New Normal?
[Dateline 2023, reporting on 2022.]
If there was anything normal about life in 2022, it was that our family gatherings began to resemble pre-COVID regularity and comfort. We did not hesitate to get together, but we still asked about everybody’s health, and took precautions. Who knows whether hanging out with family and friends will ever again not be a big deal.
Judy’s branches got a little bit longer this year. She again visited her mom and Byron in San Diego (Jan. and Mar.). She also traveled to attend work conferences in Arizona and Duluth. In a spontaneous mood, she also helped Elise move with her earthly belongings to Vancouver, BC, then later to visit her there. (Elise reported doing a Google® search for mountains, kayak, and ocean when choosing her destination.) Vaccine adaptation allowed for the resumption of the women’s drumming circle, participation in the community band (and an opportunity to perform on tympani!), and visits to her mom on Saturdays in her Chisago City summer home.
On the other side of the ledger, both Rick and Judy contracted and survived COVID-19, and separately, RSV. Presumably our cases were milder than might otherwise have been, had we both not had our vaccines up-to-date. (I know not everybody accepts this science, but I will just leave that there, as we do.)
Rick and Judy traveled together to Lake Oswego on the occasion of his 50th high school reunion. (Is he REALLY that old?) We enjoyed visiting with the Wattman clan, and Rick took time to explore old haunts and reconnect with old friends. AND we spent significant time staring at the ocean, just sitting on the beach as we are wont to do.
Wanting to be like Judy, Rick attempted—but failed—to put together a trip to Vancouver to visit Elise. He was “misinformed” by an airline phone agent that his enhanced driver’s license was sufficient for air travel to Canada (as his passport had expired) and he was turned away at the airport—actually laughed at by the ticket agent. (Apparently it is sufficient only to drive across the border.) He made an abortive effort to quickly modify the trip by flying to Seattle, then bussing to Canada. In the end, he cancelled the whole thing, and rescheduled for a later date when his passport could be renewed. We made that happen in December, and spent some quality time with Elise and her girlfriend Jahda. For the record, we concur with her choice: Vancouver is lovely, as is Jahda!
The offices at FaithSearch opened back up three-days-a-week, and with resumption of campus activities at Normandale Community College, we once again have routines, albeit altered.
One highlight of the year was our needing to purchase a new stove. We opted to shell out for a more expensive but highly efficient inductive model. Although we are still paying for it, we do not regret it in the least, and would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone. It is as fast as a gas range(!) without the combustion byproducts, and uses much less energy. The only downside was having to replace our aluminum cookware, but as most of it was decades old, we did not mind.
NOTE: Although we didn’t get this printed and sent last year, it is not that we were not thinking of you. With all that “normalcy,” we simply let it slide too long. We send it with this year’s report, begging your forgiveness for not sending it earlier, and with continued well wishes and prayers for you and yours this year and into the next.