December 31, 2014 Annual Year-End Letter
| A windstorm has knocked out power for 20 miles from Oakhurst
to Wawona, including ours in Fish Camp...but Diane in her wisdom
encouraged the purchase of a whole-house generator some years ago, which
has been whirring away for the past 12 hours, keeping us well-lighted.
Diane also encouraged the purchase of a wood-burning stove, and that's
also doing its little job - we cook on it, and keep hot water for
tea-on-demand and, most importantly it keeps our 19 year-old Blackbeard-the-Cat
very happy. |
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2014 began with the removal of a great silver fir
tree that, before it fell ill and died, was planning to widen
itself to an extent that it would crack into our driveway, stairs,
and boardwalk, and had already begun pushing into the railing of
our lower exterior stairs. Here it is (left), limbs removed, ready
to be sectioned.
The Tree-Guy, Steve McQueen (yes, really) and his talented
daredevil crew cut and removed each three-to-four-thousand pound
section just as daintily as you please, gently lifting and
lowering them to the street. |
As they left and we stood mourning the departed fir, Diane
noticed on the newly revealed face of another giant fir, just above our
bedroom, a giant hole about 40 feet below the top of the tree. I trotted
up the road and retrieved Steve McQueen who was starting another job; he
came back, looked at the tree, and pronounced in his quiet sagacity,
"well, that doesn't look good." The daredevils returned and
after long, silent consideration, one of them cautiously eased himself
up the tree, ascending past the basketball-sized hole to the top, one
hundred and forty feet up! Wielding a chainsaw the length of your leg,
he trimmed off the branches and then the trunk itself, one foot at a
time, tossing each slice away from the house. A dark scar on the tree
revealed the cause of the hole: a lightning strike. At any time a winter
storm could have snapped that tree, and 4,000 pounds of wood could have
come rushing down through the roof of our bedroom! Note to Self: when
building a home in the forest, don't leave trees growing right next to
the house. Tom, for the first time in 28 years, did not work at The
Ahwahnee Hotel during the Wawona's annual winter closure (except for a
two-week stint). This was due to what might be called a bureaucratic
oversight which, Tom is happy to announce, was finally corrected the day
before yesterday - Tom starts back at The Ahwahnee on January 6th. January 13th saw the passing of Tom's aunt Doris, just six
days short of the one-year anniversary of her brother Ray's passing
(Tom's dad). In March we finally took our first trip to Hawaii to see
what all the hoo-haw is about. We joined our friends/neighbors Dale
& Shirley Hewlett, who shared their timeshare with us. Okay, we get it -
the place is beautiful! - but it
ain't Fish Camp, and we've got the Big Trees next door, and Yosemite
Valley, and Tuolumne Meadows, and...we like it here. Speaking of which, we took as many motor-trips to the east
side of the Sierra as possible, camped at Tioga Lake, sauntered around
Convict Lake followed by a fine dinner there. Also enjoyed a last dinner
before the departure of Jim and Mario at the Mono Inn, and a trip to
Diane's grandparents' and dad's former home of Bishop, CA. We also had a
fine visit with Diane's family at Duke's in Malibu in July.
| This was a year of anniversaries: Bicentennial of
the birth of Galen Clark (who started the Wawona Hotel in 1857),
and the Sesquicentennial of the Yosemite Grant (which preserved
Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees). Tom
performed at the official commemoration of the latter and at a
gala dinner connected with the event:
This year also marked the Sesquicentennial of the capture by
Confederate soldiers of Tom's great-great-grandfather, Crampton
Williams, a musician in the Union army - he spent the remainder of
the American Civil War in the infamous Andersonville Prison. This
Christmas Eve, upon lighting the Yule Log at the Wawona Hotel (a
first - the beginning of a Wawona tradition!), all the guests
raised a glass to commemorate the Centennial of the passing of
John Muir, also raising their voices with a rousing "Auld
Lang Syne" in tribute to the great Scot. |
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Bopp o'Lanterns by Diane
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It was a nasty fire-season; much effort was expended
removing pine needles, branches, and drought-stressed trees from
the yard, preparing for a quick evacuation if necessary, and
removing all our valuables into safe-deposit boxes.
Fortunately for us, the many nearby fires stayed away; others
we know were not so lucky. |
Diane taught yet another semester of college art, sold
prints of her artwork in Yosemite and online, and worked away with
Tom at endless home projects. Tom continues his history research,
closing in on his goal of writing and publishing. We continue to
pursue our dream of downsizing and moving to Wawona - so if you
know anybody looking for a splendid all-season house perched at
the edge of the most beautiful place in the world, send 'em our
way! We wish you all a Happy New Year full of goodness and love. Tom & Diane
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In the Great Lounge at The Ahwahnee, Dec. 2014 |
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