“I can see clearly now.” Remember that song from the early ’70s? The major change in my life this year happened at the end of last year, after the 2024 version of this letter had been sent.
On December 16 and 30, I had surgery to replace cataract-laden lenses in my eyes with new ones, designed to improve my vision. The doctor said he would make me “less nearsighted.” He went better than that, advising me after the operations that I no longer needed any correction, near or far.
I had progressive myopia as long as I can remember, so I may see better now that ever before in my life. What a blessing. And the world is so much more colorful than before, when cataracts made things duller than “normal.”
The rest of the year was pretty good, too, though it started out with record cold. For us, here, since coming to Southern California at least. Broke record of 31, set last year. Doesn’t mean it didn’t warm up significantly later. We’ve seen temps go up 40+ degrees from early am to early pm.
Once again, I was a hole captain at the PGA tournament at Torrey Pines in late January. At least for many volunteers this year, the focus was more on the horizon than on the course. This was soon after the devastating fires in Los Angeles, and conditions in our area were creating fires here.
On my pre-dawn drive south on the first day of the tournament, I saw that the 15, the inland freeway, was backed up, with no one moving. I switched to the 5, along the coast, and learned from the traffic report that the backup on the 15 was because of a fire. That was very close to the scene of the fire that had forced me to evacuate in early December 2017.
Indeed, when I got to the course and opened up WatchDuty, an invaluable app that provides info about fires in the West, our house was in a zone adjacent to a zone that had been “warned” it might have to evacuate. That fire was stopped before we ever received that warning.
But other fires in San Diego started up. Several of the marshals assigned to my hole were unable to attend or had to leave because their homes were in jeopardy or had the potential to be.
As the photo of the flag on my hole attests, high winds were a major factor in the spread of local fires. It was several days before the spate of fires became contained.
Last year, I visited Julia and Sam at their new residence in Arlington, Va. Julia returned the favor in May, and we visited a gold mine in nearby Julian and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
We also went to the Birch Aquarium, part of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego. One of the most amusing scenes was captured in the video below. The ray spent several minutes going up and down repeatedly. It seemed as if it was enjoying itself. With audio on, you can hear a child off-screen saying “Wheeeee!” on its descent.
You can see much more from the aquarium here.
Julia had not seen Baxter for several years and figured he would not remember her. He did. This year, based on local reports of coyote attacks on small dogs, even being walked by humans, I got him a “coyote vest.” He occasionally is “armored up” when we go out for a walk.
One of the worst elements of advanced age is the loss of friends and loved ones. In August, Lee Pellegrini, a dear friend and former colleague when I worked at BC, died at the age of 75. In the course of sharing the news with other former colleagues, we re-established connections by sharing memories of what we all remember as a wonderful group of co-workers.
In November, Rob Sternstein, husband of Margaret Evans, died at 65. I always wanted to visit Rob and Margaret on my visits to Boston. They were warm and welcoming, and sharing time with them was always a joy.
When we learned BC was to play football at Stanford in September, the eastern contingent of classmates agreed to come out west for the first time since 2013. The Downeys found a great airbnb location on Half Moon Bay for us.
We joined hundreds of BC alumni from California at the game and had a great pre-game tailgate among the trees near the stadium.
Less of a good time at the game itself, as the Eagles suffered the second loss of their season. A precursor of what was to be a 2-10 season overall. You can see much more from Stanford here (tailgate and game), here (Moss Beach), and here (Stanford campus).
I did go east for football, too. Local friends Lori and Joe Mahler made one of their season tickets available to me for BC-Notre Dame and I joined them for the Nov. 1 game in Chestnut Hill. Also saw family and friends on the Cape and at BC. More about that here.
As I write this in mid-December, Julia and Sam are in Japan . . . for the second time this year (third for Sam). They spent time in Tokyo/Kyoto in Feb/Mar, Sam went back in the summer to climb Mt. Fuji, and this time they’re focusing on Hokkaido. Here’s Julia with “squid on a stick.”
In Virginia, Julia’s joined the crew of Trader Joe’s.
Dillon has moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he continues on the staff of the National Center for Manufacturing Excellence.
It appears I will be back as president of the Anza-Borrego Foundation for the coming year. We’re in a transition from being a “working” board to becoming a “governing” board.
Situation stable at home. Meredith at Boys & Girls Club, Winter at Charlie’s Foreign Auto in Escondido. Alice hit double digits in June. Addy turns 14 next month. High school for her next fall!
To make sure all of our pets make this letter, Cinderella is shown taking a cat nap on my lap.
Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas. Best wishes to you and your family. May even politics be positive in 2026!
