As you’ve probably discovered, I’ve fallen way behind on updating this website. I spend too much time working on my photos for www.andersonviewpoint.com. So, with the end of 2017 staring me in the face, I thought that maybe I could offer a summary of some of the things that Kathy and I did this year! I’ve never put 12 slide shows into one post before, so you might want to hit the bathroom and get some food before you start.
January:
— January always means ice. This is when the lakes typically freeze over in Madison and that was true this past year. — While visiting relatives on a clear, cold day in Racine, the moisture rising from Lake Michigan froze into clouds and frost formed on the windows. — Despite the cold, we had a visitor this year from Seattle: Paul Olson. He’s usually a warm-weather guest but it was nice to see him then as well. — Unfortunately, despite my prayers, my cheers turned to tears as Green Bay lost to Atlanta to miss out on a trip to the Superbowl. — And, sorry to remind you, but a certain president was inaugurated. His insults and crass behavior towards women resulted in marches all across the country, including a huge “Women’s March” in Madison. It was a worthy event in which to participate.
February:
— February brought a penumbral lunar eclipse, which is a very subtle eclipse. It was already underway when the moon rose over Lake Mendota. A haze in the sky obscured it for awhile but it finally emerged. — This wasn’t a very good month or year for snow. My hikes in Owen Conservation Park showed mostly bare grass at the foot of some of my favorite oak trees. — Fortunately, Valentine’s Day doesn’t depend on snow. Once again I bought flowers for Kathy and she baked a marvelous cheese cake for me. — The mild weather continued, which made winter walks on Lake Mendota a little slushy.
March:
— It’s sometimes nice to get out of Wisconsin in the late winter. February might have been a better month, but we headed for Death Valley in March. After visiting, we both thought that it was more interesting than we had expected. Unlike the desert we had envisioned, there were many mountains and canyons that provided a highly diverse and colorful landscape. (You can find the long version of this trip in three blog posts: 20 Mules & Zabriskie Point, From the bottom up, and On foot.) — Since we were relatively close, we decided to visit some close relatives. So, after Death Valley we made a trip to Kingman, Arizona to visit my brother Andy and his wife Dorothy. — Then it was back to Las Vegas for our flight back to Madison.
April:
— Hard to believe, but April 3, 2017 marked 46 years for us! Flowers blooming in Kathy’s garden convinced us that spring was actually here. — Our niece Laura and her daughter Paige flew out from Las Vegas to spend a few days with Joann. We don’t see them very often so it was great to have an opportunity to visit for a while. It was also a good excuse to get together for an excellent meal. — President Trump’s continued attacks on science generated another march across the country. You’ll never convince the people of Madison that climate change is not real! — Eric bought a house on March 28, so April was the month to start helping with some of the cleaning prior to his moving in. Kathy did a lot! I did some. Eric, of course, worked 24/7! Then we gathered around for a house warming party.
May:
— May. What can I say? Not too much. The previous owner of Eric’s house was really into gardening. Eric had little (no?) experience with gardening so Kathy went over about once a week and spent hours doing some weeding, trimming, deadheading, and all those other things that gardeners have to do. — All year we had been promising Tony that we would invite him over for dinner sometime during the school year. With finals approaching we finally did it! Note that we did feed him more than Kathy’s homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. — Tulips were blossoming all around the neighborhood while apple blossoms rained down over Kathy’s garden. Jack-in-the-pulpits and bleeding hearts were wearing their finest in our yard. — About all I did in May, besides taking these photos, was set up the grill and, in the most manly way possible, created fire and cooked bratwurst.
June:
— We had a special vacation in June. It had been 25 years since Eric traveled to Germany and spent a month with the Müller family in Eichstätt. Their son Andi then came to America and lived with us for a month. We kept in touch with that family ever since, but Eric had never been back to visit. So, my brilliant wife came up with the idea to take Eric to Germany and visit his German family. What a wonderful idea! When we arrived, Andi met us at the train. Eric and Andi are both music teachers now, so they had much to talk about. Andi and his wife Gina have four children. They are all musical and we were treated to performances by their ten-year old sons. One played violin and the other trumpet. We were well-fed and taken on tours around town and outlying areas. It was also fun just to walk around town and enjoy ice cream. You can find information about some of the other places we visited, like Iceland and Berlin, in my posts The Iceland cometh and The Wall.
July:
— July is the month that we usually head up to Washington Island to spend a week with family and friends. This year was no different except for the fact that the line to catch the ferry was enormously long! When we got to the island we made our way to a cottage we had not rented before, Above and Beyond. It was nice but there were many steps we had to navigate to get to the beach. The best part of this vacation is that there are always a lot of Sustacheks, Sorensens, Andersons, Salituros, Shoffs, Orths and other family and friends staying in cottages all over the island. We get together most nights to share supper at somebody’s cottage. During the day we all just do what we want to do, either alone or in groups. On Thursday night we have a great fish fry followed by a sing-along and a group photo. So, you could say that this vacation can be summed up with a lot of “F” words: family, friends, fishing, food and fun! I’m already looking forward to the 2018 edition of the island trip!
August:
— A nice thing to do every August is go to the Pope Farm Conservancy and enjoy their huge field of sunflowers. People come from far and wide to enjoy the vast expanse of huge yellow flowers. — This year, however, THE event to witness on August 21, 2017 was the total solar eclipse. Kathy and I drove down to Carbondale, Illinois, which was the location with the longest period of totality. Matthew drove over from Indianapolis to join us. The three of us paid to set up on a hillside with a dozen or two photographers who wanted to capture this rare event. It was amazing to witness this celestial event and even more amazing that I was able to get some nice photos. There are far too many to post here but you can read more and see more in Totally Carbondale.
September:
— Nature continued to capture our attention in September, but this time closer to home, when we observed the release of hundreds of Monarch butterflies. We were invited to enter a tent to admire and hold the butterflies prior to their release. People of all ages took advantage of this opportunity, some ending up with butterflies in their hair and on their noses. This was an interesting event, not only for taking photographs, but also to participate in and feel some of the wonder that we often lose when we leave childhood. — By the way, this was also a great time of year to help my sister harvest vegetables from her garden on the old farm.
October:
— October offered quite a few warm and sunny days in which to enjoy the outdoors. I attended a photography workshop at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. For three days the class was taken to scenic places in Door County like Cave Point County Park, Washington Island, Rock Island State Park, and other places whose names I’ve forgotten. I enjoyed roaming around with my camera for three days while Kathy enjoyed a peaceful quiet house for three days. — Later in the month we drove up to Mirror Lake State Park in the Wisconsin Dells. Weekday walks where there are only a few other visitors is a real bonus of being retired. I don’t think we’d been to this park before and found that it has some very nice trails.
November:
— Kathy, Eric and I drove down to Indianapolis to visit Matthew and Lisa. Lisa’s parents, Charlie and Jeannie Kothe, drove down from Kalamazoo to join us. We had dinner at a pancake house to celebrate Matthew’s 39th birthday on 11/22. Kathy baked a turkey at home and brought it along with other things for the Thanksgiving meal on 11/23. Jeannie brought pies and other things and we shared a wonderful Thanksgiving together. We hadn’t seen Charlie and Jeannie for quite a while so it was good to talk with them. We also got to meet Lemondrop (a little white bird with orange cheeks and yellow head) and Kermit (a large green bird with an orange beak) for the first time. Pepper, that always lovable dog, joined in as well.
December:
— While snow storms hit many other parts of the country, even Atlanta, December brought very little to Madison. My walks in Owen Conservation Park didn’t require heavy snow boots and mostly turned up leafless trees and grasses that were starting to lie down for their winter’s nap. — Our first real snow came on Christmas Eve. It was only an inch or two but was enough to provide the much hoped for White Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with some of Kathy’s siblings and celebrated their traditional Lord’s supper. On Christmas Day we visited Joann for the traditional Sustachek/Salituro Christmas brunch. Eric joined us for both events and happiness reined supreme. Just like it should be.
If you’re still awake and reading, let me congratulate you and wish you a very HAPPY AND PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!!
Love from the Madison Andersons.