2004 Christmas Letter

December, 2004

Hello from Terry the Turtle,

My name is Terry, and I am a Painted Turtle. I live in Lake Owasso, and the reason I am writing this to you is that my distant cousin, Snappy, contacted me through the TurtleNet (somewhat like the Internet, but at Turtle speeds) to let me know what he had observed and heard from some of his Turtle acquaintances there.

Snappy lives out at Turtle Lake, in Shoreview. Normally, things are pretty peaceful there. Snappy has been around a long time, and over 50 years ago, there was a young human family who lived on the north shore of the lake during the summers. One of these humans, the boy named Robert, used to swim a lot, and he would swim underwater and catch turtles with his bare hands! The news spread quickly among the turtles so they became very wary.

The summer of 1951 was the last time any turtle at Turtle Lake had recognized Robert. They knew him by his smell, because, as you know, turtles are reptiles and reptiles have a very keen sense of smell. So, they remembered him well. Just imagine the consternation this summer when their worst fears were realized – Robert was back! He had brought a boat, and with his friend, Doug Blomberg, he toured the lake on the boat. They knew Doug, because his family had had a cabin on the lake for many years.

So that news came to me, Terry the Turtle, over the TurtleNet, because we in Lake Owasso already knew about Robert from his exploits here. Now, I have to tell you about some of the more recent goings on in the Kelsey Family household during the past year, in addition to the trip to Turtle Lake.

Robert spent the spring quarter teaching the computer language C++ at Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie. It was a great learning experience for him, and a challenge. It was also a lot of fun for him to have almost weekly times with his brother, Alan. Unfortunately, the school decided to discontinue teaching C++ so that was the end of his teaching, at least for now.

Stephanie has returned to the ways of the working person. She is now employed at American Express, which bought IDS where Robert had worked for a total of 15 years. Stephanie has to leave early in the morning and doesn’t return until late in the evening.

Mother Kelsey is still living with Robert and Stephanie and still as busy as ever with her activities and visiting friends and relatives. Fortunately, her health has stayed very good, although her vision and hearing are deteriorating, especially her vision. However, she doesn’t let it slow her down. We turtles have to be careful, because the bus comes three or four times a week to pick her up.

	As opposed to this winter, last winter we did have some snow…
There were two really big highlights in the summer of 2004. The first was Robert’s 45-year anniversary reunion for his high school graduation. What Robert can’t understand is where all those old folks came from. He’s just a young kid, yet, and all these old fogeys with whom he was visiting don’t fit with his idea of how old he is.	The second was a family reunion Robert and Stephanie hosted at their home. It was a lot of work, but a wonderful time to see so many family members who took the time to come and visit.
	Another highlight for Robert was a trip to Stockholm, Wisconsin to visit Carolyn and Nikolas. Carolyn had some artisans set up shop in her yard, and there were many activities down by the river. The riverboats were supposed to stop, but they didn’t, but we did get to see a steam-powered train come roaring through Stockholm. Robert had a lot of fun doing things with Nikolas, his grandson.
In August, Robert went to the State Fair and rode on a Fire Truck in a parade with grandchildren Tyler, Paige and Emma. Then David joined them and they had a wonderful day at the State Fair. It was about as beautiful a day as you could imagine, and then add cotton candy, Tom Thumb miniature donuts, and all kinds of other treats, plus rides for Paige and Tyler, and it was a spectacular day.
	This year, Robert and Stephanie did not do much traveling. They did hook up their Bambi to the Suburban and were gone over the Labor Day weekend. They went up to northern Wisconsin to visit Bayfield and see Lake Superior, camping in a National Forest. On the way up, they stopped to visit Robert’s cousin Harland at his farm to offer their sympathy after his barn had burned down. On the way back, they stopped at Hinckley to visit the Hinckley Fire Museum, but it was closed on Mondays.