YCGL - December 22, 2022 - Christmas Time - Picture Updated

 Hi Gang!  

Well, its been a while since the last blog, there is a lot of catch up to do, but you're going to have to catch up by way of the reason I haven't written you.  I have been working on my Christmas Letter_2022 so let's see if this works.  OK, loading like a picture didn't work, so I'll just copy the written part.  The pictures are screen shots off my laptop, so the resolution isn't very good.  I'll do a better job when I get home on my regular computer.  

Dear Family and Friends!                                                                                                                                 Christmas 2022
It is that wonderful season of family and friends, those close and far, but still near and dear to our hearts.  Though the weather may be cold and snowy (except for you guys down south), our hearts and hearth are warm and comfortable.  I love sending and receiving cards and emails and hearing what may be happening in your lives.  So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Kwanzaa, Happy New Year and Happy Omisoka. 

The elephant in the room.  It’s my first full year without Sally.  It is a quiet house.  I live almost entirely on the main floor of the trilevel house we’ve lived in for 41 years.  But it’s ok.  There is a lot of Sally here, her mom’s furniture and ours, hangings on the walls, the kitchen she always wanted to remodel.  It’s still home, and still a happy and warm one.  Maybe somewhat more cluttered, the kitchen table is always Piled Higher and Deeper, but life is good. 

We had made lots of plans for a lot of travel, which I have continued to do.  We have been long time Wyoming basketball fans and have tickets for both the men’s and women’s games.  We had talked last year that we would go to the Mountain West Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas for the first time this year and visit friends and family along the way.  I took the motorhome and spent 9 days at the tournament (and walked into a casino one day and walked out again, I’ve got too many other things to gamble on than gambling.).  It ended up being 28 days in February/March visiting both nieces Jere and Jaye and college friends Bob and Loraine, sightseeing, railroading and history.  It was the first extended trip I’ve taken with the motorhome since Sally died, and I knew that the family was concerned that I was going to be safe and make it by myself, so I started writing a travel blog so everyone could keep up with me.  --Youcantgetlost.blogspot.com--  Then I took another 28-day trip visiting family and friends in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota in April/May. 

June 2^nd was our 50^th wedding anniversary.  Both Erik and Liz came home, Jaye, Jere and nephew Juhl, and my Covid bubble, Joe, Mary, Susan and Judy spent the afternoon and evening celebrating a happy and blessed marriage.  The next morning, we took Sally’s baby grand piano to the Laramie Hospice where dear friend Donna Marburger plays it most Tuesday mornings.  That afternoon, we went up to the North Fork campground that we used to stay often and buried some of Sally’s ashes in the forest close to the creek she loved to listen to and where she always wanted to be.  Several weeks later, I placed a plaque on the tree to mark her place and remember her.  

With the long trips in the motorhome, I just got the feeling it was too big for just me.  The end of June I bought a pickup and a travel trailer.  I flew down to Texas and saw my brothers and wives over the 4^th of July.  I took several trips to the North Fork to start getting used to the new truck and trailer.  Then longer trips to Casper and Cody.  Finally, I drove down to Albuquerque to visit Jaye, Lyndon and Tyler, and Liz!  We had a great several days together there in September.  I flew to Boston in October to spend some time with Erik and Eliza.  Erik and I had a great time finishing remodeling some smaller projects on the house that they bought last year.  I got to go several museums and for the grand finale, Erik took me to the Boston Symphony to see a performance of Mahler’s 6^th symphony, known as “The Tragic”.  It was a wonderful evening and great trip. 

I had planned to go to Portland to see Liz and Nick in November and spend Thanksgiving with them like last year.  But after all the traveling I’ve done this year, I really wanted to stay home for a while.  Not wanting me to be alone for T-Day, Liz wrangled a dinner with Jere’s son Arthur and his dad, Steve.  As I walked in the door, Steve asked if I wanted to go scuba diving in Cozumel.  After brutally twisting my arm for about 15 minutes, I said yes.  We left two days later for a week of diving and then a week in Texas with my brothers.  It was the first-time diving in 20 years, but I took a refresher course, and it was like riding a bicycle.  It was grand.  Finally, Erik, Liz and the whole Wojahn crew are gathering for a week at Jere and Tom’s in Fruita, CO the week before Christmas.  In all, I’ve been on the road for about 120 days.  I am in good spirits, am having fun, and living the life that I think Sally would want me to have.

Erik and Eliza are working hard during the day but do most of it from home.  They have a great group of friends in the Hash House Harriers and Erik is also a member of the Cambridge Running Club.  I’m just wondering what Erik will do for a hobby when the remodeling is completed.  Maybe nuclear physics…

Liz quit her job in July when she decided it was too dangerous for her to go her pump stations in Portland without an armed guard.  She has purchased a house in Lincoln City, OR about a block from the ocean and is turning it into an AirBnB.  It has been a long slog, but she is getting close to getting it ready.  Nick still owns the Landmark Saloon in Portland, and it is a great place to have a beer and some bbq.  They got a dog this summer which they named Chowder and Liz spends a lot of time chasing her. 

I am wishing you and the world the peace of God which passes all understanding.  Hug someone close.  It’s a gift you like getting back.

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Thom

Finally, this is my Christmas present to myself, an electric folding "mountain" bike.  I had it delivered here to Fruita, CO and Erik has been helping me setting it up.  

Other items of note, you can't see the helmet liner under the helmet, but you can see the heavy gloves from Lizzie and the alpaca facemask is from Jere, and is from Machu Picchu.  They have been face and hand savers, it's been cold enough to hurt when I'm at full (or any) speed.  Thanks Everyone

And Merry Christmas to All of You!  

God Bless Us Everyone!