12/11/93

We wish you a happy holiday season! 1993 has been another busy year for us. The challenge is to get it all down on one page! One new tool we have to help us this time is Alice's new computer, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

This winter was not a big skiing one for us. We only went to the Porcupine Mountains once this winter; surely a crime if there is one! Our main winter project was to finish drywalling, taping, and painting the garage interior. We got the drywall for the project free from the lumber company. It was all destined for the landfill, every sheet being damaged in some way, and all thicknesses (3/8, 1/2, 5/8) were represented. We were fortunate enough to borrow a set of professional drywalling tools and some sound advice from a colleague at work. The whole family pitched in too. Steve wanted to earn money for his boy scout jamboree trip (more about that later), and Alice was just being nice (she wields a mean paint roller, by the way). After the last coat of white paint, we stood back and admired out job. It's not quite finished yet, but we have a nice looking garage that will serve us well for many years.

Ted got out on cross country skis pretty often. It seemed the most efficient way to exercise the dog, who had to play through the snow while Ted skimmed gracefully (ha) over it. The dog soon learned that the easiest path was right behind the skier. He'd trot along, stepping on a ski every 10th time or so, sending Ted face-forward into the snow.

Winters are long here, but the springtime is that much more beautiful because of it. As the snow melts, the ice on the ponds becomes a floating cap instead of a cover. The ice darkens and becomes slushy. Cracks start to form, sometimes traversing the whole pond. Then other structures appear in the dark ice. They look like brain cells and are darker than the surrounding ice. They have long roots that sometimes join with their neighbors, like real neurons do. Then suddenly most of the ice is gone, and the water acts alive again, showing ripples when the tiniest breeze blows. Circles appear on the water as the trout begin to feed again, and we know that winter has lost its grip for another season.

After summer camp of 1992, Steve decided that he wanted to attend the next National Boy Scout Jamboree. They are held every four years, and the next one was scheduled for the summer of 1993. Each boy had to earn over $1000 to make the trip, and we told Steve we would match him dollar for dollar. Throughout the year, Steve found ways to earn enough money to continue making his payments. He did family chores on weekends and after school. After the last payment was made, he was completely out of money. We were scheduled to spend a week at Boy Scout summer camp just before he was to leave for the Jamboree. As time approached for us to leave for summer camp, it became clear that spending money was needed for the trip. The adult leaders recommended $200 - $250; a fortune.

Fortunately, we planned a July 4 trip to Lansing to visit Ted's parents, and grandpa had plenty of work for Steve. He worked every day he could, and the money he earned put him over the top. He was going to the Jamboree!

Boy Scout summer camp was a family affair this year. Both parents were needed as adult leaders, and Steve was an experienced second year attendee. Thanks to the merit badges he earned at camp this year, Steve moved from Star to Life rank. Life is the rank just before Eagle.

We left camp Friday evening after campfire. Normally one would leave Saturday morning, but we had to push out early this year, because Saturday was the day Steve was to leave for his Jamboree trip. We got home around midnight. Saturday morning we gathered the pre-packed gear, loaded up the car again, and headed for Gwinn, near Marquette. After checking in his gear, we left our son for his three week journey by bus to Fort A.P. Hill just south of Washington D.C.

According to Steve, the trip had its ups and downs. Washington DC and the Jamboree themselves were great. Some of the discipline required to keep 36 boys alive for 3 weeks was not so great. On the way back, the group stopped at Cedar Point, Ohio, and Steve learned of a latent fascination for roller coasters. He brought back a blurred picture of himself whizzing down the track of the "Mean Streak". You have to use your imagination to know it was Steve, since he was hiding behind the seat in front of him!

As summer drew to a close, Ted achieve a life long ambition and convinced Alice she needed her own computer. She finally became convinced that she was doing duplicate work by composing quizes, tests, and memos with pen and paper, and then waiting while the secretaries typed them up. We found another Zenith laptop that was being discontinued (Ted's laptop is also a discontinued Zenith). It is a 80386 20 Mhz with 6 Mb of RAM and a 60 Mb hard disk (for those of you who are interested). We bought Microsoft Word for Windows, and a Lexmark Ink jet printer. This computer also has a built in ethernet adapter which enables Alice to tap into the campus network and do her electronic mail.

Ted works daily with people having computing problems at Michigan Tech. He deals daily with a phenomenon known as "computer illiteracy". He also deals less frequently with "computer phobia", or fear of computers. Alice was the worst computer phobe he'd ever known. But now she likes her Zenith so much that it is hard to get it away from her! In fact, just a few minutes ago, Ted was in bed working on this letter, Steve was downstairs composing a short story on our Commodore Amiga computer, and Alice was doing some word processing on her computer. A computer on every lap!

Fall term found Alice teaching BL104, General Biology to about 400 students again this year. This makes for a very busy term for her, what with coordinating all the labs, teaching the lectures, writing quizes and exams, and keeping track of all the grades. By the end of the term, she is ready to look for a new line of work! In addition to BL104, Alice also teaches BL160; the introductory course for Medical Technology majors. When a speaker she had scheduled didn't show up at the last minute, she asked MTUs computer expert (Ted) to fill in. It was different giving a joint lecture to a whole class instead of just Steve.

And what Christmas letter would be complete without a bulldozer chugging dirt moving pond building story? "Surely", you say to yourself, "they didn't build another pond". And you'd be right. We certainly moved a lot of dirt (about 5,000 yards), but the net effect was to decrease the number of ponds from three to two. My friend Dick Crane from the Soil Concervation Service, showed me how I could raise the level of our middle pond 3 feet to make it the same level as the pond by the road. If we moved the dirt between the two ponds to make the extra high dam, we could connect the two ponds into one big pond. I hired Gary Kauppinen to do the work. He provided a large hoe, bulldozer, and dump truck. I provided a dump truck I had just purchased part interest in. We worked for two weeks on the project. My job was overall foerman and dump truck driver. We kept the two trucks moving pretty steadily in order to finish the job. The new pond is still filling up, but it looks like it will be beautiful. Since the dirt for the modified dam came from a hill near the house, we now have a much better view of the "new" pond. As it slowly refills, we happily watch the progress and imagine what it will look like come Spring.

Our life on this old farm in the country always gives us something to look forward to. The seasons each bring their gifts and problems. Winter is the time to enjoy the security of a full woodshed, a full pantry, and the luxury of looking back on another happy and productive year. We hope 1993 was the same for you, and wish you the happiest of holiday seasons.