It just occurred to me that I never posted the family Christmas blurb for 2020. Here goes...
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Merry Christmas from Bob and Betsy!
Well. Hmmm. Our 2019 Holiday Newsletter ended with this thought: “We are looking forward to 2020. Here’s to a new decade! I think we all deserve it.” My question for 2020 is, “Exactly what did we do to deserve THIS?” Were we Bob the Hun and Betsy the Impaler in some past lifetimes? Sheesh…
But we really shouldn’t complain. No one in our immediate families got sick. So far. With the possible exceptions of the standard orthopedic complaints that come with the You’re Getting Older category, we’ve been pretty darned healthy. So while the world burns around us, our little bubble of existence has been floating steadily on.
Nathaniel and Lindsey bought their first house and have departed our basement. It’s just outside Asheville, right next to the Blue Ridge Parkway and great hiking and biking trails. It had been heavily lived in by a large number of humans and animals, so right away there were many redecorating opportunities for us all. We only had to move, or rather demolish, two walls. Betsy learned how to paint over checkerboard ceramic tiles. Besides becoming the queen of painting paneled doors, Lindsey turned out to be quite skilled at tearing chainlink fence posts right out of the ground. Nathaniel, on the other hand, has become the king of both clearing brush and borrowing Bob’s tools.
Paul was able to break away from Madison, WI to visit us a couple times this fall. It was great to have him in. We were able to do lots of biking, hiking, and waterfalling while he was here.
Last summer we added two rabbits to our collection. Hoover and Dyson are now six month old Flemish Giant brothers. We got them from some dude on Craigslist, so we’re not really sure about the quality of that pedigree. At least we know they’re brothers. They are both handsome rabbits, ridiculously cute, and got along just fine until their hormones kicked in. Then they were pretty much intent on killing each other. A trip to the vet (several, to tell the truth…) and they are now getting along much better. They are high energy, very inquisitive, and currently tipping the scales at about 9 pounds. Zeela, our eleven year old doe, thinks they are both idiots. Although she respects how they can shred a cardboard box, she is not afraid of either of them. She should be.
No real travel news. At-home hobbies and interests were somewhat intensified. Knitting, woodworking/fix-it projects, and Bad Art creation happened. The collection of gardening and shop tools grew accordingly. Bicycle wheels were pedaled about the county. The pandemic has been especially hard on the weeds in our yard.
Coming off the Year Everything Was Cancelled, we decided that one way to get around more in the near future might be by camping. So we bought a small-ish travel trailer. It’s a Winnebago Micro Minnie (hey - micro is right in the name). Coming from the world of backpacking and tent camping, this is quite the change! Of course, we needed to get a proper vehicle to pull it, so there is a now a mid-sized pickup in the driveway and Harriet, the big ol’ classic 1988 Ford, is sadly on the auction block. It turns out these RV’s have 1001 systems to learn and master. The upside(?) is that there are 1001 critical accessories you “need”. But having a kitchen is nice. Sitting in the driveway, the TV gets more stations than the one in our house. Boy. But in the winter you can’t argue with having heat. Should be fun.
Let’s toast to a better 2021. For real this time!
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