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MILLENIAL GREETINGS DECEMBER 1999 |
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The last year of the millenium was an eventful one chez van Hecke. It was a year of changes and at times so busy
that it made our heads spin. We tried to take time out now and then to enjoy eachother and the beauty of this
part of the world.
Saskia "graduated" from 6th grade in a tearful ceremony in June. She really loved her elementary school, her teachers and all her good friends there. However she was happy to discover a new circle of friends in her middle school, a small private school for grades 3th through 8th. The academics are plenty challenging and the mix of adolescents with younger children calms the hormonal effects of adolscense significantly. Saskia continues to play soccer and flute and likes to do all sorts of needlework. She makes extra money babysitting, mostly in the neighborhood. Saskia also likes to hang out with her friends and is finally learning the gentle art of sleeping in. She is lots of fun most of the time and is able to make us laugh with her extremely dry sense of humor. She takes pride in quoting a number of Monty Python sketches verbatim. Niels is still in elementary school in the 5th grade of a 5th/6th combination class. He has a male teacher who he admires. Their classroom has 3 aquariums and 2 terrariums. In the beginning it was a struggle to keep up, as Niels is one of the youngest in the class. It's still hard work as Niels would attest. Niels is into competitive soccer and loves it. He plays the drums in the school band with gusto and the piano. In case you are wondering about our sanity, Niels got an electronic drum set with headphones for Christmas. He identifies with Harry Potter in the book series. Niels has begun making new friends who share his interests and is sad to discover that some of the "old boys" he used to be close to are drifting away. He loves Monty Python, too. I guess this is a familial pathology. Niels still gives his parents wonderful hugs regularly. Hubert is still working at Los Alamos National Lab. His group is getting ready to start up a newish experiment on Long Island, New York. After years of heavy travel to Geneva, the last two years have been very quiet. The new experiment will likely call for lots of travel to the NorthEast in the next several years. In keeping with his idea that one should learn something new every year, he learned to juggle. He also has a unicycle in the shed and will probably take that up next. That way he can always run off and join the circus if things get tough here. This year was the year that Hubert started to play in the adult soccer league, after having been away from regular play for almost 3 decades. He is also still coaching Saskia's soccer team. He teaches science classes at both kids' schools to rave reviews, and is trying to make the streets of Santa Fe safer for pedestrians by working on a new traffic calming ordinance. Check out the family web pages - we just got a scanner (paid for in part by our soon-to-be city councillor, whose web-lackey is Hubert), and now we can post some more recent family photos. |
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Deb is still/again working at the only hospital in town. Now/again in Pediatrics primarily. This is fun and the
cases are rewarding because they are mostly capable of being rehabilitated. Rumor has it that rehab. services
might be bought out by a private company, but there are always rumors. In addition to work, life on the volunteer
circuit is fast-paced what with Soccer Board, committee activities at the Unitarian Church and shepherding two
young people along. (Deb is a soccer mom, if the qualifiers are that you drive a minivan and have kids who play
soccer.) It has become apparent that the kids and Deb do best if the paid work day work day ends at 3:00 so that
there is no organized afterschool program involved. There is still a little time for weekly piano lessons but not
enough time for working out at a gym, alas! Walking and biking will have to do for now.
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During Spring break we drove down to White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, and
Socorro (no aliens
seen). We had made a similar trip years ago, but the children were too
young to remember much from then. Also,
this time we could walk much longer distances in the caves.
The most fun trip of the year was to the Portland, Oregon, area to visit some favorite relatives Katherine O'Neil and partner, Toby Graff. This is August. As it turned out Katherine's older son, Will, was about to marry to the lovely Loryn. Charlie, Katherine's younger son, was there for the wedding with his family. Saskia had fun painting her young cousins' fingernails with funny figures and bonded with them. It's a pity that all of these wonderful people live so far away but it was great for us to get to visit. Later on that same trip we were joined by longtime friends, Rick and Yvonne Green, whom we've known for about half of our lives (that's a fair spell). We camped on the Oregon coast, at Crater Lake and in the rain forest in the middle of the state with the Greene family, which includes Misha (10) and Marike (7). We couldn't believe how beautiful Oregon was, even in the rainy times and despite the fact that was too cold (for us, anyway) to swim in the ocean. We're ready to go back to visit the Greens, Katherine and family and our friend in Seattle Heather Tully, whom we missed this trip. |
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After years of heavy lobbying by the kids, we got a kitten named Mo. Niels had outgrown his allergies to cats,
and Saskia's guinea pigs had died, so there were no more excuses.
This year we look forward to a month in Holland. Hubert's parents, Cor and Johanne, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in August 2000. We can't wait to see the whole family. A small hotel near th beach has been booked for the occasion and even sister Sophia is coming, taking time off from sailing around the world. There has been little snow this year, which means no skiing. The good news is that this saves us a lot of money, but also means that there may be water rationing next year unless something drastic happens in the next month or so. Life was good to us in this last year of the millinium. If there is anything to this Y2K business, perhaps we will have to cope without the hum of machines for a brief period. If we have to walk rather than drive, cook on the gas grill and have candles and a fire it'll be like camping, no? And we PAY to do THAT for fun. Love and best wishes for a safe, healthy year in 2000. |
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