Dec. 16, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
On Dec. 26, 2010, as Herman and I were lunching at the Lynnfield Marsh, a Yellow-breasted Chat popped up right in front of us, the 141st species I photographed in MA in 2010. Another thrill was a Bald Eagle, photographed while walking along the Mystic River in Somerville on a good day for mergansers. I photographed my first Razorbill New Year's weekend, from the Nantucket ferry. A week later Herman showed me a King Eider in Gloucester.
In March Herman wore two "Oh Lordy, I'm 40" buttons at his birthday gala.
In April my employer, ITA Software, was acquired by Google. So far it’s fine.
MaryDan was here for Mother's Day. Ezra moved to Seattle in August. We miss him.
Herman, Oakes and I flew to Kauai May 30, and over the next 10 days also birded Maui and the Big Island. On the last day I got an obstructed view photo of the Red-billed Leiothrix, a.k.a. Pekin Nightingale. That same day, while I was snorkeling, Herman and Oakes got aWandering Tattler, giving our trio 50+ trip species, a victory indeed.
In July I started directing our quarterly Go Tournaments at the Chess Club, as our Go Club finally admitted it cannot afford a permanent space.
Ellie and Stauffer visited us this summer. We four met Nancy and Erhart for dinner.
George Keilbach participated in my bookgroup’s September discussion, and explored Horseneck Beach with me and Squantum Point with us during his stay.
Marie Drumm and Kathy McCann came the first weekend of October. Asked what she wanted to do in Boston, Kathy said, "Talk and eat out!" Mission accomplished! In addition we did a lot of urban walking, encountering Occupy Boston on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. We called on our mutual cousin Helen Gillcrist in Back Bay, and tried a video Hangout with MaryDan in Rochester. We walked to my workplace for the Google lunch.
The Coopers' Thanksgiving guests made wireframe sheep. On Friday some of us enjoyed the Wildlife Refuge near Rochester, where we got Sandhill Cranes and Tundra Swans.
Herman had a few encounters with ERs and EMTs this year, but bounced back, albeit not all the way back to pre-octogenarian levels. In February he had two cataracts removed.
I asked Herman which of the 295 species he's seen thus far in 2011 in MA he'd like to memorialize. Without hesitation he said "the Brown Booby!" He’d never seen one before.
May the holidays give you a big lift!
Birds photographed in MA, Book and Movie lists, and our Hawaii page are all at http://theworld.com/~eva eva@theworld.com herman@theworld.com