Merry Christmas 2018

2018

Our 24th Annual "First Foot" party (google it) will be held on January 1st 2019 from 3-8pm.  Bring your Holiday leftovers and help us toast the New Year!!!!!  161 St Paul St #301 Burlington VT.

May Peace and Love prevail in this crazy world in 2019

I am just going to put
this here.  This hat is from 2004 BTW

Zuzu and Thomas
in Colorado Springs

From our House Boat growing up

Rod's studio mates

Favorite activity throwing rocks

 

Evergreen Cemetery New Haven VT

Tucson sunset

Another year, another flurry of activity and some great trips.  I just reread all of the Christmas letters that we have posted here over the years.  Such a great reminder of what is important during this magical season.  Family is right at the top closely followed by friends, travel, love and learning.

After two years we have officially settled into Burlington Vermont.  Our schedules do not overlap much at all AND we have two "dates" a week; yoga with Jane at the Y on Monday nights and a weekly Love and Justice vigil on Wednesday at First UU Society of Burlington (FUUSB) nights at 5:15 followed by choir rehearsal at 7:00pm.

ALERT THE MEDIA, Sarah has reclaimed her name of Sarah Hall Russell (nicknamed Sally at birth)

We both jumped in with two feet into the community of FUUSB.  Again not a lot of overlap except leading YUUTH group, attending the weekly vigil and choir.

Sarah co-chairs the Racial Justice Team and is a member of the Caring Network and Membership Ministry.  She also helps with the monthly Second Saturday Sanctuary Coffeehouse and Potluck.  Yup, this is a lot but it keeps her happy and busy and out socializing with people which makes the entire household very happy.

Rodney is a Worship Associate which means lots more people know who am than I know who they are. On a related but necessarily separate effort I have also been more politically active for the last two years than I have since the early days of the, now defunct, SDP in the UK. First UU can support whatever cause they want but have to draw the line at sponsoring individuals so we started a "Postcards to Voters" evening at the E1 Collective Studio where those of us in progressive states can help get the vote out in less progressive races. Looks liked it worked in the midterms.

From April through October we spent a lot of time and energy with work projects and changeovers at our family property on Lake Champlain.  It was a lot of work in the first year to clean it out, and get it in shape to rent to others as well as take advantage of weeks ourselves.  See blog post here about our property and the meaning of Fancy Roamer and do let me know if you are having a family reunion or gathering of a group of people (14+) and would like to rent the Fancy Roamer on Lake Champlain in Charlotte Vermont on Thompson's Point.  This summer we expect to do a lot less sweat work and a lot more enjoying this beautiful property.

Gathered Family for the
 Ordination in Syracuse

Stole for the Ordination
Designed by Sarah and Bethany

We travelled to Syracuse three/four times this year.  Christmas last year in 2017, March for Bethany Russell-Lowe's ordination, May for Bryan Russell-Lowe's graduation with his Masters from Syracuse University and Rodney only - May for pet sitting of Isbell, Shakes and Theo, during a certain candidating week at UUCT (Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson)

Proud of her Master of Arts

In February we travelled to Vero Beach to visit with Sarah's Mom and her husband Charlie.  It was the last time we saw her since she died August 16th of ALS.  She fought a valiant battle but in the end this dreaded disease won.  When we heard of her death we were at the Fancy Roamer  (our family camp on Thompson's Point Charlotte VT) and four of us were there and on the phone with the other three, to process this loss and continue our grief.  A Celebration of the Life of Virginia deGanahl Russell was held on October 20th in Brandon Vermont.  Almost all of our first cousins were there with spouses and many dear friends of Mom's and ours.  Her ashes are buried right next to Daddy in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven Vermont.

4 Sarahs after Sarah 9 was born

4 first cousins - only women -
11 Men in this generation

Sarah made two additional trips to Vero, one in September and one in December. Rodney accompanied her on the December one where they cleared out almost all of the belongings that were still in Charlie's house.  A baby grand piano and a few other miscellaneous items remain but a CUBE of items are in transit to Vermont.

Rodney travelled twice to Tucson this year, and Sarah made the trip once.   Close your eyes and imagine this.  July 17th, a Mini Cooper packed to the gills, and Rodney and Isbell the dog who sat in the passenger seat for 4 days.  The other car was also packed to the gills with 2 complex cats, Shakes and Theo and Bryan and Bethany, guitars, litter boxes etc.  A 4 day road trip from South
Hero Vermont to Tucson Arizona was delayed only one day by a broken AC in B and B's car (fortunately it was fixed before they left and not a delay along the way).  Sarah was an emotional mess for 4 days with many of her loved ones in a car and her vivid imagination of them in car crashes along the way.  She insisted that friends and family occupy her with phone calls and company during those 4 days.  Thanks to all who complied!  Charles, Mike, Peg, Amy, Maryellen, Sally M., George, Judy, Joni, Noni, Suzy B, Suzy L, Bonnie, and everyone else who heard my irrational fear and did not dismiss it.

We made our way to Kansas City for the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly and for the honor of watching Bethany walk up on stage with the other Ministers in Preliminary Fellowship.

Proud parents of the
Minister in Preliminary Fellowship

 ASII family photo

July All Star 2 found ALL of us on Island.  Both of our children and spouses and our granddaughter made it the most magical week possible.  We all needed this week to recharge, prepare, renew, and visit with our spiritual Island community of 24 years.

Our second deGanahl reunion was held over Labor Day in Colorado Springs CO, hosted by Carrie Lowenstein and the deGanahls who live in Colorado, Nebraska and Arizona.  We met and heard from a line of the family "The Ted Walkers" who we had not known that well before this.  Bethany flew from Tucson and Chris and Meg and Zuzu flew from Burlington VT.  They got a twofer since Phish had a 3 day festival over the same time period in Denver.  We got some quality grandparent time and Zuzu got to meet her Colorado cousins of her same age.

In April we had a great few days working on food pantries and soup kitchens in NYC with FUUSB YUUTH. This was made all the more meaningful because some of the youth traveling with us had some reason to use these sort of services themselves in the past. We were working with YSOP and organization started and headed up by a Star Island friend of ours - we highly recommend them if you are organizing service trips for youth.

Our two kids have had quite the busy year this year. Chris and Meg moved into their new house (Still only 25 mins away). Bryan and Bethany bought a house and travelled to the opposite corner of the US and now live in Tucson, Arizona. Both our kids now have a pool (we never have) and a covered place for their cars (we waited 30 years).

The big trip of the year was in November with George and Judy to China. Beijing (Summer Palace, Tiananmen Sq, Forbidden City, Great Wall), Xi'An (City Wall, Terracotta Warriors), Chengdu (Panda Breeding Sanctuary), Lhasa (Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple), Chongqing (for 3 day cruise to the Three Gorges Dam), Hong Kong. The tourists attractions were amazing but was an eye opening trip in many more ways, and left us with so many more questions  about China than it answered. The one word we used more than any other was "gobsmacked". Every piece of civil engineering was huge and built in the 21st century. The big surprises other than the engineering was how clean it was, how green its was (in the sense of foliage even in big cities), how safe it was. Yes our initial impressions were tempered by talking with Westerners who had lived in the country for a while but it was all still extremely impressive. Rodney now reads every article that pops up with "China" in the title, because it really looks like the Chinese are about to leave The West and India in the dust. Our four home visits  with locals and talking with other Chinese along the way also showed a people proud of their country and it accomplishments.    

Cao Sao Tung - we visited
her school near
 the Terracotta Warriors

Hong Hong from Victoria Peak

Name Tags in Mandarin

Tiananmen Sq

On the Yangtze with the Captain

Potala Palace Tibet

When was the last time you laughed so hard you could not drive?

Yesterday I helped my brother Ken move some stuff from Burlington to his house in Montpelier.  We loaded both cars to the gills and I had a co-pilot (Ken got this from the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth when he worked there briefly in the 1980s)

I was following Ken's Subaru, the state car of Vermont.  He passed the rest area on 89 South and stuck his thumb out to ask if I needed it.  He stuck his finger out to show Ceres, newly installed on the State Capitol building.  I followed his car through a couple of 4-way stops in Montpelier, and took a left on his street.

My thoughts:
"I thought Ken lived a bit closer to town"

"Maybe he is taking me to Thomas's school first"

"Maybe he needs gas"

"Maybe he is going to lunch first"

My mind was trying to normalize why we were now well past past Ken's house.

He called me on my mobile and I illegally answered it.

"Where did you go?"

"Oh shit, I was following the wrong Subaru!"

I started laughing so hard I almost could not breathe and I probably should not have been driving.  Don't worry, I had hung up by now.  I literally laughed all the way back to his house and for the first few minutes there.

Lots of Subarus in Vermont!