Our 2017 Christmas Letter

   Volume  XLIV                                                                                                                     December 25, 2017

                                                                               Christmas 2017

Did you hear about the new book on anti-gravity?  Nobody can put it down?  Me either. I guess. I’ll   have to come up with something else to write about in year number forty-four. How about a serious recommendation for a book I really couldn’t put down.  Find and read a copy of Dan Rather’s What Unites Us.  No matter your political bent it offers a hopeful look at the future while not shirking the current divisiveness cursing our body politic.  I was most impressed by his declaration that the rise of the social media have killed the corrective nature of “curated knowledge” in our society. He also talks about the false belief that democracy means “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”  All I can say is that education has never been more important than it is right now.    

Taken on balance 2017 has been for us rather better than we probably deserve. We’ve  noticed that the best way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement. Also on the good side we spent the first part of last year in Tucson and are anticipating doing the same this coming year.  The desert is therapeutic for our aches and pains and the escape from snow, below zero cold, and ice seems worth the rent investment.  We kept pretty close to home during the spring and summer of 2017 while making plans for a river cruise on the Rhine and a trip to Helsinki in late September.  The cruise took us from Basel, Switzerland through France and Germany, to Amsterdam.  You can track the whole trip at my blog  https://stirringthepudding.blogspot.com   Pull it up.  I think you will enjoy it.

From  Amsterdam we flew on to David and Lotta’s in Helsinki--timing  it to coincide with the birthdays of both granddaughters. The photo below hows us and Lotta’s parents at dinner in their new house in a Helsinki suburb called Espoo. 

 It is big enough to have a spare room so we were able to bunk with them for the first time in our five visits.  Here are two year old Selma and her five year old sister Frida.  To say that we had a grand time visiting and spoiling the two girls is a true understatement. 

Our son David continues to be employed by Kone (the Finnish elevator and escalator company) and his wife has now gone back to work at YLE (Finnish Public Radio.)

 Meanwhile back in this country the Senate has just passed a new tax law.  Pardon my cynicism but did you ever notice that if you put “The” and “IRS” together It spells THEIRS?

In Iowa our daughter Amy and her family continue to fight the good fight. They are all still coming to grips with the passing of Todd’s dad.  He is clearly missed.  Todd continues to work long hours and Amy is doing her best to serve the needs of her small charges. Elementary teaching has never been easy, but now with continued emphasis on testing and the rise of self defeating and conflicting administrative rules it may be lurching toward impossibility.  To add insult to injury the new tax bill will eliminate deductions for a teacher’s out of pocket purchases to supplement instruction. Hooray! Punish the giver. Wouldn’t it be nice if the middle class were given a chance to prove that money can’t make us happy? 

Grandson TJ  has shifted his base from Des Moines  to Cedar Rapids to continue work on his Paramedic degree. Here he is reading to some of Amy’s students in her classroom.  Second grandson Mikel completed the main teen age rite of passage and joined the ranks of licensed drivers. He played a lot of baseball this summer and just last week got his first deer while hunting with his dad and TJ.  His career plans are still uncertain. We like the fact that his grades are staying good and he is continuing his study of Spanish.  

I wish it was all sunshine and roses, but the paths are not always smooth for old folks. I have recently been diagnosed with a form of arthritis called Gout. The fact that I share the affliction with the noted English King Henry VIII does not make it more pleasant.  I have literally lost my grip and that is not a good thing if you love golf as much as I do. Luckily modern medicine can treat it.  I don’t mind the pills, but having  beer put off limits is tough for this long time Guinness lover.  This affliction will not keep me from passing on some irony about taxes and the recent spate of high profile alpha males sent into harassment limbo.  “Can you tell the difference between a man and a tax free bond?”  Sure! The bond matures!  

My good wife of now fifty eight years, Jan, continues to be the rock of the family.  Her latest health  screenings show her to be cancer free.  This leaves her more energy to devote to forwarding the cause of women in AAUW.  We both work with the Friends of the Warren County Library and at the Warren County Historical Museum (Jim remains on the Board).   We are now looking forward to a quiet holiday. Thanks to Amy and our grandsons, we have our Christmas lights shining and a tree (yes still a real one) decorated. Some of our packages to Finland have been mailed. We wish to you and yours the warmth of family presence and the good health to enjoy all the benefits of the season.  Remember we will be in Tucson for January, February,  and most of March before returning back in Monmouth.  Give us a buzz if you will be visiting the area. We’d love to see you. 

Contact us always at dramajim@gmail.com      Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.