Christmas Letter 2021

We have met a lot of people over the years so I used to send out hundreds of Christmas cards. Over the years, the list has been cut back to a hundred or two. I used to receive quite a few yearly Christmas letters but over time that has dwindled as well. My enjoyment of reading of the doings of other people encouraged me to continue sending out my own. This year however December unfolded differently than I had anticipated. My intention was to have my letter written, copied and my cards all sent by Thanksgiving weekend. Most of the very few that I sent didn't arrive until after Christmas although the letter was written and copied well before that waiting for me. So I decided to put my letter in this blog. The weakness in that plan is that most of the people who didn't receive my letter don't do facebook or much else on the computer.

I struggled all month with lethargy and a distinct lack of "ganas de viver" (enthusiasm for life). Despite that we had a pleasant albeit low-key month and Christmas Day. I was busy doing something but in retrospect, I am not sure what. Some of the highlights I do remember included eating four or five special weekly meals with Becky and her family: shrimp, steak, pork chops, and homemade macaroni and cheese. Christmas Day we ate turkey. We spent a day with Chris family and most went to the movies to see Sing 2. Maddie, Beky and I, and Makayla and I made gingerbread houses as well as a door wreath.

Christmas Light Parade

A week before Christmas we cut a fir tree out from among my rhododendron trees and put a few non-breakable ornaments on the front side. (Becky's cat climbed the tree in the first ten minutes in the house and got his fat belly stuck on the pitchy cut off top. She rescued him and we wired the tree to the adjacent walls.)

Fairy Dance

Caleb and Maddie

Domino, not the tree climber

Decorated tree. More magical then it appears.

Christmas Eve we opted to stay home and do our own candlelight service. Throughout the month we had gathered for some advent readings. Christmas Day the grandkids enjoyed their stockings then impatiently waited for us to get coffee etc before we started opening presents. Thanks to the generosity of others, we were not lacking in that department.

Byron with Pumpkin the tree climber

Newest addition to the family from my son

Joining the fun.

Grace with Nana

It snowed so during vacation we went sliding twice. I even went speeding down the hills, quite fun actually. Then it stayed cold; then it rained melting 16 inches of snow and everything flooded, worse than we've ever seen it in the six years we've lived here. Thankfully my house is not in a flood zone although the three valleys on my roof started leaking. Byron and a friend put up a tarp and lots of tar until the weather improves and I can figure out what to do.

Gudino family

The snow is now gone but heavy rains continue, so that flooding on the direct route into town remains the topic of conversation on our community face book page. Today the water reached 3 feet high over the road. There are two other ways out, one of which sometimes also floods, the other usually not but landslides are becoming an issue. (My road dead ends 8 miles past my house.)

Road into town. Marker at 2.5 ft.

"There is always autumn after next." Krazy Kat. Maybe next year I'll achieve my desire to have my Christmas cards in the mail by Thanksgiving week-end. Probably not but I can dream.

Merry Christmas from Melanie

Grace Meadows, Wishkah, Washington

I am sitting in my comfy chair as the wood stove slowly warms the house after a chilly night. One of my favorite Christmas CD’s is playing as I treated myself this year to a small CD player, the old one having become dysfunctional some years ago now. The house is quiet as the rest of the family is out. Becky and Byron, Caleb and Maddie are staying with me for a bit as they sold their house in town for various reasons.

I have put off writing this letter as it has been a hard year for me. I knew a lot about the first year of mourning, what to expect, but not the second. Some people choose words that they want to focus on for the coming year. A life coach suggested that you also choose a word to sum up what the past year has been like. For me that would be shedding, or purging or putting off.

I finally pushed myself to go through Mark’s clothes and the remaining boxes from his office. I sorted through massive amounts of preschool materials, any good teacher knows what I am talking about. Most of it was gifted to the Y preschool program or an art play center in Hoquiam. I still have more than I need as I was trying to save craft type supplies for activities with my grandkids. The previous few sentences so easily written sum up six months of letting go, tears, and reliving memories. Emptying five rooms to make room for family is no small task.

Thanksgiving favors that Maddie and I made along with dessert goodies.

Three other events filled the beginning months of the year. We were finally able to have a memorial service for Mark, the end of May. Family and friends back East were able to see the live stream. It was still good to have the service but happening a year after his death gave it a whole different feel and purpose. For weeks beforehand, I spent countless hours going through photo albums, scanning pictures of Mark’s life. Then began the process of organizing them and adding captions. My son finished the presentation by adding music and finishing touches to the slides. The whole process was an emotional one but it was also healing. It was good to remember the years before Mark’s health challenges and unknown brain tumors affected so much of our lives. The slide presentation of his life was my last gift to him.

Just two short weeks after the service, my son and I left for a two week vacation. Originally, I was going to drive to Maine and he was going to accompany me the first part of the way. After weeks of agonizing and wild emotional swings, yes I’m going, no I’m not, I definitely decided that the trip would be too much for me. So instead, my son and I revamped the route, made reservations and spent a quiet two weeks together. We camped some, we stayed in a few motels and one house rental. The theme of the trip was to not try and see it all but rather to savor and thoroughly enjoy little pieces and that is what we did. We saw small portions of The Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier N. P. and the vast territory in between.

We had lunch perched on a log, watching moose plunge their gawmey heads again and again into the water pulling up grasses. We felt the power of the mountains as we drove and sat beneath the massive peaks in Glacier NP. The drive along the Going to the Sun Road was a gift from God as the road opened up the last day our seven day pass was good. We saw the Tetons from afar, a very different experience. We drove through a small portion of Yellowstone, awed by the size and power of some grazing buffalo.

We splurged and treated ourselves to numerous gastronomical delights: grilled meats, authentic Mexican dishes, wood fired pizza, as well as more ordinary meals made special by unique sauces and spices. We munched on cherries, assorted candy bars and ice cream as we drove mile after mile. We cooked over a campfire, toasted marshmallows, and drank coffee or tea in the early morning chill. We dodged mosquitoes, thankfully only a couple of nights at our last campsite.

Ten days after our return, Mark’s sister and husband came for a visit. During their stay we spent a long day driving the 101 loop, stopping along the way to see enormous rainforest trees and the Twilight museum, as well as driving up to Hurricane Ridge. Another day was spent driving around and up Mount Rainier. We had a family gathering here at the house and Becky took them to the Pacific Ocean which was contrary and cold that July day.

Now December is half gone. The house is undecorated and it may mostly remain that way. We are doing some Advent and Christmas themed activities. (See my face book page for pictures and details.) My intent to get my packages and cards sent Thanksgiving weekend is a forgotten dream. And still, the last of the sorting and resettling needs to happen this week.

Makayla's Christmas Concert

Maddie

Maddie's Dance Recital

Throughout this year as more and more stuff made its way out the door, the landscape of my life felt more and more like a vast empty prairie. Not really a desert but not the rich lushness of the forested mountains either. In retrospect, I believe that all this casting off of the old has made room for the new. I am hoping to discover what all that new is this year along with more of who I am as an individual.

What is that stuff?