On a recent trip to New Mexico to visit my parents, who, in spite of precarious health, are still well, happy and together, I took long walks down an avenue that is near their house: to one side, past the university, down a long hill toward the Rio Grande, almost to the town of Tortuga; another night, the other direction, out into the desert, toward a large mountain, Tortuga Mountain, which now has a large “A” on it. Though I didn’t make it to my destination either night, I got a sense of the high mountain desert with its sagebrush and dry bushes, and was later surprised to learn of a religious group who walk the entire distance, from their town of Tortuga to the top of the mountain, annually, to do penance as part of the feast of the Virgen de Guadalupe. Some even do it barefoot, they say. Back in Illinois, I tried to find a parallel in my own life, but I’ve done nothing similar in years. Still my luck seems to be holding out pretty well. Three granddaughters were born in the family (see below), two just yesterday, all healthy and happy; a big faculty strike at the university wreaked havoc on our sense of “business as usual;” we took a long-needed family vacation to northern Minnesota; and, both of us got to see parents and at the same time keep up with professional conferences. Keeping up with kids & grandkids is getting steadily more complicated:

Josie and Derek I think are really loving being parents, and Layla Rose (now 1 ½ is showing signs of being very well-loved. They are in Seattle but we were lucky to be able to see them over Thanksgiving.

Natalie and Ethan Zeman just had twin girls, Kenna Jenae and Maya Leona, born yesterday (Dec. 14) in Peoria; their lives have just changed overnight!

Eric and Jenn are happy in Santa Rosa where Eric earned a BFA and a Class A truck driving license (you know, that day job thing).

Kylie and Josh Brewer had a baby Aug. 1; this would be Bayleigh, who is now four months old and who we see quite often since they are near Carbondale.

Justin is pondering graduate school while dishwashing at the local Thai restaurant, and we and especially his brothers consider ourselves lucky to have him around.

Noah is studying to become a court reporter at John A. Logan College and working at the same restaurant, also living in Carbondale.

Elias, 10, plays tennis and has a variety of other extracurricular interests.

Corey, 6, is doing well in school and has a very active social life outside of it.

Jen is now chair of Sociology, which brings an enormous load of stress (especially during the strike) with its salary, but she both likes the challenge and continues her research. She now believes that padded running shoes have been the curse of the runner, and is beginning to take her shoes off as she builds up her soles (and soul).

This brings me back to the people who climb Tortuga Mountain (or “A” mountain) every year, since the image of that mountain in the night stays with me even now, even with all else that has happened. Their religion seems to be a mixture of Catholicism and a local indigenous set of customs; but, it has caught on and thrived over the years, and people come from far and wide to fulfill their promise and climb the mountain. Second, the “A”, put on the mountain by the “Aggies” at the university, shines through the night even when it’s not lit up, leaving me to wonder if we’ve replaced respect for a large natural wonder like a mountain with worship of a lit up letter or, worse, a concept that is so familiar to university culture.  Jen says that 40% of all university grades today are “A.” Is this the devaluation of the sacred?

 My seat appeared to be between the smoking and non-smoking areas, but no matter, I ordered my breakfast and started talking to my friend, who was well into eating his. Fortunately my seat was facing the Linn Street window where I could see people coming and going; it was a lively mix. The Burg drew in the entire North side and that’s what I loved about it; there were poets, musicians, couples, people I knew, people I didn’t.  Everyone got along well.

 Often there were people waiting to get a table and since people often knew each other, they would have conversations across the room or would walk over and talk to each other about the weekend’s events. In an animated conversation one guy grabbed the ashtray off our table where we weren’t using it and took it over to where he was discussing a poetry event with someone.  I remember wondering if this would change the boundaries of the smoking section.

 I got my omelet, whole-wheat toast and home fries, and my friend started telling me about the actualists, a group of poets around town, some of whom I knew. Apparently they were a kind of anti-Writer’s Workshop. Whereas the workshop poets were academic and proud of it, he said, actualists believed that you shouldn’t have to know Greek mythology to appreciate poetry; poetry should be about everyday things that are accessible to everyone. Like an ashtray, he said, holding up ours, which the guy had just returned.

 With that my friend paid his bill and left, and was quickly replaced by another friend who shook the snow off his boots and sat in his seat. The breakfast was delicious; the comment was lost in the clang of dishes and forgotten until later. Even now, I’ve never seen a poem about an ashtray, haven’t even seen an ashtray in many years. I remember the breakfast, though, I remember those well. But I admit some of the details are a little hazy.

             You're not going to find out everything that happened in a single year, but we can at least give you some highlights; Tom & 4 boys went to New Mexico for a fantastic family reunion, Tom, Jen & the little two are off to California this Friday to see her family. By far the biggest news is Layla Rose Andre, born 3-11-10 to Josie & Derek in Seattle; Kylie and Josh are also expecting in July of 2011.  Jen is in line to become Full Professor and probably Chair of Sociology; my job, however, is best left undescribed as anything but "all-consuming," though I still enjoy teaching. I also enjoy playing the fiddle and swimming.

Josie & Derek have a house in Seattle and Layla Rose is teething and almost walking; she's a character who will keep their hands full for sure. Josie is doing her postdoc in a microbiology lab and Derek works for Microsoft.

Natalie & Ethan live in Peoria IL, and made another fantastic Thanksgiving for us and others. Natalie works for the Social Security Administration and Ethan works for Caterpillar.

Eric & Jenn live in Santa Rosa, CA where Eric goes to school and works in construction. They are both still heavily involved in karate.

Kylie & Josh live here in Carbondale, ensuring that we will see this grandchild a lot. Kylie works for SIU and Josh is finishing school with a computer tech degree soon.

Justin graduated from the University of Kansas in May and is now working for the local Thai restaurant, Thai Taste, easily the best restaurant in town. He is not sure he will stay in Carbondale forever.

Noah graduated from high school and started a court reporting program at John A. Logan Community College.  He can drive his Mercedes there, and that gives him some satisfaction. He also works at Thai Taste.

Elias is almost finished reading all the Harry Potter books. His 3^rd grade classroom is half in Spanish and this has kept him busy; he also plays soccer and has an active social life.

Corey switched to a private school when we found that kindergarten wasn't working well, but he's very happy there, and it was through him that we marched in the parade.  He does karate and also plays soccer.

            Time marches on; parents get older, and the young are hit with the hard realities of making a life in a cold world. I should also mention that we've had a complete turnover in pets in the last five years; the two dogs (Cinder & Uma) and two cats (Pumky & Casper) we have now are entirely different from the half-dozen we had a few years back. As I look back on the year, I feel a little like I did walking past all those lit up floats: I stop, look around at everyone, suspended in time, and say to myself, for good or bad, this is where I am at this moment; we are grateful for friends & family worldwide, wish you all the very best for the new year, and hope to see you all again, as soon as possible.        

Love, Tom, Jen, & family

Dear friends & family,

To me the biggest news out of Illinois this year is not Obama, who was big, sure, or another governor being dramatically hauled off to jail protesting his innocence and trying to hang onto his power, but rather an earthquake, two tornado warnings, and three ice storms, all pretty much in the spring. Our own family is not producing the big headlines; we’ve lost a dog and two cats, picked up a kitty, and had a wedding and a graduation, but pretty much stayed here in Carbondale the whole year, no exotic trips to Europe or anything.

The earthquake was up by the Indiana line, but it woke me up, first I’ve ever experienced; it did very little damage way down here, but got everyone talking, especially about animals’ predictive powers and the possibility of a bigger one, on the New Madrid fault. The tornado warnings would actually be long forgotten, except that we have a new tornado shelter, dug underground out back, and used it, twice; also, during one of them flash floods washed out the center of town as I was driving through, and stranded me at the Walgreen’s watching water flood over our main street. The ice storms, all in the month of February, caused SIUC to close for three days (unheard of) and be severely criticized for not closing a fourth.

When I wrote last year a flat roof had caved in on our den, causing water to drip on the piano and computer at once; we resolved the situation by building straight up and making a second story, a cavernous but completely dry roost that is still uninsulated and unfinished. Jen loves to work up there, except in extreme weather, but the work on it has slowed down. Most of the actual building  came in the spring, when we had the series of weather disasters; all during that time, workers were reinforcing walls, building straight up, putting in a new roof, and enclosing it. In other words, we never stopped living in the place, even when weather threatened us from all angles.

Josie & Derek report from Seattle that it is incredibly hard getting around the Midwest on their trips back to visit family; why does all public transportation have to go through Chicago? In Seattle, Derek now works for Microsoft, so he has great perks, but, like millions of others, has to commute across Lake Washington on a single bridge from Seattle to the Microsoft complex.

Natalie & Ethan had a large wedding in summer but now live in Peoria where Natalie works for the Social Security Administration and Ethan works indirectly for Caterpillar.  They have a nice small house with lots of pear trees in the back yard which really speak to me.

Eric & Jen K. are going to school in Santa Rosa; Eric has transferred to Sonoma State, is working on a BFA and hoping to get into the MFA program.

Kylie & Josh live here in Carbondale; Kylie just graduated from SIUC, and will probably get a civil service job at the university so that Josh can quit his job at a factory and go back to school.

Justin turned 21 in Kansas in September, where he is a junior at KU; he came home last summer to work at a camp in the same location as his favorite childhood summer camp, but for exceptional children.

Noah, 16, is a junior in high school, and taller now than most of us. He spent a month of the summer at Camp Ben Frankel, where he now works; but this is enough of the summer to make it difficult for him to get a job, thus delaying his driving indefinitely.

Elias, 7, is doing well at a bilingual first grade where he speaks Spanish half of his days; he reads prolifically in English when he gets home. He also plays soccer on local teams and has an active social calendar.

Corey, 3, has become much more verbal, and loves to wear costumes whenever he has a chance. Potty training was big and in the end success came on election day (yes he can!).

Jen has been writing a book, this one about victims’ rights movements, trying to finish quickly before they make her chair of her department.

Tom responds to a grueling schedule by doing pop art and playing music, finding it impossible to read or write much with the piles of papers to grade.  

As I write this, another ice storm is blowing in, but this one is much gentler; it probably won’t disrupt life  as the three in February did.  It’s only a rare one that really shuts things down, and who can predict those? When each one came in spring, we stared out the window unbelieving, seeing mostly what you see on the card, staying home from our schools and reaching back in the cupboards for things to eat. It may not be global warming, coming down to ruin life as we know it, forcing us into a hell of frequent and unpredictable weather fiascos, but may just be the regular severe weather cycles of the Midwest, doing their usual thing and hitting us in our turn. Jen says, of all the places in the Midwest to move, she had to pick one that was not on just one earthquake fault, but maybe several. Usually it’s pretty mild here, but anything can happen; it keeps us on our toes, so to speak, as another winter gets under way, and makes us think of our loved ones, spread far and wide; we wish all happy holidays, & a happy new year!