Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year



Tash and I wish you all a wonderful Christmas, a joyous holiday season, and a happy and healthy new year in 2014! Below is our annual open letter to our family and friends. We especially miss our children and grandchildren who, this year, are all far away from our temporary home in Kentucky.

Dear family and friends,

Greetings from Kentucky! This Christmas marks the 4th different state in which we have celebrated the holidays in four years. In 2010 we were in our beautiful historic home in Oregon City. 2011 brought us to Ithaca, NY, and the campus of Cornell University. Last year we made it back to Meridian, Idaho, to celebrate with Tash's parents: Gene & Celeste Fox.

The end of 2013 finds us in Lexington, far away from where we began our “adventure of a lifetime” in Oregon. We packed up the Conestoga wagon (aka Penske truck) in late June and made our way across the country (by late July) so Tash could begin doctoral studies at the University of Kentucky in the Graduate Center for Gerontology. (You may have heard of UK…they have a little basketball team here.) The first school term is successfully finished, with Tash’s sanity (mostly) still intact. Her winter break will be filled with reading, catching up on Downtown Abbey, and trying to bring order to her messy office.

Adjusting from life in the Northwest has gone fairly smoothly, though Tash still freaks out when there is a tornado warning. Of course, we were able to follow the Red Sox through the World Series, so we felt on solid ground. There’s no beach or Dungeness crab, but the barbecue is really good here so it’s hard to fuss too much! The countryside is absolutely beautiful, with its great expanses of green pastures bounded by mile after mile of freshly painted horse fences.

We can hardly wait until Spring to see what all the fuss over "bluegrass" is about. There are plenty of walking trails so we have no excuse NOT to exercise. Weather permitting, Frank walks/runs 2 miles per day.

But MOST OF ALL, we miss those with whom we share love. Visitors welcome!!"