May the giving spirit of Christmas

 dawn on your life each day of the New Year

Sunrise at Bryce Canyon
Sunrise at Bryce Canyon in 2007
Lona and I wish you all the joys of the season and hope you have a great new year.

    For some reason Lona and I have had a lot of trouble getting into a proper Christmas spirit this year.  Christmas day was saved when our good friends, Paul and Audrey suddenly invited us over to their beautiful house on the coast in Half Moon Bay to share the day with them.  That really lifted our spirits.  After our nice visit, I felt I could begin this Christmas New Year letter.
    It has been a somewhat up and down year for us, although more up than down.  Lona's Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) lung disease is cured as far as we know (see last years letter).  The year and a half on three powerful antibiotics was tough.  Thank goodness it is over.  She is now able to eat again and is gaining her weight back. 
    We passed a major milestone this past June 5th.  We celebrated our 50th anniversary.  I remember what a big deal it was when my paternal grandparents hit 50 years.  My parents never made it, nor did Lona's parents.  Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to take a nice trip to celebrate it properly.  Lona was still on her antibiotics at that time and felt lousy.  Also, Lona was not too ambulatory.  Over the last two years, she has been fighting an increasing pain in her hip when she walks.  For awhile, we had to select a level trail for our all-day hikes each Thursday.  Then we had to abandon our hikes entirely.  It finally got to the point it was very painful for her to walk at all.  That is how she was in June.  Things are improving now. 
    Finally, the correct diagnosis of sacroiliac joint dysfunction was made, and therapies appropriate for that problem were started.  They are helping, but it is slow.  She is diligently doing her physical therapy exercises and rebuilding her walking muscles.  She can now sometimes walk without pain.  We are determined to take our anniversary trip before we hit another anniversary. 
    It goes without saying that we also were not able to take a trip of  any kind together this year, so I did not have any new sunrise picture to start this letter with.  I had to grub around in my image files until I found one I hadn't used before.  However, we were able to spend Thanksgiving day at our favorite beach, so I can show you a few pictures from that.
Breakers at Pescadero Beach  Brown Pelican  Snowy Egret  Snowy Egret
Click on a thumbnail to see larger image.  After viewing, click on the back button.
    I did take two trips alone, both to MO.  The first one, in late Sept., was my annual trip back to MU to support the Physics Department and its students.  You may enjoy reading an article about the activities of the Physics alumni support group which I help to organize and recruit members for.   I wrote it for the Dean of the College of Arts and Science.  He will publish it in his alumni magazine. 
    The second trip was in the middle of Dec. to attend the graduation of my niece, who earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.
  It was wonderful to visit with all my remaining family at a happy occasion instead of a funeral.  I am so proud of my niece.  When my niece was battling bone cancer at age 14, she transformed in just a few months  from a young girl who was an indifferent student to a young woman determined to be able to help others medically as she was being helped.  She never wavered in that determination as she doggedly pursued her doctorate while working as a nurse practitioner and being a wife and mother of two small children.
     Lona was able to walk far enough to continue our season tickets with Opera San Jose.  We attend the previews and operas with Paul and Audrey.  These are happy occasions that we always enjoy.   We also were able to attend a few great plays and to visit the San Francisco Museums of Fine Arts a couple of times.  My knees are still holding up, and I can still run (although I don't seem to be fast any more).  Looking back on it, it has been a good year even without our usual humongous sight seeing trip.  Next year is shaping up to be even better.

Lona and I hope you had a great holiday season.  We are wishing you the best for 2013.