{"id":330,"date":"2006-12-31T16:17:30","date_gmt":"2006-12-31T16:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=330"},"modified":"2024-09-01T14:55:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T14:55:00","slug":"2006-christmas-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=330","title":{"rendered":"2006 Christmas Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

December 31, 2006<\/p>\n

Dear Friends and Family –<\/p>\n

(note:\u00a0 unfortunately a computer malfunction has resulted in most of the photos from this letter disappearing completely.\u00a0 My apologies.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Hope this letter finds you all well and enjoying the new year.\u00a0 I’m later than usual in sending out my holiday letter, mainly ’cause I haven’t been able to find the time to cut this all down to a manageable length.\u00a0 Who’d a thunk that 12 paragraphs could be so long?<\/p>\n

Though not without some bright spots, 2006 was the saddest year I’ve ever had.\u00a0 I hope the new year brings better times to everyone.\u00a0 The year started off\u00a0 promisingly enough, with mild temperatures and a full schedule of farm and real estate work.\u00a0 However, at the end of January <\/strong>I received the sad news that my Aunt Violet Hopkins had died after a long struggle with a brain tumor.<\/p>\n

At my aunt’s funeral in early February<\/strong> my father still appeared quite weak from his last round of chemotherapy, but was looking forward to regaining his strength and perhaps visiting me later in the year.\u00a0\u00a0 A delayed lambing season this year meant that things were relatively quiet for the rest of the month.\u00a0 A sudden snowstorm mid-month resulted in our annual neighborhood sledding party (click for photos).\u00a0 I also had a few quiet winter moments to help revamp the North American Clun Forest Sheep Association website<\/a>, and I was pretty pleased with the results.\u00a0\u00a0 Toward the end of the month my parents called to tell me that a visit to the doctor showed that my father’s cancer had, unfortunately, spread to other organs.\u00a0 He took the news stoically despite the fact that it meant more chemo and an uncertain outcome.<\/p>\n

This year’s lambs began arriving in early March.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I continued to have excellent results from my artificial insemination program, and my AI lambs looked terrific.\u00a0 Because I had left the rams in with the ewes longer than usual, the 73 lambs born this year were arriving over a longer time period.\u00a0 This was frustrating because it meant I wasn’t able to visit my dad until late in the month.\u00a0 However, thanks to the unflappable competence of my neighbor Heather Novak, who watched the farm for me during the birth of the last few lambs, I was able to get away briefly towards the end of the month to see my father.\u00a0 My brothers and sister had told me privately that I should discount my father’s cheery attitude on the phone, and that his condition was much worse than he let on.\u00a0 Still, it was shock to see how weakened he had become.\u00a0 The next trip to the oncologist made it clear to us that he was too weak for any further treatment and he really only had a few weeks left.\u00a0\u00a0 I asked my dad what we could do for him in his last weeks; if he had\u00a0an special wishes or desires; what did he want most of all?\u00a0 His simple reply was “just be there with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don’t really remember much of April <\/strong>other than long drives back and forth between Amissville, VA<\/a> and Tryon, NC<\/a>.\u00a0 Each week I would spend 3 days at the farm dealing with farm things and work and then 3 days down in Tryon with my family and the day in between in travel.\u00a0 My mother’s determination to respect my father’s wish that he die at home meant that she pretty much did not leave his bedside the whole time.\u00a0 We had excellent hospice care, but really it was my mother’s calm\u00a0strength and complete devotion\u00a0 that made my father’s last weeks peaceful, and brought our already close family even closer.\u00a0 On April 23rd, my father<\/a> died 45 minutes after I left his bedside to head back to the farm.\u00a0 I miss him greatly and expect I always will. He was my best friend and the one person in the world, I think, who understood me best.<\/p>\n

Although it was a beautiful month, May<\/strong> was somewhat subdued, and I spent most of it getting my life back in order and contemplating a world without my father.\u00a0 One happy occasion was the picture-perfect wedding of my friends Tom and Cole (ne\u00e9 McKenry) Johnson on top of Red Oak Mountain.\u00a0 It made me really appreciate what a special community I live in, as did the second annual RCCA Spring Gala.\u00a0 In mid-May I spoke at a Virginia Organic Producers and Consumers Association<\/a> conference.\u00a0\u00a0 I also ‘inherited’ a small leaky row boat from friends that were renovating a house on the Shenandoah River.\u00a0 I was able to clean it up, plug the holes and buy some new oars, and now have a sea-worthy vessel that can ply the vast ocean of my pond.\u00a0 It’s fun to take for a spin on summer evening and confuse the swans when they see me floating alongside them.<\/p>\n

May photos<\/strong> (click on photo for larger image)<\/p>\n

June<\/strong> turned out to be an amazingly busy month.\u00a0 The real estate biz really kept me hopping with some interesting new listings<\/a>.\u00a0 When I wasn’t showing properties, I was making hay, tending sheep, and enjoying visits from old friends Juergen and Frank from Germany, Steve and Doug from Minneapolis, and my cousin Bob and his wife Annette from Iowa.<\/p>\n

June photos<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Juergen & Frank<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Cousin Bob shows me how it’s done<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

July’s <\/strong> heat brought a plea from my mother to visit her at her beach house in DeBordieu<\/a>, South Carolina for Independence Day (click for photos).\u00a0 Considering that my parents had had the place for nearly 10 years and I had never seen it, and that my mother had plans for a mini family reunion, there was nothing for it but to take some time off and go.\u00a0 As it turned out, we all had a great time and it was nice to have the family gathered together for a happier occasion.\u00a0\u00a0 July 15th also marked the 10th anniversary of Touchstone Farm.\u00a0 Looking back, I was pleased to see how much I had accomplished in the past 10 years (see photos below), but also it unfortunately also made me realize how much was still left un-done!\u00a0 I resolved that the next year was going to be a ‘great leap forward’ for the farm…..so stay tuned.<\/p>\n

July photos\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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