A follow up of 2025

     This is an information blog about our previous year, 2025. I had pretty much given up on the idea of a yearly blog and wondered if the site was still in operation. This attitude continued until recently when my social advisor suggested that I needed to inform at least our children that I was still capable of semi-operating a keyboard with coherent information output. The traditional configuration is by the month so I guess that is the way I will put this on the page, so to speak.

     January 2025 This being January, it started out cold and on the 8th Jan had her right hip joint replaced at New Ulm, another joint getting replaced. So far I haven't had the pleasure, just most of my jaw and the loss of my teeth to even the score. After that we made several trips back to New Ulm for follow up appointments with her surgeon. A big day was the 20th, when Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term which has turned out to be quite a turnaround from the previous group that held the office for the last four years. We saw some temperatures below zero a few times and rebounding enough to be able to get my newest Ducati out for a run on a 53 degree day. 

     February 2025  Like a lot of the time in the winter I spent time on bike maintenance etc.. I see that this was a really cold spell for a large part of the month, with temps as low as -20 and nearly that cold for almost the first three weeks of February. At the very last week of the month it rebounded to 40s and 50s and I got another bike out of the barn for some exercise. Another theme this winter has been the lack of snow, not that I am complaining. Also had one other big event this month, our 54th wedding anniversary! How the time flies through the good times and bad not that we have had a lot of bad times.

    March 2025   I see that we had the power off virtually all night on the 4th after me out on the Duck the day before. The 5th brought us a blizzard with 50-60 mph winds and snow with the 6th moving snow. I actually got out for some PGR missions and Jan and I were running on various errands. Typically March has every type of weather with nearly 80 on the 14th after a total lunar eclipse the night before, the rest of the month was mostly nice with me getting most of the collection out of the garage. Both Jan and I had some medical appointments that we took care of in assorted locations.

    April 2025    This is the transition month as usual with rain and snow one day and 70 plus days 10 days later. Naturally I had a couple bikes out to assorted locations including a PGR mission to Willmar later in the month for another members wife passing away. Oh ya, the yearly trip to Mankato to do the taxes, luckily we have been able to have them done by volunteers, so it isn't too painful. Jan and I ran up to Lakeville to Hans and Rachels in more rain, and on the 28th we had heavy weather with a little hail mixed in just for fun.

    May 2025     This month started with a flurry on medical visits, Jan an eye exam, me to Fairmont for lab and a doctor visit, then to Mayo for one of my other doctors' visits which all checked the okay boxes. Jan and I were to Minnesota Valley Lutherans' choir concert, and I know that we were there to accompany Aaron to some of his classes earlier in the spring. On the 21st we had our eldest grandson turn 21 along with my brother Phils' birthday, only he is a little older. The 23rd saw one other grandson graduating from high school at Lourdes in Rochester, man it seems like we were just sitting through some classes with him in first grade, where does the time go! Took Fritz our BMW to Baks' BMW in Sioux City, Iowa for his yearly checkup. Other than some heavy rain things were pretty busy this month.

    June 2025    I had the newest Ducati on a ride to Bemidji to check out a company that is involved with restoring WWll aircraft, primarily P-51s. The morning, I went to their facility they were closed. Oh well, it was a nice ride on some great roads. I took the permit to carry class again to extend my permit. I see that the task of mowing the lawn continues along with rain on and off. Rachel and Will spent the night and the whole gang dropped by later on. The usual mix of medical appointments and grocery runs to New Ulm and Fairmont and Windom too continue on. We did start the task of getting the trailer ready for the yearly trip to Lanesboro for the fourth, getting everything on board and a bike too.

    July 2025    Our only trip of the year with our trailer for the fourth at Lanesboro in south-east Minnesota on the Root river and incredible fireworks display at the campground. Eli, Lindsey. Leah, Aaron, Rachel, Annie, Will and Gen joined us for a cookout and the fireworks. We had a little rain and I did get some riding done in the area which included a trip to Rushford for the Sunday paper. The rest of the month had hot and cool weather with rain etc., with medical appointments, PGR missions and a plus 100 degree day. Temperatures that high are really not that common in the upper Midwest.

    August 2025    Jan's former co-worker Belinda spent the weekend with us for the first few days of the month. I had my original Ducati, Francesca out for a run just to clear the cobwebs out her heart. After that I had more bikes out and we had more medical appointments and Leah had her wisdom teeth removed, ouch. I had one removed years ago for some reason that I don't recall but went along with them up until my surgeries removed them all. I did manage to run out to the Hills and back with my newest Ducati Vincenzo or Vinnie for short. Jan and I started getting to Gus's soccer games about here with trips to Byron and Rochester and I was doing some work on the 63 Falcon that we had re-purchased believe it or not. Oh ya we also had some rain occasionally too.

    September 2025     Hans' birthday on the 5th and Steve and Gens' anniversary on the 6th and Eli and Lindsey's anniversary too. I headed out on what is actually my longest bike trip of the year with the first stop in Hot Springs, South Dakota. I believe that i had intended to head south into Colorado but the weather ahead forced a change to Casper, Wyoming for the second night. From Casper I did my usual Big Horn loop from Buffalo to Ten Sleep to Buffalo again and spending the night in Spearfish, South Dakota and home the next day. Jan and Rachel spent a couple of days with Paula in the Wadena area visiting thrift stores etc.. Jan and I did make one oof Gus' soccer games in Kasson and we watched a lot of the Viking games at home. Late in the month we drove up to Monticello to the bike shop with my BMWG310GS and came home with a Honda NT1100DCT. I thought that at my age maybe a bike with an automatic transmission might be a good idea. I was wrong, it was a great bike on the road but maneuvering around a low speed it was a handful, sloppy drive line lash especially. That is what you get by believing the You Tube videos that praise its' handling. I did manage to put on over 1000 miles trying to get used to it to no avail. Anyhow that is about all that I have to say about this month. I did make a run up to Door County in Wisconsin on the last day of the month. That is the first time that I had made the trip. At that time of the year the crowds were not too bad, but the scenery was a little less impressive than I expected, to many trees and the traffic around Green Bay was bad. Better luck next time, I guess. 

     October 2025    Returned from Wisconsin on the first. Continued with a lot of the work that needs to be accomplished this time of year, such as covering the air conditioner and one last lawn mowing, hopefully. Running to soccer games to watch Sam and Gus dominate the field and up to Lakeville to visit the DeFors  for William's birthday on the 14th. I took a two-day run down to the SAC Museum in Nebraska later in the month. Speaking of birthdays, we had a special one on the 22nd, it was Jan's and on the 23 it was Sam's, so October is a big birthday month for us. I'm pretty sure that we hosted a football game or two on Sundays to watch the Vikings with our family members that could show up. I did manage to get a Patriot Guard mission in later in this month, although I am getting more selective on getting to all of the ones that I used to make an effort to attend. So, that about does it for October 2025.

    November 2025   This month started out with a return trip to the Hills, evidently without a bike. I'm thinking the Mustang may have made the run. I visited MVL for their annual veteran's day get together, that I imagine I may not be attending in the future as both Lea and Aaron have now graduated from that institution. I guess that doesn't mean that I could not go back again but I doubt it happening. I had a visit to Mayo at Fairmont to see Dr. Chan and we had snow on the 8th, followed by several trips to Shakopee for Jan's upcoming surgery. Warren Rhomsdahl started on the deck railing and stair replacement project that is a long overdue project. The week of the 16th was busy with a trip to Rochester to see Dr. Eli, Jan to Shakopee for surgery and an overnight stay and to home by the 20th. Gen and Sam came to visit Jan on the 22nd and the Kuehl's "ELLA" cleared some snow off the driveway etc. after a substantial snowfall on the 29th. That about does it for November 2025, so on to the last month of 2025.

    December 2025   That month was rather quiet with the hot water heater going on its butt again, an unfortunate occurrence that seems to happen with disappointing frequency here. We had snow one day with light rain the next and shortly thereafter a high temperature of -8. Jan and I returned to Shakopee for a follow up check with her surgeon and to Lakeville for Christmas with the DeFors and most of our family on the 27th. The 28th brought a near blizzard to our door and Jan to New Ulm the next day for her medical appointment. Believe it or not that about completes the month of December 2025. I guess that the end of the year found us in an upright condition and able to consume mostly solid foods, solid proof that The Good Lord has been looking out for us yet again regardless of our best efforts to not deserve his love and kindness to us all. I hope that 2026 can be a repeat of all of the blessings that we have received and none of the bad things.

 

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2024 post script

     After finishing my 2024 end of the year letter I realized that I had left off one accomplishment. Last year, even though I did not take any long distance bike rides I did manage to put on over 18,000 miles on our assortment of bikes. I think I did a lot of just going out during the day and after supper and put on some miles, better than sitting at home in front of the television. That big ass Sony is a wicked siren that is hard to ignore, with Netflix and Amazon just running over with so much material to watch. I will have to admit that it has been nice this winter without snow but cold air. As usual I'm spending time in the shop putzing with oil changes, cleaning as much as I can. I can see now, how it would have been incredible to have built a wash rack of some type years ago to give all of these machines a good bath in the winter when they are all idle. All of this points out the fact that I am running out of time to ride for many more years, and frankly I find it rather frightening, as in what the heck will I do then? For years I have gone into the winter season worried about if the ability will still be there in the spring, so far, I have made it through. I was experimenting with adding photos to this blog and got one from one of my B-52 combat missions over Vietnam. I need to find the one that I want before clicking on a photo. Today it was 53 degrees, sunny and quiet to boot, so Vinnie and I took a ride, number one for the year! Back in this note I mentioned that I am worried about my ability to keep riding in the future, which keeps shrinking. A larger fear is losing my vision and not being able to read the books that I have on the shelf. I have started re reading my John Sandford books again, it's been five years since I did this the last time. I have all of his books, there must be twenty or so, pretty good crime novels. Then I can start on the Jack Reacher series and on and on. So, what I'm saying is this if I can't ride or read what am I? Pretty much a carbon-based life form that has no function except taking up space and other people's time. Jan just had a hip replaced a few weeks ago and I'm helping her get around for a change, many times the tasks are reversed. I'm keeping busy lately. I give up temporarily on the photo insertion app.

   

  

The end of another year in my words 2024

    I have been debating actually doing a rendition of our previous year, but things are really slowing down now in the time after Christmas. I was going to use the excuse that the one finger that I use to type on my laptop was sore with a crack that I ended up patching with super glue. It works like magic for all kinds of problems. After Christmas 2023 and before the end of the year both Jan and I had a go around with covid. Hers was a little more serious and I mainly lost my sense of smell for a month or so. So, all in all, not so bad as some people I see online with long covid flat on their back for a year or so. Anyway, enough about that, let's move on.

   January... Not a terribly cold month or snowy either except a below zero day or two. Jan and I were recovering from our bout with covid and making multiple trips to New Ulm for shopping and her doctor appointments. It seems funny how now we very seldomly visit Mankato anymore due to how much worse the traffic has become in that "city". I did get the word on the 24th that my cousin Jerry Bolte and my Air Force buddy Bill Peck had both passed away. Jerry was always my cool cousin and Bill and I were both at Ellsworth with the 28th AEMS. Gonna miss them both. I did have the Ducati out for a run late in the month, so there is that.

   February... A lot more activities this month, with birthdays for Annie on the 15th, Steve and Eli on the 23rd, Gus's on the 27th, basketball at Lourdes and the Super Bowl here on the 11th. I see some snow but not a lot, assorted medical appointments and shopping trips to New Ulm and Windom. It did get into the 60s toward the end of the month, so I was putting some miles on the bikes. I did get the pickup, Buff, into the body shop to repair the damage done at the Hy Vee parking lot in New Ulm on what turned out to be a nearly six-week project.

    March... The yearly problem was taken care of, taxes of course. There were three birthdays this month with Leah on the 9th, Lindsey on the16th and Gen on the 30th. Buff got back to his spot in the garage on the 21st and with weather moderating I was hitting the road on the bikes. As is getting very common Jan and I were going to New Ulm shopping and doctor appointments for her. I think we must have gotten to Fairmont and Mankato once in a while just to balance things out. We celebrated a late Easter at Gen and Steve's on the 31st with a house full of friends and family, good food and games.

   April... Pretty much another routine month with assorted medical appointments, shopping trips, Patriot Guard missions and Jan and I to Minnesota Valley Lutheran high school. Leah and Aaron both attend there and every Spring they have "grandparents' day" so we attend. This year their big construction project is moving towards completion, and it will be a terrific facility. 

   May... This was a month with a lot of rain which led to mowing lawn on a weekly basis and flooding in the area. May is also a month with some birthdays. Paul's had been on the 4th, Josiah and Phil are on the 19th and me on the 25th. Jan's mom Bernice's birthday had been in there too, although I am not sure of the date anymore. Another Air Force buddy has passed away and his funeral was in Gettysburg, South Dakota, which I attended. I was back in South Dakota on Memorial Day to stand with the flag over the grave of Duvi Wolf, killed in action in Afghanistan. She was born in Mexico and married an American. They were both stationed in Afghanistan. I did a blog about her a few years ago if you want to scroll back far enough. Our granddaughter Leah graduated from Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School on the 26th, how is it possible she is that age already? Time fly's even when you are not having fun.

   June... This is a month of rain, lots of it. It got to the point, that if we got less than an inch it was just a sprinkle. I see several days with an inch or so and one day with 5 inches. On the 24th the dam at Rapidan failed, taking the home and eventually the Dam store too. At one time the dam was the only way to cross the Blue Earth River until a new bridge was built several years ago, which is also still closed due to damage to its supports from wash outs. On the 8th Annie graduated from high school, so now both of our granddaughters are out of high school. This time of the year I was riding to several PGR missions in the area plus just checking out the crops. The last days of the month were spent off road riding in the Black Hills with Eli and Leah for a few days. It is the sort of adventure I have been looking forward to for a few years now, three generations of Kuehls riding in the Black Hills. I know that at my age time is of the essence to get these summits climbed, so to speak.

   July... This month started with our yearly trip to Lanesboro with the trailer. It was a good get together for the family, with grilling supper before the great fireworks show and some riding for me. July also saw a lot more rain, like 2.25 inch in 15 minutes on the 20th. It was also Aarons birthday on the 10th. The month must have been fairly quiet as I don't have much noted on my calendar. I did put a new exhaust on the Kawasaki and do the usual maintenance on our vehicles.

   August... This month as usual was hot and the heavy rain that we had been getting suddenly dried up. I was helping Eli with a new roof on a pickup camper that he had picked up. It needed a little maintenance but he's the guy to fix just about anything it seems. I took Vince- the Ducati Multistrada- on an overnight run to Wisconsin and it was a beautiful ride again and turned him over to 10,000 miles. Back at home I put a new chain and sprockets kit on Tony, with over 20,000 miles I guess that's not too bad of wear. Our sister-in-law Marcy spent a couple nights with us before the Butterfield threshing bee. We celebrated Rachel's big birthday with her family on the 18th. Also had a few go-arounds with bad weather, with nearby tornados and some rain and humidity. Jan and I did make it to Rochester for Sam and Gus's soccer games at least once.

   September... I started this month with my traditional Wyoming loop. Out through Rapid to Buffalo to Ten Sleep to Greybull and back to Buffalo for the second night. The next day it's down to Wright and through the Powder River coal mines, back through the Hills to a night in Murdo. I rolled on into the house on the 5th which happens to be Hans' birthday. Steve and Gen celebrated their anniversary on the 6th, so it was a busy start to September this year. Eli and Lindsey celebrated their anniversary on the 9th to add to the goings on. I took Jan up to Rachel's home on the 13th and Jan and Rachel drove up to Wadena to spend a couple nights with Jan's sister Paula. While she was gone, Eli, Leah and I went to the bike races at New Ulm. The Flying Dutchmen motorcycle club puts this two-day event on, with participants from all over, of every age. It was pretty impressive. I did get to a few Patriot Guard missions in the area. Got plates on our 1979 185 Honda for the first time in 20 years I think and that's about it.

   October...The first day of the month was the funeral in Rochester for Jerry Kiewatt, Hans uncle and a Navy medic veteran with tours in Vietnam, Japan and Antartica. Shortly thereafter I took an abbreviated ride to Colorado. I spent a night in Fort Collins and was glad to get out of town the next morning. Not too sure who some of the people wandering around the area were, but at least the bike was there the next morning. On the run to the east that day I turned Fritzi over to 80,000. Spent the next night in Chamberline, South Dakota and was home shortly after noon. After that we had some birthdays and an anniversary. Birthdays were for William on the 14th, Jan on the 22nd, Sam on the 23rd and Phil and Laura's anniversary on the 23rd also. We actually got a couple inches of rain and some hail on the 24th with over 3 inches of snow on the 31. Not like a Halloween several years ago when we must have gotten a couple feet on snow. The 30th was our trip to Rachel's home to get a ride to the TCF stadium in Minneapolis to watch Sam and Gus win their first soccer game of the State Tournament, pretty exciting!

    November... Jan and I had a repeat trip to the state tournament, but with a not so enjoyable outcome this time. Lourdes lost that game. Sam and Gus had a good year of soccer with their high school team, and they played most of the summer too. I had two early morning checkups at Mayo on the 4th that were okay this time. The 5th brought the late news that Trump had won the vote, now if he can just make it to the presidency without getting assassinated after surviving two attempts already. I did head out to Minnesota Valley Lutheran for their Veterans Day event to meet Aaron there but turned back in heavy fog. On Veterans Day Jan and I made it to Mankato and New Ulm for the breakfast and other assorted gifts to those of us who have served this country. Another medical visit in Fairmont that was pretty much okay, except my a1c is getting up there, so I'm working on that now. Later on in November we got the pellet burner out of the basement and out to the farm. It hadn't been used in a couple years and the problem of getting bags of pellets down the steps and cleaning the chimney got to be a bigger problem than I wanted to do anymore. I had Tony out for over 100 miles on the 17th, thinking that will be the last this year and it was. We celebrated Thanksgiving at the Theobalds, with family, including Josiah home from school in Norfolk. Hans and Rachel's anniversary was on the 29th. I don't recall that it was very cold for their wedding at the Como Conservatory. On to the final segment.

   December... Jan has been taking some physical therapy lately for a sore hip and finally went in to see her doctor in New Ulm for some follow up checking. It turns out that it's her hip joint that is kaputt and needs to be replaced. She had had a shoulder repair scheduled for early January but was able to get the hip operation into the same time slot. As I am writing this in January it's like this Wednesday already. As usual I am in the usual wintertime routine of motorcycle maintenance, cleaning and changing oil, checking air filters etc.. One of my former bosses passed away recently and I attended his visitation at a funeral home in Silver Lake, a fellow Vietnam veteran saved my job more than once over the years. I used up some left-over pine wall boards on another project in the basement which meant another trip to Menards or two. We had 3 to 4 inches of snow the day before we drove up to the DeFors home in Lakeville for our Christmas gathering on the 21st, kind of a repeat of Thanksgiving. Joe made it home for that party too! Jan and I spent a quiet Christmas at home and spent the last day of the year back in New Ulm for pre-op meetings for her upcoming surgery. And that about does it for 2024.

    As far as follow-ups go, I went back and looked at some of the summations that I did in past years, and I agree with what I said in the past. Some of us made the jump to the next stage of their journey and some of us keep soldiering on  depending on Christ's promises to believers to keep this life tolerable for the most part. So, with those thoughts I'll sign off for another year. With any luck I will be pecking away at the keyboard next year about this time, if I can work up the ambition one more time. 

           January 05, 2025

           Peter S. Kuehl

   

     

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.