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2004 Olson Christmas Letter
The
other day we were driving downtown in Calgary when Ana spotted a
sight that brought back some memories and raised a few
questions. It was a spectacle that we’ve seen many times before
in many countries and have never understood the reason for it or
the origins of such a strange thing. As we drove through
downtown Calgary we passed under a power line and Ana pointed up
in the sky to a pair of sneakers that had been tied together by
the laces, skilfully flung in the air and were now hanging
insolently from the wire. Who would have done such a thing with
a seemingly functional pair of sneakers? Most importantly, why? Was it possibly a sign or signal from some sort of secret
fraternal band of shoe flingers? Or perhaps just a joke? The
curious thing was that we’ve seen sneakers hanging in power
wires all throughout the globe, from El Salvador to Argentina,
beside dusty country roads and in major centres, more often than
not co-roosting with local birdlife. As we pondered the oddness
of it all, we looked back to our little son Magnus in the back
seat and I said, “Magnus, perhaps someday you will solve this
mystery. There is so much out there for you to discover.”
In this midst of this
discussion with Ana I realized that we plainly have not settled
down, and probably never will. We are currently just on the
Calgary leg of our adventure and it seems that every experience
we have and the things we see and do somehow relate to something
we’ve done before, but at the same time point us in a particular
new direction.
This year in our
adventure was a special one - we picked up a new passenger named
Magnus and the twinkling in his eye tells me he’ll be a willing
explorer. Magnus’ arrival was much anticipated by family and
friends and, besides being a week late, he didn’t disappoint! What has it been like having a baby? Well, besides a lot more
clutter around the house (swings, bottles, bibs, bouncy chairs…)
things for us honestly haven’t changed much. We have a baby to
love and a baby who’s a great traveler – by his fourth month
he’ll have made five round trip flights and covered four
provinces. Not bad for a drooler. He is such a well behaved baby
that we’re able to take him out with us pretty much anywhere.
The year in review. Working for WestJet definitely had its advantages. We made a
number of weekend trips – to Ottawa, Montreal & Quebec City,
Victoria, Vancouver and several to Brantford and Saskatoon to
visit the new ‘grandparents’ – all six of them, plus two
great-grandparents! We had two longer trips – one to Tofino on
Vancouver Island which was meant to be our last big trip as a
childless, carefree couple. Now we’re just carefree.
The second was a
houseboat trip to the Shuswap Lakes in BC with the extended
Olson gang. It’s a trip we’ve been talking about for years and
we finally did it. The weather was great, boat was superb and
brews were plentiful. There’s nothing quite like sitting in a
hot tub drinking beer and catching rays as you’re cruising down
the lake.
Toward the end of the
summer Ana was getting pretty curvy so we spent quite a bit of
time at home enjoying the sunshine (when there was some) on our
patio. Having the Bow River in one’s backyard is a good
excuse to learn how to fly fish so I kept busy with that and
have the scars in my back to prove it. Ana isn't into the
fishing like I am but she often joined me and acted as spotter
for all the passersby helping them dodge my uncontrolled
casting!
I also changed jobs and
began a contract with Shell in September which has turned out
very well. I work with a great project team and am thrilled to
be able to walk to work when it's not too cold outside. Ana is a star mommy and keeps very busy
at home and cruising around town with Magnus as her preferred
passenger.
All in all a wonderful
year!!! We are looking forward to 2005 and all the adventures
and joys it will bring.
Wishing you a great
holiday season and a healthy and happy 2005!
Love,
Kris, Ana, Magnus
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