Happy Holidays!

Once again the past year has sped by. I sometimes think that the saying “time flys even when you’re not having fun” is more applicable than ever. The year, for those of us in Tucson, started off with NOT a lot of fun when our Congress-woman, Gabrielle Giffords, was the target of an assassination attempt by a mentally disturbed young man. She was severely wounded in the head, six others killed and several severely wounded while attending one of her Congress on the Corner Events. “Gabby,” as she is affectionately known, was recently featured on ABC News’ 20/20 with Diane Sawyer. She has made good progress on her path to recovery but as she said in the interview wants to get “better.”

Margaret’s Milestone Birthday & New Car
This year Margaret marked a “milestone” birthday. Okay, let’s be frank. She hit the big 5-0 on June 7th! I planned a surprise party for her on Sunday, June 5th. The big surprise was her sister Carol who came from Syracuse, NY. Carol and I collaborated from the get go on the menu, guest list, decorations, etc. I arranged for friends to cater the party and bake the cake. We had 40+ people in our back yard that afternoon for the party. An added surprise guest was Margaret and Carol’s brother Leonard who was in AZ on business and delayed his return trip to San Diego by a day. Carol even produced a picture collage of the party which can be seen at http://www.screencast.com/t/JdZnWAYSIPa.

Each month during this “milestone year” we have done something to “mark” the occasion. Well during August that event was the unexpected purchase of a new vehicle. Margaret’s 1996 Honda Accord with at least 160K miles blew a head gasket. That problem along with a few others prompted us to bite the bullet and trade it in for a 2011 Honda CR-V. So far we are enjoying this crossover SUV which not only brought us into the 21st Century but jumped one decade of vehicle design.

Travel
Margaret split her vacation times this year between May and September. In May we spent a week in Carlsbad north of San Diego. Where we stayed was located next to renicula flower fields. Among the things that we visited was the SD Zoo Safari Park where we went on their African Safari to see the giraffes and hippos up close and personal. We also went to the Leo Carrillo Ranch. Leo Carrillo was “Pancho” or the sidekick to the Cisco Kid in that early TV western. He had a large working ranch in that area where he entertained many Hollywood pals. Over the years most of the ranch has been sold off for development but about 70 acres remains as a city park. We also were able to visit Margaret’s brother, Len.

In September we journeyed to the east coast. First of all I attended the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps in Washington DC from the 21st to the 25th. The 22nd was Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill. We divided into state delegations and visited congressional offices. Friday the 23rd was a rainy day so we did some sight seeing visiting the WWII Memorial and the new MLK Memorial. We also went to the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian where among other things we saw Julia Child’s kitchen on display. That evening we attended a baseball game at Washington Nationals Park where the pre-game show honored the efforts of the Peace Corps. Margaret had signed me up to carry one of the 139 country flags where Peace Corps has served on to the field before the game. I was assigned the flag of Guyana, the former British colony on the coast of northern South America. On Saturday the 24th I attended a panel discussion at the National Theater on the Future of the Peace Corps moderated by Bill Moyers. On the panel were various country leaders who have been involved with the Peace Corps. For me the most impressive was former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo who lived in the barrios of Lima and became a good friend with PC workers who now live in AZ. They later sponsored him to study here in the USA where he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees. While I was otherwise occupied Margaret made contact with a friend of hers, Melissa Senner, who now resides in Delaware. She met Melissa and her daughters at the National Zoo and then visited the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception which is the largest Roman Catholic Church in North America, and is one of the ten largest churches in the world.

On Sunday the 25th the reunion wrapped up with a memorial service at Arlington Cemetery which honored the memory of the 280 volunteers who have lost their lives while in service to their country over the last 50 years. While we were in DC we stayed with my friend Jerry Hagstrom who is from ND. On Saturday night we took him out to dinner and he showed us a neighborhood of Washington which is not frequented by the average tourist.

On Sunday my friend Ken Carpenter from Virginia picked us up at Jerry’s house. (Ken went to Russia with me in ’93 and I toured him around ND last summer.) We then drove to his wife Liz’s home west of Richmond on the James River where we spent the last week of September. She has an antebellum home on eight acres in a bucolic area. The house if for sale! Check out the MLS listing 1112562. As hectic as the days in DC had been so the week in the woods of rural Virginia was relaxing! The focus of our week was to visit Civil War sites and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s estate. That was a most impressive place! After taking the tour of the house we took the slave tour in which the guide told us about the people who actually made Monticello run.

Three days of that week we visited Civil War sites since 2011 is the sesquicentennial of the beginning of that sordid event in our country’s history. Among the sites that we visited were: the Tredagar Iron Works in Richmond; battle sites around Petersburg and Appomattox Court House where Lee surrendered to Grant. The surrender actually took place in the McLean house located at Appomattox Court House which is actually the location in VA.

North Dakota Visit
In July I traveled to North Dakota and stayed for five weeks. This year I flew to Bismarck and my cousin Eldo let me use one of his cars. I had never seen so much water in the Bismarck-Mandan area in July do to winter snow melt in the Rockies and above average precipitation. While there I did a lot of visiting and took two side trips. First, I went with my friends Walter and Sarah Wolf from Center to see their vacation home in Red Lodge, MT. While there we drove the Bear Tooth Highway to Cooke City which takes you on a very scenic drive into Wyoming and back into Montana. Beartooth Pass is at 10,947’ but at one point we stopped so that we could walk Walt’s GPS device up the mountain where it registered 11,002’ above sea level. My second side trip was to Dorset, MN, to visit Margaret’s mother Betty and Uncle Mike. One of the reasons that I went to Dorset when I did was to take in the Taste of Dorset which is held the first Sunday of August each year. You have to experience it to believe it! All of the restaurants in that small town set up food booths outside their establishments on the state highway which serves as the main street. They draw a tremendous crowd.

Visitors
During the year we had a few visitors who stopped by. At the end of February my cousin Gary and Kathy Speten from ND stopped for a short visit and an early dinner on their way to Las Vegas. At the end of March one of my former Peace Corps trainers Nelson Jacobs and his wife Gerlane who live in Joao Pessoa, Brazil spent a couple of nights with us. In early October Margaret’s mother and Uncle Mike who were on their way from MN to FL, along with her brother Leonard and his friend Pamela came for a weekend visit.

Work Situations
Margaret continues to work for ATI or Assessment Technology Inc. She continues to travel around the US and AZ doing training for teachers. This year she was on the road for 100 days and traveled close to 32,200 miles!

After nine years working for H&R Block at Sears I have decided to change jobs and try something new. I will still be doing tax work but was invited to take a position with 1st Choice Tax Services Inc. There was no one reason that prompted my move but the new situation provides me with a private office which I have decorated to my liking and more flexible hours among other amenities.

Parting Thoughts
As this is being written we are spending the Thanksgiving week in Sedona. We are reflecting on the year and counting our blessings. At this time we are in the throes of another Presidential election which is amplifying the polarization of politics that divides us as a nation. However my readings this year of the Civil War convince me that our problems now are miniscule compared to what confronted the nation at that time. At least let’s hope so!

So as we enter the Advent Season and anticipate the arrival of the Prince of Peace let’s ponder the “Reason for the Season” and reflect on those things that truly bring meaning to our lives; family and friends and sharing remembrances of “fun” times spent with them. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!