Christmas Letter 2021

 

Greetings from Colorado,                                                                               December 2021

 

No, I haven’t (yet) moved to Colorado but I’ve spent more time in Colorado and Wisconsin than in Minnesota this year thanks to COVID. When people ask where I live, I say I think I still have a home in Minnesota. Yes, my home is still in Minnesota, but I’ve only spent about 2 months there this year.

 

I drove out to Longmont CO in October 2019 to celebrate my great nephew’s 1st birthday, thinking I’d stay through Thanksgiving, hoping to stay through Christmas and the new year. Well, that lasted beyond Easter. I stayed at the home my sister and brother-in-law have just around the corner from my niece Laura and her family, husband Brian, and my favorite great niece and great nephew, Luna and Phoenix, my only great niece and nephew. We’d visit several times each week, I’d have Luna for sleepovers. We made pancakes, cookies and crafts. We played in the basement and went for walks to the various playgrounds in the area. I’d stay with the kids when their parents had date night, or sometimes we had a girls’ night out. Treasured time. Of all their toys the trampoline and inflatable “bounce house” are their favorites. 

 

Colorado has many parks and trails in the foothills for exercise on foot or bike. I took advantage of the offerings at the local rec center for pickleball, and snowshoeing lessons and outings in Eldora, where I actually met some of the local neighbors. Having friends in Denver had me driving the hour down to play pickleball and have dinner. The friend I sailed with in Mexico was building a plane in Colorado Springs so I monitored his progress during several visits. I used the state park pass I bought to explore the parks north of Longmont on my own. And before leaving the mountain state, one of my Denverite friends and I traveled to southern Colorado to the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve where I realized I came in my childhood. We visited outdoor saunas, something I had not done in my youth. 

 

I spent a week with my sister Chris at Easter, but her stay was short-lives as my brother-in-law was diagnosed with prostate cancer just as he was preparing to drive to Colorado with their Cocker Spaniel, Lucky. Rick was not so lucky. He missed an annual physical because of COVID so the cancer had that much longer to spread and metastasize. He had surgery in early summer, and everything looked good, so much so that his doctors at the time said he didn’t need any further treatment. By the fall, after further testing, that’s not the case. He’s now needing further treatment, but what that is is to be determined. Everyone else in the family is doing well, but my niece and her family did have break-through cases of COVID. The only positive out of that is their kids now have some immunity to it.

 

Sailing south was not to be this year because of COVID, so I pursued my sailing education instead. Since I was “home” alone, I studied weather and I took a diesel mechanics class. Who would have thought that could be done in Colorado? A friend formerly from Minnesota clued me in to the class offered by the local sailing school at which she now teaches. I never plan to tear down and rebuild an engine, but I’m smarter about their inner workings and better at problem detection. 

 

My return to Minnesota was enhanced with a friend willing to drive back with me. So by mid-April I was home, thinking I’d be there until at least Memorial Day when the season gets a soft start.  Who wants to be on cold Lake Superior any earlier than that? I’m a warm weather sailor so am still wondering what possessed me to do a delivery starting mid-May from Saugatuck Michigan just north of Chicago to Bayfield Wisconsin. Luckily it was fairly warm, having me buy a short sleeve t-shirt to wear one day due to the heat only to revert back to long sleeve shirts the next day. My weather angels always seem to look out for me. Yes, there were a few minor issues with the boat for the new owner, but we made smart decisions and took lay days during the small craft advisories. We were the first sailboat through the Soo Locks (that’s the Sault Saint Marie Locks connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Superior) this year. Our best sail was one night in the fog.

 

So started my busiest sailing season ever between deliveries, sailing classes and private gigs. I met several new friends at Pikes Bay Marina making my sustained time up there much more fun during my days off. It was great to sail with those who know how to sail, enjoying dinners on the hook, having cocktails together, playing games at night and exploring the farther out islands during the day. I also participated in the Chicago Mac Race in July, probably for the last time. I got into racing to be on the water. Now that I teach and sail as much as I do, I’d much rather cruise than race.

 

I thought my sailing time would end by late September, but was fortunate to be asked to captain a team building program for executive MBA students in early October in San Diego. It was scary getting on a plane with COVID, but that didn’t stop me. When learning we could take newbies from zero sailing to the helmsperson sailing blindfolded, without using verbal commands, and racing, I was skeptical, yet it worked. On the last day we did synchronized sailing, yes, think about synchronized swimming, and that’s what we did using hand held radios to announce what the next maneuver was going to be. Nice to know now that I’m a part of this group and will be skippering it again several times next year.

 

When the opportunity to be participate in a friend’s spiritual retreat in Sedona came up in late October, I couldn’t say no. This seemed to be a more relaxing experience than the trips I’d taken with her to Nepal, Peru, Africa, Malta and Egypt. What a great group of women, now friends, and vistas that don’t stop. We hiked each day, one of which was to reach the top of Chimney Mountain to see the sunrise. We ate, meditated, hot tubbed, did yoga, and, for me, endured a sweat lodge. I stayed a few extra days to help my friend make her newly purchased condo more homey.

 

With nothing pressing to keep me home, I headed out to spend the rest of the year with my family in Colorado. I arrived in time for Thanksgiving knowing how much I have to be thankful for. My great nephew was hesitant for the first few minutes of seeing me after five months but he was soon saying “run me”, meaning chase me. Luna is old enough so she was quicker to hug me. Our Thanksgiving feast included three turkeys (smoked, deep-fried and Cajun), all the sides and seven pies (pumpkin, chocolate pumpkin and apple) for seven adults and three children so plenty of leftovers. 

 

As the saying goes, “guests are like fish, they stink after a few days”. I discovered Trusted Housesitters. Sitters take care of people’s houses and pets in exchange for lodging. No money is exchanged. It’s a way to get my long overdue furry fix, plus I’ve met some wonderful people and pets. It can be tricky to get the dates and places to conform to your schedule yet I’ve been able to string together several house sits to extend my stay and enjoy family time without being under foot.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing my nephew and his wife at Christmas after almost two years. The family will head to the mountains for a week of skiing and I’ll take care of Lucky. Let’s hope there’s good snow. I hope the season finds you in good health and looking forward to time with family and friends.