Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Christmas Letter From Nowhere


Dear Everyone,

Today has been the best day yet since we alighted in Telluride. Ah, what a rich sojourn it has been. We awoke this morning to the pit-pat sounds of artificial raindrops in our indoor biosphere. So enchanting, but one does get used to it.

And my, it has been a busy and fruitful year. Little Loren is doing terrifically well in her last year of pre-boarding school. We all can't wait for her to take flight at last, though it will be bittersweet for me, at least. My little girl-- a chip off the old (not too old!) block, I'm sure! Can't wait to get away from Mummy, and then can't wait to return and show Mummy what she's learned! (But not everything, of course!) Grandmama visited this last month for our Thanks-giving and alas, she and Grandpapa shall return forthwith for the solstice. They beam with pride at the progress the children have made!


Early this year, Ben my hubby sent us off from Taiwan with a sweet kiss or two and an organically-sourced picnic lunch for the long plane trip, which I must say was the source of a fine and long-deserved sleep for me! Our deluxe pod was comme il faut. I shall have to complain to the senior vice president of conciergerie.


B continues to do well, I believe, at the firm with his busy, busy, never-ending job, and his packed social calendar. They are a tight group, that firm. I don't know how all those consultant girls stand it with only one of him around!


But we left just in time for the hot season to commence without us, and commence it did, I am told by B and other sources. I shall miss our townhome, but the summer sultriness, not much.
Ah, well, so it goes-- the seasons, the seasons... Telluride, on the other hand, has been crisp for us for the duration of our stay, though at times the sun sets and we have a little 
nightfall. Miranda goes down to the cellar to fetch us just the right bottle at such times. What a dear she is, worth every penny. I gifted her a non-GMO apple today-- I have always been generous!

The winter has been quite a busy one as well. First it gave us un petit hailstorm, which left the slightest dew on the garden afterwards; later, the soft powder snow which seems to ever renew itself and is with us now, fluffy and driven as ever. And what of the snow?! The ski slopes have been ripe, and we have sampled! I must say, Taiwan does not measure up in the winter sport department!

We have been eating moderately well, always in modest portions, of grass-fed artisan beefs from our local boutique ranch, mustard greens, topiary cactus flowers, evergreen sap preserves, fair-trade shade-crown cacao, olives, coriander, and the occasional fromage souffle. C'est la guerre! Whatever is in season, we are a slave to the local farming concerns!
Just the other day, L and I had lunch with Jose Fenugreek, a young oyster tycoon, rather ageless, who winters here and has invited us to his Tokyo estate. Perhaps we shall trouble him next spring, for I shall be on a mission yonder for the girls' shopping. Must stock up for Aubergine Prep while the getting's good!

My Welsh open-knits have fared very well, and everyone in town asks where I get them. It breaks my heart to think of old Mitzi straining away in the attic atelier while we basked in the hearth of the cottage all those years. So sad about her. But my, am I warm now!

B's supervisor at work has begged him to lunch with the President on several occasions now. Yes, THAT president! You know what Papa always used to say about friends in high places... Alas, B has been much too overworked and the spa is calling. Lucy brought home a trophy last week for Most Creative Overall Project in the regional science fair. We weren't sure she'd make it so far this year without Daddy's careful tinkering on her display, but my wee spawn has proven herself blood of my blood once again!


At this moment, I sit with my legs a-dangle from the unbleached raw cotton hammock adorning the winter ballroom. A little Chambord, another Creme de Cacao... we soldier on.


Missing you all terribly. Do come visit at your soonest convenience.


Kisses,

Tippy

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