We took one trip to visit the grandkids in New Orleans as soon as we were vaccinated, described by Sherri below, but that was my only trip by air until another trip to New Orleans in December to attend the AGU Meeting (local entertainment, and a walk in the French Quarter), and a year-end trip to California to visit family and friends (in Lisa's hot tub, and
at the beach). Here are Vivi and me in our Badger gear. The kids played on the great playground paid for by Drew Brees at their local Audubon Park. We got beignets at the Cafe du Monde in City Park, and forced Danny to pose for a picture with us. The kids play very well together. And earlier, I presented a talk at Vivi's school via Zoom. I had done it 2 years previously with the same teacher to Danny's class, but that was in person. (When will we ever be able to stop wearing masks?)
We did take a road trip to Maine in June to visit Jerry and Stephie. We went down his dock to the water, went kayaking, ate lobster at a restaurant, and built a fire on the rocky beach as the Moon rose over the ocean. We were lucky to be joined there also by my sister Lisa and her husband Steve, cousin Lynn Schenker and her husband, and by my cousin Ruth Ruttenberg, whom I had not seen for decades. I also bought a pretty wind spinner which I installed on our deck, along with some tomato plans, which were a gift from Stephie. It looks great on our newly stained deck in back, and the house now looks better with the shutters painted blue on a beautiful Fall day. Here are some wild animals in our neighborthood, a hawk in a tree, some deer down the street, and a seal at the beach.
Our trip to Greenland in the summer was rescheduled from 2020, but again cancelled by COVID, Maybe we'll be able to travel internationally next year, but right now it is so much hassle, with Omicron rampant and rapidly changing rules and lockdowns.
The grandkids visited us this summer. We took them to Liberty State Park and showed them Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, and they showed us the Statue of Liberty. Vivi and I made ikura sushi. When it was done she liked eating it. We played Frisbee golf, but there was a blockage at one of the holes. My stepmother Hanne visited us in November and we went to the beach. At home, we played Wii bowling. I let Vivi win once, and we even let Sherri win, but mostly I won, as the record showed (Vivi's avatar was Jessie, for some reason). We celebrated Brian's 45th birthday. The kids liked boogie boarding at the beach (followed by ice cream at Carlson's Corner), playing with bubbles, and were there for a moonrise in the evening.
Our solar panels (photovoltaic, shown here
with our electric car and hybrid) continue to work
well. Here is an updated graph of
our electric bill for the past few years. It is still easy to see when
we turned the solar panels on. SRECs are $0.23 per
kWh plus we get the electricity, worth another $0.14 per
kWh. The figure explicitly
takes account of the SRECs and annual settling of the bill by
the electric company. All negative values are payments
to us. Since we earn about $2000 per year from SRECs, plus get
about $2000 worth of electricity, the solar panels make an
annual $4000 profit.
Not only have we not paid an electric bill in years, but we
emit no CO2 for our
electricity generation. I know all my flying cancels this out,
although not in 2020 or 2021, and
we do use natural gas for heating and cooking, and buy products, mostly
food, with carbon footprints, but at least I feel good about being green
with the Tesla and electricity. I will start paying carbon offsets
for my emissions as soon as I can be sure I have found one that is
legitimate and can begin traveling again. But as I say in my global warming talks,
"it is more important to change your leaders that to change your
lightbulbs," so I will pay even more in political donations than carbon
offsets to address the global warming problem.
We went to one
concert this year, the annual Bobfest by Pat Guadagno and Tired Horses at a theater in Red Bank, this time
celebrating Bob's 80th birthday. It seemed safe to do, as we had just
been vaccinated and the tables were far apart, and it was. And we went
to our first Rutgers football game, in which Wisconsin defeated them 52-3. We tailgated with my friend and colleague Mark Miller, and his friend made
us real Johnsonville brats, which Sherri really enjoyed. We sat with Badger fans, and watched Bucky
do pushups after each Wisconsin score, but the game itself was not very
interesting. And the best Wisconsin running back, Chez Mellusi, got
injured and has been out for the rest of the season. The noise in the
stadium coming from the PA system was overwhelming. So it was an
interesting, but not 100% positive, experience. However the Badgers
will play in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 30, when they meet Arizona
State.
Sherri:
A year of ups and downs, with a little travel, mostly to New Orleans to see the grandkids, who now include 8-month baby Enzo, who is now visiting his mother Fiorella's family in Pisco, Peru, and not sure what the future holds for us to see him again. We did travel to New Orleans in April, twice for me, as I returned to help with the kids and the baby for a short time. Then, due to Hurricane Ida, Danny, now 11, and Vivi, now 9, were flown here by their grandmother and spent a week with us in September, and I flew them home and stayed for a week. Finally, we returned to New Orleans for one of Al's conferences in early December, and saw Brian, Vivi and Danny one more time, and were able to celebrate Vivi's birthday in fact. This past June we had a lovely time in Maine, visiting Al's brother Jerry and his wife, Stephie, who live in a very relaxing and natural place, and we kayaked, ate a lot of seafood, and enjoyed being with family and friends.
Earlier in the summer, the grandkids and Brian came for a 3-week visit, so, we're so fortunate to have been able to see them, take them to the beach, the pool, and trying to find ways to pry there away from their screens. A few nerf battles and meeting with their friend, Luke, helped for sure! It also helps that Brian has a job that he can do remotely, unlike our son Dan, whom we will see for the first time since 2019. He works at Nugget, a boutique supermarket in Corte Madera, and has consistently been rewarded as a "Duer," a real go-getter, working in the Deli department all during this difficult time. We're also looking forward on this trip to see Al's sister, Lisa, and brother-in-law Steve, and other family members, and Brian, Vivi and Danny once more, as they are now in Carlsbad in what Brian calls his "surf shack." He decided to try to split his time between New Orleans and Carlsbad, and, of course, the virus has halted that somewhat, but he's giving it a try, and we hope it works for him and the kids. They continue to do well in school, with Vivi playing softball and Danny now taking a coding class and planning to play soccer. They're a lot of fun to be with, adore sushi, ramen, and all things sweet, and are sweeties themselves, most of the time. Because of their fascination with "poo," I found a game called Poop Bingo, which I recently gifted them, and plan to play with them on this upcoming trip. Next year I'll let you know how it goes.
Aside from these travels, we've been staying home, which, since it's the Jersey Shore and temperatures continue to warm, has been a lovely place to be. We take walks at the boardwalks or on the beach, or around our neighborhood, and I've also rejoined my exercise club, so have been able to keep some, just some, of the pandemic weight off, but don't get me too close to See's chocolate!!! Politically, I'm still active in a local Indivisible group, working on getting voters to the polls, and on the immigration committee for the League of Women Voters, and plan to become a bit more active in 2022. I've also enjoyed, even through zooms, keeping in contact with our friends, family, my Pi Phi sisters, and other groups, like Together Women Rise, where we've even had a few in-person gatherings. And I continue to feel grateful to have such a wonderful husband, who is a lot of fun to be with, as well as my techie whenever I have problems with my devices, and is a pretty good bread maker too! And ask him for his prosciutto and pasta recipe-quite tasty!!!!!
I'm writing this from Newark airport, having successfully checked the luggage, cleared TSA, and looking forward to a good flight, though we may arrive a little late, but all is good.
My best wishes to you all for a happy 2022, filled with friendships and family and good times-as they say in Nawlins, "laissez les bon temps rouler!"
Added on January 5, 2022:
A former John Marshall High School student, Barney Cobb, was finally officially admitted to the Virginia High School Athletic Hall of Fame back in October, a ceremony he invited me to, but I was still afraid to travel. Instead I sent him some mementos from LSU, where he starred in track, as well as some mementos from John Marshall. The high school staff were so nice to work with me in making this possible, so I also gave them a donation. And, to my surprise, Barney recently sent me a gift certificate from Barnes and Noble, writing that I probably still read books (Yes, I do!!!) and, yesterday, while at the Corte Madera Mall, we snagged some See's Candy, but I also got The 1619 Project, and am looking forward to reading it. It is nice to have these friendships, and I'm looking forward to seeing, actually seeing, more people in 2022, and as the Beatles would say, "Get Back" Omicron!!!!
Also, we were thrilled to spend time with our son
Dan for the first time in two years. We took a
hike to Tennessee Beach and had dinner at Tommy's
Wok with his friend Justin, and with Marilu, Danny and Vivi's former nanny,
and her niece.
May
your 2022 be a healthy and fulfilling one. Happy New
Year.
Alan: 2021 has been a bummer, but there was also some good news.
We and our family are healthy. Sherri, Brian, Dan, and I are all vaxxed and
boosted, and grandchildren Danny and Vivi have gotten two shots so far. The Treaty on the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons now has 59
ratifications, and entered into force on January 22, 2021, finally
making the worst weapons of mass destruction illegal. I am very excited about this, and
will work to help use the stigma it places on the possession of nuclear
weapons to pressure the nine nuclear states, including the U.S., to part with theirs
soon. The first Meeting of States Parties is planned for March, 2022, in
Vienna, and I have been invited to make a presentation. I'll go if I can. So far NATO
countries Germany and Norway will come as observers, so there is momentum in
the right direction. I await the results of the U.S. Nuclear Posture
Review, in hopes that President Biden will agree to a No First Use policy
for the U.S.
