Merry Christmas from Touchstone Farm!
NOTE: the 1998 letter was lost. All that remains is this fragment of an outline…
Dear Friends and Family,
1999 proved to be as busy as 1998 was quiet. Far too much time was spent
Yet for all the hard work, there have been some terrific compensations. First among these have been the new people in my life. January started out with the birth of my nephew Samuel Robert Zuschlag on January 22nd. Sam started out quite cute, but is rapidly becoming a minature version of his father, but I’m not holding that against him. Not much later Steve Burton insinuated himself into my life. Steve is a bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health where he thinks great thoughts about ……. Steve and I met in early February, hit it off..??? , and have been pretty much inseparable since then.
January – Sam’s Birth
February – Met Steve. Lambing Started. This year lambing at Touchstone Farm started in late February. While there were a few births late at night during raging snowstorms, and a couple where I really had to help haul ’em out, but by and large, it was fairly stress-free and fun. A total of 25 lambs were
March brought a bumper crop of lambs, chicks, and even two goslings.
– Oh, who that ever lived and loved
Can look upon an egg unmoved?
Ava’s Birth
Chicks, goslings, lambs
– Clarence Day – (Quote for March heading on web page) – pix of nests (goose & chicken).
One of the highlights of the year was a visit from family for Easter. My brother Eric & wife Beth, together with my brother Geoff & wife Sandy ca Five adults and five kids crammed into my tiny little garage apartment for a weekend would normally be a recipe for disaster, but we had a great time playing with critters, dyeing Easter eggs and tailgating at the Old Dominion Hounds annual Point-to-Point races. Nephews Will and Drake entertained us with a very spirited hunt for Easter eggs.
I don’t think I left my office for more than a few moments in May and June. The World Bank kept me plenty busy tons of projects.
July – England www.owlpen.com
August – The FOX…
In mid-September my boss at the World Bank, Csaba Csaki, decided it was time to match up my American Lamb with his wife Barbara’s Hungarian cooking. The result was an enormously successful Hungarian Lamb Feast. I provided the meat and the location, and the Csaki’s did all the cooking and organizing. We had a good group of friends and colleagues from the World Bank visit, and though our nationalities ranged from Albanian to Israeli, we all became quite good Hungarians that afternoon.
Each year in October I look forward to leading an intrepid band of hikers up Old Rag Mountain, one of the most scenic peaks in the XXX National Park.
November – Thanksgiving – Tryon – Dad’s 70th
December –
Yours,
Alan