Dear Family and Friends,
The invigorating chill and warm Christmas lights reflecting on the glistening snow all serve to infuse the happy glow of Christmas Spirit in the air. Time to start my yearly letter. I just finished reading my ’96 letter – and Goodness! What a lot I did that year! I got tired just reading it. Ha. And I even left one big December activity out (explained later). This past year has been far less eventful with few lows or problems.
While I spent ’96 fulfilling all my “delayed gratification” desires, I made a 180 and spent ’97 getting rid of ‘stuff and ‘cleaning down’ as I called it. I dismantled my black and white photo darkroom, sold the enlarger and some supplies to Bill Giles, gave some away & stored others in a box. Then I spent 5 days over 4 months working in Bill’s larger & lighter darkroom (where I don’t get claustrophobia) on a photo project printing enlarged photos of the 40 or 50 negs I have of the 1974 tornado and its aftermath. I have created a special display album that (23 years later) has become quite a hit as people reminisce about its power, distruction and their own experiences. I still shoot color photos but let machines handle the processing!
In other cleaning down’ projects, I donated all my costume designs, patterns, class and teaching notes, bibliography, etc, to Sarah Gilfoy, a senior in Costume Design at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She had won the TDW (Drama Workshop) Scholarship last year, and I felt that all that knowledge and pattern work would best be utilized and preserved thru her. And so closed another chapter sweeping note, half the entire attic is cleaned bare and loads of ‘stuff got dumped, recycled or donated to the Free Store, mostly from the basement, but also from closets & drawers throughout the house. The discouraging part is how much more is still left to go thru yet!
Concurrent with my clean down, from April to Nov., I got more building ‘projects’ completed by Paul Brunner around the house: new roof; new sewer run-off system so hopefully my basement addition room will no longer flood; and complete re-landscaping on the 10 ft. strip north of the house for 100 ft. (new walls, steps, a brick pavement walk ramp, flower bed units, etc.); terra cotta & slate tile on half the basement floor & new rug on the other half. I did about 1/2 the grouting of the floor tile myself in July.
I didn’t travel much this year. I flew to Las Vegas to visit w/ Muniers for 10 days in March. The first day I rented a car & took a wonderful scenic tour of Valley Of Fire National Monument 50 miles NE of Vegas. The full 1 day trip is nothing short of spectacular & should be on the “must see” list for anyone visiting Vegas. The beauty of nature there far outshines all the gaudy man-made artificiality on The Strip. The next day I got sick (again! – What’s with this going on vacation and getting sick??!!) with an intense infection & had another round of Dr. & antibiotics. Actually, since my Europe illness 16 months ago, I have had 5 or 6. bacterial or viral illness sessions. I had gone years with no infections, but that Europe session must have really done a number on weakening my immune system.
In April I went to Huntington to visit Beulah Giles & attend a Marshall University Class of 51-2-3 combined reunion luncheon. It was enjoyable and interesting, but not many people attended — no one I had known as friends in college. Too Bad. We had a wonderful FREE lunch, gifts of 2 expensive books, and 2 8×10 photos sent to us later. (I know! Now I’m supposed to, as a grateful alum, send money back to support the Univ. & its projects!) The only other travel I have done is ‘commutes’ around the area to Dayton, Columbus, Martinsville, and OF COURSE many trips to my wonderful cabin at camp March thru November.
My 2 biggest ventures this year are Brandy & “The Summer of the Elm Tree.” First, Brandy. The 1st of June I got a 2 year old pure bred Sheltie from the Sheltie Rescue program. (Photo enclosed for those of you who have not met her). She is large for a Sheltie (30 lbs) & people keep asking if she is a collie. Her only negative is, like all Shelties, she barks a lot, but otherwise she is smart, obedient, fun, a dainty lady – quite the opposite from Hecuba. We did 8 weeks of dog school in June/July for training and bonding. She was one of the best trained and behaved dogs in class. I am absolutely thrilled with her and love her to death! Believe it or not, Tootsie still ‘hung in there thru this year. She especially perked up when Brandy came. And Brandy ‘adopted’ her as her own personal little white ‘lamb. She would ‘herd’ Tootsie or stand straddle her to ‘protect her from the wolves. They’d do this funny dance’ as Tootsie would try to walk out from under Brandy, then B would step around trying to keep T under her. Really cute. Unfortunately, this last month, Tootsie got more & more emaciated and ‘out of it’. A visit to her groomer affirmed what I feared. So, Thurs, Dec 11, Bill accompanied me to the Vet, Paul dug her grave and made her a ‘pine box’, and we buried Tootsie by the cedar tree & new garden wall. Coping with all this has helped delay this letter.
Last summer I almost had a tragedy with a 100+ ft. tall Elm Tree, c. 150-200 yrs old, that grew on the property at my backyard fence line. I called Lisa in Feb. with concerns, and talked to her housemate cousin in May, voicing my fears the tree would fall on my house. “That’s just not very high on our list of priorities” was their answer. The first week I had Brandy, a large limb fell, only missing her by 5 ft. Then 2 tree experts said the tree was badly split, a fall was imminent, and my house in real danger. She refused to pick up certified letters, but I got a letter in her hand over the back fence. When I called again, (now July 10) asking for action, she accused me of harassing her. So I called the city. The inspector actually turned white when he saw the tree. (The trunk was almost 3 ft in diameter). They cut red tape, cited her over the phone & gave her only 3 (not 4) weeks to remove the tree. That day, 7/17, she did get the 2 halves tied together, but deferred felling date until the last day of the 3 weeks! Long story short – 10 days later we had a severe storm with a microburst of wind — and YES, it blew down!! Luckily, the wind direction (from N) & the rope guided the tree to fall South along the back property lines instead of West (the way it was leaning) on my house. Problems getting my fence repaired lasted til Sept, so my mind & energy was consumed all summer with the conflict, fears and problems caused by the Elm tree and its recalcitrant owner. The tree was taken down July 29, but trunk sections still litter her backyard & only half of them just got split and stacked for firewood this week, 5 months later.
I mentioned that I omitted a big activity from last December. It was 2 intense, hard working weeks of compiling a resume and dossier 1 1/2 inches thick to be submitted to the University of Cincinnati College of Evening & Continuing Education for promotion to Adjunct Assistant Professor. All the time & effort spent writing and assembling the packet just at Christmastime reminded me of one reason why I left full time college teaching years ago. But it was worth it as I got my promotion in September. The irony is that this past Sept – for the very first time – I really was not anxious or ready for speech class and the school year to start. I start my 32nd year teaching speech class in Jan. & have been teaching 42 years. I loved it – and was not ready to give it up — always wondering how I would know when to quit. Well, this year I just knew, so I think either Spring or Fall qtr. 1998 may well be my last.
I am still singing and taking voice lessons/coaching. Its another irony that just when I have found the ‘right’ teacher who is truly teaching me how to correctly use my voice – its at the point where my voice isn’t always able, physically, to be there, or tires more easily, not to mention the frustration of all those colds. I’ve done a number of solos & duets with Glenn Coven at his church & Faure Pie Jesu at Westwood Presby Church. The most fun was a special choir performance of Mozart’s Requiem Nov. 2. Best I’ve ever sung. I look forward to singing the Brahms’ Requiem in April with my Westwood choir.
That’s it for this year. I look forward to hearing from you. For those of you who faced adversity this year, my heart goes out to you. For those of us blessed with a good year, I count those blessings and treasure every healthy, happy day, hoping the New Year will bring more of the same.