Year End 2023

 

  2023 is coming to an end. A lot has happened in my little space in the world. We have no snow on the ground late in December. Unbelievable. This is my report on the ups and downs of the last year.

   Pete and I continued to enjoy good times together. Not everything involved him, such as my exhibiting in art shows and the times I spent at Washington Island, plus ongoing volunteering at the senior center and library branch near my home. When we were together Pete and I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of plays in Madison, Spring Green (American Players Theater), and Milwaukee. We ate and played together regularly, too, with plenty of day trips to points of interest. We also spent several days in Chicago and visited his sister in Minnesota. In October we celebrated the seventh anniversary of the day we met in 2016, with dinner. Our seven years together have been wonderful.

   A big event this year was the Covid-19 pandemic that afflicted me and many others. I became part of history when symptoms of a very bad cold took over my life for a week and a half in October. Much nasal congestion, coughing and sneezing but no fever. I stayed at home for a week and a half until I tested negative and my life resumed its routine. Pete wisely distanced himself from all this except for daily phone calls. He finally returned to my abode without catching Covid.

   As in other years I had great times during the summer. I went to Washington Island for as much time as I could get away from Madison, where once again I stayed at the campground alone in the woods. A couple of times I stayed in daughter Sarah’s camper trailer and other times I sheltered in campground cabins. Being in those woods is like meditation. I walked a lot on the woodsy roads, sat in my lawn chair and read, and went to services at the local Lutheran church where I know some of the people. I used the local library’s wi-fi when possible. I listened to jazz by Doc Westring and his little combo. Some of the local deer walked out onto the road every now and then, but they did not say hello. Pete did not come to the island with me since he seems to not see the charm of the woods.

   One very good thing for me on Washington Island was displaying my colored pencil drawings in the annual exhibit at the Art and Nature Center. It is for participating islanders, and I qualified due to the amount of time I spend on the island every year. This exhibit goes on all summer and includes paintings and various media. We are among many good artists. I have exhibited there for several years.

   Speaking of art exhibits, I was happy to exhibit colored pencil works again this spring in the large Wisconsin Regional Art Program show for Wisconsin artists at the Pyle Center in Madison. Besides that, I gave time and artwork to the Madison Senior Center, where student volunteers and I helped hang its annual show for Dane County seniors in May. No prizes for me in either event, but these are good exhibitions.

   What a delight! Family friends for all our lives, the Colburns came to Door County this summer after many years. My Allen brothers and I and the four Colburn adult children who are about our ages all grew up together and spent summers at our cottages in the woods of Clark Lake north of Sturgeon Bay. We and our parents were close friends. The occasion for their visit was distributing the ashes of newly deceased Johnny Colburn, their oldest, in Clark Lake. I went, as did my brother Eddy and wife Mary Lou, and we got together with many Colburns and descendants and friends for enjoyment and food, and, of course, a fish boil outdoors next to the bay of Sturgeon Bay. I came the first day a bit before the activity began and had a good visit with Sally and Richie. Over the years I have been in touch with Tom and Carmen Colburn more than the others.

   Pete and I had an enjoyable six-day vacation in Chicago in May, where we and our Road Scholar group visited museums and the Art Institute. We had a scenic boat trip on the Chicago River to see the downtown architecture, and we heard a lecture about the history of Chicago politics. Pete and I both were born in Chicago and lived our early years in the suburbs, but it was good to see the well-known sights again.

   I didn’t see my adult offspring much during the year other than John and Sherry who graciously gave me dinner at their home on Monday nights, with Laura and Ian present sometimes. The Covid pandemic has changed the occasions for getting together even though the disease seems to be waning. Libby, Dori, Steve, Robbie and Dana came to Madison to see me a few times. Sarah continues to recover from radiation treatment with cancer she had a couple of years ago, so we don’t see her as much as I would like. I didn’t see Mary and Gareth in Maryland at all in the last year. Alas. When and if life returns to normal, we can move around more.

   Life has continued to be busy as old age creeps up on me. Plenty of volunteer work at the senior center and library keeps me busy every week, and life is good in the company of the church group of ladies which I call the book group that hardly ever discusses the book. We get together online on Zoom and comment on politics and other life situations during our meetings. Did I say I am getting old? I’m only eighty-two and still getting around. I expect to be here for a while longer.