I guess this year kind of revolved around water and fire. Jan and I took the planned cruise right after Christmas last year. We stocked our 28-foot cruiser and started south in the Intercoastal Waterway on December 26. We found lots of inclement weather, but made it all the way to Miami. At Miami, the forecast was for high winds and high seas in the Florida Keys, so we turned around and went back to St. Lucie. We then took the St. Lucie canal into Lake Okeechobee. Even there, wind had a 3 to 4 foot chop blown up. We stayed overnight at a marina on the lake and then started for home. Altogether, we were on the boat for 10 days, only going ashore the one time in Okeechobee. The cruise turned out to be more a test in seamanship than a pleasure cruise, but we really enjoyed it anyway. We almost decided not to stop when we got back to the home dock.
Then, at the end of May and all through June, the Florida firestorms went on around us. Jessy and Mark had to evacuate their house when it was threatened at the end of May. The firestorm climaxed about the fourth of July with first us having to evacuate our home and then, two days later, Jessy and Mark having to evacuate a second time. Throughout most of June, the air was full of smoke every morning and there were ashes falling almost all of the time. With God’s help, all of us were spared any loss or injury, although the fire got within three blocks of our home. Firefighters eventually came from all over the US to help us control the fires. We all have thanked God many times for their help and bravery here. Without them, Florida would have lost many lives and had much more property damage. Both Jessy and us would probably have lost our homes. So, we again say thanks to all the men and women who came to our rescue.
Nicole continues with high school. She is now sixteen. Nicole is on the high school yearbook staff again this year and has lots of responsibility there. She has lots of friends in the area and always seem to be out doing things together.
Joy is in her last year at the community college here and will go on to a four-year school next year. She has been selling Tupperware and now is also working at the Community College in one of the planning offices part time. Even though she lives at home, we only see her coming and going, she’s so busy. Joy and Dave came with us on a visit to North Dakota last fall. Her and Dave spend lots of time together, either here or at Dave’s house in New Symrna Beach.
April and Dwight still live in the Orlando area. Dwight takes on more and more responsibility at his work and is doing well there. April continues to commute to Ormond Beach to work. They have been doing some traveling this fall, making a trip to North Dakota to see Grandparents and everybody. They took Casey along and all seemed to really enjoy the trip.
Jessy and Mark are really on the go still. Mark has gone back with Ferran and is still working on ventilating and AC units. He is nearly finished with going to school. Jessy still works at the same place as I do and is the office manager there. Casey is in kindergarten and Jordan goes to pre-school at Noah’s Ark in our church.
Bennie and Gayla and their two girls have moved back up to Jacksonville. Bennie is back in the restaurant business, managing a Shbarro’s Pizza Restaurant there. They have moved into a nice house in Orange Park near Gayla’s parents’ home. Amber and Mia are both in school and are both growing up.
Jan is teaching crafts and quilting at several locations here and near Orlando. She continues to make crafts of all kinds, but is especially concentrating on decorative quilts. This fall, we attended a family reunion for Jan’s family on her mother’s side in Huron. It was great seeing everybody again. We also visited my family at Devils Lake and Jan’s family at Fargo. On our way home, we stopped in Minneapolis to see my brother and his family.
I traveled less this year, still attending the American Concrete Institute meetings where I chair the committee on Polymers in Concrete. My work at CDR remains interesting and challenging and I really enjoy it. I continue to do some technical writing and work on the family history when I have time. Jan and I have taken the boat out for some four-day weekends this fall and have had great weather for it. We’ve been going over to the St. John’s River and have been able to watch bald eagles and alligators on the shores in the wild. The time out was really scenic and peaceful.
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