Nelson County Rocks

 

This past spring I attended a fund-raising event for the Blue Ridge Medical Center, and quite impetuously ended up bidding on a seven-night condo stay near Sapphire Beach in St. Thomas.  I “won” by offering the highest bid, and so this past week Holly and I spent a week at an extremely nice and well-situated condo overlooking the marina and looking beyond to the sea and many islands.  We had a wonderful time swimming and snorkeling at Sapphire Beach, taking the ferry twice to nearby and beautiful St. John, and one day joining a power boat excursion to the British Virgin Islands.  The weather, and just about everything about our trip, was perfect.  We had a great time!

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Cally (Swarthmore 2014) formally received her degree on June 1st, but her graduation party at home was held on June 14th.  A great time was had by all, although one could argue that Paityn and Cody stole the show!  Great to see so much of the extended family.  We’re all very proud of Cally!

 
Along the Blue Ridge Parkway in late May

Flaming Azalea and Rhododendron along AT on The Priest

Lunch on the deck and cooking for Thankful Thursday dinner at Grace

Picking Strawberries at Seaman’s orchards with an incredible view

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway in late April

Justin and Katherine’s wedding was a lovely occasion on a beautiful day in Ridgefield, Connecticut.  It was great to be part of this wonderful moment in their lives, and also to be together with other family members.  More pictures may be seen at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152027443686621.1073741829.516271620&type=1&l=43a72623a4

It was a winter that seemed like it would never end.  And of course it was the winter of Monika’s gradual and then dramatic decline and death, and subsequent months of deep mourning and loneliness.  So the belated arrival of spring, with its promise of renewal and rebirth, its virtual explosion of color and sense of new possibilities, has been most welcome.  And it has given a new direction to my life through my serendipitous meeting of Holly at a Sierra Club meeting in Charlottesville, where a brief conversation alerted us to a quite extraordinary congruence of interests and passions, which has only increased as we’ve gotten to know each other more.

 

  

My wonderfully perceptive and supportive sister Eleanor has captured these developments beautifully:  “I’m delighted that you found someone like Holly who shares your love of nature, hiking — and that the two of you enjoy each other’s company.  That pix of the two of you is adorable.  It never hurts to remind ourselves that we have only one life to live; I’m impressed (as I’ve been many times) with how much you accomplish and how fully you enjoy life.  That you’re sharing your life now with a sympathetic, attractive person is good news indeed.  (And, as you say, it does not in any way diminish your wonderful years with Monika nor your fond memories.)”

Seventy sounds scarily old to me, but it was still nice for Nic, Alison, Tim, Megan, John, Calista, Cally, and Dan to join me to observe this milestone, like it or not, along with our neighbors Frank and Derek, and also, via Skype, Sissi and family in Germany.  As always, we ate royally and copiously, thanks to contributions by all….along with thirty-plus bottles of Monika Wood Memorial Beer.  Saturday, March 15 was a nice early-spring day, sandwiched between snowstorms.

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Below: the view Monday morning

Today we bottled 48 bottles of Nic’s double IPA.  A week earlier, Nic had come out to siphon the contents of the original bucket (see previous post on this subject) into a glass container known as a carboy.  Today we (Nic, Alison, Eleanor and I) sanitized all the bottles, buckets, and instruments we would be working with, then added sugar to the beer to aid in carbonation, a process known as priming, and then siphoned the (currently flat) beer into bottles, and capped them.  Over the next two weeks, the sugar will interact with the yeast to create carbonation, the final stage in the beer-making process.

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Next day update: Labels!

First Tasting Update (Feb. 28):

Excellent!

 

In the period following Monika’s death on January 17, 2014, I found it therapeutic to post several picture albums on Facebook.  I’ve now also posted these sets of pictures (with a few additions) to Picasa as well.   They bring back many happy memories for me, even if they inevitably remind me of the great loss I’ve experienced and am still trying to come to terms with.

Monika Wood (1947-2014): family pictures over the years  Facebook    Picasa

Graceful Moni: Grace Church and local community   Facebook    Picasa

Valentine’s Day: Remembering our trip to Mykonos and Santorini in 2007   Facebook   Picasa

 

Nic and Alison came out for the weekend, and we made our first batch of beer here.  (Both Nic and Tim have made beer elsewhere with friends before.)  This beer is the double IPA which Nic once made before; when he brought samples to the extended family here, everyone agreed it was one of the best beers they’d ever had.  Hence this attempt to repeat that success.

After a period of bitter cold, the weather was sunny and mild, and the chickens came by periodically to check on what was going on.  This remains a very difficult period for me, and so this exercise was a pleasant, though temporary, diversion…

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Actually, Saturday was just the beginning.  Our Grace Brewers Guild made a batch of English Brown Ale on Sunday afternoon.  So that’s 100 bottles of beer on the wall for the weekend!

 

At the same time on Sunday, January 26, 2014, on two continents, memorial services for Monika Wood were held in Massies Mill, Virginia, USA, and in Reisbach, Lower Bavaria, Germany.

At Grace Church, Massies Mill, 130 people filled every seat in the church for an emotional and beautiful service that drew, at Monika’s request, on the themes and music of the Celtic Evensong service offered in the late afternoon each Sunday.  Rev. Marion Kanour also explained that Monika had asked that communion be seen as an opportunity for a last supper of the congregation and her together.  At the beginning of the service, Monika’s son John played a Bach prelude.  Nic Wood read the scripture.  Eulogies were offered by her husband Bob and her eldest son Dan.  The alter flowers were donated by Monika’s mother and two sisters.  The reception in the parish hall, where four displays of photos of Monika and her family adorned the walls, was festive, celebrating her life as Monika had wished.  As always, the Grace community came through with an incredible spread of good food and drink.  Sentiment appeared unanimous that the service had been exceptionally beautiful and moving, with everyone mourning the loss of such an extraordinary strong, and wonderful woman, while celebrating the times they had been blessed to have together with her.

 

Click_here_for_Bob’s_Eulogy

Click_here_for_Dan’s_Eulogy

Click_here_for_Monika’s_Obituary_published_in_The_Nelson_County_Times

  

click on the images above to see the photo displays at Grace Church

  

At the memorial service in Reisbach (see pictures above), Monika’s nephew, Moritz Gluekher, played “Halleluja”, composed by Leonard Cohen, on the organ.  Monika’s younger sister, Sissi, gave the following eulogy (translated in part by Axel and Anke Goetz):

Eulogy (Nachruf) for Monika Wood by Sissi Gluekher

We had a daughter, sister, sister in law and aunt Monika,

• who left our home in Munich much too soon
• who loved and pursued life above all else, had wide-ranging interests and helped where she saw  people in distress
• who always carried out that to which she had set her mind
• who would not let the adversities of life subdue her but rather push back against them 
• who gave the world three wonderful boys and gave them a beautiful childhood
• who loved her ever growing family above all else
• who did not forget her family in Germany over all that and who showed her love and closeness in visits and regular contacts
• who, as caring, loving daughter, sister and aunt, gave us unforgettable hours that enriched our lives indelibly
• who knew also what gratefulness means
• who can look back on a fulfilled life for which she had, as much as was in her power, worked with indefatigable effort
• who left us much too soon and left a void that cannot be filled
• who accepted her illness and death and so is a great role model
• who will remain in our hearts and memory as a wonderful human being

Love,

Sissi