Christmas Letters

 

Below are links to download my Christmas letters.  All are in pdf format.  They vary quite a bit in length.  And in 2003 I seem to have had a writer’s block.


1995:   

Ecuador, Galapagos, England, China, Hong Kong and Macau


1996:  

Italy, England, UP, Chile, and Rapa Nui (Easter Island)


1997:   

Peru (including Amazon), UP, Belgium, Scotland, and Australia


1998:   

India, England, UP, Ukraine, Bolivia and Brazil (illegally)


1999:   

India, England, UP, Ukraine, Mallorca, California and Japan


2000:  

BIGGEST: England, India, Ethiopia, UP, US West, Chicago, Traverse City Ukraine, and West Australia. I am working on re-uploading this one after reformatting it. 


2001:   

Brief: Ecuador, Paris, Virginia, UP and Ukraine (twice)


2002:  

Brief: Southern Chile/Patagonia, UP, Ukraine, and Australia


2003:   

Sorry, bad case of writer’s block!


2004:   

Very brief: Not much here, really!


2005:   

General news and my trip to India, with a few photos thrown in


2006:   

Family, friends and travels to India, the UP, Ukraine and Australia. This is the “short” version with photos. Unfortunately, the original pdf I created was 123 MB.  I created a compressed pdf, which is only about 7MB, but not all browsers/OSs seem able to download it. You can read it here if you like, instead. (Note: photos keep disappearing from this page.  I don’t know why – it may just be too big.  I will have to re-do it later.)


2007:

Considering how little I traveled, I sure wrote enough about it.  I wandered around Michigan a bit, and spent time in Ukraine.  That’s it.  But I did get to redo the web site and made lots of pysanky...... This link is to the is to the text only version of the letter.  I have added a version with a few photos, and the link follows. (Remember: if you don’t want to learn all about Ukrainian electoral politics, you can skip that section.)

Text with Photos (Web version)


2008:

Much like 2006, but without the Australia part.  My dad had heart surgery, l limiting my fall travel to Cleveland. Extensive travels in Ukraine, though, as I got to wander about the internaty of Volyn for several days, as well as finally visit the last of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine.  Only the plain pdf up so far.


2009:

I’m afraid I got a little carried away, and what was supposed to be a fairly brief 4 pager turned into a 17 page missive (although it’s only 16 if you don’t count the poem). 2009 was a miserable year politically (at least after the Inauguration), economically, and personally––I lost several good friends. But I spent time in India, the UP and Ukraine, including a fantastic summer camp.  If you’re not in North America you’ll want the A4 version (below, 16 pages) for printing.

2009 World (non-North American) A4 format


2010:

I managed to keep it short this year; two pages with brief descriptions of my travels: Australia, the UP, Ukraine, and a bit of wandering around Michigan.  You can download it if you like by clicking on the “2010.”


2011:

I managed to keep it short again this year; two pages with brief descriptions of my travels: Nicaragua, the UP, Ukraine, Little Falls (NY) and Wisconsin.  You can download it if you like by clicking on the “2011.”


2012:

A bit longer this year; four pages with brief descriptions of my travels: Michigan, Ukraine, upstate NY and a road trip through the Midwest.  You can download it if you like by clicking on the “2012.”


2013

An incredibly long letter, considering I didn’t do all that much. Winter in India, spring in the UP, summer in Ukraine, and quick jaunts to upstate New York, Connecticut and Up North.  And one wonderful wedding.  It’s 30 pages but, in my defense, I included lots of photos and many footnotes.  The 9MB version is linked to the “2012” above; it is a lower resolution version, but quite readable.  The link below is to the higher (but not full) resolution version; the pictures are crisper looking. It clocks in at 22 MB.

The bigger, prettier version


2014:

A short letter.  My father passed away, and I didn’t travel much  You can download it if you like by clicking on the “2014.”  You can download my eulogy to my father here, and view a slideshow of his life here.


2015:

There are two versions this year; a short two-pager I mailed out, and a very long version with lots of photos and footnotes.   My travels in 2015: Michigan, Ukraine, upstate NY and a road trip to California and back.  You can download the short version by clicking on the “2015.”  You can download the long version or view it (if your browser allows) online here.  (To download, click on the download icon–arrow with a line under it–in the toolbar to the right of the printer icon.) 


2016:

A short letter of a depressing year; two pages with brief descriptions of my travels: India, Michigan, Ukraine, and upstate NY.  You can download it if you like by clicking on the “2016.”


2017:

A bit longer this year; four pages with brief descriptions of my travels: Ukraine (for Christmas), Michigan, Ukraine, upstate NY and a road trip through the Midwest.  Also kidney cancer and my brush with death....kind of.  You can download it if you like by clicking on the “2017.”


2018:

A longer version of the short letter I actually mailed out; four pages with brief descriptions of my travels: Michigan, Ukraine, and Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin.  You can download it if you like by clicking on the “2018.”





Search my site with Google




Back to MAIN home page of this site.

Back to Holidays home page.

Back to Christmas  home page.