2024
2024 did not have much major excitement (good or bad) for us personally. Yeah, the country is falling apart and the world is going to shit, but that’s nothing new. The most significant change for me last year was getting U.S. citizenship and voting for the first time – after living in this country for 30 years. This change was prompted my Germany changing its citizenship law and allowing dual citizenship now.
The most fun thing Laura and I did in 2024 was a trip to visit the oldest trees(s) on the US East Coast – including BLK 227, the 6th oldest living tree in the world! This truly ancient bald cypress sprouted in the year 626 BCE in what’s now known as the Three Sisters Swamp near Wilmington, NC (see photo above).
The saddest event for our family was the sudden, accidental death of our female emu Mel. It was a freak accident that prompted a whole new emu adventure acquiring a new female emu – Adie – bringing her home from Rocky Mount, and a long, fairly dramatic journey of attempting to pair her up with our male emu Sidney.
Both Jacob and Julia started new jobs in 2024. Julia completed her Americorps service at the Durham Habitat for Humanity and was quickly snatched up by the Orange County Habitat, where she now works as a volunteer coordinator. Jacob quit his job at Freudenberg and started working at BioMerieux in the production of microbial test kits. So far they are both happy with their new jobs.
Laura was busy developing new products for her business using her new laser cutting machine. She created some very cool new products: Fridget Spinners, 3D bird puzzles, the Setting Sun game and various Christmas tree decoration – all made from laser-cut decoupage wood. In the fall we went to craft markets around Durham to sell the new products as well as some of the old best-sellers. Throughout the year, Laura also did a lot of work for the Artisan Market and Womencraft working on their websites and inventory management systems. In addition to all of this, Laura was also very active on the Amazon Vine program, where she requests free product samples in exchange for an honest product review. She get a lot of her craft supplies and tools from Vine, and she can provide detailed reviews for other customers, since she uses these products frequently.
Health-wise, we’re all doing fine (at least not worse), but we all got COVID last fall – including me for the first time! Nothing too bad, just the flu-like stuff – and we got better within a week. Over the holidays Laura Julia and Jacob all got a cold (flu?) – but I have been spared (so far). My one persistent health problem – chronic reflux symptoms – has gotten a lot better since I started taking SSRIs. I had read about how various conditions in the stomach and esophagus can cause persistent symptoms even after the acute condition has been resolved, and how there are some indications that SSRIs can sometimes improve these symptoms. I discussed this with my doctor, and he agreed to prescribe Citalopram an SSRI usually prescribed as an anti-depressant. I have been taking this stuff now for most of last year, and I can now eat a regular (light) meal after 6 PM without reflux symptoms keeping me up all night. I tried reducing the dose from 20mg to 10mg and noticed the sensitivity returning a bit, so I reckon I will be on 20mg of Citalopram for the foreseeable future. But since I am not really noticing any negative side effects, that’s not a problem.
Speaking of food and diet: in 2024 I really got into making bread. Laura gave me a earth-ware bread-baking vessel for X-mas 2023, and I really enjoyed baking bread pretty much all year. I think we only bought bread at the store a handful of times last year, but I bake bread every 2-3 days. For last X-mas Laura got me a bigger, cast-iron bread-making vessel, so I have even more options for making bread now. I order flour from Carolina Ground – a mill in Hendersonville, NC. Most of their flours are made from organic grains grown in North Carolina. I usually get their whole wheat and whole grain rye and blend it with some Organic King Arthur flour (that’s what I use for the starter). I let it rise over night and bake it in the morning. Yumm!
The fall of 2024 was the first time since 2018 that I (knowingly) consumed a significant amount of meat. In 2023, I ate a few pieces of sausage and chicken meat during my stay at the monastery.
On Dec. 01, Patou found a dead deer buck in the woods (on our property). The body was still a bit warm, and I remembered hearing two shots fired unusually close by earlier that morning. So I knew the poor animal had just very recently expired. I took it back to the house and gutted it. Then I hung up the carcass in the old horse trailer until I was able to process it further a couple of days later. Most of the meat, I cut up and bagged for Patou (abt 50 lb/25 Kg). I did, however, set aside the tenderloin and backstrap for us to eat. I was able to remove from those pieces from the carcass in a way that was hygienic enough for human consumption. Laura made a nice stew out of the approx. 8 lb/4Kg of meat. Since I mostly decline to eat meat for ethical reasons, I see no problem consuming the meat from a wild animal if I did not in any way cause or contribute to its death. I don’t know who shot the poor buck. I assume it was one of our neighbors on Winkler Road, but I really don’t know. The meat from the buck was quite tasty, although the process of removing it from the carcass was also quite messy. I am still glad I did it, but it’s not something I am keen to repeat.
Some of the things that were more pleasant in 2024 were various events:
Sri Lanka New Year
My Sri Lankan friends invited me to attend their New Year’s celebration on April 13. The lighting of the hearth and boiling a pot of milk is a central ritual to celebrate new beginnings. After that everyone partakes in a lavish meal of delicious home-made Sri Lankan food. The rest of the day, the community enjoys traditional sweets and plays games together. It’s a truly joyous and wholesome celebration.
Logan and Megan’s wedding
On October 12, Laura and I were invited to Logan and Megan’s wedding. Logan is the son of our good friends Manfred and Nancy and we were happy to see him and Megan happy together, celebrating their commitment to each other among friends and family. All the best wishes to the happy couple!
Finally, here is a photo of our Winter Solstice/Christmas bonfire.
Good luck for 2025, y’all :-)
