That
ladder would help us to mount our Christmas decoration in our
court yard.
Recent Events
2002
The year 2002 was a quiet and positive year for us. We did a lot of private travel, visited family and friends and had the impression we were constantly vacationing. Two big issues, a cataract surgery on Peter's right eye, and the dispute with one of Peter's customers regarding payment, were both settled.
We bought a long
extension ladder as one of our Christmas presents.
That
ladder would help us to mount our Christmas decoration in our
court yard.
It was quite a cold period, the ground under our entrance door to the house, soaked from a lot of rain, had frozen and swollen up to the point of actually blocking the door. We almost could not get the car out of the house entrance. That made a trip together with Peter's two brothers to Deutschlandsberg, in the south of Styria, an adventure. There we visited a relative who celebrated her 97th birthday.
The Christmas tree was decorated and set up in our
hall. This photo would become the motive for this year's greeting
card. New Year's eve we spent in a traditional Viennese way:
First we had dinner with friends and then we went to the theater.
The famous Burgtheater featured "Damen der
Gesellschaft" by Clare Boothe-Luce. To top the evening off we went to the
Open House of a cousin of Peter's. With the noise from the New Year's celebrations coming up from the street, we enjoyed
those last hours of 2001 in good company.
Since years we go to Baden to our friends for their New Years Day party. Later in the afternoon, we went to yet another Open House in our vicinity.
In January we went through the conversion of our currency, the Schilling, to the €uro. It went quite smoothly. This would become the year of politics in Austria. New elections became necessary. We have never yet been so interested in the political scene, which in a way was a hilarious disaster.
Peter's consulting work included several short trips, one to the CeBIT in Hanover. Since we went by car, we managed to visit friends in Germany. In July it was Dublin and in September Krakow for the 26th ICLP conference. Yet another project allowed Peter to cover the IQPC in Salzburg early in December, Maria was able to join Peter on that short trip, enjoying the magic atmosphere in the Christmas season. Being on your own is sometimes a rocky road. In one of Peter's consulting projects he had to fight for his money. The court case was settled at the end of November.
We enjoyed a lot of time with friends and relatives, in April friends from Taiwan came to see us. Our activities featured many hikes, nature walks and bicycle trips. One of Peter's professional associations organized interesting cultural and hiking events, the last a train trip to Györ in December.
The dreaded
cataract surgery on Peter's right eye in April turned out to
be almost a joy compared to a
visit
to the dentist. With his sight restored Peter attended his 45th class reunion in Bad Radkersburg.
He was able to see his class mates in renewed clarity.
Maria, continued her painting with some of her painter friends, a few times they painted in our lovely court yard. On the 22. June we were invited to the wedding celebration of one of Peter's nieces.
The "central" piece of our summer
travel was to New Jersey and afterwards to Seattle, WA during July
and August. In New Jersey we can never have
enough time, it was so nice to see all our friends. In Seattle we stayed in
Alexander's house. There too, time is always too short no matter how long
we stay. Activities included sailing in Alexander's boat, a wine tasting
outing to the Yakima Valley, several hikes in the Snoqualmie area and
prominently, two visits to the Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park. The second one was
with our daughter Carolina who came to join us for a wonderful week. We
celebrated her 35th birthday in Seattle.
A day after we returned to Vienna, Maria's aunt died and we just could attend her funeral.
Then we were off again for another week on our beloved Weissensee. We did our usual mixed routine of mountain hiking and bathing in the lake.
During the last weekend of September,
we always join a reunion with Peter's classmates and their
spouses in the "Styrian Toscana".
But the string of vacation trips had not ended for us. We drove to Feldkirch in the middle of October to visit Maria's sister, then proceeded onward to the South of France, to Cabasson, for the "reunion of the three couples". We had all met 32 years earlier in Princeton, NJ. Now one of the couples had bought a house in Cabasson, a small village about 40 km east of Toulon. It was the ideal location for an unforgettable reunion.
We got ourselves a home trainer to do more for our fitness. This was the first Christmas when our children sent us home made cookies in a parcel. We are definitely approaching the "virtual" family feast. On 23. December, Alexander announced to us his engagement with Summer Locke. We got together with Peter's two brothers and their families on Christmas day. New Year's eve will bring a Fondue dinner with friends', then the Open House at Peter's cousin, just like a year ago.
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