Happy holidays! As you know, 2010 was a year of lemons and lemonade for us. The year started in the usual carefree way: I. drags M. to a local sci-fi convention (Boskone), where M. happily rolls his eyes nonstop for six hours; M. drags I. to the Berkshires for cookies, apple cider, hiking, and tire-changing (not ours, fortunately), where I. happily discovers a chia Orpheus (for the Sandman fans out there).
M. taught a class in Guyana in March, and I.'s work started to solidify. We also collaborated to write an 'ideas and speculations' paper on information and the genetic code, which includes a Schoenberg vs. Beethoven smackdown.
Lemons arrived in the form of a sudden health scare at the end of May, so we canceled our summer trip to Italy and instead enjoyed a million-dollar view of the Charles River (hospital gown notwithstanding). We stayed close to home for the next few months, including a trip to New Hampshire for a friend's wedding on July 4th, where M. provided musical entertainment and I. shook an 'egg'.
We also had fun in their photo booth, where we unwittingly re-enacted our characteristic states:
Happiness:
Optimism:
Affection:
and Reality.
:)
At a friend's home in Cape Cod, we rustled up dinner in the form of horseshoe crabs
and beach plums.
I. was particularly hungry at that point, as the lemonade appeared as an anticipated addition to our family!
We did make it to Copenhagen in August, nominally for a science conference, but more importantly for photo opportunities like this:
(just outside the Opera House at the waterfront)
Otherwise we stuck to home base, with I. visiting San Diego for Thanksgiving and a trip to New York for M.'s birthday and a symposium at the NY Academy of Sciences, right next to the World Trade Center site. We had a birds-eye view of the grim but fascinating construction site from our hotel room.
More uplifting was the view from the rooftop:
This year we thought about the important things in life more than ever. We're in good health now, we have all the baby equipment and moral support we could imagine, and our spirits are high, and we owe all of these things to you. Keep in touch, come visit us, and say hello to the newbie later next year!
Mike & Irene & He-Who-Has-Not-Been-Named
