Harris-Field Holiday Letter 2023

 

Harris-Field Holiday Letter 2023

 

Greetings to our extended family, our dear friends and those close to us both physically and in our hearts. As usual, our holiday letter is getting distributed in early 2024 as the end of 2023 was hectic but that is a good thing. 2023 was a rewarding year in so many ways and having all of you in our lives was no small part of that. We want 2024 to continue the best of 2023 and look forward to sharing it with you.

The good things about 2023 started on December 29, 2022, when our son, Evan, got engaged to the wonderful Taylor Short at the Big Sky ski area in Montana. That event created a glow which infused the entire year despite the fact that Evan and Taylor put an information embargo on wedding plans until the middle of the year. We now know they will be married next December in Montana. We also gained another granddog, a Bernedoodle not coincidentally named Montana. Montana was born in Utah on the day they were engaged, and Elizabeth raised Montana until he was old enough to move to New York City.

As most of you know, we lost our beloved Doodle, Bella, last July. The consolation prize is that we can travel without boarding fees or imposing on neighbors. The highlight of this year’s travel was three weeks in Italy touring the length of the country. We continued to explore North Carolina visiting Winston-Salem, Brevard, Black Mountain and other towns. We went to Spartanburg, SC, and Louisville, KY, for Barbershop Harmony conferences. The Chautauqua Institute, where we spent three weeks this summer, continues to be our annual, spiritually refreshing retreat.

While the trip to Italy was the trip of a lifetime in terms of experiencing beauty – exquisite countryside, diverse architecture, and priceless cultural treasures – the most meaningful trip was a Pilgrimage to the sites on the Civil Rights Trail in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. Over fifty people from our UU Fellowship, accompanied by two ministers, traveled by bus to multiple historic sites including the Edmund Pettis Bridge.  Each day started and ended with a gathering service to process the emotional connections which we all felt to the people and events commemorated.

Michael’s 50^th Reunion was celebrated at Cornell in upstate New York this summer, so we decided to just keep driving and tour the major cities in eastern Cananda including Quebec City, Montreal, Montebello, Ottawa, Kingston, and Toronto. We like quirky things and retuned home by visiting the world’s largest cuckoo clock in the Amish village of Sugarcreek, Ohio.

This year was a year of doing things for the first time; for example, at Chautauqua, Lenora and I rehearsed and sang with the choir for the Sunday services, Michael’s first time singing in choir robes. Michael sang onstage at the Barbershop Harmony International Conference and had his first speaking role on stage in a CP Performing Arts production of “Old Hams”.

We remain active in our UU Fellowship albeit not at the level of previous years. Lenora serves as secretary for the Foundation Board and Michael continues as a Worship Associate. Both of us sing with the Eno River Singers, the SATB choir.

Lenora sings with the Concert Singers of Cary when the travel schedule and rehearsal schedule allow. The choir had an interesting fall season with two guest conductors pumping new energy into the choir’s performances.

Michael missed singing with his Doo Wop group in their annual concert due to travel but had a busy year with his Barbershop Harmony chorus. He is the treasurer for the group and he and Lenora enjoyed attending the BHS International Conference in Louisville, KY, this summer. The chorus had a busy Christmas season performing their holiday repertoire for five concerts.

Healthwise, we are both fine although the year did start out with our Florida trip cut short by Michael needing urgent care. We did make lemonade out of the situation by trading a lost day in the Everglades for a day in St. Augustine (a win) and getting an interesting life story by wandering into an upscale Botox clinic’s New Year party by mistake (double win!)

Both children are doing well. Elizabeth is completing her last year as a postdoc in Salt Lake City. She is making the world a better place as a foster parent and a board member for an NGO helping foster teens. Evan, as mentioned, is engaged and living in New York City where both he and Taylor are employed in finance roles. Evan is making the world a better place by brewing beer. Although he is a senior director of Finance for Anheuser Busch, his mother would prefer it if he were driving the Clydesdales! 

2023 brought us much joy mixed with the reality of losing friends and other sadnesses. We are in the phase of life where experiences are more important than possessions. We ended 2023 with a trip to New York City where, in addition to babysitting our granddog, we saw the Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera, a Christmas show at Carnegie Hall and five Broadway shows including ones with Danny DeVito and Josh Groban. We were on the fringes of Times Square for New Year’s Eve; however, we went to bed before the ball dropped.

Michael continues with his writing, composing both long form and short form essays. He completed the first draft of his memoir, an 85,000-word compilation of 40 essays on the theme Secret Keeping.  The 180-page book, sprinkled with pertinent cartoons and insights, is out for review by a few tolerant friends. Multiple other pieces were published or are in the process of being published, and one essay made the semi-final cut in a writing contest. Some of his recent works are posted to his blog, just enter www.MichaelEField.blogspot.com in your browser.

We treasure our connections with each of you and look forward to a 2024 which brings us more – more friends, more experiences, and more life with all its intriguing realities.

 

Love to all on the cusp of the New Year,

Lenora Harris-Field and Michael Field