Year end letter around Christmas 2023

    Sooner or later, I know I need to get this epistle out of my head and onto the page, so to speak. It always seems that Christmas cannot possibly be just a few days away again, but here we are. Gift giving gets less and less prominent than when children and grandchildren were small, so gift cards and desired projects completed stand in for something pretty wrapped in decorative paper. This year it looks as if we may have a snow free Christmas at The Defors' new home in the Lakeville, Minnesota area- you did notice the address. I might as well cut to the chase and get started with January 2023.

   As usual the weather in this part of the country always plays a large part in what is done and what gets done. I see that we started out with heavy snow which means work moving it etc. I was anticipating the arrival of our new Ducati Multistrada, my Christmas present for the next several years, hopefully. Jan, Eli, Leah and I drove up to Richfield to pick up the Duck on the 21st. We did get out to Eli and Lindsey's for football a couple of times, thank God the games were not quite so pathetic as this year. On the 24th I took Jan to Gen's in Rochester. Originally the girls, Jan, Gen and Rachel were going to fly to Savanah, Georgia for a few days get together, but Gen could not go along with Jan to Georgia. Jan had to make the flight to Savanah by herself, with a stop and bad weather in between. Jan met Rachel and granddaughter Annika- finally in Savanah after the flight from hell. They spent a couple days there and then drove to Burke and spent a few days there visiting. In the meantime I was batching at home, a new experience for me, usually it's Jan by herself while I have been traveling or for a training session, but that's not happening anymore. Our next door neighbor Dennis passed away towards the end of the month, that was Leona Shellum's second son to die in two consecutive years!

   February.  The 1st I was up to the Cities to the airport to pick up Jan after her return flight from DC. I think that we were both glad to see each other again. She's not real fond of flying, although she did fly out to San Jose to see me once when I was out there for training back in the 80s sometime. The big news on the 3rd was that Eli had passed his final test with the electrical training after five tough years of part time schooling and apprenticeship. We have a few birthdays in February, Annika on the 15th, and Steve and Eli both on the 23rd. The usual doctor appointments, heavy snow falls and working on the bikes, mainly the new Ducati. Lest I forget our anniversary on the 14th was the 52nd. I remember going to 50th anniversary parties for aunts and uncles and, man, they were old, or so it seemed at the time.

   March. Had the taxes done in decent weather and it looks as if most of the rest of the month was cold and snowy with the birthdays of two of our Kuehl girls, Leah on the 9th and Lindsey on the 16th. I had a PGR mission to the new South Dakota Vets cemetery near Sioux Falls on the 24th, that and mounting several tires on Tony, Fritzy and Jack so I can add more miles this coming summer.

   April. This month looks like the weather is trying to make up its mind, as we had some snow and 80 degree temps a few days apart. The conditions were good enough that I managed to get some miles on the bikes and start the break in on the fresh one. On Easter Sunday we had the whole gang minus the Defors meet in Mankato for lunch. The whole gang being, Gen, Sam and Gus Theobald, Eli, Lindsey, Leah and Aaron Kuehl and last but not least Jan and me. Other than Jan getting a new German vacuum cleaner on the 17th it was a slow month.

   May. Out of the blue, Rachel called Jan to wish her happy Mother's Day and also mention that she was near the Cities on her way to the home they just bought in Lakeville!! To say we were shocked would be an understatement. After that the fact that there are several birthdays, on the 19th for Phil and Joe, on the 25th for me. Sadly the 4th would have been Pauls birthday. I had a good doctor's appointment at Mayo, PGR mission to Sioux Falls, Jan and I to Lakeville to check out the Defors' new home. It's in a wooded area on a few acres just off I-35. That baby grand is going to look great in her living room. We were getting pretty good rainfall at this time which turned out to be really needed later.

   June.  This month was fairly quiet, some rain, some riding, shopping for a new living room couch to fill in the space when the baby grand goes to Rachel's home. Eli, Leah and I drove up to Buffalo to a car show on the 11th.We did buy a couch at a store in Redwood Falls. It's kind of crowded with the piano still in the living room, but soon the piano will head up to Rachel's. Jan spent time toward the end of the month getting the trailer stocked for our yearly trip to Lanesboro and on the 29th we hitched up and headed down there for a few days.

   July. The first few days of July were spent in Lanesboro camping- I do feel a little silly calling living in our trailer "camping". We had quite a crowd this year as the Defors are back in Minnesota, along with Eli, Lindsey, Leah, Aaron, Gen, Steve, Sam, Gus, Rachel, Joe, Annie, Will and Jan and me of course. Hans stayed home with their new puppy Mabel. Grilling burgers etc., and games prior to the fireworks, which were as big as always. I got to some PGR missions along with riding southeastern Minnesota roads during our time near Lanesboro. Aaron's birthday is on the 10th and Laura's is on the 23rd. That about sums up the month of July.

   August. This month started out hot but with some rain, which has been arriving at beneficial times this Summer. Me biking to some PGR missions at assorted locations in this area, and Jan and I getting to some soccer games for the Theobald boys. Rachels' birthday on the 18th and attending the Butterfield Threshing Bee which usually falls at the same time. I did have a biopsy taken of a spot on my lip that was reported as non-malignant the first time. I also made a short run out to Wall with the new Ducati, Vince, just for an overnight stay and returned through the Bad Lands. I spent an evening with Eli, Leah and Aaron out at the Petroglyphs for a meteor shower. We did manage to see a few while lying on the sun warmed rocks after dark.

   September. I hate to sound like a repeating record, but it was above 90 for several days here again. Leah got her motorcycle permit and Aaron got his drivers permit so now they're legal, kind of. Hans' birthday is on the 5th, Gen and Steve's anniversary on the 6th, and Eli and Lindsey's anniversary on the 9th, kind of a busy week there. I had some more tests done on the 14th and headed west to Murdo the next day in the afternoon. I headed back west through the Badlands in the morning. It must have been because of the time of the morning but it was really beautiful because of the light, I guess. I spent that night in Buffalo, Wyoming and did my Bighorn loop opposite from the route I usually take and again caught the light on the west side of the Bighorns at a special time. From Sheridan to Gillette on old 14, except for the crossroads of Ucross it's a lonely stretch of hiway, to Wall for the night. I was home the next day in the afternoon. Jan and I got to the Defors for football one Sunday and there are the usual shopping trips to New Ulm and Mankato. 

   October. I was having some physical therapy and another trip to the Gonda building in Rochester to a different doctor in dermatology for another biopsy on my lip, this time it's skin cancer. So I'm scheduled for Mohs surgery in the very near future. Anyhow, PGR missions, 4" of rain one day and William's birthday on the 14th, also Sam's on the 23rd along with Phil and Laura's anniversary on the same day. Oh, before I forget the closest one to me is Jan's birthday on the 22nd. The Mohs surgery on the 30 was unusual, they keep shaving slices off until they get to clean tissue. In between you sit and wait for pathology to clear you, with us about 45 minutes or so. I got to go home after 3 trips to the chair, not fun but I'm getting used to the outpatient side of things. The evening before my surgery Gus got his first buck with a bow a pretty good-sized prize. He also bagged a turkey this Spring, so he is the great white hunter of the group.

   November. Jan's sister Paula's birthday is on the 4th and on the 8th, Eli bagged a 9- or 10-point buck in his own grove, also a good-sized prize. Both Gus and Eli's deer were their first, I wish I could claim the 4 or 5 that I have hit with the vehicles that I am driving. Now that Rachel and family are back in the state, we are making trips to Lakeville not just to visit the string of bike shops, but to their home. In addition, to Rochester for Mayo visits, sports events and the Theobald's for Thanksgiving again this year, it's always a special time. Of note, shortly before Thanksgiving Annie got her driving permit, leaving William as the only un-permitted grandchild. On one of our shopping trips to New Ulm, I had Buff backed into in the Hy Vee parking lot. It looks as if almost $7000 to fix what looks like a bad parking lot fender bender. The last date that needs flagging is Hans and Rachel's wedding anniversary, on the 29th.

   December. Jan and I spent the first few days of the month in Wadena with Jan's sister Paula. They went thrift shopping and I finished off another book. I did manage to put some more miles on Vinny when the temperatures were not too bad. This has been a pretty temperate Fall so far. On the 9th we were up to Wooddale church in the Cities to hear their concert because this year Rachel and Annie are singing with the choir, along with Rachel's mother-in-law Donna Defor. As usual it was quite a production, with the choir, a full orchestra, and guest star performers on stage. The only downer to the evening was making my way, in the dark with snow, slippery roads and traffic. We were very glad to pull into the garage let me tell you. After that I had Vinny out and turned him over to 7000 miles, and it rained all day the next day! Jan has been making several return trips to New Ulm for various treatments for pain and now she's trying acupuncture with assorted results, hopefully there is relief somewhere down the road. I have one last birthday in the year, it's Marcy on the 30th.

    So that does it for 2023, a mostly slanted viewpoint of the previous years' events by my records. I'm writing this on the first day of Winter and the ground is still bare and the temperature is not too bad. Frankly the idea that you need to be waist deep in snow to have a Merry Christmas is a myth, believe me there are folks in warmer climes that are not enjoying the season. Ducking for cover often moves the appreciation for the Christmas season to second place. I'm going to add here what our grandchildren are up to in the coming year. Josiah will be finishing his junior college, Annika and Leah will graduate from high school, Samuel will finish his junior year, August and Aaron will finish sophomore year, and last but not least William will finish eighth grade. Despite all of the depression and disappointment that run rampant this time of the year, we need to step back and remember what we are really celebrating at Christmas, the birth of Christ in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. So, Merry Christmas everyone and lets' hope for a good coming year 2024.

    Peter S. Kuehl    

    21 December 2023  

Our Christmas Letter 2022 part 2

   If you have read my previous letter, you may have noticed that it stopped at the halfway point of the year the month of June. So, this part, logically will begin with July 2022.

   July

   On the first Jan and I took the trailer back to Lanesboro for a few days, continuing our tradition at Eagle Cliffs campground. Things took a downturn the next day, when we received word that my youngest brother, Paul had passed away in Duluth at 1545 in the afternoon. I did a blog before these Christmas letters with my feelings on his passing, so take a look at that blog for more detail. After that news we did our usual routine, with the fireworks at the campground with the Theobalds, me getting some riding and Jan relaxing with the trailer. We did leave the trailer with Eli, Lindsey, Leah and Aaron and they moved to another campground by Preston for a few more days in that area. Aarons' birthday was on the 10th, wow 14 already and moving up to MVL for his freshman year. The rest of the month was pretty regular summer stuff, although Jan spent some time pricing items for a garage sale for Paul and Marcy's things here at their home in St. James.

   August

   This was a fairly average month for us, with doctor appointments, Paul's estate sale and my almost annual Wyoming loop bike trip. Rachel also celebrated her birthday on the 18th while I was on the road somewhere in Wyoming, come to think of it. We had a wake for Paul at Bailey's in Ormsby on the 20th followed by scattering his ashes on the ball diamond in Odin. Jan and I did go to a few soccer games for Sam and Gus at various locations in eastern Minnesota. I see that I did start some maintenance work on our 94 Ducati, to get her out of cold storage and back on the road somewhat. Jan and I had lunch at the thrift store in Mountain Lake where our granddaughter, Leah, was working the lunch counter. Joe started college at NOVA and Annie and William headed to Robinson High School.  So much for August.

   September

   More soccer for Sam and Gus, Hans' birthday on the 5th and a few doctors' visits and my longest ride of the year. I was going to head out to southern Utah but reconsidered while on the way, ending up in southwestern Colorado again. I rode a route from Grand Junction to Norwood, Colorado that was a scenic surprise that I am going to ride again. Heading east from Montrose on a 31 degree morning and the stretch from Sterling to home in one pass. Oh ya, there was a mouse in my room at Sterling, and a recall on the BMW at Sioux City later in the month. 

   October

   October is a month with a few birthdays in our family, with William DeFor on the 14th, Jan Kuehl, my other half on the 22nd and Sam Theobald on the 23rd, I think that about covers it. Jan and I had grandparents' day at MVL with Leah and Aaron on the 13th and 14th, and more soccer games with Sam and Gus. I am also taking some tests to see if some of my health problems might be caused by my service in the USAF, time will tell, I guess. Towards the end of the month, I made a short run out to the Hills before the weather gets too cold for trips like that, also turned the BMW over to 70k miles along there. Earlier in the month we had a killing frost that froze the green leaves on the trees before they had a chance to fall off, kind of unusual to say the least. 

   November

   It seems like a lot of November is getting ready for what comes next in this part of the world, just like death and taxes. I had a VA test at the hospital in Spirit Lake, Iowa on veterans' day of all days, after which Jan and I drove up to Mankato for the usual freebees. MVL also has a very nice veteran's day program every year that I have been to since Leah, and now Aaron attend high school there. I did some maintenance work on the Triumph, changed oil on the Mustang, which also got a fresh set of tires. Believe me 265/35/20s are not cheap! A nice touch was that the day after the pleasant weather tire change, we got 6 inches of snow, so the GT went into storage for the winter. Rachel and Hans celebrated their 20th anniversary, can't hardly believe it's been that long since that magical wedding ceremony at the Conservatory!

   December

   The 2nd of December was a big day. The new B-21 stealth bomber was revealed, Eli reaches the milestone of 8k hours in his quest to be allowed to test up to the next level as an electrician and I-we, ordered another Ducati Multi Strada. Jan and I had lunch at our bank in Ormsby. Mars, which has really been on display this fall slid behind the full moon on the 8th, quite a sight. We actually made the drive to Chatfield one Monday night to watch Sam and Gus play basketball, diving right from soccer to basketball. Hopefully the weather will cooperate the next few months and we'll be able to see some of their games good Lord willing. As I am writing this final installment, it is at a -41-degree wind chill with a blizzard warning until sometime on Saturday, the day before Christmas. This year we are to gather at Eli and Lindsey's home for Christmas, hopefully this weather moderates somewhat by then. Tonight, it is a day later and if anything, the weather is worse than last night! Jan and I pretty much stayed indoors and putzed with things, as the internet was down from the night before. You never know how much you depend on the internet this time of the year until it is not working. Things are looking somewhat murky with Christmas this year, with the weather being such a beast, I guess we will have to see what tomorrow brings. I find it kind of depressing, that so much time and effort are put into celebrating Christ's birthday. I imagine it would be somewhat unorthodox to maybe celebrate some other time of the year. After all we are celebrating His birth not just the day. The important thing is that He was born for us on a day sometime in the year. The actual date is really immaterial, we have just chosen the 25th of December to remember His birthday. So, with that I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, may our next trip around the sun be a good one.

   Pete Kuehl   2200 12-23-2022    

   

    

The Christmas letter from my viewpoint 2022

   It's that time of year again to look back and try to put down a reasonable facsimile of Pete and Jan's year in a blog format. I keep smaller and smaller records of what we have been up to during the year, so this epistle gets shorter every year. I will be laying out a month by month listing of weather and events in our lives, primarily from my viewpoint as the author. Someday Jan should be doing this as she has a blow-by-blow account of everything that has happened to us and our families a day at a time for years. So, now that I have that off of my chest, I will start off with the first month of the year. 

   January

    This month starts and finishes pretty much like all of the rest of the January's I have been through in the upper Midwest- cold and snowy. In between Jan and I made do with some basketball games, trips to New Ulm, Mankato and Rochester for assorted reasons. Rach got her Mercedes "truck". My brother Paul ended up in Rochester with covid that was touch and go for quite a while, but he did make a miraculous recovery that time. See my previous blog about him and his struggle with ALS.

   February

   February was busy, judging from my notes, with doctor visits, basketball for Sam and Gus, moving snow etc. etc.. Jan and I did celebrate our 51st on Valentine's Day, also birthdays for Annika who turned 16, Eli and Steve (Scuba), so it's a pretty busy month. Things like these tend to keep my mind off the cold and snow that need to be dealt with, and the lack of warm enough weather that keeps me from riding at all. Due to that fact a lot of the maintenance gets accomplished this time of year. Paul remains in Rochester, so Jan and I are checking the mail and the home for them.

   March 

   Kind of unique this month but all our girls' birthdays were on Tuesdays this month, with Leah turning 16, Lindsey a little more and Genevieve some more too. Typically, after complaining about the weather, I see that I had some bikes out for short runs toward the middle of the month. We had thunderstorms with snow and plain thunderstorms and snow, taxes, another stress test for me and dog sitting for the Theobalds while they took a spring break trip. Other than that, just another month off the old calendar.

   April

   April started off with bad news for our neighbor Leona, she got the news that her son Steve had passed away on her 95th birthday. Jan and I attended his funeral at Saint Olaf in rural Odin later in the month. St. Olaf is another local church that I have never visited along with Waverly, both nearby to Ormsby. Other than that, the rest of the month was cold alternating with winds and some rain and riding weather. The Theobald boys Sam and Gus are starting the soccer season already, with a game in Rochester at 30 degrees, burr. Aaron had his confirmation exam on the 24th and Gen ran a marathon in Cincinatti on the 29th. After the marathon she flew to Nashville to meet with Rachel, who was flying in from DC, which pretty much wraps this month up.

   May

   May is the big month for the boys in the family, with Paul on the 4th, Phil and Joe on the 19th and me on the 25th. Rachel and Gen spent the first few days of May in Nashville being tourists. After the 30-degree soccer game the end of April, Jan and I were back in Rochester on the 4th in sunny 65-degree weather. After some routine medical visits, I headed back to Wall for a couple of nights, so that I could ride into the airshow at Ellsworth and back and have a shorter ride home the following morning. A word of advice, if you should attend an airshow that has an F-22 demonstration, bring earplugs, it's extremely loud! Jan and I were back to Mayo for another follow up with my team there, things are still looking okay so far. I ran the Mustang up to Duluth to see Sam play in a soccer game and a short visit with Paul at the Solvay House in Duluth. Little did I know that would be the last time I would ever see him in this life. Our life went on pretty much like what passes for normal here, mowing the lawn, riding, maintenance on vehicles, and waiting for the frequent rain to let up. Aaron graduated from St. Paul's school here in town on the 26th, it hardly seems possible that he's gone through 9 years of schooling there starting with kindergarten. Jan worked with that class for several years as a teacher's assistant helping with subjects, so she got to know that gang pretty well over the years.

   June

    Number one grandson Joe graduated from high school and is furthering his education at NOVA, plus Gus is moving on to Lourdes, plus Eli finished his last year of electrician training.   I started the month putting tires on the BMW GS and Jan and I went to Sherburn to see the new Top Gun movie, it was pretty good. I recall that we saw the first version of it in Rapid City and my mom was along, so it's been a while back. Of note, I hit a buzzard while riding near Waseca, not fun. A note, if you are riding on the upwind side of a road and approach buzzards or for that matter any large birds be careful, they will always take off into the wind, regardless of what hazard is coming down the road. Luckily, I managed to duck and I only lost my turn signal arm and cracked a trim piece, could have been a lot worse. I attended a funeral of a guy that had hit a flying turkey and been fatally injured by the strike in the head. Soccer game visits, more medical checkups and of course riding, including a spin on some local gravel roads with our granddaughter Leah on our bikes. Jan and I met Rachel who was in Minnesota for a business trip in Bloomington. We drove to Rochester and met Eli and Gen, and attended a soccer game among other things.

  

   

Paul

    My brother Paul passed from this life to the next on July the 3rd at 3:45 pm in Duluth, Minnesota. Paul was born in Triumph, Minnesota on May 4th, 1953, and lived a majority of his life in this area. Due to the fact that Paul was nine years younger than me we did not spend a lot of time together until he was in his teens I guess. In the late sixties and early seventies, we spent some bike trips and camping time with each other. In 1974 Jan and I drove to California to give him a ride home from our sisters home in Oakdale. He had spent the winter working at the prison where she was employed. The route home took us to the Hearst Castle, Disney Land and the Grand Canyon. We decided then that we would return to hike to the bottom in 1975. The first part of August 1974, Paul and I were out in The Hills dirt biking when we got the call the Jan had gone into labor with our first, Rachel, we packed up and drove all night to get home only to find out it was a false alarm, Rachel did not arrive until the 18th. Spring 1975 found us arriving in a snowstorm and spending the night in the back of his Mustang before starting down the next morning on snowy trails. We spent a couple days in the canyon, had a few beers at the Phantom Ranch at the bottom, before swinging down to Mexico and back to Minnesota. Paul played fast pitch softball with Odin for several years and caught most of the time back in the days when lots of people showed up for the games and our mom worked the concession stand. We had a long history with softball because our dad both played with and managed the team in Ormsby, just a couple miles from Odin which were huge rivals back in the day. After Paul married Marcy in 1987, we went our separate ways so to speak with them moving to the Twin Cities area and then to Duluth.

    This next part is going to be something I have been dreaming up on my bike trips, you have a lot of time to work on subjects while droning down the interstate. It is going to be my vision of his arrival at the next stop in his life cycle, Heaven.

    Paul is riding in the passenger train of life when he arrives at his stop at 3:45 pm on July the 3rd 2022. His guardian angel says, "here's your stop Paul" and helps him off the train onto the platform at the station. When they step to the platform Paul finds that he is 25 and in perfect health again! His angel says, "well here you are, there are people to greet you, and I've got to go, there is one just being born, and they are going to need me". Paul turns and Jesus is there to welcome him home and show him off the platform and on to the welcoming committee. Mom and dad, Kathy and Howard plus several cousins too. The train carrying brothers Pete and Phil has left the station and continued on towards their stops in the future. Attached to the station is a wood shop that is fully equipped with every wood working tool known to man and in the distance, Paul can see green fields as far as the eye can see just waiting to be cultivated and harvested in their time. Beyond the corn fields far away are lights around a ball diamond that will need to be visited for sure, and maybe a nearby John Deere dealer too. It looks as if a person could spend an eternity here, and that's what he will do. 

    This is just my version of what a person's heaven will be like. Everyone that arrives there should have their own heaven within reason of course. This fictional tale is not biblical I'm sure, but just the author's optional reality.    

  

 

Christmas in the year of our Lord 2021

    It took me a while to figure out how to post a new blog after being out of practice since February. I think that they change the format just to prove that they can. This should be a rather abbreviated version of our year and as usual a lot of it is from my perspective since I'm writing it. So suffer along with me as I account for 2021.

  January. I started on one of my Winter projects to keep me busy during the non riding months. This one involves wood paneling and fresh paint in the upstairs garret room. Luckily years back I purchased a power miter saw and a trim nailing gun which greatly simplified the project. Jan and I made the usual shopping trips to stores in the area and I made a preliminary visit to doctor Birkholtz about my upcoming cataract surgery. And it was probably cold and snowy. 

    February. I had several doctor appointments for check-ups and actual surgeries for both of my cataracts. I had both done for distance vision and the improvement was amazing but it leaves me still wearing glasses for reading etc., so sometimes I wonder if I made the correct choice, but that's just me. I see that we had a long string of below zero nights in February too. Oh yes, Jan and I celebrated our 50th on Valentines day. If you reference my previous blog you can see a more elaborate accounting of events so to speak. Several birthdays are also celebrated this month also, Annika on the 15th, Eli and Scuba on the 23rd and Gus on the 27th. 

   March. March dawned with some nice temperatures so I got some riding in along with bike maintenance. I did manage to get my first covid vaccination at the VA in Shakopee with a follow up later on. Jan and I made a drive to the Theobalds to see their new addition Maya, what a sweetheart. Also more birthdays this month, Leah on the 9th, Lindsey on the 16th and Genevieve on the 30th. Unusual they all fell on Tuesdays this year.

   April. This time of the year we see the weather bouncing all over the place with teens one day and 80s a couple days later, so I got some riding in. I had a good check up with my EMT group at Mayo and Jan made a trip to the ER in New Ulm one night complaining about her heart, which led to a stress test later on in April that was okay. I see that one day we had some snow and I mowed the lawn, not sure in which order that occurred. Along here my brother Paul is looking at a townhome in St. James. He plans to move here from Duluth in the future so brother Phil and I have looked it over. After discovering a lot of water damage in our trailer that long term project got started out at Eli and Lindsey's farm. A section of the roof needed to be replaced and the whole front end sheet metal had to come off to get at the rotted wood underneath.

   May. Pretty much working on the trailer, assorted maintenance of vehicles etc.. Jan had started quite a lot of plants for the expanded garden that was being planned and we got a lot of them in the ground at the farm, believe me the tomatoes were enjoyed much later this year. May is also a busy month for birthdays with Paul on the 4th, Phil and Joe on the 19th and mine on the 25th.  

   June. I am still working on the trailer water problem with an assist from Eli of course. We are making progress on the rot and leaking roof, luckily it has been indoors in one of the sheds at the farm, so it is staying dry in the meantime. June looks like Jan's medical month with a trip to the emergency room in New Ulm and a trip to Abbot in the Twin Cities to check on a growth in her lung. We stayed overnight at a hotel in Edina and used Uber to get back and forth from Abbot for the first time, it works pretty slick. Abbot is located in a rather sketchy part on Minneapolis and this was during the "mostly peaceful" riots just up the street from there. I had been getting in as much riding as possible and getting to a few Patriot Guard missions too.

   July. July was pretty much Jan's month for medical visits, with a trip to the emergency room in New Ulm and a return visit to Abbot in the Cities. This time it was to remove the growth from her lung. The doctor, who looked about 19, said about the growth "you will probably die with it not from it" which is a good thing. Other than that I was getting some riding in and attending Patriot Guard missions in the area. Also Aaron's birthday on the 10th.

   August. The usual assorted doctor visits for Jan and I. We did have both our son-in-law Hans home for a couple days and then Rachel for a few more. I did ride down into Iowa to look at how they have recovered from The Derecho storm that hit there in 2020. Still a mess in some places but making progress on a major storm that was practically unreported outside of the upper midwest. After I discovered that one of the B-52's that I had been on over Viet Nam in 1966 was a gate guard at Whiteman AFB in Missouri I made a visit on a warm day. I took the GT this time though. Jan and I drove to the Black Hills for a few days at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge, always a nice place to stay and dine right across the road at the Latchstring. The stay at the lodge and a gift certificate at the Common Grounds, a restaurant in Spearfish were 50th anniversary gifts from Rachel, Gen and Eli. So, thanks again you three. Rachel celebrated her birthday here on the 18th.

    September. I must not have made any note of it but sometime this Summer I got rid of a couple of bikes and turned around and bought another BMW, so I'm down one. I had another good check-up with the ENT department at Mayo and headed out on a long bike ride that was going to Utah but ended up in southern Colorado. This was to be kind of an experiment on getting fed with no teeth while on the road. Actually it did not go too bad allowing for my toothless handicap. The ride went good compared with the ride last September when I got caught in cold temperatures and snow in the Hills while making my escape from Wyoming. Our son-in-law's Han's birthday was the 5th.

   October. Jan and I did get to some soccer games this Fall and trips to the dermatologist more than once to various parts removed and repaired. Other than that it was a pretty quiet month with the two of us spending some time with Jan's sister at Wadena the end of October. Not that quiet though with birthdays for William on the 14th, Jan on the 22nd and Sam on the 23rd.

   November. Started with Jan and I and the Theobalds to the State Soccer Tournament at the Viking's stadium in the Cities. Sam's team played under the lights. I rode to Sioux Falls one Saturday and the next it was cold and snowy so it's that time of year again. We had Thanksgiving at Gen and Steve's house again this year with a house full of people. It' good to be getting back to some semblance of normal. I put the Mustang away for the winter and did manage to get a bike out one last time, maybe.

    December. What a month! 10 to 12 inches of snow on the 10th and rain and tornados on the 15th! These were the first recorded tornados in history in Minnesota in December. We are living in interesting times to be sure. Jan and I are getting to some basketball games now so that's fun. We will be attending a gathering in Edina for Christmas this year again after a break last year of course. Other than that I have been doing a couple projects around the house for Jan, just some shelves and adding some lighting in the basement. It looks like I may make it through this year without another cancer surgery after two last year, a record I do not want to repeat. So we finish out this year trying to remember what we are really celebrating amid all of the hustle and bustle, anxiety and depression is Christ's Birthday. Try and relax, count your blessings and love each other as easy or hard as that might be. With any luck we'll see you next year.

        Pete Kuehl   19 December 2021

To Jan from Pete on our 50th or the Girl With the Thunderbird Tattoo

    I have been thinking a lot about how I would compose this note for some time now, for at one time I had no idea we would arrive at this point in time but here we are. 50 years married to each other, who would have thought? I think I may tell a little about our time together, how we met etc..

   I first met Jan in Ormsby on a blind date lined up by some friends of mine that knew Jan from Jackson votech school. We had a get together at Bill Peterson's home in St. James that evening and I took Jan home to the family farm near Alpha. She was impressed by my 69 Mustang Mach 1 and my collection of 8 track tapes, going from Henry Mancini to Johnny Cash. We talked a lot, which is unusual for me, listened to a lot of music and rolled unto her farm about 4 am. From that beginning we dated through the Summer and Fall and I gave her a ring on Christmas Eve before church in Ormsby in 1970, to the decision to marry on Valentine's Day the next year. To us it was why wait, we love each other and want to spend as much time together as possible, so the date was set. February in Minnesota the weather can be iffy and the night before the big day, Saturday, was not nice and we had had a lot of snow to boot. Sunday dawned clear and warmer which we took as a good omen which has turned out to be prophetic. We were married at Trinity Lutheran church in Alpha Minnesota on February 14th 1971 in an afternoon service, to a reception in the basement, to a party at the farm, to the Holiday Inn in North Mankato. The next day it was to our apartment In Waconia and then to Duluth for a night in February no less. There is a lot of filler after that with a couple long bike trips with brothers and friends and weekends back home at the farm or Ormsby until we get to the start of our second chapter, our family.

    From Jan throwing up in her popcorn at the drive in in Navarre, to Waconia Ridgeview later that night, to seeing Rachel for the first time shortly there after. Life really does change forever when you have children if you are paying attention. After Rachel was born in Waconia we moved to Saint James for a job transfer for me.

The three of us did do some traveling, camping at Nemo and visiting The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone when Rachel was a year or two old. Jan, in addition to her homemaker tasks worked a couple other jobs to stay busy. In 1978 we, pretty much she, produced Genevieve to add to our clutch of children, followed in 1980 by Eli completing that part of the saga. In addition to taking care of three children and an older individual, me, she started working at Watonwan county Human Services and working toward a degree from Mankato State part time. She graduated with honors in 2008. Jan is the family record keeper and shoulder to cry on, my confidant and lover, anchor in the storms of our lives and home decorator too. You have no idea how hard it is to try and condense 50 years together into a bunch of words on a page when the most important words are stuck in my heart and I find difficult to express with my limited vocabulary. I just want the world to know that I have been blessed with a life with a woman that I never expected would ever happen to me, blessed with seven terrific grandchildren and two sons and a daughter in law that are like our own. She has put up with a husband that likes to travel, has medical problems and is forgetful of important things but not trivia. This note is more or less random thoughts that I keep coming up with as you may have noticed. We did get to Japan twice and Germany once visiting Rachel and family with her Navy husband Hans, with many trips to the Black Hills and Colorado too. I got to thinking yesterday as we were returning from getting my covid shot, how we hold hands quite a lot while I'm driving so I get to explore her hand by feel. Silly things like that. Advice like, try not to go to bed mad at each other, watch what you say because it can't be unsaid. Today, the 14th it was -16 when I got up a little cooler than in 1971 when it was 60 degrees warmer. I think that said that this is the coldest Valentines day in history. So much for global warming. I started out trying to put down a history of our time together but there was so much packed into that 50 years that I couldn't do it justice. You just had to live it, the ups and downs, but mostly ups. Our answer is to love each other and be comfortable with one another. You only get one chance at this life so you should do your best to make your partner your main object in this time on God's green Earth. Hopefully I'll get to do this in 10 years but you never know.      

Christmas 2020

   This Christmas post will be shorter than previous years for sure, with assorted surgeries and the covid  pandemic keeping us close to home for the most part. 

   January was pretty normal with Jan and I attending basketball games for Sam, Gus, Leah and Aaron and several medical appointments in New Ulm and Fairmont. Jan was getting a knee replaced and I had another sleep study. Also typically this time of the year there was lots of blowing snow and cold and for us things started to go down hill. I had a loose tooth pulled which led to another cancer surgery in March, in the mean time I helped some with the Falcon project.

   February. Seems like a theme here, doctor appointments and basketball, heavy snow and moving snow from one location to another. I did get some pt for a sore leg muscle and a new cpap machine which was a huge improvement over the one I got years ago. Jan and I celebrated our 49th on the 14th and are looking forward to our 50th next February. Who'd a thought that was possible. Jan and I did kind of commute to Austin for Sam's basketball tournament for a couple of days. 

   March. I got to some more basketball games at Byron and Stewartville. On the 4th Jan had her left knee replaced at New Ulm by a doctor that looks like she could be in high school, that must be an effect of growing old, most of the doctors we see these days look like kids. Speaking of that, the doctor I'm looking at for cataract surgery has the same birthday as our youngest, Eli. Anyhow they had Jan up and walking the halls later on the day she had the replacement done. Just a couple days later I got to bring her home to stay. We were to Mayo in Rochester for a biopsy of the place where the tooth came out and it's cancer again, so I was looking at more cutting in my mouth. Eli got the Falcon painted a grey color with a black stripe, so that project is moving along. I was back to Rochester for some more tests, ct and pet scans and a meet with the surgeon. Looks like it should be an outpatient procedure so there is that. Anyhow Eli and I spent the night at Gen and Steve's so I could be at St. Mary's by zero dark 30. Took more teeth, part of the sinus, and a 20mm tumor out of my upper jaw and let me go home after noon. Had the 2 week recovery as usual, so both Jan and I are on the mend. Actually I managed to just get that done about the time that everything shut down for the covid panic. One bright spot, at least we had some nice weather intermittently in March, so there is that I guess.

   April. We are still recovering from our surgeries, slowly and with care. Jan's knee seems to be coming along nicely and she is back vacuuming with her regular schedule. I managed to get the Mustang out of the garage and do some short bike rides, but in the middle of the month we had a regular blizzard with high wind and 10 inches of snow. I did a shelf project in the basement so Jan had some more room to store things. About a week after the snow storm it was 70 degrees so we drove down to Ormsby to pick up supper at Bailey's, then went out to the old ball diamond to eat in the truck. As a child I spent a lot of time there while my Dad played and managed for the Ormsby softball team, today the fences are gone and the infield is getting weedy but the shelter is still up. I finished up the month with some riding on some of the toys.

   May. Jan and I on the way to New Ulm on the 4th saw the first corn sprouting which is about the earliest I can remember seeing this indicator of a good corn crop, assuming good conditions from now on. I trailered the GS to Sioux City for his Spring check up etc.. The next day we had everybody, excepting our east coast family, the DeFors, over for lunch, the first time we have been together since Christmas last year. Me back to Mayo for a covid test and back two days later to meet with the orthodontist after my March surgery for a check up. Why covid tests can't be done right here in town at the local Mayo facility is evidently above my pay grade. We got a lot of rain this month as is indicated by the frequency of the mowing of the lawn. In the last few days of May, after my 76th on the 25th, I rode my "Wyoming Loop" trip. I have done this almost every year lately. From home to Spearfish, to Buffalo, to Chamberlain and home the next day. I hit unusual weather in the Hills that trip, from Newcastle through Custer State Park it was very foggy and cold. 

   June. The first half of the month was pretty quiet, mowing lawn and running errands. Jan was mowing at the farm and I was mowing at home. I did take a run to New Mexico with the Mustang to visit some of the sites that the Longmire tv series was filmed at. I had intended to take a bike but a worn tire forced me to change my mode of travel. We had a lot more rain and Jan and I were out to the farm, with her mowing and me working on the Falcon wiring part of the project.

   July. As usual we start the month with our yearly trip to Lanesboro with the trailer to "camp" and take in their fantastic fireworks show. I did manage to get to a PGR mission at the state veteran's cemetery right up the road at Preston, it was really hot that day. After we got back home, Eli, Lindsey and the kids took the trailer over to Lake Shetek for a few days. So at least it's getting some use. I took the Mustang to Mankato to replace the windshield that got cracked near Amarillo, Texas on my Longmire tour earlier this year. I think that we have replaced windshields in almost every vehicle we have owned in the last few years. We had some heavy rain toward the end of the month 4-5 inches with flooding in the area.

   August. I made a short run out to the Hills to check out the Mickelson trail conditions. After Gen and her friends walked the whole 100 plus miles of the trail last year I was inspired to try and bicycle the distance in the future so I was curious about the surface conditions, also an excuse for another ride to the Hills. Jan and I were out to the farm a couple nights for meteor showers and planet viewing, that was fun with the gang. Jan has been out to the farm mowing grass a lot lately and I actually had my XR185 out some for the first time in years. I rode down to central Iowa to check out the storm damage from the derecho that roared through that area. It was unbelievable the amount of damage, corn fields flat for miles, grain bins in pieces scattered about and groves either flat, uprooted or tipped over. I've never seen anything that wide spread or violent looking ever! 

   September. Jan and I were to Rochester for Sam's soccer game and the next day I started packing for another bike trip, for a play by play look at my previous blog. It did not turn out so well. After I recovered from that fiasco Jan and I returned to Rochester for some more Sam and Gus's soccer games. I did make a swing down to the SAC Museum at Ashland, Nebraska with the intent of going farther west out of there, but I could not find a place to stay and ended up almost back in Sioux Falls. That's one thing this year lodging has not been too difficult but scaring up a meal indoors has not been easy. Spent several meals eating on the curb or picnic tables if they are available. Phil and Laura, Jan and I did a cemetery cruise on the 29th, which would have been our Mom's 100th. We visited Mom, Dad and Kathy's grave sites at Cedar Hill west of Trimont and Mom's parents at Welcome, and our grandparents at the Galena cemetery. It was a good day to check out headstones to try and figure out who is who and what happened at that point in time.

   October. Jan and I drove up to Wadena to spend a couple days with her sister Paula. One day the girls went shopping in Alexandria and I went out to Aneta, North Dakota where I spend some time over 50 years ago inventorying the plant in that exchange and also in the West Northwood exchange which had maybe half a dozen lines at that time, it was pretty remote. Jan and I were out to the farm some, her mowing and pulling weeds, me helping with the Falcon project. Jan and I drove over to Waseca or Officer Matson's return home from months of rehab after being shot in the head in the line of duty. We visited my Mayo doctor Martin for another check and more biopsies in my mouth and another ct scan. We did move our trailer out to the farm to get it under cover for the winter, hopefully the mice will be deterred by the dryer sheets. It has been uncommonly cold during this period with high temps in the teens and snow. I got the bad news again while I was at a PGR mission near Meriden, it's cancer, no surprise anymore. This will be number 5 or 6 I'm losing track anymore. This time it's on the lower left side and will entail removing a portion of my jaw and all of my remaining teeth. Jan and I spent a day cruising Goodwill stores in St. Paul looking for a set of dishes she saw in one of her vlogs, with no luck, but we had fun. 

   November. The weather turned nice and warm with one day hitting 80 degrees. We were back to Mayo for more information on how this round will go and I'm not looking forward to this one either. We did have some regular things going on, I got the Triumph to 10,000 miles, Jan got a new phone and the GS to 50,000 miles so there is that. On the 10th I was over to Mayo for the required covid test and on the 12th it was back to St. Mary's for the surgery. After all that cutting and sawing and stitching my mouth back together they ran me out shortly after lunch. Doctor Martin said with the way the hospital was jammed up with covid cases I would be safer at home with my anti biotics and painkillers. To add insult to injury Jan had to drive me home on roads that were extremely slippery, like 40mph in falling snow, but we made it. When we got home we found the driveway blown out by Eli and Lindsey and company, that was a welcome sight. The next major obstacle is trying to figure out how to eat and speak with no teeth in your mouth. As it turns out eating is just a matter of choosing softer foods and making sure that they are mashed up. One thing that is hard for me to deal with is the idea that I will never eat popcorn, peanuts, chips etc. again, not so much the taste but the texture of these things. Speaking turns out was not that bad either not that I was some great orator to begin with, I don't think that the hands free phone calling in our vehicle knows me anymore though. I spent the rest of the month recovering. Jan and I did celebrate Thanksgiving by ourselves for the first time ever I think.

   December. I have managed to whip up a couple of dishes that make good leftovers like 6 layer dinner, one of my Mom's favorites and chili in the crockpot. It seems like these always get better the more they are reheated and I can just shovel them in and swallow. I thought that I would be on this extended weight loss program but it's been exactly the opposite, probably indulging in ice cream frequently isn't helping. I have taken a few drives just to compensate for being cooped up and doing some bike maintenance to keep busy. I have to admit that up until my latest surgery the covid did not worry me too much but afterwards we have been staying pretty close to home for fear of picking something up while I'm recovering. I did go into Menards this week for the first time inside a business in almost 6 weeks. Jan and I will be home for Christmas too and who knows when our governor Kim Jun Walz will allow us out of homes, maybe by this time next year? Better not be. Well, it's been quite a year for sure, but this time in mid December finds our family separated but in good health and longing to be able to touch another person, not that I'm ever getting tired of holding Jan, but you know what I mean. Maybe without all of the hoopla surrounding this time of year normally we can a little more easily pay some attention to the real reason for Christmas and contemplate what His birth means for us all? So Merry Christmas and a Happy 2021 for us one and all. I hope that this time next year finds us all in a better place. Pete Kuehl 19 December 2020.

PS The end of this year finds those of us not retired gainfully employed: Hans at the Pentagon, Rachel with a new job in Lofton, VA, Scuba managing a golf course, Gen at Mayo, Eli in his fourth year of electrician apprenticeship, and Lindsey at Baileys and the City of Ormsby. All of the grandchildren, Josiah, Annika, William, Samuel, August, Leah and Aaron are hitting the books and for the most part actually in a classroom. We are blessed with a great Family!!