I like them, but they seem to be frowned upon in some quarters, so we figured if you took the time to type in the URL, you too enjoy these missives.
We didn’t do too much around the holidays last year, just hunkered down as the polar vortex socked Minnesota into the deep freeze for most of the winter.
In late March, we flew to Blacksburg VA to visit Mom and Dad on the occasion of their 65th wedding anniversary. Mark’s sister Cindy, husband Mike and son Mason drove down from Arlington VA, and we drove Mom and Dad up to the Pippin Hill Farm winery outside of Charlottesville had a most pleasant luncheon.
In April, we took our big vacation to Peru, combining a 5-day cruise on the upper Amazon River followed by a 5-day excursion to Machu Picchu. We were impressed with Machu Picchu, but we both agreed that the time exploring the Amazon was the highlight of the trip. Jonathan swam in the river, and Mark caught a piranha (left) – but at different locations and different days. Our travelogues with all the details are located at the following links:
JDL’s Peru travelogue | MTK’s Peru travelogue
The next vacation is already being planned (and deposit made) – a Country Walkers walking tour in Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) – scheduled for November 2016.
The cats in fine shape, although we had a bit of a scare with Pippin. The day before we left for Peru, we noticed a series of brown spots in his eyes (on the iris specifically). We asked Mary, our cat/house sitter, to take him around the corner to the vet, and they confirmed a diagnosis of melanosis and that nothing needed to be done immediately. The spots are usually benign but can turn cancerous. So after returning from Peru, Pippin went to the veterinary ophthalmologist and had the spots zapped with a laser. The result has one of his eyes – the one that had the most spots – remaining dilated as you can see the shot to the right. We have no idea if it will return to normal, but Pippin is his usual charming, bratty self.
The garden experiment continued this year. Unlike last year, we got some tomatoes from the six plants although we weren’t swimming in them. Like last year, the rainbow chard, onions, and carrots were a success. After planting broccoli two years, and failing to harvest the heads before they bolt to seed, we won’t plant them next year, nor the cabbage and cucumbers. Although the cabbage and cucumber were harvested, we aren’t particularly enthusiastic about eating them. The pole beans (a new addition this year) were a success – we like to roast them in the oven with a sprinkle of salt and pepper (after blanching them first in boiling water). The beets again did not thrive – we’ll move them next to the carrots and onions and see if they do any better this year, otherwise we’ll give up on them too. Jonathan planted Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) along side of the garage and has harvested about 5 pounds so far out of a fraction of what was planted. As predicted both varieties of the strawberries did not survive the winter in the elevated beds – too much cold from the bottom. However, the bed had thrown runners over the edge of the bed to the ground below, and those plants seem to be thriving. So we let them go and call them our “free-range strawberries”.
To copy last year’s letter – "the summer was filled with our usual habits." We left extra early for the drive down to Cadiz KY for the annual Thomas family reunion. We arrived in ample time for the Saturday evening cook-out this year. Attendance was about 45 again. The shot below left shows the senior generation in attendance from left to right - Ruth, Olen, Lottie, Dad, and Mom.
August in Pine Point was spent in the usual festivities of beach and sandbar walking, tide supervision, and eating. Cindy, Mike, and Mason drove Mom and Dad up from Virginia, and we were joined by our daughters Madison, Harris, and Devlin, and their mothers M’lyn and Diane, and Diane’s sister-in-law Brenda. Nancy Rose also drove up from Rhode Island to spend a few days with us. The shot above right shows Madison out on the paddleboard.
The August Party returned to typical attendance with about 95 folks visiting during the four hours of festivities. Weather cooperated with no rain during the event although a front did come through that evening. Planning for the event went well – Jonathan did not have to run out for extra champagne (as has happened for a couple of past August Parties).
In September Saint Paul appeared to be on the Oregon Trail – Mason and Claire passed through heading to Eugene where they are graduate students at the U of O; Howie and Linda passed through two weeks later on their way back to California; and couple weeks after that Cindy and Mike drove with the van packed the Mason’s “leftovers” to deliver up to him.
In between the visits on the Oregon Trail, we returned to Pine Point to attend the wedding of our neighbors there, Celeste and Lauralee, in a lovely ceremony down in Kennebunkport. The next day, Howie and Linda arrived to spend the evening with us in Pine Point before heading west to Saint Paul.
As usual we spent Thanksgiving week in Blacksburg VA, providing transportation to the elder Kings, and otherwise keeping company. Getting there was filled with assorted minor annoyances (misplaced credit card, a taxi reservation that was 12 hours off, a four hour delay at Dulles, and a rental car with an electronic key that didn’t want to work). However, after that it was all smooth sailing. Cindy and Mike drove down on Tuesday and we enjoyed a delightful meal and evening with our “other family”: Waverly and Nancy Evans and offspring, Alaina and Reece, and Mary Evans Arnold. The Thanksgiving feast was at the Summit restaurant in Christiansburg this year. They had a very nice prix fixe menu – Mom and Dad prefer not to do buffets if they can avoid it.
In less chronological topics, Mark continues to sing in the church choir (tenor) and taking voice lessons from choir director Thaxter Cunio in his role as faculty at the MacPhail Music Center in Minneapolis. Choir and voice are usually the highlight of his week. In other church related activities, he currently co-chairs the Development Committee as well as volunteering with the annual auction, and running the spring fundraiser – Dining for Dollars.
Mark is still holding his position as Sr. Director of Quality while still acting as CMC Director at Biothera. (CMC = Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) They were supposed to hire a replacement for the CMC position, but that seems to be shelved for the time being, so he’s holding down both responsibilities. Retirement is now on the horizon, and a four-year timeframe is the current “working” assumption.
Jonathan continues to serve on the Endowment Committee at church and participates one of the “sharing circles” that are part of White Bear UU Church’s small group ministry program. He also has been tutoring at Central High School, which has picked up a bit from last year as he’s working with a different teacher.
Jonathan continues with his hobbies of photography and wood working, but claims to be slowing down. He has starting developing film again, after locating a light-proof tank for his 4x5” negatives. He loads the tank in a light proof bag – no dark room needed – and scans them into the computer to print.
We missed visiting the Lubin clan in the Oakland area last holiday season, and but will remedy that with a visit this year between Christmas and New Years.
Cheers, Jonathan and Mark
PS - Here we are modeling our Peruvian sweaters with Dick Ottman at church shortly after we got back. Dick has a collection of colorful and unusual sweaters that he wears on Sundays when he greets at White Bear UU Church.
