GREETINGS JANUARY 2024
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In case you're interested, in last year's newsletter .....
While this is really late as a New Year's missive, it's early
for Valentine's Day. This past year found us able to travel quite a bit, despite Hubert's spinal surgery in April and subsequent rehab. The surgery was to relieve pressure on a nerve so that he can recover strength in his left leg. No more soccer for now. Biking is still our preferred way of enjoying the outdoors. Starting tai chi this past fall has also helped.
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Preceeding all that, we went
to Morocco and Portugal in March. Traveling to Morocco had been
on the radar for a long, long time, ever since Deb's mother, Lorene,
traveled there in the 1970's and brought back tales of the country's
beauty and the kindness of the Moroccan people.
This trip required fairly extensive travel within Morocco, starting on the Atlantic coast in Casablanca. We traveled with a small group to most corners of the country: Rabat, Meknes, Fez (our favorite), Erfoud, Rissani (on the edge of the Sahara Dessert), the Todra Gorge, Ourzazate and Marrakesh. Morocco is a country of contrasts, with the snow-capped Atlas Mountains and their ski chalets to the cinnamon-colored Sahara Desert. We rode out into the Sahara at sunset on camels and visited craftspeople and shops in the walled medinas of Fez and Marrakesh. We were struck at the similarities to New Mexico: the system of 'sequias' that provide water for irrigation from snow melt as do our 'acequias' and the arid climate.
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From Morocco we flew to Lisbon and drove to south-central Portugal.
After two days' stay in what had been a medieval monastery in the
town of Beja, we continued east into Spain. There
we stayed in the National Park of Doñana, a nature area on the
Mediterranean with a reintroduction program for the Iberian lynx.
This is a coastal area with high dunes and marshy areas that are
great for birdwatching. After the rapid pace of the tour in Morocco,
it was heavenly to get up and have breakfast at our leisure, to
get on a bike and enjoy the scenery.
From there, we traveled to the Portugese Algarve to visit sister Sofia van Hecke. She and her husband, Ed, live off the grid along a creek. There is a solar panel for electricity and systems for collecting water, so there is a beautiful garden complete with fruit trees. We enjoyed their excellent hospitality and the gorgeous region.
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After we got back our sweet kitty Lalo, having reached
the ripe old age of 15, became increasingly frail. By summer it was
apparent that we should allow him to pass peacefully. It's still odd
to come home and not find him waiting in his usual spots.
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Saskia, Andrew, Niels and Tyko all came to visit us and celebrate parents'
day (a combo of Mother's and Father's days) and it was wonderful to have
them all here! This celebration was made sweeter by the news that Andrew
had been offered a tenured professorship in the art department of Northern
Arizona University in Flagstaff.
Flagstaff is a charming university town surrounded by beautiful outdoor recreational areas, is much cooler than Tucson, and best of all it's only a 5½ hour drive from Santa Fe. When they moved from Tucson in August, we drove over to help them move into their house. Andrew had to start work right away and we hoped to alleviate some of the stress. A month later, Saskia landed a Speech and Language Pathology job working on a rehab team that travels to the Navajo Reservation to schools and clinics to provide rehab services. The team includes OT and PT professionals. They often travel together since it's a 2-hour commute each way. Saskia seems to like her work thus far.
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In October, we made a trip to Denver to visit Niels and
Tyko and the 'grandcats.' We were introduced to some great restaurants
and got to visit the Butterfly Pavilion (wonderful place!) and the
Denver version of Meow Wolf (the Santa Fe original is more fun in our
opinion). Plus a walk in the mountains near Boulder, where the trees
had turned and were beautiful.
Niels is still a programmer for the city of Denver, plus getting advanced certification as a personal trainer. Tyko is a certified yoga and fitness instructor.
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October also took us to the Yucatan to view an annular eclipse of the sun.
Our good friends Walter and Margaret joined the fun.
The eclipse actually passed right over our house, but why stay home
if you can see the same thing in Mexico?
The Yucatan has so many captivating Mayan sites and we saw many of
them: Coba, Chichen Itza, Ek Balam, Uxmal, Kabah, and Edzna. We enjoyed
a swim in a cenote, a sinkhole formed in the surface limestone that
reveals groundwater underneath. The warm and muggy weather made
swimming extra appealing. And for the science nerds: we also stopped
in Chicxulub.
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Thanksgiving was spent here with Saskia and Andrew. Christmas, also
here with Niels and Tyko. It's always good to have time together.
A special bonus was a short visit with our nephew, Steele Pollard and his lovely wife, Lauren. They drove through town on their way to Taos to take their children Alexandra, Eliza and Miles skiing for Christmas break.
Hubert keeps busy working one day/week, mostly on a device that will
eventually go to LHCb,
as well as spending many hours at
Make, and continuing
science
outreach activities in the local schools.
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As we swing into 2024, we're grateful for good health and our network
of family and friends. After all, what else really matters when you're
a great aunt/uncle!
Wishing you health and happiness all this year, | |||||||
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