2023 Holiday Message
from California

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Dorian's Story

What was that job that you dreamed about having at 20, but never got around to ?  Mine was being a naturalist and environmental educator.  It took me 40 years to get back on track, but now I'm working as a volunteer for Environmental Volunteers.  We go into classrooms K-5, work with homeschoolers, and take classes on field trips up to the Earthquake trail in the Santa Cruz mountains nearby.  We do the hands-on lessons that are short, but often the experiences that are remembered years later.  It's a great 2nd career! 
 
Also, I am still moving forward on the other "second 'career" as a jazz musician.  Currently, I lead a jazz combo monthly as part of a larger organized jam, and participate in regular gigs at a local rehabilitation center.   They keep on inviting our band, Traffic Jam, back, so that's encouraging!   I've also been working for the last 2.5 years with a Gypsy-jazz instructor in small group Zoom classes out of the Netherlands. I have a new community that stretches from Taiwan to California, with a lot of hot spots in the UK and Europe. So, the next era is starting off well. 
 
We do take time to travel as well.  This last year we sailed in the Bahamas near the island that had already had a bit too much Dorian visits, walloped by the named hurricane a few years back.   After that we flew up and spent some great days in NYC and a short visit to see Peter and his digs  at Yale. Joe and I rode on his tandem, as he led us on a tour about town.  In August, we took river cruises on the Seine up to the Battleground beaches in Normandy, and down the Rhone from Lyon to Avignon. We continued by train to Barcelona and then Bilbao, took in some Culcha, and then spent a week walking parts of the northern Camino Route seeing many Roman sites and enjoying the cuisine! The trip culminated with our sailing friends, Meesh and Jeff who live in the Southern tip of Spain and look out from their home with a view of Morocco in sight.  It was spectacular! 

Arielle has a dream job teaching Marine biology at Santa Clara HS.  She has already taken her students to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on a field trip.  She's close enough for frequent visits.  We'll be doing the xmas bird count together again soon!  Peter is in his 2nd of 3 years a working towards a masters in Architecture at Yale.  This last summer he completed a team project building a home for two single mother  teachers which is now complete in New Haven.  

Joe's Story

This year was another one with no new health scares (no small reason for joy at my age), and plenty of fun with Dorian.  The biggest 'scares' was the epic snow loads at the Tahoe cabin where we lost the chimney, and cracked the main beam.  Still not fixed this Christmas.

As Dorian mentions, we had our great six week France/Spain trip where rivers, trails and friends played a big part.   Besides the Camino Santiago, there are three places of note that I would love to revisit:  Barcelona, Manet's Giverny estate, and the UNESCO heritage place in Cordoba called Mosque-Cathedral.

My road biking was less than last year.  My bike stats for 2023 is 2500 miles, 170,000 vertical feet.  The highlight was a six day camping bike trip in Oregon and California enjoying rivers, coast and redwoods.  In 2024, our biking lineup is awesome.  We have four organized bike trips on three continents.  Those trips, plus the miles of prep to get ready is going to result in better stats and memories.

Sailing with friends is a passion: on the ocean out of Santa Cruz, and on Lake Tahoe.  Another Life Is Grand Sailing Bahama's Abocos islands in April. 

My mom entered assistant living this year at 90.  Another phase of life that reminds us to appreciate every day. Arielle and I flew to visit her in October.

I continue as a full-time student at DeAnza College.  I am gleeful to try some things for the first time in my life.  Such as Ceramics, Acrylic Painting, and Drawing from live models.  My goal is an Art Associates Degree in my 70th year.   Some of my paintings and other work is at this Art Gallery.  I have not stopped wood-turning though. 

Considering a trip in California this year?  Let us know, and we would love to host you all in Sunnyvale, or at our mountain cabin at on Lake Tahoe's West Shore.  Drop by, and probably score a hand-crafted art piece.

------- Other Links --------------

Family Art Galleries : Watercolors, Woodturnings, Music, Oils, Buildings

Past and Future Sail Trips

Holiday Letter Archives

2022   --   2021   --  2020  
2019   --  2018   --  2017  --  2016
2015   --  2010   --  2009  --  2008
2007   --  2006   --  2005  --  2004
2003   --  2001   --  2000  --  1994

NOTE If you have kept any xmas letter between 2011 and 2014, let us know. We would appreciate a copy of it and send a sweet gift in return.

 

Dorian with "The Shell" at FinTerre, the end of the Santiago Camino path.