Hi Friends and Family,
Thanks for looking up our year end letter and an insider view of our 2024 lives.
2024 seemed like a standard year in our lives. Too much work, not enuf socializing and an effort to stay healthy, build our community and celebrate the gift of living in Minnesota at this time.
2023-24 it was a winter like no other. The World Cup Cross Country Ski race came to Wirth Park only with the help of human made snow. A miracle 6 inch snowfall the Wednesday before the race credited as “Jessie’s snow” by fans – in honor of champion skier Minnesotan Jessie Diggins. She brought the race to her home state and attracted 30,000 + spectators to Wirth Park for what Paul called “the most exciting sporting event I’ve ever seen!” Jessie stayed an extra week to win the Birkie the next weekend – a ribbon of machine made snow in a 10K loop surrounded by mud and dirt.
Paul announced he has skied his last Birkie!
After 43 Birkie finishes he has signed up for his first Kortelppet, the shorter (29km) version of this iconic race. “My goal is to enjoy skiing, stay upright, and awaken our ski community to the urgent need to move beyond snow making to preserve the sport and season we love.” As President of the Birchleggings Club (20+ year Birkie finishers) Paul is working with a group of long time Birkie skiers to promote and celebrate this important winter tradition. Now he can ski the “open track” event with Mindy with hopes of a full Birkie trail from Cable to Hayward.
Saying good bye to Jim Ahler, Mindy’s 86 year old Dad was a beautiful blessing. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease which was particularly painful for a college professor who had gotten through life on his wits. He was ready to go and family had all gathered to say goodbye. Mindy was fortunate to be there with step-mother, Cindy, and sister-in-law, Deb, as he took his last breath. The eulogy by Mindy, brother, PJ and friends can be heard here. Due to copyrights we can’t share the full service that included the choir and many beautiful pieces of music that were special to Jim and Cindy.
Dad kept his humor even to the end. This is a favorite picture of recent years.
Driving to DC this past summer for our annual CCL conference kicked off our 2nd North American EVenture (link is reverse order of blog – lots of photos there), this time to the East Coast, Nova Scotia and a wonderful reunion with Paul, Evy and Vivien, Paul’s 3 CUSO (Canadian Peace Corps) friends from his teaching and traveling days in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo in the early 70s.
Recreating the photo of their time together in Borneo. They haven’t changed a bit.
The scary night of July 13th,when we retreated to the basement for safety, changed the second half of 2024. When the storm quieted we peeked outside and saw 2 flashlights and men talking…… something was very wrong. We wandered to the front yard and found both mature basswood trees (80 and 65 years old )uprooted and covering Crocker Ave.
A wonderful 20 person clean up with chain saws and help from neighbors and the city of Edina cleared the road the next day and began a summer long removal adventure enhanced by the felling of our giant 7 trunked Silver Maple in the backyard and premier shade provider for our property. One trunk fell on the neighbor’s trampoline with minor fence damage. Fortunately any major structural damage was avoided with quick work by our tree crew.
$8,000 later and Paul decides to get his life time short term sub license so he can help out with the financial burdens for our household. Subbing is very different from having your own classroom and Paul is seeing this as a short term gig.
Then in August we said goodbye to Mindy’s mom’s family’s cabin in Wisconsin built by her grandfather and an annual vacation spot throughout her childhood (and the childhood of her nieces). It has been sold to a new family who will make their own memories there. Though it was hard to let it go, we have pledged to keep the tradition of a family week together and already have a rental reservation for next August.
Paul has found a new pathway to share his passion for building a livable future while honoring his aging reality. He is working with other elders and grandparents with Elders Climate Action (ECA) and using his decades of lobby training with RESULTS and Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) to build non partisan political will. In the wake of the recent election it’s pretty clear to us that the secret sauce lies in listening to differences, seeking common ground and using appreciation and gratitude to move the ball down the field.
Mindy continues her work with CCL including coordination of three lobby days per year with over 800 meetings with Congress in 2024 – Republicans, Democrats and Independents. She loves her amazing volunteers that get so much done to move us forward on climate action – maybe not as quickly as we’d like, but it’s forward progress that will continue into 2025. (See addendum)
As Paul’s 4th quarter of life continues more reunions and memories are cropping up like 2025 being the 50th Anniversary of co-founding the MN Frisbee Association (MFA) in 1975 with a bunch of Frisbee fanatics sailing discs over and around Thomas Beach at the then named Lake Calhoun. This year the MFA will be hosting the World Masters Disc Golf Championships July 1-5 and bringing back the Save the Children Frisbee Auction celebrating healthy kids and FUN around the world!
Our family continues to celebrate the king of our household Pickles, who at 14 years old, is beginning to hunt less and find comfort more on a warm radiator or in the summer snuggled up to his catnip patch on the deck. Pickles reminds us of the magic of the animal and plant world that surrounds us. Making salsa, apple sauce and harvesting our garden keeps us connected to the earth that provides so much to our lives together.
Wishing you a year of love and adventure in 2025. And perhaps a deeper engagement in active citizenship to heal the divisions that separate people.
onward together,
Mindy, Paul and Pickles
Recommended for Climate Action and Finding Common Ground
Addendum
This letter was written before a big change in Mindy’s work with CCL. Just after the holiday break a reorganization was announced that eliminated all the Regional Director positions (primarily for financial reasons). 7 of her closest colleagues lost their jobs – all talented, kind hearted, hard working and dedicated people. Mindy was offered a full time position continuing her liaison and lobby days work now in the Government Affairs department. So since November 11 of the 15 members of the close knit Program department have either resigned or been laid off. It’s been an incredibly difficult January filled with loss, grief, goodbyes, survivors guilt, uncertainty of place, tears, questions, heartbreak and still gratitude for what was the most amazing group of colleagues Mindy has ever had the honor to work with. February begins with picking up the pieces to provide the best experience for volunteers and moving forward the best we can on climate policy.
Regional Directors gathering in DC in June 2024