Holiday Letter 2003
(The much-awaited annual letter from the Plamondon household...)
Another year has come and gone. Doesn't it seem unfair that time speeds up the older we get? That this is coming to you as a New Year's greeting--rather than a Christmas letter--should give some idea how far behind I am...
Things here seem to go on the same from year to year. Denny is still spending two weeks each month working in Cold Bay and points west, while I hold down the fort. Or maybe that should be "hold down the cat house..." Between work and caring for the house and its inhabitants, I keep pretty busy. Maybe that's the secret to happiness--every life has it's hills and valleys, but we can't complain. If the past year was a busy one, we still found time to enjoy some perfect summer days and spend some time out on the water. Though not necessarily at the same time. Our gorgeous summer was interrupted for one week of wind and rain in August. Coincidentally at the same time my brother and nephew were visiting from Ohio. Doesn't it figure?
Thus far the winter has given us a bit of everything from zero-degree mornings to blizzards. Thus far this week it has gone from clear and near-zero to 45-degrees and rain and back to snow, with occasional forty-knot winds. At least the weather keeps life exciting.
In October I got my 20-year pin from the FAA. I still owe Uncle Sam a year and some odd months, so I am not ready to make my habitual laziness a life style just yet. Denny has another four or five years to go, so I may wait until he is close to retiring before I quit. I need something to get me out of the house...
Speaking of twenty years, this year was the twentieth for Denny and I. In some ways, the time has gone by fast--and in others, it feels as if we have always been together and that I have only faint memories of life before Dennis. It has been fun and interesting.
In family news this year, my Mom was diagnosed with a heart condition. What she thought was the flu in May never quite left her and she had grown so weak by August that she had to cut short her vacation in Valdez with Dad and my brother David. In September, after the family nagged her into seeing a doctor, it was discovered that she was in fact in heart failure. A pacemaker was implanted in September and two stints put in place at the start of December. Three days before Christmas, she was medevaced to Anchorage with suspected heart attacks, and the family spent a tense night until the doctors determined that her heart and assorted appliances were in fact working as expected (which was reassuring to hear) and her symptoms
were due to some unrelated problems. She got medical attention for those and was back in Fairbanks on Christmas Day.
Dennis was supposed to go out to Cold Bay on the 23rd after a week at home, but while Mom was in the hospital, he decided he needed to stay close to home. So one benefit from the whole incident was that he was able to be home for Christmas. I pretty much concentrated on spending time with him while he was home. I cooked Christmas dinner for us on Christmas Eve (I had to work Christmas afternoon) and we enjoyed the time together. Since we got considerable snowfall last week, it was nice that he was home to keep the driveway clear and the vehicles in prime running condition. He went back out to Cold Bay on Saturday.
As our cats grow older gracefully, it is inevitable that we have to say farewell to one or two each year. We lost Rosie in February after a long and mysterious decline. She had been with us for five years, which was long enough to smooth away the memories of her previous bad home. Knowing that she had been happy with us gives us some comfort, but it was hard to let her go. Even harder was losing our Little Black Newt after fifteen years. She had been the second cat we acquired after we moved to Homer and had grown up with our home. She leaves a lot of good memories--and a hole in our hearts--behind her.
Still, we ended 2003 with a net gain in the feline department--not really a matter of our own choosing but what are we going to do? Sunspot and Toby John were older cats (14+ years) that had no chance of finding homes when they were dumped at the Animal Shelter--their owner had decided she no longer had time for them. We decided we could spare a little time and space for these two veterans.
The kittens--Lola and Clarence--were more a matter of happenstance than our own choosing. In August we discovered the little, abandoned tortoiseshell we had fed through last winter had kittens--four of them. We trapped them--and her--and her mate for good measure. The adults were neutered and the kittens went to the Animal Shelter. Momma turned out to be very friendly and very young. We found her a home with friends in Cold Bay. Daddy was seriously feral and wanted nothing to do with humans, so we let him go back into our yard. He lives on our property and eats on the porch, which seems to be the best that we can do for him. Two of the kittens went to new homes in Kodiak, and the other two came back home--to be "socialized", officially, but frankly, they are here to stay.
In my defense--Denny brought more vehicles home this year than I did cats...
Yep, he hit it big at the State vehicle auction--scoring two Crown Victorias (retired police cars), a nice Suburban with automatic transmission, and a two-wheel drive Chevy pickup. He also got a One-Ton Ford pickup in bright State Orange with a utility body. Then there is the 1953 6x4 International tow truck in army colors that came from Cold Bay on the ferry. So we have a deal--I don't say anything about the vehicles and he doesn't complain about the cats...
Actually, I really enjoy driving the Crown Vics around. It is a change of pace from the usual pickup truck.
Well, I will close for now with our wishes for that the best in life may come your way in 2004. You are often in our thoughts across the miles. Have happy holidays and enjoy yourself in the coming year...
Another year has come and gone. Doesn't it seem unfair that time speeds up the older we get? That this is coming to you as a New Year's greeting--rather than a Christmas letter--should give some idea how far behind I am...
Things here seem to go on the same from year to year. Denny is still spending two weeks each month working in Cold Bay and points west, while I hold down the fort. Or maybe that should be "hold down the cat house..." Between work and caring for the house and its inhabitants, I keep pretty busy. Maybe that's the secret to happiness--every life has it's hills and valleys, but we can't complain. If the past year was a busy one, we still found time to enjoy some perfect summer days and spend some time out on the water. Though not necessarily at the same time. Our gorgeous summer was interrupted for one week of wind and rain in August. Coincidentally at the same time my brother and nephew were visiting from Ohio. Doesn't it figure?
Thus far the winter has given us a bit of everything from zero-degree mornings to blizzards. Thus far this week it has gone from clear and near-zero to 45-degrees and rain and back to snow, with occasional forty-knot winds. At least the weather keeps life exciting.
In October I got my 20-year pin from the FAA. I still owe Uncle Sam a year and some odd months, so I am not ready to make my habitual laziness a life style just yet. Denny has another four or five years to go, so I may wait until he is close to retiring before I quit. I need something to get me out of the house...
Speaking of twenty years, this year was the twentieth for Denny and I. In some ways, the time has gone by fast--and in others, it feels as if we have always been together and that I have only faint memories of life before Dennis. It has been fun and interesting.
In family news this year, my Mom was diagnosed with a heart condition. What she thought was the flu in May never quite left her and she had grown so weak by August that she had to cut short her vacation in Valdez with Dad and my brother David. In September, after the family nagged her into seeing a doctor, it was discovered that she was in fact in heart failure. A pacemaker was implanted in September and two stints put in place at the start of December. Three days before Christmas, she was medevaced to Anchorage with suspected heart attacks, and the family spent a tense night until the doctors determined that her heart and assorted appliances were in fact working as expected (which was reassuring to hear) and her symptoms
were due to some unrelated problems. She got medical attention for those and was back in Fairbanks on Christmas Day.
Dennis was supposed to go out to Cold Bay on the 23rd after a week at home, but while Mom was in the hospital, he decided he needed to stay close to home. So one benefit from the whole incident was that he was able to be home for Christmas. I pretty much concentrated on spending time with him while he was home. I cooked Christmas dinner for us on Christmas Eve (I had to work Christmas afternoon) and we enjoyed the time together. Since we got considerable snowfall last week, it was nice that he was home to keep the driveway clear and the vehicles in prime running condition. He went back out to Cold Bay on Saturday.
As our cats grow older gracefully, it is inevitable that we have to say farewell to one or two each year. We lost Rosie in February after a long and mysterious decline. She had been with us for five years, which was long enough to smooth away the memories of her previous bad home. Knowing that she had been happy with us gives us some comfort, but it was hard to let her go. Even harder was losing our Little Black Newt after fifteen years. She had been the second cat we acquired after we moved to Homer and had grown up with our home. She leaves a lot of good memories--and a hole in our hearts--behind her.
Still, we ended 2003 with a net gain in the feline department--not really a matter of our own choosing but what are we going to do? Sunspot and Toby John were older cats (14+ years) that had no chance of finding homes when they were dumped at the Animal Shelter--their owner had decided she no longer had time for them. We decided we could spare a little time and space for these two veterans.
The kittens--Lola and Clarence--were more a matter of happenstance than our own choosing. In August we discovered the little, abandoned tortoiseshell we had fed through last winter had kittens--four of them. We trapped them--and her--and her mate for good measure. The adults were neutered and the kittens went to the Animal Shelter. Momma turned out to be very friendly and very young. We found her a home with friends in Cold Bay. Daddy was seriously feral and wanted nothing to do with humans, so we let him go back into our yard. He lives on our property and eats on the porch, which seems to be the best that we can do for him. Two of the kittens went to new homes in Kodiak, and the other two came back home--to be "socialized", officially, but frankly, they are here to stay.
In my defense--Denny brought more vehicles home this year than I did cats...
Yep, he hit it big at the State vehicle auction--scoring two Crown Victorias (retired police cars), a nice Suburban with automatic transmission, and a two-wheel drive Chevy pickup. He also got a One-Ton Ford pickup in bright State Orange with a utility body. Then there is the 1953 6x4 International tow truck in army colors that came from Cold Bay on the ferry. So we have a deal--I don't say anything about the vehicles and he doesn't complain about the cats...
Actually, I really enjoy driving the Crown Vics around. It is a change of pace from the usual pickup truck.
Well, I will close for now with our wishes for that the best in life may come your way in 2004. You are often in our thoughts across the miles. Have happy holidays and enjoy yourself in the coming year...
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