Fishermen on Jones Creek in the evening of 28 July, Pine Point ME.
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 visited the Lubin clan in the Oakland area last holiday season, flying out on Christmas Day and arriving in time for a festive holiday dinner hosted by Jonathan’s niece Beth. We got a chance to see the new dwelling for Jonathan’s brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Mary, who moved into a life-care community.
In April, we flew to Blacksburg VA to visit Mom and Dad on the occasion of their 65th wedding anniversary. Mark’s sister Cindy and husband Mike drove down from Arlington VA. This visit we drove up the Chateau Morrisette Winery in Meadows of Dan VA for the celebratory meal.
Shortly afterwards, we drove to Cadiz KY to serve as pall bearers for Aunt Ruth who passed away the week after we were in Blacksburg. We weren’t able to make it to Florida for the services for Uncle Fred who preceded Ruth into eternity a week earlier. They will both be missed.
The garden experiment continued this year. Continuing for 2017: tomatoes, Swiss chard (even if the squirrels got most of it), onions, carrots, and pole beans. Non-producers and not returning: beets, husk cherries, Brussels sprouts.
To copy last year’s letter – “the summer was filled with our usual habits.” We left early on a Friday for the drive down to Cadiz KY for the annual Thomas family reunion, arriving in ample time for the Saturday evening cook-out. Attendance was down as there was a funeral for an extended family member that day, about 25 folks were there.
We took two weeks in August for our annual visit to Pine Point. Because a two week car rental at the Portland airport in high tourist season was so expensive, we drove. It was two days each way – eastbound we spent the night outside of Erie PA, and westbound in Toledo OH. Because of all the toll roads, I purchased an EZPass via the Maine Turnpike Authority. It was well worth the effort, as the EZPass tolls are typically half the cash tolls, and the EZPass lanes are less backed up, and in some places (like IL and NH) you don’t even slow down. Once there, our time was spent in the usual festivities of beach and sandbar walking, tide supervision, and eating. Cindy and Mike drove Mom and Dad up from Virginia, and we were joined, schedules permitting 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. One day we drove down to Boston to visit Jonathan’s thesis advisor and wife, John and Carol Tate, and wander through the Minuteman National Park. On another, we drove up to Brunswick to see Chuck and Betsy Grobe, Jonathan’s colleagues from his Bowdoin days. Their son Fritz was in town and his presence added to the pleasantries. We also were able to drop by Ray Giroux and Dave Petrie’s in Portland to catch up on their doings. Cousin Rhonda was able to bring Uncle Bill down to the cottage where we had a fine meal on the deck. Alas, Uncle Bill passed away in early December, as did Chuck Grobe earlier that autumn – they will be missed.
The August Party returned to typical attendance with about 95 folks visiting during the four hours of festivities. 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).
Mark attended a workshop in DC in September and took the opportunity to swing down to Blacksburg to visit Mom and Dad, and a Virginia Tech football game (VT beat BC 49-0). Timing was good as Howie and Linda (photo right) were on their east coast trip, so Mark got some time with them also. The King clan had a wonderful dinner at Waverly and Nancy Evans', along with Mary Evans Arnold.
In November, we took our big vacation to Indochina – Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Most of the time was spent in Vietnam between Hanoi, Halong Bay (see banner at the bottom of page), and Hoi An (just south of Da Nang), with two nights in Luang Prabang Laos, and two nights in Siem Reap Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and the other temples in the area. Our travelogues with all the details are located at the following links:
The next vacation is already being contemplated – Tasmania. I’ve found some tours that look interesting, but we're not sure if we’ll schedule it in 2017 or 2018.
Mark ocassionally keeps his camera at the breakfast table in the kitchen to take photos of the birds on the feeders. It came in handy when this coopers hawk (right) visited the back yard looking to pick off one of the multitude of sparrows in the area. There was no need for the telephoto lens - this was just outside the kitchen bathroom window.
As usual we spent Thanksgiving week in Blacksburg VA, providing transportation to the elder Kings, and otherwise keeping company. Madison, Harris, Devlin, and their moms, M’lyn and Diane drove down from Rhode Island, joining us along with Cindy and Mike for the Thanksgiving feast at the Summit Restaurant in Christiansburg.
Less than two weeks afterwards, we flew to Rhode Island for the annual Christmas ornament making session. We were lucky to see the final show of Avenue Q presented by the Coventry (RI) High School drama department. Devlin had a juicy roll as Lucy and Harris shone in the lead role of Kate. Jonathan took a few gigabytes of photos, a number of which he pronounces quite good. Madison joined us for the activities before having to return to her studies at URI.
We have since returned to Saint Paul in time for a visit from the polar vortex. We plan on returning to the Bay area to visit the Lubin clan, again departing on Christmas morning.
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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 was elected to the church Board of Directors as vice-president for a three-year term. This means he’ll be president next year, and past-president the year after.
Mark still holds his position as Sr. Director of Quality while still acting as CMC Director at Biothera. Retirement is still on the horizon, and a rolling four-year timeframe is the current ‘working’ assumption. (In other words, it’s always four years away …)
Jonathan continues to serve on the Endowment Committee at church and participates in 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, and is now working with two classes – one on either side of lunch period. As a result he has lunch with the math faculty at the high school on those days he’s there, allowing him to build relationships with the teachers.
The cats in fine shape with nothing major to report.
We took two weeks in August for our annual visit to Pine Point. Because a two week car rental at the Portland airport in high tourist season was so expensive, we drove. It was two days each way – eastbound we spent the night outside of Erie PA, and westbound in Toledo OH. Because of all the toll roads, I purchased an EZPass via the Maine Turnpike Authority. It was well worth the effort, as the EZPass tolls are typically half the cash tolls, and the EZPass lanes are less backed up, and in some places (like IL and NH) you don’t even slow down. Once there, our time was spent in the usual festivities of beach and sandbar walking, tide supervision, and eating. Cindy and Mike drove Mom and Dad up from Virginia, and we were joined, schedules permitting 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. One day we drove down to Boston to visit Jonathan’s thesis advisor and wife, John and Carol Tate, and wander through the Minuteman National Park. On another, we drove up to Brunswick to see Chuck and Betsy Grobe, Jonathan’s colleagues from his Bowdoin days. Their son Fritz was in town and his presence added to the pleasantries. We also were able to drop by Ray Giroux and Dave Petrie’s in Portland to catch up on their doings. Cousin Rhonda was able to bring Uncle Bill down to the cottage where we had a fine meal on the deck. Alas, Uncle Bill passed away in early December, as did Chuck Grobe earlier that autumn – they will be missed.
Mark attended a workshop in DC in September and took the opportunity to swing down to Blacksburg to visit Mom and Dad, and a Virginia Tech football game (VT beat BC 49-0). Timing was good as Howie and Linda (photo right) were on their east coast trip, so Mark got some time with them also. The King clan had a wonderful dinner at Waverly and Nancy Evans', along with Mary Evans Arnold.
Mark ocassionally keeps his camera at the breakfast table in the kitchen to take photos of the birds on the feeders. It came in handy when this coopers hawk (right) visited the back yard looking to pick off one of the multitude of sparrows in the area. There was no need for the telephoto lens - this was just outside the kitchen bathroom window.