A Christmas Letter

Our tree, 2014

The Christmas Letter is not a tradition that I remember from my childhood. Aunts and distant relations would send a cheap Christmas card with a brief note, and that was it. In our defence, we did try to visit everyone in the family at least once a year, which meant notching up a lot of miles in an old Austin that probably drank as much oil as it did petrol. We were not great letter-writers.

This year's letters are from friends who I have not seen in years. Like a lot of my generation, they don't do "digital" and this is their way to keep up distant friendships. But it's more than that. Like this blog, those letters are a way to share the major events of the year with people who they care about and who care about them. If we do not share these events that were so significant for us, perhaps we feel they will shrink and slip away into insignificance, and us with them. Anyway, I love receiving the Annual Christmas Letter and I am in total admiration for the people who write them. I feel duty-bound to reply, but the process is full of pitfalls.

Dan the artist.

I could rave on about all our successes; about how brilliant our children are (and then you would be offended because your children are brilliant too). I'm not competitive by nature, so we are not going there.

On the other hand, I could moan on about my bad back, the holes in our social care system and the way that local services are being cut unnecessarily because of party politics.

Hanna loves olives.

Either way, you would have moved on by now to look at a picture of a cute cat, or a dog. I can't blame you.

If you are on Facebook, you will know how easy it is to post your news, no matter how trivial, and share it with "Friends" who you hardly know, minute by minute. It's all for the moment and about the self, (unless it's about your cat). Most posts are really just "selfies," with or without a photo, but they give even the most trivial moment a shaft of sunlight. I enjoy them, especially those from family members who live a long way away.

Lights at Anglesey Abbey

All of the above prologue is my way to procrastinate because I'm wracking my brain to split one event from another, separate work from home, the unusual from the norm. What will interest you?

Our big news is that our son Nick is now engaged to the fabulous Gabrielle, MSc (Distinction!) We are so proud of both of them. Nick's work as a London-based freelance illustrator has taken off and an erratic stream of work (and therefore payments) keeps heading his way. The biggest project has been a history book for children based on the idea of time travel. It's a bit like "Where's Wally?" Look out for it in the Spring.

With Susy buying the turkey, in Maine.

Nick's musical career has taken second place to his art, but he has some new music out there on iTunes and has been performing with his own band, and with Mr. Dupret Factory.

You should check Nick out on the web at www.nicholasstevenson.com  where you will find a lot of artwork and a link to his music site too.

Our other son Dan has had a full year out of school, so he has spent more time at home and at educational and social activities, always with two carers. It has gone pretty well really, but we still have no help at night which means that Hanna and I lose sleep at the rate of about 4 hours a night each. It's not really sustainable unless we sleep in the day, which we try to do.

The deck at Hanna's folks' house.

Hanna took a trip to Amsterdam with our Granddaughter Thea who was studying Anne Franke at school. The visited the Anne Franke House and also took in a Dutch stage performance based on the book. Unfortunately, neither Hanna or Thea wrote it up, so no pictures, I'm afraid.

However, Hanna later took a trip to Maine to visit her folks for Thanksgiving and she came back with loads of pictures from that. It was awesome! The snow fell, the power lines came down, the electricity went out and they cooked with gas. It's that pioneer spirit that I admire.

And what about me? Next March I will be 65 and officially a pensioner (A.K.A. "Burden on the State"). Although I can't stop work altogether, I have dropped to three days a week. For me, that has reduced the stress of trying to balance the needs of our son Dan who has Angelman Syndrome with the requirement to turn out at work on time and put in a full day on the Reserve after very little sleep. I still find it difficult not to attempt to do a week's work in three days, but you just have to hone things down. This means that I do more office work and get very little time outdoors now and therefore less exercise. I'm getting fat.

I'm supposed to tell you about the exciting holidays we had. Actually, I have used none of my leave since March, but we did visit our grandson Jake in Bognor when he performed in "The Gondoliers" and we sadly returned to Sussex to attend the funeral of our friend Howard Stenning, which was a surprisingly uplifting and life affirming experience. We also took a trip to Norfolk to see where Nick and Gabby will be married, and another to Suffolk, just because we love it there.

Dan wants more presents.

My brother Alex and I try to meet up for a a fishing trip once a year, always in Swaledale. This year's trip was as wonderful as they always are.

You can check out these events by scrolling down. Otherwise, visit www.streamofdreams.blogspot.com or www.paxton-pits.blogspot.com