Happy holidaze! Hoping for an end to the coronavirus?? Welcome to the omicron variant out of southern Africa. Sorry. Put your mask on, this is the new normal.

I finally accepted that much of what I enjoyed in the past would have to be done virtually: lectures, meetings, interviews; or al fresco: dining, visiting. While many days of the early months of our calendars are populated with appointments, slowly a pattern emerges of a real life with real activities. Tom and I say regularly that we eat well and we live well. No complaints. We have each other, our friends and our health!

Health and social life are maintained through our walking group. We walk thrice weekly: Descanso Gardens, Huntington Gardens and the Los Angeles Arboretum. At each venue our beautiful San Gabriel Mountains (and foothills) are visible. The walkers have also become our de facto social group for casual Sunday breakfasts, occasional teas and movies.

Front Yard Friday (see image) takes place outdoors (duh) and is the activity of a neighborhood five blocks from us. We were invited by one of the organizers, a former JPLer (payroll) for whose husband (propulsion) I was secretary in the early 1990s. We take our dear Yorkie neighbor, Brenda, as she is friends with the host couple on whose lawn Tom and I are pictured.

We re-started Monday night dinners. Attendance was way down than in the last 3-4 years, but nonetheless a pleasant experience for those who ventured to our backyard. A tight-knit group formed at the last Monday night dinner, so we decided to keep in touch via twice monthly gatherings at our local pub. We eat, we drink, we talk.

In recent months, Tom has spent much of his time writing and compiling his "magnum opus" as I call it. Over his very long career he has been asked several times to give classes. His tome contains class materials he developed and problems for students to solve (class projects) collected into a pdf. One of the projects is to create a simulation of the WWII enigma machine. He has the code working and now must edge test it. After testing he will put his tome out on Creative Commons or self-publish all 270 pages. The website for this tome is available online: www.alldaylollipop.com

I am much less ambitious. This fall I again wrote college recommendation letters for students of Arcadia High School. Unlike 2020, I was able to enter the school and interview students in person. My "super" student was a young man who has had an online business selling high end shoes since he was in sixth grade!

Jason celebrated the big 40 with us (plus my brother and three friends) and a walk through the illuminated show at the Arboretum. (Ref: www.arboretum.org/lightscape/) We ended with dinner at home.Tom and I were thrilled that Jason took two days off work and spent the night chez nous. His company has abandoned its office space and all employees work from home - it seems 24/7. But Jason is happy and well compensated.

I have taken the faster, cheaper, better route of an online Christmas letter, foregoing the costs of printing the picture, printing the return envelopes, printing the letter, folding, stuffing, sealing, and stamping. I hope you understand. And I hope to reach more people this year than previously. May good health and good friends be your constant companions now and through 2022.

Affectionately, Tom Wolfe & Judy Nelson