2021

I’m not sure how this letter is going to end up. We did a bunch of fun things in 2021 with a bunch of fun people. And as much as I want to tell you about every single snippet of Willis family minutia, I realize that you have a life and may not want to dedicate such a large part of yours reading about ours. But I’ll just type till I’m done and we’ll see what happens.

January

Not going to spend much of your time on our January adventures. Emily had a birthday and we all went to an Escape Room. Our first with a baby. He was useless.

February

This was not any more exciting than the month before. Jane and I got our vaccinations. It went amazingly smooth for a government project. And it didn’t hurt and they gave me peanut butter crackers and orange juice!

March

Not really sure what prompted it, but sometime this month we decided it would be fun to put up a birdfeeder outside our window. And it was fun, but also the start of a very time-consuming project. We spent a solid two weeks researching and studying squirrel physio-geometry, the study of just exactly where in space, and with what kind of auxiliary attachments, could we place this bird feeder between our house, trees, electric lines and the ground, that the Cirque du Soleil squirrels in our backyard could not consume every last bit of bird food before anything with a feather had a chance to partake. We eventually figured it out, for soon there were nothing but birds enjoying our feeder. Or possibly, the squirrels were so obese at this point, the little watermelon shaped furballs couldn’t choke down another sunflower seed! Sarabeth had a birthday this month. I thought about giving her a bird feeder. We took Evan to the zoo for the first time. He didn’t really care but it does give me a chance to insert my first Evan photo in this letter. That’s him on the right.

April

Jenny & Alan invited us down to Sarasota for a few days of fun in the sun. We had a fantastic time at a local auction. We spent the better part of a day previewing the goods at the auction house. It was primarily Mid-Century Modern furniture, art and décor with a bunch of other cool stuff thrown in. We wandered around with the catalog and made notes on the items we wanted to bid on. The auction was the next day and it was all online. So, we hung around the house and watched the big screen as the items came across. We bid on our items and won a few, bid on some stuff that wasn’t part of the plan and cussed a few people that obviously had more money than sense, or at least had more money than us. One of the fun things about Sarasota is the discovery that I have some old high school friends that are living there. (Not sure that I needed that adjective, you could have guessed.) That evening the four of us had dinner with Bryan Davidson, Bruce Bohanon and their wives Maggie and Mary. Bryan hosted and Bruce made a fine tenderloin. I brought the bourbon. We told all sorts of stories and brought each other up to date with what we knew about our old classmates. And kind of filled in the blanks of the last 40 years of our own lives. Alan & Jenny seemed to enjoy themselves. I love it when my friends get to meet my friends. A day later we picked up our auction treasures. Barb came over for a visit and that’s always a good time. Here’s a photo of us posing with the 15 designer purses that Jenny ended up with from the auction. That lot wasn’t on her list, but when the bidding started, I think she felt sorry for the handbags because no one was bidding on them. Jenny has a big heart. A couple of days later Alan & Jenny drove us across the state from Sarasota to Palm Coast. They had a cousin to visit in that area and we were going to spend a week with the Coopers at their place. And the Beckers were going to stop by on their way down the coast. We were all going to see the Cocoa Beach Air Show that weekend. But first, the 8 of us had to have dinner. And once again my friends got to meet my friends. Jane and I had never been to an airshow so we really didn’t know what to expect. But we both like things that are fast and loud, and we would be sitting in a chair with a drink in our hand and our toes in in the sand while jets fly over the ocean in front of us. Thought it was worth a try. We saw all sorts of planes and they did things that airplanes aren’t supposed to do. Like fly backwards. Really a great day! You only get this one basic plane picture though. You will note the smallest plane actually has a propeller. This was about the only time they flew slow enough for me to get a good photo. Everything else looked like a basic blue rectangle or possibly a blue rectangle with the tail of a plane on either the right or left edge. The rest of the week was spent with Scott & Liz on the golf course. We enjoyed the golf and Jane enjoyed the view. I played fairly well, aided with the excuse that any bad shot was a direct result of the rented clubs.

May

My brother Bob and his wife Jean invited us down for a mini vacation. The idea was to cross the river, visit horse country and make some stops on the Bourbon Trail. We left their house bright and early so we could take this neat little tour of a few horse farms. Our tour guide loaded us up in his little bus and we hit the road. This guy was great. He had been in the horse industry in some form for over 30 years and he knew everything and everyone. Our first stop was pretty much full immersion. We were petting horses that were worth millions, and our guide knew each one by name. I really wish I would have paid more attention when he was telling which ones would grow into big winners! The next couple of stops were more look but don’t touch, but still very interesting. It was a great time and I would recommend it to all my friends. Actually, I guess I just did. After lunch in the cool little town of Midway, we headed to Glenn’s Creek Distillery for a tour and tasting. This was in the 100-year-old Old Crow Distillery that sat empty for 30 years before some guy decided to get it running again. And we got to spend an hour or so with that guy sipping his products as he talked about bourbon and just about anything else that popped into his head. And they make a fine bourbon that I added to my collection. I’ve been to the big places for tours and tastings, and they’re fun. Corporate, but fun. This place was anything but corporate. A really different experience. Our next stop was Buffalo Trace. I’ve been there before and it doesn’t have the quaint charm of Glenns Creek. But Glenns Creek doesn’t have Weller in the gift shop. The rest of the month was fun. Emily had run out of maternity leave with just a few weeks of school left. So, Evan got to do some bonding with the grandparents. He was about 6 months old at this point and changing every day. It was great! I loved it. Of course, I was playing tennis and golf nearly every morning so it was pretty easy for me. But I think Jane was having fun too.

June

Busy month! It started with my Myrtle Beach golf trip. No rain this year! Enjoyed playing with Dave and Richard Emery. Dave brought home the trophy this year. Richard won last year. I guess next year will be my turn to bring home the hardware, which may piss off the winner, but I doubt they will chase me all the way back to Indy. Headed back to Louisville the next weekend to christen Teresa & Laura’s new deck and spend time with the family. This photo of Nancy and Donn pretty much sums up our adventure. We ate, drank, and told stories. We then rushed back to home so we could meet up with Joe & Francesca for dinner at their place. Great friends from college and we will never pass up a chance to spend time with them. This year we will entertain them at our house, or maybe at the lake. Either way, I’m still going to insist the Joe does the cooking! He’s just really good. Three days later Dave came up to the lake so we could do some fishing. That was probably the most fun I have ever had with a fishing pole in my hands. We caught a ton, and not once did I have to hand him my rod so he could untangle my line for me! We caught enough that we ate well that night and he had enough to take home to feed his church the next weekend. Though, if done properly he would have only needed a couple of fish and 5 loaves of Wonder bread. He also had the chance to meet Evan for the first time which gives me an excuse to post another Evan photo. I told you it was a busy month. But it’s not over yet. The girls decided we needed to go on a family vacation. And they wanted it near a beach so we headed back down to Sarasota. Adam and I loaded up their SUV with the luggage, 3 tons of baby gear and 2 sets of golf clubs. We left at 3 or 4 in the morning and headed south. He drove. I woke up in Nashville. We drove straight through and got there that night. The next morning, he drove to the airport to pick up the rest of the family, which included Sarabeth’s boyfriend Zach. This was going to be a fairly laid-back vacation. Mostly pool time and beach time, with great food in between. On our 3rd try we made it into “Walt’s” for dinner. Emily decided we were eating there the next day also. I really enjoyed having Zach with us. He was always willing to eat oysters with me. We ate a lot of oysters! Zach and I managed to play golf twice that week. Great courses and he played just well enough to let me win both days. I love a man that respects his elders! One day in the middle of the week the kids left early in the morning to get their Disney fix. Jane, Evan, and I took advantage of the opportunity and invited the Bohanons and Davidsons over for pizza that evening. And Barb stopped by for a visit in the afternoon. It was nice to be around actual grownups for a while. The kind with wrinkles. We also spent a day at the aquarium where Sarabeth had a chance to channel her inner manatee. At the end of the week, we took everyone to the airport, packed everything up, started a John Grisham book on Audible and hit the road. We made it back to Indy at some ridiculous hour. Just in time to start a super busy July.

July

Jane was invited by her friend Diana Sullivan to a Girl Scout fund raiser. We are yearly supporters of this fine organization. I personally feel they have helped shape me as a person, that shape being slightly round. They joined their friend Diane Billings and proceeded to enjoy the fun activities at the local camp, which included rifles and archery. And cocktails. Obviously, she had a fantastic evening! What could be more fun than an evening of vodka, arrows, bullets, and Thin Mints? And as you can see from the photo, she was quite pleased with her performance. The next weekend was spent at the lake with Jane’s family. The group included Jane’s sister Marybeth and her husband Randy, along with a bunch of kids, cousins, nephews, nieces, spouses, brothers, sisters, frat brothers, a boyfriend, and a grandkid, depending on your point of view. We really enjoyed the chance to catch up with everyone. A great bunch of family! A couple of days later, my college roommate Peter and his wife Maryann cruised into Indianapolis. They were coming through town from Dallas as part of their Midwest tour of family and friends. We went to dinner that night and then back to the house where we sat on the deck and talked till way too late. It’s neat how writing this letter gives me a chance to enjoy all this stuff a second time. We got them up early the next morning and sent them on their way. Not more than 10 minutes after they left, Scott and Liz pulled into our driveway. We loaded our suitcases into the rental car and we were off to start another big vacation. We were heading west, first to Colorado and then on to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone! But we weren’t driving out there. The rental car was to get us to Chicago where we would board our train for the trip to Colorado ski country. Jane & I had never done a train trip before but the Coopers assured us it would be fun. And they were right. We were going first class, which meant we had a luxurious stateroom. You can see about 90% of it in the photo. It had everything we needed, though the dance floor was a bit small. We really enjoyed the train ride. We saw parts of the country that we would never see. Our noses were pressed to the glass from the time we left Chicago until they said it was time for dinner. Dinner was steak and bourbon and it was good! Bedtime was next and it was an adventure. The room had what I would describe as park bench bunk beds. I climbed up top, strapped myself in and was gently rocked to sleep. It was great. And the best part was that we slept all the way through Iowa and Kansas. We woke up the next morning in Denver. After breakfast we moseyed down to the observation car and enjoyed Denver. Mountains, meadows, and tunnels. And there was always the river on one side or the other. And there were always rafters on the river that took great pleasure in mooning us as we flew by. Just for future reference, Amtrack has a strict policy about mooning them back. They even charge for the Windex to clean the window! After lunch we packed up and got ready for our stop. We were getting off at Glenwood Springs. From there we Ubered to Eagle, which was an adventure in itself, picked up our rental car and drove to Avon. We stayed at the Westin Resort where our room overlooked the pool. At this point I must point out that Colorado people are different than Indiana people. That pool and the deck around it was packed. That’s not odd. What is odd is that the people in the pool were swimming laps. Those not in the pool were lifting weights or doing yoga. And the path outside the hotel was full of runners and bike riders. And a lot of smoothie drinking. Weird group of good looking, fit and healthy people. And we were going to join them! Because tomorrow we were going on a hike! Kind of. We thought it best if we go over to Vail and take a lift to the top. Better to walk around the top of a mountain than to actually walk UP a mountain. We need to loosen up a bit. Don’t wanna pull a hammy! So that’s what we did. And it was beautiful. Mountains are really neat things. We got our practice hiking done and now it was time for the real deal. We were going to start at the bottom and hike up. We hiked the Shrine Ridge Trail. It was a couple of miles up the mountain. And then a couple of miles back down the mountain. It took much longer than it should have because we stopped so often to take pictures. And let the group of hikers that were carrying their kids on their shoulders pass us. And those 4 old ladies. And the guy in the wheelchair. Anyway, as you can tell from some of these photos, it was beautiful and worth every painful step! That evening we went to a rodeo. Though not our first rodeo, there was still a lot of things that needed to be explained to us. Like, why would a person ever want to try to ride a bull in the first place? The next day we walked through the Vail Farmers Market and I bought a duck. Then we headed towards the Grand Tetons by way of Rock Springs, WY. This part of the trip was interesting because our typical route was closed due to mud slides on the interstate. The little lady in the phone sent us through the back country. Well actually, all of that area is back country. She sent us down gravel roads that we thought was somebody’s driveway until we saw the sign that said, “State Road 10”. We saw places most people don’t see and it was beautiful. And it just went on forever. Well, not forever. It eventually turned into a Holiday Inn Express in Rock Springs. We ate at a lovely Burger King that night and headed out the next morning for the Tetons. We made it to Jackson Hole and the Grand Teton National Park early enough to head into the park and start exploring. The place is beautiful! The whole time there I felt like I was walking across the front page of a calendar. Our first adventure was a hike to Phelps Lake. An easy, very popular hike. We actually had to wait in the parking lot for 40 minutes before a space opened up. So, we are hiking along, taking pictures when this lady scurries up the trail and tells us about the bear. Really? A bear here? We’ve been in the park 45 minutes and are on a heavily populated trail and we are going to get to see a bear? Cool! We creep back down the path and there he is. Your basic bear. We took all sorts of photos and videos and the bear really didn’t pay much attention to us and then wandered across the trail and into the woods. What a great way to start the day! The other fun part of the story is the lady that told us about the bear. Coming face to face with any sort of wildlife was not her idea of fun. Let alone something that might eat her. She and her husband hiked the rest of the trail with us. They stayed pretty much in the middle of our pack. If we wanted to stop and take photos for 15 minutes like the one on the left, they didn’t mind. They’d wait. Nervously. Nice people though. From around Dallas. I ended up emailing him a bunch of our photos. The fastest I saw that lady move that day was the last 50 yards, when she could see her car in the parking lot. She jumped in and locked the doors. We were back in the park the next morning. We would drive a bit, stop for a short hike and some photos, and then hit another spot. Oh, we also saw a duck. That afternoon we drove to Yellowstone. Yellowstone is completely different from the Tetons. Yellowstone is completely different from everything. Parts of it look like the opening scene of just about any Western on TV. Rolling hills and a great meadow with a winding stream running through it. You expect to see the Cartwrights galloping toward you. Other parts look like the beginning of any sci-fi movie that starts at midnight on a bad cable channel. We stayed in the park at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. A really neat 100-year-old building that was completely updated just 70 years ago. No AC, TV, Internet or even a radio. But still classy. We didn’t come to Yellowstone to watch TV. We had mapped out a basic itinerary and supplemented it with a neat app that helped us decide whether a place was worth the effort to visit. The app also kept us informed during some of the long stretches of driving. The park is about 60 miles long and 55 miles wide. And it’s all 2 lane and quite often those lanes are covered with buffalo, which tends to slow things down since they have the right of way. The first day in the park, we wanted to see the buffalo. We kept our eyes peeled and cameras close at hand. No luck. We got all excited when we spotted a lone buffalo butt in the distance. We pulled over and snapped all sorts of bad photos. 5 minutes down the road we were stuck in a buffalo jam, surrounded by 100s of the snorting smelly beasts. Actually had to tell Jane to roll up the car window because one came so close. Neat animals, but I don’t think I will ever take another buffalo photo again. Elk are still pretty cool in my opinion. We did visit Old Faithful. Interesting, but much more impressive on the posters than in real life. Loved all of the waterfalls. Yellowstone was an amazing place with features not found anywhere else on earth. The park did have some silly rules though. Well worth the visit. We flew out of Billings, MT. The Coopers to Indy, while Jane & I headed to Chicago for a vacation.

Jane and her college friends thought it would be neat to travel Route 66 when they were 66. It just worked out that the end of our vacation was the perfect time to do it. They could postpone it a year, but Route 67 isn’t nearly as cool. After all sorts of flight delays, we ended up at the Palmer House in Chicago at 4am. A few hours later we were having breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s Restaurant with Jenny & Alan, Randye & Jim, and Barb. After breakfast, the ladies jumped in one car and the guys in another and we hit the road. We stopped at all the cool attractions between Chicago and Springfield that day. We spent the majority of the next day in Springfield, visiting all of the Lincoln sites. Not very Route 66y, but well worth the time. We traveled south toward St. Louis that afternoon, hitting more of the iconic R66 buildings & attractions. Did you know that Springfield is the home of the corndog? Randye and Jim headed home while the rest of us ended up in this nice little Airbnb in a cool part of the city. After we all met for breakfast, we spent the rest of the day hitting cool antique and junk shops all the way back to Indianapolis. One stop involved completely unloading Alan’s SUV so that we could repack it with their newly purchased treasures. It was at this point that Jane & I were actually happy that our luggage never made it from Billings to Chicago. We got home late Monday night, I took Barb to the airport bright and early the next morning and now we are ready to start writing about everything that happened in August.

August

The big deal this month was the Indiana State Fair. Our friends Jerry and Monica run the concessions year-round at the fairgrounds, along with a few other venues. And we all know how much trouble everyone is having finding help these days. They needed workers and Jane & I had free time. It sounded like fun, and we could make a little money. So, we donned the Urick red shirts and went to the fair to check IDs at the beer and wine locations. We enjoyed it! The math was easy this year. Anyone whose birth year started with a 1 was legal. The people we were dealing with were happy because they were in the air conditioning and about to get a drink. We met all sorts of nice people every day! Don’t know their names, but I do know their birthdays! And best of all, we had a chance to sample the merchandise. The other neat thing about the fair is that Jane entered some photos in the Arts building and ended up with an honorable mention. Not bad for her first try! The photo was from our trip to Connecticut that we took with the Uricks a couple of years ago.

September

Relatively speaking, this was a slow, easy month. It started with the King family reunion in Salem. Great food and a chance to get reacquainted with my mother’s side of the family. And a special thanks to JK, who filled Jane’s head with the idea of a great geode escapade through the surrounding property, and literally filled the back of my car with buckets of actual geodes from his garage. That are now in my garage. We also visited the Van Gogh Lume Exhibit at the art museum. Interesting show, but I really just mention it because I like this photo Jane took of the girls and me. Nice composition.

October

Doug & Diane were in Bloomington visiting Sue & Bob. And with fellow janitors so close at hand, others must follow. Mike & Mercedes came down from Indy and we met for lunch, a required stroll all over campus and then back to Sue & Bob’s for dinner. It was a great day and one of those fun things you can do when you are retired. We felt very special to be invited to a couple of weddings this month. A Friday and then a Saturday. Thank you all very much! Then Jane and I headed out on a little vacation, and this one was special. It was just us. And what do 2 old people do when they want to sneak off together? We went to Disney World! You know, they say it is the happiest place on earth. We spent a couple of days at the park and had a chance to do just about everything we wanted. It really is a neat place! Technologically stunning, truly friendly, and just a lot of fun. And one evening near the end of the week we had dinner with my cousin Butch and his entire family! We hadn’t seen them since our last visit in 2004, so we had a bit of catching up to do. After dinner we continued the evening at Dianne’s house. It was a great time and we hope to return the favor when they come to experience all the sights and sounds of Indianapolis!

November

Last year Marky and Donn invited us to Louisville to help them build a shed. They moved to Ohio this year and guess who needs another shed built? You should get this right. Well Donn, Erik, and I got all Amish on that pile of plastic. Had that barn raised in a couple of hours. Spent the rest of the evening watching the fire burn, with a cigar in one hand and a glass of bourbon in the other. A week later we met Bob & Jean for dinner at their campsite in Brown County State Park. The leaves had finally started to turn and it was beautiful! We had a great meal and got the full tour of their new camper. It was even nicer than our Amtrak accommodations. A week later was Evan’s 1st birthday! And that gives me an excuse to post this picture of the world’s coolest one-year-old! Very early on Thanksgiving morning we jumped on a plane to the Big Island of Hawaii. It was this year’s version of our annual Janitor Jamboree. A little larger in scale than last year’s event in Indy. Those in attendance were Jerry & Lisa, Mike & Mercedes, Doug & Diane and Jane & I. Jerry and Lisa visit the island regularly and set the entire event up for us. We had 13 days of sights to see and things to do mixed in with lazy days of pool lounging and bourbon sipping. About the best I can do here is describe my favorite parts of the trip and let the photos tell you a bit more of the story. One of our first adventures was a trip up Mauna Kea, near the observatory to watch the sun set. And after it was dark, Jerry the photographer was going to set up and take some photos with the Milky Way in the background. And that was probably my favorite part of Hawaii, the stars! Not like anything I had seen before. It was beautiful. And cold! The next day we warmed up by doing some snorkeling at a place called Two Step. Some snorkeled, some read, Jane & Diane painted. And we all just kind of relaxed in the water. The next event was our trip to the volcano. And it happened to be active, which was a neat coincidence. We had reservations for a night at the Volcano House, overlooking Halema‘uma‘u Crater at the summit of Kilauea. We could see the glow from our windows. That night we bundled up in the sweatshirts and jackets we bought in the gift shop and hiked to the edge. One of the neatest things I’ve ever done. The fantastic stars above mixed with the eerie glow from the lava! It was even pretty neat in the daytime. And of course, we had to go to a luau. It was great that Jerry & Lisa had spent so much time there. They set us up with a perfect evening. Great food, drink, and entertainment. And for once, I can thank covid for something! No one had to get up on stage and try to hula. Although by the end of the night I might have given it a shot. While the ladies went off to visit a vanilla farm, which I am sure they enjoyed, the guys had a chance play that golf course that we had been starring at since we arrived. It was a perfect day to play, eventually, and we had fun. The course was nice and the views amazing. See that lava field between the fairway and the green? That white pixel in the middle is my golf ball. The next day we went to the Holualoa Village Christmas festival. Saw Santa arrive Hawaiian style. Wandered through the shops and listened to music and even had a Tarot card reading that turned spooky. There are tons of things I would like to share about this trip. All the trips to Costco, and Goodwill. Doug’s grilling skills and Mercedes’ love of gelato. Jerry’s search for the Milky Way. And them goats. It was a trip we will always remember. A beautiful location with lifelong friends. It’s December 7th now, and time to fly east.

December

It doesn’t happen often that I can call my California relatives up and say, “We’re going to be in the neighborhood, mind if we stop by?”. Jane & I added 4 days to our Hawaiian vacation to meet up with as many west coast family members as possible. And by sheer coincidence, my sister Teresa was out there at the same time. We stayed with Paul & Marci. Not a whole lot say about this visit. We didn’t hit any of the big tourist attractions, with the exception of the Orange County Goodwill Boutique. We mostly just hovered over a jigsaw puzzle and talked and laughed. The ladies did a beach walk. Paul & I did some grocery shopping. One of the highlights was a trip to Hollywood to watch Teresa in one of her theatre projects. A great show in a cool venue with an excellent bourbon selection. We really enjoyed the show and I am very proud of my little sister! Another highpoint was the chance to visit with my Aunt Marlene. We hadn’t seen her for years and it was great catching up with her. We told some stories and shared some old photos. As a side note, in the photo with Jane taken from her balcony, the building in the background is the “Nakatomi Plaza”. I just think that is kind of cool. It was a fun few days! We had a chance to see a bunch of family. We missed a couple that were traveling and one that was sick, but I appreciate the effort that everyone made to make it happen. We really loved seeing you Paul, Marci, Nita, Mason, Teresa, Edgar, Ronna, Aunt Marlene and Lauren’s house! We made it home just it time to get ready for Christmas. We had a wonderful holiday dinner with the Coopers and the Beckers, where we talked about all the fun things we did together this year. The next day was a trip with the family to see Winter Lights at the art museum. A week later we had a nice quiet family Christmas. Very peaceful. The next weekend we went to Columbus, OH for our big Willis family Christmas. Not so peaceful. It was loud and crazy and fun! Kids working on their makeup skills. Dawn teaching the children poker, and then kicking their butts and taking their money. Though we were missing most of our Louisville crew, the California contingent picked up the slack. It was great to see Lauren, Harry & Ben. And Megan from Singapore. It has been a long time. It’s always neat to get the family all in one place.

And that’s it. That’s our year. No wonder I’m tired.

Merry Christmas, and we wish you a very Happy New Year! Wayne & Jane