Hargrove 1988 Christmas Letter[1]

Scenes from the year:

Scene 1: Jim is hunched over his new, more powerful computer, making “just one more change” to his program. The area around the computer is a marvel of clutter art including papers, floppy disks, old issues of magazines (still unread), and an empty lunch plate. Several ring stains on the “mouse pad” testify to a competition between the mouse and coffee cups for space. The bookshelf overhead contains manuals by the score arranged in some order that makes sense only to Jim.

Pepper[2] sleeps nearby. She is no longer jealous of the computer, but still needs an occasional pat on the head for reassurance. Leonard Cohen’s latest album blares in the background. Jim adds his voice to Leonard’s on the line “They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom for trying to change the system from within.”

Scene 2: It’s 2:00 am. Jim is staring at his computer as it slowly spits out a picture of the Mandelbroit set[3] one tiny dot at a time. Already, he is considering what to buy to make the machine faster. Since the program to paint the pictures is just for fun, it has to be done at odd hours. “This is the advantage of having your office in the house,” Jim thinks. “You can waste time at work without leaving home.”

Scene 3: [Summer] Linda and Charles are in Belize. Charles discovered a class at Austin Community College in Tropical Reef Ecology and talked us into supporting it as an educational expense. Linda decided to go along with him. Jim had too much work, and Claire preferred to “lay out” by the pool.

After a week of exploring terrestrial ecosystems, including Mayan ruins at Tikal, Guatemala, Linda and Charles swim placidly under 60 feet of water. The boat they are living on for a week waits patiently above. Linda is secretly delighted that, besides all the reef animals, she has seen several new birds that Jim will have to catch up on, including the difficult Emerald Toucanet. Obviously, the goal for future vacations will be to combine birding and scuba diving. Already, she is considering plans for a Christmas trip.

Scene 4: Linda is lying on the bed trying to read travel brochures, searching for exotic locations accessible using Jim’s 250,000 Aadvantage miles. Her new bifocals lie unused on the bed. Taffy sleeps contentedly on her chest. The TV with the sound muted shows a pantomime of a PBS pledge break inserted into the middle of a marathon of Nature reruns.[4] Leonard C’s latest album is playing quietly in the background. Linda especially likes the song There Ain’t no Cure for Love.

Scene 5: Claire is patiently waxing her car. It’s red color glows like hot coals. A portable jam box on the driveway fills the air with the sound of reggae music. Strange One, also known as Fat-Fat, appears to be listening. He is lying next to the speaker, completely obscuring the rest of the jam box. After Pumpkin died, He and Taffy split the territory: Taffy took inside, Stranger took outside.

Claire’s teeth flash in a broad smile, unencumbered by braces. Her currently blond hair shines in the sun. Her arms reveal the remnants of a summer tan acquired lying by the pool accompanied by about 20 friends. “If it weren’t for getting up early for swimming practice and having to do homework,” she thinks, “life would be just about perfect.”

Scene 6: Charles is in his room at Rice working on a schedule. The clutter art eclipses Jim’s efforts by two orders of magnitude, covering every horizontal surface including the floor. The collected stories of Doc Savage joust with readings on Medieval Islam for the top spot. The wastebasket is full of takeout pizza boxes and empty liter bottles of Jolt Cola. Charles’ scheduling  problem is how to read the 300-400 pages a week the history department requires of its serious students, get to MOB [Marching Owl Band] practice, take part in the intramural College Bowl contest, go to a fencing meet in New Orleans, and still have time to sleep till noon. “Looks like I’ll have to postpone the haircut again,” he mutters.

Scene 7: [Right about now] The whole family, with the addition of Linda’s sister Mary, are back in Belize at Ambergris Caye. Linda’s other sister, Leslie, volunteered to come to Austin and babysit Mary’s “right triangle”[5] of children so Mary could have an adult vacation. Aren’t sisters wonderful!

Best wishes to all of you from all of us. Please let us hear from you or see you in 1989.

Love,            The Hargroves

PS: Those of you who hoped or feared you would get a copy of Jim’s program for Christmas will have to be patient. It’s in the hands of the publishers and should be out early in 1989.