Charles and Amy told us the big news that they are expecting a baby, our first grandchild sometime next May.
As reported in 2004, Charles and Amy deserted Annapolis in favor of the more mellifluous climate of the Left Coast. They are now renting a nice house in El Cerrito
, just a hop-skip-and-jump from Marilyn's house in Berkeley. A short walk to BART provides access to San Francisco and other destinations. Best of all, a truly superior dog park, where Molly can frolic with many other unleashed dogs and even get a bath afterwards
, is a short drive away. While walking around with Molly at Christmas, we saw what turned out to be a Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicaria), a virtual lifer, as we'd last seen the bird in Alaska in 1984. It turns out that the appearance of the phalaropes was a big deal. See this article stolen from the San Francisco Chronicle. (PDF)
Charles slaved away all year as an archivist with a daunting task: bringing order to the myriad boxes of paper at the Japanese American National Library in San Francisco
. There is much work remaining, but he is done with his part and looking for something better. Amy continues to work as a midwife and nurse practitioner, pulling down a 24-hour shift every Monday, including the day after Christmas.
With so many reasons to visit California, we got together twice this year out there and once in Austin: