This week is the looking back week, and wouldn’t be complete without a summary of the people we saw while we were in Ohio.

We had the usual doctor, dentist, and eye appointments.  Our dentist is still Dr. Nolan in Mogadore.  He is a great dentist and we use our one day in Akron to have dinner with some Mogadore friends.  After not being able to meet last year, it was great to have dinner with Sandy, Eric, Susan, Esther, and Tom at Outback.

We went to Wooster for the day and ate at The Barn with my parents and Aunt Anne and Uncle Paul.  Uncle Paul had a barn loom for his museum that he put together but he couldn’t figure out how to get it to weave.  So we agreed to look at it and see if we could get it working.  Since we were there last, Uncle Paul rebuilt an old barn inside the museum.  We were pretty impressed with the way he keeps adding things.  The museum really looks great now and is being well supported in the community.  Tom and I got the loom working in short order – we used some string to tie up the treadles and connect the shafts.  It is a simple counter-balance loom and only has two shafts.  We will go back to warp the loom when we get back from Georgia.

Shortly after that, we spent the afternoon with Steve and Amy Winstead, John and Jackie, and Sandy and Eric Shaw.  They all came to our house and we had a “birthday” dinner because it was so close to my birthday.  Jackie got me a carrot cake by my favorite baker, Metal and Whisk.  I was glad to have so many people to share it with.  We were especially excited to see Steve and Amy because they are expecting their first baby in April so there was lots of talk about babies going on.

I offered to teach my nieces how to weave and they were very interested.  I warped the loom for them and Grace started weaving.  She did a great job!  Unfortunately, between my schedule and theirs, we were only able to get together one afternoon.  We will have to pick it up again when Tom and I get back from Georgia.

In November I preached at Wedgewood and we had lunch with Steve and Pam Varga afterward.  It was good to see so many people that have been important in my life.  I was also glad that Steve and Pam were able to take the time to enjoy a Subway sandwich together with us.

Thanksgiving Day all the extended Clymer family gathered for Thanksgiving at my brother’s house.  He and his wife did a great job of welcoming everyone.  It was fun to get together even if the time always goes so fast.  We got together again a couple of days after Christmas, but the gathering was slightly smaller.  Because of Omicron, only fully vaccinated people attended, and some of my brother’s family are not vaccinated.  We were also back to wearing masks most of the time.  So we had all the fun and, hopefully, none of the Covid-19.

The day after Thanksgiving, Tom and I drove up to Lakeside to see Karen Graham.  We had never gone there directly from our little house in Westerville before.  Did you know that Lakeside is almost directly north of Westerville?  That seems really strange – it feels like it should be further west.  We had a great afternoon with Karen.  We ordered a pizza from Sloopy’s, got out the Christmas decorations and tree, and played Phase 10.  Karen won.

In December I preached at my parents’ church in Lexington and Tom gave a presentation to the Men’s Breakfast group.  We enjoy doing that but we have to get up early to be there – the Men’s Breakfast starts at 8.  The food is good, as is the fellowship.  I always enjoy preaching in Lexington.  They are a very receptive congregation.

That same week we met Wendy at Malabar Farm, and then the next Sunday we met Chris Ferlinc and Bill Cashell at Mohican Lodge for the day.  We always enjoy getting together with Chris and Bill because they are very active and we know we won’t be sitting around.  We had the breakfast buffet in the Lodge restaurant and then went for a four-mile hike around the Mohican River.  It is a beautiful hike and we have done it before.  We always enjoy it and the good company makes the walk go really fast.  Afterward we got a table close to the fireplace in the Lodge and played Apples to Apples.

Mohican Lodge had a special display of Smokey Bear prints from artist Rudy Wendelin which was really interesting.  Wendelin was an artist who worked for the United States Forest Service and was known for his Smokey Bear paintings.  The scope of his work was really impressive and he also designed several commemorative postage stamps.  We enjoyed looking at the prints.

Unfortunately there were lots of friends we didn’t get to see.  But that just gives us something to look forward to in 2022.