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1994 was filled with important events: ·
Linda and Claire graduated
Jim and Linda both celebrated a semi-centennial birthday in 1994. Thanks to lots of exercise [Charles guffawed at that], anti-oxidant therapy, and just plain luck, we have survived well. We were very lucky with the photo from the Schlumberger Christmas party, which shows the bit of gray at Jim’s temples and obligingly conceals the tiny bald spot in back. Linda is the target of frequent compliments about the “nice looking young woman” from Jim’s tennis partners. He’s finally found out how to play competitively: choose your opponents carefully (referring to their age, not their eyesight!)
Linda received her MSN and became a licensed Nurse Practitioner last summer. Fortunately, Linda had no more algebra courses to master, so Jim was able to relax. Only when Linda felt the need to cram for the dreaded Certification Exam did studies interfere with the important facets of life, such as birding. Linda, tempted by the prospect of some new birds in Arizona, made a slight concession. She schlepped along a bag full of tapes to play while we drove from site to site. Since Jim listened to the tapes at the same time, she now feels comfortable tossing around terms like otitis media [“OM for short,” says Linda] and similar expressions without explanation. She works for two family practice physicians in South Austin, where she sees a variety of patients from infants to the chronologically gifted. She loves the job, but worries about catching a cold from the patients. Not content with a Rice reunion every five years, Linda and her old roommate, Linda Baugh, used Todd Baugh’s 30th reunion as an excuse for a 28th year celebration. We had a great time visiting with a number of old friends. We even managed to witness Rice win a football game, when SMU ran out of downs with the ball on the Rice 1 foot line! What a finish!
Claire graduated from Rice in May, QBK and magna cum laude, the third generation Hargrove to be thus honored. She followed Charles’ example and postponed med school in favor of a year of living languorously. She planned to combine volunteer work in Brazil with a bit of traveling in Latin America. The work turned out to involve more than expected when two of the volunteers she was supervising were injured in an auto accident. Claire stayed with them in the hospital for a week before resuming her regular regime of 10 hour bus rides to remote villages. Afterwards, she bopped around Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay for several weeks, mostly alone if you can feature that! She returned to Austin just in time to fill out several med school applications. So much for an easy year! (Those are papayas in the photo!)
Charles, pictured here with fellow archeology grad student Amy Willats, continues working at UT. He went back to Belize last summer to survey an area for possible future excavation. He now claims that he has learned something really useful on a dig: he can use a machete now. That should have come naturally, since he continues to fence for fun, representing UT as a member of the epee team. This year, he refrained from sticking an ice pick in his hand. “The thrill is gone,” was his explanation.
Jim postponed his retirement plans when he was transferred to a new project. Now, he is back working with the PC’s he prefers to the Unix workstations he was using, busy learning the new world of Windows NT, multi-media, and all that hot stuff. He works with a number of youngsters who call him “Mr. Hargrove” and groan when he starts talking about the old days. As you can tell from the “sig” at the bottom of the previous page, he surfs the Internet regularly. The reality quote in the sig precipitated a multi-letter exchange with another net denizen, though the result was so inconclusive that Jim is not sure it really happened. Of course, Jim had to get a new PC. The old 486 just couldn’t keep up. Jim is 99.999835% happy with the new Pentium-based PC. “Who needs long division anyway?” he wonders. The prices were so attractive that he added a bit of unnecessary equipment. Charles claims the scanner was only for the purpose of putting photos in this letter. “Just a beginning,” Jim replies. “Expect multi-media Annual Letters Real Soon Now.” This is strong talk from someone who still thinks modems come with a cable included. Dama Lil moved to Austin at Linda’s urging. She is now established in a retirement community about 10 minutes away, along the route from Bend of River to Linda’s office in South Austin. Her address is now: Lil Moorman
Birding News: We confined most of our birding to the area around Austin, this year. Linda was busy studying and couldn’t afford the time off. We did sneak in a trip to Arizona, where we got a spectacular look at the famous Spotted Owl, and are planning another to Mexico in 1995. We are branching out a bit now, trying to identify the wildflowers for which the Hill Country is so famous. About half of the flowers are “DYC’s,” which stands for “Yellow Composites,” or “daisies” if you prefer. The corrections and erasures in the margin of the field guide attest to our adventures in botany. The background of the picture at left would be the blue of the Texas Bluebonnet if we could only print in color. Maybe next year. We hope you have had a nice holiday and wish you the best for 1995. |
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