DEC-B-4
PHASE II OF MICHIGAN VISIT:
GRAND RAPIDS FAMILY REUNIONS AND
CHRISTMAS PARTY,
And visits at each sister’s house, and Tom and Sheri’s new house
December 13—15, 2002
What a wonderful family visit and Homecoming at this Christmas time of year!
I arrived late because of my overtime stay in Detroit, but after a three hour period of cooling heels, among a group of preening young girls from a Colgate athletic team returning to Des Moines from the same ORD gate from which I would be leaving for GRR, I was picked up by Doug and Milly in their new wheels.
They have a brand new model of a vehicle which is a cross between a van and SUV, the new Honda Pilot. It is front wheel drive with a slip differential that changes it to all wheel drive if it spins at all, which Doug may need in pulling his boat trailer. We talked about various cars and trucks since I may need to replace the Bronco soon and also may need a diesel powered truck to pull a horse trailer, so I looked at a few while in Michigan. The bottom has fallen out of the used truck market, since, with zero percent financing, everyone is buying the fanciest new trucks they can imagine, and the older ones are standing around in price reductions.
Doug and I also went to a shop called Van’s, a total commitment to a niche market of outboard motors, where he had his winterized to keep it purring along for a good year coming up in which he hopes to be doing a lot more fishing. His primary business is almost for sale now on its third go with a large cash-flush Muskegon business prepared to buy it, so then he can go back to half time with his one remaining partner, Jerry Maring, and each can work on the Sound Off motorcycle part business, which had been dwindling with lack of attention, but still exhibited an 8% growth last year, with a lot more if there is effort put into it. His third partner is on his way to China to fix a problem of parts they use not coming up to US specs, and then they will be dissolving their ownership of the police light bar business which has continued to appreciate. I saw the new shop space they are renting to house the Sound Off Systems, as each of the two partners are now going to do some more richly deserved fishing.
GEELHOED NEWCOMERS
MAKING THEIR FIRST APPEARANCES
We went to Muskegon to visit Brenda and her newest of three sons Paul Daniel, whom I bounced a bit between the feeding by Mom, and the diaper changing and dish washing and kid feeding by Grandma. Gwen also came over with Britta, last year’s double header newcomer, when I met her (first of Milly’s granddaughters) and Kent and Amy’s new baby, with newcomers expected by both Gwen and Amy in the next months. In addition, at the Christmas party in the evening, I would meet Cheryl (Griffioen) Chambliss’s new baby boy Trinidad Jay, and Amy (Snoeyink) Vredevoogd’s new son Ryan Scott. So, there are lots of new little kids to meet and greet and even more still to come in the Geelhoed clan out at the third generation range!
I picked up a couple of little things I needed, like punched paper reinforcements that I could not find in DC, and a Runner’s Training Log, and presents for the twins UPSed to Texas and for the Gainesville grandkids, UPSed to Florida. I also had a short time in the almost warm, and nearly snowless afternoon to run around Hager Park from Milly’s house.
THE CHRISTMAS PARTY 2002
Each of the four siblings were present (we now representing the “old” generation) with my flying in just a few hours after Martheen had, in making an unusual solo flight from Denver for the event, with Don flying in after preaching Sunday to remain through Christmas with all the grandkids they have on Tom and Sheri’s side with the new one from Cheryl; they will fly back to an extended stay in Denver on January 1. Thanks to a lot of effort and planning on Milly’s part—in organizing the place and decorations and program, and Shirley’s part ---leading the kids in the Christmas story, games and gifts, all of the kids had a wonderful time and were enriched in goodies and the Christmas spirit. They could decorate Christmas cookies, and get gifts along with everyone present, but an ever-favorite event, the fishing pool—so that they could fish for gifts that Milly and all had selected and wrapped. I contributed a few gifts from far away, and was genuinely surprised when Milly handed me a big box all wrapped up. I had actually forgotten, since I thought it would take a lot longer to complete, but I opened it to see the splendid quilt she had made out of my running tee shirts from the marathons, and also a second one for a sofa cover. Wonderful! I cannot wait to show it off! It makes it worth running all those many races!
I set up a small display of one photo album only—that was the most recent volume XII for this year, since I could not take the usual picture story of the year in photojournalism, since that, I found out while packing, would be 128 pounds of pictures. I had a high tech solution: I had spent several days putting pictures into a slide show on the C-drive of my laptop, and a separate collection of photos from Malawi on a series of five floppy discs. Before people arrived, I plugged in the computer, and opened the C-drive with its 100 picture summary of the year, that whomever wished could review. I then opened up the A-drives of Malawi pictures and the computer refused to re-open the C-drive slide show, saying it was on a non-existent “D-drive”. So, if one lives by this sword, one will surely perish by it in a high-tech flurry!
VISIT TO GRIFFIOENS’ IN THREE PLACES
With Milly bringing me to Shirley’s house (where we DID see the Malawi pictures at least) I went on to Martheen’s house to visit there. We then drove up to Belding to see Tom and Sheri’s new house. Ten acres of mostly woods, with some of it cleared for the pole barn with a new barn to be built this summer near their drive. They have kennels for the five dogs, and five cats, and the paddock for the five horses, with two two horse trailers and one big fiberglass four horse trailer. They have two large multistall garages where the buggy is stored. And they have a big pool in the backyard that all but one of the kids has learned well how to use in the summer. They can go “hacking” right out from their yard through the state land that is a hunting area on two sides of the property. They have already done a lot of work on the house and have more to do, but it is a very nice use of the space for their growing family.
Tom, Aubrey, Drew and I went out hunting. I went with Drew through one patch of woods, crossing tracks of coyotes—a new event n Michigan—and fox, deer and a lot of turkeys. Tom and Aubrey were staked out at the intersection of the cleared out woods for two power lines to run through, and, just as planned, Drew and I pushed out tow does right out past them. Since there were no bucks, Tom did not shoot, but on the last outing with 11-year old, orange-clad Aubrey at his side, he shot a buck and she participated in the whole ritual, just as Drew had done with the big 11-pointer the week before. But, they still have freezer space, and muzzle loading season will run a few weeks longer with all the public access land that they ride through in summer available to them. Drew has a new beagle that will help him hunt rabbits, and there are good opportunities for the future for a hunt with Uncle Glenn when I might take them—possibly with Donald and Andrew ? –off on a caribou hunt, or a spring bear hunt. We will see, and make some plans when they make the mandatory pre-school visit to Washington DC that all kids must do.
We returned to GR to then visit Cheryl in her big new house in s suburban division near the Beltline. We drove under the “Calvin Crossing” the multi-million dollar overpass, heated and A/Ced connecting there two sides of the campus on either side of the Beltline. Cheryl and Tyler were home in their new house and she was entertaining a cherubic Trinidad, or “TJ”. We saw the professional video of her big and very fancy wedding, which was held in La Grave CRC when I was off in the Himalayas.
I returned with Martheen and Drew and Aubrey, and we went to Sherman Street CRC, where I saw my cousin Tom Geelhoed who had met me “On the Run” in the River Bank Run two years ago, and a few other people who all know and remember me much better than I do them.
After dinner with Martheen and the grandkids, I came to GRR where I had to take the cameras and film out of the suitcase because all of it would be ruined in going through the big new scanning devices they have for checked luggage—whereas, presumably, the same film cache and its cameras can be carried on the plane. I am headed now to the next phase of my Chicago visit, the Christmas program at Del Rio which I will get to by two taxis and two trains after I fly into O’Hare fro a good Phase II in Michigan to Phase II in Chicago!