2009 Update

Best wishes to all for a happy 2010. We are ending 2009 in good health and looking forward to changes ahead in 2010.

Jake has completed his first three semesters at Willamette University and just finished a good semester, which included organic chemistry and microbiology . He was a teaching assistant again in a freshman biology class and will have the opportunity to TA next semester. He is looking forward to getting to know the Cascades as a backpacker with the Outing Club at Willamette. He is leaving his options open to pick up chemistry as a second major. This summer he is planning to work at a USDA lab in Pullman, Washington, and will live with his Aunt Rebecca.

Quincy was very active in theater at Las Cruces High School and just completed stage managing the LCHS production of The Wiz. It was long hours, but the production was well received, and she got more experience in theater. She has all her college applications in and has her acceptance letter from NMSU and University of Evansville. She will have her interview with Evansville in January to get into their theater program (it is very competitive) and hopes to hear from Southern Oregon soon (just got her transcript to them). She completed her first two college courses at NMSU this semester and has signed up for two more next semester.

Stu and I are well. Stu continues to enjoy summers off, and I continue to enjoy the benefits, like the deck-and-hot-tub addition Stu and Jake built last summer. We also traveled east, saw family, visited DC (always a favorite), and generally enjoyed rapidly dwindling time to be together as a family. Stu and I both battled the flu of the swine in September, and recovered without major drama.

Teaching remains a highlight of professoring for Stu. He developed a class in food engineering this year and continues to teach the 'Beer Class' (aka Brewing Science and Society) to a full house each semester. His research these days is primarily in experimental design, which means he usually can be found with a computer in his lap. Retirement looms, or at least is a possibility after the kids complete college!

I continue to be a bike commuter (now on my dream bike, with the 30-year old Fuji in reserve as the bad-weather machine) and have enjoyed the extra doses of fresh air. My work at NMSU this year has gotten more interesting, and I continue to enjoy the institutional perspective I have in my current job. Bassoon, book clubs, friends, hiking keep us busy and promise to fill the empty spaces when the kids are both away next year.

The time flies, but it is a privilege to watch Jacob and Quincy develop their own lives. Hard to believe 2010 is about here. Could the Y2K brouhaha really have been 10 years ago? Best wishes to all for a good life in 2010.

Catching up, August 2009

Stu dropped Jacob off at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon today for the start of his sophomore year. He was good company over the summer, great help on the deck and getting the hot tub installed, and he helped me keep up on politics. Always good to keep tabs on how your kids are thinking. He does pretty well in the thinking department.

While Stu and Jake have been on the road, Quincy and I declared a formal-meal-free weekend. Good to give a break to the digestive system occasionally. And I maintain that one of Stu's dark beers has more nutrients than pretty much any fast-food meal money can buy.

Quincy started her senior year of high school (senior photo, right). She has a only four classes at the high school, so she is taking classes at NMSU as a dual credit student; there she gets to indulge in her interest in languages (she is in first semester Chinese and patiently explains the writing characters way too many times to her mother) and in her sense of aesthetic. Tuesday night's class is a horticulture class in floral arrangements, and I think it will be really good for her. She gets to play with flowers, learn about design, and bring pretty things home each week. Pretty cool, really.

Stu and Quincy are getting over some bug they were kind enough to share with me. They were both affected on weekdays; my version took over a weekend. Rats. But I was well enough to sit through Julie and Julia today without coughing more than that which is considered socially unacceptable.

Today was the first time I really had enough time to enjoy the new patio furniture. Most excellent place to spend with the Sunday Times. I really do have to find a good northern sky chart, though, for hot tub time. I get through Cassiopea and the Big Dipper and then have to start looking for airplanes. Many of our activities seem to be focused on the north. The dogs and I watched 3 coyotes romp from north of the house on the top of the Black Quartz Mountains today (Annie pointed them out to me). Great view from up there.

Stu just called from north of Sacramento. He's going to try to get home tomorrow night, but he is also recovering from the Quincy croup and is down to one driver.

And so it goes.

Moment of morning Zen

A good morning ride gets me started with exercise, a chance for reflection, and on auspicious rides, a moment of Zen. In warm months, the moment comes when I ride under the interstate bridge and am greeted, on some days, by swallows catching the early bugs. Nesting season is sweet!

Then the swallows migrate away, and my Zen moments move to the duck pond. Although the pond is usually filled with hybrid waterfowl, I catch an occasional white-fronted goose, mallard, egret, or heron (a coot or two arrive in time for the afternoon ride).

But there are other moments, like the brief tunnel of trees that lead off the International Mall toward Milton Hall on the northwest side of Corbett Center. The picture above does not do justice to the brilliant colors: yellow on the bottom grades to orange in the middle and to flaming red on the top, with the occasional green holdout near the trunk. The colors glow under the vibrant New Mexico sky.

And on days when the moments of Zen elude, there is always the Daily Show!

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KRWG fundraiser

Laura and Carrie at the end of the annual KRWG fundraiser.

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Bikes a-plenty

Lots of photos to post, but they need to wait. Julia (officemate extraordinaire) photo'ed our bikes in the office today. Hers is the pretty white Trek, mine is the ancient Fuji.

My car last got gassed in early July, and it has about 60 miles on this tank. The ride to work is sweet, and home is a great workout. Judging by people I see on my ride in, you are never too old to strap on a bike helmet...

PHC, weekend in Southern NM

Above, the stage for Prairie Home Companion. The show was excellent (and I am not a fan of the radio show). A most entertaining way to spend an afternoon.

Stu and I took our usual Sunday morning walk. From when we left to when we got home the temperature rose 17 degrees. It peaked at about 101 this afternoon but is already below 99. Woo hoo!

And below, Stu's latest set-up for beer cooking. He is making a wit, and the yeast prefers lower temperature, so the box houses insulation (styrofoam peanuts) and the copper sticking out the top goes to a heat exchanger keeping the brew at about 70 degrees.

Highlights of 2007

So long, 2007. You were a good year, with some goals retired and new ones made. Family, travel, and new friends were the big hits of 2007.

Goals retired
Kids hit number 50! Beautiful trip to the Canadian Rockies included a trip across BC to Prince Rupert, where we caught the ferry to Ketchikan. We spent a few days hiking, birding, and touring and left with the resolution to see more of Alaska. Kids have now been to all 50 states!

Jake and Mel hit 9,000! After living in the shadow of our beautiful Organs for 17 years, two of us got to the top on a grand day for hiking. (Top of the Organs is about 9000 feet.)

Continuing stories
Stu brews excellent brew! Highlights of the year were the Scotch ale (rich and smoky) and chicha in addition to the usual favorites of porter, bock, IPA, etc. The beer book continues.

LCHS Dawg Soccer wins state! Jacob’s swimming times are dropping. He works hard at 6 am practices and hopes to swim in college next year.

Stu got recertified as a high school soccer referee, thus answering, at least in part, just how do parents avoid soccer withdraw after their kids age out of local soccer opportunities?

New endeavors
Quincy makes her LCHS acting debut (as a drunkard and a woman who reads too much...) in the Crucible in March. In November, she was the Technical Director for Pirates of Penzance.

Jake applies to colleges; gets his first college acceptance and merit scholarship!

Claire Fiedler visits from Germany: includes visit to Cochiti Pueblo where we watched Mel’s friend Sam Suina make drums (see slideshow at http://santeros.nmsu.edu/folkart/index.html).

Other highlights: We host Aaron Long, a high school student for a couple weeks or so over the summer. Mel’s promotion comes through; she now works at NMSU as the Special Assistant to the Vice President for Student Success.

Kids and academics: Jacob started a tutoring program for high school students to work with elementary students through the LCHS Honor Society. Up to 10 students have participated. Both kids anticipate good grades for the end of the semester.

Beer Blog

I have been trying to convince Stu that he needs a beer blog.

Stu's knowledge of beer is encyclopedia. He began teaching "Brewing Science and Society" a few years back, and rarely has a seat gone empty in his class since. Hundreds of students who never thought they'd ever take a beer class can now explain the difference between a porter and a pale ale.

In addition to knowling a lot about beer, he brews really good beer! He has brewed ales, lagers, stout, porters, pilsners, bocks, fruit beers, wits, and too many more to name.

His most recent brew was chicha (http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/751499), a corn based brew we tased for the first time in Peru in the summer of 2006. If you are in the neighborhood, stop in and have a glass.