It is New Year's Eve, and we are about to ring in 2002 from a beautiful castle high on a mountain. We
know this castle well; part of our wedding ceremony was held there, and we have celebrated the past three New
Year's there. Last year our friends Douglas and Eva Scott joined Andrea's parents and us, and together
we watched fireworks displays in Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein and Switzerland. This year, it will only
be the Weiders and us, but thoughts of our family and friends will fill us as we reflect on the past year.
And what a year it has been. It started in Austria, took us to Venice for Carnival, and permitted a remarkable inaugural voyage through the Canary Islands aboard Sea Cloud II, where we saw old friends and made some new ones, too!
Back to Asheville on April 1, where we readied our garden for the coming year. This year was a little different, though--we faced a plague of bears. There were bears everywhere: in the garden, marching up and down the driveway, on our balcony and in our birdfeeders. At last count, there was one enormous male, maybe a 500 pounder, 2 fine females, and at least 3 cubs. We had to bring in our birdfeeders at night, and the bears were with us all summer.
In June, we drove
to Florida to visit with my mother and father in their handsome new digs. Asheville again in July,
where we again enjoyed the street festivals and music. 
We spent the month of August in Bregenz, and it
was reported to be the best August in a decade, weatherwise. We rode our bikes everywhere--didn't even bother to get
a car--and began a daily workout routine at the Fitness Center. (Well, I say we drove our bikes
everywhere. We, I find, are pikers. Steven Stern, youngest son of longtime friend Henry Stern,
spent 10 days with us and brought his mountain bike. He rode miles and miles every day, up and down
mountains on steep, rocky, rough mountain trails in Austria and Switzerland. He rode a day or two with
Hans, Andrea's brother-in-law and an expert biker, and managed to impress even him. I think they are in
the preliminary planning stages of a cross-Alp trip this coming summer.)
September and October were spent in Asheville, of course. It was a stunningly beautiful Fall, and we
enjoyed every moment of it, September 11 notwithstanding. We joined a new fitness center--Visions--and
worked out every single day. We also took martial arts classes three times a week with our friend, Grand
Master Roger Jones. By now we were getting into pretty good shape! 
We headed for warmer climes in November, making our first-ever "visiting" trip to Florida. We stayed a night with Douglas and Eva Scott (except for Douglas, who forgot), a night with my cousin and his wife (Artie and Kathy Rushlow), and a night with our old friend Ed Claggett and his delightful wife Jackie. We arrived in Lighthouse Point on the 4th and enjoyed a week with my parents before flying off to Costa Rica for 10 days, courtesy of Delta Airlines. (I mean literally; they paid for the flight because of an earlier screw-up.) This was a truly remarkable trip, more than fulfilling our every hope.
Back to Florida and a great party in Miami with Walt and Kathy Loy, our new friends Ira and Shari Shaver, and many other folks we had met aboard Sea Cloud or Sea Cloud II. We also had our first Thanksgiving in years with Mom and Dad before flying off to Bregenz on December 3rd. First, though, we made a brief stop in Asheville so Andrea could have her braces removed. How rewarding! Her already beautiful smile is even more radiant.
Christmas here was busy. But we took time to watch the Russian Ballet perform Swan Lake in what has to be the most memorable performance either of us has ever seen. We are proud, too, that we were able to stick with our physical improvement discipline.
So here we are, ready for a January winefest in Dijon, France, a January trip to Munich to see "Holiday
on Ice", a quickie to Geneva for the big auto show, a late March week in Paris where we will see my old pals John and Sue
Hughes, and whatever else 2002 dishes up.
We are in great shape and great health, and filled with optimism for the days ahead.
Read an earlier newsletter
|
011-43-5574-31534 phone & fax.
|
