Merry Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve will find me

where the love light gleams 

I'll be home for Christmas, 

if only in my dreams…

Well, this Christmas will find us a long way from home. That explains why most of you will be getting just a virtual Christmas letter this year. No, it's not about being green though we try to be as green as we can. And no, it's not about being cheap though I try hard there too. No, this year we just don't have the logistics to pull it off. We are about 5000 miles from our address book and four days from a stretch where we will be sleeping in five different cities in 10 days. Physical cards and letters will have to wait for 2011.

But Christmas won't wait and so we prepare for one this year that will be unlike any we've had before. Christmas Eve will find us in Berlin, starting the second of the visits that are part of phase II of Scott's sabbatical year. It is not our first Christmas in Berlin. In 1979, during the year we lived in Germany, we spent Christmas in Berlin. They had a wall then. The Soviets were invading Afghanistan and everyone was a little tense. I expect this one will be a little different. If nothing else, it will be different because this time we will not be alone. We will have a little bit of home with us. Christopher and Kate are joining us there, so it won't be the loneliest Christmas ever.

We will miss Alexander and Emily. They just cannot clear the decks and bug out to Europe for a few weeks. Both of them are up to their eyeballs in school commitments and on schedules that don't deliver the coordinated breaks a trip to Europe requires. Emily is in her second year (of two) of a veterinary tech program that's on the quarter system. It has an intense schedule and short breaks. On top of that she has responsibility for the animal care facility. The college keeps animals for the students to train with. There's no break caring for them. Someone has to be there 365.

Alexander is kind of in the same boat. He is in his second year of law school at USF. Second year is supposed be better than the first but it doesn't seem to be a whole lot easier. The rotten economy just adds to the already intense pressure. The last couple of years have been a bad time to be fresh out of college in any field. The law seems to be as bad as any, if not worse. There are a lot of unemployed young lawyers and that has thrown a monkey wrench into the law school pattern. The internships you were supposed to have while in school have become very hard to come by. Still, he keeps plugging along, hoping there's a light at the end of the tunnel and that it's not an oncoming train.

He and Emily are living in our house in Danville with their three cats and our one (yes, that's four – They do like them though so it is not as bad as it sounds to me). Having them to mind the place has turned out to be a godsend. At one point we had thought of renting our place out while we were gone. Good thing we didn't. One night in September the old oak in our neighbor’s yard decided to come crashing down. It put some big holes in the roof and back wall. Some of them just inches from where Alexander and Emily were sleeping at that time. We were very lucky. We are also lucky that there is someone there to manage the repair process. The insurance company (USAA - can't say enough good things about them. Great company) has helped a lot but the damage was significant and has taken months to repair. I don't think that a tenant would have been as patient or as accommodating as A & E. We will miss them.

Christopher and Kate we won't. Seeing Kate is not that big a stretch. We actually spent the weekend with her back in October. She's been in Scotland this semester with Lewis & Clark’s study abroad program at University of Glasgow. She is having a great time - except for the school part. I think she really loves the British lifestyle. She loved London in ‘06 and now Glasgow. I suspect this will not be her last sojourn on that sceptered isle. She is a junior this year, has committed to being a history major and is getting close to having to face the reality of life after college. After Christmas she returns to Portland and I don't think she'll be coming home to Danville this summer. Baby’s all growed up. I don't think I like that.

Christopher is available at Christmas due to a happy coincidence in his work life. Yes, Christopher has a job. In last year's letter it was a little dicey. He was stringing things together one day at a time and living on a shoestring. This year things are much more stable. In March, he got a contract providing video services to the San Jose Earthquakes. Since then, the Earthquakes have had a great season and have generated more and more work for a videographer. They made the playoffs and produced a ton of highlight material extending the team’s need for Christopher (click if you want to see his work)  Though the playoffs ended weeks ago, he just finished this week. Next year the season starts earlier and the team has discovered more things they want him to do. The gig is not yet full-time/permanent but keep your fingers crossed, it may get there. In the meantime, he has four weeks to spend with us.

That will be in Berlin. One of the advantages of what we are doing this year is the flexibility it brings. Only one part of the sabbatical was fixed in time and place. That was the semester at l’Université Libre in Brussels. From September to December we knew where we needed to be. After that it's up in the air. Scott has committed to research visits to 5 countries, but there are 12 on the list to choose from, so really we could go anywhere. By the way, being that footloose and fancy free is not as cool as it may sound. Ask MC. Where will we be in March? Dunno. We’ll let you know in February.

Actually our plans are a bit more defined than that. Back when we were planning Christmas we knew that we needed to visit Germany and Turkey, so we asked the kids to pick a place to spend the holiday, anywhere in, around or between those places. I was a little surprised they chose Berlin. I was thinking Mediterranean and sunny. They wanted a real ‘Christmassy’ place. Berlin fits that bill. They have the famous German Christmas markets and they have snow. It will be fun. It'll also take us back 30 years to when we were their age one Christmas in Berlin. That'll be weird.

After Christmas they will disappear quickly. They have traveling to do before they get back to ‘real’ life. MC and Scott will stay on in Berlin to finish the project in Germany and then it's off to Turkey for the third of the five studies. After that things get murky. Scott has applied for permission to visit Cuba (yes, Americans – the freest people on earth -still need our government’s permission to visit Cuba) By January, we should know whether we are going to get that permission. If we do, we may fly from 

Turkey to China (some very nice airfares from Istanbul for some reason) If we don't, we need to replace Cuba and may go from Turkey to France instead. It's nice to have options but some predictability would be okay. In any event, sometime in February or March we will be home in Danville for a few weeks to recoup before setting out on the final leg (destination TBD). Come summertime, I expect to be sitting at home, petting my cat(s?) resting on a beautiful needlepoint pillow* that says ‘Home, Sweet Home’. 

* Needlepoint is MC’s new ‘traveling’ hobby. A great, portable, time filler. Almost as good as the iPad and doesn’t need a WiFi connection.

Until then, we’ll be home - only in our dreams. Still, Christmas is what you make it – We’ll make it good. I hope you will too. There will be plenty of time to catch up on the other side, another reason to think 2011 can’t help but be a…

Happy New Year!

Best Wishes for a wonderful Christmas…