{"id":2501,"date":"2018-01-01T17:15:19","date_gmt":"2018-01-01T17:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=2501"},"modified":"2026-02-12T23:12:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T23:12:01","slug":"2017-christmas-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=2501","title":{"rendered":"2017 Christmas Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Friends and Family –<\/p>\n

Here it is, as long winded as ever.\u00a0 You may not believe it, but the hardest things about drafting this letter is always editing it down to size.\u00a0 There’s a lot that gets tossed out, and it’s still always a bloated mess. Keith, who’s now a published writer<\/a>, kindly suggested that I offer an abridged version for those of you (actually all of you, according to Keith) who haven’t the time or inclination to wade through my annual orgy of self-absorption. And he’s got a point. No one wants to hear your interior monologue, much less your endless pens\u00e9es about things-aren’t-what-they-used-to-be<\/em> (though I’ve got lots of ’em and I’d be glad to send them to you!).\u00a0 Still, it is my one chance each year to make a connection with those of you who I haven’t seen in a while and those of you I have seen, to let you know how much I appreciate you being part of my life this past year (and it’s also a chance to pretend at least for a moment that I’m as social media saavy\u00a0 as the rest of you).<\/p>\n

So take your pick – unabridged below, or the Instagram abridged version here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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January<\/h4>\n
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There’s one in every crowd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much of January was spent using the excuse of my hernia operation (see Dec 2016<\/a>) to just sit around and not do much, which suited me just fine.\u00a0 It was a fairly mild winter month – no snow, and no real cold, but even so, sitting by the fire on a winter\u2019s day and playing<\/span> working on the computer seemed to occupy my time very nicely.\u00a0 I did actually do a few farm things – like cleaning out the chicken barn, so I wasn’t a total slug, but still…..<\/p>\n

Speaking of chickens<\/a>, as you all know, one of life’s greatest pleasures is not counting your chickens until they’ve hatched, feathered out, and grown up. If you wait until then however, you can have the immense pleasure of sorting through them all to pick the absolute cream of the crop for this year’s breeding season.\u00a0 I can’t think of a better way to spend a mild January afternoon, can you?<\/p>\n

While I drifted through the month, Keith was, as usual, hard at work studying for yet another wine exam.\u00a0 And as always, he fretted over the results, but as you can see here<\/a>, he needn’t have worried – he was once again a top scorer.<\/p>\n

Later in the month, some of the more politically engaged females on the Zuschlag side of the family marched in Boise, ID, and Washington, DC.\u00a0 Our sister-in-law Audrey drove all the way from Chicago with niece Ava to participate in the Women\u2019s March<\/a> the day after the inauguration.\u00a0 They met up with niece Riley in DC, marched and had a good time and we had a nice visit with them the night before and the night after and then they got in the car and trekked back to Chicago so that Ava could be in school on Monday.\u00a0 Very impressive commitment.<\/p>\n

In between we caught up with friends we hadn’t seen in a while and went to some pretty fancy dinner parties, and Keith started yet a third job<\/em><\/strong>!- this time as wine columnist<\/a> for the Piedmont Virginian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

January Photos<\/strong><\/p>\n

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