A look back at 2018

Another year has gone by. We have been posting annual retrospective posts here since 2009 and the post you are reading continues the tradition (which has developed into the one post that appears here every year, our “Christmas Letter”).

The year started with a cold snap. D attended the annual meetings of the American Social Science Associations, where he attended sessions that covered economic issues related to economic inequality, his new obsession.

After the conference was over, we paid a short visit to Jersey City to see Dominique, Steve, and their girls, and had the chance to see the girls in skating practice. D had a lucky shot of an incoming ship from our hotel room, in which a seagull paid a timely visit.

In February, we enjoyed a visit to Longwood Gardens with Phil and Ann for the annual orchid extravaganza, an excellent way to spend a few hours when the weather is cold.

In March, D sung for the third time in the Meet Me at the Music event organized by Music Honors students at Temple University. He performed the “measuring duet” from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro with a student soprano and a student accompanying on the piano. Here is a recording made on D’s phone by M.

We also went to Annapolis in March, on the weekend that was the bridge between our Spring breaks. We had a very nice visit with our niece Christina and her little daughter Violet.

In April, D was lucky enough to have a photo he took the previous December in Florida included in the annual John James Audubon Center exhibit (the photo is at the level of his hands in this snapshot):

Near the end of April we paid a visit to Longwood Gardens with our good friend, PhD advisee of D from some time ago, Emina. We saw the great tulip exhibit there and had an excellent lunch at the 1906 restaurant there. Check out that “flower pot” dessert, which is entirely edible:

M had two gorgeous photos of hers included in a curated exhibit in the Wayne Art Center in May.

• 

• 

Our big summer trip was to Paris. We timed it to surround M’s birthday. We encountered a ridiculously hot spell while in Paris, which was a bit of a problem without AC in our AirBnB studio apartment, but we survived the heat and accumulated many happy memories and nice photos.

• 

• 

For many more photos from our visit to Paris and vicinity, here is an album that we have curated from the hundreds of photos we each made.

We did manage two short trips to Ocean City, NJ. Here’s a photo of a radiant M from one of these trips.

In early August, we made a short road trip to Aurora, NY. We stayed in the Aurora Inn, right on the side of Cayuga lake. On the last full day of our visit, we had fun taking a winery tour by boat, visiting three wineries by the lake with our friend Rebecca, who lives near Aurora.

In the fall, M joined a family reunion in New Hampshire and a high school reunion, while D stayed home to keep working on his teaching and projects.

For both M and D, school work all year went well and was unremarkable.

Near the end of December we had excellent news about M’s health from her latest tests and the doctor’s examination.

We are looking forward to whatever new adventures 2019 will bring!