Lake Champlain living - a dream come true

This will NOT be the last sunset we see from Thompson's Point

Fancy Roamer - link on Airbnb to our new property

From 1964-1976 our family lived on Lake Champlain for most of the summer.  The first year, our family of 8 drove across country from Colorado and the following June we moved permanently to Vermont.  Two years later we added a 9th to our family.

We owned Gardiner Island off Long Point in North Ferrisburg VT with our grandparents and our Aunt and Uncle and their three children.  So from age 10 until age 22 I spent many hours on a 4 acre Island with a generator for power, an old stone house and a bunkhouse where the kids slept.  We also had a houseboat that our family lived on and traveled all around Lake Champlain.  Those were magical summers that I treasure more and more every day.

The property was sold in 1976 and since then I have longed to own a "camp" on the Lake again.  We looked at some camps near Gardiner Island in the mid 1990s, and eventually did buy a house in South Hero Vermont in 2008, BUT it is not right on the Lake.  My first summer there, swimming at White's Beach with friends, I said "Now this is swimming, in a lake not in the Ocean".  The Lake has been calling to me for most of my life.

Last August the dream to own a property came true for our extended family.  We own some real estate together and we meet regularly to manage the properties.  When we articulate a strategic vision it often included the idea of owning "a family compound".

We found the property, 3 dwellings, with the ability to gather together AND have privacy if we want.   After a lot of conversation we realized we could not let the opportunity pass us by and we made a huge leap of faith the buy it for our generation and for future generations.

Yes, we are crazy and in LOVE with our new property

We are actively filling weeks for next summer through Airbnb and Vermont Properties AND we will have some weeks for ourselves.   We had a bonfire there in -1F degrees over the holidays and we anticipate many picnics on the beach and nights spent around the outside fire place.

Merry Christmas 2017

Lots of people to celebrate Bethany

Our new M Div

Future Starboard scribe on a Day Trip Visit to Star

3 Sarahs at Ruby and Will's reception

No live tree this year so a quilted one

New mug I use whenever it is clean

Zuzu at the Sheldon Museum

New UU Society at Church
Street tree lighting

So Serious and concentrating

Lots of Bike Riding with Sally
 this last summer

Hadrian's Wall hikers

GA Service at First UU Society 

Some of the family who

travelled to Antarctica 

Lexington Men's group on Camel's Hump

On the Wall

All for Sale at Rod's Studio

Wow another year has passed and we packed in a few activities

Travels - big ones were to India in April, Hiking Hadrian's Wall in August, and Antarctica in December.  Domestic ones were New Orleans by train in June and a quick trip to Nebraska in July for Sally's aunt's memorial service. We are promising ourselves we will stay in beautiful Vermont next summer. We missed too much time in our new home state in 2017.

Our plan is to get to continue to get to places while we are still able to, both physically and financially.

India was such a surprise and because it is such a big country we barely scratched the surface so we might have to go back at some point.  The people are amazing, the noises are amazing and the food was delightful.  We travelled with Overseas Adventure Travel for the 4th time and were once again incredibly pleased with the guide, Sujay, the small number of travelers and the fact that we got to have tea and ask questions of people in their day to day lives.  In Varanasi we asked if we could join a pilgrimage group in their celebratory dance at the Ganges and they heartily invited us in.  We talked to a young woman who had become engaged the day before in her arranged marriage and looked through her saris with her.  We visited and took pictures with students at a school, and Rod took an image of a Bengal Tiger.

We are still processing Antarctica with all of it's history of expeditions, it's flora (limited) and fauna and amazing vistas.  One night at sunset at 10:30pm we watched 300 whales blowing and some of the photographers on board got a couple of good images of them breaching.  Every day while there, we toured on zodiacs to a penguin colony or a volcano AND we polar plunged in 38 F water temperature with 32 F air temperature and lived to tell about it.  There were incredible naturalists on board the ship who were accessible to talk to and who lectured on their area of expertise. We loved the Silver Cloud which is one of their expedition ships and we were glad to be on this newly refitted ship as we crossed the Drake Passage (or Drake Lake and Drake Pleasant as the staff called it, we missed Drake Shake).

We took the opportunity to visit NYC a few times to visit friends using various routes and methods of getting there. Being retired with no deadlines the slow Vermont and upstate NY trains are great ways to travel. We decided to splurge for our 30 wedding anniversary and got tickets for Hamilton on Broadway and it deserved all the great reviews. We are also trying to visit all the major league ballparks and knocked off Yankee stadium and Citifield on one of the trips. Our habit is to support the local team while we are there, which was especially tough with our Yankee supporting friends who gave us Yankee baseball caps to wear (at least they were in memory of Jeter's last game at Fenway).

One year into living in Burlington VT we are both thrilled to have made the decision to move north closer to family AND a lifestyle of friendliness, outdoor activities and kinder drivers. We really miss our community of many years in Lexington MA, which can never be replaced.  "Make new friends but keep the old"!  We both sing in the UU choir, are youth advisors and help out when needed at the UU Society  (don't call it a church that ruffles a few feathers).  Rodney is a worship associate, and half of the congregation love his accent (which he is still proud to have a little of) the other half don't understand him (of which he is just as proud), The Society is incredibly socially active and we walk out our front steps after many services to join in a protest or a vigil at the head of Church Street.

This next year finds our children making some big changes.  Chris Meg and Zuzu sold and bought a house just prior to the Holidays and move mid January. We love our overnights with Zuzu and seeing them in the pews and RE rooms at the UU.  They both continue in very busy jobs and somehow balance that with being terrific parents to an opinionated, independent and loveable 4 year old. We take our role of spoiling grandchildren very seriously.

Bethany and Bryan are both in their last 6 months of internships and schooling in Syracuse and will find out late spring where they will move to during the summer. Bethany graduated with her MDiv in May and Bryan will be graduating from Syracuse U next May.  Bethany's ordination is March 18th at her Syracuse church and she is already researching neighborhoods and coffee shops of the possible cities where she may be called to serve.  Apparently this research calms her planning gene which skipped a generation over her parents. Lots of uncertainty which is calmed by three furry animals whose house they are allowed to occupy.  We just spent Christmas with them. Shakes is the king, Isbell is the princess and I guess Theo is the acrobat since he gets to the highest point in the room with great agility.

We try to not be too scared and paralyzed at the political climate and instead turn anxiety into action. Sally attends a weekly silent vigil at the UU, is on the racial justice task force and is educating herself about being an ally to marginalized groups.  Our Senior Minister often hits this anxiety head on in her sermons so that hour in the week feeds and heals our souls.

Rodney spends most days in his art studio which is a ten minute walk away in the artists section of town. He was chuffed to sell four pieces of his work during the September's annual Art Hop. He's going to be more deliberate about getting into shows and selling his stuff in 2018. If you want a portrait done of a loved one give him a call. Check out some of his things on his website. His old Men's group from Lexington came up with their spouses in October to belatedly celebrate his 60th birthday with a great weekend party and hike of Camel's Hump.

rodneylowe.wixsite.com/rmlart

Sally speaking - I do sometimes like or post too many memes or articles on Facebook in an effort to acknowledge to myself I am not alone.  I also try to listen to others who have a different view but this is definitely a growing edge.  IMHO if one-on-one conversations could happen between those holding different views and they really listened to each other, the world would be a better place AND I also believe world peace is possible so am proud to be labeled Pollyanna.  I HATE/AM AFRAID TO MAKE PHONE CALLS, and this year I got over that fear and called people in power to express my opinion and outrage.  I plan to step up to more challenges in 2018 and travel to some swing areas and knock on some doors and have "that conversation" to make a difference.

Rodney speaking - As we flip from year to year it's a good time to reflect on what has passed and what the future holds. It's all too easy for me to reflect on the ills of the world and the country but I always return to the blessings in my own life, and at the end of the day I am grateful for family, friends and good I see in strangers everyday. May 2018 dash all your worst fears and feed and sustain your highest hopes and aspirations. Happy New year everyone.