STOP THE PRESSES! I mistakenly emailed a draft version of this year's holiday letter, which had Kathy's section from last year. Please discard the one I sent yesterday and read this one instead...mea culpa! -John
Dear Family and Friends,
From John… Many exciting changes for me this year! Last year's letter (which got sent in March!), noted my sixtieth birthday and said I might "ease into semi-retirement" later in the year. Sooner seemed better than later, so I decided to retire in June in order to spend more time on extra-curricular activities -- particularly our 2004 national elections. I'm grateful that generous University of California retirement benefits make it possible for me to spend much more time with family, in nature, and volunteering for my favorite causes. My only regret is that more and more people no longer can count on generous retirement plans such as those my parents and I have enjoyed.
Although I've been doing some consulting, including a post-retirement position at LBL (averaging one day a week) to help redesign the NERSC Information Management System with my former colleagues, I've spent most of my time since June getting back into election-related activities -- and loving it! During the summer I worked with MoveOn.org in an unsuccessful joint effort to defeat the California Governor's recall, and now I'm part of the amazing grass roots campaign to elect Howard Dean as President in 2004. If you'd like to read more about my recent political journey, as well as see pictures from our trips and Anna's SEA adventure, and hear some of Paul's radio stories, point your web browser at http://home.comcast.net/~john.mccarthy/
Kathy and I visited our beloved Sierra mountains four times last year, including spring cross-country skiing in the eastern Sierra -- a first for us; a week-long base-camp below Mt. Banner at Garnet Lake; a nostalgic return to Yosemite's High Sierra Camps (where I spent summers with my family fifty years ago); and our annual pilgrimage to enjoy the fall colors in the canyons west of Bishop. In July Kathy and I headed east, where I started re-establishing political contacts with progressive and Democratic party groups in Washington, D.C. before spending time with family at my sister's on Fire Island, Kathy's uncle and cousins at Lake Piseco in the Adirondacks, and visiting friends along the way.
In October I returned to New Haven to rehearse and sing for the 50th Anniversary Concert of the Yale Russian Chorus. It was an unforgettable experience. There were 170 singers on stage with Founding Director Denis Mickiewicz. Many of us continued singing informally until 3am! For pictures & more, see http://www.yale.edu/yrc/yrc50.html and http://www.silvergate.com/yrc50/ .
Retirement has also freed up my time to enjoy grocery shopping, cooking, and having friends to dinner (which we've done very little since having children); house projects (we've now got plans and a contractor to strengthen and replace the entire "window wall" front of our home next spring); getting this holiday letter out in December rather than March! and having more time to read. I particularly recommend George Lakoff's "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think," and would like to hear what others (particularly conservatives) think about Lakoff's thesis that current divisions in American politics can best be understood in terms of different underlying family models. For a brief overview, see http://tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/7747
We hope each of you are doing well, and that we can continue to keep in touch. We'd love to see you if you visit the Bay Area, and usually have a couple of spare bedrooms if you need a place to stay.
With love and best wishes for 2004,
John.McCarthy@Comcast.net
about Anna and Paul.... Anna, 21, had a wonderful adventure with SEA, an intensive research and maritime studies program at Woods Hole, Massachusetts -- including a six week sail in the Caribbean on a tall-masted research vessel, where students served as crew as well as researchers! She’s now back at Whitman College in Walla Walla WA as a Biology major and will finish next December.
Paul still lives in Providence, Rhode Island, where he has been building loft space on the fourth floor of an old warehouse to live with several of his friends. He has been doing part-time independent production for WRNI, the NPR station in Providence, and helping Brown Student Radio (BSR) work with several other community groups to acquire a low power FM license under the recent FCC FM spectrum expansion regulations. (For more about Anna and Paul, including pictures, see the web link below)
From Kathy… I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday season with loved ones and that 2004 brings you many good surprises. For us, June was a time of transition, with John retiring and me getting laid off and then rehired again. I work part-time at Catholic Charities, where I do counseling/therapy with low-income clients. I am very happy to be back on the job, and it compliments my private practice well. After working over the years in special education and genetic counseling, which I enjoyed each in its own way, I finally have found my vocational home! Retirement is not on my radar screen.
When I’m not working, I walk on local trails and beaches as often as I can, continuing to discover the generosity of nature in this part of the world. John and I have become more involved with our Quaker Meeting, deepening our spiritual lives. For a lark, I took a hula dancing class this fall and amused myself more than expected. Sorry, no photos on the web. I still enjoy reading and then discussing with our Book Group, which is over 20 years old now! And this year I wrote for pleasure more than in the recent past, mostly in a journal. At the top of my just-for-fun list, is the satisfaction of dinners and reunions with friends and family. I feel blessed in many more ways than I can count.
Best wishes and love to you and your families,
Please note my NEW email address: KABarnhart@comcast.net
If you have internet access (at home or at a library) and would like
to read, see, and hear more (pictures, movies!, etc.), point a web browser
to http://home.comcast.net/~john.mccarthy/