Hughes-Fenchel Christmas Letter
2025 was a very busy year for us. This year's letter will be in 6 sections, one from each of us and the first section for common stuff, the last will be links to pictures.
COMMON
Lots of doggies stuff this year.
We lost 2 dogs that we loved very much. We adopted Vita Boo in late 2012 and Gusty six months later. They went through many moves and transitions with us: always giving us love, companionship, comfort, and fun. We lost them both this year (in February and October) from complications of old age. It has been hard.
We adopted Azura late January shortly before Gusty went to the Rainbow Bridge. And Zayden in the late spring. Having young pups gave Vita a new lease on life after her grieving the loss of Gusty. But she became gradually incapable of keeping that effort up.
The new pups have been chewing and digging their hearts out and causing us to barricade parts of the house and doggie proof everything. Losing their grandma Vita did not help.They are rescues and who knows what happened to them. We love them dearly and they are devoted to us. But get anxious when we leave and find something to chew. We have been crate training and training both of them with commands outside. I think they are making a lot of good progress.
We had visits this year from Karen Lloyd & friend, Gary's cousin Barry (twice), Bruce & Barb Becker, Cheryl Anderson. It's so nice to be able to host old friends!
CAROLYN
This has been another difficult year for me with my health. But nobody wants to hear much about it in a Christmas letter, so I shall try to be brief.
After a really nice visit in Chicago for my birthday in March, I came home with a virus that sent me to urgent care. Since then, I have not had a good nights sleep for 9 months due to constant coughing.
I had an appointment with a pulmonologist in October which was supposed to be in clinic but was actually on a nurse’s phone. I talked to the top of a doctor’s head who practices out of Virginia. I passed breathing tests as always and was instructed to get an additional test in Santa Fe to find out IF I had asthma!! But not to take my meds for 3 days. I had not been able to get through a single day without them. I am seeing another pulmonologist in February.
Meanwhile, I think i diagnosed myself, just like I did last year. And I have a fantastic primary care doctor, who agrees with me. I seem to have an uncommon form of Variant Cough Asthma. But what was causing it? After allergy appointments and, again my research, I figured out, that it is probably a less common form of GERD or a gastroesophageal reflux disease. Both asthma and digestive problems run in my family. Once again, the doctor agrees with me. But I am currently in treatment for both.
And I have bursitis in both hips. But thank God, no hip surgery.
I have had to adapt to this new reality in a number of ways. Cutting back on Jazzercise and cardio exercise. More classes at a local gym for strength and aqua exercise and yoga.
And amazingly, I exercise almost every single day. But my age is catching up with me. I was in the ER again this past weekend with norovirus. Gary found me passed out on the floor.
I bought an “almost new” car from CarMax. A Subaru Crosstrek!
In June, Gary and I flew out to the east coast to help Ryan move to an apartment in a cheaper area. A lot of hard work but it will save him money.
In July-early August, I visited Wales for 3 weeks. It was great to spend some time with my brother and his family before they left on vacation. And my dear friends there with the exception of Jo and Steve who live in the Lake District. A huge storm came in and stopped the trains for 2 days when I was half way there. I will get there next time.
Meanwhile, my poor mother did not respond to me one single day. Never opened her eyes.
She has been on the verge of death a few days since 2021, but in and out of hospice for months now. In care since 2014. Just not willing to let go.
GARY
I continue to massively enjoy my retirement. I really thought I'd be doing programming for some charity somewhere (pro bono) but I haven't actually written a line of code since leaving Sandia Labs nearly 2 years ago.
In September I took a week and a half trip to the Midwest, staying with old friends … Mary Sykes (from college days), the Petroski family (from high school), the Beckers (from college, who later came to visit us in NM), and the Kimbers (from Bell Labs). I got to see a lot of friends I didn't stay with. Never enough time to see everyone, of course.
Meanwhile, at home there was some chaos as the dogs wondered where the hell their pack leader (me) was. I was gone 10 days, and the dogs were very relieved to see me.
The three dogs got along very well. Vita, as always, was boss bitch despite her infirmaries. The two new dogs clearly loved her.
But a few weeks after I returned home we had to euthanize Vita. She was having increasing trouble with her hips and becoming incontinent (because she couldn't get up to toilet herself). Now, even months later, I find myself walking carefully in the darkened bedroom for fear of stepping on her.
So now I have two new mushing dogs. We are training on the scooter on the bosque trails behind my house pretty much every day. We're also doing a bit of obedience training so the dogs will obey us. These dogs are big (70 & 75 lbs), very fast, and very, very strong. Shortly before Thanksgiving we did a 14 mile scooter run, and as I write this in December we have just tried our first times on skis & snow (skijoring). The dogs performed magnificently, but the conditions were very icy and difficult the first try, but really good the second try. They seemed to enjoy themselves, although Azura was pretty nervous. We skijored about 7 -8 miles and ended up with tired dogs.
I found someone in Santa Fe who is returning to mushing after a decades long hiatus, a former Iditarod competitor. It is really nice being able to train with someone instead of always having to do it alone. This past year she adopted a standard poodle puppy as her first mushing dog, and so the three dogs are learning together.
I'm still dancing several times per week, and playing pickle ball when I can. I've volunteered again to help organize the annual dance camp. Last year's camp ended early for us when we got a call from a neighbor that some goofball had opened our (spring loaded) fence gate to let our dogs out presumably as a prank. I'm also volunteering weekly at the private rescue that gave us Azura, and started volunteering occasionally at the local food pantry.
Last year our new dog Azura decided the pool cover was a fun trampoline. This year I constructed a fence; I had to rebuild it six times before I found a design that actually kept Azura off the cover. The fence had to be able to be completely broken down when we opened the pool, had to be reusable, and had to keep dogs off the cover. Hint: Plastic snow fencing makes a great visible barrier but is easily bitten through.
GILLIAN
2025 has proven a challenging trial for Gillian, but also one of accomplishment. After the near-deadly car accident the previous November, she was eventually able to drive on the road again. However, she discovered that her idea for a website/app related to weather and travel had already been done multiple times, despite earlier research suggesting otherwise. So she had to release this dream and find something else.
She applied to work as a TSA agent, and they would have hired her. However, she learned that their prerequisites would compromise her health, and they refused to accommodate her for disabilities that she can't change. Gillian had to decline. Appalled by the administration's actions towards NOAA, she then began looking into how she could join a storm chasing team that accepted donations, as this is something she could potentially do. Protecting people from severe weather is what she's always wanted.
Gillian did accept a temporary job as a front of house manager for the Shakespeare Festival during the summer. It went well overall, and the people were refreshing to work with! It was her first paid position where she did not feel badly treated. They wanted to keep her on, but didn't have the funds to do so.
After contacting a professional storm chaser, she learned that 'joining a team' isn't how it works. Now, a storm chaser must go alone and prove themselves on social media before they're ever noticed. This isn't why Gillian wanted to do this, and it wouldn't be lucrative this way. She turned her attention to storm spotting instead. It's volunteer-based, but she hopes she can help coordinate with forecasters to protect those who live in under-serviced areas, and make connections that could lead to more.
Despite these disappointments, Gillian did make a name for herself in the theater community. She played as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, a prominent supporting role in a musical, for 12 shows. That led to her being cast as Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer for 11 shows - an opportunity to portray a male character. Both her performances received ample praise. She's proud of her work, but more importantly, happy that she made so many meaningful friendships.
Gillian is still hoping to pursue storm spotting once her body is recovered from recent strain. She believes it wouldn't hurt to train early before the next storm season starts. She also has plans to begin a channel for voice acting and pixel art, to support her fellow actors and gain a small profit. Her struggling health has stolen a lot from her, but she's determined to find her own unique definition of success.
RYAN
Ryan's year was a little chaotic. Between moving into a new apartment much further away from work where he's been living the past few years and also helping a new roommate move in, things have only just begun to settle down in the new household. Besides that, he has seen a great improvement in his rock climbing ability, has gotten a generally good report card on his health, and managed to score a solid raise that should make his budget a little less tight. PICTURES Our three dogs (before Vita passed) The new mushing team running on the Bosque The new mushing team running on Sandia Peak Gary's cousin Barry Carolyn's USA bestie Cheryl The old homestead in Wales Gillian in the Pirates of Penzance one, two, three Ryan's move