Christmas Letter and Snow

Wednesday we sent out this year’s Christmas letter:

Dear Family;
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We escaped having a major wildfire this year, thank goodness. We did have an adventure with drifting snow in January —- if you’re interested see cheerfulmonk.com for January 21, 23, 24, and 25. And everyday life seems more hectic than it used to be, but I suspect that much of that is due to getting older? In any case we are definitely slowing down and can no longer say we are able to do “anything we used to do only just more slowly.” No specific thing but just a little bit of wear on everything.

I think I should say “our health is good—for our age”?

I’m having trouble remembering things that I should do—-for example I left the attic windows open recently when a cold front was expected with the result that the solar house heating system on the roof froze and leaked so badly that it is no longer working.

I have electric, propane and firewood backups so it isn’t a disaster—but it is sad. We’re still mourning that one. It was a great system and we won’t be able to figure out if we can fix it until after winter is over. One concern is the contractor who installed the system is busy down here and isn’t interested in going up to the land, and Peter, the great plumber who helped make the system leakproof, has retired because of health problems. So time will tell….

On a happier note I’m still going up to the land almost every day and am managing to keep on top of things. We’re happy that we built the greenhouse so close to the house, and I prepared a little garden area between the shed and greenhouse and planted some daffodils and poppy seeds.

Yes, my ambitions are getting smaller as time goes on!

We have had one snowfall that needed plowing so far this winter and the roads are almost bare waiting for the next one. Fingers crossed about that!

On yet another note, thanks to the internet Jean is “enjoying her second childhood even more than the first one.” She continues to be amazed at all the resources at our disposal for keeping up with what’s going on in the world, connecting with friends via email and blogging, and learning Spanish and anything else that tickles our fancy. All sorts of changes are happening that we don’t like, but some neat things are happening too.

Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us both!

Andrew and Jean

Andy didn’t have to wait long for the next snowfall…the schools, libraries, etc. were closed yesterday. He didn’t even think about trying to get up to the land, but he drove up to the start of the Dome Road to see if they had plowed it. They had, so he plans to drive in today to see how far he can get.

Onwards and upwards! He won’t be 89 for a couple more months.

December 15, 2023