Happy Holidays!

For those of you who have kept up with this blog and the postings throughout 2022, you will know that the year has been one with a few challenges. However, we seem to be past most of that now, and the future looks good. We are already making plans for some traveling in 2023. We have missed being able to do that, what with COVID and cancer interruptions. However, this next year we intend to spend the month of March with good friends in Arizona (yay—spring training baseball games!), travel with our very dear Australian friends through parts of Canada in June, and then in late July and early August spend a week with Jessica's family and Travis at a beautiful guest ranch in the Bob Marshall Wilderness area in Montana, a place we visited with them in 1993 when they were much younger and, in Jessica's case, sans family.

Of course, we are also looking forward to the opportunity to spend more time at our beloved second home in Wisconsin. In fact, in some portion of January and February, we plan to be there to enjoy the woods in winter, to do some snow shoeing and/or cross-country skiing, to spend time with friends who live near there, enjoy visits by some of our own family members, and finally, to watch those of our grandchildren who ski as they participate or compete in the annual Hayward area Birkebeiner event. (Click there for details and access to trail cams and other videos.) Some people escape to warmer climates when it gets cold. We go north into the snow! (At least for a bit.)

Before we say goodbye to 2022, I have to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all of you who have been so kind, supportive and communicative, especially during the months I was dealing with surgery and the chemotherapy program. Your cards, Zoom or FaceTime calls, and other expressions of care and concern will never be forgotten, and I hope that we do continue to stay in touch. 

Confronting one's own mortality brings all kinds of memories, wishes, and hopes to the fore. I have so much about which to be grateful. My 78 trips around the sun so far have been mostly very good ones, and I look forward to at least a few more. More time up north. More woodworking. More books. More music. More time with my children and grandchildren. More paying attention to living things, green spaces, beautiful scenes, sunrises and sunsets, and friends.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the love and daily care that Kathie has shown and provided all through the year. During an illness like the one I faced, one does stop to think about that "in sickness and in health" phrase which is a part of most marital vows. Kathie lived that notion this year and seemed to do so with strength and smiles, though I know the time was often hard for her. I owe her my life and love, and I must work harder to be for her what she has been for me. (Maybe a new puppy sometime this summer will help!?)

We wish for all of you the happiest of possible holiday times, and best wishes for a healthy, happy 2023.

Kathie and Bill