New Year's Greeting

 

As usual, I’m doing a New Year’s greeting in lieu of Christmas cards. This allows me to send best wishes to more people than would be possible otherwise. Those few (six in number) who sent me a real card will receive this letter in the U.S. Mail along with a personal note, of course.

About 10 weeks from now I’ll mark my third anniversary as a new and happy Vermonter. My apartment has views of the mountains to the east of Williston; my daughter and her family live just 5 minutes away; and the bridge club, grocery stores, restaurants, and other conveniences are all within a couple of miles. Yet with all that, one has only to go a couple miles farther and you’re in farm country with barns, silos, grazing cattle, and other hallmarks of a rural lifestyle.

As much as I like it here, I must admit that there is one thing I don’t care for: the time zone. In California I could watch the ball drop in Times Square at 9 PM; Monday Night Football came on at 5 o’clock; and other Eastern Time events were at an hour conducive to my early morning lifestyle. But the time zone issue is a mere inconvenience compared to the benefits of living near family in this beautiful, relaxed setting.  

Speaking of family, pictured here are Sarah, Steve and me (on the left). To the right are Sarah’s husband Romain Feuillette and my three grandkids Henry (the red head), Clover and Forrest. Steve and Henry recently moved from the Boston suburbs to Pelham, NY, for Steve’s new job in Manhattan. Romain is a software engineer with Global Foundries in nearby Essex Junction, VT. 

Scott was absent when the above photo was taken, but he too was with us for the holidays. He’s shown at left with Forrest and Clover in Sarah and Romain’s family room. The medal around his neck is an “Awesome Uncle” award the kids gave him. After a three-week visit, he returned to Oregon on January 5. Steve and Henry took the train back to Pelham to have New Year’s Eve with Jeff, the third member of their family, who had stayed home with Finn and Jackson, their two dogs.

I had a great time with the whole bunch, but I’m looking forward to things getting back to normal. And “normal” means reading; playing duplicate bridge 2 or 3 days a week; watching the occasional baseball, football, or hockey game on TV; and dinner or other family activities with the Feuillettes. 

My only travel last year was to Boston and Pelham a few times and one cross-country trip to Portland and Seattle. The Seattle visit included an “unveiling party” for the 10th edition of my textbook, which came out in March. I’m shown here at the party with my new coauthor, Sally Sanford (far right), and some of the others who contributed to research and editing. (The bats and baby were mere observers.) 

Speaking of reading, I finished 119 books this year – just a few short of last year’s total. Among my favorites were:

You might notice that a few of these titles were targeted for banning by narrow-minded prudes in some locales. I chose to read them for that very reason. To people who want to censor literature I say, “If you’re afraid that books will change someone’s thinking, you’re not afraid of books: you’re afraid of thinking.”

I close with my sincere best wishes for a healthy new year for you and for democracy too (meaning, of course, the repudiation of Cult 45).

Stuart