Christmas 2023

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Gort

It has been said that there are two things that are improved by shortening: sermons and biscuits. I believe we can add Christmas Letters to the list.

If you’re short on time, this is the version with “shortening” applied.

I am pleased to report that the family is well and all members continue to thrive in their work. Tabitha moved to an apartment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and William moved to a different building in Washington, DC. Joanna and Doug are still living and working in Waldorf, Maryland while Seth and Jess still live and work in Otago, New Zealand (on the South Island).

Now for the much longer version. The details could be thought of as boring but I would like to characterize the past year’s events reported here as life in motion, perhaps one notch above routine, but not necessarily mundane either. So here it is, long and historical.

In photo. It's January 2023 and this little purple flower volunteer (I did not plant it) is simply not waiting for spring. It's 6 inches tall and healthy looking. A little winter surprise. Out of photo.
In photo. January 2023 -- A line of more volunteer bulb flowers. These are daffodils which I did not plant. Out of photo.
In photo. Aboard a revolutionary ship at the Jamestown settlement. Out of photo.
In photo. Marilee and Ryder at the Yorktown Battlefield historical center entrance. A large revolutionary canon is aimed right at the camera with Marilee and Ryder beside it. Out of photo.
In photo. A large wooden sign with the words "Land of Canaan." A rustic resort in the hills of West Virginia. Out of photo.
In photo. A view from a high ridgeline in West Virginia along US Rt 40 looking North. The composition of the photo is mostly pale blue sky dotted with small clouds which seem to radiate from the center of the blue. The bottom third of the photo is a thin green line comprised of distant mountains and trees following down further to a dark green line of near trees and finally the pale green of the very near field. Out of photo.
In photo. Marilee is mounted on a horse as she begins her trail ride in the near hills of Canaan Valley. Out of photo.
In photo. Marilee's guide dog, Ryder. This is a random semi profile shot of Ryder as he looks to his right at an item of interest. Probably Marilee. Out of photo.
In photo. The picture is of a plaque explaining the 1890 typewriter. The words are, quote. The Clerk's Typewriter The Smith Premiere Typewriter model (1890-1895) right shows what life was like before a "shift" key-the capital and lowercase letters are separate buttons. This model was also before the standard QWERTY typewriter was commonplace. Typewriters allowed pages to be printed instantly, printing one letter at a time. The 1894 Randolph County Courthouse in Beverly was furnished with the latest technology, including a typewriter like this one. The fire of 1897 destroyed much of this equipment, including the typewriter used by the County Clerks. Unquote. Out of photo.
In photo. A typewriter from the mid 1890's. The was no shift-key in those days. Therefore, capital letters and lower case letters were present on the keyboard. Out of photo.
In photo. At an outdoor venue in Historical Williamsburg, a violinist holds his violin toward Marilee so that she may examine it with her hands. She is seen gently touching the body of the violin and smiling. Out of photo.
In photo. This is a green leaf with serrated edges. When the due comes, it collects in the corners of the serrations and forms little beads of moisture, or a single droplet of water. The edges of the leaf appear jeweled. I took this photo without paying too much attention to it content other than the jeweled appearance. I only later did I discover a bug on the lower lefthand side of the leaf getting a drink from a droplet. Out of photo.
In photo. A bundle of Fuchsia blossoms hanging from a planter against a blurred background of a dark green bush. The blossoms start out as little round balls of a dark red. When the blossom unfolds, gravity seems to pull the seed tentacles downward as the folds unfurl to a splendid and intense shade of pink. Out of photo.
In photo. Ed is seen at his computer desk with Tigger the cat laying between him and the laptop computer keyboard. Tig's paws are draped over Ed's left arm as he attempts to work at the computer. Out of photo.
In photo. Marilee and Ryder on a trail through the woods at Sky Lake. Other hikers are several yards behind her. Out of photo.
In photo. Ed, Marilee, and Ryder on a trail at Sky Lake. Some very large trees have fallen on to part of the trail. Ed appears to be lifting the trees out of the way so that Marilee and Ryder may pass underneath. The operative word in that description is "appears." Wink, wink. Out of photo.
In photo. Ed & Marilee in a canoe on the lake at Sky Lake. Out of photo.
In photo. At DragonCon, two cosplay attendees dressed in Star Trek attire pose for me by the Disability Services poster. Specifically by the Service Dog registration poster. The female officer is holding a very realistic stuffed dog from one of the Starship Enterprise episodes. Out of photo.
In photo. This was the title picture for my souvenir picture book while visiting Savannah, Georgia. The photo is of a train boxcar on which is a large sign. The words are "Georgia State Railroad Museum." Out of photo.
In photo. A panorama view of the round house at the Georgia State Railroad Museum. Out of photo.
In photo. Another "I was here" photo of a sign with the words "Savannah National Wildlife Refuge." During the trip to Savannah, Georgia, my friend Mr. Hurley and I visited here. Out of photo.
In photo. At the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, Mr. Hurley and I encountered this crane stretching wings and preparing to take flight from a tiny peninsula in the surrounding wetland. Out of photo.

In photo. The cats, Patches and Tigger, both have their front paws on the front door screen and looking out and to the right at some noise and movement unseen by the viewer. They are good watch-cats. Out of photo.

Tabitha continued to live with us for several months into 2023 and work remotely in her position at the American Council of the Blind. She hunted for an apartment in a variety of cities and settled on an apartment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Of course the next task was the actual move out of our house and into her new apartment. To her credit, she has kept her worldly possessions to a minimum and a medium sized U-Haul van was all that was needed for the move.

In photo. Parked on the street in front of Ed & Marilee's house is a U-Haul van with a trailer-dolly attached on which their small Chevy HHR station wagon is strapped. This was the configuration of vehicles for Tabitha's move to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Out of photo.
In photo. Tabitha's apartment building. The camera angle is such that I am looking up, way up, to the top of the building against the backdrop of a pale blue nearly cloudless sky. Out of photo.

She hired a local apartment moving crew to meet us at the building. I stayed out of the way while the strapping young men emptied the truck and filled her apartment. I’m told it is a very nice apartment on the 16th floor, small but comfortable. The photo here is the closest I was able to get to it because I cannot ride an elevator to the 16th floor. (I am too claustrophobic for that.)

Seth & Jess —
Jess has been revitalizing the Tuapeka Goldfields Museum and Visitor Centre. In 2023, she wrapped up her Jocelyn Evans exhibit, ran the Lost and Found exhibit, sponsored and consulted on a bioarchaeology project, and brought in students and volunteers for “days of learning.”

Seth continues to contribute to open source software projects, including Slackware and Slackbuilds.org. He writes about open source on Opensource.com, edited a 3-volume set about system administration, co-wrote a 3-day course on Linux, and gave a workshop on video editing. He’s also published several tabletop games this year, including:

* Havoc: A simple d6 RPG system where your XP is the damage you take in combat, and magic is always a success.
* Skuffle Wammer: A 5-minute wargame you can play at tea.
* Raid: A one-against-many wargame. You play as a supersoldier who can’t die, but enemy reinforcements continually flood the board until you eradicate them all.

Joanna & Doug celebrated their 10 year wedding a anniversary in October. They still reside in Waldorf, MD while Doug continues working for the Air Force at the Pentagon and Joanna is in her second year of working remotely for the Navy in the Mental Health field. The two worlds only collide once a year when Navy and Air Force compete on the football field. 

William achieved two major milestones of adulthood in 2023: turning 40 and buying a home. Thanks to his continuing employment as Lecturer and Area Coordinator of Music Theory and Composition at Howard University, he was able to purchase a condo in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, DC, less than a mile from his office. Although his teaching has curtailed his productivity as a composer to some extent, he is re-committing himself to chamber music composition in 2024. He also intends to continue enjoying cycling, running medium distances (5K’s through half marathons), and exploring the many social, gastronomic, and musical offerings of the greater DC area.

It is sometimes said that “into each life, some rain must fall.” In our case it was a tree. We were sitting on the couch finishing our morning coffee when it happened. You think caffeine will get you started? A tree appearing suddenly and loudly several feet from morning cup-o-joe will *really* get you going!!!

In photo. Looking from the broken tree trunk of the fallen tree there is a chaotic mix of broken fence, crushed bushes, tree branches all extending away from the camera and toward the corner of my house. Out of photo.

The next photo shows the “before” tree fall.

In photo. A panoramic view of my backyard taken from the vantage point of the hammock on the patio. This constitutes the "before" picture which I sent to the insurance adjustor after the tree fell. Out of photo.

The next photo shows the “after” tree fall.

In photo. A panoramic view of my backyard taken from the vantage point of the backdoor of the garage. This constitutes the "after" picture which I sent to the insurance adjustor after the tree fell. I should add that the insurance man was amused that I had such recent photos from nearly the same point in the yard. Out of photo.

And while the backyard looks quite a bit different now, we rejoiced mightily when we discovered that the tree did not *hit* the house. Missed it by this >|< much. However, it crushed our patio furniture, flattened a large container garden, and mangled all my bird feeders. Again, it did not hit the house and for that we praised the Lord for sparing us that gross inconvenience.

The next photo shows the hired workers who removed the errant tree and got the yard back to normal. Well, sorta normal. But not for lack of effort on their part. They did what they were hired to do very quickly and professionally.

In photo. The workers with their equipment disassembling the tree and hauling off the debris. Also seen in the photo are the remaining pieces of the container garden and parts of the bird feeding poles. Out of photo.

Indeed, we thank God for His faithful care over us, for our health, and His many blessings. During this Christmas season and in the coming year, be ever mindful of God’s grace and behold the wonders of His glory.

Merry Christmas

In photo. This is a medium blue banner depicting the Star of Bethlehem as it shines over the city. The banner is embroidered with a large multi-pointed gold star above center and to the left. The city is represented by green, brown, and off-white patches of gold trimmed cloth in the lower righthand corner. Out of photo.

About Gort

Retired space traveler and part time author.
This entry was posted in Christmas !!!, Family. Bookmark the permalink.