THE CHRISTENSEN FAMILY CHRONICLES
Circa 2013
Eagle
Bend Achers - Crop Report 2013: It’s a good thing I don’t have to garden for a
living.
Things
That Are The Same: The lemonade-fueled
view of Eagle Creek from our deck…Things That Are New: Cell phones; the left-rear tire on her car; carpet steam cleaner; his sweater and hat; …
Selfies – For lack of a better idea 2013 began as usual
with our annual We Came – We Saw – We Ate “Lord of the Rings” marathon and food-fest
on New Year’s Eve and morning. This was
followed by some extended hibernation and a bottle or so of Tums. Then, once again, due to mutual good behavior
and a general lack of energy to try anything new, we extended our marital
contract for the 43rd consecutive year. This year we went ALL OUT and traveled to
Dayton, Ohio for a several day celebratory adventure. Why Dayton? Why not? Turns out there are more cool things to see there
than you might expect. We may have to
take back some of what we said about it.
A quaint holiday dinner at Shaker Village capped the holiday season in
fine fashion in 2012 and will be repeated along with a dinner trip to Historic Boone
Tavern this year as well.
Like buttermilk,
yogurt, and pearls we needed to be cultured -- hence: March – Frankie Valli and
the Four Seasons (*****); June - Cirque Du Soliel (****); July – Eagles (again,
*****); August – Potter’s Field (****); September – Vince Gill (*****); and November
– Manheim Steamroller (*****).
Dayton worked out
so well that our globetrotting duo took an 8-day ride over the pond and through
the woods to the Emerald Isle. Yup, off
to the land of the Wooly Jumpers (sheep), Blarney Castle, soda bread and lamb stew
it was for us. Don’t know if this is the
highlight for the year, but it comes mighty close. As the great philosopher Jake put it so
succinctly, we traveled to the one place in the world that looks most like
Kentucky. We ate lots of soda bread and
lamb stew, climbed the stairs and kissed the Blarney Stone, bought some really
cool (well, warm) sweaters, and climbed many a castle step in search of oxygen. A most enjoyable time was had, thousands of
pictures were taken and we decided we liked going to pubs.
Ireland was
followed by a quasi-romantic spring trip to the blooming Dogwood Trail in
Paducah, a trip to the homeland (Louisiana) in June, and a dinner run to West
Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina in mid-summer. Of course a plethora of trips west to Marxland
and north to Tylerville to count the grandkids (no change to report -- again) dotted
the calendar as well, including the one when Grandma Bonnie came to play. Seems like we eat out a lot doesn’t it…
With all of the
above, you might wonder when we found time to govern Sadieville, lead the
Homemakers Club, chase 70 or so kids around every Sunday, keep track of the
ancient ones, and prepare for our next big civic adventure. Well, hard work and an over developed sense
of duty prevailed and we did see to the important governing and caregiving
duties that came our way. In a few days,
and through no fault of our own, we take on some new and additional assignments
including service as President of the County Chamber of Commerce and the
Executive Board of the Kentucky League of Cities, and then there’s that pesky
election. Next year promises to be
well…. interesting, and just wait till we share where we’re going next yearJ
Take The Last Train To Tylerville - Our Michigan contingent continued uninterrupted. Nissa and Todd continue to sell cars one part
at a time and hang around on the Michigan Upper Peninsula when time
permits. The Katester graduated from Muskegon Community
College with a degree in “whatever” and transferred across the street to Baker
College where she will pursue a teaching degree, or so we’re told. Paul continues to spend all his time being
Paul and has emerged as a budding artist and musician, finally unhiding his
talents in that area. Then along came
Aubrey. Well, the Aubs is coming into
her own as an adult-in-training and stole the show, STOLE I tell you, as the
best Flapper Girl in her high school production of Thoroughly Modern Millie,
then she snagged, SNAGGED, a part in a local community theater production of
what I can’t remember. She too is
showing signs of promise, and may turn out completely normal when all is said
and done. They all
came to see us a time or two which we like, particularly since they became
useful.
Marxland - Father Michael continues to climb the ladder of success in officiating
Futbol (soccer) when not otherwise occupied selling hotel rooms to unsuspecting
travelers. Andie has rejoined the
workforce full-time at LaGrange Elementary and together they tag-team chasing
the Mini’s about in their numerous social and developmental activities. Master Hayden, an extremely “interesting”
young chap delights us often with his unique take on life and living. He’s now developed the ability to
self-diagnose and can alert Mom at the earliest onset of pending infirmity,
with stunning accuracy. Hayden ran his
first 5K this year keeping up with dear old Dad quite well. Then we come to Bailey… She is more of a “visual” specimen in terms of
trying to describe her. It’s more of a seeing-is-believing
thing. Moving briskly between the human
and animal realms of existence she entertains and delights. We’re hoping when she does settle on a
permanent persona, she lands on the human side.
One and all they traveled to the tall water over Thanksgiving to be with
their extended family on a Disney Cruise.
The pictures thus far indicate a good time assuming the Mini’s don’t
find their way to the ship’s controls.
The World According To Jake – Published again,
the last carrier of our family name successfully published some poetry and
short-stories, when not “writing for dollars” at his paying job. He continued to develop and hone his literary
skills which are getting pretty good, although I MIGHT be a bit biased. When he dons his alter ego as a NASA flight director
he waxes cosmically philosophical about space and time. This year he made yet another journey to the
NASA flight center near Cleveland (yes, Cleveland, who knew…). When not working or writing we have no idea
how he spends his time, other than camping out at the library or taking hikes
across the Michigan countryside. Rumor
has it he will pay us a visit over Christmas which we look forward to as
usual. I don’t know if he is our most
interesting offspring or not but he is definitely in the running.
You are to be
commended for your perseverance and ability to stay focused through the whole
newsyletter, We’ve had better readers, but not many. Hopefully you got everything you deserved
this year. WE ARE OUTTA HERE! The Christensen’s !!!
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