Christmas Letter 2020

THE INTRODUCTION:

Merry Christmas, friends! This year has been so weird, so surreal, so long, and so short all at the same time. Pre-lockdown, we were enjoying full-time life on Sanibel, with Stone Soup, gymnastics, tennis, gatherings with friends and even a few trips thrown in there.  

Through it all, we walk away more grateful for the small things. For family & friends. For good health. For access to grocery stores and clean water. For face masks & hand sanitizer & take out food. For sunshine & the beach & river otters & seabirds. For Zoom writing retreats & photography classes. For celebrating K's 50th birthday. For my Maps group. For kids that like each other & a husband who cleans up the supper dishes...every night. For Couch Concerts & Art for Kids Hub.

As if the year wasn't weird enough, we got chickens. We've always wanted chickens. Now we have five. And four turtles. It took us moving from farm country to a land of palm trees & predators to start living out our dream of chickens. Maybe bees will be next... We also bought a bigger house here on Sanibel that we are excited to grow into. Stay tuned for our new address! 

THE KIDS:

Our oldest one: L is eleven. He is enjoying photography, film making, Rubix cubing, camping, wakeboarding,  playing the piano, reading anything he can get his hands on, and training the dogs to do tricks, among other things. And while tennis may not be his favorite past time, he's really good at it. He's a great story-teller & one of my all-time favorite conversationalists.

Our favorite daughter: H is nine. She seems to be an animal whisperer of sorts. Seriously. It's awesome to watch her with all of our animals. She also is a great tennis player & pianist and is enjoying a small dance class that has worked well during Covid. She is Junior Girl Scout and loves spending time with her sweet friend earning badges. So far they have earned Jewelry (Making) and Outdoor Art Explorer badges. She is clever, has her father's quick wit & sarcasm, and a knack for peacemaking too.

The littlest one: R is six and exudes such joy & gladness now as when was born. He just can't help smiling most days, which is really helpful during a pandemic, though he does have a mean stink-eye. He loves playing Lego, sword-fighting, swinging, swimming & fishing. He also is a budding tennis player & might have everyone licked before everything is said and done. He truly is a gifted athlete. He loves camping & adventuring. He's funny & engaging & loves doing pretty much anything as long as his brother & sister are there. But he's growing up too fast. 

Both boys are enjoying Boy Scouts. And all the kids have enjoyed Sea School down here. Everyone has done amazingly well at remaining flexible as our plans are constantly shifting. We were able to spend an extended time up in Indiana this summer, which was such a blessing. 

THE BENEDICTION:

We look forward to a new year and all the hope it brings. We trust that this season of Christmas will bring you peace and hope in a Savior, because we all definitely need one. I'm going to close with an excerpt from a book called "Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas":

[Bono speaking] "It had dawned on me before, but it really sank in: the Christmas story. The idea that God, if there is a force of Love and Logic in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in s**t and straw...a child...I just thought: 'Wow!' Just the poetry...Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and it's not that it hadn't struck me before, but tears came down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this. Because that's exactly what we were talking about earlier: love needs to find form, intimacy needs to be whispered. To me, it makes sense. It's actually logical. It's pure logic. Essence has to manifest itself. It's inevitable. Love has to become an action or something concrete. It would have to happen. There must be an incarnation. Love must be made flesh."

Merry Christmas everyone.

K+M+L+H+R
Gus & Ginger the Wonderdogs
The Chickens: Angel, Camila, Big Guy, Buddy & New Guy
The Turtles: [no names at the time of this writing]

THE PHOTOS:

A Pandemic Poem

I recently participated in a wonderful virtual writing retreat with my dear cousin entitled "Finding Purpose in the Pause." Our final exercise was to write our own poem following the format of a poet named James Wright. The basic instructions were: twelve lines, long title, strong words at the end of each line, bold last line. Here's my poem:

The Morning the River Otters Came to Play in My Backyard on Sanibel Island

by M.B. Jackson

There is a pandemic

but they didn’t know; they came to play

anyway on a Tuesday morning.

My smallest child & I lie in bed chattering

when my husband motions for us to Come!

My feet, not yet ready for the day, scream

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

as I step toward the window. Otters! Otters??

Two balls of fur rolling and tumbling for a few short minutes.

We gasp in wonder.

Then they are gone.

My faith is renewed.

Christmas Letter 2019

FLORIDA (or FLORIDIA): A place where may be found ALLIGATORS, LONG-NECKED TURTLES, AND SPACE SHUTTLES. An interesting place that is warm and wet and there are geese, BACON, LETTUCE, AND TOMATO SANDWICHES may be found here also. A lot more interesting than many other places. The shape when seen from the air is like a bit stuck on a bigger bit.

From A Scientific Encyclopedia for the Inquiring Young Nome by Angalo de Haberdasheri (excerpt from Wings, Bromeliad Trilogy Book 3 by Terry Pratchett)

Florida. Or Floridia. Whatever you call it, it's where we now call home. That's right, folks. We moved this past October. It has been a good fit for us. We have been spending time there during winters for the last 10 years & this fall we made the move. We are all loving the sunshine, beach time, swimming, bike riding & wild nature. We have a growing group of friends & a church we really like.

All of us are thriving.

Moving was adventure #2 of the year. Adventure #1 found all five of us in South Africa for seven weeks.  

We had lots of family adventures including horseback riding, climbing boulders on the aptly named Boulders Beach, hiking up Table Mountain, visiting dear friends on their game farm for a week & much much more. (Our Christmas card photo was taken at the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town.)

What made the time in South Africa even more special was that we were with family the entire time. MB’s brother & his family were in Cape Town the entire time, so we had lots of history lessons & the kids got lots of cousin time. & all of MB’s family were with us at the end of our time.

L:  L is 10 years old & is in fifth grade & continues to grow into a fine young man. He continues to read hundreds of pages each week (seriously). L learned to wakeboard this year & is becoming an excellent snow skier. He still loves skateboarding, indoor rock climbing, swimming & tennis. & he continues to excel in his piano playing. L has also recently started Cub Scouts (Arrows of Light) & is enjoying it (& amused by it). L also ran his first 5k & 10k races this year.

H: H is 8 years old & is in third grade. She continues to be a compassionate helper. She takes care of the Wonderdogs & her brothers & loves jumping in to help wherever she sees a need. H is also progressing nicely in piano & loves reading as well. H is just about up on the wakeboard & is also becoming an excellent skier & really likes indoor rock climbing. She is hoping to start gymnastics (again) in 2020.

R: R is 5 years old. He is loving the social aspects of school & is smart as a whip. R has never met a stranger & is always up for an adventure. He is enjoying indoor rock climbing & Cub Scouts (Lions) with his buddies. He loves the dogs & adores his big brother. R is currently fascinated by sharks. And anything Nerf. He is still full of joy & gusto. 

MB & K: The kids keep us young but we are often worn out at the end of the day. MB is still homeschooling & loving all the time with the kids. She is also getting the itch to focus more on The Viewfinder Project or possibly a new venture. I am still focused on Ball Project, partnering with & encouraging friends projects around the world & finding new business opportunities. 

Gus & Ginger: The Wonderdogs are still wonderful. In Indiana they hunt squirrels. In Florida they protect us from the rabbits, squirrels, snakes & lizards. (So far we have dodged the bobcats, alligators, coyotes & iguanas.)

We feel very blessed & very thankful. 

Our family wishes you & yours a very Merry Christmas & a new year full of blessings & adventures. & God bless us everyone!

The best is yet to come…..

mb & k

 SOUTH AFRICA PICS:

OTHER PICS:

Christmas Letter 2018

Merry Christmas!

We trust this Christmas letter finds you all happy and well. I'm sitting here writing this letter three days after Thanksgiving. How can it be the end of the year already??

As we get ready to launch into 2019, here is a brief recap of our year and what our clan is up to:

K and MB: Perhaps our biggest news since last Christmas is that we have another dog in our family! We welcomed Ginger the Wonderdog into our home in early June. She is the same breed as Gus and they are so sweet together. We love having two dogs in the house again. K and I also celebrated 17 years of marriage this year and continue to enjoy sharing this journey together. I am finally picking up running again after what feels like a 4-year hiatus. K is still enjoying rock climbing and skateboarding with the kids as well as paddle boarding, skiing, and running. You'd never believe he's pushing 50 (!).

I'm still steeped in homeschooling the kids as well as trying to take some photos here and there. (I still dream of reopening my darkroom somewhere somehow.) This year took us to Alaska with my family to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary. The beauty of that place is indescribable. Our photo from our Christmas card was taken there. We sandwiched that trip with a week back on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. That remains one of our "thin places" and we hope we continue to visit!  We also had a wonderful visit as a couple to San Diego for a conference and got some great time with friends there. We are still enjoying house concerts with friends from near and far.

L: L is nine years old and in fourth grade. His reading list is so fun. We're really getting into some of my favorite adolescent literature! This summer, he went to his first week-long overnight camp (Spring Hill) with a buddy and had a great experience. He also had the opportunity to go to an ID Tech camp and learn about Lego robotics. He continues to love Lego and to blow us away with his easy grasp of mechanics and engineering. His favorite subject to study in school is geography. Well, and reading. Oh, and he loves the Rubik's cube. L also loves rock-climbing, skateboarding and working with his hands.

L and H are both doing great at piano and mostly enjoying it.....

H: H is seven years old going on seventeen. She truly is an amazing responsible person with a huge servant heart and love for God's creation. I often find her pulling together snacks and games for her and her little brother, as well as dessert trays for everyone. She is becoming an amazing reader and loves reading to R. She moved into her own room this past spring and is loving having her own space. Her favorite subject in school is reading and science. She loves animals. This fall, we went on a field trip to CROW on Sanibel (Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife). I could easily see her working there in 10 years.

R: R is four years old and continues to be full of joy and love and life. He's loves to make people smile and doesn't like it when people are sad or upset. He loves everything L loves -- Lego, cars, electronics -- yet will dress up with H, cook with me, and absolutely LOVES both dogs (like his dad). He often reminds me of a puppy himself: happy, go-lucky, up for anything as long as we're together. He plays beautifully by himself and has enjoyed going to preschool two days a week with his friends. R also loves riding his scooter.

We feel incredibly grateful for the adventures we continue to have and for our friends and family who  journey with us along the way. Thank you for your continued love and friendship over the years and miles. May the New Year be full of blessings and adventures.

K+M+L+H+R+G+G