{"id":8119,"date":"2025-12-31T12:46:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T12:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=8119"},"modified":"2026-01-29T19:46:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T19:46:44","slug":"2025-christmas-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zuschlag.us\/?p=8119","title":{"rendered":"2025 Christmas Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

J A N U A R Y<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m not careful, the rest of my life will be this accelerating\/spiraling descent into not wanting to participate\u2026 in anything.\u00a0 I know everyone gets these moments in their lives when they turn to their spouses or their dogs or whatever, and ask out loud, \u201cDo we really have to go?\u00a0 Can\u2019t we just stay at home and sit by the fire?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 For me though, these moments are happening with increasing frequency.\u00a0 Especially in January when the snow is piled up outside.\u00a0 I used to so look forward to each party or event as a wonderful chance to catch up with friends and meet new ones (and also to put a dent into someone else\u2019s liquor cabinet).\u00a0 I love seeing my friends.\u00a0 But the older I get, the more I value cozy home time and the joys of sitting around in my flannel PJs.\u00a0 So this year, since Keith was at work on the rails, I skipped Jeff & Scott\u2019s annual new year\u2019s day brunch and sat at home and absorbed the solitude.\u00a0 There\u2019s something heavenly about a holiday alone.\u00a0 I know they\u2019re supposed to be about family and friends and marking the occasion and all.\u00a0 But really, is there anything nicer than a quiet winter afternoon walk to the barn to visit with the animals, and listening to the utter silence of the world along the way?\u00a0 A day without emails or phone calls or any human interruption is a day I consider well spent.<\/p>\n

But the outside world does come crashing back through \u2013 and it did all too quickly the next day.\u00a0 Carpentry work continued on the green and blue bedrooms, and the non-stop hammering and sawing and tromping up and down stairs at all hours left little time for quiet reflection.\u00a0 The heavy snow and unusually cold temperatures meant that the pond was frozen solid and the ducks were easy pickings for a whole family of eagles that decided to take up residence nearby.\u00a0 I tried (mostly in vain) to catch the ducks, but they\u2019re quicker on ice than I am.\u00a0 And so I was only able to rescue about half of them.\u00a0 The rest became happy meals for two half grown eaglets.\u00a0 The other not fun thing was that the snow did a number on our solar array.\u00a0 Our solar panels lie flat high up on our roof where no one can see them.\u00a0 It snows rather infrequently in Virginia and usually melts in a day or two.\u00a0 This year however, we had back-to-back heavy snows followed by two weeks of solidly below freezing weather.\u00a0 It felt like Chicago.\u00a0 The snow covered our solar panels under about 6-7 inches of icy stuff that didn\u2019t melt for over two weeks!\u00a0 Had I been smart, I would have switched the powerwall batteries to \u2018emergency mode\u2019 and saved that energy.\u00a0 But they went merrily along discharging power each night until they were empty.\u00a0 So, when the power inevitably went out, there was no battery power or solar power to pick up the slack.\u00a0 Precisely the situation our system had been designed to avoid.\u00a0 Luckily it only lasted a few hours, but\u2026 the very first world problem of having to re-set everything in the house was real.<\/p>\n

Mid-month I received the sad news that my Aunt Helen had died.\u00a0 It hit hard.\u00a0 Most of you know my relationship with my mother was a bit fraught.\u00a0 Not so with her sisters Helen and Liz.\u00a0 They provided an abundance of maternal warmth and easy laughter that their elder sister doled out rather sparingly.\u00a0 Now all three were gone.<\/p>\n

At the end of the month was a long-planned trip Keith had received from Amtrak for 25 years of excellent service.\u00a0 They told him he could go anywhere in the country he wanted, on any train \u2013 AND \u2013 he could take me along for the ride.\u00a0 Not one to do things by halves, he chose not one, but the two most scenic routes in the country \u2013 the California Zephyr and the Coastal Starlight.\u00a0 He was all excited about this, but I was less than enthused.\u00a0 Going through the Donner Pass in late January?\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 Was he nuts??\u00a0 Also, I dreaded sleeping on the train.\u00a0 Cramped coffin beds and shared hallway bathrooms and shower are just not my thing.\u00a0 I\u2019d done it before. \u00a0Imagine Soviet era accommodations.\u00a0 Now downgrade your expectations from that and you maybe have an idea of what awaits you in an Amtrak sleeper cabin.\u00a0 We got the upgraded deluxe version, but it was still pretty grim.\u00a0 But you know what wasn\u2019t grim?\u00a0 The scenery.\u00a0 From Denver to Seattle we saw Rocky Mountain majesty, the Cascades, and more.\u00a0 We truly do have a beautiful country.\u00a0 But of course, this being America, we schlock it all up with the ugliest houses and commercial buildings just plunked down without a thought of integrating them in the landscape.\u00a0 We really do need the design police to come and bulldoze half of our built infrastructure and start anew.\u00a0 You\u2019d see this in every town we\u2019d pass.\u00a0 Grim utilitarian structures thrown together without a thought in regard to the graceful neighboring buildings or the beautiful scenery beyond.\u00a0 It\u2019s like we just \u2018gave up\u2019 after the 1920s and decided crapitude was the goal of the modern era.\u00a0 Such a stark contrast to the beautiful train stations in Chicago, Sacramento, and Seattle.<\/p>\n

As much as I didn\u2019t like the beds and the intermittently functioning toilets and showers, I did like the breakfast, lunch, and dinner services.\u00a0 It also helps to travel with your own personal sommelier. \u00a0I had a nice wine selection for every dinner.\u00a0 Also, while the dining car is reserved seatings, it\u2019s also four seats per table.\u00a0 If your party is less than four, you are assigned dining companions.\u00a0 This was actually awkward fun, as you got to hear the stories of other passengers and find out where they were going and why.\u00a0 The part I enjoyed most was watching our dining companions slowly piece together why two older gentlemen were on vacation together. \u00a0\u201cAre you two\u2026\u2026 brothers?\u201d <\/em>is the question that always makes Keith laugh.<\/p>\n

We started the trip in Chicago (again, why are we going to Chicago in January??) where we met up with the Chicago Zuschlags and had a great pizza dinner, followed by a cocktail fueled night of Karaoke.\u00a0 Luka, Ava, and Drake all have some impressive pipes, but none of them is as big a ham as their Uncle Keith.\u00a0 Thanks to Keith\u2019s vast sum of Hilton award points we had Gold Coast accommodations at the Waldorf Astoria.\u00a0 Even better, they gave him an upgrade to a one bedroom suite with a fireplace in the living room.\u00a0 It made it extremely difficult to leave the next morning knowing that we were trading in a king sized bed with Frette sheets for Amtrak\u2019s questionable bedding.<\/p>\n

The hotel on the other end in Seattle was equally a treat.\u00a0 While not as luxurious, this massive complex of a glorious mid-1970s high rise with vaguely pacific island vibes was a master class of orange and brown and exterior elevators that all said \u201cmodern\u201d circa 1974.\u00a0 We were upgraded here as well to a penthouse suite which was enormous.\u00a0 Kitchen, dining area, living room, bedroom, and the biggest king-sized bed you\u2019ve ever seen. The bathroom had a shower tiled in a sort of puke yellow\/green that could easily accommodate 12.\u00a0 Plus a huge soaking\/hot tub.\u00a0 But the kicker was a wrap-around terrace on two sides with amazing views of Mt. Ranier on one side and Seattle on the other. \u00a0After washing off the train in the ginormous shower I wanted nothing more than to order room service and watch \u201cCharlie\u2019s Angels\u201d or something equally 70\u2019s craptastic and just absorb the vibe. But Keith told me in no uncertain terms that wasn\u2019t going to happen.\u00a0 We were going down to the hotel bar and absorb the vibes there.\u00a0 I\u2019m so glad we did. The bartenders were a real hoot and we sat next to an old fellow who told us he\u2019d been staying in this hotel several times a year for 30 years and this was his final trip before retiring.\u00a0 He wanted to come one last time to say good-bye to the staff. I could see why.\u00a0 The whole thing was a trip.\u00a0 As much I think the 1970s were the absolute nadir of the 20th<\/sup> century, there\u2019s something to be said about visiting a time capsule and re-living the moment. If you get a chance, do stay at the Doubletree Hotel at SeaTac<\/a> before its kitschy charm gets renovated into oblivion.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n