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| Urban hike to Coit Tower, San Francisco with SF Bay and Treasure Island in the background. |
I love receiving those cards, letter, and photos from you, though, my friends. I marvel at how your children and pets have grown and changed over the years. I love hearing the highlights of your year and, truly, some of you could be comedians. You make me laugh so much with your annual recaps. You humorists may not even be that garrulous in person - humor is your secret weapon!
I have some concerns, though, that I'm receiving a smaller stack of cards each year. This year I was actually worried and feared that my cavalier approach was coming home to roost as the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas brought so few cards. They did roll in later this year, and there were fewer newsletters. Instead many of you seem to be opting for wonderful photo collages to send greetings and capture the flavor of your year: fantastic trips, growing children embarking on their own adult lives and families, well-loved pets, house projects, and the many fruits of our advancing middle-years and well-lived lives. I love them -- keep them coming!
In return, here is my annual greeting for New Year 2018.
I retired in March 2017 after 26 years with the East Bay Regional Park District at Crab Cove Visitor Center. I had a ceremonial burning of my khaki and tan uniform -- just kidding, actually I had a blow-out picnic party to celebrate with a barn-dance caller and live band that was one of the most fun parties I've had since my wedding. I've settled into retired life very happily, much to Bob's chagrin -- he'll be working another 3-5 years at his job with EBMUD. My days are full of writing projects, meeting with friends, launching a chocolate-tasting business (www.cocoacase.com), and staying active with my professional association (National Association for Interpretation) as a mentor to newer naturalists as well as presenting at the national workshop with my good friend Ira Bletz, and helping to plan the upcoming Spring workshop in Santa Cruz.
Also in March, we had a family reunion on Maui to celebrate my Mom's life and scatter her ashes at sea. Maui is a special place for our family since the 1980s when my Mom and Dad bought a condo in Kehei. Even after Dad died in 1994, Mom spent many wonderful times visiting Maui with family and friends including a trip with each of her seven grandchildren when they reached 12 years of age. For the last seven years Diane, my sister, Mom, and I went for a girls trip in February or March. It was a great time and fitting tribute - you can read more about it on my blog. Diane, Jim, Bob and I also cleared out her house in Half Moon Bay and sold it; Diane is working very hard as the executor which Scott and I really appreciate!
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| Sam, Will and Addie on the ice cream train at Ewa Beach |
Sam and Jessica moved to Oahu after 3 years at Fort Campbell in Tennessee/Kentucky. We had one last trip to visit them in May before their move and made it down to Chattanooga, TN to check out an amazing aquarium. We also saw Ruby Falls, a spectacular underground waterfall with great views of underground limestone formations. Will turned three in September and Adeline, "Addie," turned one years old in October. Sam is working as a medic at Tippler Army Hospital and Jessica is in the nursing program at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. We visited them in August and November and look forward to seeing them a couple of times in 2018. We love our Facetime calls where we can chat will them, catch up on Paw Patrol, dinosaurs and Pokemon, watch Will jump on his trampoline, draw with chalk, and look at picture books together. He does his best to keep the iPad all to himself, but he's learning to share and we're seeing more of Addie these days.
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| Clearly Bob loves being a Grandpa! |
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| Addie has Bob wrapped around her little finger! |
Tanner graduated from UC Davis in June with a BS in Computer Science, a demanding major with emphasis on science and math. He moved back in with us and got a programming job at the company in Berkeley where he did his two summer internships. He's looking for another job in San Francisco or another major city so he can move out and launch his own life. We're enjoying time with him through the process.
Our 2018 plans include a small house remodel project (are any of them really small, though?!) to reconfigure our kitchen and add a small bathroom to our bedroom. What a luxury to finally have two bathrooms in our house! Please pray for us for a smooth construction phase and patience through the process. So, we hope 2018 is blessed with peace, joy, and most of all, love! Come visit us (after the remodel!)!
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| The joys of a water dog living on an island! |
