D-E-C-E-M-B-E-R 29, 2013 – Cain’s Annual ‘Christmas’
Missive by Lola
D Defense. Our defense and offense both worked well today for the
Seahawks. Yay! Last week’s game was painful – but they
came back strong today! It motivated me to write our annual
letter while on an ‘up’ beat!
E Energy. The grandkids’ energy levels are exploding
exponentially! The youngest
six are 7 – 17, and they bring enormous joy – and activity – to our lives. Swim meets. Soccer. Musical
and theatrical performances. Kid time at our house! Pure joy!
C Christmas. Ours was good.
Our 3 girls and associated families were here for the afternoon and
evening – a welcome celebrating all together that we had not had for awhile on Christmas. It was very precious. I love the focus on celebrating Jesus’ first coming –
even if we celebrate the wrong time of year – and the reminder of His more-and-more
yearned-for Second Coming! I love declaring, “Merry Christmas!”
E Events
(1). Our January 15 – March 2 road trip to Arizona FULL to the
brim with adventures – with the most important being the people we saw! We had a spontaneous visit with Veronica
– one of our former exchange students – and her family in Nogales…. We were ‘in the area’ and called to see
if they were available. It ended
up being one of the highlights of the trip. They even had snow while we were there – with school
canceled for the day because of snow – something that had never happened to
them before!
We
also got a chance to visit with my cousin, Jeannine, on our way down and on our
way back – the first visit being just prior to her terminal diagnosis, and the
last visit, an opportunity to see her one last time before she went to be with
the Lord.
The
trip, sites we saw, people we enjoyed, experiences we accumulated: all of it was memorable. I could write a
book! (My cousin, Jerry, has
already requested chapter headings for my annual letters. He refers to them as Epistles.)
M Mourning. 2013 was not all joy!
We had to say goodbye to some very dear people in our lives…. We mourn with those who mourn, yet in
each case, not one of the families left behind would ask their loved one to
suffer one more day….
B Brrrrrrr. While I was gone to Washington, D C December 1 – 10
with Kami, the temperatures in Western Washington plummeted. Al reported it was 13° in the daytime! Global warming?
(BTW, I loved all I got to see
in D C, and have lots of pictures to prove it.)
E Events
(2). Our other ‘most special’ events were reunions, special gatherings and
special guests. Among the
gatherings was a 70th wedding celebration in Weiser, Idaho for an
incredible couple! Seventy years of love and faithfulness
merits mentioning!
My
50th high school reunion was amazingly fun. The memory of it elicits pure joy! We were able to have a cousin reunion
in Parma, ID just after that, adding to the fun and joy. Throw in a few other delightful
reunions: Federal Way H S, West Tacoma Newsprint, and my 1960’s reunion of
Northwest College students – each with special people to connect with. Add a smaller gathering of my college
friends and a trip to Westport together. And family coming to visit from Idaho and Utah…and
Valerie from Canada. Plus
family events and gatherings, especially Al’s 75th birthday in
November and celebrating Christmas together. And friend visits.
And for me: add church
– the joy of worshipping & co-leading worship in our ‘Softer Sundays’
Service a couple of times a month, being the storyteller for Kids’ Worship on
occasion, and an incredibly wonderful Sunday School Class. J JOY!
R Rest
of the story. Our ‘huge’ projects for the year
centered around logging and land.
Al logged our 5 acres at Graham April – June. He hired a
self-loader log truck to deliver the wood to the mills, and sold 17 loads of
fir and one load of cedar. We left
most of the cedar standing so the 5 A is park-like. He had his nephew, Dave, come help him one day with several he
designated as danger trees (trees that would have fallen on neighboring
properties) – but did all the rest himself. Many of the trees were so large that his new 36” blade
wouldn’t cut through them! And
when they hit the ground it felt like an earthquake!
One
of the greatest joys of that process was getting to know our wonderful
neighbors up there. Pure joy! And a true highlight of our year! (In addition to their many kindnesses,
they helped us a lot by taking away firewood that would have just been in our
way or created more work for us in disposing of it. I love win-win situations – but it was far more than
that. We are blessed with new treasured
friendships!)
Then
– our neighboring owners of property at East Ocosta called and wanted to get
access into their lots, so Al spent 8 consecutive days down there in early
September cutting down trees to make paths for road access. Also great people and a blessing!
And
– last but not least, August 26 we traded our 49 A tree farm in Vader for 40
acres of newly-logged-off land next to us in Olympia. Al made the trade for me. I was euphoric when it all worked out. From a tree farm perspective it made no
sense – but having a project right next door that he can work on and we all can
enjoy made perfect sense.
And work he has. He got a
DNR permit to burn the slash that was left by the logging process, and has worked
on the property consistently since burning season began in October. The logger left 44 large machine-made
piles. Those are now all
gone.
Splitting
cedar fence posts; digging postholes and putting the posts in, using his
skidder to push together more piles (with his newly-purchased brush blade),
fixing this and that on the skidder as hoses, fittings, etc have gone
awry…. (There was a lot of that
while working at Graham as well as here.)
And burning, burning, burning….
It is an ongoing process, and time-sensitive, as the 40 A will be
replanted by March, so he has to get as much done as possible before the logger
sends his crew back to plant.
State law. Our
expense. Al is making
wonderful progress – and he truly loves running the skidder and backhoe. He came back to the house one evening this
past week and reported, “I really had fun on the 40 today.” It’s a good project – and provides
great walking paths – and getting acquainted with wonderful neighbors on the
other side of the property!
‘Christmas’
letters are good for me. They help
me see all the good. 2013 brought
some incredible sorrow and pain – and I’m ready to leave that part behind – but
there was also a LOT of joy to be celebrated! Writing helps me remember the joys!
HAPPY
NEW YEAR!
Al &
Lola
P S:
I succeeded in keeping the letter down to 2 pages this year, so it would fit on one double-sided page, but in doing that had to leave out many good stories. Like meeting Henry the Fiddler. On our trip last Jan - March we spent most of the time in Arizona. We heard about Organ Pipe Cactus State Park and decided to go down and explore that area. On our way we went through the small town of Aho and saw a sign advertising an Old Time Fiddler's Contest. Not having any specific timing for being anywhere for the next month or so we quickly concurred, "Why not?" The treat of the event was getting to sit in on a spontaneous 'jam session' and listen to one of the best musicians I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. His name was Henry the Fiddler. It appeared he was not socially suited to interacting with people on a consistent basis, as he only went to competitions often enough to win enough money to pay for gas and food (he 'lived' in his van)....but he was beyond good. It would have been easy to think he should be on T V and let everyone hear him.... Easy to think most people that gifted would want that....would want to be discovered and enter the rat race of fame and fortune. Not Henry. He was an amazing treat. What a gift. You can Google him, but
Final thought in summing up the year: God is good in spite of some very challenging circumstances encountered in 2013. And, as I frequently say, "God deserves our praise and worship no matter what our circumstances!"
