Tim Xenson's annual Xmas letter

150 Granite Drive

Whitefish, MT? 59937

[email protected]

December 2023

Dear Family & Friends,

???? Wow, the time really flew by this year. Mick Jagger may feel like “time is on my side,” but I never do, unless my smart phone is clipped to my belt. It seems like only yesterday that we started the New Year skiing in Saas Fee (near Zermatt, on the Italian border) with daughter Grete&Andy, Trygve, Glen, and Adrian. Son Mark&Stephanie flew over from Baltimore to join us, so we had a Swiss family reunion on the slopes. The weather was great, and we supplemented our skiing with some hiking in the shadow of the Dom, the highest massif in Switzerland. Uncle Mark was particularly popular, “helping” put the children to bed by dusting off his MMA skills and emerging victorious every evening from a bedtime battle royale, complete with sound effects, against all three nephews at once.

???? Glenda&I got to Europe a bit earlier so we could explore some Tuscan hill towns for several “wine-colored days, warmed by the sun” and “deep velvet nights when we are” sound asleep. We spent our 47th anniversary in Siena at the Antica Cicogna (Ancient Stork) Residenza. We decided it’d be safe to stay there as long as the ancient stork no longer makes deliveries. On our way home, we stopped in Florence long enough to take in a medieval festival and revisit a few favorite sites.

???? We spent the end of January in SoCal, getting flown up the coast from San Diego and around Catalina Island by son John—who’s since switched uniforms from Marine Corps to Delta Airlines. We then joined daughter Erika&Kurt, Max, and Kaia in Glendora for Kurt’s mother’s funeral.?

???? Karin came to visit and ski in February, so we left her in charge while we flew down to Arizona for a few days in Sedona and a conference in Phoenix. I flew back to PHX again in March to perform a wedding for a couple of confirmands from my church in Virginia who were now back at the altar for another set of vows. While there, I improved my tan while taking in a few spring training games.

???? In May, we flew back to Glendora for Max’s graduation. He’s now taking a gap year to volunteer with Shevet Achim, a Christian organization that brings children from Gaza, Syria, and Iraq to Israel for open-heart surgeries. He’s living just north of Gaza, so we all “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” these days with special intensity. His graduation was a wonderful family occasion, though I found irony in the speaker telling hundreds of teens in identical red caps & gowns that individuality would be the key to their success. From there we drove up the coast to hike in Pinnacles National Park and to spend a weekend in `Frisco with daughter Karin. She got us a couple rides in driverless taxis—which offer tremendous leverage for folks my age: Now if the kids try to take away our car keys, we’ll threaten to use their inheritance to buy a driverless car! After all this flying around, we decided that there are two kinds of people: those who pack a week ahead of time, and those who don’t realize they need to wash clothes until they’re on the way to the airport—and they marry each other.

???? In July, it was time to “cowboy up” again, so I saddled my hoss and headed into the Bob Marshall Wilderness area south of Glacier Park with my posse. The days were great but, with all the bears in the area, it was hard to slip into my nap sack sleeping bag at night; I felt like a grizzly-sized hotdog in a polyester bun. But I got home safely and just in time for our annual family reunion—the one week of the year when we buy cereal based on the toy inside rather than its fiber content.

???? In August, Glenda and I went up to Canada with friends so we could hike to Crypt (n. tomb, mausoleum, burial vault) Lake. Glenda had heard about it from her hiking friends and couldn’t wait. I read about it in articles with titles like “Most Dangerous Hikes in Canada”; “Scariest Hikes in the World to Help You Conquer Fear”; “Most Unique/Challenging/ Thrilling/Exhilarating/Extraordinary/ yada, yada, yada.” It featured inclines, ledges, a ladder, a tunnel, and cables that required clinging, crawling, balancing, and duck-walking through the Canadian Rockies.

???? Crypt Lake was good preparation for September: We flew to Europe so I could participate in my nephew’s quinti-lingual Austrian wedding, but got there early enough to spend a week hiking the Swiss Alps near St. Moritz. Glenda’s sister Sally& Richard joined us, and Grete came from Geneva for a few days. What was initially planned as a hut-to-hut affair got upgraded a bit: We signed up for a self-guided trek from village to village, but made sure that our rugged Alpine trails would have a luxury hotel at either end. The mountains were great, the weather was amazing, and our luggage preceded us to each destination. I knew we’d be OK when we checked in after our first day on the trail. They gave me a key, but our luggage wasn’t in sight. Upon asking, I was assured that “it has already been taken to your room, sir.”

???? We then drove through Austria to visit friends along the Hungarian border before picking Karin up in Vienna so she could join us and her cousins at a castle on the Czech border for the wedding weekend. We finished our time abroad with a Sound of Music night in Salzburg and a few days for us three brothers and our wives to relax—and hike some more—in Bavaria’s Alps.?

???? Back in Montana now, the fall’s been pretty quiet. For Thanksgiving, we joined Sally&Richard, their son, his wife, and their two little girls who flew in from LA. By triple-teaming them, we were just about able to keep up with the girls. Great fun to be Uncle Tim for a weekend.

???? Besides church, I’m singing in the Glacier Symphony & Chorale. The local college has a big new auditorium, so we’ve moved in there, singing Bizet’s Carmen last spring and Handel’s Messiah just now. When we aren’t using the auditorium, it’s turned over to the likes of Three Dog Night, Midori, Mannheim Steamroller, and Yo-Yo Ma, making this the cultural mecca of NW Montana. My book clubs require a lot of reading so, since I listen to books in the car, I signed up to deliver Meals on Wheels—multi-tasking. My presentation to the Sons of Norway about “Nazis in Norway” during WW2 got written up in the local paper. I’m pushing 70, so I try to stay active at the gym throughout the week. Glenda, who maintains that taking candy from a baby is the responsible thing to do, tries to help by feeding me a vegetable-based diet—and then wonders why I’m turning into one. She, of course, is very active, walking every day, except when she hikes instead. She’s directing the community garden that our church started within the memorial garden adjacent to our building. From spring `til fall, she’s got a few members and a bunch of neighbors filling 30+ boxes with a riot of color and calories.

???? Time to get this into the mail. The Advent season is always a busy time for us. Then we fly down to New Mexico on Christmas Day to have some vacation time, to spend time with daughter Margit&Itty and Rio, and to see if we like being snowbirds…for a short time. We pray this will be a special time for you and yours as well.

? All our love,

? Tim & Glenda